Before concentrating on The Light in the Piazza, which runs at the Royal Festival Hall (until 5 July 2019), I want to give a big shout out to the whole of London's South Bank London. Whenever I have cause to visit, which is not nearly enough, I look to have the time to take in whatever is happening here. This cultural hub across the Thames from the...

The voyage aboard barge Raymonde begins witha pick up at the Paris Gare du Nord and then a bus to Epernay writes Carolan Nathan. We are welcomed by a smiling staff and three young captains who will be taking great care of us for the next 6 days...catering to our almost every whim and fancy. Not to mention a great master chef preparing delicious cui...

Sagittarius edged from her mooring in the middle of Eyemouth Harbour. The time was 6.58am and the rain hammered down. Anglers on board the 15-capacity catamaran chatted about the prospects of catching while skipper Ronnie Marshall edged the vessel into the tideway. The swell was OK and the wind moderate but oh that rain. We were drenched as we tack...

The region of Emilia Romagna epitomises Italian culinary delights in homely environments where hospitality is the epicentre of the local culture. Indeed, its rich agricultural industry is reflected in the verdant landscape. The mouth watering food items such as parmigiano reggiano (parmesan cheese), pasta, prosciutto ham and balsamic vinegar that h...

Hansel and Gretel is the second English National Opera production to be locked into the Open Air's theatre season at Regent's Park. Following the acclaimed operatic production of Henry James's horror novella The Turn of the Screw in 2018, this is Engelbert Humperdinck's 19th century operatic reworking of the Grimmm Brothers' fairytale. As someone n...

The Cotswolds covers an almost 800 square miles that takes in the five English counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire. A designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, it offers quintessential English country towns and villages of honey-coloured Cotswold stone The Cotswolds also has more than 3,000 mile...