Weekend escapade to Rouen

Weekend escapade to Rouen

Christina Mackenzie

If you’re looking for a maritime weekend escapade from Paris with some art, architecture and good food thrown in for good measure and not more than an hour and a quarter train ride away then Rouen is where you should head.“But wait a minute,” I hear you say, “Rouen is not by the sea so how can it be a maritime escapade?” And you’re right of course, Rouen is not a coastal town. But the sharp cries of seagulls will quickly remind you that it is a maritime one thanks to its position along the Seine which, although 80kms from the sea, is still tidal and wide and deep enough to allow big ships to anchor.

When in Scotland don't forget Aberdeen

When in Scotland don't forget Aberdeen

Christina Mackenzie

Although Aberdeen is Scotland's third largest city (230,000 inhabitants), capital of the European offshore oil industry, a university town, and used to be one of the richest cities in the United Kingdom, it is ignored by many visitors to Scotland. But I can assure you that it’s well worth a detour to visit Granite City, thus named by its inhabitants because most of its buildings are built with this quartz-rich rock which sparkles in the sun. So if you’re planing a short visit to Aberdeen between 19th-22nd July 2025 for the Tall Ships Race which returns to Aberdeen after a 28-year break, or because you’re going to be playing golf on one of the innumerable golf courses in Aberdeenshire, then read on...

Visiting Oman, supporting Omani local businesses

Visiting Oman, supporting Omani local businesses

Christina Mackenzie

And that’s how we found ourselves towards the end of May in Muscat, possibly the only foreign tourists there because it’s the month which is as hot as June and July but has less rainfall. Inland it was 47°C, in Muscat it was a bit cooler at about 44°C. This obviously affected what we could do as we had to keep out of the heat in the middle of the day. We were also in the city on a Friday when absolutely everything is shut, some places all day and others only in the morning. “You must really love Oman to come here in May,” laughed our taxi-driver… an Omani because unlike in neighbouring United Arab Emirates or Qatar where taxi-drivers are all foreigners, in Oman it’s a job reserved for the locals…

Tignes, the village they drowned

Tignes, the village they drowned

Christina Mackenzie

This year, 2022, marks the 70th anniversary of the disappearance of Tignes. “But wait a minute! Tignes is a world-famous ski resort,” you may retort. Yes, but before it was a ski resort, it was a village in a different valley and its tragic story remains a painful collective memory in the Tarentaise region of Savoie, France.

Scoop: the Eiffel Tower is going to grow 6 metres

Scoop: the Eiffel Tower is going to grow 6 metres

Christina Mackenzie

In March the Eiffel Tower is going to grow six metres rising to 333 metres from ground to top of antenna from its current 324. This will be thanks to its new antenna which will be put into place by helicopter sometime in March. So if you see the numbers 330 on the Eiffel Tower in the next few weeks, that’s what they are referring to!

Brno and its Functionalist Architecture

Brno and its Functionalist Architecture

Christina Mackenzie

I have to confess that if I’d been asked a couple of months ago to name the Czech Republic’s second city I would have drawn a blank. It is, of course, the somewhat hard to pronounce, Brno (and you must roll the -r), a charming town that I was able to visit all too briefly in December 2021 thanks to the French Association of Journalists in Tourism (AJT) which held its 2021 Annual General Meeting in the city, an event organised with the help of the Czech Tourist Board. Thank you to both!

Lisbon: colourful but suffering

Lisbon: colourful but suffering

Christina Mackenzie

On this long weekend in Lisbon at the end of October 2021 it was hard to believe that we’re still in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The streets were heaving with youngsters. Average age? Say, 24? This was probably because they were amongst the 42,000 visitors attending the world’s most important tech conference, the Web Summit, which opened on the Monday.

The National Museum of Qatar is definitely worth a visit

The National Museum of Qatar is definitely worth a visit

Christina Mackenzie

The desert rose is not just a flower. It’s also a cluster of gypsum crystal arranged like rose petals, which form when water infiltrates the rock and then evaporates. These “petals” inspired architect Jean Nouvel for his design of the National Museum of Qatar, an architectural feat which, I have no doubt, will over time become as iconic a building as is the Sydney Opera House.

20th Century Rome

20th Century Rome

Christina Mackenzie

Rome in the middle of August is usually empty of Romans but teeming with tourists. However, in this very weird summer of 2020 it looked like a ghost town, inhabited by just a few Italians armed with maps and guides, discovering their capital city in peace without being jostled by tourists and their awful 'selfie-sticks'. Like them, I wanted to enjoy the relative solitude so I jumped on a last minute offer to swap our flat in the Alps with a flat in Trastevere. Having been to Rome many times, I decided this time to focus on the 20th Century

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