The hotel is located a two minute walk from Tower Gateway station on the Docklands Light Railway. In under five minutes you can walk to Tower Hill Station on the District and Circle lines or to Tower Bridge itself.

When I checked in I asked the receptionist for a quiet room. She suggested room 208 at the back of the hotel. My room looked out onto the railway line but thanks to triple glazing no external noise could be heard in the room. Whilst the view was less than inspiring I was only really in the room to sleep.

The room was just adequate in size as a double room. I usually stay in family rooms at Travelodges as they have a large bed settee so are much more spacious but only double was available at the Travelodge Tower Bridge when I booked.

A full buffet breakfast is available at the hotel at a cost of £7.50 per person (cheaper if you book online in advance) and kids eat free with a paying adult. Meals are also served in the bar/cafe.

Overall I was very satisfied with my stay at the London Tower Bridge Travelodge The room was comfortable, quiet, clean, well located and good value. I think it would also be a good location for a leisure stay.

• In Spain, it is Tuesday the 13th that is to be taken with caution. It’s called Martes 13 and many Spainards avoid travel on this day.  There isn’t a strong link with any historical events for this, so it’s just a myth.
• In Italy, it is Friday the 17th.  Similar to some American skyscrapers, in Italy the number 17 is avoided when possible.  And while us anglophones may ‘touch wood’ to combat superstition, in Italy the expression is ‘touch metal.’  (I would have figured it would have been the opposite.  Go figure.)
• In Greece, the fall of Constantinople was on a Tuesday.  So every Tuesday is unlucky there!

What are your Friday the 13th (or its equivalent) superstitions?

Photo by dawn

The London Eye

Forgive me for starting with something that’s not free, but if I spent my money on anything it would be this. The London Eye started like the Eiffel Tower as a temporary attraction but has now become one of the icons of the London skyline. Take a 30 minute ‘flight’ in one of the cabins of the wheel that moves round slowly and you’ll be rewarded with a fantastic view down the river.

The Houses of Parliament

OK, you’re on the opposite side of the river from the Houses of Parliament, but the stretch of river bank by the London Eye is the best place for that shot of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament that says ‘I was in London’, with you in the picture. You can also admire the statues by Salvadore Dali and the Edwardian decorative lamp posts.

The South Bank Centre

A little further along is the South Bank Arts Centre which was built for the Festival of Britain in 1951. The rather severe looking building is an icon of 50s architecture which even kept the original 50s green carpet design in the recent refurbishment. Inside there are plenty of squashy leather sofas, a cafe and bar and there’s always some live music, free photo exhibition or interactive experience going on here. It has free wireless access too, so take your break here and catch up on the e-mails or use it as a meeting place, like all the locals do.

Gabriel’s Wharf

As you get to Gabriel’s wharf, look out on the sandbank at the river edge – I’ve seen a man making giant sand sculptures there before. There are some small artizan shops and cafes in the Coin St project- you can hire bikes there too. On the other side you can admire the painted banners along Upper Ground St and rest a while in the Bernie Spain Gardens alongside.

The OXO Building

A little further along the river bank, you can’t miss the the OXO building, with the letters spelt out by the windows in the top of the tower. There are two levels of walkways housing young designers and if you want a great view of the river, take to lift to the eighth floor to the free viewing platform, accessed through the OXO Tower restaurant.

Tate Modern

A little further up the river and you’ll find the Tate Modern, housed in an old Power station and free to enter. This is one of my favourite London Art Galleries and not just because it’s free. In the enormous former turbine hall there’s normally some art installation creating a talking point, and I always enjoy the Mondrian and Pop art by Roy Lichtenstein, in the upper galleries. In front of the Tate you’ll find the futuristic Millennium Bridge, which you can use as a viewing platform for the comings and goings on the river.

Shakespeare’s Globe

Next on the riverside walk you’ll find Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, a replica of the original, where Shakespeare’s plays are performed throughout the summer season. Attending a performance here is well worth experiencing, and if you’re tight on funds and your legs will bear it, £5 will buy you a standing ticket in front of the stage. Otherwise you’ll have to pay for the tour or peep through the gates to see what a theatre looked like in Shakespeare’s day.

