Blowing up all over Iceland
Just over a year ago, I was walking in the shadow of one of Iceland’s largest and most unsettled volcanoes. Katla – kettle or cauldron in Icelandic – looms like …
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Pssssst, would you like to buy Eiffel Tower?
One learns something every day, even if it’s not always (or even often) anything useful. Today I have learned that in France there seems to be a difference between licit …
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Aussie breasts spoil German Octoberfest
Is it still cultural appropriation when the Anglos do it to the Krauts? Oktoberfest, the weekslong German celebration dating back to the 1800s is known for beer, traditional Bavarian food …
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Krakow beats Amsterdam in Brit tourism stakes
This is, or isn’t, good news for Poland’s historical capital: The Polish city of Krakow has been named as the favourite destination for a short-haul city break for Brits by …
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Nothing new under the sun
It’s hard to be original in a world where everything has seemingly been tried and done before. Photography is no exception. Case in point – insta_repeat account on Instagram, which …
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New Roman library to open in Cologne
A nice archaeological discovery in the heart of the beautiful Cologne: The remains of the oldest public library in Germany, a building erected almost two millennia ago that may have housed …
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Very Lonely Planet’s Guide to Canberra
The residents of Canberra have woken up this morning to a novel sensation: somebody out there actually likes their city. In fact, the travel guide gurus Lonely Planet have put …
Read More Booze, girls and the Polish economic miracle
Poland is a land of mystery. Perhaps the biggest mystery is how the country has somehow managed to survive to the present (albeit far from intact) while being stuck for …
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Egyptian notes
Much of Egypt looks like it has suffered through a decade of civil war bookended by powerful earthquakes. It hasn’t either; that’s just Egypt, a country so in love with …
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Luxor Massacre – 20 Years On
Almost exactly twenty years ago, in the morning hours of 17 November 1997, six Islamist terrorists slaughtered two guards and 56 foreign tourists at the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut …
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I’ve got 21 beaches but the Gold Coast ain’t one
Another international ranking, another slap in the face of Queensland (“beautiful one day, perfect the next”). My local pride does not allow me to take it lying down on the …
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