After a couple of pleasant if uneventful days spent wondering around Brest's provincial streets we moved to the capital, Minsk. Temperatures had risen and there was a thaw in the air, slush underfoot, which was making getting around a soggy affair. The train network in Belarus is extensive and inexpensive - the three hundred kilometre journey took four hours and cost $5, though queuing up and buying tickets proved a challenge with all signs in Cyrillic, no Eng...

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true inspiration in art and science" - Albert Einstein "Belarus? at Christmas? You can forget it. No way!" - this was my girlfriend's predictable response when I first suggested going to Europe's least-known and probably least fashionable travel destination sometime in early 2012, perhaps fancifully imagining a romantic, alternative festive holiday to the usual over-indulgen...

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true inspiration in art and science" - Albert Einstein "Belarus? at Christmas? You can forget it. No way!" - this was my girlfriend's predictable response when I first suggested going to Europe's least-known and probably least fashionable travel destination sometime in early 2012, perhaps fancifully imagining a romantic, alternative festive holiday to the usual over-indu...

Centre of Europe, grand old dame of the Habsburg Empire, inventor of 'goulash communism' and now emerging in the 21st century as one of central/eastern Europe's major weekend getaway destinations, Budapest is a city which demands your attention. A heady mixture of Vienna's elegance and coffee-house culture and Berlin's rough-edged, hip archness, Budapest packs a massive punch and leaves you dizzy with the sheer number of options available. One week is barely enou...

Morocco isn't quite a dry country in terms of obtaining alcohol, but it might as well be, so far anyway. The few bars which are open are exclusively male preserves and the beer is sold in 240ml bottles for about 16 Dirhams - around a pound - hardly the stuff of hedonistic nights out. At least it gives me ample time to gather my thoughts in the evening and bash out a few emails. I actually came to the internet cafe tonight to quickly check the Newcastle sco...