Journalist/Broadcaster/Author
Brighton? Isn’t it full of spivs with ‘Kiss Me Quick’ hats tipped at a jaunty angle? Old habits die hard, as do old impressions handed down through a legacy of grainy, clichéd black’n’white movies and postcards, a world of working class civilians taking in the bracing sea air for a saucy weekend of single … Read more Weekend Break: Brighton, UK
Santiago de Compostela, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984 and Galicia’s greenest city, is a place of pilgrimage for many people – the discovery of the body of the Apostle James transformed this city into the most important focus of religious worship in Europe during the Middle Ages. These days, many thousands of people … Read more City Break: Santiago De Compostela
Think Turkey and you automatically think of the summer tourism resorts of Bodrum, Antalya, Marmaris, Fethiye and Alanya – just several of the hot spots that pepper the Aegean shores. It was far from these resorts I experienced when I arrived in Turkey some years back as part of an international delegation of journalists … Read more Travel/Adventure: Turkey
It hardly seems like almost 30 years ago when your friend and mine, a certain skinny punk rocker by the false name of Elvis Costello, issued forth a spittle-flecked diatribe on the shallowness of the fame and fashion industry in a song called (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea. We’ve no idea why Costello … Read more City Break: London (Chelsea)
If you’re looking for a ‘certain something’ that doesn’t cost anything more than what you’d pay in the High Street (and in some cases, considerably less), then a wander through the Marais district in Paris might just be what the money doctor ordered. Dubbed the “haut-lieu du vintage” (the high place of vintage), the Marais … Read more Paris: Vintage Shopping
The taxi driver on the journey from Inverness train station to our hotel just outside the Scottish town was obviously a measured and reflective type. Instead of an AA roadmap, a well-thumbed copy of the collected works of Shakespeare lay in his open glove compartment. The composure and calm of the man indicated that not … Read more Scottish Highlands
“The city is crazy, the people are crazy – Berlin makes its own rules.” These words are spoken by Gabrielle, my guide for a night crawl around a selection of some of Berlin’s hipper bars and clubs. Of course, she explained in perfect English, there’s no way you could see everything in one weekend, let … Read more (Music) City Break: Berlin
For the next two or more weeks, the place is yours. No handing in keys at reception (or mistaking your flexi key for your Visa card), no fake ‘good morning’ smiles, no queues checking in or out, no fire alarms going off at inopportune times, no maids knocking on your door just as you’re stepping … Read more Renting A Villa – Loves & Hates