Category Archives: Europe

The Aladdin’s Cave of Fishing

Living in the UK you get rather used to the fact that every possible commercial opportunity is seized upon and this situation can sometimes leave you feeling exploited and rather tired of being advertised to! Any café or restaurant in or near a tourist attraction charges crazy prices and everything that could vaguely be described as an attraction warrants an entrance fee. Parking charges can be ridiculous and you can’t go to the supermarket without being asked if you want your car washed, a crack in your windscreen fixed or if you could make a donation to a food bank. Leaving the house to go anywhere involves resisting a hundred ways to spend your money on things you didn’t know you wanted. Thankfully life isn’t like this everywhere – yet! Continue reading →

The Future of City Centres

Much of Europe is now emerging from recession which is good news for retailers but there is still a rocky road ahead.  Life for retailers changed forever with the arrival of ecommerce. Online sales continue to grow and so it is only retailers who embrace this new world who will survive.  Big questions are being asked about the future of retail and many of these surround the nature of our city centres and high streets. Continue reading →

How Britain Became an Island

Being an island is crucial to our national identity in Britain. The geography of our country has played a huge rule in defining the way we think today. To at least some extent our island status is surely responsible for the fact that most of us fall short of feeling European. We do not have the same mind set as the rest of the continent that we are supposed to be a part of. However, Britain wasn’t always an island. Continue reading →

The Best Place to Shop?

Personally I would never choose a holiday destination for the shopping opportunities there, neither would I travel specifically to shop. However, I do enjoy the occasional bout of retail therapy but only if what is on offer is materially different to what I can find on the high street at home. I often laugh when I read articles about great shopping destinations as having visited many of the perennial favourites like New York, I know only too well that you won’t find anything different there at all. Continue reading →

The Ice Caves of Werfen

The Eisriesenwelt ice cave near Werfen in Austria is one of the more incredible places that I have visited over the years. I have seen a lot of caves and so it takes something pretty spectacular to impress me but this place had the wow factor in spades.

I was actually enjoying a week of adventures sports at the time and hadn’t really intended to do any sightseeing but I was heartily glad that a last minute change of plan sent me in the direction of those caves. The whole visit turned out to be a wonderful adventure! Continue reading →

Destinations for Diamond Lovers

Few people can resist the allure of a beautiful diamond and these wonderful gems are, after all, a girl’s best friend. Diamonds are fascinating natural wonders but sadly it isn’t possible to visit working mines to see the stones being recovered. There are, however, some great destinations for diamond lovers to visit and here are my tops picks. Continue reading →

New Horizons

I always thought of myself as an adventurous traveller willing to explore the places that others wouldn’t consider but after reading an article in the Independent today I feel rather deflated. Perhaps I am more influenced by current trends than I had previously thought as it turns out that some of the destinations on my hit list are in fact tipped to be hotspots this year. Continue reading →

Mount Vesuvius

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As you fly into Naples airport the horizon is dominated by the hulking mass of Mount Vesuvius. The volcano provides a striking, beautiful yet threatening backdrop to what is now a huge urban sprawl. I suspect that there are few visitors to the region who do not pause to contemplate the very real prospect of an eruption and if you tour Pompeii you get a terrifying look at what happens when the mountain blows its top. Continue reading →