Stories behind the stories. By Travel Writer, Amy McPherson
There is a lot of war going on. There has always been a lot of war going on. A few years back I wrote a story on Snowshoeing around Sarajevo for Destinasian magazine. During that trip, I got to experience the quiet winter wonderland in the mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and received the warm …
Celebrating 500 years since Leonardo da Vinci's death in France and visiting chateaux of the Loire Valley.
Not every little girl wanted to grow up to be a princess. As I can’t really remember much from my young childhood, so I can’t tell you what I wanted to grow up to be. But knowing what I am like now I can assure you I definitely didn’t want to be a princess. I …
The Victorians loved their seaside resorts. All along the English coast are reminiscences of Victorian terraces, which were holiday homes for many of the rich and wealthy, business families from the north who would spend the warmer months of the year soaking up some seaside sun. But when you are Queen Victoria, you don’t just …
Isle of where? You ask. The Isle of Man, a small island wedged between the shores of north England and Ireland, is a crown dependency. It means, it is technically a country, with its own parliament, its own laws and government, but is still in the possession of the British Crown and relies on Britain …
Ideally, for such a beautiful city you should probably spend more than a day to slowly take in Avignon, however on our recent trip, we were a little restricted on time by the time we got to Avignon, we had a choice of either skipping it all together or, try to see it in a …
“Thank you for visiting Belfast, it’s good of you to come.” Our AirBnB host couldn’t be more welcoming. We arrived in the wee hours of 2am on a Saturday morning, from a flight that was 3 hours delayed in London and he wasn’t the least bothered. The reassurance that we were in fact, welcome, is …
A while ago I had a chuckle when I saw this ad on the train to work: That’s one way to get your attention isn’t it? It got mine! And that’s how we found ourselves stepping off the train at Portsmouth last weekend. Portsmouth? That’s no where near Dubai! Ok, don’t scream. It’s not Dubai, …
On yet another rail journey we left from London Marylebone station, through beautiful country scenes of Warwickshire to arrive at historic town of Stratford upon Avon. Stratford upon Avon is an easy train ride from London Easily reached from London by train, Stratford upon Avon make a great weekend escape for busy Londoners looking for a …
It was the year 866AD. The Vikings sailed from the Scandinavian region under the leadership of Ivan the Boneless, arrived and captured Northumbria Eoforwic. They didn’t like the name, so they renamed it to a Viking name Jorvik. Today, this city is known as York (derived from its last Viking name). The viking history of …
Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to. Alice: I don’t much care where. The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go. Alice: …So long as I get somewhere. The …
Queen Elizabeth II became Britain’s longest reigning monarch since Queen Victoria this year – she has been on the throne for almost 60 years since the passing of her father King George VI in 1952. That seemed to be a good reason for us to finally make it to Windsor, since moving to London in November …
It’s Guy Fawkes Day this Thursday (5 November), something that I experienced last year as a fresh arrival, and having just came from a country where fireworks are banned (outside the nation’s tiny capital) it was quite a stir. People freely let off fireworks in their backyards, on the streets and along the riverbanks, …
Two hours train ride away from St Petersburg took us somewhere in complete contrast. Stepping out of the train we were greeted with a bland concrete station building adorned with the Soviet hammer and sickle, and image that told us that we were definitely not in imperial grounds anymore. This was Veliky Novgorod (or simply …
Wimbledon is a word that is synonymous with tennis, and is conveniently just four train stops from where I currently live. However, I am currently avoiding the area due to the crowds that have descended in the area for… well, the tennis of course. However, there is another side of Wimbledon that isn’t about tennis. Wimbledon …
There’s much to celebrate about English history this year, one of which is the 500 years of Hampton Court , built by Henry VIII (the one who keep killing his wives for not bearing him sons) which is a leisurely boat ride (or 10 mins by train) up the Thames from where we currently live. …
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. I visited more than ten years ago, in 2003, to this place that brought me to tears just standing on the empty rail line, where a small bouquet of flower was laid by a visitor reflected the grievous mood felt by all those …
While in Limoges, we had the opportunity to take part in the Le Journées Gaulouises de Saint-Gence, (The Gaulouises Day of Saint-Gence), a festival dedicated to the ancient history. This year’s theme was the Roman chariot and military splendors and the entire town was there (which, for Saint-Gence, a small village in the region, isn’t a lot …
One of those things that excite me about Europe is the abundance of its history and heritage that surrounds the everyday life, especially from a time when no one can no longer ‘remember’ (seriously, no one is that old!), the time of kings and queens, prince and princesses, and their elaborate castles and palaces. Castles …
At the entrance to Manila Bay lies an island that has seen the battle lines of World War II. Due to its strategic location Corregidor Island was used and re-used by American and Japanese forces as a battle base for their Pacific and Asia campaigns during the war and has since become an important piece …
It is our natural urge to want to be part of the action, and as much as we may morally disagree with it, we just can’t help ourselves to want to stop and check out the accident scene, or point out sites where certain disaster had happened. It’s our curiosity with the morbid and the …
A book by William Dalrymple Some say, William Dalrymple is the best writer on India, outside India. I don’t really know any better, but he certainly had me enchanted about India by the end of the book. I didn’t really know what to expect when I picked up this book at the local book store. …
So it’s true. Thrones of tourists (yours truly included) descend upon this ancient Khmer Hindu temple each day. Arriving on a tuk tuk, I was immediately herded along to the entrance, past the children chorusing “buy a postcard from me” and the ladies at the street stalls shouting “cold water ‘mam?” into Cambodia’s most recognisable …
