The snapshot series: The snapshot series does exactly as it says on the tin - it gives a short introduction to places where Magellan personnel have visited under four main headings - Where is it, Why Visit, When should I go and Anything Else. As with all towns and cities, there is so much […]
Travel Facts: The Baku Eye
As is the way with the mysterious but alluring city of Baku in Azerbaijan, attractions are just built and open, largely unpublicised and such is the case with The Baku Eye or to give it it’s proper name, the Baku Ferris Wheel. There is no website so details are still a little scarce but […]
Travel Fact: The world's steepest cogwheel railway
I didn’t realise when I took a trip from Lucerne to Mount Pilatus that the journey would turn out to be so much fun! Embarking on a boat trip around Lake Lucerne before alighting at Alpnachstad, we then took the world’s steepest cogwheel railway all the way up to the top of the mountain. Unbelievably in this […]
A new discovery: Paris-Brest!
Thanks to Eric Lanlard and Voyages-sncf.com, I have learnt something new. I had never heard of a Paris-Brest patisserie before watching Eric’s video showing #TheEasyWay to make it, so, intrigued, I made further investigations immediately! According to my research, the Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) was originally a 1200 km bicycle race, inaugurated in 1891, which left Paris […]
TravelFacts#8: Münsterfähre - The Rhine Ferryboat
For number eight in our “Travel Facts” series we bring you the Münsterfähre or the Rhine Ferryboat. Lying between the cathedral and the Grossbasel side of Basel, this traditional passenger ferry takes locals and tourists from bank to bank. I am reliably informed that this method of traversing the Rhine is new to the city, being only 150 years […]
In The Frame: All aboard the Violet Barge
For this episode “In The Frame” we bring you La Maison de la Violette”. In July 2000, Helen Vié opened “La Maison de la Violette” on board a barge anchored on the Canal du Midi, to celebrate the delicate flower that made Toulouse what it is the Violet. In the warming September sun there seamed nowhere […]
TravelFacts#7: Secrets of the colour blue
In the ancient world, the search for the colour blue was one steeped in mystery and enigma. It was in the Middle Ages, however, that the colour producing properties of woad or pastel were discovered, and this priceless pigment became highly prized by all. That was, of course, until the industrial revolution took hold in […]
TravelFacts #6: The world's tallest building
I expected nothing less than the world’s tallest building to be located in Dubai because I firmly believe that this city holds the world record for the world’s largest list of the world’s largest records in the world! The magnificent Burj Khalifa stands at just 828 metres tall (2,716.5 feet), has 160 stories and is also […]
TravelFacts#5: The A380
For number five in the TravelFacts series, I have 15 fun and fast facts about the airborne Goliath that is the Airbus A380. 1. Like me you may have thought that the A380 is the largest plane in the world. It is not! There is one more airplane called Antonov An-225, it is larger. It is Russian-made […]
Travel Facts#4: The Toulouse Violet Barge
There is a legend that circulates among the growers of violets. The legend says that a young market gardener, a soldier of the Empire, returned from Italy with a handful of violets. He offered the plants to his lovely lady and when she planted them, the flowers grew beautifully. The violet is now the emblem […]