It is quite something to realise that, but for the pandemic enforced lockdown, Andrew Lloyd Webber's operatic musical The Phantom of the Opera has been playing to continually packed houses at Her Majesty's Theatre for nearly 36 years. Even more astonishing is the fact that as a Londoner and avid theatregoer, this was the first time I had got to get...

Maybe not the best time to admit it but, I have not been the greatest fan of Agathia Christie. My long-held disillusionment with Agatha came from reading her Murder on the Orient Express as a young lad. I really got into the plot and spent much time attempting to deduce which, of the long list of potential suspects, carried out the dastardly murder...

Aosta Valley, Italy's smallest region, is located in the Alps and bordered by France and Switzerland It is surrounded by some of Europe's highest peaks, including Mont Blanc, which is the highest mountain in Europe. Italy has Europe's highest number of products to be awarded 'Protected Designation of Origin (DOP) status by the European Union. The A...

Osborne Studio Gallery, Belgravia, London 21 June to 9 July 2022 English plein air artist Clementine St John Webster focuses on Egypt in her forthcoming London exhibition. Her new paintings, in oil on board, were inspired by a Nile journey on the steamer Sudan, where Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile They embrace pyramids and tombs, small boa...

Sustainable travel company Byway is adding Spain to its customisable Europe by rail offering. This will enable travellers to explore off-the-beaten-paths in the country by train and bus. The company's slow travel holidays to Spain, 100% flight-free, and range from the volcanic city of Olot to the UNESCO-listed ancient city of Ávila. Slow travel in ...

A Celebration of the very place our life evolved from.​ ​It seems that today is Mother Ocean Day, a celebration originally introduced by the South Florida Kayak Fishing Club in 2013. It is a celebration of the beauty of our oceans. The sea was always a special place for my mother and, consequently, me as I pretty much grew up playing and adventurin...