Author: Charlotte Gill

Has Davos helped beat the credit crunch?

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

The eyes of business leaders all around the globe are focused on a small, nondescript Swiss town high in the Alps at this time of the year.

The subject of their interest is the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, the world’s largest business think-tank, at Davos.

Running from 28 January until 1 February, it is one of the most important events in the WEF’s 38-year history.

“Shaping The Post-Crisis World” was the theme, and the significance of this particular get-together is such that the 1,200 politicians, policy-makers and executives attending will include 42 heads of state and government.

In Davos, they get the chance to meet and mingle with international business leaders, NGO chiefs, trade union leaders and internationally-recognised experts and gurus from a very broad spectrum.

The five days of meetings, lectures and talks focussed primarily on battling the current world economic crisis and also addressed the entire post-crisis agenda from economic reform to climate change.

The roll call could hardly be more impressive. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin delivering the opening address, and world leaders listening to his words including Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive officer Jamie Dimon and Deutsche Bank AG’s Josef Ackermann, along with the likes of News Corporation’s Rupert Murdoch and New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini. Gordon Brown made something of an impression with his speech last year.

Meanwhile, WEF founder and executive chairman Professor Klaus Schwab was looking in America’s direction and hoping for a big turnout of officials from Barack Obama’s administration. Prior to the event, he said: “If I had a wish, it’s that we see an essential and crucial American presence, if you look at what we want to achieve, we can’t do it without a strong US participation.”

Delegates spend most of their time in the internationally-renowned and well-organised Congress Centre situated on the main street of Davos, Promenade 92. It is the most impressive, if not the most attractive, building in Davos. Its 30 rooms can accommodate up to 1,200 people and, with typical Swiss efficiency, features the very latest in state-of-the-art communications systems.

With Davos being the highest town in Europe at 1,560 metres above sea level, the Congress Centre’s main claim to fame is that it is “the largest and highest conference centre in Europe.”

Conference facilities apart, Davos, in the southeastern Canton Grisons area of Switzerland, was chosen as the venue for the first WEF back in 1971 because it did not offer too many distractions aside from the many snow sports opportunities provided by the dramatic mountains that form a picturesque backdrop in every direction.

There is, however, a small casino at the Hotel Europe, offering two black jack tables, two roulette wheels and 68 slot machines.

Compared to many Swiss ski resorts, the town of Davos is possibly a little disappointing in the scenic stakes. Most buildings are relatively modern, built to keep pace with the skiing boom of the last few decades. So the town lacks the traditional Swiss picture-book charm of nearby Klosters, which has always attracted royals, movie stars and celebrity skiers to its slopes, luxury hotels, trendy boutiques, cafes and bars.

Nevertheless, Davos, which has 13,000 inhabitants, is still a big draw for many ski enthusiasts who appreciate its abundance of snow and top-notch mountainside facilities.

It offers visitors 24,000 guest beds and 100 restaurants – mainly in hotels. Pick of the hotels are the five-star Steigenberger Hotel Belvedere, adjoining the Congress Centre in Davos Platz, and the Fluela, on Bahnhofstrasse 5, in Davos Dorf.

The Belvedere, with its 131 rooms, is proud to have provided comfort and a welcome for the likes of Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton and is a traditional, historic grand hotel with an exceptional ambience.

The elegant Fluela has 69 rooms and has been run by the same family, the Gredigs, for the last 140 years. It offers a beguiling blend of luxury with a very personal touch.

Many of the restaurants offer standard European fare of a reasonable but not outstanding standard. But we found one gem serving wonderful food in a delightful rustic atmosphere – the charming Gasthaus Islen, on the outskirts of town at Bruche, 7270 Davos Platz (www.islen.ch), run by husband-and-wife team Otto and Cathrin Fontana. Otto is a superb chef, serving local gourmet specialities, fondues and superb steaks, while Cathrin offers front-of-house warmth and charm.

Davos is two hours by car from Zurich’s international airport – or 2 1/2 hours by train. Given the choice, it is a no-brainer – let the train take the strain.  Once you’ve experienced the delights of travelling on Swiss trains you will find yourself raising your eyes to the heavens and asking: “Why can’t all railways be like this?”

The Swiss national rail network is amazingly efficient, clean, punctual and offers excellent service. All the staff we encountered on a recent visit spoke flawless English and were polite and helpful.

So on business or pleasure, it really is the way to get from A to B in Switzerland. And if you want to experience it at its very best, just buy yourself a ticket from Davos to Zermatt on the Glacier Express, one of the truly great railway journeys of the world.

The Swiss are proud to call it “the slowest express train in the world” – because it takes seven hours to travel 170 miles. But with some of Europe’s most jaw-droppingly awesome Alpine scenery on view, it would be folly to hurry.

Travelling in air-conditioned comfort, you glide quietly past dramatic glacier ravines, plunging gorges and waterfalls and look out over historic villages and castles ringed by 13,000ft snow-capped peaks.

The scenery from your seat, with its panoramic and overhead windows, is ever-changing as you rattle over 91 bridges and swish through 291 tunnels.

Along the way, waiters serve a delicious lunch with a choice of beer, wine and liquors. Once again, the Swiss penchant for attention to detail is revealed by the way they offer wine drinkers a special sloping glass, shaped like a mini-leaning Tower of Pisa, so you do not spill your drink even when travelling on the steepest uphill stretches.

Even the serving of an after-dinner schnapps or grappa is turned into an art form. The waiters have a special custom where they pour any digestive liqueur from a height of about a metre, so it splashes into the glass like an Alpine waterfall – without spilling a single drop.

Outside the smart red-and-white liveried carriages, the many scenic highlights include travelling along an amazing viaduct, 330ft above the valley, over the wild and rocky Landwasser Gorge; crossing the Oberalp Pass at a dizzying 6,670ft above sea level; and passing through the remarkable Vorderrhein Gorge, dubbed “The Swiss Grand Canyon.”

Zermatt, a traditional Swiss ski resort, is the perfect destination after Davos. It is the epitome of Switzerland’s chocolate-box beauty at its best, carved in two by the narrow River Vispa and dominated by the mighty Matterhorn. At 14,693ft, the mountain is one of the world’s most iconic peaks.

Cars are banned from Zermatt’s narrow streets, lending a relaxing atmosphere to streets packed with smart shops and inviting cafes. And must-see excursions include a trip on the little Gornergrat railway, Europe’s highest open-air cogwheel railway, which climbs to 10,132ft for dazzling views of the Matterhorn and 29 surrounding peaks.

Like Davos, Zermatt has a strong British connection. The first successful ascent of the Matterhorn was made in 1865 by four Brits – Edward Whymper, the Rev Charles Hudson, Lord Francis Douglas and Robert Hadow – and three local guides.

Tragically, only Whymper and two guides returned to Zermatt after their companions plunged to their deaths about 1,300ft below the summit. Despite this grim piece of history, about 3,000 climbers still attempt to reach the top each year.
 
In winter, both Zermatt and Davos are major ski resorts, while in summer they attract legions of hikers and mountain bikers.

But when it comes to the biggest year-round attraction there’s only one contender – the Glacier Express. And if you’re at a loss for something new to offer staff as an incentive or reward, a ticket to ride on this superb train is guaranteed to be a big hit.

At the end of the line, which has been in operation for 77 years, the verdict from passengers of all nationalities is usually unanimous – “The trip of a lifetime!”

Davos: the British connection
Davos was founded in the 13th century and remained predominantly agricultural until the mid-19th century, when it was discovered to be an ideal spot for people suffering from respiratory illness. One such famous visitor was Robert Louis Stevenson who completed the literary classic Treasure Island in Davos during the winter of 1882.

Winter sports were popularised in the region by another British author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who discovered Davos in 1893 and lived at the Chalet am Stein, which, a decade earlier, had been the home of Stevenson.

Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, also introduced golf to Davos and remarked in his book Memories And Adventures: “The cows would for some strange reason eat the red flags.”

A memorial to the great writer and golf enthusiast was erected in 1968 in the Davos Kurpark.

How the WEF began
The World Economic Forum is an independent, international non-profit organisation which aims to create a world-class corporate governance system where values are as important as rules.

