Researching my family tree, I was keen to find out more about Great Uncle Raymond Finch. A bomber pilot, he was killed over Brittany in the Second World War and I wanted to pay my respects at his grave in a quiet French village. I’d long known that he’d been killed in the war but…
Category: Europe
A few days in Naples, Italy
Naples is the gateway to southern Italy but my first experience of it back at the turn of the millennium had been pretty negative. It was dirty, the roads were appalling, the driving worse and there was an undercurrent of menace to the place. In some respects, it felt more like a Third World city…
Istanbul: A long weekend in Sultanahmet
Sultanahmet is the historic heart of Istanbul, the most famous of Turkey’s cities. It may not be the capital but it’s the only city in the world that sits astride Europe and Asia. Just a few months after we visited Istanbul in 2013, it was gripped by the worst riots in years. Historic Sultanahmet escaped…
Walking in the hills around Morzine
The French Alpine resort of Morzine has grand landscapes and numerous summer walking paths but during our August 2013 weekend stay the weather was decidedly mixed – rain one minute, dazzling sunshine the next. We’re big fans of the Alps in summer regardless of the weather and had previously stayed at Kitzbühel in Austria and…
Morzine, Lake Montriond and the waterfalls
Just a few miles from the French Alpine resort of Morzine lies magical Lake Montriond and some spectacular waterfalls. The area is criss-crossed by walking routes and has magnificent views, making it an ideal spot to shake off a crashing headache brought on by mixing vodka, wine, beer and a mysterious local liquor in the…
A few days in Quimper, Brittany
Colourful Quimper is the oldest city in Brittany and many of its handsome medieval buildings remain intact, making it an attractive stop on the tourist trail. But it wasn’t exactly throbbing with life when we arrived at the start of our week-long holiday in the north-west of France. In fact, much of Quimper had shut…
A week in Mykonos
We spent a glorious week in May on the Greek island of Mykonos, enjoying the quiet of low season before the holidaymakers arrived in droves. But there was no avoiding the vast cruise ships and their armies of passengers. Most days the ships appeared in the harbour of Mykonos Town, dumping wave after wave of…
Skiing in Ischgl, Austria
Back when I had youth on my side, apres ski was as integral to my winter holiday as the skiing. Shame, then, that I didn’t discover the Austrian resort of Ischgl in my 20s. Back then I could’ve stayed up until the early hours, swilling lager and dancing to 70s and 80s disco hits, as…
A visit to the Château de Keriolet, Brittany
In the southern depths of Brittany is the French seaside town of Concarneau, a long-established fishing port famous for its delicious sardines. Its historic, walled old town, the ville close, is full of character and its beaches are hugely popular in the height of summer. Not that we were able to enjoy them, thanks to…
By the beach: Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy
Tuscany had been tiring. We’d seen the sights and celebrated at a friend’s wedding, so once all the drama was over we needed somewhere to recover. We found it in the seaside town of Castiglione della Pescaia. How different it was from Florence, Siena and Pisa, where armies of holidaymakers had tested my temper to the…
Zaha Hadid’s stunning Innsbruck railway
The late great architect Zaha Hadid designed some of the very best modern buildings. Her aquatic centre in Stratford’s Olympic Park, to take just one example, remains the greatest of the London 2012 venues. But it’s odd that her reptilian, ultra-modern and oh-so organic designs are found scattered across the seemingly conservative Austrian city of…
A return to the Cutty Sark, London
The Cutty Sark is one of the most famous ships in the world. I first visited her as a boy on an outing to London and although I’d lived not far from her over the years, it wasn’t until the ship had undergone a multi-million pound restoration that I returned. The famous tea cutter has been…
The Partnach Gorge, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
If I was given the chance to live abroad, the Alps is where I’d buy my dream home. They’re perfect for sunny walks in summer, skiing in winter and natural wonders all year round. Natural wonders like the Partnach Gorge at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany. We spent a week in the Bavarian town late one summer (by coincidence…
Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, in winter
We’re a pair of old romantics. We visit cities in the middle of winter in the hope of finding snow that’s knee-deep on the ground, of discovering cosy bars with roaring fires and great beer. It’s why we went to Ljubljana, the modest capital of Slovenia. The old Communist bloc country was indeed dressed in…
The Vasa – Stockholm’s star attraction
As a teenager I watched on TV as the battered remains of the Tudor warship Mary Rose was rescued from the muddy depths of the Solent. Some years later we visited Portsmouth to see her skeletal remains, now preserved and the centrepiece of a museum. Hers was a remarkable story of survival beneath the seabed,…