As you can see from the map below, 122 rue de Provence is not far at all from several of the tourist sights in Paris. But if you happen to pass the building today, although it now houses offices, here’s a fascinating story you can tell your companions.Back in...
Mallory Park in Leicestershire is well-known as a racing circuit. And a favourite experience for visitors is to attend one of the frequent track events where you’ll be taught by a professional racing driver how to handle a supercar around the 1.35-mile track....
The Lombardy region in Northern Italy is a fabulous place to visit – and still so very Italian. If you’re visiting the area I have a great, albeit sad little story for you to bore entertain your companions. The story dates from 1957 and the list of...
An online thesaurus has 493 synonyms for the word ‘penis’. You might be amazed by that. I am. (You can see them here … if you like.) I admit that I found that many of them were completely unknown to me. But I bet that Sigurður Hjartarson is familiar...
Abandoned anythings are spooky. Abandoned places that were once the scenes of fun and frolics are somehow even spookier. I’m thinking here about derelict funfairs or holiday camps. I get a bit weird and tend to imagine the ghostly sounds of laughing children....
Here’s another delicious and simple dish from Europe. If you’re not able to travel to Rome these days then you can at least create one of the city’s most famous – and most easy -to-make dishes at home. With just a few simple ingredients you can...
When you're visiting London and if you're strolling down Westminster Bridge Road, watch out for the building you see above. The architecture is pretty lovely of course. But it also has a rather unusual history It's close to Waterloo, The Houses of Parliament, various...
… then here’s a story to tell your companions. Baron’s Court is a tube station in West Kensington, London. The building itself is intriguing. The station opened in 1905 and features a terracotta facade and that lovely Art Nouveau lettering. However,...
If you asked most people to name a Victorian serial killer, I bet that they would think of Jack the Ripper. Well, forget old Jack. He was a very junior player when compared to Amelia Dyer. Her crimes, too many to be counted, were particularly horrible. The story is...
I imagine it’s one of those Marmite things – you either love it or hate it. I think it’s rather splendid, the Bierpinsel. This building, dating from the 1970s, is supposed to ‘look like a tree’ (truly) but from day one has been known as...
Strange title… anyway, Bellinzona is a rather lovely historic town in Switzerland. It’s famous for its three castles, Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro and they are located near to the border with Italy. I was exploring them this morning.Yes, I...
I’ve said here before that New Orleans is one of my favourite places in the States but one of my absolute favourite places in Europe is somewhere that’s so different – Monte Carlo. I was only about eleven years old when I first went there and –...
If you’re visiting England, then the chances are good that you’ll include Windsor Castle as one of your must-see places. It’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in England and is an easy drive from Central London. It’s easy to get...
If, like me, you’re the type of traveller who prefers the unusual, then it would be a great idea to put Poland’s Gorzanów Castle high on your list. The place is amazing and seems to be a combination of a faded, grand old castle and modern, cultural...
When I first saw a photograph of the building you see above, it went straight to the top of my list. I have to go there one day. The excellent photographer who created the photograph above has made the building look very stylish and elegant – it dates from...
The creation of the stunning Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore began in 1296. It was finally completed in 1436. Whichever way you look at it, that was a long, long time ago. But when the cathedral reopened to the public after the coronavirus lockdown, they used...
When I was a kid, my dad’s business was the motor trade. His businesses sold cars, repaired cars, sold petrol, sold oil … this was a long long time ago and it seemed that this relatively new business – based on the motor car – would be around...
Okay. Recently I wrote about the Shivering Sands Army Fort and described it as one of the spookiest places I’ve ever seen. Actually, it’s a toss-up – England’s Shivering Sands or Germany’s Ferropolis. You can get a glimpse of what the...
Local authorities and tourism organisations are having to serious;y rethink about the people whose entertainment and leisure they are responsible for. So on July 18th, 2020, in the midst of the COVID epidemic, the city of Paris held its first Le Cinéma Sur L’eau....
I’ve written about some seriously creepy places over the years but this must be one of the spookiest. Built during the Second World War, and about 9 miles from the nearest land, these anti-aircraft fortifications were interconnected by walkways and probably...
