facttime

For the second year running , rather than picking my top five leaps  of the year, I've picked five stories that sum up my travel highlights of the year. It has, of course, been a year with very little foreign travel. It's also the first year in 15 years where I haven't been to New York a single time. I miss the city so much and can't wait to return. But I'm grateful that I was able to travel to one new country ( Malta ) and one new European city ( Porto ), as well as taking short trips to  Edinburgh and Canterbury . I've also spent time with family in Oxford and Walsall, and spent a little more time in Birmingham , usually on the way to Wolves matches. My motto for the second half of the year was carpe diem — if a trip or event was possible, I would try to do it as soon as I could, before the situation changed again. 1. Leaping into Malta's Blue Lagoon Like many people, I had to cancel a lot of travel plans last year, including seven international trips, a...

Welcome to the 11th edition of my annual speciality coffee and food awards , where I am highlighting some of my favourites from the coffee shops and eateries that I visited for the first time this year. For obvious reasons, I travelled much less than normal this year, although I did manage a holiday in Malta  in September, as well as city breaks in Porto , Edinburgh and Canterbury , and regular visits to Oxford, Wolverhampton and Birmingham. As such, just like last year, I've rejigged the regions covered in each category so that I can showcase as many of the places I've loved closer to home and further afield. As the pandemic continues to disrupt life as we knew it, it's more important than ever to support the hospitality industry — respecting all local guidelines that may be in place, of course. If you're keen to read more of my speciality coffee recommendations, you may find my London coffee guide  to be a useful starting point; there are currently more than 150 coff...

Earlier this month, I spent four days in Edinburgh with my parents, and although we only scratched the surface, we had a grand time and packed a lot in. We even had reasonable weather in that it didn't rain much and was occasionally sunny. A return was long overdue since my last visit on a rainy family road trip through Scotland, almost three decades ago. All I remember from the trip is the  Scottish National Gallery , Greyfriars Kirkyard and an overexuberant walking tour guide shouting, "Gardyloo!" I had a lot of ground to make up!  THINGS TO DO Old Town .  Perched on an ancient hunk of volcanic rock, the site of  Edinburgh Castle  has origins dating back to the Iron Age and was the home of kings and queens for many hundreds of years. It's worth allowing a couple of hours to explore the castle as there's a lot to see, from the Stone of Destiny (used in coronation ceremonies) and the grand Great Hall, to the cannon Mons Meg and the National War Museum. Ther...

If you've been following my  Instagram , you'll know I've just got back from a holiday in Malta, which I'll be writing about in due course. But before that, I spent a few days in Edinburgh. It was my first trip to the city since 1994 so I had a lot to catch up on, and was delighted to have so many excellent coffee shops to visit. In only four days, I couldn't go to all of the cafés in Edinburgh's vibrant speciality coffee scene, but I did visit 11 different coffee shops during my stay, which I've highlighted below. I've also made a Google Map (as usual, my very favourite spots are flagged in purple). In addition, I was delighted to find speciality coffee in my room at the Kimpton Charlotte Square ! There was a ceramic V60 coffee and some pre-ground, locally roasted coffee from Santu , grown in Espirito Santo, Brazil; the coffee made me miss Nuno (sob!), but tasted great. I'd brought my Aeropress Go and brought some coffee from Vermont-based Vivid ,...