Believing that economic progress without social development is not sustainable and social development without economic progress is not feasible, its motto is “Entrepreneurship in the global public interest.”.

The WEF began in January, 1971, when European business leaders met under the patronage of the European Commission and European industrial associations. German-born Klaus Schwab, then a business professor at Geneva University, chaired the inaugural meeting in Davos.

He then founded the European Management Forum as a non-profit organisation based in Geneva, and invited European business leaders to Davos for their annual meeting each January.

Why Davos? Principally, Switzerland offered the advantages of neutrality and impartiality and Professor Schwab chose an Alpine location because it seemed to offer fewer distractions, yet excellent privacy and security.

“When we started, it was a small, family affair, with not more than 400 people, focused mainly on management issues,” Professor Schwab recalls. “And in those days, we could devote two full weeks to the meeting.”

Initially, he focused the meetings on how European firms could catch up with American management practices. He also developed and promoted the “stakeholder” management approach which based corporate success on managers taking account of all interests – employees, communities and even governments, in addition to shareholders, clients and customers.

Then in 1987, the  EMF changed its name to the World Economic Forum and sought to broaden its vision so it provided a platform for resolving international disputes.

WEF “milestones” quickly followed. They included the “Davos Declaration” signed in 1988 by Greece and Turkey, which saw them turn back from the brink of war, while in 1989, North and South Korea held their first ministerial-level meetings in Davos, and at the same meeting, East German Prime Minister Hans Modrow and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl met to discuss German reunification.

Slovak sights

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Slovakia may be many things – beautiful, steeped in history, a keen favourite of travellers in the know – but one thing it isn’t is Slovenia. There’s a definite cultural and geographical distinction between the two countries but such distinctions have, in the past, caught out both Silvio Berlusconi and George W Bush. The former declared at a news conference in Rome in December 2003 that he was “very happy to be here with the prime minister of Slovakia,” (he wasn’t; he was there with the prime minister of Slovenia) and the latter told a Slovak reporter in 1999 that “the only thing I know about Slovakia is what I learned firsthand from your foreign minister, who came to Texas. I had a great meeting with him. It’s an exciting country.” Not for the first time the former president was wrong; he hadn’t met the foreign minister of Slovakia, but in fact the then prime minister of Slovenia, Janez Drnovsek.

In a roundabout way however, George W Bush was right: Slovakia is indeed an exciting country. Bordered by the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Austria and the Ukraine, Slovakia nestles at the very heart of central Europe. It’s managed to emerge successfully from its downtrodden communist-era funk into a dynamic, attractive and, yes, exciting, country. Since the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993 (so peaceful in fact that it’s often referred to as The Velvet Divorce), the country has gone from strength to strength.  Unemployment has been falling, privatisation is rampant and the economy is one of the fastest growing in the EU and OECD with a strong emphasis on car manufacturing, engineering, chemicals, oil refining and plastics (it produces more ice hockey pucks than any other country on the planet).

It fits the very definition of a tiger economy and this reporter isn’t the first (nor, surely, the last) to dub it “The Tatra Tiger”. The place – particularly the capital, Bratislava – is buzzing with investment. The willingness to become fully integrated into the EU – it joined in 2004 and adopted the Euro on 1st January earlier this year – suggests that its position in a powerful, forward thinking Europe has been cemented.

It isn’t difficult to see why the tourist industry in Slovakia is blossoming. The majority of visitors come from the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany -though the steady trickle of Brits is becoming steadier – and they come for the appealing mixture of the very old and the very new. Despite only becoming an independent democracy 15 or so years ago, there are settlements in the country dating back nearly 23,000 years and Slovakia is home to six UNESCO  World Heritage Sites, both natural (caves) and cultural (castles and villages). So far, it has managed to resist the increasing homogenisation of the world and is pleasingly free of McDonald’s-style commercialism. Long may that trend continue.

Throughout the country there’s plenty to do. Cycling is popular all over, Piestany on the Vah river is renowned for its spas and the Low and High Tatras in the north are becoming increasingly popular with skiers and hikers, yet the majority of first-time visitors head for the charming, hip and laid back capital, Bratislava. In many ways Bratislava mirrors it’s more well-known counterpart Prague. Both have had chequered histories and undergone a number of dramatic changes. Both are a treat to look at and are crammed with historic buildings and cobbled streets. Both have an abundance of good quality hotels, decent restaurants and cool bars and clubs serving fiery spirits and quality beers. So far however, the rowdy stag parties that swan into Prague, smash the place up, then swan out again, have been mercifully absent from Bratislava.

Absent too, are the hordes of gawping tourists. The atmosphere, particularly in the pedestrian friendly old town is pleasantly relaxed and attending cultural events and concerts, even in the height of the season, shouldn’t pose a problem. In the old town you can shop for traditional Slovakian craft and bohemian crystal, buy an ice cream (it’s excellent) and check into one of the many near-perfect hotels (both the Arcadia and Michalska Brana are well recommended). The more adventurous among you may also want to check out the UFO bar, a disc-shaped building sitting 85m up the Novy Most Bridge overlooking the Danube. From up here you can get marvellous views of the city as well as the Danube. Remember: “If the Danube looks blue to you, then you must be in love.” Remember also, if it looks as if there are two Danubes, then you’ve probably had too much to drink.

Not that there’s a shortage of bars in Bratislava. There are around 60,000 students in the city and this helps the heady, vibrant atmosphere in the evenings. You could do a lot worse than to step into hip new bar and restaurant camouflage or the equally hip Primi, built into the courtyard by the cities medieval city walls. In this reporter’s opinion, a good place to eat is Malecon – a Cuban inspired, pistachio coloured restaurant which oozes character and a steamy atmosphere. And you can do so inexpensively: although Bratislava is a fair bit pricier than the rest of the country, it’s still fairly cheap by western standards. Not that Bratislava is all about eating and drinking. There are huge hunks of gothic architecture to admire (although if you look a bit further to the south of the river, you’ll be confronted by huge chunks of gritty, post-war tower blocks) and a terrific overview of the city can be had by taking the sightseeing tram. It might be worth getting a Bratislava City Card, which gives discounts on transport, museums and restaurants.

A few miles west of the city centre lies Devin castle. The castle is well worth a visit with astonishing views and was the seat of the Great Moravian Empire and a strategic post during the Turkish wars. For those fond of wine, the wine villages to the north of Bratislava in the Small Carpathian Mountains promise an interesting, if a little convivial afternoon.

Most business meeting will be conducted in the capital. Broadly speaking, business practice and etiquette is a cross between Western Europe and the US, and Eastern Europe and Russia. Generally German is more widely understood than English – the Czech Republic is Slovakia’s main trading partner and other main partners include Austria, Germany and Russia – though at the top companies there will often be English speakers and/or interpreters present. Business meetings tend to start with polite conversation and often a toast of Slivovica (plum brandy) or Borovicka (similar to gin) before getting down to business matters. Titles and positions are very highly regarded in Slovakia and are commonly used when addressing someone and often appear on business cards (i.e. “Ing” for engineer).

Heading out of Bratislava is Piestany, a small (30,000 residents) spa town 75km north-east of the capital. The good news is that you don’t have to be infirm to enjoy the facilities here, but if you are, then you’re in good hands. The spa treats 40,000 patients each year, 60 percent of whom are foreigners, mostly from Germany, the Czech Republic and Israel. The thermal springs and curative mud are used in the treatment of rheumatic and arthritic diseases but are also used by those seeking a more general sense of well being. The spa aside, Piestany has plenty to offer the visitor, from beautiful parks, a summer music festival, decent shopping and, presumably for many, a less than therapeutic casino.

Dotted throughout Slovakia are a number of picturesque, unspoilt historical towns and villages, many of which have been afforded UNESCO World Heritage site status. To list and describe them all here would be an exercise in futility, but special mentions must go Kezmarok, Levola, Bardejov, Banska Stiavnica and Vlkolinec, the latter three all being recognised by UNESCO. All the above are peppered with crumbling houses and set in creamy countryside but perhaps the most interesting is Vlkolinec, the only inhabited village in Slovakia completely untouched by modern development. Consisting of 45 log houses from the 16-19th centuries, Vlkolinec was judged the best-preserved group of traditional housing in the entire Carpathian area (an area comprising Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia).

