"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true inspiration in art and science" - Albert Einstein "Belarus? at Christmas? You can forget it. No way!" - this was my girlfriend's predictable response when I first suggested going to Europe's least-known and probably least fashionable travel destination sometime in early 2012, perhaps fancifully imagining a romantic, alternative festive holiday to the usual over-indulgen...

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true inspiration in art and science" - Albert Einstein "Belarus? at Christmas? You can forget it. No way!" - this was my girlfriend's predictable response when I first suggested going to Europe's least-known and probably least fashionable travel destination sometime in early 2012, perhaps fancifully imagining a romantic, alternative festive holiday to the usual over-indu...

Centre of Europe, grand old dame of the Habsburg Empire, inventor of 'goulash communism' and now emerging in the 21st century as one of central/eastern Europe's major weekend getaway destinations, Budapest is a city which demands your attention. A heady mixture of Vienna's elegance and coffee-house culture and Berlin's rough-edged, hip archness, Budapest packs a massive punch and leaves you dizzy with the sheer number of options available. One week is barely enou...

Morocco isn't quite a dry country in terms of obtaining alcohol, but it might as well be, so far anyway. The few bars which are open are exclusively male preserves and the beer is sold in 240ml bottles for about 16 Dirhams - around a pound - hardly the stuff of hedonistic nights out. At least it gives me ample time to gather my thoughts in the evening and bash out a few emails. I actually came to the internet cafe tonight to quickly check the Newcastle sco...

Last time I wrote I had got to Ourzazate, in the southern part of 'proper' Morocco. (It's actually quite central if you count the immense wilderness that is the disputed territory of the western Sahara). We got up early on the first day of September to a glorious breakfast of coffee and bread with marmalade. Which is pretty much the only kind of breakfast available, anywhere in Morocco, give or take the odd glass of orange juice, or optional mint tea. Still, ...