The Passenger is a weekly dispatch on travel — places, hotels, restaurants, the strange logistics of being elsewhere. It is written by Bergotte. Why serious travellers go to Sicily in September August in Sicily is a fact of nature rather than a choice. The island sits in the middle of the Mediterranean like a stoneContinue reading “The Sweetest Month”
Category Archives: Explore
Exit Through the Gift Shop
The Passenger is a weekly dispatch on travel — places, hotels, restaurants, the strange logistics of being elsewhere. It is written by Bergotte. The Guilty Pleasure A confession about museum gift shops, and the twenty best ones in the world Let us be honest about this. The museum gift shop is not supposed to beContinue reading “Exit Through the Gift Shop”
The City That Comes Back to Itself
The Passenger is a weekly dispatch on travel — places, hotels, restaurants, the strange logistics of being elsewhere. It is written by Bergotte. Paris, and why September is the only month that matters There is a particular quality of light in Paris in late August that travel writing has never quite managed to capture, perhapsContinue reading “The City That Comes Back to Itself”
Affordable Style: Inns and Guesthouses of Hungary’s Wine Villages
Hungary’s wine regions are among Europe’s best-kept secrets. Beyond Budapest, the hills of Tokaj and Eger are dotted with vineyards, baroque towns, and family-run cellars. Instead of polished resorts, travellers here are welcomed into small pensions, rustic guesthouses, and vineyard inns where tasting a glass of local Furmint or Egri Bikavér feels like slipping intoContinue reading “Affordable Style: Inns and Guesthouses of Hungary’s Wine Villages”
Affordable Style: Inns and Guesthouses of the Austrian Alps
The Austrian Alps may be known for glamorous ski resorts like Kitzbühel or Lech, but the heart of Alpine hospitality lies in its Gasthäuser, chalets, and small family inns. Here, rustic timber architecture, balconies overflowing with geraniums, and hearty mountain cooking come together in stays that are warm, authentic — and affordable. Affordable style inContinue reading “Affordable Style: Inns and Guesthouses of the Austrian Alps”
Affordable Style: Inns and Guesthouses of Essaouira & the Atlas Foothills
Morocco’s Atlantic coast and mountain landscapes offer a different kind of escape: atmospheric, artisanal, and surprisingly affordable. While Marrakech draws luxury seekers, the port town of Essaouira and the villages of the Atlas foothills remain places where riads, kasbahs, and guesthouses welcome travellers with warmth and character. Here, affordable style is woven into hand-carved woodenContinue reading “Affordable Style: Inns and Guesthouses of Essaouira & the Atlas Foothills”
The Culture Now: Sudan
The world’s largest displacement crisis has scattered Sudanese artists across three continents — and, from Cairo to Nairobi to Aberdeen, they have kept working Sudan rarely leads a news cycle, which is itself part of the story. Since war broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on 15 AprilContinue reading “The Culture Now: Sudan”
The Culture Now: Palestine
Across Gaza, the West Bank and a scattered diaspora, the past five years have produced an unusually intense body of work — made, in large part, out of catastrophe A note on scope before anything else: “Palestinian culture” today is made across more places than any single capital could hold — Gaza, the West BankContinue reading “The Culture Now: Palestine”
The Ten Photographs That Capture the Soul of America
America has always been a country obsessed with images of itself. It is not enough for America to exist; it must be seen existing. It must be staged, framed, printed, reproduced, circulated, believed. From the battlefield photograph to the fashion spread, from the Depression migrant to the moonlit desert, from the civil-rights witness to theContinue reading “The Ten Photographs That Capture the Soul of America”
The Ten Songs That Capture the Soul of America
America has often sung what it could not admit in speech. Its songs have carried grief before the law recognised suffering, desire before society permitted freedom, rage before politics found language, and longing before the country had earned the ideals it claimed for itself. If the American novel is a courtroom of conscience, and AmericanContinue reading “The Ten Songs That Capture the Soul of America”
My World of Interiors 