Eurosnack!

Transit

2009-11-01T15:15:00.006+01:00

The words "NO MSG ADDED" glow in neon lights over the bar of this Asian restaurant, dragging you inside. In the recent wave of gentrification that seems to be spreading
north on Rosentalerstrasse, this is a pleasant new place near to the new Amano Hotel.

The bowls have names like 'Bathing Beauty' (rice dough with chicken and morel mushrooms) and 'Doktor Fish'(catfish in a kind of coconut milk sponge with basil). The smaller bowls cost just €3, larger bowls like the Dumpling Noodles Soup (wontons with grilled pork) are €7. A side order of rice is just €1.

There are some great drinks too, like the Regeneration (similar to a Mojito but without the rum) and the Against Cold, a lime, ginger and honey tea.

Fresh and inexpensive, this is an agreeable place for a quick and tasty meal.

Transit
Rosentalerstrasse 68,
10119 Berlin

Open daily: 11:00 - 01:00

Tel: +49 (0) 30 247 816 45

There is also a branch of Transit on Sonntagstrasse in Friedrichshain.

www.transit-restaurants.com

Restaurant 3

2009-10-30T12:18:00.003+01:00

This is a new opening around the corner from Bar 3 and near the Volksbühne theater, a hang-out for the thespian world.

The decor is minimalist and stylish, it's got a nice atmosphere. My tomato soup was fresh and delicious. I then had a salad with beetroot which was good but on the vinegary side. My companion's lasagna was said to be rather tasteless, and overall the portions are small (but the prices are reasonable too).

The food tasted very fresh and the menu changes constantly, so this is definitely one to watch.

Restaurant 3, Weydingerstrasse 20, Berlin
Tel: +49-30-2804-6973

Mexican Berlin

2009-10-25T21:36:00.005+01:00

Mexican joints are few and far between in Berlin, but a nice burrito place is Dolores on Rosa Luxemburg Strasse. It's busy, but the corn chips are crunchy and delicious, the guacamole is good too (especially if you like garlic).

I had the classic vegan: black beans, brown rice, salsa verde and lots of fajita onions. Healthy fast food. Dolores is also the only place in Germany I've ever seen the Brazilian soft drink Guaraná Antartica for sale.

Rosa Luxemburg Strasse 7, Berlin Mitte, 030 280 99 597
www.dolores-online.de

Another good place is Maria Bonita. It's a bit grungy, you either sit at long tables on the street or on barstools. I made a reservation without realising it is pretty much an imbiss. The dishes are inexpensive (so is the beer) and authentic, the guys who run the place are fun too.

Danziger Str. 33, Prenzlauer Berg
www.maria-bonita.com

2009-10-18T16:41:00.003+02:00

Chez Leon, Brussels

The meal got off to a bad start when the restaurant told us we had lost our table because we were ten minutes late.

Another table was found, but then they made a huge fuss about the fact that we had booked for eight and were nine. The waiters made us feel very uncomfortable.

In the end, the mussels and chips were good, and the beer was cold. But the service experience was for the thick-skinned only!

18 rue des Bouchers, Brussels 1000, Belgium. Tel: +32 2 511 14 15. www.chezleon.be

2009-10-18T16:16:00.004+02:00

This is an interesting article from Business Week that a friend passed on to me about Barcomi's, a well-known American café:

Creating Café Barcomi's in Berlin
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/sep2009/sb20090924_016527.htm

The Barcomi's at Sophienstrasse 21 is one of my favourite places for cookies and brownies. The coffee is STRONG. It's rather more expensive than most cafés in the area.

2009-09-12T09:43:00.001+02:00

Welcome to the new blog. It's had a face-lift, as you can see.

Now it's all about food.

Guten Appetit!

A weekend in Provence

2009-09-12T09:32:00.009+02:00

These pictures are of the Saturday market in Aups, a village in the hilly region of Var. The cheese this guys is selling was very expensive (around €47 per kilo) but creamy, slightly nutty in flavour and delicious. We were told not to put it in the fridge, as that ruins the taste, but to eat it at room temperature. We did, and it was lunch-heaven.

Aups is lovely to stroll around. Much of Provence, in fact, looks like it's part of a film set. The market is good for fresh food and olive oils, but the clothes were rather disappointingly lacking in French chic.

Cambodian Ventures

2009-04-24T14:39:00.001+02:00

The World Bank said earlier this month that Cambodia is one of the East Asian countries that will be worst affected by the financial crisis. Cambodia is already one of the poorest countries in the region. The average salary is US$290 a year -- that's just $5.50 a week. Child labour and the exploitation of women and children for sex is a growing social problem.

But in the face of these grim figures, there are some truly inspirational projects helping to lift young people out of poverty in Cambodia.

One that I visited is called the 'Mith Samlanh/Friends' venture. It's a co-operation between the international 'Friends Building Futures' program and Mith Samlanh, a local Cambodia NGO ("Mith Samlanh" means "friends" in the Cambodian language Khmer).

Mith Samlanh/Friends has set up various businesses as training centres to get children off the streets. There are two restaurants, a café, a nail bar and a shop selling crafts made by the young people.

I had dinner at the Romdeng restaurant, where trainees work under mentors preparing excellent dishes. The spring rolls were especially good, and the restaurant has a very congenial atmosphere, with bright murals.

I also went to the Friends store, a picture is below.