A modern castle – that’s what it was called when it was built. And remarkably, that was seventy years ago. It was seen as being astonishingly modern, nested as it was in the countryside of the somewhat traditional Northern France. It was created as the...
An American chap was once telling me a joke. It was about cars, two men were arguing; an American and a something-else that I don’t remember. The punchline was that the American said “Well, I should know because we Americans invented the car”. I...
If you’ve been to London, you might have noticed them. If you’re planning to go there, then watch out for them. These curious little structures, looking rather like a Victorian garden shed, are scattered throughout the city.There are only thirteen of them...
I could spend weeks in Berlin just looking at the architecture. And one building to see before it gets destroyed, or simply crumbles away, is the Stadtbad Lichtenberg. The building was opened in 1928 as a public baths. But more than that. It had swimming pools, a spa,...
It will only take you a couple of hours to drive to the Dolmen of Guadalperal from Madrid. And the best time to visit this monument – thought to be around 7,000 years old – is during a spell of dry weather. Zoom right in on the map below and you’ll...
Yes, that photograph. You know which one I mean, don’t you? You may have had it on your wall at some time, or you might even have it now, as IKEA alone has sold at least half a million copies over the years. But who took it? Where is the photographer now? And...
Just look at the sparkling ocean. Wouldn’t you love to swim in the clear, warm Mediterranean water? There’s a lovely beach too, of course, and in days gone by this resort was popular with the rich and famous. It wouldn’t have been unusual back in the...
If you’re visiting London and have had your fill of the usual tourist attractions, then head to Kennington Road where you’ll find the site of a gory murder, the childhood home of Charlie Chaplin, a war museum, a one-time residence of Vincent van Gogh and...
Clocks – marvellous things. Strangely, clocks and watches are still popular, despite the fact that we have digital readouts on our phones, laptops, car dashboards, cookers, microwaves and so on. True, clocks are more likely to be decor items these days and...
Considering that it’s a completely abandoned ghost town, Craco has seen a good amount of activity in recent years thanks to film & TV companies, occasional religious festivals and of course, visiting travellers. As you can see from the map below, it’s...
I never really think of Switzerland as being a pioneer in vegetarian cuisine. Yet the world’s oldest vegetarian restaurant is in Zurich – the Hiltl Restaurant which opened in 1897. It’s still in business today – in fact, there are several...
They can be found all over the world now, these floral clocks. Indeed. there was even one at Michael Jackson’s Neverland home. But the tradition began in Edinburgh in Scotland well over a hundred years ago. Over the years I must have walked past dozens, if not...
What is an albergho diffuso? If you’re looking for a vacation experience with a difference then these accommodations in Italy might be just what you’re looking for.Almost thirty years before Airbnb made famous its ‘live like a local’ concept...
Now you might have heard the expression ‘as dim as a Toc H lamp’ or you could be familiar with a track called Pow R. Toc H.from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. So it may be that you’ve heard of Toc H but do you know what it means?...
The abbey was founded in 1148 – which by anyone’s standards is a very long time ago. Little has changed since that time. To this day. the monks gather, seven times every day, to pray within the chapel. And just as they have for hundreds of years, in order...
Now, Jeremy Clarkson and I have very different views on one certain subject.His views have been widely aired on TV and in print and mine, sadly, haven’t. On this particular subject though, Jeremy and I – were we to meet in a cosy pub somewhere for a chat...
You can no longer stay there, but if you’re in the Brighton area and a fan of splendid architecture, then a detour to Saltdean is well worth the trip just to see the Ocean. It’s now fully restored and has a fascinating, of oh-too-familiar history. This...
There are two museums in England dedicated to the work of sculptor Barbara Hepworth. This one, the one in St Ives in Cornwall, is where Barbara lived and worked until her death. She and her husband, artist Ben Nicholson, had moved to St Ives at the outbreak of war in...
Isn’t that just gorgeous? The bridge was built in the last few years of the last century, opening in 2000, but the idea for the connection between Denmark and Sweden had been on the cards since before the Second World War. In fact, it was the war that was the...
I do like a good hotel but I’m not sure whether this is one I’d like to stay in. It’s not open as yet, so I’m secretly hoping that it might be delayed at the planning-permission stage or something. You see, to me this is just a little too...
