Europe and Middle East
Tallinn. Too tempting to miss.
18/06/2014 .The Beaches of Emilia Romagna
16/06/2014 .The Emilia Romagna region along Italy’s Adriatic coastal stretch is impressive. Miles and miles of soft sandy beaches, all of them clean as a whistle and family friendly. This is the thing about most Italian resort beaches, they are set up perfectly.From Lido di Volano in the north by the Po Delta to Cattolica in the south close to the border with the Marche region.There are play areas for kids where parents can sit and relax and still keep an eye on the little ones, excellent clean toilets and wash rooms and plenty of available beds and umbrellas.
Read the full story herePink Night (La Notte Rosa) Rimini. Italy
13/06/2014 .Considering it was well into the early hours, Rimini seemed to have absolutely no intention of going to bed. It was staying up and having a ball; all the shops were open, the bars were doing great business and all along the beach in each direction you could only see a sea of pink. Pink Night is something a little special in Rimini. Not, as you might first think, a celebration of anything remotely gender based, but simply a celebration of a summer version of New Year’s Eve.
Read the full story hereParma. italy. Prosciutto and Parmigiano heaven.
13/06/2014 .Aida was staring intently at me and explaining his unbridled passion for Verdi, so too for that matter, was La Boheme. La Traviata would have joined in the discussions but due to his advancing years was content to just sit and let his younger contemporaries take centre stage. In fact, I would think all 27 of Verdi’s works would have wanted to have their say given the opportunity. Let me just add at this point, these famous compositions were not Verdi’s original pieces, but very real gentlemen. They were life members of the Parma “Club of 27” and I was an honoured guest at their exclusive premises in the heart of Parma’s old town just a few miles from the great man’s home town of Busseto.
Read the full story hereGlamping at Elephant Lodge. Port Lympne Wild Animal Park
28/05/2014 .It is a little after 5pm and I am surrounded by giraffes. Not any old giraffes you understand, but Rothschild Giraffes no less, the tallest land animals on earth. Under the circumstances, you would be forgiven for thinking I am in the Serengeti, or the Maasai Mara perhaps, but you would be wrong, because this is Kent, the garden of England and I am having a ball glamping at Elephant Lodge in the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park
Read the full story hereA cycling holiday in Portugal. Uncover Portugal’s breathtaking landscape
17/04/2014 .Andy Mossack reviews a cycling holiday in Portugal
Read the full story hereThe Clock Apartments Jaffa
01/04/2014 .Early morning in the ancient city of Jaffa and the streets are coming to back to life; the smell of freshly baked bread, car horns bleating from impatient drivers going to work, the sound of shop shutters being raised, a faint chant of a far off muezzin calling to prayer. This is the beating heart of old Jaffa and I love it.
Read the full story hereA weekend wonder on the Calais Coast
27/03/2014 .From his lofty perch some 53 metres up, Napoleon Bonaparte gazes across at what might have been. Back in 1804 over 100,000 men of his grand army stood alongside him right here at Boulogne sur Mer on the Calais coast poised to invade England.
Read the full story hereOn the trail of Richard Strauss in Germany
26/03/2014 .This is the view from composer Richard Strauss’s house in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Is it any wonder that he wrote the “Alpine Symphony”?
Read the full story herePecs. The Gateway to the Balkans
26/03/2014 .When I went to visit Pécs (pronounced Paych) the 5th city of Hungary I expected to find the grey uniformity associated with decades of communism. As if to prove me wrong the guide started her tour of Pecs by pointing out the brightly covered roof of the town hall, glinting in the sun, defying the long years when the colourful tiles had been covered over.
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