These are projects that need support, so go online and buy a brick to support to Mith Samlanh/Friends project and the street children of Cambodia. www.friendsbuildingfutures.org

I stayed in an excellent boutique hotel in the centre of Phnom Penh: The Pavilion. It's a spacious old colonial building with a lovely pool, great bar and free internet access. Very reasonable rates too!

It also supports the fight against sex trafficking:

Details:

Romdeng
#74 Street 174,
Phnom Penh
Cambodia
+855 (0) 92 219 565
food.friends@everyday.com.kh
www.streetfriends.org

The Pavilion
227, Street 19,
Phnom Penh
Cambodia
+855 (0) 23 22 22 80
reservation@thepavilion.asia
www.thepavilion.asia

Verbier -- it's got the edge (but not the ski lifts)

2009-03-15T18:25:00.015+01:00

Verbier is all about the skiing. That may sound obvious, but so many Alpine ski resorts are more about fur coats, restaurants and champagne-sipping than the actual sport. In Verbier, there are enough restaurants and clubs to satisfy the most expensive of tastes, but the skiing is top-class too.

The ski area covers four valleys and the ski areas of Verbier, Nendaz, Veysonnaz, La Tzoumaz and Thyon. Verbier is the only resort I've been to with ski itineraries: runs that are technically off-piste, but marked with yellow posts. They're challenging but marked and more easily accessible than most off-piste runs (note: the resort stresses they are marked but not maintained, not controlled and intended for experienced skiers only). Ski itineraries are indicated on the piste map with a dotted yellow line. The best ones run from Tortin to Siviez down from the legendary 3330 metre Mont Fort.

The sheer variety of skiing in Verbier makes it well worth a visit, especially for skiers who like a challenge. There are mogul fields aplenty too, both on the ski itineraries and on-piste.

The only let-down is the over-abundance of T-bar drag lifts, especially in Thyon. They're uncomfortable, take ages and are far too easy to fall off. It's a real shame because it's incredibly frustrating spending sacred skiing-time crawling up a mountainside at snail's pace, trying to balance your butt on a plastic pole. If Verbier invests in a few more high-speed ski lifts, this really would be the best resort ever.

I had some pretty shocking coffee-drinking experiences in Verbier so I'm only going to recommend one café, but this really is a mountain-top gem: the Cabane Mont Fort. It's a Heidi-hi style cabin on the Cabane (red run) from the Col des Gentianes. There's a large terrace, hot drinks, freshly baked cookies and brownies, hot food, and they even have accommodation (www.cabanemontfort.ch)

On the Ruinettes run back into Verbier, there's a charming restaurant called Chez Dany. It's more expensive than the average mountain eatery, but the traditional Swiss fare is good, the cinnamony mulled wine is delicious and, again, there's a nice terrace. (Ch. de Clambin, Verbier. Tel: +41 (0) 2 77 71 25 24)

As for après-ski, the Farinet is a completely mad, fun bar. I saw people dancing on the tables in ski boots and spilling beer all over each other, like an Alpine version of the bar in Coyote Ugly. The T Bar next door is more chilled-out, and shows lots of sports matches. Pub Mont Fort is another well-known après-ski spot, and fun in a cheesy kind of way (www.pubmontfort.com).

Après-skiing in Kitzbühel

2009-01-16T19:43:00.005+01:00

As well as fancy cars and fur coats, Kitzbühel offers great bars and cafes on the pistes and in the town.

The nightlife wasn't up to much, but après-ski was great, especially at Usterwies on the Pengelstein run. Big terrace, friendly staff. Further down the Pengelstein run there is another après-ski hut that sells masses and masses of different shots, recognisable by the giant inflatable dinosaur outside.

In town, the Pavillon Bar on Hahnenkammstraße is fun but gets very busy. And watch out for the game that involves banging a nail into a stump of wood with the thin end of a hammer. If you lose (as I did), you have to buy all the drinks!

To recreate Austrian Après-ski magic from the comfort of your own home, just grab a beer, a bottle of schnapps, and put these songs on:

DJ Ötzi feat Nik P - Ein Stern (Der Deinen Namen trägt)

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_8dn_HykqI

DJ Ötzi & Marc Pircher - Sieben Sünden

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsm_UqvTYO0

...and my personal favourite: Peter Wackel - Joana

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q83tz6oge7Q

For some reason, these three songs are played in every bar, every day, and they are major floor-fillers. DJ Ötzi (best known in the UK for his version of "Hey Baby") is huge in Austria.

Quick facts:

Best runs: 77 (red), 63 (black), 26 (blue), 27 (blue), 56 (black).

Best coffee: Bärenbadalm, restaurant at the top of the Bärenbadkogel lift.

Best hot chocolate: Usterwies (see above), on run 31.

Best ski-time lunch: The garlic cream soup at Tonialm, halfway down run 77.

Happy skiing!

Viva Valencia

2008-12-08T18:55:00.045+01:00

Valencia is a city on the move. It doesn't seem to have quite cemented an "über cool" reputation, like Barcelona or Berlin, but is that so bad?

There are loads of cool things to do in and around Valencia, not least throw tomatoes at total strangers at the Tomatina fiesta in August. One piece of advice for female tomato-throwers: wear a bikini because your t-shirt will be ripped off! And be prepared for picking tomato seeds out of your hair for weeks afterwards. But it's all worth it, the Tomatina is one of a kind.

Valencia's path to international coolness is coming along nicely. The local newspaper ADN has said Delta Airlines is setting up direct flights between Valencia and New York. It's something the president of the hotel union in Valencia province called “exceptionally good news” last month, which “marks a path to follow”.

