fbpx

Food & Wine

Driving Around SICILY

The first time I explored Sicily, nearly 60 years ago, I stayed in cheap pensions, walked around the cities and took local buses and slow trains from one place to the next. This past September I returned with a friend and we retraced a similar route with an experienced driver in the comfort of a…

Read More

Car-Free Weekend in Santa Barbara

Go car-free and ride the rails to the Funk Zone for hip hotels, fabulous food and libations.   Get a taste of Santa Barbara from freshly baked breads and exquisite dinners, to sunset cruises and tiki bars. It’s easy to get around this cool, coastal town without a car — just walk, bike or take…

Read More

TOKYO Translated

The world’s most populous metropolis that sprawls across 23 city wards, islands and other towns and villages, boasting 9.26 million citizens can seem daunting but only from the outside. Gently peel off its layers, and every day will deliver the unexpected, treasured moments and memories, from shochu shared with sumo wrestlers to retired military-uniformed soldiers…

Read More

Sybaritic SRI LANKA

Michael Webb enjoys the more luxurious side of the cities of Sri Lanka.  My first visit to Sri Lanka, many years ago, was a frugal adventure, bumping around in crowded buses from one ancient site to another, exploring the historic city of Kandy, and staying in a vintage guest house in the hill country of…

Read More

SALENTO: Italy’s Cool Heel

Puglia in southern Italy is big on bucket lists – but it’s the sub-region Salento, the tip of Italy’s heel that is quietly strutting its charms. Jane Adams heads down to where the Adriatic meets the Ionian Sea. Waking to an Adriatic dawn atop the rocky corniche south of Tricase, the mirror calm sea glowing…

Read More

ITALIAN Wine by Design

Jane Adams explores the modern architecture of Italy’s top wineries.   Italian design is legendary – in fashion, cars, bikes, furniture and household goods. Just think Armani, Fendi, Ferragamo; Ferrari, Maserati, Pinarello, Alessi, Ilve and Bormioli. These brands spring easily to mind, as do food and drink market leaders like Aperol, Barilla and Lavazza. Italians…

Read More

Exploring the BALTIC STATES

Michael Webb takes a 12 day tour of the Baltic States.   Having explored most of Europe, I left the three Baltic States–Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania–till last, hoping they would offer as authentic a taste of the pre-war era as Romania. I arrived too late–the three glorious capitals have been swamped by mass tourism and…

Read More

Driving around POLAND

Michael Webb embarks on a 10 day road trip around Poland. Resilience is the greatest asset of the Poles, who retained their pride and sense of nationhood during two centuries of foreign occupation. Twenty years of independence between the world wars were succeeded by the brutal onslaught of the Nazis and the Red Army, devastation…

Read More

Singapore’s Best Architecture and Food

Michael Webb visits Singapore to explore its culture, food and architecture.  In its fifty plus years of independence, the city-state of Singapore has transformed itself into an Asian version of Switzerland: prosperous, clean, and meticulously organized. But the vibrant street life of its multi-cultural enclaves–Chinese, Islamic and Indian–still flourishes amid the gleaming towers. Taxis and Uber…

Read More

A Family Friendly Road Trip through France

Kristina Foster embarks with her family on a voyage through France from the capital to the coastal south.   I wasn’t sure what to expect on a fortnight long, winter road trip with the kids. Cooped up childhood memories of backseat battles with stinky brothers, side of the road toilet stops and barf bags came flooding…

Read More

MYANMAR: On the River from Mandalay

‘Can’t you ‘ear their paddles chunkin’ from Rangoon to Mandalay? On the road to Mandalay, Where the flyin’-fishes play, An’ the dawn comes up like thunder outer China ‘crost the Bay! -RUDYARD KIPLING Any list of the world’s great rivers includes the mighty Irrawaddy (aka Ayeyarwady), the backbone and lifeline of the embracing troubled land…

Read More

Dutch Treat: Haarlem, Utrecht and the countryside

From Amsterdam to Haarlem, Michael Webb explores the busy city life to the quiet countryside in the Netherlands.  Nearly every trip to the Netherlands begins in Amsterdam even though it has become one of the most expensive and touristy cities in Europe. It’s a short train ride from Schiphol, the country’s major airport, but you can…

Read More

Enjoy the Modern Architecture of MILAN

From apartment buildings to museums, learn why Michael Webb keeps returning to Milan over Italy’s many other cities.  Milan is my favorite Italian city (with Turin running a close second) for the way it reveals its treasures slowly. It has a few of the attractions that lure tour groups, including Leonardo’s over-restored Last Supper and a spiky…

Read More

On the Waterfront, SHANGHAI

Cosmopolitan China is epitomised in Shanghai’s Bund riverfront precinct. Jane Adams strolls its boulevards and boardwalk discovering arts, eats and other oriental treats.

Read More
SUBSCRIBE

Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter and get the best travel advice straight to your inbox!

TAGS
INSTAGRAM