Category: Uncategorised

Show me a significant body of water and I’ll find you the legend to match it. Whether it’s the Bodach spirit who supposedly haunts the Scottish loch near my Grandmother’s house or the dragon that was killed by the…

Nothing says Christmas in Vienna like watching the Viennese bring their trees home on public transport. Spotting the biggest Christbaum with the smallest Oma on the busiest train is practically an Advent sport. But, 3…

How Brno combined its city legend with a taxidermy crocodile and greatly confused my child Imagine a map of the city of Brno. Today, it’s a mix of industry, university, and tourism which reminds my…

On experiencing traditions as an outsider, and the universal smell of vanilla It’s December 2014 and we’re making cookies. There’s a familiar smell of cinnamon and cloves but I am a long way from home….

On the value of salt, French royalty, and Austria’s most notorious art theft Salt made Austria rich. In a country without gold, silver, or even a port, salt deposits from the prehistoric sea under the…

How Vienna’s residents took a stubborn bird to heart There should be more statues of animals in the world. Edinburgh has Greyfriars Bobby, an unassuming statue of a Skye Terrier that guarded his master’s grave…

How Vienna turned a landfill with a dark history into one of its biggest public parks It’s 2020 and everybody loves plants. But before Instagram inspired a thousand apartment jungles, before we gave our snake…

Year after year, Vienna is voted the most liveable city in the world. Of course, no one is quite sure what ‘liveability’ means. The surveys talk about controlled rents, museums, a vast amount of green…