You’re right, that’s not Prague. It’s Český Krumlov, a city in the deep south of the Czech Republic’s Bohemia region – and what a pretty place it is. The Renaissance Old Town is virtually encircled by a bend of the… Continue Reading →

The people in these photographs are Holocaust survivors. They’re ‘Schindler Jews’, some of a group of twelve hundred Jewish men, women and children saved from World War II death camps by the German factory owner, Oskar Schindler. When Krakow became… Continue Reading →

We’re probably showing our age; mention Dresden and we think of porcelain – and bombs. It’s possible, though, that for some visitors to this German city – at least those from generations after ours – neither Dresden porcelain nor the… Continue Reading →

They took a chance did Mary and John. We’d met this lovely English couple in the Lake District last May when we both happened to be staying at the Royal Oak Inn. We were seated next to each other at… Continue Reading →

We couldn’t leave England without hopping across the Irish Sea one more time. There’s so much to like about Ireland – green fields, wild coasts, ancient history, great writers, good craic, Guinness – the list goes on; but for us,… Continue Reading →

We had to be in Rome for a series of appointments (bank, visas etc) and somehow ended up with a week to kill between meetings. Rome is not a place where you want to spend a lazy week in the… Continue Reading →

Three people disembarked the train at the tiny station of Villafranca-Bagnone. One person jumped into a car and motored off. Then there were two. Late morning on a very hot summer’s day, it felt like one of those old, American… Continue Reading →

The stretch of coastline that extends from the French border around the Ligurian Sea is known as the Italian Riviera. It may not have the glitz of Cannes or the glamour of St Tropez, but there are enough rich and… Continue Reading →

There’s something about Italian women of a certain age. They’re incredibly confident – about everything. And, surprisingly, they’re rarely wrong – about anything. When you’re new in town, the nonne are first to notice. And if you’re up for a… Continue Reading →

At the start of this year we spent several months outside Italy, in countries we’d mostly not visited before. These places are familiar to many but, for us each one was a newly-discovered gem. Norway New Year’s Eve in Hammerfest… Continue Reading →