I stayed for one night at El Montanya Resort and Spa in Seva, north of Barcelona during the #catexp BlogTrip09 hosted by Turisme de Catalayna in December 2009. The style of the hotel was quite Scandinavian with lots of wooden panelling. I liked my bedroom, it was cosy with a relaxed atmosphere and a balcony [...]

I got the lucky straw of getting Christmas duties here at Europe A La Carte this year.  (Don’t worry – most of us write them in advance!)  Last year I had the boxing day shift, where I mentioned that Neuschwanstein would be the one place I’d love to wake up on Christmas day. Well, this [...]

As an archaeologist with an interest in how the past is presented to the general public, something I do enjoy doing is visiting archaeological sites that are set up for general visitors. One thing France does very well in my opinion is their parc préhistoriques, and there are a number of them. But my favourite, [...]

I stayed at the Hotel B in Barcelona for two nights on a blogger press trip in December 2009 as a guest of Turisme de Catalunya. The hotel prides itself on its fusion of avant garde style and cutting edge technology. I stayed there on the first and the third night of my trip, so [...]

When I heard that Easyjet might be starting flights to the Greek island of Zakynthos (also known as Zante) , I was jumping with joy. I was given the tip-off by my sister, who owns two hotels with her Greek husband on the island of Zakynthos and has an inside track on what’s happening in [...]

This little country on the Adriatic (just 600,000 inhabitants) is a fantastic holiday destination offering beautiful coastlines and towns, friendly people, excellent cuisine and relatively low prices. It doesn’t yet attract the big crowds that neighboring Croatia does, but that’s sure to change over the next years, so enjoy it now! Boka kotorska – This [...]

Bob Baird is a retired police officer turned all-type-of-water paddler extraordinaire. He teaches, instructs and tests all levels of fresh or sea water canoeists and kayakers of all ages.  When he has some rare free time he even goes paddling for the fun of it! Borders canoe club (BCC) is extremely fortunate to have Bob [...]

If you love fresh fish and seafood you’ll love the vast array of species on sale at the Fish Market in La Boqueria in Barcelona. I was at there in December 2009 during the Catalanya Experience Blog Trip as we shopped for the ingredients for our Cook & Taste traditional cooking workshop. We needed shrimp, [...]

Nestled in one of the more expensive neighborhoods in Stockholm is an Olympic stadium. In 1912 Stockholm hosted the Olympics.  Sweden was not a large country, Stockholm was not a large city, but the Olympics were held there nonetheless.  The stadium that hosted those Olympics is still in use. In fact, in 1956, Stadium once [...]

I had the 8 euro lunch at the baubar in Placa Catedral in Girona to fortify myself before my walk around the city walls in December 2009. It’s a very interesting location on the ground floor of the Girona School of Architecture with a display panel about local buildings. Architectural information board at baubar, Girona [...]