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Palazz-ial luxury in Florence

A special guest post by Rajul Chande. To call Relais Santa Croce in Florence a “hotel” is a slight misnomer. The building is so unique, replete with historic details and visually opulent that I immediately felt as if I’d stepped into an entirely different dimension. This feeling began with the sense of discovery on arrival. [...]

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love-locks-amsterdam-photo

The thing with love locks

The drawbridge that crosses the Groenburgwal canal is one of my favourite spots in Amsterdam. I always make it a point to bring visiting friends to this bridge as the view of the canal and the Southern Church are absolutely gorgeous. Recently, I’ve begun to notice the appearance of love locks (or love padlocks) on [...]

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hotel-de-ville-marseille-photo

Impressions of Marseille

Marseille is France’s second largest city and is located on the Mediterranean coast. Blessed with a mild climate and a stunning natural harbour, Marseille has played an important role in the trading routes in the Mediterranean since Roman times. However, the city entered a period of decline in the mid-20th century. In 2013, Marseille has [...]

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Velvet Moments: travel photo – a moment in Avignon

It was a beautiful sunny day in Avignon and I’d just arrived. There are so many things to see and do in this historic town in the Provence but I decided to take it easy – there was sufficient time to explore the town and visit the main attractions. I headed straight to the Place [...]

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One big happy Mercado

“Crisis? In Mercado de San Miguel, the crisis is far, far away”. I smiled. I knew exactly what she meant. I stood there, at the seafood tapas bar with my new friends, two Madrileñas. We clutched glasses of vino in our hands and we’d emptied two plates of spicy mussels. I looked around and she [...]

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Velvet Moments: travel photo – a sea of tulips

Last week, I posted a plea to the Weather Gods to usher in the spring a.s.a.p.! That didn’t quite work, unfortunately. So, here’s some inspiration to get everyone into the mood for a colourful spring and a lovely warm summer! A walk around the tulips fields in Holland is one of my favourite things to [...]

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The historic baths of Budapest

A trip to Budapest will not be complete without a visit to at least one of its historic thermal baths. It’s said that the Romans settled in the area because of the abundance of thermal springs – I would too! The first Roman baths were constructed around the 2nd century AD but it wasn’t till [...]

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london-tube-map-photo

A view of London through its maps

The Beefeater, Big Ben and the dome of St Paul’s are all icons of London recognised by everyone. But there’s another icon of the city that every Londoner knows, though perhaps they don’t think of it that way – the Underground map. Look at one of the early tube maps and what you’ll see is [...]

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snow-trees-canal-amsterdam-photo

Velvet Moments: travel photo – snowy canal in Amsterdam

I know… it’s the first day of March but I’m hoping spring will arrive soon! This winter has been long and very cold! That said, I did enjoy the winter weather… most of the time. There was an abundance of snow in Amsterdam several times throughout this winter and I loved walking along the canals [...]

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A bookstore tour of England

A trip to a good bookstore is about more than just picking up a new novel: you’ll understand if you’ve ever stepped foot in one. These are the places where the shelves are packed from floor to ceiling with interesting titles, the booksellers themselves are knowledgeable, friendly and likely to know better than you what [...]

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