Winter family fun in Oslo

Posted on 20 February 2012 by in Norway, Travel with children

Want to get the kids away from the screens and out in the fresh air? Here are a few tips for some family-fun in the snow in the Norwegian capital. Nature is all around you here: the Oslo fjord and its islands, forests, lakes and parks – and the locals enthusiastically enjoy it all. Perhaps [...]

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Where in the World: a travel quiz

Posted on 15 February 2012 by in Where in the world


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Sunday snapshots – Sunrise at Taj Mahal

Posted on 12 February 2012 by in India, Travel photos, UNESCO World Heritage

6:15 am Taj Mahal: romance and tragedy Even though it’s a mausoleum, a funeral mosque, the Taj Mahal must surely be one of the most romantic buildings in the world. But then romance and tragedy often seem to go hand in hand, don’t they? In 1631, Mumtaz Mahal, wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, dies [...]

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Scenes from a Bahraini mall – empty elegance

Posted on 9 February 2012 by in Bahrain, Idle musings, Islands, Mini countries, Solo travel, The people you meet

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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No more: The natural bridge of Aruba

Posted on 5 February 2012 by in Aruba, Islands, Netherlands, No more


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Travel photo – Brimstone Hill Fortress, Saint Kitts

Posted on 2 February 2012 by in Islands, St Kitts - Nevis, Travel photos, UNESCO World Heritage

Brimstone Hill Fortress The Caribbean island of St Kitts was tossed back and forth between England and France in what seemed an interminable battle for most of the 17th and 18th centuries. The island was quite heavily fortified and Brimstone Hill is an exceptionally well preserved historical fort. It’s a monument to brilliant British engineering [...]

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The Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan, featured in the film based on Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile.

High Tea at the Old Cataract in Aswan

Posted on 29 January 2012 by in cafes & restaurants, Egypt, Egypt, Travel with children

From the Nile, the Old Cataract Hotel looks grand, perched on the granite bluff above. If you’ve seen Death on the Nile, it will also look familiar. My oldest daughter enjoys sipping tea in old world hotels, preferably while wearing a big hat, looking mysterious. Uniformed guards at the gate inform us we have to [...]

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The old Jewish cemetery, Warsaw, Poland

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

Posted on 25 January 2012 by in Ghosts and haunted places, Poland, Travel through history

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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