In London the sun was shining, temperatures were hitting new records for an Easter weekend and the newspapers were crowing about it. In Palma, it was cool, drab, drizzly and windy. This was not how it was supposed to be, and my mood was just as gloomy. Perhaps that’s why it took me several days…
Tag: City breaks
Mallorca: Palma’s foodie scene
Mallorca’s capital Palma has a well-deserved reputation when it comes to food and the star of the show is the San Juan Gastronomic Market in the north of the city. Once a slaughterhouse, it opened in 2015 and houses up to 20 stalls that offer local treats and international dishes, small plates and full-on meals….
A weekend in The Hague
Amsterdam has become all that’s wrong with tourism. It overflows with people, marauding stag and hen parties, drunks, druggies and sex tourists. The seat of government in The Netherlands, The Hague, couldn’t be more different. It’s nowhere near as busy, is elegant and cultured and an absolute pleasure to explore. We were there for little…
Udaipur, lakes and lavish palaces
The lakeside city of Udaipur has one of the most beautiful settings in all of India, nestled among the hills and waterways of the Aravalli Range. With its glorious, dream-like palaces and magical sunsets, it was perhaps inevitable that it would one day be featured in a James Bond film. And sure enough, back in…
Exploring Jodhpur’s mighty Mehrangarh Fort
Set on a massive volcanic outcrop 400ft above the city of Jodhpur, Mehrangarh Fort is unmissable. It’s one of India’s greatest monuments, an imposing complex of palaces and fortifications that would’ve impressed and intimidated the friends and enemies of the ruling family. It was built in the 15th century by Rao Jodha, the then ruler…
Jodhpur – Rajasthan’s jewel of a city
Jodhpur is the fabled blue city of Rajasthan, its skyline dominated by the mighty fortress of Mehrangarh. After the chaos of Delhi and Agra, it offered a slower pace of life, warmer climes, fascinating history and a friendly vibe. Of all the cities we visited, Jodhpur was my favourite. We flew down from the capital…
The temples and gardens of New Delhi
Delhi assaults the senses. It’s polluted, noisy, smelly and can look as rough as fuck but just when you think you can’t take it anymore, there are glorious gardens and majestic temples that restore one’s faith in the city. Many are in the districts to the south of the historic centre, in New Delhi, Mehrauli…
The drama of Old Delhi
The New Delhi of British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker is green and orderly, with wide boulevards, Raj-era government buildings and substantial colonial bungalows. It couldn’t be more different to historic Old Delhi. Situated just a few miles north of the showpiece architecture of the Raj, Old Delhi was built on the orders of…
Zagreb at Christmas
Mist hung around the hills and valleys north of Zagreb as we flew into the city’s modest but modern airport. The sun was shining, the temperature crisp. We were in town for a December weekend break, to visit the award-winning Christmas markets and experience one of Europe’s lesser-known capitals. We found a city much influenced…
Zagreb, war and broken relationships
Zagreb and its residents may have been full of Christmas cheer during our weekend in the city but we spent a day wallowing in break-ups – the violent collapse of the old Yugoslavia and the more personal stories of lost love. Image of War: The Museum of War Photography opened as recently as 2018 and…
Exploring Beirut’s celebrated nightlife
Beirut has had a reputation for being party central for generations, and decades of civil war and instability hasn’t dented the desire of locals to have a good time. From the district of Hamra, to Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, there are great bars, cafes and restaurants to enjoy, but it isn’t a cheap city to…
Beit Beirut and the buildings of war
The speed with which Beirut is being rebuilt suggests that some Lebanese want to wipe out the memory of civil war. Others see the blanking out of the past as a mistake and are fighting to keep it alive. But as the experience of Beit Beirut shows, it’s an uphill struggle. Beit Beirut is the…
Beirut: The old and the new
In the 70s and 80s Beirut was a city of war, religious violence and death. As a child I watched grainy TV news film of snipers firing indiscriminately at distant targets, of buildings being blasted by missiles, of peoples’ lives being destroyed. Talk was of the murderous green line that separated east Beirut from west,…
Cardiff’s castle and shopping arcades
Cardiff lacks tourist attractions. At the top of the minimal list is the much-restored castle, just a few minutes’ walk from our hotel. But it was raining, and raining heavily, so whatever we were going to do on such a drab day was going to involve umbrellas and getting wet. No wonder the streets were…
From Cardiff to Caerphilly, and back again
My family went to Wales for a summer holiday many years ago and a photo from the time shows them clad in waterproofs, enveloped by mist, looking frozen and damp. So is it any wonder it took me years to visit the principality? We made it in 2018, spending a bank holiday weekend in Cardiff….