The city of Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, evokes thoughts of Hans Christian Andersen, the Little Mermaid statue and the Tivoli Gardens.
It is all that and more. The weather may often be cold, but the welcome is warm.
Suite dreams at sea
My motto for all travel is to do what you can comfortably afford to do. As I’ve written, if you want to fly business- or first-class, and you have the money to do it, don’t let anybody persuade you otherwise.
The difference between business and economy class on a plane — especially on long-haul flights — is painfully obvious. That is, the ever-more-cramped economy-class seats will induce pain; the lie-flat options up front will not. Continue reading Suite dreams at sea
Probably the best brewery …
I was going to include these pictures in an upcoming gallery of Copenhagen, but I thought they deserved special attention.
They were taken at the Carlsberg brewery, where the famous Elephant Gate ushers visitors into the fascinations of a beer-making process that has changed little over more than 150 years.
Tallinn in pictures
Estonia has become something of a hotspot with western European tourists, to the point where it’s at risk of losing some of its authenticity.
Thankfully, the old town in the capital, Tallinn, remains largely intact, including cobbled streets and much of its medieval wall.
Cruise ships: bigger, better, best?
In both aircraft and cruise-ship manufacturing, there’s a debate: is bigger always better? In aviation, the largest commercial plane, the Airbus A380, is popular only with airlines, notably Emirates, that are staking the future on carrying a lot of people over long distances to and from big airports.
With cruise ships, there has been greater investment by those who believe bigger is better, although niche operators beg to differ.
What to do about post-holiday blues
On my most recent holiday, aboard the Vision of the Seas, the cruise director gave a little speech at the end of the show on the night before we arrived at our final port.
She said, essentially, that a vacation isn’t truly over even when it ends.
A meal for one
They used to be called TV dinners, and they were — and are — a big thing in the West. But I’ve found that they are hard to come by in the Middle East.
Or at least in the UAE, which has been my home for the past five years. I think the assumption here is that you either eat out, or you cook your own food from scratch.
Sober on the high seas
A Twitter follower recently posed me an interesting question that went a little like this: “I am a non-drinker, and I have always shied away from cruises because everybody on board seems to be drinking all the time.
“Is there anything to do on a cruise if you don’t drink?”
Belgrade: a city of contrasts
I don’t normally take package holidays, but I got a great deal from Abu Dhabi to Belgrade on Air Serbia, booking via Etihad, that took me to the Serbian capital for five nights in a four-star hotel for around US$1000.
Here are a few sights I saw along the way. Much of the city betrays austerity and the ravages of war, but if you’re interested in the murals and funky cafes, head for the Bohemian Quarter.
The art of moving on
With just over a month to go before I vacate my flat in Abu Dhabi, I’ve begun the job of sorting through the stuff I’ve accumulated over the past five years of my life.
I’m a sentimental person and I do find it hard to part company with possessions, especially those with memories attached. The problem is that everything I have evokes some kind of emotion. So I’ve decided to be ruthless. More or less.
Are cruises too expensive?
Over at Quora recently, I weighed in on the question: Why are cruises so expensive?
Here’s what I said:
Select destinations in pictures
A dummy’s guide to travel
I recently read an online guide to budget travel that really got my goat*, as my granny used to say.
It also got me thinking about all the bad travel advice I’ve read online, and how some of it ought to be challenged. Which is what I’m about to do.
You’re never alone at sea
If you follow this blog, you might be aware the I’m a fan of Quora, the site that crowdsources answers to interesting questions, including many about travel.
I’m not just an avid reader of the site, I’ve recently become a contributor, with a few posts and a couple of thousand views to my name. My latest answer relates to something I’m reasonably well informed about: cruising alone.
BA flight caught short
The longest flight delay I have ever experienced* is 11 hours — waiting for a charter jet to take me from Glasgow to Malaga for a package holiday on Spain’s Costa del Sol.
The reason given was urgent repairs to the plane — which, to be honest, is fairly compelling and mitigates the boredom of being stuck at Glasgow airport for half a day. I’m not so sure how I would’ve reacted if the reason was that they forgot to load the toilet paper.
Qantas unveils Brisbane lounge
Some travel news from my home town: Qantas has released details, and images, of its new business lounge at Brisbane international airport.
The lounge, which will open in October, will be the first of several new facilities the national carrier will open at Brisbane Airport as part of a multi-million dollar upgrade this year, according to Qantas International CEO Gareth Evans.
Jamaica: I went of my own accord
OK, so the headline on this piece is a lazy reference to an old joke, but don’t let that put you off a visit to Jamaica, one of the jewels of the Caribbean.
I visited Falmouth as part of a cruise itinerary, and I’m keen to see more. The people, from the local tour guide to the people we met on the streets, were friendly and the weather was superb.
Magical, mysterious Macau
Macau has become a magnet for mainland Chinese and other gamblers in recent years, but to think of it as the Las Vegas of South East Asia would be doing it a great disservice.
The former Portuguese colony about an hour by boat from Hong Kong has its own unique cultural flavour — a potent blend of East and West that can be alluring even for those who are not interested in playing the tables or the machines. Continue reading Magical, mysterious Macau
Symphony rules the seas
With the launch next year of a new contender for the title of world’s biggest cruise ship, the question arises: just how big can a passenger vessel be?
Royal Caribbean, which already has more megaships than any other company, is gearing up to launch Symphony of the Seas, and its vital statistics are incredible.
Petra: the jewel of Jordan
The ancient “rose city” of Petra, in Jordan, is on many a bucket list, and for good reason.
The remnants of a 2,300-year-old civilisation include the ornate Treasury (Al Khazneh), which is carved into solid sandstone. Take a moment, or more, to contemplate the artistry and sheer effort involved in achieving that without the machinery or technology we have today.