It’s often been said that without the mountains, Slovakia would be a very different country. Whether fact or myth, it’s believed that the mountain ranges punctuating the north of the country have served as protective barriers against modernisation and have facilitated the preservation of the identity and traditions of the country. Less romantically, and more bluntly, they’re also splendid – and splendidly cheap – places to ski. Hungarians, Germans and Austrians have been heading to the high and low Tatras for years and more recently those  from further afield have been casting their beady eyes at the charming villages, ever-improving infrastructure and brilliantly priced ski holidays. Like most of Slovakia, the easy-on-the-eye resorts are likely to stay that way: although there have been significant improvements in facilities, development has not been rampant. The pick of the bunch is Jasna in the Low Tatras, considered the biggest and best resort to ski in Slovakia. Peaks of over 2000 metres, 50p pints and a snappy nightlife in nearby Liptovsky Mikulas have done little to dent Jasna’s reputation. The Low Tatras are also home to Slovakia’s remaining bears, wolves and lynx and has five underground caves, including an ice cave.

Getting to and from Slovakia isn’t exactly difficult, but it isn’t as well connected as some European cities. Somewhat predictably there are a number of low cost carries periodically flying in and out of Bratislava and the most comprehensive airline with 22 connections is Sky Europe. Most of the flights are into Bratislava’s Stefanika Airport though another option is to fly into the better served Vienna International Airport, some 6o kilometres from Bratislava. US, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand most European passport holders don’t need a visa to enter the country and can stay for up to 90 days.

Like most best kept secrets, Slovakia won’t remain so for too much longer, though if the mountains continue to protect its rich identity and heritage and the people continue to resist the uniformity sweeping the world then a few more visitors shouldn’t cause too much of a problem. Just don’t go calling it Slovenia.

When to go
Almost poetically, Slovakia boasts four traditional, distinct seasons. The ski season lasts from late December to early March though well into spring is an ideal time to visit the Low and High Tatras with their breathtaking views and rare as hen’s teeth wildlife (bears, wolves and the like). Summers can sometimes be warm, sometimes sweltering, and play host to a number of festivals. Among the best are the Vychodna folk festival in July and the Pohoda Music Festival during the same month when Trencin attracts some of the best alternative and independent bands in the world.

Facts for the visitor
Outside of the main tourist areas English isn’t widely understood and even in them you’re better off knowing a few words of German. A smattering of Slovak, then, will come in handy. Ahoj (hello), Dovidenia (goodbye), Dakujem (thank you) and Este pivo prosím (another beer please) should be enough to get you started.

As of 1 January 2009 Slovakia adopted the Euro. It’s one hour ahead of GMT, has a population of 5.4 million and is reckoned to be home to some of the most beautiful women on the planet.

A toast to Kaliningrad

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Kaliningrad, Russia’s seaport town and administration centre, has repositioned itself as an esteemed commercial centre. Besides the city sights, spend time at the nightspots or restaurants that dot the city. There are great hotels available as well as the nearby Svetlogorsk which is a costal spa resort. If you like to return to nature, the Kursche Spit is a stunning peninsula of sand which is rich in plants and animals. Kaliningrad is a challenging and rewarding destination for the more intrepid traveller.

Situated on the Baltic coast, the city was founded in 1255 as Königsberg and as a member of the Hanseatic League. The castle of Konigsberg was built in 1255 by the Teutonic Knights as a tribute to King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who had led a campaign against pagan Sambians. Kaliningrad is the only Russian Baltic Sea port that is ice-free all year around hence plays an important role in maintenance of the Baltic Fleet. It became the residence of the Dukes of Prussia in 1525. In 1946, it was incorporated into the Soviet Union.

In the largest part of the area rustic infrastructure hardly exists, especially one is not yet very adjusted to individual tourism. The local tourist authority strives around the structure of different branches of tourism such as hunt tourism, rider tourism and rural tourism as well as for promotion of the tourism in the small and medium-sized towns such as Sowetsk (Tilsit). In addition there are cruises into the area.

Tourism in the city has developed after its opening up from military restriction. For almost half a century, the city’s past was closed off and foreigners were forbidden to enter what was rumoured to be the most militarised area of the Soviet Union. Even Soviet citizens elsewhere had the haziest notion of where Kaliningrad was and what it had once been.

Kaliningrad is the place to experience a real Russian night out, crime free and relatively cheaply. You can do the traditional vodka, caviar and dancing to a local band at Traktir Razgulai, Sovietsky 13, which is popular for big nights out – birthdays and office parties. For a more relaxed evening, the 12 Stuliev Art Club, at Prospekt Mira 67, has cocktails and blinis as well as live music.

The Francis Drake pub, Sovietsky 19, is part-owned by an English farmer and has authentic pub decor shipped in from the West Country and pretty pictures of English beer on the menu. But problems with suppliers mean that, for the present, they serve only Russian beer and a few Russian dishes given jokey English names.

The best café is the Kulinaria delicatessen next to the Kaliningrad hotel, which sells salads, a few hot dishes and cakes. The only drawback is that it is standing only. For a sit-down midday meal, walk up Leninsky Prospekt and try any one of the cafés there or the Monopol, Frunze 17/21.

Visit the casino Universal, Prospekt Mira 43, has a good restaurant and club as well as gaming tables. The minimum stake for the roulette wheel at Vanda, Frunze 6, is 50 roubles (approx £1.20), so you won’t lose your shirt.

The Bunker Museum was the headquarters of the local German command during the 1944 battle. The museum details the German occupation (which lasted 689 years) and Soviet liberation of the city, including several interesting dioramas of events during the days of the battle.

The Curonian Spit National Park is 50km long and separates the Baltic Sea from the Curonian Bay. Enjoy its beaches and hiking paths.

Big spenders go to Monetny Dvor, Leninsky 83 while the young will find entertainment in Olshtynskaya 1, where you can drink, dance and play billiards. If your taste is more acquired go to Universal for the food or to Vagonka, Stanotchnaya 12, which, while a long way from the centre, has live bands (occasionally western ones) and a separate bar where you can drink in peace.

Top 10 US property myths

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Thanks to mass media generalisations about the state of the property market in America we are left thinking that the entire US real estate market is in meltdown and that it represents a toxic investment opportunity to overseas investors at the current time. However, as the following facts and information will show, the truth about the American property market could not be further from this misconception.

In a bid to present as accurate and balanced a perspective of the property market in the United States as possible, we called on the expertise of both Robert Shemin, the multi millionaire American real estate investment guru, and Danny Silver, Managing Director of Property Direct America, US property experts to help us dispel the top 10 myths about the US housing market.

Myth 1: The entire US is experiencing a property slump
Not true, says Robert Shemin, there are pockets of the American housing market experiencing growth: “Look for markets that are growing – growing with jobs, that have growing economies and that are growing with population. Take a look at Utah, Alabama, Texas – all states that are growing because they have emerging economies. This equals property value growth, it equals a huge need for rentals, it equals higher rents! Then you have states like Mississippi that has all of the above and more. After Hurricane Katrina, less than 24 percent of Mississippi’s housing stock was habitable – this represents opportunity.”

Myth 2: Subprime has affected the entire market
According to Robert: “The sub prime market has dried up and gone away due to the amount of sub prime loans that have defaulted.” Looking to the longer term this will result in more mature lending practices in a market and it will result in greater numbers of potential tenants because those considered sub prime will not be in a position to buy, only to rent housing stock.

Myth 3: Vulnerable people are being forced to sell their homes because they can’t afford their mortgage repayments
Our real estate guru Robert Shemin sums up the situation: “in years gone by getting a mortgage was credit driven, then somebody had the bright idea, ‘let’s make some big money by offering mortgages to people who were not credit worthy enough to get a mortgage the traditional way,’ thus the sub prime boom was born. They put so many people who couldn’t afford house payments into homes that they never should have in the first place, assuming that real estate would keep going up. If real estate had continued to rise at the rate it was going, everything would have been fine – except the market experienced a slow down which created a snowball effect which caused the market to collapse. Because the values tripled in some areas, the taxes naturally rose to those same levels, making it even harder on homeowners who could barely afford where they lived in the first place to continue to afford the homes they lived in.” Now these people represent waiting tenant demand for would-be property investors.

