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…
Tag: Museums
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…
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…
Brussels, beer and beautiful buildings
The Belgians have a reputation for being just a little bit boring, but I saw precious little proof of it during our city break in Brussels. A jazz festival was in full swing throughout the city and the squares were crowded with music fans, dancers and drinkers. In Place Sainte Catherine we joined them, beer…
Oktoberfest’s little sister and other Munich treats
So who knew that Oktoberfest had a junior sibling? Not me, that’s for sure. But with great good fortune we discovered its existence coincided with our May weekend break in Munich. However, with the beer cruelly not being served until 4pm we needed to find something to do to keep us occupied on what was…
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…
A winter weekend in Reykjavik
Welcome to Iceland, where rain, snow and hail falls horizontally, where gales shred umbrellas and the cold really does hurt. In Iceland we experienced foul weather at its foulest, wind so strong that we could barely stand up in it and cold so perishing during a tour of the Golden Circle that I would’ve got…
A walk around East Melbourne
Our last full day in wonderful Australia and we found somewhere I’d be happy to call home – East Melbourne. But sadly I can’t see our budget stretching that far… Just a short walk from the central business district and its famous Laneways, East Melbourne is overflowing with the most glorious houses and cottages, perfectly…
Sydney: Hyde Park Barracks and Watsons Bay
Ahead of our Australian holiday I started reading A Commonwealth of Thieves, the excellent Thomas Keneally book that describes the arrival of the First Fleet of convicts in New South Wales in 1788 and its consequences. On our second day in Sydney we visited two places that played a key role in the early years…
A wintry day in Helsinki
Spending a day in the Finnish capital Helsinki could be considered a strange way to start a Christmas holiday in Australia. But there was logic to it as we’d secured business class flights on Qatar Airways for half the price of ones out of London, representing a massive saving on the cost of our three-week…
Jerez: A palacio, archaeology and Flamenco
Sunday in Jerez means religion for many locals but for us it meant visits to the Count of the Andes’ palace, a flea market and a museum. But only after breakfast in Plaza Plateros, where we watched those religious types promenading past on their way to one or other of the city’s many historic churches….
Valletta: A city in transition
I look forward to returning to Valletta one day. And perhaps then it will be finished… Because our trip coincided with a huge building and restoration programme, being carried out in preparation for the city’s role as European Capital of Culture in 2018. Quite a few of its popular tourist destinations, such as St John’s…
Malta: The ancient splendour of Mdina
The glorious fortified city of Mdina in the heart of Malta is a must-see and full of atmosphere. Once the island’s capital, it’s been shaped over the centuries by Phonecians, Romans and Arabs. But we nearly didn’t make it there at all. Our mistake was to rely on the country’s public transport. Despite Mdina being…
New York’s fascinating Tenement Museum
Our visit to the Chinatown Heritage Centre in Singapore, a museum that revealed much about the lives of the poorest of immigrants to the city state, prompted memories of my favourite museum in New York City. The Tenement Museum in the bustling and traditionally working class Lower East Side explores the experiences of German, Irish and…
Exploring Luxembourg old town
Small but perfectly formed, Luxembourg is one of the Low Countries, a founding member of the EU and our choice for a hot and sunny August bank holiday weekend. Its capital, Luxembourg City, is equally modest but turned out to be a real charmer, easily walkable and attractive. Our first day in town was spent…