The guidebooks tell us that the Alhambra in Granada is one of those sights that just has to be seen at least once. But is it worth the aggravation, worth putting up with the crowds? Is it worth the hype? During our week in Andalusia we had the chance to find out. A mix of…
Tag: City breaks
Cordoba: A palace, patios and tapas
Visiting Cordoba is like visiting an old friend. It’s a recognisably Andalusian city with its cobbled alleys and white-washed terraces highlighted in reds and ochres. Like Seville and Jerez, Cordoba has an historic heart with obvious Roman foundations and a street plan that reflects the medinas of Arab cities. There’s an atmospheric Jewish district of…
Cordoba’s Mezquita, an architectural masterpiece
The magnificent Mezquita in Cordoba is without doubt one of the world’s great buildings, once a mosque and now a cathedral. It’s also somewhere to shelter from the city’s oven-like heat, for even at the end of September the thermometer was recording late 30s centigrade. I really struggle with the heat and spent much of…
Discovering Krakow’s war
Krakow is synonymous with the Second World War. It’s the city of Oskar Schindler, of the horrors of the ghetto and the death camps. Some miles out of town lies that most infamous of concentration camps, Auschwitz, where up to one-sixth of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust were killed. It’s a museum now and…
Exploring Krakow, night and day
You’ve got to love a city when two can eat a hearty meal in a city centre restaurant, consume two beers each and be charged a total of less than £30 for the pleasure. Welcome to Krakow… OK, our choice of eatery wasn’t exactly Michelin-starred but, while Restauracja Polska must have had a particularly unimaginative…
An Easter weekend in Palma, Mallorca’s capital
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…
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…