Myth 4: Mortgage financing is no longer available
Danny Silver sets the record straight: “Mortgage financing is certainly harder to come by than it was at the peak of the lending boom, however not only are those who are in a strong position to purchase welcomed by mortgage lenders, in states like Mississippi where the public and private sector are working side by side to rebuild sufficient property stock and get it inhabited by the waiting tenant demand, we have cases where guaranteed mortgages are available to the right buyers. Our Bayside Park project in Hancock County, Mississippi is one such development that’s considered so strong an opportunity that we have up to 90 percent LTV mortgages available.”

Myth 5: The government is doing nothing to help the situation
Again, according to Danny Silver this is just not the case. He cites the situation in the Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) where the government has done and is continuing to do all it can to rebuild the communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. “In the Bayside community over 70 percent of all housing was wiped out due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Yet the jobs are still in the area and the citizens of Mississippi, families that have been the community for generations, are still in the area, it’s just the lack of housing that’s hurting folks which is why the government provides governmental and taxation incentives to encourage individual and corporate investment into the area.” Robert Shemin concurs: “after Hurricane Katrina our government had no choice but to get involved, it was a natural disaster. The state of Mississippi along with The United States government got involved and created huge benefits for small investors to come in and help regenerate the communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina, giving them previously unheard of tax incentives as well as financial incentives to get involved with helping people who could not help themselves. As a result a unique real estate investment opportunity now exists in the state.”

Myth 6: The US is in recession and will be for some time
According to Robert Shemin we actually need to get things in perspective here: “Less than 50 percent of all Americans own the homes they live in – most are rental tenants. Yes foreclosure rates have risen, yet the levels they have reached accounts for less than two percent of all properties in the United States. This is not a recession. As stated, there are markets where there is strong opportunity – an investor simply has to target those markets! It’s not rocket science.”

Myth 7: Florida, for example, has vast oversupply of property
True, parts of Florida’s market have suffered from oversupply and the greed of constructors, but front line and high end homes are still selling for top dollar – in fact, Florida is a perfect example of what Robert Shemin has been illustrating. Parts of the market are flat, parts are thriving still. An investor just has to look at where demand exists and why it is likely to still exist, and it is in these areas that there are opportunities to profit. “Florida is becoming a great buyer’s market and folks are starting to realise it.” So says Robert Shemin.

Myth 8: There is nothing in America for overseas property investors currently
As Danny Silver points out: “As just one example of the massive property investment opportunity that exists in pockets of America for overseas buyers, the greater Harrison and Hancock county areas of Mississippi are booming and will continue to boom because of the strong need for good quality rental housing for hard working Americans. To say there is nothing in America for overseas investors overlooks this fact, it overlooks the financial and taxation incentives in place to buy in the GO Zone, and it overlooks the fact that there are areas of the United States where, as Robert mentioned, booming economies and jobs markets are emerging.”

Myth 9: With the global credit crunch, now is not the time to be buying property abroad
In recent days the pound has fallen against the dollar – while it is still in a strong buying position Stateside, it still highlights the fact that America is far from down and out! Buyers who are aware of this fact will also be aware that they can move quickly at this point, buy in America when the American economy is starting the long, slow process of recovery, benefit from depressed property prices, a weaker dollar, continued and continuous demand for real estate and a potentially very long period of positive property price adjustment. For many, now is actually the perfect time to buy and in the words of Robert Shemin: “I always say get in way below market and don’t try and guess the market. No matter what it’s doing you can make money if you make good deals – it’s the deals that make you the money! And at the moment, with all due respect, the media is talking down the market and you have a lot of motivated sellers out there. When sellers are keen to sell it’s a great time to buy!”

Myth 10: Taxes in the US are high and complicated
Taxes vary from state to state and a buyer has to factor these in to any buying decision, or, as Danny Silver points out: “You could just save yourself the headache of taxation and buy in the GO Zone and benefit from tax breaks and governmental financial incentives to invest!”

Property Direct America has a development available for sale to overseas investors that qualifies for all the Gulf Opportunity Zone taxation and fiscal incentives and benefits, what’s more, investors have access to up to 90 percent LTV mortgages. The development in question is of energy efficient, eco friendly family homes designed specifically to house the massive waiting tenant demand that exists in the state of Mississippi following the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. The properties are steel framed homes consisting of four bedrooms and two bathrooms, individual entry into the market is as low as £87,000/$169,900.

Croatian culture embraces state

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Most business travellers have been watching the plight of the pound against the Euro with growing dismay. With a strong pound and Europe on our doorstep, this diverse continent was a playground for UK business and leisure travellers alike. So it’s with heavy hearts that many corporations have begun redress their budgets for European travel in light of the fact that the Euro is now almost the same value as the pound. Before despair sets in, however, there are a few European gems which have yet to adopt the coin of the realm, and Croatia in particular is well worth capitalising on in 2009.

Before the war-torn eighties, this beautiful stretch of land was the holiday-spot of choice for Italians – who know a thing or two about attractive destinations. And now the country is firmly back as a top spot for visitors, it’s not just Italy who have rediscovered Croatia’s native charms. Everyone else is catching on too.

“2008 was a very successful year for our Croatia programme, due in part to the country being outside the Euro-zone and representing excellent value for money, ” explains Pat Jacobs of Holiday Options. “As a result, the company has increased its number of departures from UK regional airports in 2009, introducing flights to Dubrovnik from Belfast, Southampton and Leeds Bradford; and to Split from Southampton, Newcastle and Norwich. There’s expansion in Croatia in 2009 – and more regional departures planned.”

And holiday options aren’t the only ones. Tour options to Croatia have increased dramatically over the past few years, and the country still has much potential to be realise. With international conference facilities still awaiting expansion and much of the country only just waking up to the potential of business travel their current success looks set to grow and grow.

With stunning coastline, attractive cities, and a burgeoning interest in the interior countryside, it’s a country which is ever expanding in tourist appeal. And as your pounds will buy you more here than most other places in Europe, now’s the time to enjoy her charms.

Crowning jewel
A large percentage of Croatia benefits from a prime coastal location on the brilliant blue waters of the Adriatic Sea. Along this route the crowing glory is undoubtedly the beautiful city of Dubrovnik, a UNESCO world heritage site, frequently listed as a must-see destination in a global context. The walled Old Town dates back to Roman times, and surrounds a wonderful white-stone interior of ancient houses, restaurants and bars linked by hand-cut-paving. The city wall itself forms a popular walk around the top of the city, providing the perfect vantage point to view row after row of red-brick roof tops to one side, and the idyllic Dalmatian coast stretching away to the south.

During the evening performers come out onto the smooth stone streets, whilst bars and restaurants hum with convivial revelry. Whilst the coastal wall hides away a few quieter drinking holes with superb views out onto the bay, perfect for watching the sunset.

Less frequented and in many ways just as breathtaking, however, is the harbour town of Split. Situated only a few hours drive along the stunning coast road from Dubrovnik, Spilt is now a major hub into Croatia for budget airlines and is also a ferry port for Italy and the outlying coastal islands. Many visitors pass through this small town without a glance, but those who stray from the well-worn harbour-side into the historic interior are well rewarded. Spilt can’t compete with Dubrovnik for the sheer scale of its Roman remains, nor is it ringed with an intact ancient wall and bisected by wide stone streets.

But the labyrinthine streets offer history on a more liveable level. Whilst Dubrovnik’s balmy evenings offer charming and tourist-oriented nightlife, Spilt has bohemian bars, albeit with a rough-around the edges appeal, but no less inviting for that. The tiny centre boasts the remains of the ancient Diocletian Palace in which the town’s youth lounge during the hot summer days, and players perform at night.

The undiscovered capital
For business travellers Zagreb is a likely first stop to Croatia, but arrivals needn’t think they are missing out on the popular coastal spots. Whilst the capital doesn’t come equipped with brilliant blue ocean and sandy shores like so much of the country, Zagreb does offer a unique slant on a European capital.

