In a region better known for its grapes, the owners of the wineries (or bodegas) of northern Spain have turned their attention to front-of-house impressions.
The Marquis de Riscal’s new bodega and hotel at Elciego in Rioja is perhaps the most d[…]

I was in a ‘Discount Media Store’ recently. The kind of place where books are heaped everywhere and yet, incredibly, they’re all rubbish. And the shop smells like a big wet dog. Outdated travel guides, calendars, remaindered fiction[…]

Tove Jansson wrote the first Moomin adventure in 1945. Titled The Little Trolls and the Great Flood, it was a prototype for the Moominvalley books and has remained untranslated offline ever since. To celebrate the 60th anniversary, a Finish publisher[…]

I’m not a scientific guy. The physics questions on University Challenge make me feel nauseous and my continuing ignorance is only validated by the Oxfam models who answer them.
But, with the equator, I want to understand. One foot north of the […]

Garrincha – Biography by Ruy Castro
Alex Bellos’ book on Brazilian football (Futebol) contains a chapter on Garrincha (The Angel with Bent Legs). The source of the chapter lies in Ruy Castro’s biography, just issued in paperback and[…]

Grassroots football nut Dave Boyle wrote an introblog on the Allianz Arena earlier this year. I visited last week to check he wasn’t making it up. The hosts were TSV Munich 1860 and they were playing Premiership favourites West Ham to mark the […]

Dear Transport for London,
My travelling requirements are as follows:
Leave home (Upper Clapton, Hackney) around 6pm on Friday, arriving at Buckhurst Hill station as soon as possible. I have filtered out the tube / train as I only have a bus pass and[…]

Subtitle: Great British Festivals where injuries are inevitable.
What’s the origin? No-one really knows and so out come the traditional explanations like harvest festival and test of virility. Medieval Jackass in other words.
The gradient of th[…]

Rowland Rivron walks past in an Ealingly clean white suit. I point at him, “you’re going down Rivron.” “Not me” he pleads, “get Clarkson instead.”
But Jeremy is in a bad mood. He’s munching away on a pi[…]

“The most expensive game of football in the world” shouted the hyperactive stadium announcer before kick off. Relax the players it did not. West Ham had to win this to sustain a recognisable team. The Guardian went one step further, &#822[…]