Archive For The “Travel” Category
PortaScent is exactly what it says. It’s a small refillable spray and perfect for one’s handbag, manbag, bathroom bag or travel bag. It makes a wonderful and affordable gift for both men and women. This little spray bottle is so convenient, but I would counsel any girl with a social life to buy two. It’s…
It’s true – one hardly expects to find castles in The Netherlands! But they do exist and there are many of them, along with stately homes of grace and beauty. Few historic buildings in The Netherlands can equal De Haar for its representation of a fairy-tale castle. It is among the top twenty most-visited Dutch…
Pieter Bruegel produced unique works which are still easily recognised today. They reflect the reality of the 16th Century in northern Europe – and that was often brutal. Brussels and Bruegel will forever be associated. He undertook some of his most important works there and he is buried in the city. He had needed to…
Mauritius is a beautiful island but there is still that temptation to stay within the confines of one’s luxury and well-appointed resort. That would be a shame as there is so much to see here. There is history aplenty and also celebrated rhum. No that’s not a spelling mistake but rather an indication that this…
It’s that season when a young (or not so young) person’s fancy turns to festivals. We have great hopes for weather, music, good food (only kidding) and good times. But we do need a few accessories, and one in particular will make life more pleasant for the festival-goer and those around them. I introduce Alexander…
Middachten Castle or Kasteel Middachten in Dutch, is a significant and beautiful manor house, located on the Middachten estate, De Steeg, Netherlands. The building we see today dates from 1698. Since 2004 the castle has been a rijksmonument which is a register of Dutch sites of interest. Middachten Castle is part of the Top 100…
Edvard Munch Love and Angst British Museum from 11th April – 21st July 2019 “We do not want pretty pictures to be hung on drawing-room walls. We want… an art that arrests and engages. An art of one’s innermost heart.” – Edvard Munch The creator of art’s most haunting and iconic face. A radical father…
This is said to be the most famous castle in the Netherlands. That will come as a surprise to most tourists, who will likely not have realised that Holland even had any castles. Loevestein Castle will intrigue and delight and have visitors wanting to learn more about the history of this relatively undiscovered region of…
OK, I had not heard of Lambic and that’s mainly because I am not a big beer drinker, but this was something of a revelation …and a delicious one. Lambic is a style of beer brewed mainly in the Pajottenland region of Belgium. These beers include gueuze and kriek lambic, which are both striking and…
A guided tour of Blandy’s 17th century Wine Lodge and its associated Wine Museum, in the centre of Funchal, will reveal some of the art and science that generations of producers have developed, to make a range of delicious, rich and long-lasting wines out of the grapes grown here. There are several excellent table wines,…
From 1 June to 29 September 2019 at The Kröller-Müller The summer exhibition The Beginning of a New World The development of modern sculpture is the perfect occasion to visit the Kröller-Müller. For the first time ever, the museum tells the story of the modern sculpture collection, seen through the eyes of Bram Hammacher, director…
Gaasbeek Castle for a Feast of Fools: Bruegel Rediscovered 6 April 2019 – 28 July 2019 Gaasbeek Castle isn’t far from the thronging city of Brussels, but it is a million miles away with its calming ambiance and leafy location. It’s a former stately home of charm and architectural beauty, and serves as a venue…
Funchal in Madeira is one of my favourite cities and Quinta da Casa Branca has one of my favourite restaurants. That is surely a recipe for delicious contentment and a very happy reviewer. I have not actually stayed at Quinta da Casa Branca but dream of doing so. It is perhaps one of the most…
Aegina is perhaps the most accessible of Greek island idylls. It’s the playground of holidaymakers from Athens, but has also long been popular with European tourists who are looking for a quintessentially Greek experience. The island is named after Aegina, one of the 50 daughters of the river god Asopus. It is located only 25…
Goossens Farm with Malting Brewery Lambic Brewery Heritage Lambic beer is a typical wild yeast beer, brewed in the southwest region of Brussels (Pajottenland). It forms the basis for geuze (a blend of lambic of 3 different ages) and for kriek lambic, a cherry beer. This farm with malting brewery was one of the many…
Mangaマンガ – till 26 August 2019 Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery The British Museum presents the largest exhibition of manga ever held outside of Japan. Manga are Japanese comic books or graphic novels with a twist, serialised in magazines and read by a global audience. A multi-billion-pound business that embraces anime and gaming, manga are a global…
The 15th century saw the dawn of the Age of Discovery, a time when European powers began exploring the world to find new lands and new opportunities. Portugal was in the vanguard of this drive, sailing southwards in their case down the west coast of Africa. So it wasn’t long (1419 to be precise) before…
Outrigger Phuket is perhaps one of the friendliest luxury resorts one would hope to find. It combines both Thai hospitality and style. But food is often the cornerstone of any good vacation, and Outrigger Phuket Executive Chef Roberto Conrad ensures guests don’t go home disappointed. Tastes are diverse yet Chef Roberto has skilfully presented an…
For a small island in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean, Madeira has a big reputation for the sweeter things in life: its history includes sugar, wine, and ‘honey’ – well, a Madeiran interpretation thereof. We’ll discuss the first and the last of these elsewhere, but it’s the story of wine on the island that…
A modern-day adventure in step with today’s tastes, cycling tourism is the latest thing in travel. In order to welcome an ever-growing number of enthusiasts, Burgundy-Franche-Comté has put the wheels in motion in an attempt to reinvigorate its vast network of cycling trails and dream up some new itineraries. This is true for the Voie…