Well, this wasn’t something that was in my initial plan for things to do while I was in Bucharest. I was quite contented with the massive spa, getting to know the city and succeeding in getting the train to Brașov. In the course of figuring out how to get to know the city, by reading … More I visited the grave of Vlad the Impaler
Having wandered around Budapest for a few days, I very suddenly realised that for the average tourist, there’s very little here to say “you’re in Hungary”. Budapest is a bubble in its own right. It’s where stag parties go for beer bikes and to make a racket in the big outdoor thermal baths, where middle … More The House of Terror, Budapest
I was most excited about the enamel workshop, out of all the tours we did in Georgia. A traditional craft, one I’d never even considered having a go at! I watched videos on how cloisonné enamel is made and honestly, I realised it was going to take longer than the three hours allotted. At the … More An enamel workshop and the ancient capital of Georgia
One thing I’ve meant to do in Paris for years is the Catacombs. I knew very little about them; only that they were underground and went on forever. When I went to Paris last month, I added them to my tentative to-do list, having discovered that tickets only go on sale four days in advance and … More There are 6 million dead bodies under Paris
In November I went to Amsterdam. I went with my sister and because – and only because – of her, we went to Anne Frank’s house. I wasn’t at all sure about that. For one thing, I’m not a museum sort of person. I’m just not. For another, I wasn’t at all convinced about the … More The Many Diaries of Anne Frank
If you read my Chernobyl part 1 blog, you’ll know a little about the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and its background. If you didn’t, go & read it before you carry on with this one. Short primer: 32 years ago, its nuclear reactor exploded. Consequences were as bad as you might expect. Tourists can now go … More A day in the radiation zone: Chernobyl, part 2
This time last week I was falling asleep at work because I only got home from Ukraine in the early hours of Monday morning. And one of the things I did while I was over there was a day trip into the Chernobyl radiation zone. If the name Chernobyl doesn’t mean much to you, it … More A day in the radiation zone: Chernobyl, part 1
I’ve climbed a few mountains in my time. Small ones, easy ones, sometimes only halfway up and always slowly. Sir Edmund Hillary I am not. Climbing Laki was entirely unlike any mountain I’ve ever climbed before. Laki is a volcano. That’s not what makes it unusual. Actually, it’s not “a volcano” in the traditional sense. … More The day I climbed Iceland’s deadliest volcano
I Am A Polar Bear 