Japan is a nation of contrasts, as a visit to one of the country’s traditional, steamy onsens illustrates. These are the famous public baths fed by sulphurous hot springs where getting naked is mandatory, something the locals go for with the type of enthusiasm I’d normally associate with outgoing, uninhibited Scandinavians. It’s not the sort…
Japan: A tour of historic Takayama
At first sight Takayama looks much like any other Japanese town or city, with lots of post-war development that lacks any real charm or character. Perhaps understandably, the priority after the devastation of the Second World War was putting roofs over heads rather than architectural quality. Perhaps too, the Japanese prefer practicality and resilience rather than…
Japan: The bullet train and a stop in Takayama
Tokyo is an insane city. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. It’s fascinating, noisy and chaotic, futuristic, colourful and creative, but I didn’t warm to it as much as I thought I would. As we departed the Hilton Hotel in the heat and made our way on the courtesy bus to Shinjuku station on…
Exploring Tokyo’s gardens
Tokyo may be one of the biggest cities in the world, full of gleaming towers and urban sprawl, but it also has many glorious gardens. And the best Japanese gardens are, without doubt, among the best gardens to be found anywhere in the world. They’re designed to reflect the natural landscape and the spirituality of…
Touring historic Tokyo
Japan is notorious for its earthquakes and I’d wondered several times, with varying degrees of apprehension, what would happen if one struck during our stay – especially at night while we slept high up in a hotel tower block. We finally experienced one during a visit to a historic site in Tokyo. Or rather everyone but me…
A shrine and the bright lights of Shibuya in Tokyo
We’d always known that Japan was going to be a cultural and linguistic challenge for a pair of Englishmen. And while we’d end up bemused by much in Tokyo during our first full day of exploring the city, at least we could go to breakfast in our Hilton Hotel confident that we’d conquered the punishing jet…
Japan: Narita, Tokyo and a dreadful case of jet lag
Flying from Heathrow to Tokyo’s Narita airport is tough. It means 11 hours stuck in a metal tube with minimal exercise and aircraft air-con, which always leaves me feeling as if every last drop of moisture has been sucked out of my body. But at least we had a better experience than most. Thanks to…
Polesden Lacey – in the heart of the Surrey Hills
I’ll come out of the closet and admit to being a fan of country houses. I always have been. So it’s not just grannies who spend their leisure time nosing around mansions and palaces. Deep in the Surrey hills is a house with beautiful views and real style, now in the possession of the National…
Verona: A city with a view
I’ve never been a fan of Shakespeare, nor have I immersed myself in his Romeo and Juliet. Verona is the home of the lovers and the Montagues and Capulets, and the city milks it to death. Tourists descend in their thousands on Juliet’s balcony and tomb, and a bust of Shakespeare is on show in…
Verona: A Roman survivor
Italy may change but some things remain resolutely the same. The food is great, the architecture is awe-inspiring and the locals can’t resist a shiny puffer jacket. On our first evening in Verona, nursing a beer in a touristy but quiet bar in the Piazza Bra, there were plenty of puffer jackets on display. Veronese and…
Italy: A weekend in Bologna
Bologna, the capital of Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, is home to the oldest university in the Western world, incredible food and a wonderful cityscape of terracotta-roofed buildings. But there are other features of the city that don’t feature so prominently in the guidebooks, not least the amount of graffiti. Perhaps it’s something to do with Bologna’s history…
Norway: Downhill in Geilo
On our last day in Geilo it was time for me to do some alpine skiing. And I couldn’t have chosen a better day. After the snow of the previous day, the skies were a deep blue and the valley looked gorgeous in its new clothes, sparkling in the sunshine. I hired my gear, jumped…
Fat biking around Geilo
A hangover brought on by mixing vodka, red wine and lager was no way to start a day of cycling. I could barely eat breakfast let alone think about exercise, but we’d already hired the bikes and there wasn’t much else to do in Geilo. We trudged out to the main ski area on the…
Norway: Cross-country skiing in Geilo
We’d been in Norway for several days so it was about time we had a go at their favourite winter sport. Geilo is criss-crossed with cross-country skiing tracks and it’s the only form of skiing that Graham will entertain. With the weather forecast looking up, even promising sunshine, we hired our gear and went out…
A walk around Geilo
If nothing else, I slept well. But as we filled up on an ample breakfast in the Dr Holms Hotel, including some of the best meatballs anywhere in the world, I was still thinking that I’d made a big mistake booking Geilo as a winter destination. At the time the village looked as if it…