Millions of passengers travel through St Pancras Station in London every year. With trains going to Europe (Paris, Amsterdam, Rotterdam… via the Channel Tunnel), connections going to various parts of the UK – with all that train activity going on people...
West African painter Joseph Adibleku is inspired by colours. He has been painting since he was young and his work is valued due to Joseph’s natural talent. A fabulous range of his work is now available online and can be shipped to almost anywhere in the world....
You might have thought that Fidel Castro had plenty on his mind in the nineteen sixties. But no. In addition to other issues that might have been taking up a little thought, the Cuban was thinking that what Havana really needed was an ice cream parlor. And preferably...
Rednaxela Terrace is a street in the Mid-Levels section in Hong Kong. This is an affluent area and is a great attraction because of its massive walkway system. The area is built on hills and in early times, the only way to get from place to place was by a series of...
Have you noticed that as a society we’ve become more and more liable to compete for … well, nothing? Human beings are competitive – we wouldn’t have got as far as the twenty-first century if we weren’t – but today our competitive...
I suspect that you and I could start a conversation about the purpose of art, and what is art for, and what is the importance of art … and I think we’d still be talking about it in a week’s time. There’s a lot of ground to cover there....
It must be one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. And if you’ve been there, I’m willing to bet that you remember that smell, that special aroma of sage, juniper and myrtle blending together in the sun. Marseille is the second largest cities in...
There are some pretty amazing places to visit on this earth – and below it. Salina Turda is an astounding example. This ancient salt mine is now a fascinating place for travellers to visit. What? Visiting a salt mine? Do you think that’s a bit specialist?...
There was a time when it was leather all the way for me when it came to luggage. Foolish, I know. But the light did dawn, I’m glad to say and now I love to find products that are hand-created from recycled goods. This is particularly the case when fabulous...
Sheats Apartments building is an early example of the work of architect John Lautner. Built in 1949, it was intended for use as accommodation for UCLA students and seems to have spent most of its life to date as such. The building contains eight self-contained...
Okay, so Google tells me that there are still people who play Pokemon Go but there are still millions of us who prefer Geocaching. And as Pokemon gradually fades, many new people are being attracted to the original ‘hide and seek’ games of this century. If...
If you’re visiting the USA from overseas, you’ve probably already wondered about food. Can you eat healthily in the USA? You’ve read about the meat and poultry industries and their practices, you are aware that the United States has an extremely high...
Seaside piers, bathing huts, bandstands, floral clocks in parks … they all sum up English days gone by to me. I’m thinking Edwardian or possibly before. Or even later – the years between the world wars.When England was booming on the world’s...
Maybe you’ve been to Ireland and regretted not bringing more of their lovely products and gifts back home? Or perhaps it’s at the top of your list – a visit to Ireland as soon as you can. Here’s the answer. If you didn’t bring home the...
I admit that I really don’t understand what comes over some people when they become Airbnb hosts. Is it the prospect of earning a ton of money or what? Why is it that they suddenly become blinkered to human nature? Why do they suddenly forget what the world is...
I’m not quite sure what it is about the Belgians. Their famous statue, Mannekin Pis, has been making schoolboys snigger since the seventeenth century. Did you know, by the way, that the one you see there today peeing away happily isn’t the original? The...
Totally spooky. I can’t imagine what it would be like to see Fort Boyard in the twilight or in a ghostly mist. It’s actually a fort but has the look of a stone ship – pretty forbidding, I think. Work began to create this creepiness in 1801 under...
It started life as an opulent theatre, opening in 1919. It later transitioned to a cinema, as so many theatres did when people decided that moving pictures were more interesting than moving, acting, singing human beings. And what singers there had been there. True,...
I know it’s tricky. As an Airbnb (or other site) STR host then you know that you have to be firm with your guests – but you also need to be sure that you don’t annoy them. If you’re using Airbnb or another site that encourages guests to leave...
I honestly thought it was a joke. But it turns out that the Heart Attack Grill is real. And it lives up to its name. Its mission, if it can be said to be a mission, is to serve up the sort of food that if eaten on a regular basis would lead to a heart attack. Yes, the...
