Lindisfarne, a tidal island The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is a “tidal” island off the north east coast of England – it’s only an island when the tide is in. The rest of the time you can reach it by driving over a 2 mile stretch of sand and mud flats. Driving along this causeway…
Travel
A train journey to Jungfraujoch: the Top of Europe
This is a guest post by my 15 year-old daughter. She’s written about an exciting train journey to the highest railway station in Europe, the Jungfraujoch, advertised in Switzerland as the Top of Europe. The trip was a one-day excursion during our holiday in the Bernese Oberland in August this year. We were staying in…
Unbekanntes Freiburg – Unknown Freiburg: hidden myths and quirky stories
In my recent blog post “From revolutionary to biscuit entrepreneur”, I mentioned how exciting it is to see a friend being interviewed on TV. It’s also exciting to see a friend’s name on the front cover of a book, and that’s how it was back in 1992, when my friend Bernhard Thill (alias Felix)…
Schönbrunn, Austria: so much to see!
Vienna sightseeing The Schönbrunn Palace was on our list of “must dos” when we planned our trip to Vienna last summer. We had 6 days in the city and planned quite a bit of sightseeing as well as the usual mooching around and exploring. Our list included: Hofburg Palace Imperial Treasury Mozarthaus Karlskirche Schönbrunn Palace…
Pau, south-west France: new discoveries
I wrote a couple of posts about Pau after our visit in October 2016. Click here for a walk around Pau and here for some tips for families. The link for the tourist office is here. Now I’ve found more experiences to add, based on our visit a year later. Walking around the town brings…
Biarritz: another day of autumn sun
A year ago I wrote a longer post about a sunny October day my daughter and I spent in Biarritz, an elegant seaside resort with popular surfing beaches. To read the post click here. Well, we were excited to go there again this half term and carry on where we left off. The sun was…
Bayonne: the chocolate capital of France
I’m not suggesting that chocolate is the only reason to visit Bayonne! It’s a charming Basque town and we were happy to be treated to a quick tour of it on our way from Pau to Biarritz. It’s a working port at the meeting of the rivers Nive and Adour, about 8 km from Biarritz. …
A family visit to the Imperial Treasury Vienna
I wasn’t prepared for the beauty of the Kaiserliche Schatzkammer, or Imperial Treasury, in Vienna. It’s stunning! After our visit I bought a guidebook in the Treasury shop: Masterpieces of the Imperial Secular Treasury, Vienna (ed. Sabina Haag) and revisited the items in my head. I regretted not having hired an audio guide for an…
Where to linger over coffee in Vienna: the famous Cafe Central
When I’m sight-seeing I need regular stops to cool down/warm up, sit down and refuel. There’s no shortage of cafes in Vienna, and the most famous one is a large coffee house: Café Central on the Herrengasse in the Hofburg Quarter. The streets near the Hofburg are lined with palaces built by the nobility in…
A close-up of the Karlskirche, Vienna
As you can see from the photo below, we couldn’t very well miss this baroque church, on the Karlsplatz not far from our hotel. The green dome of the beautiful Karlskirche, or St Charles Church is a prominent feature in the city centre and on the Vienna skyline. The church holds regular concerts in the…