If you’re a frequent visitor to Eastern European cities, and arrive in Zagreb expecting dour public buildings punctuated by the odd ornate church you’re in for a very pleasant surprise. Croatia’s history is irrevocably tangled in the Austro-Hungarian empire, fraught as that is with sober but beautiful architecture carrying a decidedly German slant. The centre includes spacious public squares and well-kept city parks alongside the attractive streets and buildings.

Like many European cities Zagreb boasts an undeniably lovely Old Town, and a less immediately appealing new town where the confines of the original planning have spilled into modern development. Whilst the former area comes complete with historic remnants on every corner and rooftop, the latter is perhaps less interesting for the first-time visitor, although its appeal grows with familiarity.

This is partly because Zagreb is an appealing mix of East and West, where hedonistic nightlife teams effortlessly with the more wholesome predilection for walking, hiking and generally enjoying nature. Those bent on enjoying natural attractions have only a few miles to travel outside the capital, but within the city limits a boisterous pub culture keeps residents in good spirits until the small hours.

Escape to the country
Despite the growing popularity of its capital, however, most visitors to Croatia come for the scenery. And with an enviable portfolio of coastline, forests, islands, lakes and mountains few leave disappointed. For those chasing the simple life, Croatia’s coastline is peppered with islands both large and small. The bigger outcrops are accessible by ferry from the main land, whilst more diminutive patches of land can be sought out with the aid of your own boat, or local services from the outlying islands.

Whilst popular with tourists, these parts of the coastline nevertheless maintain an idyllic sense of isolation. The larger island of Hvar has a few streets which comprise its main town with a smattering of lovely seafood restaurants and a local market, but delve into the interior and the ever-increasing pockets of holiday homes are simply lost inside the undulating mountainous landscape. From the main town the east of the island is reached only by dint of a rough hand-hewn tunnel through sheer rock-face, running to a kilometre in length, and staffed only during the daylight hours to ensure two cars don’t enter simultaneously from either end.

Island life itself is an easy and informal affair. Residents knock on their neighbours doors to buy wine or oil by the carafe, whilst the days haul of seafood will dictate the hand-written menu at the local taverna.

Trek further into the interior, and several national parks offer to ease your daily cares. Plitvice National Park showcases mesmerising cascades of icy-clear water amongst impossibly large lakes, whilst Krka Park can take you by boat through looming canyons into the fascinating monastery at its heart.

New openings
Kempinski Hotel, Istria
Kempinski Hotel Adriatic Istria, expected to open in May 2009, has been built in Alberi, on the Adriatic coast of Croatia, in the region of Istria. The region surrounding Alberi is distinguished by untouched landscapes and a stunning natural beauty. The whole resort is set on a gentle slope ending in a cliff overlooking the Bay of Trieste and neighbouring Slovenia, with 22 exclusive villas nearest to the sea. Set behind the villas will be the spacious grounds of the five star luxury hotel, which will be managed by Kempinski, and an 18-hole golf course. The resort will also offer guests the possibility to moor their yachts in the 35-berth private marina.

Hotel Lone, Rovinl
Opening later this year, Hotel Lone is the first Croatian venue for prestigious Design Hotels chain. The new venue will be situated in the exclusive Monte Mulini Zone in Rovinj, and was designed by internationally renowed architects and interior specialists. Situated in Zlatni Rt Park Forest, Hotel Lone will have 240 rooms, nine suites and a presidential suite. The hotel will also contain a wellness and spa centre, a fitness area and a number of restaurant and bar options. In addition, congress hall seating 600 people, and a few smaller conference halls are part of the design.

Hotel Bastion, Zadar
Capitalising on Croatia’s popularity with resorts might be fine for the coastline, but up and coming Zadar proves she’s on trend with this latest boutique hotel offering. Whilst perfectly set out for business travellers with conference and dining facilities, this diminutive four star hotel nevertheless offers the charm of a smaller venue. Located in the historic centre of the centre the newly opened hotel also offers the obligatory spa for weary business travellers along with excellent service and personalised details.

Solace in Canada

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Canada will never be a nation known for city-slickers. If this vast and beautiful country is famous for anything it’s rugged outdoor life and the easy-going nature of its people. If you’re in the country on a business trip it’s tempting to feel the true essence of the country is slipping you by whilst you’re city-bound. But whilst untamed wilderness and lumberjack shirted locals shouldn’t immediately lend themselves to great cities, Canada’s urban areas actually offer something which the undeniably stunning scenery can’t.

Canadian municipalities take the outdoors with them, whether inside the magnificently maintained parks, on the extensive cycle and skate paths or in the easy-going ambiance of the restaurants and nightlife. So although they may not offer the frenetic drive of New York or London, they offer a glimpse into the balance between work and play which the natives seem to manage so effortlessly.

You can step away from the high rise business district of Vancouver, Toronto or Quebec and be in isolated parkland within minutes. Or hop into your car to experience nature at its real and raw best only a few kilometres from the urban centre. Several cities even showcase grand lake and mountain vistas from within the Central Business District. So whether you’re hoping to experience the charm of Quebec, the cultural melting-pot of Toronto or the green vistas of Vancouver there is plenty to hold your attention without leaving the city limits.

Toronto

Toronto
Toronto’s middle name is tolerance, and it’s an attitude which tends to strike visitors the moment they arrive in the city. If you’re used to doing business in New York you’ll undoubtedly notice a few of the same ethic districts which make the city as a whole. But this is where the similarities end. Whilst the Stateside capital’s China Town is very much an enclave of the resident Chinese, in Toronto locals and immigrants alike are duly welcomed into the cultural milieu. The same is true throughout the city, from Little Italy to the bohemian eateries of Queen West. Whilst New York, Paris and London might embrace different nationalities, Toronto makes them a part of her soul.

As the economic powerhouse of the English-speaking part of Canada, Toronto also takes her role as cultural capital very seriously. Even if you’ve only a few days to experience the city you’ll doubtless come across evidence of a diverse arts scene, with ‘pay what you can’ screenings of cult movies and theatrical performances to showcase the bohemian fringe. Even the bars and coffee shops take a good deal of eclecticism to their make-up, with many showing works by local artists, or boasting interior design courtesy of some maverick paint-slinger.

These new developments are in stark contrast to the fact that Toronto was once derided for its middle-of the-road approach – even the point of being seen as a little boring by other Canadians. Whilst this reputation is now ill-deserved, remnants remain in the infrastructure of a very well-run city. Youth culture may see artistic graffiti anoint the roadsides, but it is displayed above a superbly designed underground walkway for when the temperature drops too low to walk the streets. Transport facilities are seamless and prompt, service staff courteous and helpful, and business travellers should find everything about their stay pleasantly efficient and well organised.

Canada

Quebec
Deliberately distinct from the English-speaking Canada, Quebec has held on fiercely to its French heritage against all the odds. The result is a delightful blend of European and Canadian, which sees the best elements of modern city planning played out amongst the charming streets of Old Town Quebec. The heritage has unsurprisingly spawned not only a beautiful city centre, but a Parisian café culture, boutique shopping, and all within sight of beautiful snow-clad mountains.

It will help you considerably to speak at least a few words of French in Quebec – locals don’t take kindly to the presumption that everyone should speak English. But business travellers will be charmed at just how old-world European this modern city feels. And with its cobbled streets, pastel coloured buildings, and a châteaux-hotel which puts castles to shame equivalents en France the Old Town has deservedly been made a UNESCO world heritage site.

Canada

Vancouver
If ever a city encapsulated the spirit of a nation, so Vancouver is the very essence of the Canadian ethos. Camped inconveniently on the far west shores of the country it’s a long way from the urban enclaves of the east coast. But despite having The Rocky’s on its doorstep, it’s also only a few hundred kilometres from Seattle. And whilst justly famed for its bordering mountains, huge lakes and general wilderness, it also boasts a glittering glass business district, lively nightlife and burgeoning restaurant scene.

For the most part, however, Vancouver is known as a green city, and with good reason. The constant panoramic of stunning views must serve as a daily reminder to residents of the import of environmental welfare, and the result is a healthy interest in all things green. Not only was this the place where Greenpeace was formed, but countless environmental groups followed and the evidence can be seen in poster form throughout the city. Vancouver is also only too happy to honour her resident’s worthy beliefs with the most extensive hybrid-car taxi service in North America, numerous car share schemes, electric trolley buses and a light rail service.