To be fair I’ll have to admt that I don’t truly know what the top attraction is in Barcelona for visitors. But if I had to guess, I’d say the Sagrada Família, wouldn’t you?But I’d imagine that La Boqueria, the huge market, would run a...
They are an icon of Paris, without a doubt. The Morris Columns, developed in the nineteenth century specifically to support advertising posters are seen in other European towns too but yet they somehow seem to be so typical of Paris. When Gabriel Morris, a Parisien...
Meet Cumil. And as the title says, he is (allegedly) the most photographed tourist attraction in Bratislava. One of the surprises of Bratislava is the number of lifesize bronze statues that are scattered about. Cumil is described as ‘Man at Work’ although...
Sculptor David Černý created the ‘babies’ that you see in the photograph. And they are ‘crawling’ up and down the Žižkov Television Tower. The fibreglass sculptures were added to the tower as a temporary exhibition – Černý is a...
You know what Londoners are like. If you think that there are buildings in London that have official names such as the Gherkin then you’d be wrong – although just about everyone refers to it as such. There’s also no building that’s officially...
You might think that Count Cesare Mattei was really a bit of a nutcase but let’s be nice and call him eccentric. He founded a medical treatment known as ‘electrohomeopathy’ that was, evidently, total quackery. But, being a rich bloke, he also built a...
Airports these days can be pretty okay, architecturally speaking. But as so many people now prefer to experience travelling by train instead of being sardined into a cylindrical tube in the air, the beautiful railway stations of the world are being fully appreciated....
You’ve probably read here before about how I like to immerse myself in the local culture when I travel. And one of the easiest ways to do that is by experiencing the local cuisine. This is especially the case when the country’s speciality is something as...
I might as well tell you, right now, that I wouldn’t. Not for all the tea in China. I admit to being the person who hides behind a cushion when death-defying stunts are shown on the TV. And despite all the safety precautions in the world, this is one travel...
Did you read that fantastic story about Carlo Giarratano at the end of July 2019? He is the captain of a fishing boat who, despite new laws to the contrary, went to the aid of 50 migrants in a poorly prepared and ailing boat one night out at sea. Carlo Giarratano...
Many people visit London because it’s jam-packed with history. Visitors from newer countries love the fact that there are buildings, streets and stories that existed long before their own country did. But history from way back, although fascinating, is only part...
I guess that the clue is in the name. A feature with a German name in Italy does make you wonder just what it is and (if you’re me) whether it’s a relic from the Second World War. Kleine Berlin is a network of tunnels and yes, the tunnels were built during...
There are so many things to see in the old German town of Heidelberg. You’d need, I think, at least two weeks there in order to enjoy everything that the place has to offer.But one site, often overlooked by visitors, is the Thingstätte. The whatstatte? Well,...
If you love to drive then I imagine that photograph made you wonder where that is. And can you drive along that road? And actually, it’s even more exciting than it looks in that photograph – see the video below.So you might be surprised to hear that you...
Now I don’t know about you, but when I first saw the photograph above, I assumed that it was taken somewhere pretty rural. Definitely somewhere in the country and somewhere, I thought, with a tropical climate. Either that or maybe some sort of zoo or tropical...
Name a World War Two aircraft. Go on. I know nothing about planes but I bet that most people will have had the same answer I did – ‘the spitfire’. Many were built at the Castle Bromwich Assembly, a factory that now makes something equally speedy...
A reader suggested that we create a map for fans of JRR Tolkien for when they are visiting England. So here we are. Many of the places where Tolkien lived, worked or stayed have been honoured with a ‘blue plaque’. These are permanent markers attached to...
It calls itself ‘Denmark’s Most Distinctive Museum’ and I’m certainly not going to argue with that. It’s been open since 1935 and was the brainchild and creation of Danish artist, Anders Bundgaard. Originally a limestone mine, the museum...
When you visit Shambles Square in Manchester, especially the Old Wellington Inn and Sinclair’s Oyster Bar, you’ll be wrong if you feel that you’ve gone back in time. You haven’t. Well, you sort of have done. Oh how tricky, let me...
