The rich aroma of mulled wine and sweet cinnamon filled the air as we walked around Frankfurt’s Christmas market. Long strips of candy dangled from one stall and at another, sparkly stars spun in the breeze. A colourful carousel filled with giggling children spun to the sound of Christmas music and further in, beeswax candles, wooden toys and glistening trinkets were for sale on stalls decorated with frosted snowflakes and wooden Christmas trees. “I want sausage!” I announced as we browsed the aisles. “Prime, juicy, German sausage!” “Why aren’t the trains as good as this in England?” said Angela as we sped towards the centre of Frankfurt. Outside, the burgeoning light of an early December morning showed the rain and overcast conditions but inside was warm and snug. I shook my head because I’d wondered the ... read more

Almost as soon as we arrived in Victoria Falls town Angela spotted a warthog. It was walking briskly away from us, snout to the ground and spindly tail to the air, looking as if had some important business to attend somewhere. “Hurry up! Let’s get after it,” said Angela, and thus begun the Great Warthog Chase. Quick as a flash we raced towards the corner where we’d seen the hairy beast disappear round. With outstretched cameras and flapping arms we must have looked quite a sight to the citizens of town, some of whom stared as we careered around the bend in hot pursuit of the surprisingly fleet wild pig. It had already disappeared though, most probably into some undergrowth and then as a final insult to the whole escapade, we were each squirted with water ... read more

Even after two and a half years of living in Qatar, the neon and glitz of Doha’s skyscrapers could still make us gawp in amazement. A whirlwind, a pyramid, a golden sphere and even a sleek torpedo were just some of the shapes that Angela and I stared at whenever we drove along the corniche. That is if we could ignore the mental motorists snapping at our bumper. When we’d first arrived in the country, I was nervous about driving. Qatar was notorious for its aggressive drivers and numerous car smashes. Indeed within a few days of being in the country we had seen umpteen car wrecks by the side of the road, some looking so bad that the occupants must surely have died. A few months later we witnessed the aftermath of a recent smash, ... read more

Angela and I stood in the middle of the Vatican’s humongous square marvelling at St Peter’s Basilica (the largest Catholic church in the world), as well as the beautiful columns of the Colonnades that circled it. Above the columns were carvings of saints and to the right of the church was the Apostolic Palace, where the Pope often gave his Sunday blessings. In the middle of the square was a tall obelisk plundered by Caligula from Alexandria in AD37 that was once said to have held the ashes of Julius Caesar, and it all looked mightily impressive, despite the heat. The Vatican is the smallest country in the world and also the only county with Latin as its official language. It has its own stamps and its own army – the ridiculously attired Swiss Guard, donning ... read more

To be quite honest, I didn’t know what to expect of Zurich. Switzerland’s biggest city and world centre for finance had always been a stopover point on the way to somewhere else. But not this time. I was in Zurich to see what it had to offer and was soon on the extremely efficient airport train into the centre, arriving at the central station only ten minutes later. With it being too late to start sightseeing, I simply checked into the hotel and retired for the night. With a history spanning at least 7000 years, Zurich was certainly no slouch when it came to places of interest. In fact it surprised me to learn that it had once been a Roman settlement known as Turicum, with a castle built up on a nearby hill. I shook ... read more