From a Dante-esque hell to the heaven of home

The staff at the Airport Regal do a good job and my ten-pace room was ok but I still feel like I have escaped from room 1072 rather than simply having checked-out.

Reigning Supreme at the Regal while discovering a new variant

To ward off bordeom I recommend the COVID equivalent of the old Pick-up Sticks game. In this version (I guess we should call it a variant) you use swabs instead and push them up your nostrils.

Local flavour, world-class experience – a snapshot of South Africa at Durbanville Hills

What we’ve discovered in the past few days is the sheer diversity, wealth and quality of South African cuisine, alongside magnificent hospitality.

Discovering 5-star values in Phuket

Tourists, so often lost in their own pleasure zones, tend to be unaware of what their presence can mean to regional economies. In contrast, local people are profoundly aware of it.

Cementing an accident-prone reputation

In a battle between a concrete mixer truck and a Bangkok cab, there can be only one winner.

Planes, (s)trains and very expensive automobiles

Breaking news: A very different kind of airline high jacking at Heathrow.

Feeling iffy by the Liffey

Oh what great craic this travel life is, sitting isolated in a foreign hotel room shoving cotton buds up one’s nostrils.

Celtic rays and Camouflaged peas

I didn’t mind the price but I did question the value. The peas were about as freshly minted as a 1930s coin, more the colour of army camouflage gear than the bright, fresh-picked green of the menu photo.

Food

June 25, 2022

A chance encounter with a great airport food pioneer

When the definitive history of airport dining is written, the breakthrough influence of the original Caviar House Seafood Bar at Heathrow may be viewed as the seminal moment that food quality and consumer satisfaction first got a look in.

Airports

June 21, 2022

In praise of Heathrow queues

Why should a wonderfully innovative product such as IQOS, which aims to convert cigarette smokers to a much safer alternative, have to be locked away in this dungeon?

Travel

June 19, 2022

From doomsday to Bloomsday

Our Bloomsday story offered a welcome change in tone and voice from the travel headlines that seem to dominate the mainstream media here.

Travel

June 10, 2022

Pontardawe, centre of the travel retail universe

My immigration experience at Heathrow was ghastly. You could almost smell the COVID in the packed, putrid, largely maskless environment.

Travel

June 5, 2022

Buzz flight year to the rescue

There is a buzz in the air and unlike my favourite character from Toy Story this buzz will not crash to earth.

Travel