The Golden Hinde

As you continue on the river bank the path moves behind the waterfront warehouses into narrow cobbled streets, past the replica of the Elizabethan galleon, the Golden Hinde, which in the 1580s took explorer, Sir Frances Drake around the world. You can get a fantastic view of it close up without paying a penny, but you can also pay to go on board and look around.

Southwark Cathedral

Next you’ll come to Southwark Cathedral, where you might like to take a moment of quiet reflection, before having a delicious and reasonably priced lunch or tea and cake in their refectory, which has a courtyard with views of the river. There’s no charge to enter and it is beautiful, but they do encourage a donation towards the upkeep.

Borough Market

Just down the road towards the railway arch is Borough Market, a foodie paradise beside London Bridge. Here you’ll find a feast for the senses with fruit and veg stalls and other specialist food shops, delicatessens and cafes. It’s mainly open around the weekend, so check the opening times, but many of the shops in the surrounding lanes are open all the time.

Resources

You can download some excellent guides from the South Bank Walk this Way website, giving maps of the routes and details of the things you’ll see along the way.

All photos from Heather on her travels on Flickr

In Småland, a region in southern Sweden, just north of Jönköping, is Brahehus.  Today, Brahehus is an impressive ruin.  In the 1650s it was an impressive country castle.  Unfortunately, it never got much use and burned down in 1708 leaving a shell of stone walls.

Since then it has stared out over the water as Sweden’s busiest highway was built right next to it.  In fact, you have to walk under the highway to get to the Brahehus.

As it must have been hundreds of years ago, the view over Lake Vättern, one of Sweden’s largest lakes, is amazing. Visit the castle right around sunset.  You’ll be able to watch the sun go down looking out over the lake an when darkness falls, the castle is lit up by several spotlights.

Brahehus isn’t a tourist destination.  It’s a stop along the way to somewhere.  Wherever that may be.  But as you drive by and Brahehus fades, you’ll wish you had stopped.  So do.  Pull over, stretch your legs, and wander around the ruins of a 17^th century Swedish country castle.

For any avid reader, and especially for writers, this museum is a must. Not only does it explain the historical background to the novels of Dostoyevsky, telling much about Russia in the process, but it also shows his life as a writer – drafts he made, the desk where he wrote, and the critical reaction of the time. There’s even a note from his young son asking Papa to bring him some sweets! Pictured here are notes and scribbles Dostoyevsky made when planning his book “The Adolescent”.

The museum is a short walk from the Vladimirskaya / Dostoyevskaya metro stations in St Petersburg, and is closed on Mondays. I rented an audio guide in English and it was well worth it, with lots of interesting anecdotes to go with the various exhibits throughout the flat.

During the warmer months Strossmayer Promenade makes for the perfect hideaway from the scorching sun. If the benches are free, grab a spot and don’t let go! If you get thirsty, don’t worry, there are a number of cafes in the vicinity.

The summer (between the months of June and July) also sees the promenade double up as a venue for a local street festival know as Strossmarte; a time when free flowing music and wine along with a steady stream of artists and performers take over.

In the autumn things are quieter and more romantic. The promenade wears a fiery red carpet of falling leaves. Grab a bag of roasted chestnuts from a vendor on your way here and spend some quiet time catching the best views of Zagreb.

The campaign aims to promote the Canary Islands as the preferred Winter Sun destination for Northern Europeans. One hundred Canarian Ambassadors were recruited to travel to Iceland to select one hundred Icelanders to enjoy an expenses paid trip to the Canaries. The selection of the fortunate 100 Icelanders kicked off at a Castings Party in Reykjavik Art Museum.

Tamaimos.com, a Canary Islands current affairs website, is critical of some aspects of the campaign in their post Operation No Winter Blues. Tamaimos asked for my opinion of the campaign as a European tourism expert and a first hand observer.

