Category Archives for "East Europe"

Elvis may have crooned about the Heartbreak Hotel, but Croatia’s capital has the real thing (minus the overnight stays.) Swap Lonely Street for Ćirilometodska in Zagreb and uncover the strange situation that is the Museum of Broken Relationships. The Museum of Broken Relationships I stumbled through its doors, years ago, as part of my #IronRoute series […]

Introducing the Elaphiti Islands in CroatiaThe Elaphiti Islands, CroatiaCroatia’s Elaphiti Islands drift dreamily into the Adriatic near Dubrovnik. Small enough that only a few are inhabited, they’re awash with Mediterranean pine, pure clear waters and silence. You can visit and stay on a few. Find our guide to the Elaphiti (sometimes spelled Elafiti) islands here. […]

Exploring Lopud Island, CroatiaLopud Island works as a day trip from Dubrovnik to stay on the beach and walk through nature. But stay a few nights to uncover its real charm… Lopud Island Croatia: What to do and Where to Go Exploring Lopud Island, CroatiaA Travel Story: The Essence of Lopud IslandThe Boat Transfer to […]

Riga’s medieval town centre glistened in the morning sunlight like a child’s box of treasure: cobbled streets with pale pink and blue facades, rough-slated spires and live music from stringed instruments played by lively arms in blooming blouses.

A handpicked selection of day trips from Riga that reveal sandy shores, gilded history, great gastronomy and the art of reinvention. They work perfectly as day trips or you can hire a car and create a fascinating weekend break.Day Trips from Riga: Exploring LatviaClose Your Eyes and Think of Latvia If I asked you, without pause […]

It only takes two hundred and thirty nine steps to reach a completely different city. To reach a song from the past that hauntingly blends with the snow that falls without sound.

A non-descript side street, a stained white wall. Paint peeling from the window frames and sidelong glances from passersby.

It was the second time I’d stood on the banks of the Vltava River in Prague, watching the

You have to put yourself in my shoes.

Boots, really, with thick rubber soles to keep out the cold and to keep a foothold on the ice. Boots that worked hard and worked fast, striding between commuters in a winter-worn Budapest. Five feet, six inches above them, a troubled mind tangled through what it had just seen.

“Are you ready?” asks Christopher, a guide from the nearby village of Wieliczka. He’s cloaked in a long charcoal jacket and blowing on his hands to keep warm. For a giant-sized man, he uses a soft voice. “Because once we start, I will not be able to talk to you. And you will not be able to turn back.”

The steam rising out of the drain cover caught my attention first. It was a cold, vengefully cold mid-winter morning in

Cold War. Iron Curtain.

Four words, two phrases, several meanings.

When I went to school, a third of the world lived under “communist” rule. Travel was restricted…

A man casts a glance over his shoulder before arching back and casting his line into the water. The street chatter and rush hour traffic drown out the subtle splash but from the look on his face, you’d think he stood alone in the countryside, miles from anyone, miles from anywhere.

The Auschwitz camps – I, II and III – starved, tortured and executed over a million people during World War II. Prison camps became concentration camps and then ultimately death camps. History lessons at school, the Red Cross Museum in Geneva, the books of Frankl, Levi & Frank and even the film Schindler’s List have provided enough images to haunt me for a lifetime. Will seeing the place with my own eyes change anything?