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 […]

Exploring Croatian Islands by Boat – A Day Trip from Dubrovnik There’s a place in the Elaphiti Islands where weather-worn netting clings to a rough sea wall. Under the bright, white sun, the orange bleaches its web against rock, while in the distance, the heave and sigh, the ebb and flow, the unhurried rhythm of the […]

Exploring Lopud Island, Croatia Lopud Island works as a day trip from Dubrovnik but stay a few nights to uncover its real charm… As one of the busiest islands in the Elaphiti, Lopud is not short of things to do. But it is not long on them either. So think hiking, lazing on the beach, […]

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.

Where to Eat in Riga, Latvia Ah, where to eat in Riga. My eyes widen and my stomach sits up and pays attention every time I think of it. The cultural aspects of Riga and beyond fascinated me. But it was the food I fell in love with.Traditional Latvian CuisineNow, typically, food in Latvia has […]

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?