There’s also been some negativity about the campaign on the Icelandic marketing blog Transmit in their post Unorthodox Marketing! The Canary Islands invade Reykjavik which is mentioned in the interview.

I was interviewed over Skype by Iván Vega, co-writer of Tamaimos.com. The sound quality isn’t great especially at my end and I definitely need to work on my delivery. The interview was conducted in English, as I can’t speak Spanish and Iván speaks English very well. You can listen to the interview below (in two parts, as at one point the line went dead).

Part 1: Ivan Vega of Tamaimos interviews Karen Bryan of Europe a la Carte

Part 2: Ivan Vega of Tamaimos interviews Karen Bryan of Europe a la Carte

Ivan has orally translated the interview into Spanish so that the Spanish and English version can be simultaneously heard, the latter with the volume reduced. The interview was longer than expected, so Ivan has translated only part of it for inclusion in the Tamaimos podcast 45. Unfortunately there isn’t a transcript of the interview.

Much of Tamaimos’ criticism focuses on cost and execution of the campaign. However I’d ask them to give the No Winter Blues campaign some time to take effect before judging it. I understand that in these harsh economic times, with public spending cuts taking place, some may wonder why money is being spent on a big marketing campaign. The fact is the Canarian economy depends heavily on tourism and the Canaries have to fight for their share of the tourist market when potential visitors have so many possible destinations from which to choose. The No Winter Blues Campaign is using person to person marketing in addition to more traditional advertising.

The idea is that the 100 Icelanders who visit the Canaries will write about their trip on blogs, Facebook and Twitter which will then be passed onto all their contacts. As the Icelanders will be describing a real experience and can upload their own photos and videos, their experience will be more authentic to readers and potential visitors to the Canaries. This can start a snowball effect where the Icelanders’ experiences spread online way beyond their own personal contacts.

What’s your opinion of the Canary Islands Mission Iceland phase of the No Winter Blues initiative?

Don’t forget there’s another chance to win a weekend in Dublin in the Pull Your Own Pint online game. Any player who can score 100 will be entered into the draw to take place at the end of November, to win the prize of spending St Patrick’s Weekend 2010 in Dublin.

Competition:

The Europe a la Carte Blog Twitter competition (4) launches today. To win you have to correctly identify the location in the background photo of my @karenbryan Twitter page. I’ll be giving clues on Twitter during the competition to help you work out the background photo location. You’ll also need to answer the tiebreaker question.

The destination displayed on the Twitter page background has been written about in the Europe a la Carte Blog. You must leave your answer as a comment on this blog post, also answering the tiebreaker question. The tiebreaker kicks in if either no-one gets the destination correctly or if more than one person gets the correct destination. The tiebreaker enables me to choose a winner by judging the most entertaining and/or insightful answer.

The Prize:

The short break to Dublin comprising of three parts:

Part 1: Two nights accommodation on a B&B basis in the Arlington Temple Bar Hotel in Dublin with Irish Show and meal on one night. The Arlington Temple Bar is part of the Louis Fitzgerald group  on Twitter as @LouisFitzgeraldl.

You can arrange your stay at any time up to 30 December 2010, subject to availability. The winner of the Europe a la Carte Twitter Competition (4) will also receive 30 euro credit at one of the tables with its own beer tap. You can start practising for your stay by playing the Pull Your Own Pint online game. Everyone should try their hand at the game, as any player who can score 100 will be entered into the draw to take place at the end of November, to win the prize of spending St Patrick’s Weekend 2010 in Dublin.

Pull you own pint table at Arlington Temple Bar

Part 2: Two x 2 day Dublin passes courtesy of Visit Dublin. Dublin Passes includ free entry to over 30 top attractions such as Dublin Castle, Dublin Writers Museum and the Guinness Storehouse. It also covers transfer from Dublin Airport to the city centre on Aircoach.

Dublin Castle Gardens

Part 3: A 3 course evening meal with a bottle of house wine at the Gallery Restaurant at the The Church. I had lunch at The Church when I was in Dublin in October 2009, the food’s great and it’s an amazing building. You can follow @thechurch_ie on Twitter.