On that very same path, Santiago Calatrava’s City of Arts and Sciences seems to be doing for Valencia what the Guggenheim did for Bilbao. It's architecturally stunning.

The City of Arts and Sciences is made up of a science museum, a Imax Cinema/Planetarium/Laserium called Hemisfèric and an oceanographic park called the Oceanográfico. I didn't have time for the first two, but I managed to check out the Oceanográfico.

The shark pool was awesome, you can walk through a tunnel and watch the fish swimming around and above you.

I didn’t find the guided tour all that informative though, and the enclosures for the whales, sea lions, seals and penguins just depressed me. I’m not a fan of seeing animals in captivity. They put on a dolphin show a couple of times a day, but seeing dolphins moonwalking on their tails as the James Bond theme was blasted out through the sound system just made me feel downcast.

I’m sure that marine centres like the Oceanográfico do excellent work researching and conserving aquatic life, and providing an opportunity for people to see their favourite animals up close. Still, I often find visiting zoos a pretty dismal experience.

Public transport to the City of Arts and Sciences isn’t great, but you can walk there from the centre through Jardín del Turia, or Turia Garden. It's a dry riverbed that's been made into a park. A very nice walk on a sunny day.

Holiday in Spain -- Walking in Tinença de Benifassà

2008-10-20T21:23:00.026+02:00

The Costa del Azahar is best known for beaches, beaches and more beaches. There are lots of lovely walled towns and cities (like Peñíscola, Oropesa del Mar and Castellón), and the Benicàssim Music Festival, anything else?

Walking, actually.

The Tinença de Benifassà was only declared a national park (and had the trails tarted up) in 2006, so even hardcore eurotrekkers may not have heard of it.

It’s also one of the most beautiful and most remote places I’ve visited in the region.

The park is only 30 miles from the touristy beach resorts of the Costa del Azahar, but it's incredibly unspoilt with beautiful scenery.

The Tinença de Benifassà offers moderate-to-challenging hill walking on trails that pass through tiny, picturesque Spanish villages as well as gorges, peaks, valleys, and a reservoir. There are short trails between villages that can be covered in a day, and there's also a section of the famous GR7 trail (which spans the whole of Spain).

The region is near enough to the main tourist destinations to be accessible for day walks: 1.5 hours from Reus airport (served by Ryanair) and Benicàssim, 2.5 hours from Barcelona, and 2 hours from Valencia.

Here is how we did it:

Day 1:

Left the car in Vallibona (also known as Villabona – the names in the region are all marked in Castilian Spanish as well as the local Valenciano) and walked 20km along the GR7 to Fredes via el Boixar (or Bojar). The GR7 is generally well-marked with red and white flashes, apart from outside el Boixar, where we got lost and had to navigate map+compass style.

Camping is not allowed in the park, so in Fredes we spent the night at the lovely Casa Nuri (tel: +34 977 729 102). It's a comfortable guest house with a kitchen/dining room area downstairs. Nuri is very friendly and helpful, and told us a lot about the history of the area. We paid €25 for the night, including linen and towels. Highly recommended.

There are only 12-14 people who live in Fredes year-round, but the village still has an excellent restaurant: La Taberna, (Calle Mayor 17, tel: +34 977 729 152). La Taberna serves fresh regional delights like wild mushrooms, lamb, game and pork: perfect after a day's walking. La Taberna's business card also says they rent apartments.

Day 2:

From Fredes, we left the GR7 and made our way to the famous Portell de l'Infern. The trail is marked with yellow and white flashes, but not numbered, another map+compass job. After walking through the gorges, the trail winds down to a reservoir -- the Embalse de Ulldecona. There are a few picnic and swimming spots near the bridge.

For day-trippers to the reservoir: there are several marked trails around the reservoir and through the Portell de l'Infern that range from 4km (about an hour's walk) to 11km (about five and a half hours' walk). You can download a brochure about them here:

http://www.cth.gva.es/arbDin/indice.aspx?Nodo=4324&idioma=I

There is also a well-known monastery nearby, the Monasterio de Santa Maria de Benifassà, which can be visited on Thursdays from 1pm to 3pm.

From the reservoir, we walked along the Rio Cenia for an hour and a half to the picturesque hilltop village of Bellestar (or Ballestar), practically unchanged since the days of Cervantes.

We arrived in Ballestar as ominous dark clouds were forming, but luckily came across the Bar Restaurant El Bellestar de la Tinença (Calle Major 12, Ballestar - Castellón, tel: +34 977 729 100). It's a cosy place run by two sisters, stocked with books and maps on walking in the region. A jug of wine was only €1.50, which happily lasted us through the thunderstorm.

From Ballestar, it was only another 30 minutes’ walk to Benifassà, where we stayed in the Albergue La Font Lluny (Camí de la Font Lluny, s/n 12599, La Pobla de Benifassà, Castellón. Tel: +34 977 72 91 25 • Fax: +34 977 72 91 25. www.lafontlluny.com, email: lafontlluny@lafontlluny.com).

La Font Lluny is a large hostel with plenty of amenities, from €20 a night. The food was pretty mediocre, but there are other places to eat in the village of Benifassà, which is well-known for its almonds and honey. Restaurante La Morena is a good place for chuletas de cerdo -- pork chops. (Calle Mayor 12, tel: +34 977 729 010)

Day 3:

We left Benifassà and followed one of the marked trails that took us along the Sierra de la Cru, which boasts amazing views. Near the peak (the Cru) we got seriously lost and ended up accidentally wandering into the wrong valley. A bit of compass work and luck got us onto a hunter's trail that lead us back to the GR7, but not after a least an hour spent wondering if we were going to end up camping in an abandoned farmhouse (there are masses of them in the hills) and drawing lots for the last sip of water.

