I have to confess that the idea of a bucket list only entered my consciousness a few months ago. For anyone even less up-to-the-minute than I am (it was the title and central theme of a film starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in early 2008 apparently), a bucket list… Continue reading
When I left the clean, modern hub of Berlin’s hauptbahnhof, its main railway station, in search of a cheap night’s accommodation a couple of years ago, a small sign to one side of an ordinary length of pavement noted the demarcation between old borders. I was crossing from what was… Continue reading
This week Croatia becomes the 28thmember state of the European Union; only the second former Yugoslav state to join the union (after Slovenia). Croatian becomes the 24th official language of the union. Knowing almost nothing about the country – other than they seem to have a pretty decent national football… Continue reading
‘I toured Europe a couple of years ago: Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow; Auschwitz’ a friend told me. ‘I’ve been to Auschwitz twice.’ ‘You’ll cry your eyes out’ said another. ‘Exhibits of hair, just piles of human hair; shoes, bags. You should go.’ There’s an increasing trend towards ghoulish tourism: sites of… Continue reading
The idea of travelling across Europe by rail for a pre-arranged fixed price is a great one; one that InterRail (Eurail for non-European residents) is perceived to offer. But the one-stop European rail pass doesn’t stand up to any sort of serious scrutiny. The InterRail pass is the bulwark of… Continue reading
Britain’s hardest working industrial river was never the Thames, Humber or Severn, but the little-known Wandle. It is by no means the longest or most difficult river to follow, with its short 14 mile course between south London and Wandsworth making an excellent day’s walk. It is by no means… Continue reading
Instead of a 20 kilogram backpack I had a mostly empty bag weighing little more than the notebook and novel I had inside it. Despite living in a country where it was impossible to be further than 72 miles from the coast at any point in time, it had taken… Continue reading
For many years one of the easiest ways to see a vintage bus in action was to visit the Triton fountain roundabout at City Gate Square outside Malta’s capital, Valetta. Models not used anywhere else on Earth were still providing routine services around the island and used the roundabout as… Continue reading
Something needed to be done. 50 years ago Britain’s publicly financed rail network lost £104 million. If that doesn’t sound too awful then consider that it today’s money it accounts for £1.9 billion; 36% of the Department of Transport’s current annual budget. Income had not covered costs for almost a… Continue reading
The AD122 must be one of the most picturesque bus routes I have encountered in Britain. It is a relatively new creation following an ancient path, running the 84 mile route of Hadrian’s wall as it crosses Northumberland and Cumbria from central Newcastle (not quite the end of the wall,… Continue reading