How to enter:

1 Click through to @karenbryan Twitter page.

2 Decide on the location of the background photo. It’s in Lombardy in Italy. Follow me on Twitter @karenbryan for some more clues during the week. To follow me you need to click on the Follow button just under the small photo of me at the top left of my Twitter page.

3 Return to this blog post and write a comment with the name of the location in the Twitter background photo and the answer to the question, “What most appeals to you about visiting Dublin?”

Exclusions:

Members of the Europe a la Carte blogging team can’t enter the competition (as they can read the comments in blog admin).

Closing date:

Competition entries by blog comment must be made by midnight GMT on Sunday 15 November 2009.

Good luck and look out for some more great prizes in future Europe a la Carte Twitter competitions.

It’s that time of year – when much of Europe is plunged into mist, dampness, and grey skies.  In the north, winter is nipping at your  heels, whereas in the south it’s rain rain rain.  With the time change last week, it means it is dark mid-afternoon.

Don’t let it get you down.  Enjoy the season for what it is… here’s some ideas how:

Head for the Movies.  If you’re touring, what better way to soak up the culture than with an indie classic?  If you’re in the UK films always have subtitles of course, and in some countries like the Netherlands the films aren’t dubbed so if you understand their original language you can still listen in.  It’s guaranteed to be a cultural experience, so why not?

Go for a walk.  Then reward yourself with a hot meal.  It’s yukky out, but get your nice raincoat and bear it.  You’ll have parks and trails to yourself.  Breathe in the smell of the damp leaves, feel the freshness in the air…. And for being so good, head to the pub or cafe for a hot meal and a hot drink to celebrate.  Maybe even a hot bath when you get back to the hotel.

Embrace other Indoor Activities. Cafe culture abounds in places like Greece and elsewhere in Europe.   Go shopping.  Do the things that you don’t feel bad about spending all day inside.

What do you do to cope with bad weather on your Europe holiday?

Photo by Matti Matilla

If you have any relatives who served in the armed forces or even fought in the two world wars, you may be interested to hear about the Royal British Legion’s travel arm, called Poppy Travel that organises pilgrimages and tours to key battlefields in Europe and all over the world. You can visit the beaches where the Allied Forces landed in Normandy on D-day, the landing sites in Gallipoli in Turkey, as well as Singapore, Korea and South Africa.

My husband and his father, both of whom served in the armed forces recently took a trip to Arnhem in the Netherlands on a trip with Poppy Travel which relived the events of Operation Market Garden. You may remember it through the film, ‘A Bridge too far’ in which 10,000 men parachuted into Arnhem in a push to capture the bridges of Holland’s Great rivers and enable an advance into Germany.

With an experienced and well-informed guide who accompanied the group, they found out more about the brave but doomed defence of the Arnhem bridge, saw a commemorative parachute drop to re-enact the actual events and attended a service of Remembrance at the Oosterbeek War Graves. Last year they went on a similar battlefield tour with Poppy Travel to Waterloo in Belgium, the scene of the famous battle in 1815 against Napoleon’s army.

At some of these Battlefield sites, you can easily organise your own day-trip, as there are interesting museums and visitor centres. However, there were a number of things which made the tour with Poppy Travel a much more meaningful experience. Firstly, the guides on these tours are extremely knowledgeable, usually with a miltary background who know not only the detail of the battles itself but also their whole historical context. Secondly, these tours are often pilgrimages for those who were themselves participants in the battles and are visiting the sites again with sons or daughters. On the recent trip to Arnhem, several of the group were in their 80s and had fought at Arnhem, including one old soldier who had been captured there by the German SS and spent the remaining 10 months in a prisoner of war camp.

This is not so much a holiday as an enriching travel experience, and perhaps not one for the average backpacker or beach lover. But if you have a family connection, or want to share this experience with an older relative who has some personal experience of these events, it could be a very rewarding journey.

Photos by Dog Company and Faceme