#traveladvice

Exploring Catania on foot through its palaces, churches and fish market, with Bellini along the way, pasta alla Norma at dinner and rather too many reasons to miss my train.When Venus and Mars make love, Vulcan rages in the depths of Etna, spewing his pain into the sky. Fire rains down on Catania, but Liotru, the mighty black elephant, takes the go

Fifteen stops, one phone, years of Prague experience — let the hunt for the best Prague photograph begin.I have been to Prague enough times for another round of classic sightseeing to make very little sense. I know the major landmarks, I have photographed most of them before, and I certainly do not need another picture proving that Charles Bridge i

I arrived in Hangzhou knowing almost nothing about its most famous craft. By the time I left, silk had followed me from museums and markets all the way into my suitcase. The old man and I had no language in common. My Chinese was nonexistent, his English was no better, and whatever conversation we were having depended on a translation app, a calc

The late Queen Elizabeth II kept Balmoral fiercely private — King Charles III now admits just twelve visitors per tour, at £110–£175 a head. Paying between £110 and £175 to enter Balmoral in a group of twelve is not exactly sneaking in. Still, the experience comes surprisingly close to being allowed into someone’s house while the owner is away. I

Hamlet’s castle, a brilliant royal tax, two queens and the grave of a man who never existed - “Gentlemen, you are welcome to Elsinore!” London, Rome and Paris sell themselves. Helsingør needs a story. Fortunately, it has one of the most famous stories ever written. Shakespeare placed Hamlet in Elsinore, the English name for the Danish town of Hel