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…
Tag: History
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 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…
Lebanon: Jeita Grotto and Byblos
Lebanon is big enough to pack a punch, but small enough that we could do the trips without having to switch hotels. In one busy morning we got to see a majestic grotto and an ancient city on the coast. But with the country’s roads making a fairground bumper car ride look polite, there was no…
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,…
Lebanon and the shadows of Rome
“You can’t drill a hole in Lebanon without finding Roman remains,” our guide explained as we waited to explore the extraordinary temples at Baalbek. He may have been exaggerating for the benefit of his assembled band of tourists but there’s no denying that the country is rich in the remains of empire. From the rooftop…
The towers of San Gimignano
God knows what it’s like living in a village like San Gimignano. Every day residents have to cope with a tidal wave of tourists flocking in from Tuscany’s big cities and ports to visit its trademark towers. Yes, they bring business to the shops and cafes and keep people in work but the daily influx…
Pisa: A one-trick pony?
Some cities are easy to define. Bilbao is the Guggenheim Museum, Jerez is sherry and Pisa is the leaning tower. Ask Mr or Mrs Average to name another reason for visiting any one of them and they’d struggle. That doesn’t mean they don’t have other attractions but while Pisa throbs with tourists, most of them…
Heat and cold: Salzburg in summer
The irony about a city that celebrates Mozart with such uncontained commercial hysteria is that the young composer hated Salzburg. He couldn’t wait to escape the clutches of its Prince-Archbishop and find fame and freedom elsewhere. Wherever you look in Salzburg, Mozart’s ghost lurks. We landed at Mozart airport in our BA A319, we could…
Munich: Sausages, beer and history
Munich is proud of its native white sausage, the weisswurst – a staple of breakfasts across the city. But I don’t get it. It looks flabby and anaemic and tastes little better. The beer, on the other hand, is a triumph. No wonder tourists in their tens of thousands are drawn to the city, particularly…
A walk through Thessaloniki and its history
Thessaloniki looks impressive from the old city walls in the hills of Ano Poli. Beyond, the bay shimmers in the sunshine and the distant mountains are capped with snow. But the city is not quite as neat and tidy close up. Our walk from the centre to the upper town revealed evidence of decay, economic…
Thessaloniki: The second city of Greece
Thessaloniki was a surprise. I hadn’t expected it to have such a vibrant nightlife, so many stylish and busy bars and so much atmosphere. Perhaps, as a waitress told us over cold beers on a warm and sunny April afternoon, it’s because Thessaloniki is a city of students. There are tens of thousands of them in…
Exploring Balmain and Cockatoo Island in Sydney
Sydney is huge and we were only going to scratch its surface during our Australian jaunt. But I was keen to explore the suburbs away from the famous beaches and their crowds, so we opted for Balmain. I was also keen to explore a part of the city that would’ve been known to my ancestors….
Tasmania: The penal colony of Port Arthur
Australians became well practiced in the art of forgetting that many of the country’s founding mothers and fathers were convicts, transported from the overcrowded gaols of Britain. These days they embrace their history, however grim. Many of the key convict sites across Australia are banded together as a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of…
Heritage and history in Hobart
Planning our Australian holiday, friends raised their eyebrows at our decision to go to Hobart in Tasmania rather than the Great Barrier Reef or Uluru. But while Hobart may once have been a backwater, we were drawn by its foodie scene, craft beers and the notorious penal colony further down the coast at Port Arthur….