For business travellers it’s also a very successful port, and investment has seen this potential grow considerably in recent years. With rich natural resources on its doorstep Vancouver is the trading post for many commodities, and real estate here is now more expensive than in Toronto.

Toronto tips
Where to stay
Cosmopolitan
8 Colborne Street
416 350 2000
As the last word in contemporary chic, Cosmopolitan is rightly favoured
by business people in the know, and even the odd celebrity. Book well
ahead.


Doubletree by Hilton
Toronto Airport, 
Benefiting
from a recent £650,000 the airport area’s largest hotel and conference
centre is well worth checking into. Pamper yourself at the new Zen Spa
or indulge your taste buds at the new wine bar, located in the Orchid
Café.


Where to eat
Forget the bacon and maple syrup. If you’re in Toronto you’ll do best
to get in on the international cuisine and eat widely from the range on
offer. Superb Chinese dumplings, spicy Thai food, and a plethora of
high-quality health-food, vegetarian and vegan eateries abound.

John’s Italian Café
27 Baldwin Street
416 537 0598
For the best thin-crust this side of The Big Apple, John turns out a
lovely pizza pie in environs perfect for a casual business meeting. In
the summertime the patio is a great place to kick back with a good
bottle of Italian red.

Swatow
309 Spadina Ave
416 977 0601
Join the queues to experience Swatow’s take on Chinese cuisine – a
strictly authentic selection from regional China. It’s
bargain-basement, and you’ll need cash to hand, but for experiencing
the heart of Toronto’s multicultural charm it’s the best there is.

Vancouver information box
Where to stay
Listel Vancouver
1300 Robson Street
604 684 8461
Fabulously colourful contemporary hotel with a deliberate emphasis on the quality of its restaurant in addition the superb rooms.

Opus Hotel Vancouver
322 Davie Street
604 642 6787
Ultra stylish boutique hotel which still finds time to cater extensively to business travellers. With sister establishments in Montreal it’s an expanding chain, and one which uniquely captures the concept of informal elegance.

Where to eat
Health-conscious eating comprises some of Vancouver’s best, so don’t be shy of trying out the high-quality vegetarian and fusion cuisine as well as local favourites.

Gorilla Food
422 Richards street
604 722 2504
If you want to get a real taste for local life in Vancouver, give the trend for ‘raw food’ a whirl in this surprisingly tasty restaurant. Try the ‘pizza’ – dehydrated vegetable base with an innovative take on ‘cheese’ but delicious all the same.

C Restaurant
1600 Howe Street
604 681 1164
Known amongst locals as the best seafood restaurant in the city, chef Rob Clark teams complex culinary greats with simple takes of the region’s finest.

Quebec information
Where to stay
Le Chateux Frontenac
1 rue des Carrières, 418 692 3861
Towering over the Quebec skyline the Frontenac is easily mistaken for a
grand old castle, and is a fitting tribute to the facilities within.
Generally held to be unrivalled for hospitality and service.

Hotel Clarion
3125 Hochelaga blvd, (418) 653-4901
With conference facilities, and extensive accommodation for business
travellers, Hotel Clarion is also well located next to the Old Town.


Where to eat
Get ready to adjust your waistband – Quebec celebrates hearty French cuisine in bistros throughout the capital.

Beautys
93 ave du Mont Royal Oust, 514 849 8883
Brunch institution well worth
the long queues on weekends. Beautys serves up a signature ‘MishMash’
omelette along with classic Montreal bagels and a long list of choices
besides.

Laloux
250 ave des Pins Est, 514 287 9127
Classic French haute-cuisine in lovely bistro surrounds. Complete with tasting menu for gourmands.

Antwerp’s stunning vista

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

The largest city in Flanders, Antwerp is in the northern part of Belgium. 60 percent of the ten million Belgians are Flemings. Like their French and German-speaking compatriots they have their own parliament and government. The city’s 470,416 inhabitants live in a territory, which covers approximately 22,076 hectares.

Fine food is part of Antwerp’s everyday culture. Because of its unique location, in the 16th century – the “Golden Age” – Antwerp was a port where all types of foodstuffs, drinks, herbs and spices from distant lands arrived. Even today a wide range of exotic foods is still on sale in Antwerp. The majority of Antwerp restaurants tend to go in the direction of the French cuisine, with the addition of a few fine Belgian touches or the use of typical Belgian ingredients. However, you’ll find a whole range of European, ethnic and biological cuisine as well as restaurant experimenting with the latest food fads. The greatest concentration of places to eat is in the areas around the historic city centre, the central station and the South quarter of Antwerp.

Antwerp owes its prosperity to the River Scheldt. Over the centuries the city and the port have expanded into a maritime metropolis.

Walking along the river quays will notice a lot of new buildings. Contemporary architecture there often refers to the maritime aspect of the city – Antwerp is very clearly facing the water again. At sunset the colours of the Scheldt change. The signals on the water, the lights of the ships and the port installations bring a surprisingly enchanting spectacle.

The Port of Antwerp is the second largest port in Europe, is one of the ten largest ports worldwide and also the most productive. A dense network of rivers and canals, road and railways ensures an easy connection to the European hinterland.

Culture
Antwerp has a rich, historic past and is still a cultural pole of attraction today. Antwerp can rightfully pride itself on its rich, historic past with world famous artists such as Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens and Brueghel. Through the centuries the city has managed to develop a rich and unique, valuable cultural heritage. The city’s museums and historic churches are treasuries in which many of these riches are preserved and on display. Take time to stop and admire the cityscapes, the protected monuments and the various statues as well as the Madonnas and other saints that grace Antwerp’s streets.

And even today Antwerp has a sparkling cultural and artistic life. With world famous and lesser known artists, big and small cultural talents. With many theatres, cinemas, galleries,?dance and concert stages. With big established culture houses and experimental free ports. With talked-about and intimate architecture.

Shopping
What distinguishes Antwerp as a shopping destination is the sheer variety of stuff on offer. That, and the dramatic seasonal sales. Because Belgian regulations forbid promotional discounts outside January and July, the pressure is on stores to clear un-sold stock ?as fast as they can.

Boutiques and brands tend to huddle in tribal clusters on Antwerp’s shopping streets. Walk from the station down to the grand, paved Meir and you’ll find familiar high street brands and hip young stores. It’s also home to the Princess department stores; the main branch has more traditional high-end brands, while down the street, Princess Blue has younger, more directional collections, including Hussein Chalayan and Kitsuné.

Turn left at the end on to Nationalestraat and you’ll enter the city’s fashion district. So low-key as to be almost invisible, outlets for Antwerp’s famous designers are strung out between laundromats, army surplus stores and shops selling sausage rolls. Dries Van Noten’s corner site looks like a costume fantasy from the 19th century, while Yohji Yamamoto’s store, next to the MoMu fashion museum, is his largest, stocking all his lines as well as that of his daughter Limi Feu.

Walter Van Beirendonck’s store is worth visiting for the spectacular setting alone. In a former mechanic’s garage, works by young and less established designers that are hung in wooden cabanas spread around like fairground stalls. There’s usually an installation of some kind – at one point the floor was occupied by an 8m teddy bear. More spectacular interiors can be found at Annemie Verbeke, a Brussels-based designer whose shop is like a mirrored jewellery box.

If Belgian designer gems are out of reach even at sale time, but you’re still longing, there’s little Labels Inc, just around the corner, which sells left over-stock and limited edition pieces, arranged according to label.

On the way down the fashion district, take lunch at the Biologisch-Dynamische Bakkerij on Volkstraat 17, an unpretentious organic cafe favoured by the area’s health-conscious style set. Real fashion nerds can play spot-the-designer over their courgette soup.

