The Statue of a Bearded Lady
Once you leave the famous Prague castle complex, most people tend to saunter down the hill back to the city centre. This is a shame as the sheer quantity of
St Valentine’s Shoulder in Prague
I’ve written about saintly relics before. They exist all over the world because there is a belief that proximity to even part of a saint means ‘something’ can rub off.
The Tongue of St John (Of Nepomuk)
I’ve written before about the Czech saint St John of Nepomuk – but I hadn’t visited the main church dedicated to him, right in the middle of Czechia.
The Lisbon Earthquake
Earthquakes, uncommon as they are, are as realistic to me as World War II or a sensible lawyer. I know they exist but I’ve never experienced them directly. This makes it
Istanbul’s Galata Tower
Like any self-respecting city, Istanbul is not short of towering city blocks providing incredible views. One of the oldest towers is the Galata Tower which overlooks the Bosphorus straits.
The Admiralty Arch and Queen Victoria
Stand in Trafalgar Square in the middle of London and gaze south-west at the landmark Admiralty Arch that leads to the Mall. Its association with Britain’s Queen Victoria is not
Betraying your Brother in Leiria
The long walk up to the castle of Leiria, in Portugal, is paved with cobblestones that are slippery when wet. I gingerly trekked up until, gasping for air, I reached the
Slapping a French Empress in Turkey
Once you cross the Bosphorus Straits from Europe to Asia, one of the first places you can visit is Beylerbeyi Palace. This is where you would slap a French Empress
Discovering Nazareth in Portugal
Along the Atlantic coast, in Portugal’s central region, lies the town of Nazaré – literally, Nazareth. It sprawls over a clifftop and a beach below the cliffs and is a
Skullduggery and Cocktails in Bucharest
It’s not every day that you get to sit at a bar drinking with the ghosts of spies long-dead and conspiracies long-confounded. And yet, that is what you can do