by Jackie Jackson | Apr 18, 2018 | Destinations
The Hebridean Islands are well-known because of their incredible scenery, wild seas and astonishing wildlife. The islands are largely unspoiled and the Isle of Lewis is no exception. And if you want to baffle a friend with a trivia question, who do these three...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 17, 2018 | Destinations
Paris is a beautiful city. Few people would argue with me there. But what exactly is the deal with reproducing wonderful places? Tianducheng is a suburb of Hangzhou in China and Paris has been reproduced – not very well – in a development that was built in...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 16, 2018 | Destinations
Kunsthofpassage is a series of alleyways in the student district of Dresden. The area contains quirky bookshops and cafés – and unusually decorated buildings. One of the most famous is the one you see above. A series of drainpipes are displayed not only in an...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 14, 2018 | Destinations
The wreck of the Francisco Morazan can still be seen just a couple of hundred yards from the shore of Lake Michigan. Yet the ship floundered and was abandoned in 1960. The ship was built in 1922 in Germany and you can still tell today, looking at the wreck, that it...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 13, 2018 | Destinations
Even though French iconic singer Edith Piaf died as long ago as 1963, most people would recognise her voice today. Even those who aren’t old enough to remember her will probably know this: And there is a private museum dedicated to her in Paris. It can be...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 12, 2018 | Destinations
Bunce Island has a fascinating and rather chilling history. Today the island is deserted but in 1670 a castle was built there by a British slave trading company which became a hub for the slave trade. People from the west coast of Africa were kidnapped and shipped as...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 11, 2018 | Destinations
York is a truly amazing place. It’s packed with history, ancient architecture, museums, parks … there are fabulous places to eat, the local scenery is unbeatable and it’s even a great place to shop. Bizarrely, you can also – free of charge...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 11, 2018 | Destinations
There is a state in Western Australia called Dardanup and within that area is Ferguson Valley. There’s not much there, really. A timber mill was there back in Victorian times but it closed in 1929. In 1950 the town there was mostly destroyed by fire. Yet...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 9, 2018 | Destinations
Lombard Street in San Francisco is one of those strange American sights that are so beloved of tourists. And it’s hardly surprising as it’s known as ‘the most crooked street in the world’. You can see in the photographs and videos below just...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 8, 2018 | Destinations
Royal scandals tend to be a thing of the past these days but in the UK in the 1930s there was plenty of royal scandal to keep everyone entertained. The British papers tried hard to rise above these matters but the foreign press had a field day with the new king,...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 7, 2018 | Destinations
It seems unbelievable to us today. It was June 2, 1988. Joe Cocker gave a concert in Dresden, Germany. That doesn’t sound too unusual, does it? A musician playing a public concert? But it was unusual when you realise that at that time, Germany was still a year...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 4, 2018 | Destinations
If you’re flying to Paris and are just about to land at the airport, the chances are that you’ll be flying over the ghost village of Goussainville-Vieux Pays . When you’re read the story that led to this village being abandoned, you’ll be sure...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 2, 2018 | Destinations
England abounds with eccentrics – people and buildings. And the Royal Pavillion at Brighton is so much a part of English culture that it’s only when I take a step back, and see it as a foreigner would, that I realise just how bizarre it is. Let’s...
by Jackie Jackson | Apr 1, 2018 | Destinations
So you happen to be in Iceland, in Reykjavik. And you see that there’s a museum ahead – it’s the Icelandic Phallological Museum. Do you go in? Actually, I suspect that the real question here is who thought about having a willy collection in the first...
by Jackie Jackson | Mar 31, 2018 | Destinations
Even if it didn’t have important historic associations, Treetops would still be a fascinating place to stay because of its location – – 100 miles from Nairobi in the Aberdare National Park. The hotel is the ideal place to view Africa’s...
by Jackie Jackson | Mar 30, 2018 | Destinations
There are many incredibly picturesque villages in France and Pont-en-Royans is an excellent example. You can see from the photographs how the brightly-coloured houses cling to the craggy cliff sides with the river running peacefully below. As you can see from the map...
by Jackie Jackson | Mar 26, 2018 | Destinations
Probably the most well-known waterfall in the world, Reichenbach Falls has a fictional hero to thank for its fame. For it is here that Conan Doyle’s detective, Sherlock Holmes, had his ‘fatal’ battle with his arch enemy, Professor Moriarty. It was...
