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Chilling may well seem like a pipedream whilst threading your way through the hubbub of Marraech’s souks. But here are five places to totally relax: 1) Head to Terrasse des Epices and stressful thoughts of haggling and bustle will soon evaporate. This rooftop terrace restaurant, catering well for vegetarians is a veritable oasis above the…
‘This way, sir – lubbly jubbly.’ Amid the tumult of helmetless motorcyclists riding pell-mell through a gaggle of school children, a phlegmatic babouche seller catches my attention with his snappy badinage. Armed with my rehearsed ‘Salaam-Alaikum’, I falter. But we shake hands and smile as an imperilling, throttle-zealous wrist passes within two inches of a…
Did you know this? There isn’t a single proper shop inside Madrid’s airport. Oh, sure, you can buy spirits, tobacco and fragranced fripperies till your heart’s content. But try getting stranded there for a day without essentials – amongst spurious rumours of an onward flight to South America – and you’ll see what I mean.…
The year was 1066. Sound familiar, or did you doze through school history lessons? It ought to catapult marauding Normans to your mind’s fore. That landmark year heralded Britain’s invasion by the bloodthirsty William the Conqueror. His landing in Hastings sparked an infamous soldier-culling skirmish, piercing King Harold’s eye with an arrow. Or so they…
I recently pitched this to the UK magazine, Wanderlust – for the “Travel Rant” page. It is now due to appear on the Letters page instead so I think I’m safe to reproduce it here: Vaccination is big, big business. The pharmaceutical industry – a consummate master at making money – tells us that we…
Three glasses are set down upon the table. ‘Cherry liqueur?’ offers Ivana. Oozing hostly largesse, she pours a murky liquid from a suspicious-looking bottle. ‘You always get offered an alcohol drink in northern Croatia,’ she says, ‘and it’s usually home made. If we have it, that is.’ She smiles and introduces Ben, a German traveller…
Apparently I share my birthday – May 25th – with Towel Day. Don’t ask, just check out the link. This is me stalling for time, by the way. I haven’t got round to writing up the adventures in the Balkans on the AC/DC Tour yet…but they are coming. Oh yeah, they are coming.
The last blog from last year, I promise. It’s a good one though, from November ’09, re-published here due to popular demand: Big Boy is tying the knot again – third time lucky, you might say. And this could be my big chance to redeem myself – to offset the mordant humour, and persecution of…
Variety, I’m told, is the spice of life. So I thought I’d delay the next swash-buckling, tea-drinking episode from this year’s Tina Turner World Tour. Instead, I give you a world-class tourist attraction: The Palace of Versailles, Paris. That is Paris, France, not Texas, for the Americans amongst you. Now, while we’re dealing with ambiguity,…
Don’t bother trying to check into an Italian hotel without a passport. Surely the intrepid reporter didn’t commit this rudimentary faux pas? Yes, just last week, I popped up to Lake Maggiore in northern Italy for a couple of nights. I rang the ostello in Verbania to secure a room, arriving at 9pm, just in…
