London is the great survivor among the world’s cities: whatever opportunities history has come up with over the centuries, London always seized them with both hands. This explains why its skyline may be called dramatic but never picturesque: no painter would ignore the structural imperatives of a central motive quite like this. London’s tradition has…
Nuremberg is one of Germany’s most storied cities. The town’s rich history reached its apogee in the Middle Ages when Nuremberg was the unofficial capital of the Empire (the castle on top of the hill was where the Imperial Parliament met) … … when Albrecht Dürer, Northern renaissance painter par excellence, plied his trade just…
How do you stand with military architecture? I mean: fortresses, fortifications and the way in which they have been constructed through history: how much does this interest you? Not all that much? All right, then that makes two of us already. It is not the naturally most fascinating topic on earth, is it? Personally, however,…
British life is full of riddles. So much so that sometimes it may seem as if it had been purposefully engineered to be misconstrued by naive visitors so that the British themselves can gently chuckle at these foreigners’ lack of sophistication and wit. The hidden rules of British life are as difficult to discern as…
When you are looking for a good restaurant in a strange and unfamiliar town, ask the locals: that is the Golden Rule Of How To Eat Well. It is an equally Golden Rule for picking the right hike. If you can, always ask your host: where do you go or take your family for a…
Some of the world’s great streets have made that leap from being famous for what they are to being famous for what they may never have been. Broadway houses many or perhaps even most of New York City’s playhouses, but its name has become synonymous for an entire type of theatre, and the Champs Elysees…
This week, we are bringing you more lush Mediterranean Dreams from the French Riviera Garden Festival: having visited the western section of the Festival des Jardins de la Cote d’Azur last week, today we present the remaining six gardens in Nice and Menton as well as all the other news from the festival. Flamboyant theatrical…
Germany’s northwesterly region between Bielefeld and Gütersloh is one of the country’s economic powerhouses. The names of the region’s towns and cities may mean little to you, but you are probably familiar with some of the brands and products that come from here. The kitchens and white goods of Miele, frozen pizzas and baking goods…
Street art works best as a visual counterpoint. It needs something it can aggressively challenge, an urban environment that provides some bite into which it can sink its sharp teeth. This is why street art looks best either in organically grown streets of historic buildings or in an architectural setting of geometrically austere glass-and-steel constructions….
Having walked into Monaco two weeks ago, today we will take you on another legendary French Riviera Walk: a stroll in Nice down the Promenade des Anglais from where it starts, once around the Baie des Anges past fancy bars and hotels, rows of palm trees and some of the best Mediterranean seascapes of the…