Inherit The Earth
Europe
Lower Saxony: High living
This is an extract from my article in the October issue of Food & Travel magazine: www.foodandtravel.com AMERICAN Michael Boyer (pictured) has the glorious title of ‘Rattenfanger’ in the town of Hameln (better known to us as Hamelin). It means ‘Rat-Catcher’ but he is, of course, the brightly arrayed Pied Piper who famously led the … Continue reading
Kiev: Beyond the Orthodox
IT’S the statues. Kiev looks like many a European city while the people in designer clothes, ever so slightly out of London style time, and the shops featuring labels such as Louis Vuitton or Nike could be anywhere. But the statues of heroic people straining their every sinew to serve the Motherland could only be … Continue reading
Lisbon: Looking out for No.1
AS any Sharpe fan will know, and hopefully most of the rest of us, too, Portugal is Britain’s oldest ally. Visiting Lisbon, I was reminded of the link between the countries by one iconic image: the bright red pillar box. Lisbon’s post boxes are the old British Victorian design, given a local makeover with a … Continue reading
Berchtesgaden: A leap of faith
‘HOW MUCH do you weigh?’ asks my instructor. An innocuous question normally but, considering I am just about to launch myself off an alp on a parachute that he has already attached to me, surely one I should have been asked earlier?
Dubrovnik: Historical ties
LIKE many of you, I lament the loss of the cravat. Not quite wearing a tie, not quite a slob, you have the best of both worlds: casual while being elegant. But did you know a tie is a cravat – ‘tie’ merely referring to the fact the cravat is knotted at the collar?
Finland: Porvoo
IT LOOKS quiet in Porvoo Old Town. Too quiet. I’m looking at the cathedral that dominates the skyline of this lovely old village of red-ochred wooden houses sprawling down a hillside to the river. Sadly, it was the target of an arson attack in May 2006, which destroyed its roof and damaged its priceless medieval … Continue reading
Armenia: Taste of the old order
IT’S HARD NOT to go to a country from the former Soviet Bloc without a James Bond moment. I had a perfect one on arrival at Yerevan Airport, a pleasing concrete flying saucer of a building. A police officer kept staring at me. Perhaps I should have been a tad more nervous but, despite the … Continue reading
Kildare: Great to play a round in
TAKE a beautiful, old country house in ancient, rolling Kildare parkland, spend millions on extensions, modernisation, spa facilities and an Arnold Palmer golf course and you’re going to have something pretty special.
Brittany: The mythic west
THE FIRST time I went camping in Brittany, I found the perfect ice-breaker. Having nearly run out of meths for my camping stove, I went around the various chemists in the tiny fishing port of Camaret, showing them the dregs of purple liquid and asking in my rudimentary French if they had anything like it.
Star Clipper: Sail through the centuries
WE TEND to think of the Mediterranean as a small sea, almost a lake. But, when you’re actually on it, you find it is a pretty big place. From Gibraltar to Sicily, Alexandria to Dubrovnik, it spans three continents and many countries and cultures. It can turn fierce, sink ships and pummel shores. Or, in … Continue reading
