Returning from a tropical vacation should bring with it a feeling of sunbathing and relaxation, not a tropical illness. But the number of British travelers catching malaria abroad is rising and scientists warn the situation could get worse. The UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) has published its latest data on malaria in travelers returning to… Read More »
“There are two lions out there doing what lions do best. “It is being postponed,” our guide said, pointing to the lioness reclining under the Kalahari apple leaf tree. Eyes closed, legs spread, tail wagging from side to side. Nearby, the cubs were lazily handcuffing each other. When I picked up my camera, the words… Read More »
From Chernobyl to ground zero of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City, tourists have long flocked to the sites of some of the darkest events in human history. He is one of those interested in the Pendle Witch Trials of 1612, in which 10 people were hanged after being imprisoned at Lancaster Castle,… Read More »
There is something inherently interesting about borders. This line on the map becomes more colorful when two countries are locked in constitutional change. The excitement over Scotland and England I feel today is no surprise when you scratch the surface of rugged wastelands once teeming with smugglers and bandits, where past and present are constantly… Read More »
More than a decade ago, Vladimir Jurowski, one of Russia’s best-known musical sons, began to realize that things were going in a bad direction in his native country. “It was a feeling, a premonition that things would get worse, especially after Russia’s annexation of Crimea,” says the 52-year-old conductor. “The irony is that they reached… Read More »
It felt almost right to sit in the middle of the railroad tracks of Pullman’s old tearoom, sipping from a saucer and eating a toasted tea cake. All very interesting and in English. With a bit of wheeler-dealing thrown in, the Art Nouveau lamp on my desk was for sale, if I had £165 spare.… Read More »
The BBC today announced details of this summer’s Proms festival, which will feature 90 concerts over eight weeks. Daniel Barenboim will make a rare visit, conducting the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which he and Palestinian-American academic Edward Said founded 25 years ago. The 81-year-old conductor has almost given up performing concerts due to a neurological condition… Read More »
The art world can be a place of wonder, beauty, courage, connection and community. As an art critic and art historian, I have spent the last ten years swimming in these waters. But it can also feel like a poorly written joke: a place shaped by the 1%, populated by a shrinking middle class, scouted… Read More »
Standing atop the bell tower of the Le Lanternon hotel, I watched the weathered, pale stone buildings of the capital of the Îl de Ré fade into a shadow of ripe peach flesh. Saint-Martin-de-Ré opened up in front of me in the shape of a star against the Atlantic Ocean. Behind him, the three-kilometer bridge… Read More »
The musty smell in the three-berth rail compartment was reminiscent of British Rail in the 1980s, the seats had seen better days and the only socket was in the ceiling of the sink cupboard. Clearly, the European Sleeper’s most luxurious compartment will not be able to challenge the Orient Express any time soon. It is… Read More »