Mont Blanc from Mont Joux

Discovering Evasion Mont Blanc and evasive buses

by John

One of the added bonuses of a Chamonix Season Lift Pass, is the chance to discover three other winter resorts in Haute-Savoie, so decided I’d like to explore Evasion Mont Blanc, a series of linked resorts including St Gervais, Megeve, Combloux and La Giettaz. In all 445 km of pistes. [...]

View from Udal Peninsula across Harris Sound

Deserted beaches, an ancient settlement and islands

by John

A photo essay of the Udal Peninsula on North Uist, Western Isles, Scotland.

plane

Comparing Travel Carbon Footprints

by John

There are a lot of widely held views  built on hearsay and misinformation. The deeper I look, the more  complicated the story seems to get. One of my aims is to educate myself on travel environmental issues. Then to share my findings on this site and hopefully start a discussion [...]

Bonon spider, Brussels

Can Street Art improve a city?

by John

Street art Last week I visited the Ixelles Museum here in Brussels before their exhibition on Street Art closed and is replaced by a Dubuffet exhibition. Bonom was featured heavily, with insights into how he plans his pieces. The photo above shows a spider on a concrete building by Chapelle [...]

5 star hotel room

What is a taste in luxury travel actually saying?

by John

Why is it so many people aspire to fly in First Class, sleep in Five Star hotels (or even Seven Star hotels) and eat in Michelin Three Star restaurants? Don’t they know that it is very poor value for money? That you can sleep just as well in a £29 [...]

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Britain's most popular canal?

by John

The Llangollen canal between Llantysilio and Chirk is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in the United Kingdom than spans two countries. The listed section covers a distance of 18 kilometres and includes two aqueducts spanning deep valleys, as well as two tunnels. It was built between 1793 and 1808 [...]

Pony Pony Run Run at Brussels Summer Festival

Belgian Music Festivals 2011

by John

There are many music festivals in Belgium from big free festivals to the charged ones such as Rock Werchter, Europe’s best music festival.

HDR South Stack Lighthouse

Photo Essay: Holy Island, Anglesey

by John

The main story for Holy Island can be found as “On the trail of a Welsh Asterix” on VisitBritain’s Superblog. But here is a photo essay of some of the sights from the post and further afield on Anglesey.

thumb

Photo essay: Lucid in Lucerne, part 3

by John

Leaving the river Reuss I headed into the into the streets of the old town. I’ll just let the photos tell the story. It’s a photo essay after all. If you want to read up about Lucerne. Look up Wikipedia or Wikitravel. If you have written a blog post on [...]

Category : Around Europe with Ghosts:

Tintin mural, Stockel Metro Station

On the Tintin trail in Brussels

While walking the streets of Brussels, I am often aware that I am following in the footsteps of Georges Rémi, better known as Hergé, creator of Tintin. From where I type this article, I can see both of the schools he attended in his youth. He left his mark in the form [...]

Waymarker on GR5

Trail gazing

Have you ever stood on a railway station concourse and stared longingly at destinations on the Departures Board that were not printed on your tickets? Have you ever found yourself on the road somewhere and found that the you were travelling along one of the world’s more famous long distance [...]

Dubuffet, Flaine, France

Free to view art: Part 2 – Murals and sculptures

In an earlier post, I shared some of my the street art I had come across on my travels. This post will also be about free to view art, but this time the art herein is all officially sanctioned.  Belgium is the capital of Bande Desinée (carton strips), many of [...]

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Britain’s most popular canal?

The Llangollen canal between Llantysilio and Chirk is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in the United Kingdom than spans two countries. The listed section covers a distance of 18 kilometres and includes two aqueducts spanning deep valleys, as well as two tunnels. It was built between 1793 and 1808 [...]

V0000116

A prehistoric post: Bryn Celli Ddu, Anglesey, Wales

  Anglesey, the large island separated from the rest of North Wales by the Menai Straits, is rich with megalithic sites.  Bryn Celli Ddu is considered to be the most important. The English translation being ‘the mound in the dark grove’. It is now in open fields but now and [...]

thumb

Daily Photo: Chamonix Railway station

by John
Comments: No Comments
Published on: March 3, 2011

One of the plus points for Chamonix is that it has links to the French Autoroute system, is served by the Inter City European bus network, as well as the national rail network. Unfortunately TGV’s and sleeper trains terminate at St Gevais / La Fayet. You must then take the [...]

thumb

Photo Essay: Lucid in Lucerne, Part 2

by John
Comments: No Comments
Published on: February 28, 2011

Leaving Lake Lucerne, I continued my walk around Lucerne in winter. I arrived at the main railway station entering to admire the art exhibits suspended within the atrium. Then I walked on, passing the Rosengart Collection Museum until I reached the Reuss, the river that flows out of Lake Lucerne. [...]

thumb

#FriFotos: Mountains

I love mountains! I marvel at the thought of all that rock pushed skywards by the movement of tectonic plates. They cast a spell over me, in any season I am drawn towards them. The theme of this Friday’s #FriFotos on Twitter is “Mountains” of course @EpsteinTravels is fairly flexible [...]

P1130079

Photo essay: Lucid in Lucerne, Part 1

by John
Comments: No Comments
Published on: February 24, 2011

I’d visited Lucerne / Luzern in Switzerland before on a sunny autumn day. On a trip from Chamonix to discover some new winter sports resorts, I spent one night in the city. The next day, I started out from by the main railway station and explored the lake shore, the [...]

thumb

Daily Photo, Prague, Czech Republic

by John
Comments: No Comments
Published on: February 23, 2011

An HDR shot, taken while looking for the café Joelle used to frequent in 1996, when she was teaching French in Prague. Unfortunately this area of the city was devastated by the floods on 12 Aug 2002. She didn’t locate it, so I guess it never reopened. Charles Bridge on [...]

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Welcome , today is Wednesday, February 22, 2012