EL HIERRO: IT WAS LAVA AT FIRST SIGHT

The lunar landscapes of El Hierro, the smallest of the seven Canary Islands, are dotted with hundreds of extinct volcanoes and fireproof trees. Horizontal rain feeds the high-altitude pine forests, and a fish that comes shooting out of the sea ready-cooked — if a certain waiter is to be believed — feeds...

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SWEDEN: HOLM SWEDE HOLM

In scorching summer or freezing winter, Stockholm casts a spell on visitors. The Swedish capital is home to 870,000 citizens, of whom 92pc said in a recent survey they were happy with their lives. Stroll the historic cobble-stoned streets of the Old Town (Gamla Stan), go island-hopping in the archipelago,...

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THANK YOU FOR THE AWARD

HAND THE WINNER IS: Travel Extra editorand awards night MC Eoghan Corry, me,and sponsor Paul Hackett of ClickandGo.comI was honoured to receive the Travel Extra Online Travel Journalist of the Year Award 2013 in Dublin last week.Thank you to the judges, to Travel Extra, ClickandGo.ie who sponsored the...

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TRAVEL BLOG PASSES THE 100,000 VISITORS MARK

  I sat there with my phone camera, waiting for the 100,000 to come up. I managed to photograph 99,999 and 100,001 but missed the magic number! No matter, I'm pleased to have reached this milestone on my travel blog. Thanks to all the visito...

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Chow Mein Means Stir-Fried Noodles

This is not chow mein These days it seems like I only blog when I have something to rant about. If I keep it up, this might just merge with my other blog. But nothing raises my ire about Chinese restaurants as much as serving "chow mein" without noodles. More... Recovering from a wicked bout of the...

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Macarons vs. Macaroons

Macaroon (above left) ≠ macaron (above right) Normally I am not one to harp on my dining companions pronunciations of foreign foods. I say "bru'sket-ta" when eating at an osteria, but "brushetta" when eating at Applebees. For the most part, pronunciation is just a pretentious aspect of gastronomic culture...

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