 It’s SPRING in Utrecht Before we get to the serious business of walking in Holland (there will be three easy hikes in the days to come), first, an urgent note about something that we have come across on our recent trip to the Netherlands. Urgent because, unlike the walks, it will not be there for long. Actually, you have to really hurry up in order to catch any of the productions at the first SPRING in Utrecht, a festival for the performing arts, because the event Continue reading SPRING in Utrecht  Rotterdam in 300 Words Those among you who read a lot of travel blogs will have seen quite a few posts recently about the Dutch city of Rotterdam. (Last week, Rotterdam hosted the Travel Bloggers Unite (TBU) conference.) If you do not have the time to read them all: here is a brief précis of what you are missing – Rotterdam in 300 words and a few pictures. Rotterdam – one of the busiest harbour towns in the world – was heavily bombed Continue reading Rotterdam in 300 Words and some Pictures  Themed London Walks The London Crime Trail Part 2 Welcome back for our London crime trail part 2, a walk through Dark London which mainly concentrates on the deeds of the most notorious London murderer of them all: Jack the Ripper … who is the undisputed star of London’s Themed Walk industry. For one because the story ticks all the right boxes – bloodshed, mystery and a caricature Victorian London of gaslights, drunks and toothless prostitutes – but also because the Ripper had the Continue reading Themed London Walks: London Crime Trail Part 2  Themed London Walks Walking the London Crime Trail Crime is, of course, not unique to London, nor was it invented here, although it may sometimes feel that way. It is certainly true that no other city revels more in it, and no other city would dream of bestowing semi-mythical status to its mass murderers such as Sweeney Todd or Jack the Ripper who are as deeply ingrained in the city’s cultural fabric as its pop music legends whom we visited last time around. Themed London Walks: London Crime Trail Part 1  Easy Hikes in Germany Daytrip Destination: Syburg I had seen the Syburg (not knowing at the time what it was called) many times from the train and on various hikes in the area, always wondering how its disparate elements – the monument with the equestrian statue, the medieval ruins – were connected. It simply did not seem to make much sense. I had seen it so many times, in fact, that I immediately recognized it when we arrived to sample Continue reading West Germany’s Favourite Daytrip Destination – Syburg | Meet the Easy Hikers Marlys and Michael discovered hiking in their 40s and making up for lost time by doing as many easy hikes in their own backyard (France and Germany) and wherever they go on their holidays. Let them show you where to have civilised encounters with nature. |
