Posts by Charmaine Hallmark

UNDISCOVERED JEWELS OF ITALY I have just returned from a Page & Moy escorted tour to Italy. After a short flight from Gatwick with British Airways to Bologna we were met by a Tour Manager to start our tour of the Le Marche and Tuscany regions of Italy. We stayed two nights in the renaissance…

MONTE CARLO Well, what can you say about Monte Carlo that hasn’t already been said? Probably the most well known Principality in the world, Monaco really is the playground of the rich and famous! Lying about forty miles east of Nice airport, Monte Carlo is definitely the jewel in the crown of the C’te d’Azur. Sights…

DESTINATION UNKNOWN Marrakech and its mysteries are just perfect for an Agatha Christie story just like “Destination Unknown” – Jemaa el Fna Square in the Medina, filled with noise and confusion, packed with people, snake charmers, performing monkeys, stalls, working donkeys, horse and carriages, bikes and motorbikes – it’s a whole mish-mash of everything going…

LOVELY, LOVELY LOURDES Long ago, I heard the story of Bernadette, who saw a vision while she tended to the sheep. The vision showed her a spring and the water is said to be miraculous, a cure for all sorts of aches, pains and illnesses. I’m not sure about that, but the story of Bernadette…

WELCOME TO CROATIA DUBRO DOSLI U HRVATOKU I was pleased to find that the former Yugoslavia is still as beautiful as it used to be, and tourism is its biggest draw. With a flight available from Gatwick with Croatia Airlines, you can fly direct into Split in just over two-and-a-half hours, or Dubrovnik in three…

STUNNING SKIATHOS Set in the warm Aegean Sea, the island of Skiathos is smothered in traditional Greek charm and surrounded by crystal clear turquoise waters. I had the opportunity to visit Skiathos during the first week of July this year. The weather was fantastic without being unbearably hot, while the town was busy without being overcrowded.…

BELLA ISCHIA Ischia is a beautiful, small island off the Amalfi Coast in Southern Italy. Lesser known than its famous sister island Capri, but just as pretty and quite unspoiled. We flew into Naples, just 20 minutes from the harbour, from where it was just a further 45 minutes in a small ferry to the…

INCREDIBLE CROATIA When I was offered the chance to visit Croatia, I jumped at it! The flight was only two hours. I arrived in the late evening so it was difficult to get any feeling for what I was about to experience over the next few days. My first night was spent on the Makarska…

BEAUTIFUL BRUGES Enjoying lunch at the Breydel de Coninc seafood restaurant, in Bruges… it seemed like no time at all since our early morning start from London on Eurostar! Bruges is an ancient mediaeval European city and our very enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide brought the city to life as we were enthralled by beautiful architecture,…

ISTANBUL If the Red Centre in Australia is red, and the Pink City of Petra is pink, you’d be surprised to find the Blue Mosque in Istanbul is not blue at all! With its six minarets, it stands on a lively, noisy street of stalls and tourists. The mosque has none of the grandeur of…