Back on the GR7, it was downhill all the way back to Vallibona. From there, about a two and a half hour drive to Barcelona and a nice hot shower.

It’s amazing that the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Costa del Azahar every year barely venture into the park. The local people were very friendly and chatty, many found three young women walking in the hills a bit of a curiosity. That said, outside of the villages the countryside was extremely remote. We didn't see another hiker for the entire holiday.

Here are some useful websites about the park:

http://www.cth.gva.es/arbDin/indice.aspx?Nodo=4324&idioma=I

http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/natura/natura3.htm?idnat=7

http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/rutas/ingles/rint_tb.htm?nombre=La%20Tinen%C3%A7a%20de%20Benifass%C3%A1&id_campo=benifassa_ca.pdf

http://mediambient.gencat.net/eng/el_medi/parcs_de_catalunya/ports/inici.jsp

Maps:

We used the Editorial Piolet's map of El Port:

http://www.editorialpiolet.com/servlet/ProductoLibreria/LIBRO--%20el%20port%20.%2020%20rutes%20de%20BTT--IDPRODUCTO--1184--ACTIVATEMENU--null--R_IDEDITORIAL--4.html

...it’s very useful for trails within the El Port national park, but doesn't cover much of the Tinença de Benifassà. The Lonely Planet recommends the Sociedad Geológica de España's map "Morella 30 - 21".

Lonely Planet's Walking in Spain (2nd ed) offers a 5 day walk in the area, and is a very handy guidebook.

Shopping:

I bought my Editorial Piolet map and some last minute essentials at the excellent sport and mountain goods shop Evasión in Benicarló. (Escoles Cristianes 41, Benicarló. Tel: +34 964 473 987 or +34 964 474 414). The shop assistant was also very helpful and knowledgeable about the area. They stock good maps and books too.

This article is based on my personal experience -- I've made every effort to ensure it's reliable and up to date, but I will not be held liable for any loss, damage or inconvenience arising from inaccuracies.

The council's guidelines for the park can be read here: http://www.cth.gva.es/arbDin/indice.aspx?Nodo=4324&idioma=I

Follow the motto of the boy scouts: be prepared. Be safe, have fun and enjoy the park!

Tuscany - food, wine, Renaissance

2008-09-20T12:02:00.015+02:00

Believe the gushing superlatives - Tuscany is amazing! It's true!

Being a tourist there can be hell at times, that's also true. Queues, crowds and rip-off prices are, I suppose, an occupational hazard. But it's all worth it, Florence is like no other city I've seen in terms of beauty, history and all that art. It's everywhere.

Three tips:

1) Do a walking tour of Florence. We went with www.italy.artviva.com's Original Florence Walk (€25) and had a great time -- seriously knowledgeable guide. Florence is a city you can feel out of place in if you're not being herded around by a tour guide. We also did the www.italy.artviva.com tour of the Uffizi Gallery as we weren't feeling up to tackling the museum's legendary long lines (I read that a 5 to 6 hour wait is not unheard of). But although the guide was, again, very knowledgeable, I thought at €39 (including entry fees) it was a bit expensive.

2) If you go inside the Baptistery in Pisa's Miracle Square, don't bother paying €1 to listen to a history of the Baptistery on one of the ancient telephone-audioguide-box-things. It is incomprehensible.

3) Take the Time Out guide if eating and drinking is one of your holiday priorities. I've used a lot of guidebooks in my time, and found that Time Out consistently has the best, most up-to-date restaurant listings. The places it recommends have always been excellent value for money and packed with locals. For sightseeing and history, I think the Footprint Travel Guides are really well written, but Footprint doesn't cover as many destinations as the Rough Guide or Lonely Planet.

4) Go and see the lovely sculptures pictured above and many amazing frescoes at the Camposanto Monumentale in Pisa's Miracle Square.

5) If you're a coffee drinker, stand up! Sitting at a table to drink your latte will incur a whopper of a service charge. So drink it standing at the bar like the Italians do and pay around €1.50 instead of €6 or more.

I can't believe it's really Britain...

2008-08-14T19:44:00.036+02:00

For a different beach holiday, try the Outer Hebrides...

White sand beaches, unspoilt countryside, barely another person in sight... sound good? It is.

But that's only if you can bear the cold. Even in August, the average temperature on the isles of Lewis and Harris is a paltry 18 degrees. Even paddling in the sea left my feet feeling like they were going to fall off, so swimming was a definite no-go.

The Outer Hebrides is one of the few places left in Britain that strictly observes the Sabbath. Almost all of the island's shops are closed on Sundays, and the ferries aren't allowed to run. Information boards tell visitors to "Respect local custom and avoid disturbing the Sabbath", as well as keeping the gates closed and not disturbing breeding birds.

The walking on Harris is superb. Especially the Postman's Walk, part of which runs from Urgha to Reinigeadal. It's known as the Postman's Walk because, until a road was built along the coast in 1989, the postman had to walk the 5.5km trail every day.

Up the sugar-loaf peak of Toddun, over The Scriob, down to a beach and up along a coastal track... It took us over two hours, so I can only guess that the Harris post deliverer was very fit.