You might be visiting Hagley Hall in Worcester. It’s an astonishingly magnificent stately home. It’s totally gorgeous, historic, set in wonderful parkland and gives you a very special glimpse into the lives of the aristocracy in the days when luxury was a...
One of the joys of visiting England is finding and experiencing country pubs. The Mug Inn is an excellent example and also very unusual as it’s situated on consecrated ground. It started life in the 15th century as the local church’s ale house. You can see...
For many years, the Chamberi station – part of Madrid’s metro system – was left abandoned.It was part of the original underground when it was built in 1919. It was one of the eight stations that formed the original network and was designed by...
Have you seen the 1962 movie, The Longest Day? It’s a docudrama (as these things are now called) about the World War Two Normandy landings. D-Day in other words. If you’ve seen the film you might remember the part played by Red Buttons. He played a...
In 1971, so the story goes, people who lived near an abandoned military base in Copenhagen broke into the place. Their intentions were to let their children use the ex-base as a playground.Just a couple of months later, a journalist whose main contribution to the city...
Sometimes, it really astonishes me to see what people in history could achieve. That’s especially when it comes to matters of mechanics and the decorative arts. And therefore I’m amazed when I realised that Prague’s Astronomical Clock is over 600...
That’s how Chillingham Castle describes itself – it claims to be the most haunted castle in Britain. You’d think that most castles worthy of the name would have a good smattering of ghosts and ghouls so that’s quite a claim for Chillingham to...
The location scouts looking for fantastic places to make part of the Harry Potter films probably were delighted to find Leadenhall Market. It was featured quite a few times in the movie series – just take a look at the photographs and the video below and you can...
‘Magnificent, moving and utterly haunting’ is how one reviewer sums up this unusual museum. Yes, you can certainly call a visit to this museum ‘dark tourism’ but it gives the strange details of an event that is mostly unknown outside Italy. And...
San Servolo was once known, eerily, as ‘the island of the mad’. This is because for many years it was an asylum for the insane. Before that, it was a monastery and during that time, the monks were joined by nuns who were escaping from a dramatic seaquake....
If it isn’t one of the most visited places in Scotland then it certainly must be a contender for the most romantic. It’s certainly one of the world’s most popular wedding destinations. And it has been since the 1700s so you can forgive the locals if...
It’s a pretty spooky place. There have been fortifications on this site for hundreds of years. The present fort was in use until 1956 – and is now open to visitors. You can see from the map below that it’s located in the very tip of a spar of land...
It’s likely that every New Year’s Eve you and your friends sing Auld Lang Syne. You might know that it was written by Scottish poet Robert Burns. And as his active years were in the 1700s, that shows just how old the song has been around. And it all...
Gender discrimination, prostitution, sex for sale … it’s all here in the (relatively) hidden area of Herbertstraße. If you’re under eighteen, you can’t stroll down this street. Women aren’t welcome either. Herbertstraße is one of the last...
Anne Lister was born in 1791 in Yorkshire. That’s many years before homosexuality became legal in Britain and at that time, the word ‘lesbian’ didn’t exist but nevertheless, Anne grew up to be a pioneer in the world of being true to her own...
When you’re travelling in the Mediterranean area, it may be that you have a good – or reasonably good – grasp of the languages you hear. Travelling through the South of France, into Monaco, over to northern Italy … those languages you hear are...
This battered building has a varied history. Built in 1888 it started life as a theatre. It continued in its role until the final couple of years of the Second World War. It was one of the very few theatres in Hamburg that survived Allied bombing unscathed but when...
If perchance you were a child in the twentieth century – as I was – or if you are a devotee of classic comics, then the name of Hergé will be familiar to you. That’s because it was dramatically announced at the beginning of each television episode of...
It’s one of those things I’d never really thought about. Of course, we’ve all heard of gunpowder and explosives but it had never occurred to me to wonder where these products actually came from. Where were they made? Visit the Waltham Abbey Royal...
For visitors from other parts of the world, Kaymakli seems to be magical and other-world-y. In this region of Turkey there are several underground cities and although Kaymakli isn’t the deepest, it’s certainly the largest. It’s thought that...
This Modernist building caused quite a stir when it was opened in 1935. It was the first building in the UK to be created using a welded steel frame and its architects were both fleeing from Hitler’s regime. They were German Erich Mendelsohn and Russian Serge...
