There’s a key scene in Brief Encounter (80th anniversary in 2025), when Laura and Alec reach the station where they are to part for the last time. She (Celia Johnson) tells him (Trevor Howard) “I will walk past here many more times, but not with you.” I don’t know how often they changed advertising posters… Continue reading
Browsing Category Travel
A trip to Planète Mars – gritty, culturally-diverse Marseille
With the start of direct Eurostar trains from London last May [2015], the rebirth of this once run-down and edgy Mediterranean port is complete. Crumbling shops and factories have become cool designer B&Bs, galleries and concert halls. The famous old harbour has been renewed by Britain’s Norman Foster. And they make the perfect bouillabaisse…. Continue reading →
Could Anglo-Saxon Lenborough Hoard lift a county’s tourism?
Buckinghamshire, my adopted county, is a place of minor, restrained tourist attractions. The Chilterns are its main landscape asset, a quiet conglomeration of hill and valley and wood. Not so tall and commanding, but appealing on a small scale, and very convenient to London. There are many attractive small market towns, their old hearts preserved… Continue reading →
British drivers still unsure on Continental roads, surveys show
It was the first night of our holiday in Brittany. Tired, hungry and not concentrating, I drove away from the holiday home we just reached on the wrong side of the road. I realised my mistake within a few hundred metres. There was nobody about, the road was empty and I was able to keep… Continue reading →
Linz’s bold opera vision pays off in new Musiktheater am Volksgarten
Over many visits to European cities, I’ve concluded that two things set them apart from similarly-sized places in Britain. One is public transport. The other is a commitment to culture, and in particular music. We hold our own in fine historic buildings, and archeological remains. It’s when we look at the creations of planners and… Continue reading →
Island-hopping on Sweden’s Bohuslän Coast
The Bohuslän Coast is Sweden’s western strip, 150 quiet miles of fjords and little inlets, pebble-dashed with 8000 islands, stretching temptingly north from Gothenburg to the border with Norway. Leaving Gothenburg, the plan was to work our way quietly up, deviating to the occasional island, and taking in the many small-scale attractions and wide open country. How do you pick… Continue reading →