Walks that follow the footsteps of a particular famous person or event
Themed Walk in London Many of the city’s restless souls have chosen to reside in the tomb-like tunnels of the underground railway The most popular Themed London Walks deal with one of the following: Jack the Ripper (been there), pop music (done that), and ghosts – more of which soon. But please don’t be impatient: you…
Elsewhere in the world, the word may be that “the Russians are coming”; in the coastal region between Nice and Sanremo, they have arrived long ago and been part of the local communities for well over 150 years Once upon a time, before the advent of satellite TV dishes and the world-wide web, immigrants, even…
On the basis of the evidence, it feels safe to say that the Empire’s troops did not come here to enjoy the beautiful beaches The history of the Riviera, if we are honest, begins in the 17th century when its oldest towns were built, and it really picks up 200 years later with the invention…
The capital of the French Riviera was the great love in the life of one of the 20th century’s greatest artists The list of famous painters who have been claimed as the genius loci of one Riviera town or the other is long: Cagnes-sur-Mer has Renoir, St Paul de Vence has Chagall, Menton has Jean…
Artists in the French Riviera Our sadly incomplete collection of the French Riviera on canvas from Cagnes-sur-Mer Many of the 20th century’s most famous painters spent some time – occasionally the most fruitful years of their lives – on the French Riviera. On good, sunny and clear days, of which there are many, the whole…
… more Ghosts from the Past …and some splendid views of the city’s most famous tourist attractions in Part Two of the Berlin Wall Trail Something that I did not mention in Part 1 of this post: taking the Berlin Wall trail is also a great way of discovering the city. It mixes the discovery…
Hitler, Stalin, Kaiser Bill: see them all on a walk along the Berlin Wall Trail Some of the world’s greatest cities are defined by a single building: Paris, for example, by the sleek elegance of the Eiffel Tower, Sydney by the brashness and sheer daring of its Opera House. And then there is Berlin, a…
Themed Walks in London A walk through the “Florence of the 21st Century” The City of London is where most of the capital’s truly iconic works of modernist architecture are concentrated, but West London, too, has many fine new buildings. The big difference is this: while London’s business district provides a homogeneous context of brashness…
A walk through Skyscraper National Park: the world’s most exciting collection of modern architectural masterpieces There are many good reasons to visit London: for its world-class theatres, its magnificent pubs, or to pay a visit to the Queen. Here is another one: the town’s unique collection of modernist architecture. This has not always been so….
In the footsteps of the impressionist master at the Riviera resort of Bordighera, follow the Monet. The French painter Claude Monet spent one winter – the early part of 1884 – in the Italian town of Bordighera, having been introduced to this part of the Riviera by his friend Renoir the year before. Monet was…