For me, I don’t know about you, one of the pleasures of travelling is eating authentic food it the location of its origin. I’m sure that you’ve found too that a Pizza Napoletana in Naples is nothing like the one from your local pizza place. Just one...
All over the world, there are mysterious caves. And many of them are open to visitors these days. They are truly fascinating and have been used for many purposes. Some date back for thousands of years. The Chislehurst caves are also available to visit and have a...
Probably the most well-known method of crossing the River Mersey comes from a 1960s pop song – from the early days of Merseybeat. Continued to fame as a theme sung by football crowds, it is of course Ferry Cross the Mersey. Ferries have been used to cross the...
Just look at that photograph. It doesn’t get much more idyllic than that, does it? I live in Fort Lauderdale, often described by people marketing the place as the ‘Venice of America’ and as you might expect, Giethoorn gets the ‘Venice’...
I’ve rarely seen street art that I haven’t appreciated. And that appreciation is doubled – no, much more – when the venue is the Berlin Wall. When the wall came down in 1989, artists from all over the world commemorated this with the creation...
It may well be that you’ve been to Charing Cross station in London and, like me, not really noticed the lavishly decorated monument that stands right outside. And if you’re English – we tend to be a bit blasé about the history that’s liberally...
Recently, we’ve discussed the Swedish fika and the English custom of afternoon tea so it’s interesting to see what other countries have as afternoon traditions. What about the Spanish? When you’re visiting Spain will you find an afternoon tradition...
Number two Willow Road is the central apartment in a row of three – built in the late thirties and designed by Ernő Goldfinger. Goldfinger was a well-known designer and architect – he was originally from Budapest but made his home in London for many years...
Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd created The Knotted Gun, also known as Non-Violence, after the shooting of John Lennon in 1980. As an activist for peace, Lennon would have been appalled at the situation with guns today, especially in his adopted homeland, the...
It’s funny but there are tourists who visit London and ask their hotel concierge or the local tourism office about how they can get tickets to tour 10 Downing Street. I really doubt that in their country you’d be able to book tickets to tour the...
Superkilen is a public park with a difference. It wasn’t created by city planners but by a design group who aimed to demonstrate the multiculturalism of the area within the design of the area – a feature that the park intends to promote. It has three main...
In 1935, there was a hit song that had been featured in a film. The song was considered to be terribly English and was performed by British actor (actually Scottish), Jack Buchanan. The title of the song was ‘Everything Stops For Tea’. Of course,...
Have you ever read the page about Denmark on Wikipedia? You probably know that Denmark is consistently at the top of the charts as a great place to live – the people seem to be so happy. But why? First, let’s see what Wikipedia has to say: Denmark is...
Until it was closed in 1853, Cross Bones was an unconsecrated, unofficial graveyard. Many of the corpses that were buried there were those of babies due to the high infant mortality rate in earlier times, or those of women thought to be prostitutes. It was closed...
It’s something that was glossed over for many years. We know all about it now though, the fact that millions of animals served Britain and its Allies during the wars of the last century. It’s said that eight million horses died in the First World War...
Långholmen is one of the several islands in Stockholm and you may remember that I’ve written about it before – that fact that the old prison there is now being used as a hotel and hostel. The old prison also houses a museum so you can find out about the...
Hartlepool in the north east of England is rarely on anyone’s list of places they absolutely must visit. Which is a shame because it’s only a few miles from one of the most wonderful areas on the planet (the North Yorkshire Moors, says this Yorkshire girl)...
At first glance, Bletchley Park looks simply to be a rather ornate English country house. It’s only about 50 miles from London – to the north – and was built in the late nineteenth century. It has elaborate features, as you can see in the photographs...
It’s only about a hundred miles away from the fabulous city of Glasgow but yet the Isle of Jura is almost like going back in time. It’s the sort of place that you have to plan to visit – spontaneity isn’t recommended here due to the remoteness...
Many people travel to visit Ascott House and Gardens, a fabulous country estate in Buckinghamshire. And if it’s on your itinerary, make sure to allow time for a detour to Bridego Bridge. Yes, an ordinary country railway bridge in ordinary English countryside. It...