by Jackie Jackson | Mar 24, 2018 | Destinations
Baywater is a lovely area of London with elegant terraces featuring delightful architecture. But next time you’re in London, it’s worth visiting Leinster Gardens because two of the houses there are not what they first appear to be. Numbers 23 and 24 are...
by Jackie Jackson | Mar 22, 2018 | Destinations
Seriously spooky, Hashima Island is also known as Gunkanjima or Battleship Island. At one time it was densely populated and busy – today it’s a ghost town. It used to be a mining community that first started in 1900 thanks to the Mitsubishi Corporation...
by Jackie Jackson | Mar 18, 2018 | Destinations
My dad was the most travelled person that I’ve ever met and he always maintained that Cape Town was the finest place he had ever visited. Bo Kaap is a fabulous area to explore. With Table Mountain forming its backdrop, the area has brightly coloured houses on...
by Jackie Jackson | Mar 17, 2018 | Destinations
I was still at school when I found out about the Mouseman. The school, which was quite posh, needed new furniture for the teachers’ use during assembly. I recall that the headmistress was very proud because he had purchased the furniture from the Mouseman....
by Jackie Jackson | Mar 15, 2018 | Destinations
Imagine it … about a hundred feet below you, heavy waves are crashing onto jagged rocks. Seabirds swoop at you. The wind is high. The only way forward is to walk across a fragile rope bridge swaying in front of you. The walk won’t be a long one, less than...
by Jackie Jackson | Mar 12, 2018 | Destinations
The movie Inkheart tells a fantasy story that features an abandoned village that was revitalised. Here’s the trailer. The village actually exists and it is abandoned. The film gives us some idea of what the village would have been like before it was abandoned,...
by Jackie Jackson | Mar 10, 2018 | Destinations
If you’re anything like me, you hear or read ‘Joliet’ and it means only one thing – The Blues Brothers! At the beginning of this super-cool, classic, cult film, Elwood Blues is collecting his brother Jake who is just being released from jail...
by Jackie Jackson | Mar 9, 2018 | Destinations
It’s not only me who finds this building (above, left) perfectly awful. In 2015, the building won the Carbuncle Cup – which is awarded annually to the ugliest building in the UK. And it’s not just ugly, it also has a serious solar glare problem....
by Jackie Jackson | Mar 7, 2018 | Destinations
Although it’s an excellent idea to research the places you’re going to when you’re travelling, I also find that reading historical books about an area can be just as interesting, if not more so, than researching the best restaurants and where to find...
by Jackie Jackson | Feb 27, 2018 | Destinations
What does Trollstigen mean? In Norwegian, it means ‘Trolls’ Road’ and this twisty and narrow road runs perilously on the side of a mountain. It’s appropriately named as in Scandinavian mythology trolls are rather evil little goblin-like...
by Jackie Jackson | Feb 24, 2018 | Destinations
If you’re in the UK and travelling on the north-to-south M1 motorway, then it’s worth a small detour to visit the tiny village of Linby. I’m afraid that I don’t know exactly when the village was initially founded but the church dates from the...
by Jackie Jackson | Feb 19, 2018 | Destinations
Well, would you? Would you cross the Iya Valley on this vine bridge? History doesn’t reveal who built these bridges – or why – but it certainly was an ingenious solution. Wisteria vines were woven together along with planking to produce a footbridge...
by Jackie Jackson | Feb 19, 2018 | Destinations
Most of us know a little about the 1936 Summer Olympics that were held in the outskirts of Berlin. And even for those of us who know very little, the combination of Germany, 1936 and Hitler indicates very creepy undertones. As we can imagine, Hitler saw the games as...
by Jackie Jackson | Feb 18, 2018 | Destinations
One of the most famous buildings in Spain had its construction started in 1882. And it’s still not completed. It’s estimated that Gaudi’s Sagrada Família in Barcelona will finally be fully completed in 2026. Gaudi himself died exactly one hundred...
by Jackie Jackson | Feb 3, 2018 | Destinations
An astonishing place, the National Memorial Arboretum in the UK exists especially as the nation’s tribute to the men and women who have been killed, injured or afflicted by war and in the service of their country. It was conceived in 1988 and designed to be a...
by Jackie Jackson | Jan 21, 2018 | Destinations
You’ll remember Icarus from Greek mythology, right? To refresh your memory, he was the bloke who had wings made of wax and despite being warned not to do so, he flew too close to the sun. The result, naturally, was that his wax wings melted and he fell into the...
