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Sunday snapshots: Trerice Manor

This is Cornwall, so Trerice Manor is naturally frequented by otherworldly beings. Here, it’s the ghosts of a servant girl and a stable boy.

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Sign at Jamaica Inn, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall

Jamaica Inn

Jamaica Inn has a fascinating location and history. Situated on Cornwall’s deliciously eerie Bodmin Moor, this is a coaching inn from 1750.

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The old Jewish cemetery, Warsaw, Poland

Warsaw’s Jewish cemetery: a memorial to a cruel past

I’m mysteriously drawn to cemeteries, especially old ones. Wandering along the rows, looking at grave stones, I try to imagine the lives of those long since departed. One particularly evocative graveyard is the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw. — Our way there is fraught with difficulty. Warsaw’s tram drivers point us in the wrong direction time [...]

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River Music and Water Spirits

While the girls and I are exploring our friendly neighbour Scotland, Sophie’s World is staying at home. This week’s travel photo is from our homebase in the cool river city Drammen (Norway). The River Harp The large pedestrian bridge Ypsilon is a Drammen landmark. Next to Ypsilon is the River Harp, a sound sculpture comprising [...]

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Books and ghosts in Norway’s fjordland

On the Fjærland Fjord, Mundal Hotel is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year. This family-owned hotel has creaking stairs, a great turret bed room, a library, a billiards room, a music room, deep leather chairs by the fireplace – and books; not just in the library but everywhere. That’s as it should be. Like Hay-on-Wye, [...]

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Pyramiden – an Arctic ghost town

I’m in Pyramiden, once a showcase of the Soviet Union, a perfect mining community, set between mountains, glaciers and fjords in the Svalbard archipelago. Today, it’s an Arctic ghost town! The decision to abandon the settlement was sudden, its implementation even more so. The inhabitants were given just hours to pack their bags and leave. [...]

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Where in the world: Kronborg Castle, Elsinore

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kronborg Castle has played an important part in military history, and is the home of legendary prince Hamlet.

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The twin crater lakes at Sete Cidades in the Azores archipelago, Atlantic Ocean

Lamenting lost love in the Azores

On the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores, from the vantage point Vista do Rei, you’ll have a fabulous view of the twin lakes by the seven little villages – Sete Cidades – at the bottom of a volcanic crater. One lake appears blue, the other green. This is, rather prosaically, caused by variations [...]

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