Sights & Smells

Pheasant Island: The island that changes countries every six months

Thursday, 23 August 2018 Sights & smells By Dom Stapleton

When you first look at it, Pheasant Island doesn’t seem like anything special at all – it’s a tiny island in the middle of the Bidasoa, a river that runs between France and Spain; it’s only 660 feet long and 130 feet wide; and it’s gradually eroding away.

The Dancing House: Prague’s wonkiest building

Thursday, 14 June 2018 Sights & smells By Dom Stapleton

The other morning, I woke up feeling quite dizzy. Unless I was lying flat on my back, the room felt like it was spinning, just a little bit. (No, I wasn’t drunk.) It was horrible. But I imagine this is how the people who live in the Nationale-Nederlanden building in Prague feel every day.

Wadi Rum: A little piece of Mars on Earth

Friday, 20 April 2018 Sights & smells By Dom Stapleton

You’ve probably never heard of Wadi Rum. But I bet you’ve seen quite a bit of it in one of your favourite films. That’s because Wadi Rum, which is a sandy valley in Jordan, has been used in quite a few of them.

Bahá’í: The religion with only 9 places of worship in the world

Wednesday, 14 March 2018 Sights & smells By Dom Stapleton

Pretty much wherever you are in the world, you’re probably within walking distance of a church, a mosque, a synagogue or a temple of some kind. But I bet you’re not within praying distance of a Bahá’í House of Worship right now – because there are only nine of them in the whole world.

6 more bridges that connect two countries together

Tuesday, 30 January 2018 Sights & smells By Dom Stapleton

Last week, I wrote about the Øresund Bridge which connects Denmark and Sweden. We featured that post in our monthly email to our customers and we were overwhelmed with replies telling us about other, similar bridges! It turns out a bridge connecting two countries isn’t such a novelty after all. So here are some of the ones we learned about.

Øresund Bridge: The bridge that connects Sweden and Denmark

Friday, 19 January 2018 Sights & smells By Dom Stapleton

Foreign secretary Boris Johnson has suggested building a bridge spanning the English Channel, connecting Britain and France. Perhaps he’s forgotten about the far more practical tunnel which already exists. But the idea of connecting two countries by a bridge isn’t as barmy as it might sound.

Sveti Stefan: The Montenegrin island-cum-town-cum-hotel

Monday, 12 June 2017 Sights & smells By Dom Stapleton

We try to pick beautiful places to use in our adverts. Places that make us (and hopefully you) wish we were anywhere other than where we are now. After all, if people didn’t go somewhere else, they wouldn’t need travel insurance. And where would that leave us?