An information board in a wind-swept corner of Reinigeadal says: "The new road has brought the inhabitants into the modern era". It also says things like: "Walking is one of the best ways of exercising all the muscles in the body at one time", and "Physical activity can help you relax - good for mental health".

We spotted some dolphins off the coast, but the arctic hares and the otters evaded us. Fortunately a strong gale meant the midges evaded us too.

There are lots of midges and sheep on Harris. The midges are a pain, but the sheep are the source of the famous Harris tweed. I tested some of this out recently -- top marks for warmth! If a bit scratchy. Tweed's dowdy image has long died and now there are colours, styles, bags, hats, jackets, scarves and much more for all ages. This was a lovely shop: www.harristweedandknitwear.co.uk

We the people

2008-07-24T22:34:00.031+02:00

There were 200,000 of us standing in the crowd to see Obama this evening. Every age, race, nationality and dress code imaginable.

It was a phenomenal turnout for a man who is not a head of state, who still has three months' campaigning ahead of him for the presidential election. He wasn't speaking in German either, and yet roughly five percent of the city's population still came out to hear him talk in a foreign language.

The crowds started at the metro station, pouring towards the Victory Column hours before Mr Obama was due on stage. I waited in a herd of people for over an hour to get through the security checkpoint. Bag search, metal detectors, surplus batteries taken off me, bottle of water in the bin. The weather was in the high twenties but with the sun beating down on the mass of bodies, it felt much hotter. The people smoking added to the sense of suffocation, and yet none of us wanted to leave.

Inside the security area, bands played (including Patrice, that alone made the wait worth it), the beer sellers plied their trade, and the crowd bopped around enjoying the Mardi Gras atmosphere. When Obama appeared on stage, people were jumping in the air to catch a glimpse of him, cheering and clapping.

One guy behind me had found a beer crate to stand on for a better view. He was blocking the people behind him, but offered to take photos with their cameras or email them his, perhaps in the Berlin spirit of solidarity that Obama praised in his speech.

So why do the Berliners love Obama? "He's energetic, young and basically is not one of the very old, conservative, hardcore, right-wing Americans. That's very appealing to the German people who are quite centre-left", said Stephanie Beer, a German student. "The fact that he is physically attractive helps too".

Obama didn't talk about the election, his policies, or why he should become president. Tonight he was speaking as "a proud citizen of the United States", in his own words. He urged Europe to play a greater role in Afghanistan. He talked of a world without nuclear weapons. He urged us, the world, to work together for our common freedom.

As the blurry photo testifies, I didn't have a great view of Obama. But it was a pleasure to hear him speak, and see his affect on the people of Berlin. I felt a part of history.

Quotes that got the biggest cheers:

"Thanks to all of you for this extraordinary welcome".

"Tonight I speak to you as a proud citizen of the United States and as a fellow citizen of the world".

"I know that I don't look like the Americans who have previously spoken in this great city." (laughter)

"In the darkest hours, the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up."

"People of the world now do your duty. People of the world, look at Berlin." [quoting Ernst Reuter speaking in 1948]

"There is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one."

"Partnership and co-operation among nations is not a choice. It is the only way, the one way to protect our common security and advance our common humanity."

"The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christians and Muslims and Jews cannot stand."

"Not only have walls come down in Berlin, but they have come down in Belfast, where Protestants and Catholics found a way to live together. In the Balkans, where our Atlantic alliance ended wars and brought savage war criminals to justice, and in South Africa, where the struggle of a courageous people defeated apartheid."

"True partnership and true progress require constant work and sustained sacrifice. They require sharing the burdens of development and diplomacy, of peace and progress. They require allies who will listen to each other, learn from each other and, most of all, trust each other."

"America has no better partner than Europe".

"If we could win a battle of ideas against the communists, we can stand with the vast majority of Muslims who reject the extremism that leads to hate instead of hope."

"This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons."

"This is the moment to begin the work of seeking the peace of a world without nuclear weapons."

"In this century, in this city, of all cities, we must reject the Cold War mindset of the past, and resolve to work with Russia when we can, to stand up for our values when we must, and to seek a partnership that extends across this entire continent."

"Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favours the few, and not the many."

"My country must stand with yours and with Europe in sending a direct message to Iran that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions. We must support the Lebanese who have marched and bled for democracy, and the Israelis and Palestinians who seek a secure and lasting peace."

"And despite past differences, this is the moment when the world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close."

"Let us resolve that all nations, including my own, will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere."

"Will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty, and shelter the refugee in Chad, and banish the scourge of AIDS in our time? Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words "never again" in Darfur?"

"Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don't look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?"

"I know my country has not perfected itself."

"Our [America's] allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom; indeed, every language is spoken in our country, every culture has left its imprint on ours, every point of view is expressed in our public squares."

"It is because of those aspirations that all free people, everywhere, became citizens of Berlin."

"People of Berlin, and people of the world, the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope, with an eye for the future, with resolve in our hearts. Let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again. Thank you Berlin".

Remembering the Berlin Airlift

2008-06-29T16:35:00.006+02:00

Berlin marked the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift this week. Allied forces flew millions of tonnes of food, medicine and coal to keep the people of Berlin alive when the Soviets blockaded the city between 1948 and 1949.

Brian Wanstall (pictured) was back in Berlin to remember the humanitarian operation, now widely known as the first battle of the Cold War.

"It's nice being back," said the British veteran. "The German Defense Minister [Franz Josef Jung] was there at the ceremony."

