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The Miraculous Jungfrau Railway
Adolf Guyer-Zeller was a man with a singular vision. The Zürich entrepreneur had inherited a spinning mill from his father and founded his own textile export business, but in later years he would set...
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Winter in the Swiss Riviera
It might be an expensive and touristy affair, but on a cold December evening, Montreux’s Christmas market is a joy to wander around. It’s a cluster of brightly decorated miniature chalets on the...
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Bern: Switzerland’s picturesque capital
Not long after that very first trip to Switzerland in the summer of 2000, my father showed me a picture book on the natural and man-made wonders of the Alpine country. One of the photos that stood out...
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Geneva, the crossroads of Europe
It’s a place synonymous with international diplomacy and human rights. But despite its long history and scenic location at the southern tip of the Alps’ largest lake, the Swiss city of Geneva doesn’t...
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2013: a year in review
Candidasa, Bali, Indonesia I thought it would be hard to top 2012, but the past twelve months have proven me otherwise! The year kicked off with a family trip to Saigon in January as the city geared up...
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Ulmer Münster: the stairway to heaven
The halfway room was a dark, wood-panelled affair. Breathless from the climb up, I stopped at its walls, lined with photographs of the world’s tallest religious towers in ascending order. Outside, a...
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The Fishermen’s Quarter, Ulm
Alone, I wandered into a quiet cobbled square, concealed from the Danube by a medieval stone gateway. The soothing, melodic notes of a piano, perhaps a music lesson, drifted in from an adjoining...
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One day in Mannheim
Through the curtains, the spire of Konkordien Church struck an imposing silhouette in the golden morning light. After a fitful night’s sleep my brother and I had been awakened by an unexpected phone...
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Speyer: a Sunday stroll
Beside the pink sandstone walls of Speyer Cathedral, we came across a musician in the shade of a plane tree, performing a personal rendition of Bach. From his glockenspiel the familiar notes of Jesu,...
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Burgos and the tale of El Cid
Perhaps no other legendary figure rouses the Spanish consciousness quite like the man known as El Cid. Widely considered a national hero, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar was born in 1043 as a member of the...
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Streets of Pamplona
“Then we crossed a wide plain, and there was a big river off on the right shining in the sun from between the line of trees, and away off you could see the plateau of Pamplona rising out of the plain,...
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Postcards from León
“Adiós! Adiós!” The little boy’s mother waved and laughed as he remained powerless, legs dangling, in the arms of a waiter. Just moments before, the bearded giant had swiftly picked him up, starting...
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León Cathedral: the house of light
From the plaza it appeared like a fortress, towering high above our heads in solid stone, an imposing presence bristling with spires and sturdy buttresses. The late afternoon sun illuminated the...
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A day in Strasbourg
At the central train station, an enormous bubble of glass encasing an older stone structure, there is a clear sense that we had arrived in another country. Even on a quick day trip from Germany, less...
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Morning mist in Heidelberg
It drapes the city like a blanket, cloaking its spires in a veil that blocks out the sun. I exhale, my breath a fragile puff of vapour that dissipates in the November chill. I am walking down the...
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Bonn, an autumn rhapsody
On a bright November morning, the smell of sausages and freshly-baked bread permeates the crisp autumn air. Beneath the watchful gaze of the Beethoven monument, Bonn’s Münsterplatz is an image of...
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Patterns of Segovia
Segovia Cathedral When night falls and the day-trippers return to Madrid, Segovia takes on a quiet magic befitting its dramatic location. My mother and I are here for several nights, and from our room...
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Farewell at El Escorial
San Lorenzo de El Escorial It’s been more than a year since I left Spain, but every now and again certain details resurface, catching me at quiet moments and leaving me with a pervasive sense of...
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In the mood for Mudéjar
It emerges from the arid, dusty landscape like a desert mirage, a medley of tan-coloured buildings and soaring spires amidst an iridescent ribbon of green. We are on the approaches to Zaragoza, a...
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Steaming to Sirmione
En route to Milan, the western shore of Lake Garda was a one-night stopover on a whirlwind tour through northern Italy. Although we stayed in the attractive resort town of Desenzano del Garda, we saw...
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