European train trips are a must in summer. There are few ways more quintessentially European to travel. In Australia we like to hit the road, but in Europe we take to the rails. These are the train trips you should do this summer. During the...
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Having just spent our first full winter in Europe, we thought it was time for some reflections on the last four months of our grand tour. Having lived in Sydney for many years, it’s fair to say that winter was of little consequence. Sure it...
The duration of most of our stays this year has been two weeks. Apart from our pre-departure preparations for Grantourismo and soiree in Dubai and the days leading up to our launch party in London, only on two occasions on the trip have we stayed in...
The best Vienna chocolate shops range from Demel, the former royal court confectioner, loved by Viennese for its decadent chocolates as much as its Sachertorte to Austria’s more innovative, smaller, boutique chocolatiers, such as Tiroler Edl, available at enormous gourmet emporium of Julius Meinl. Vienna’s chocolate history is...
There can be few activities more ‘local’ than spending time lingering over a book or leisurely drinking coffee in a café. Yet too few travellers seem to allow themselves that luxury – the luxury of spending time doing nothing or very little in a café. There...
In the streets surrounding our apartment in the Fifth District in Vienna, and across the Linke Wienzeile, the street that runs parallel to the Naschmarkt, in the neighbouring Sixth District, there are literally dozens of vintage clothes, design, and furniture shops. This part of Vienna...
Vienna, like Budapest, is a grand city of wide boulevards lined with majestic buildings, decorated with splendid statuary, and plenty of public spaces that allow you to step back and admire them. So what’s the best way to explore the city? Seeing Vienna on foot and...
Having lived in the Middle East for so long and traveled widely and written about the food, we have to admit that we consider ourselves to be something of connoisseurs of the cuisines of the region – often very mistakenly reduced to just being called...
Winter in Europe… heavy overcoats, crunchy snow, rosy cheeks, cute kids being pulled along on sleds by their parents, snowboarding, piping hot glühwein… and truffles. Yes, truffles. Having bought a fresh truffle at the Naschmarkt in Vienna, one of the dishes I knew I had...
Many years ago, when I worked in publishing in Sydney, my right-hand-man had a tempestuous relationship with his girlfriend who was head chef for one of Australia’s best known fine dining restaurateurs. Our little design department was comprised of keen foodies, even though the word...
When we realised that the Vienna Naschmarkt, a mouthwatering neighbourhood market in Austria‘s capital, was just down the road from our apartment rental we knew that it would be perfect for what we’re doing on our our grand tour: going slow and local. Having a fresh food...
Asian supermarkets, a mouth-watering gourmet market, vintage clothes shops, retro furniture stores, smoky bars, and pool halls… the 5th district location of our latest ‘home away from home’ in Vienna is about as far removed as you can get from Sacher tortes, Spanish dancing horses,...
