Welcome to Europe Explored. This website was set up at the beginning of 2020 to record my travels around the continent of Europe. I've always enjoyed exploring new places, but realise I've been very bad keeping a chronicle of my visits. This blog intends to change that. I've now reached a stage in life where …
Europe Explored – Trip 22 – Mixing the New and the Familiar – Part Two: Croatia and Italy
"Ravenna retains more of its old Italian style than any other city. It remains out of the way of travellers and therefore that style has remained original. People make much love, and murder every now and then." (Letter written by Lord Byron while in Ravenna.) This post continues the account of the trip which started …
Europe Explored – Trip 22 – Mixing the New and the Familiar – Part One: Sweden and Bosnia & Herzegovina
"Bosnia is under my skin. It's the place you cannot leave behind. I was obsessed by the nightmare of it all; there was this sense of guilt, and an anger that has become something much deeper over these last years." (Paddy Ashdown - High Representative for Bosnia & Herzegovina (2002-06).) Gothenburg Opera House had a …
Day Trip to Reading
"In Reading gaol by Reading townThere is a pit of shame"(The Ballad of Reading Gaol - Oscar Wilde) Recent publicity about the Bayeux Tapestry being moved to London in preparation for it being displayed at the British Museum this autumn, reminded me that I had for some time been meaning to go to see the …
City Visit – Bonn (plus Königswinter and Cologne)
"O diese Sonne" (Oh this sun) - chorus from Der Freischütz I normally avoid travelling much in the summer months for three reasons: it is usually more expensive, everything is busier and I don't get on with extreme heat. When in April, Eurostar had one of their periodic sales offering tickets for just £35, I …
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City Visit – Bratislava and Ostrava
"Я… я… я… я… я выиграл…, я очень много выиграл."("I... I... I... I... I won, I won a very great deal.")Alexei (The Gambler) - Sergey Prokofiev based on Fyodor Dostoevsky. Last year when I asked my son which opera he would like to see he suggested The Gambler by Sergey Prokofiev. Unfortunately, this is rarely …
Europe Explored – Trip 21 – Switzerland – Part Two: The mountains and back
"Remember that courage and strength are nought without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime." (Edward Whymper) This post continues the account of my trip to Switzerland, covering my time in the Swiss Alps and the return home. Day 6 – Monday 23rd March 2026 – Interlaken to Zermatt …
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Europe Explored – Trip 21 – Switzerland – Part One: To the mountains
“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.” (Albert Einstein) Shortly after I had completed planning my trip to Bulgaria and Istanbul, I turned my thoughts to the next excursion. I was considering going somewhere in April, …
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Europe Explored – Trip 20 – Istan(Bul)garia – Part Two: Istanbul
"The sick man of Europe" (Description of the Ottoman Empire attributed to Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.) This post continues the account of my trip to Bulgaria and Turkey, covering the journey to, and my time in, Istanbul. Day 6 – Saturday 28th February 2026 – Burgas to IstanbulA week before I departed on this …
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Europe Explored – Trip 20 – Istan(Bul)garia – Part One: Bulgaria
“Bulgaria, a land of contradictions, where the ancient and modern coexist in harmony.” (Orhan Pamuk - Nobel Prize-winning Turkish author) In the autumn of 2024, I went to Bulgaria for the first time, going there from Romania and visiting the ancient capital, Veliko Tarnovo, and the current capital, Sofia. In my opinion you can not …
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City Visit – Katowice and Ostrava
"Oh moon in the deep sky,your light sees far,you roam over the wide world,and peer into human dwellings."(Rusalka - Song to the Moon) In the summer, shortly after I had returned from seeing Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in Bonn, I asked my son if there was any opera that he wished to see. One of the …