Gail Halvorsen also came back to the German capital to mark the 60th anniversary. Halvorsen became famous during the blockade for dropping tiny parachutes of sweets out of his plane for the children of Berlin, he was known as the "Candy Bomber".

Short Notes from a Short Visit

2008-06-08T14:14:00.008+02:00

I went to Barcelona for a day in May and a day in June; with Sitges, as seen in the top photo, in between. Rather than talking about the beaches or the Sagrada Familia cathedral (amazing, if you can make it around there without being squashed by millions of other tourists), or Gaudi or the wonderful climate - I am going to recommend two restaurants, two hotels and a bar.

Tapas, 24

This is really more a tapas bar than a restaurant, with a naval theme, galley-style bar, open-plan kitchen and speedy service. Tapas are perfect for the indecisive eater: you can have a bit of everything.

It was here that I met the bikini sandwich: toasted ham and cheese. I'd be lying if I said I'd never had a ham and cheese sandwich before, but this was particularly good. For some reason, people from Barcelona call their ham and cheese sandwiches "bikinis".

I also met the McFoie Burger for the first time at Tapas 24, quite literally a burger of foie. Not something you'd find in many fast food restaurants, and it was delicious. Although since I got back from Barcelona I read a PETA report on foie gras and don't think I'll ever touch the stuff again.

Finish off the tapas with a plate of chocolate, oil and salt. As my dining companion said, "it's a heart attack on a plate". But oddly delicious too.

Tapas, 24
Carrer de la Diputació, 269
08007, Barcelona

+34 93 488 09 77

www.carlesabellan.com

Restaurant Euskal Etxea

At this tapas bar, you're given a plate and can choose anything you like from the platters of tapas on the bar. Everything is skewered with plastic toothpicks, and you keep your toothpicks and show them at the end to pay.

This bar is charming and very popular (finding a seat can be hard). The tapas are good but on the expensive side.

Restaurant Euskal Etxea
Placeta Montcada 1-3
08003 Barcelona

Tel: +34 93 310 21 85

Website: (Catalan and Basque only) http://www.euskaletxeak.org/cat/jatetxea_restaurant.php

Hotels:

Prestige Paseo de Gracia

An excellent boutique hotel, very friendly staff and a 24 hour "Ask Me" concierge service. I rate the Zeroom, the lounge area on the first floor overlooking the Paseo de Gracia: a good place to read, have a drink, work. I judge most hotels on their coffee and their showers - this one gets top marks for both.

Prestige Paseo de Gracia
Paseo de Gracia 62
08007 Barcelona

Tel: +34 93.272.41.80
Fax: +34 93.272.41.81

www.prestigepaseodegracia.com

Hostal Central

It's not fancy: it's clean, has bags of character, and is totally excellent value for money. Even though it's called a "Hostal", it's not a dorm room kind of place. Sheets! Towels! Free internet! Our room had high ceilings, full-length windows overlooking the street below and was nicely furnished (see photo). The shower was only separated from the room by a curtain and took ages to drain. But the Hostal Central's location is great: just a stone's throw from the Plaza Catalunya.

Hostal Central
Ronda Universitat, 11, 1º 2ª
08007, Barcelona

Tel: +34 93 302 24 20 or +34 93 412 78 57
Fax: +34 93 302 24 20

www.hostalcentral.net

Bar:

The stylish bar at the Hotel Omm looks like it dropped out of an episode of Sex and the City, a trendy place to start a Friday night. It might even finish there, as the cocktails are seriously good, and seriously strong. There's a dancefloor downstairs in the Ommsession Club.

Bar Moo
Hotel Omm
Calle Rosselló 265
08008 Barcelona

Tel: +34 93 445 40 00

www.hotelomm.es

Hot tips for Hong Kong

2008-03-10T14:31:00.011+01:00

Here are some of my favourites from my last trip to Hong Kong.

Eating Out:

For fresh, creative Vietnamese cuisine, check out Nha Trang on Wellington Street. It’s a great lunch place, always full, but worth queuing for a table.

Nha Trang Vietnamese Cuisine: 88-90 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong, Tel: +852 2581 9992.

Enoteca and its sister restaurant Bacar have a great menu of experimental Western dishes and oriental foods, they come in perfect-for-sharing portions. Try the risotto balls and rosemary wedge potatoes, as well as the chicken peri-peri. Great service too.

Enoteca, G/F, 47 Elgin Street, SoHo, Hong Kong. Tel: +852 2525 9944.

Drinking:

Feather Boa

Stepping into this bar is like time-travelling to 19th century Paris. It’s small and exquisitely decorated, with beautiful gold fabric on the ceiling - great lychee daiquiris too.

Feather Boa, 38 Staunton Street, SoHo, Hong Kong. Tel: +852 2857 2586

China Club

For fans of David Tang’s interior designs and eclectic contemporary Chinese art collection, the China Club will not disappoint. It was here I discovered the Gunner cocktail: angostura bitters, ginger ale and ginger beer. Very refreshing on a hot evening. There’s also a terrace at the China Club where you can watch the famous Hong Kong light show at 8pm - when skyscrapers flash their neon lights around the harbour. It’s actually a private members’ club, but concierges at some of the more upmarket hotels can secure you a table here.

China Club, 13/F, The Old Bank of China Building, Bank Street, Central, Hong Kong. Tel: +852 2521 8888

Aqua group have two bars worth visiting:

1) Aqua Spirit, a chi chi penthouse watering hole at One Peking Road, Kowloon. It’s a bar and restaurant for Hong Kong’s well-heeled crowd. There’s minimum charge of HK$150 (€12.50) per person, but worth it for the view and the cocktails. Dress up.

