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Tintagel – or King Arthur, part I

Tintagel is a fascinating place to explore, a ruin on top of steep cliffs, on two sides of a rocky isthmus facing the forceful Celtic Sea.

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Scenes from a Bahraini mall – empty elegance

29 September 2009 It’s 6:30 pm and I’m in Moda Mall at Bahrain World Trade Centre, wondering where all the people are. Moda is a huge shopping centre with high-end boutiques. Just from where I now sit, I see Louis Vuitton, Dior, Emporio Armani, Versace and Fendi. And where I sit is in a purple [...]

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The streets of Oslo are filled with love

A month ago, the worst tragedy since World War II hit Norway. A mad man set off a bomb near the Prime Minister’s office, killing 8. He then travelled to Utøya and murdered 69 more. This afternoon, the victims were honoured in a national memorial ceremony. Each name was read out loud, their faces on [...]

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Pizza night in the Italian countryside

Today is Thursday. I wish I were at La Tavola Marche, a wonderful agriturismo and cooking school in Le Marche, one of Italy’s least known regions. You see, every Thursday, Ashley and Jason Bartner organizes pizza night at their agriturismo. And it doesn’t hurt to have a chef in charge, a chef with years of [...]

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The best little book shop in Girona

In Barri Vell, Girona’s old town, narrow alleys and fascinating medieval stairs appear around every corner. Suddenly I stumble upon Portal del Colleccionista, an antiquarian bookshop. The smell of dusty book shelves always has a magnetic effect on me. Inside, I’m chuffed to see old books and manuscripts fill every little nook and cranny. There’s [...]

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17 May – Hip hip hooray!

For a secular country, Norway observes many religious holidays (and by “observe”, I mean get days off work). Spring is full of holidays – religious and otherwise, including 1 May (international labour day), Ascension Day and Whit Monday. But the most important of all is 17 May. Bigger than Christmas, New Year and your birthday, [...]

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Cafe de Paris – a Geneva institution

For more than 75 years, this charming restaurant on 26 Rue de Mont-Blanc, a 45-second-walk from Cornavin, the central railway station, has been a Geneva institution. And it’s still going strong, despite – or perhaps because – it only has one item on the menu: Entrecote Café de Paris avec les pommes frites et la [...]

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Going back to … Bregenz

To where, you ask? Bregenz, though not perhaps Austria’s best-known city, is very nice. And I had fond memories. When I was 15, a friend and I spent the summer, officially doing a language course, but in reality concentrating on beer, boys and night clubs we were much too young for. (These things were a [...]

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