At the bottom end of the fashion district is Ann Demeulemeester’s town house opposite the museum of fine arts. The incense-laden air surrounds Demeulemeester’s design totems: white feathers, charms and enchanting tailoring. Local wisdom dictates that every woman should own an Ann Demeulemeester suit – partly for the rock attitude, partly because they’re so damned flattering. Fans of the style will be delighted by a guesthouse called Boulevard Leopold, set in a decadent chic 19th-century mansion in the old Jewish quarter. Owners Vincent and Bert wanted it to feel like the home of a beloved grandmother, and have kept prices low (from €95).

Opening a B&B alongside your business became something of a fad in Antwerp during the last decade – for a while it seemed as though every cafe and store had rooms for rent on its upper floors. Two that survive in the central strip around the top of Nationalestraat are Room National and m0851. The former was created by designers Violetta and Vera Pepa, who at the time had a shop on the ground floor. The boutique went, but the rooms remain under different, less chaotic, management. The top-floor room is particularly lovely – it has the best view and most light as well as a bathroom with a wooden Japanese-style tub. M0851, opposite, is run by the owners of the bag shop of the same name, and is a soothing, rather grown-up establishment with classic, sophisticated decor that reflects the accessories collection downstairs.

Over by the cathedral is the recently opened Linnen, a sleek B&B in an 18th-century building renovated and run by the owners of neighbouring lounge bar, Cocktails at Nine. The view from the breakfast room catches the morning light and opens out on to the cathedral roof. Be warned that accommodation gets booked up weeks in advance.

Lebanon’s class

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Lyrical notes from the saxophone of US jazz artist Branford Marsalis waft into the cool night air of a mountain palace courtyard in Lebanon.

“It means normal life is coming back, hopefully, and it’s a positive sign,” said Karen Kilejian, a supermarket finance officer, outside the early 19th-century palace of Beiteddin.

Grappling with instability is nothing new to organisers, audiences and performers at cultural events in Lebanon.

The festival at Beiteddin, in the Shouf hills southeast of Beirut, began in 1985 at the height of Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war – years when the glories of Baalbek’s venerable festival were a distant memory and its brooding Roman ruins lay silent.

The casually dressed audience at Beiteddin were glad of a chance to escape, if only briefly, from the political tensions and eruptions of violence that beset their tiny country.

“You have two kinds of people, those who live by their culture and those who live by arms,” said Jean-Marie Megalbani, a 63-year-old surgeon. “We hope that the cultural aspect will prevail, that democracy and human rights will prevail.”

 For Majida al-Roumi, a Lebanese singer renowned across the Arab world, the revival of Beiteddin, where she will perform on Aug. 9, and the other festivals proves Lebanon’s resilience. “The Lebanese people have a fighter’s will. They don’t surrender to death,” she told Reuters in the lush garden of her family’s home at Kfarshima, overlooking Beirut airport.

“The will to live is stronger than death, happiness is stronger than sadness, and peace is stronger than war.”

 Nevertheless, organisers still faced tough decisions before going ahead with the 2008 festivals, all planned while Lebanon was gripped by a paralysing political crisis which degenerated briefly into street fighting that killed 80 people in May.

Against hatred
Acknowledging that political conditions were very difficult, spokeswoman Asma Freiha said the Baalbek festival had a cultural mission to the Middle East and helped lure tourists to Lebanon.

“It’s like a challenge that beyond all odds we can do something cultural, just to be there against the war and the hatred and all these problems,” she said.

Baalbek festival was founded in 1956 and in its pre-civil war heyday drew performers like Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Um Kalthoum, Herbert von Karajan, Jean Cocteau and Fairuz.

This year’s line-up is less stellar, but just as eclectic a mix – from Algerian singer Wardeh to Mexican diva Astrid Hadad, classical soprano Hamik Papian and Brazilian jazz singer Tania Maria, as well as Lebanese-born British pop star Mika.

Mika, brought to Lebanon in partnership with the Beiteddin festival, will perform in downtown Beirut on July 27 with a target audience of 15,000 to help the budgets of both festivals. Organisers are keeping their fingers crossed that nothing will happen to disrupt their programmes this year.

Wafa Saab, spokeswoman for Beiteddin, recalled the misery of 2006 when war between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israel broke out on July 12, two days before the first scheduled performance.

“Everything was ready, we were just waiting for the artists to come,” she said. “Then we had to cancel everything.”

This year potential performers were hesitant to commit themselves, given a political crisis which had left Lebanon without a president for six months until May and without a functioning parliament or an uncontested government.

“Some of them needed a lot of convincing. Some were not convinced,” Saab said. “We couldn’t blame them.”

 She said the festival sought to bring only high-quality acts to Lebanon, where “a lot of the performing arts, music, theatre and others has been really commercialised in recent years”.

Some critics say the festivals have also succumbed to the trend and do little to enrich an impoverished local arts scene.

“They open up the cosmopolitan spirit among Lebanese, the openness to the outside and the relation between East and West,” said Abbas Beydoun, cultural editor of Beirut’s as-Safir daily.

But he argued that the money spent on the festivals, or even the small government subsidy some receive, was needed more badly by Lebanon’s ailing theatres and nebulous film industry.

“We have the festivals, but no (local) theatre companies,” he complained. “The actors and directors are all out of work. Like all countries, Lebanon needs a cultural and artistic base.”

Whether such worries are valid or not, they don’t spoil the mood of festival-goers in Beiteddin’s elegant arched courtyards.

“The atmosphere is beautiful and the natural acoustics are very nice,” said housewife Tamara Zeidan. “We try to ignore the political upheavals and live our lives as much as we can.”

The incredible sulk

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

As a seasoned business traveller with his successful broadcast company, Hywel Jones is a hard man to track down. We managed to catch up with him in New York, where he passed on some travel tales

It wasn’t a pretty sight at the baggage desk in HK. This being a mainly English mob, there was the semblance of a queue, but a seething absence of patience. Dozens of passengers had just stepped off the 12-hour flight from Heathrow, only to hear the rumour that their bags were still on a trolley in Middlesex.

As the queue lengthened, tempers began to fray. The 30-something guy at the head of the queue had been the epitome of a laid-back, chilled-out business dude on the flight, but was quickly morphing into The Incredible Sulk.

Beneath the carefully ripped jeans, the designer T-shirt and the two-day stubble beat the righteous heart of a Wronged Paying Passenger. “Don’t you understand,” he shrieked at the baggage bloke behind the counter. “Everything I need for a meeting tomorrow is in that case. My suit. My notes. Everything! Where is the case? Am I supposed to have a meeting dressed like this?!”

Before the rest of the mob had chance to ponder the sartorial etiquette of your average HK meeting, The Wronged One stomped off, vowing to sue everyone: the airline, the baggage man, and anyone who might have looked at his baggage between Heathrow and HK.

As the minutes ticked by, the mood darkened. The mob wanted blood. (Or at the very least, a complimentary pass for the Executive Lounge.) At that very moment, fortune smiled on me. My bags appeared, borne on a baggage trolley and unceremoniously dumped by a glum airport employee. An ancient Chinese proverb rang in my ears: He who travels farthest travels Hand Baggage Only (And hopefully, not in economy).

But hang on, you’re thinking, business trips really can’t be done with Hand Baggage Only, can they? Well, let’s look at the plusses of doing a trip HBO. You won’t miss lugging the suitcase to, and then through, the airport, taking the skin off your shins and anyone else who gets in the way. You won’t get that vague sinking feeling when you’ve just checked the bag in, and it clatters down the chute, perhaps never to be seen again. You might save a few bucks on excess baggage. You will almost certainly save some cash at the other end, with no dodgy cab rank sherpas or hotel porters to tip.

You won’t be without your favourite toys. These days everything is shrinking in size: laptops, ipods, cellphones (oh, and bonus cheques too). You won’t miss the endless waiting-by-the-carousel, pretending to catch up on urgent work e-mails while you wait for your case to emerge. You will impress your greener friends and colleagues by reducing the weight of the aircraft. Hey, I’m saving the planet, while saving time and money.

Going HBO should not turn you into a noxious health hazard. The average laptop case has plenty of room for, ahem, the essential items of clothing and grooming to keep you smelling as fresh as a daisy for a few days. It’s important to pack the fragrantly smelly stuff, too. (Chanel Allure Pour Homme is a current favourite of mine; so alluring indeed that a check-in attendant recently stopped me just to ask what fragrance I was wearing. I didn’t get an upgrade, though.)

