Barcelona: where history and culture meets the Nou

Robin Nowacki combines culture and cuisine with football on a visit to Barcelona – the capital of the Catalonian region of Spain

Bulgaria ancient treasures, current events and great value

Anthony reports on Bulgaria and an extraordinary memorial garden created by a Queen for herself and meets up with two famous footballers…

Cambodia: the comeback kid

The years of fear and loathing are over: Cambodia has been catapulted onto the world stage as a tourist destination and is slowly rebuilding for the future. Andy Booth, owner of travel company ABOUTAsia whose profits support the education of children in rural Cambodia, gives us the local low-down on the country’s capital: Siem Reap

Spain Encourages More of us to Visit

Over the summer we have heard a lot about the decline in the numbers of people travelling to Spain and its islands. Nonetheless, Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canaries are still the most popular destinations for us when we go abroad. Given all year round warm weather, the Canaries are popular throughout the year. Now the Balearics, (Ibiza, Menorca and Majorca) are trying to convince us that they are winter destinations as well.

The three main Balearic islands had a 12% drop in visitors this year from the UK and more in the case of Ireland. Now they are pushing for more of us to visit the islands when special events are being held or just to enjoy the sports facilities that have been built there. Recently, Rafael Nadal was used to push that message to the travel trade.

Flying to New York, Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham?

UPDATE: 30-10-2012 07.50
The storm seems to have peaked and some taxis are out meaning many roads are passable. But there is flooding in New York and parts of New Jersey. Flights will still be suspended for most of the day.

Will Fred Stop Your Flight Being Cancelled?

This morning, easyJet held a press conference to announce that a solution might have been found to one of the problems that significantly affected us during April and May. The Icelandic volcanic eruption caused cancellations in Europe, disrupted travel plans and contributed to reduced economic activity. EasyJet said that the disruption cost them between £50 and £75 million. Two of my flights were cancelled and train services did well out of me, being able to charge higher rates than I would normally pay in order to get back home. Now easyJet think that this solution, called AVOID, could prevent a similar issue affecting us in the same way. And it is all down to Fred.
Fred is actually Dr Fred Prata, a scientist working at NILU (Norwegian Institute of Air Research) and he has been working on this technology since 1993. It is he who has developed AVOID which for the technically minded of you stands for Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector.

Tea time in the capital

Cast aside that cappuccino. Leave the latte alone. Tea is brewing up a storm. Yes, the charming, relaxed ritual of afternoon tea is back in fashion: the UK Tea Guild estimates that there has been a 20 per cent increase in afternoon teas in the last year so much so that some London hotels have a waiting list of upto seven weeks!