Looking for the Belle Époque in Paris today? It’s right there, in the Opéra Garnier, the Eiffel Tower, the art deco trimmings at many metro stations, the Galéries Lafayette, the Toulouse Lautrec posters you buy as souvenirs ….. and it’s all explained in episode 08 of the Paris series.
Dick Whittington, Richard II and the Revolting Peasants, Samuel Pepys, Sir Christopher Wren, the Rothschilds ….. you’ll meet them all in our episode on the City of London.
London Episode 03
For a one-stop website which will tell you all you need to know about visiting Dubai, try colourmedubai.com You can, for instance, find a hotel, book a camel ride, discover how it’ll be different during Ramadan, check out the theme parks and shopping areas ….. it’s all there!
Lola Montez was an enigma: beauty, drama queen, con girl, pampered mistress of the besotted Ludwig II of Bavaria, who paid her a monthly allowance 5 times greater than the salary of a university professor, and said of her: ‘ She gave up everything for me.’
Munich Episode 03
When Christopher Wren’s new cathedral was finally finished in 1697, people thought it very fine indeed. One contemporary asked: ‘How shall I fitly name this matchless pile?’
City Breaks London Episode 03
This excellent website takes you to dozens of cities worldwide, giving practical info and a real sense of what each city is like. On Venice, site creator Barry Till gives the tip that staying in Murano, rather than Venice itself, can be a good idea: ‘I loved the glass sculptures in public areas, the views across the lagoon to all sides and a feel of tranquillity after the hectic crowds of Venice’.
‘I am astonished at the profusion of fine things we meet with in every part of this city.’ (David Garrick, 1763)
Niccolo Machiavelli wrote what’s been called ‘perhaps the most famous letter ever written in Italian’. You can hear all about it, along with his ideas on such topics as how to dominate at work and how to seem generous to others while actually benefitting yourself. And we explain too where in Florence today you can find traces of him.
Florence Episode 12.
‘After staying long enough in the Pump Room to discover that the crowd was insupportable … they hastened away to the Crescent to breathe the fresh air of better company.’ (Northanger Abbey) Join Jane Austen and indeed Charles Dickens and a host of other writers on their trips to Bath by listening to our latest series.
(Episode 07: Jane Austen’s Bath Episode 11: A Bath Anthology)
In Larnaca (Cyprus) you’ll find a lovely old town, the Hala Sultan Tekke, one of Islam’s holiest places, the 9th century Orthodox Church of St Lazarus, a 12th century castle built to protect the harbour and the lovely salt lake where pink flamingos flock from November to April.
City Break Ideas Episode 06