Posts/Entries
All posts/entries, for now, from over two decades of global travel. And a few colourful tags, too.
Vatican City
A sovereign city-state & the smallest country in the world, home to the largest church & the richest, most compelling museum complex on earth.
Rome, Italy
The cradle of modern civilisation as we know it & an open-air museum housing some of the major monuments of antiquity.
Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
Vatican City, officially Vatican City State, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It achieved sovereignty from Italy & the wider city of Rome in 1929 when the then Fascist Italian leader...
Colosseum, Rome, Italy
There's history, & then there's the Italian capital of Rome. Founded, according to legend, by Romulus and Remus in 753 BC, this is where modern civilisation as we all know it was founded. Yep, right here. Rome was first the centre of the Roman Republic, then of...
Pisa, Tuscany, Italy
Pisa is a small city in the Italian region of Tuscany, a city that has, since the beginning of tourism, been known for just one thing - its Leaning Tower. I stopped off in the town en route from Florence to the Italian capital of Rome, joining the masses to get a look...
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
The capital of the Italian region of Tuscany, Florence was the staging and focal point for the Italian Renaissance, a period of artistic, literary and architectural rebirth (renaissance means rebirth). It was a period from around the end of the 14th century until the...
Florence Cathedral, Florence, Italy
The capital of the Italian region of Tuscany, Florence was the staging and focal point for the Italian Renaissance, a period of artistic, literary and architectural rebirth (renaissance means rebirth). Florence Cathedral, officially Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore...
Venice, Veneto, Italy (2007)
Italy is a nation with an artistic and architectural legacy that few other countries can rival - the country has 40 UNESCO World Heritage listed sites, more than any other nation, with the Tuscany region of the country alone having more classified historic monuments...
Grand Canal, Venice, Veneto, Italy
Read any number of pamphlets on Venice and I promise they'll all tell you the same thing: that it was built on 118 islands within a lagoon in the Gulf of Venice; that it has canals instead of streets; that it's a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site; and that it is a...
Jungfrau, Switzerland
Mountains, secretive banks, fine chocolate, cheese, fondue, William Tell, expensive timepieces, military efficiency, The Red Cross, The IOC (International Olympic Committee), cuckoo clocks and army knives. Swiss stereotypes, them all. But the jaw-droppingly beautiful...
Lauterbrunnen Valley, Jungfrau, Switzerland
The Jungfrau Region of the Swiss Alps in Central Europe is perhaps the most dramatic & certainly the most memorable mountain scenery in the whole of Switzerland, if not Europe itself. It's a region of clean air, hiking trails, cow bells, idyllic alpine valleys...
Bern, Switzerland
Switzerland is more than just a small, immensely wealthy, staunchly neutral landlocked country slap-bang in the middle of Europe. Honest. It also boasts famous mountain scenery, secretive banks, Roger 'GOAT' Federer, fine chocolate, cheese, fondue, William Tell,...
Dijon, Burgundy, France
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital city of the Burgundy region, a rural region famed for its vineyards and rich food. It's somewhat of a rogue region (akin to Quebec, Canada) - for centuries it was lorded over by powerful dukes who remained independent of...
Paris, France
A pictorial look at some of the highlights of one of Europe’s most iconic cities & one of the most visited travel destinations on earth.