2) Aqua Luna, this is the coolest way to see Hong Kong: on board a traditional Chinese junk. Junks are getting rarer in Victoria Harbour these days, but this one is beautifully restored with huge red sails. The Aqua Luna sets sail from Tsim Sha Tsui or Pier No 9 Central for 45 minute cruises throughout the day. Lying back on plush cushions, glass of wine in hand, there is no better way to see the Hong Kong skyline by night. One drink is included in the ticket price.

Check out http://www.aqua.com.hk/ for sailing times and information on both Aqua Spirit and Aqua Luna.

Clubbing:

M1NT

M1NT is a trendy private members’ club, owned by 250 shareholders, and like the original club in London, it’s a place to be seen.

The best and worst thing about it was the huge fish tanks filled with black-tipped reef sharks. If you’re there at 7pm or 4am, you might get to watch the sharks being fed. Sleek and scary-looking, they give the place a real edge. But I spent quite a lot of time watching the sharks swim in circles around their bare fish tank. With the loud music and confined space to writhe in, I felt rather sorry for the poor sharks. Living in a fish tank in a club can't be much fun compared to swimming around in the big blue sea. I tried to explain my shark issues to one of the bartenders but he thought I was trying to order shots. So if you feel strongly about seeing fish in captivity, don’t go to M1NT. Otherwise, it’s a very cool club.

M1NT Hong Kong, 108 Hollywood Road
www.M1NT.co.uk
Tel: +852 2168 0604

Shopping:

Shopping is one of Hong Kong’s premiere attractions. With very low rates of tax (including VAT sales tax), many of the brands you find here are much cheaper than at home.

Hong Kong is a great place for tailored suits. I can highly recommend Sam’s Tailor (www.samstailor.com), where I picked up a jacket and skirt in merino wool for about a quarter of the price I would have paid in London (or Berlin). I also got to sketch out my own design.

Sam’s Tailor: Burlington Arcade ‘K’, 92-94 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Tel: +852 2367 9423 or 0363.

Herin Ching’s designs at fang fong stand out from many of the boutiques in Soho. Very original and stylish dresses, and accessories. It’s pretty pricey for Hong Kong, but the perfect place to pick up something special.

fang fong ltd, 67a Peel Street, Central, Hong Kong. Tel: +852 3105 5557

Massage:

There are places to get a massage on practically every street corner in Honkers. Healthy Foot in Lang Kwai Fong in Central do a great foot massage. Or for a treat, head to the Landmark Mandarin Oriental on Queen’s Street. HK$450 (€37) will buy an amazing 30 minute back and shoulder massage, and you can also spend time relaxing in the sauna, steam room, Jacuzzi and relaxation room. This spa introduced me to water flavoured with slices of orange - it tastes great!

Landmark Mandarin Oriental, 15 Queen's Road Central, The Landmark, Central, Hong Kong +852 2132 0011

Healthy Foot: Flat/RM 1001 Lan Kwai Fong, Tak Woo House, 1-3 Wo On Lane, Central Hong Kong. Tel: +852 2537 3098.

Walking:

For such a big city, it's unbelievably easy and quick to escape from Hong Kong to the countryside. I did one day-hike on Lantau Island with a company called Walk Hong Kong. It started at the Big Budda, went through beautiful woods, hills and peaks, and finished at Tai-O fishing village. It was a pretty demanding walk (there are easier ones to choose from), and very hot on the day I went, but well worth it, and the guide was great. The price of the trip included lunch and transport costs, but it didn’t come cheap at HK$750.00 (€50).

The Dragon’s Back is a fun, un-strenuous walk that’s easy to reach by bus or taxi from Central. It’s so called because it consists of two hills, shaped like a dragon’s back. The walk is in Shek O national park, and the trail is well-marked. Shek O beach is also a great place to chill out and have lunch. You can stop off at Stanley Market on the way home and go shopping. Perfect.

2007-11-06T15:21:00.001+01:00

This is Dresden. It's beautiful, even in the freezing cold.

2007-10-16T11:42:00.000+02:00

I got back from Hong Kong and China on the weekend. I tried to write my blog from China but I couldn't access it. Either because the internet was too slow, or the People's Republic don't like blogs.

China and Hong Kong don't really fall into the realm of a Euroblog, I know, but they were too amazing not to write about.

Hong Kong is a city sprawling up into the air. Bright lights, noise, hundreds of people on every streetcorner... open markets with live fish (and birds)... Starbucks and Ben & Jerry's crammed in with noodle shops selling Bird's Nest Soup...

I went to Stanley Market on the bus (a double decker, no less) and walked from the old Officer's Mess (which is now a mall - there are malls everywhere in Hong Kong, even Victoria's Peak) along the waterfront to a temple. A dog ran out and tried to bite me on the leg. It was terrifying. I have a horrible fear of rabies jabs. I yelled at the dog and it went away, but I was still shaking even after I was well away.

A great thing, I found, about Hong Kong was the feeling that you're living in the sky. I've never really had the skyscraper experience before (I'm from Europe), and staying in an apartment on the 36th floor was unreal, lying in bed at night looking at the harbour and all the lights.

Hong Kong island, and the islands in the New Territories, are also amazingly verdant and beautiful, and so accessible. I can't imagine how much cooler London would be if you could hop in a taxi / ferry / speedboat on a Saturday morning and be on paradise beach in half an hour, swimming in the sea.

