Travel
Early morning jogs on the beach of Agadir, Morocco
Last week, work found me in the coastal Moroccan city of Agadir, to the country’s south. It was my first time to this city, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1960 and rebuilt in a new and modern style. The beach is lined with hotels and the straight,white lines of the modern town have…
Read MoreCrossing the Dubai Creek on an abra
The abra is fun to watch as it crosses from one side of the Dubai Creek to the other, from Bur Dubai to Deira. The abra is a traditional boat made of wood that serves as a water taxi. The crossing costs 1 dirham, and is paid on board to the ferry captain. We had…
Read MoreVisiting the idyllic Rožmberk nad Vltavou Castle, Czech Republic
The little town of Rožmberk nad Vltavou is a small down in southern Bohemia, close to the Austrian border and situated along the Vltava (Moldau) River. It is only a few kilometers of the pretty town of Český Krumlov, and looks like a miniature version of that town. The most famous monument in the town –…
Read MoreKafka’s castle? Frýdlant, Czech Republic
If you’re in northern Czech Republic, just beyond Liberec and close to the Polish border, you’ll want to see the dramatic Frýdlant Castle in the little town of Frýdlant that is dominated by its hilltop castle. This is said to have been the castle that inspired Franz Kafka’s famous novel The Castle. Following the Battle of…
Read MorePining away for the Palm Beach resort, Maldives
I don’t know what it is about the first week of February, but whenever it rolls around I see I’m writing travel posts from tropical locales I’ve visited earlier. Apparently, I’m sick of the cold and want to bask in memories of lounging on warm beaches. This year is no exception. Last Easter, I was…
Read MoreReason #5383 to love Rome: San Teodoro neighborhood
San Teodoro an interesting, and very old, neighborhood of Rome, tucked away between the Circo Massimo, Campidoglio and the Ghetto. It’s said to be the area where Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were said to be suckled by the she-wolf. Today, it’s a quiet neighborhood: only a few cross roads and a few sites…
Read MoreQueuing up for the London Eye
As anyone traveling with kids knows, travel plans alter radically once you are lugging along pint-sized companions. On a trip to London with my children, I had plenty of activities to fill our days, but none of them included queuing up for kilometers to go on a giant ferris wheel. Unfortunately, the London Eye is visible…
Read MoreExplore Palais Ferstel’s Passage, Vienna
In Mitteleuropa and Eastern Europe, I always love peeking into the spectacular ‘passages’. Vienna is no exception and the beautiful Freying Passage of the Palais Ferstel is well worth a visit on your next visit to stately Vienna. The palace is named after Heinrich von Ferstel, the architect who built it in 1860. The passage…
Read MoreMacabre memories in Sedlec, Czech Republic
Close to the pretty town of Kutna Hora, an oft-visited town close to Prague and famous for its spectacular Gothic church – Svata Barbora (Saint Barbara), see my earlier post – lies another impressive must-see. Only two kilometers northeast of Kutna Hora lies the suburb of Sedlec. While the town is nothing special, it’s a destination…
Read MoreThe view from the top of St Vitus’ bell tower, Prague
Admittedly, I may have a problem. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, when I visit a city, I always want to make a beeline to the highest vanatage point to enjoy the views from a bird’s eye perspective. This includes skyscraper tourism in modern cities, and – most commonly- church bell towers…
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