I knew two things about Les Arcs prior to our visit. I’d seen pictures of lunatics with space helmets on, hurtling down the speed skiing run at 150 mph. A lot of people choose to spend their winter seasons in the resort. But nothing could have prepared me for the sheer diversity, size and...
Serre Chevalier, France - It wasn’t looking good. Our flight went well, the hire car was OK and we’d managed to find our hotel without getting lost. Then it all started to go wrong. It was pouring down with rain when we got out of the car, all the shops were shut for lunch...
Mavrovo, Macedonia - "How much is the bus to Mavrovo?" I asked the lady behind the counter. She looked at me confused, and answered dismissively, "The bus will come." "OK. I want to buy a ticket." "The bus will come," she repeated, then slid closed the window for talking and looked away. She would...
Glenshee, Scotland - When hiking in Switzerland several years ago, we had the unusual experience of our Swiss guide, Ruidi, giving all affirmative answers as "Aye" rather than "Yes" or the German "Ja." It turned out that he had been married to a Scottish woman and had been a ski instructor in Scotland for...
Kaprun, Austria - Like a growing number of Brits, I’d been traveling to the other side of the pond for my annual fix of the white stuff recently, but decided I needed another holiday, this time a bit closer to home. I’d planned to go with my sister and her friends to Kaprun in...
Beirut, Lebanon - Lebanon is only a stone's throw away from my home, a mere 100 miles across the Med. It should therefore come as no surprise that, throughout my life, stories from my neighboring country have been featured daily in the news: War, fighting, killing, and despair. Waves of people trying to escape...
Cyprus -In our days, when people hear of the island of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, the usual /images that enter their minds revolve around golden sandy beaches with warm turquoise waters, high-end hotels, hot sun, and perhaps a few might even think of the Cyprus Problem, one of the few remaining unresolved...
Bansko, Bulgaria - Bansko, Bulgaria... Skiing is not the first thing to spring in the mind upon hearing these names. Yet, the truth is that hidden in Bulgaria there are several little skiing paradises for the adventurous skier to discover. I was treated to the experience of a skiing trip to Bansko Ski Resort,...