Versailles, je t'aime

2007-09-01T18:14:00.000+02:00

Exactly ten days ago I went to France. I've been back in Berlin for three, but I've barely been able to put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) to describe in non-hyperbolic terms the effect the Palace of Versailles had on me.

Without wishing to embark on a long rant about art, architecture, Louis XIV, Renaissance art and so forth, all I can really say is that it was gob-smacking. Not just because of its enormity, beauty, opulence and the sheer number of tourists (here's a travel tip: never visit French châteaux in August, unless you enjoy being crushed into majestic rooms and only being able to see about 3 square metre corners of them at a time for all the people standing in your way). I'm surprised the fabrics at any French châteaux have any colour left for all the flashes that constantly bombard the priceless paintings, tapestries, curtains, embroidered wallpaper and bedspreads.

I visited 3 châteaux whilst I was in France: Château de Villandry (amazing garden), Chenonceau (ruined for me by too many screaming children and their parents incessantly taking photos) and the Palace of Versailles.

So what's so amazing about the Palace of Versailles? It's almost too amazing. It's so huge, and so over-the-top, that it's almost impossible to imagine life there. It's a dream world. Everything about it was totally mad: the court etiquette, the ceilings depicting French monarchs as Roman gods, the "outdoor living rooms" of the gardens - with every twist and turn it just gets better and better. Each chandelier, each fireplace, each piece of furniture, each fountain is more incredible than the next.

And then there's the size. It's so enormous that you can't fit it into a camera frame from nearly half a kilometre away. The garden was so big that I didn't even make it to Marie Antoinette's Hameau (the little village she built in the palace ground to escape the formality of court life, small wonder) as I had to leave for the airport.

As I walked around, I just couldn't understand how people could live like this. A palace is one thing. But Versailles is like the gargantuan palace that ate all the other palaces. Life there seemed like eighteenth century Big Brother, with Louis XIV holding court from his bed. The place made my head spin, I haven't stopped thinking about it for days.

I want to go back, not only for Marie Antoinette's house, but just to try and make sense of it. And hopefully next time in winter when I can soak it all up without the stampeding mob of tourists. They almost seemed like the mob that stormed the palace in 1789 - but nowadays they're baying for snapshots instead of blood, pushing and shoving to get a photo they can take home and keep forever - of a life lived in an age of extravagance and extremes of wealth. Seems like everyone still wants a piece of the French royals, alive or dead.

2007-08-16T17:36:00.000+02:00

I just got back from a short trip to Poland. Gdansk (or Danzig as it's know in German) is one of the Tri-cities on the Baltic coast.

Gdansk is a real gem. The people are friendly, and most spoke English, or understood the universal language of pointing and making hand signals that has served me so well in countries where I don’t speak the lingo. The old town is like a picture-postcard, with beautiful, atmospheric streets laden with market stalls selling amber and carved goods.

Gdansk reminded me of Prague, but minus the throngs of beer swigging, devil-horn-wearing Brits on their hen- and stag- nights. There were a lot of tourists from cruise ships during the day, but in the evening the city is much emptier. There’s a beach at the nearby city of Sopot, which is a rather smarter than Gdansk and makes for a good day trip. It’s supposed to be the party capital of the Tri-cities, but my friends and I couldn’t afford to stay there! I’ll come back next year with a tent, there’s an annual music festival and, if this year’s line-up is anything to go by (Norah Jones and Sophie Ellis Bextor, as well as 70s legends like Gloria Gaynor, The Village People and Hot Chocolate), it looks good: http://sopotfestival.onet.pl/

The Poles claim to make the best vodka in the world, and I’m now backing their bid wholeheartedly. Even the regular, inexpensive brands are incredibly smooth, the beer is great too.

Gdansk also now rules as the city with the funniest menu translations. Here’s a selection of my favourites, they either came from the menu at the restaurant at Malbork Castle or from a Pierogi (Polish dumplings) restaurant in Gdansk.

Whet your appetite with:

Slugs
Village Grease and Pickled Cucumber with Bread
Poultry Collars in Sauce
The Little Cellar Chop
Pork Bite
Pork with a Little Pocket
Roasted (or Boiled) Hand of Pork
Neck of Pork in an Innkeeper’s Style
Throttled Trout

Throttled trout - the poor trout! Does the manner of death really have to be specified on the menu? I don’t even want to think about what’s involved in the “Little Cellar Chop”.

I went from Berlin to Gdansk by train. Outbound I took a night train, which was very comfortable. On the return, I squashed myself into a carriage with a Polish family and fell asleep - it was a nine hour trip to Berlin. I was sleeping so deeply that the ticket inspector had to shake me awake.

After he left, the Polish girl sitting opposite me told me she and her family were getting off at the next station, and that I absolutely must not fall asleep again. I was alarmed. She told me she suspects a mafia works the line, robbing tourists and solo travellers. She said she’d been robbed on that very train from Gdansk to Szczecin (Stettin) whilst travelling on her own. Someone opened the door of the cabin while she was sitting alone and sprayed her with sleeping gas, she suspects. She vaguely remembers being drowsy, then four men coming in. When she woke up properly all her valuables were gone. The girl told me I should never sit alone in a segregated compartment on a train, and told me to find some other travellers to sit with.

But that was the only time I felt unsafe in Poland, on the streets and everywhere else I felt fine. Poland was great, I can’t wait to go back and travel some more.