by Jackie Jackson | Jan 13, 2018 | Destinations, Where to Stay
If so, then you’ll find that Fort Lauderdale is hard to beat. And there’s so much more than the sea, sand and sun. Fort Lauderdale’s events calendar is always busy – from festivals to theatre, from art exhibitions to sporting events – and...
by Jackie Jackson | Jan 12, 2018 | Destinations
Wroclaw in Poland has a lot to commend it to the traveller. It has been the European Capital of Culture, the World Book Capital, it has hosted the European Film Awards and has several theatres, festivals, museums, sports facilities and plenty more. The...
by Jackie Jackson | Jan 6, 2018 | Destinations
There are over 60,000 stolpersteine in various places throughout the world. If you’ve been to Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy … most of Europe … then the chances are that you’ve seen at least one. If your trip is in the future, watch out...
by Jackie Jackson | Jan 1, 2018 | Destinations
I imagine that in years to come, there will be an increase in American visitors to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle – thanks to the marriage of the UK’s Prince Harry to American actor Meghan Markle. Our two countries have a long history together...
by Jackie Jackson | Dec 31, 2017 | Destinations
I have just added this place to my bucket list and originally, it was simply because of the name. (Although the fact that it’s in the wonderful county of Yorkshire helps, of course. It’s in a great location – about ten miles away from York itself and...
by Jackie Jackson | Dec 30, 2017 | Destinations
Definitely falling into the category of dark tourism, Peenemünde is decidedly spooky. It is located on the island of Usedom in the Baltic and since the nineteenth century was a vacation venue for Prussian royalty and German nobility. But, in common with several other...
by Jackie Jackson | Dec 26, 2017 | Destinations
This is true but I can’t blame you for wondering how sausages could possibly save lives. Well, admittedly I’m going back a few hundred years here but the fact is that yes, a humble sausage saved hundreds if not thousands of lives. I’ll explain…...
by Jackie Jackson | Dec 23, 2017 | Destinations
At the end of 2017, Airbnb published a list of destinations that were (and had been) trending. I was surprised to see the second on the list was the good old English seaside resort of Bournemouth. I lived near Bournemouth for several years – and worked there...
by Jackie Jackson | Dec 18, 2017 | Destinations
Don’t you think that there’s something very spooky but nevertheless fascinating about abandoned ships? Well, did you know that the USA has one of the world’s largest ‘ship graveyards’ and that you can visit it? What’s more,...
by Jackie Jackson | Dec 15, 2017 | Destinations
Often, when people write about Yorkshire, their articles are illustrated by photographs of sheep. There are lots of sheep in Yorkshire and the county was, at one time, at the forefront of the woollen industry. But this is a bit of a strange one… Many years ago,...
by Jackie Jackson | Dec 2, 2017 | Destinations
Visitors to Venice, or at least those who are in the know, often take a trip – even if just for a day – to the colourful island of Burano. It’s only a few kilometres from Venice itself and the water bus trip takes only about half an hour from St...
by Jackie Jackson | Nov 19, 2017 | Destinations
It’s one of those debates that crops up from time to time – which do you prefer to drink, still water or fizzy water? Whichever you prefer, the fact remains that the bottled water industry is enormous (and regarded by some as something of a con.) I...
by Jackie Jackson | Jun 20, 2017 | Destinations
The SS Palo Alto has had a chequered career. I tend to find ships and boats have a spooky aspect to them and this is certainly one of them. To begin with, the ship was built of concrete. (That alone seems weird to me). It was out of luck from the very start of its...
by Jackie Jackson | Jun 18, 2017 | Destinations
It’s not often that anyone can use the phrase ‘you’ve seen the chair, now see the house‘. But I really imagine that most of us know the chair. Look at the image of the house above – doesn’t it have familiar design features? The...
by Jackie Jackson | Jun 15, 2017 | Destinations
The idea of visiting monuments and cemeteries when you’re on vacation is a popular one today – from the historic graveyards of New Orleans to the grave of Victor Noir in Paris. Previous generations of travellers wanted to see how people in days gone by...
by Jackie Jackson | Jun 13, 2017 | Destinations
So, there you are exploring London and it’s time for lunch. (Or breakfast or dinner or a light snack). Of course, there are so many places you can go. But how about something a little different this time? Enjoy coffee in a crypt! In Central London, you’ll...
by Jackie Jackson | Jun 11, 2017 | Destinations
For the very few readers who don’t know, Mae West was a raunchy actress, writer and comedian who was born in Brooklyn in 1893. To try to explain a little about her, the first play she wrote and acted in – in 1926 – was entitled Sex. She continued to...