So what’s the downside to going Hand Baggage Only? Obviously, your wardrobe will be somewhat restricted. At its most basic, going HBO means you will be travelling the world in one set of clothes. But look on it as a creative restriction. These days, a suit is acceptable anywhere, anytime. Just try not to spill anything on it. On the return trip, you won’t be able to pack a case with extra briefings (or indeed, extra briefs). The duty-free bargains, the bath towels and the ring-bound presentation documents will just have to stay on the shelf.

But think of the freedom as you step straight off the plane and bypass all that worrying, waiting and weightlifting, just make sure you don’t forget to pack something fragrant.

Prague: The golden city

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Alongside Prague, there are an impressive 11 other places on the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage sites, making the Czech Republic one of only a handful of countries in the world with such a high concentration within its borders.

They range from Brno, with the Villa Tugendhat acknowledged by international architects as a revolutionary work of modern design, to Trebic, with its large, uniquely-preserved Jewish quarter.

At the heart of this cultural superpower, though, is the historical jewel that is Prague, one of the first Czech sites to feature on the UNESCO list, with its unique collection of buildings charting the entire progression of architectural styles from Romanesque rotundas to Gothic towers, Jewish synagogues, cubism and functionalism.

Once described as “a symphony in stone”, Prague’s buildings in all their varied styles come together in a splendid mix of artistic and spiritual richness. Against a backdrop of the meandering River Vltava and the surrounding seven hills, it’s no wonder this energetic, living architectural gem has captivated poets, artists, writers and photographers for generations.

The historical centres of both Cesky Krumlov and Telc, included in the UNESCO list at the same time as Prague,  also have an unforgettable magic about them. The picturesque river valley town of Cesky Krumlov is a wonderful example of a medieval settlement, whose architectural heritage has remained untouched for almost 500 years, and Telc is valued for its lovely Renaissance square with its many archways and late Gothic chateau.

Cesky Krumlov is situated 112 miles south of Prague, near the Austrian border, and the Italian Renaissance greatly influenced the appearance of the town and its castle. Today, visitors can take advantage of a network of long-distance bus lines connecting it to major cities and in summer there is a daily express train from Prague.

Telc, founded in the 13th century on the crossroads of busy trade routes, is easily reached from the Prague-Vienna highway.
A short drive from Telc there are two further heritage sites in the Czech highlands – the pilgrimage Church of St Jan Nepomucky at Zelena Hora and the Basilica of Saint Procopius and Jewish quarter and cemetery of Trebic. Outside of Israel, this is the only purely Jewish site on the UNESCO heritage list.

In 1995, the historical centre of Kutna Hora, with its Church of St Barbora, and the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary in Sedlec became UNESCO sites. The centre of Kutna Hora is an extraordinary collection of medieval buildings with a large number of well-preserved houses.

Major tourist attraction in the Czech Republic’s second city of Brno, in the southeast, is the Villa Tugendhat – built in 1930 – which is a masterpiece of design by the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and has long been an icon of modern architecture. In 1992 the political leaders of Czechoslovakia met there to sign the document that divided the country into the present separate states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and since 1994 the villa has been open to the public as a museum. It also featured in the 2007 horror movie film Hannibal Rising.

Southeast of Brno, in the wine-growing region, are the lovely little towns of Lednice and Valtice, where the Baroque and Gothic architectural styles of two romantic chateaux are set in beautiful natural parks, follies, ponds and woods.

The chateaux at Lednice and Valtice are not the only seats of the nobility in the land to achieve UNESCO status. In 1998 the Archbishop’s Chateau and gardens in Kromeriz, an exquisitely preserved example of a Baroque residence, were added to the world heritage list. A year later the Renaissance chateau in Litomysl, with its unique facades and gables decorated in 8,000 graffito was also included.

The town was settled as early as the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries and the castle complex includes its own brewery, known as the birthplace of composer Bedrich Smetana, the son of a brewer.

The common denominator shared by two other Czech UNESCO sites is their Baroque architectural style. The village of Holasovice, in south Bohemia, represents an exceedingly well-preserved traditional Central European village with buildings in the south Bohemian rural Baroque style dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, while Olomouc, once the site of a Roman fort, is proud of its 18th century Holy Trinity Column and six Baroque fountains.

St. Petersburg: History and modernity

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Is there a more tiresome phrase in the travel writer’s repertoire than “Venice of the North”? It seems that just about anywhere in northern Europe with a few canals running through it can claim to be the equivalent of Venice: Bruges, Stockholm, Amsterdam, and Birmingham have all used such a moniker. A quick search tells me that even Haapsalu, in Estonia, is too the Venice of the North. Frankly, I despair.

Bar a few channels of water running through the city, St Petersburg has very little in common with Venice. For a start, St Petersburg is a lot tougher. Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, its history has been at best chequered and at worst brutal. Until 1918 it was the capital of the Russian Empire and has been known as Petrograd [from 1914-1924] and Leningrad [1924-1991], the latter name still used by many older locals when referring to the city. Possibly the most trying time for St Petersburg was during the Second World War, when between September 1941 and January 1944 the city was under siege, leading to the starvation of over a million of its citizens as supplies were cut off. The city survived though, and both before and since it has flourished: St Petersburg has been Russia’s political and cultural centre for over 200 years and continues to have a massive impact on the country’s financial and industrial makeup.

St Petersburg is a treat for the eyes, both indoors and out. It’s architecturally elegant, punctuated with over 300 bridges – many among the finest designed in the world – and crammed with palaces, cathedrals and monuments representing its magnificent and chaotic history. Out of the cold it isn’t too shabby either, it is home to hundreds of museums, the most impressive and well known of which is the Hermitage. Occupying six buildings along the embankment of the River Neta in the core of the city, the Hermitage has one of the most extensive collections on the planet, housing more than 3 million items collected over the last two and a half centuries. Similarly the Mariinsky ballet, at the Mariinsky Theatre, is considered one of the finest the world has ever seen. If you’re planning to visit either, or indeed both, it is wise to book beforehand; in the summer months the queues outside the Hermitage can sometimes be just as awe inspiring as the stuff inside.

The right documents
This being Russia, not everything is easy. One of the main bugbears of the international traveller planning a trip to Russia is that of visas. If you’re non-Russian you’ll need one to enter the country and you’ll need it before you leave. Essentially, there are two ways of going about this, and for both you’ll need documents (a passport/proof of address), an invitation (confirmation that you’re staying in a hotel, for example) and be able to pay a fee. The visa can either be arranged through a company (such as Visit Russia www.visitrussia.org.uk) or if you’ve got the time and patience it can be done at the Russian Embassy. It can also be difficult getting to grips with the language and because of the Cyrillic alphabet, trickier to negotiate the subway, understand menus and generally feel that Russia isn’t just a jumble of meaningless letters. Thankfully in St Petersburg English is more widely understood than in much of the country, and if you’re in the heart of the city hanging out in the smartest bars, eating in the swankiest restaurants, and laying your head in the plushest hotels there shouldn’t be too much call for your Russian phrasebook.

The best hotels
And hotels don’t come plusher than the Grand Hotel Europe. Located on the corner of the Nevsky Prospekt – St Petersburg’s grandest avenue – this hotel was considered good enough for Tchaikovsky’s honeymoon and has seen George Bernard Shaw share a meal with Maxim Gorky. Naturally being in such good company doesn’t come without a hefty price tag: a standard room costs 22,750 Rubles in high season (£500) and you can bag the Imperial Suite for 185,000 Rubles ( an eye-watering £4,080) a night. Prices do come down in the winter, when rooms are around 40 percent cheaper. The Grand Hotel Europe is ideally situated though, slap bang in the middle of some of the best restaurants and shopping that Russia’s second city has to offer, assuming you’ve got some cash left over to spend in them.

For more modest budgets, both the Petro Palace Hotel and the Pushka Inn are excellent value. The Pushka Inn has rooms from 4,400 Rubles (a shade under £100) in the high season, is suitable grand and only a minutes walk from the Hermitage museum. Of course those wishing to catch a glimpse of Dostoevsky’s gritty and nightmarish St Petersburg (he once called the place “The most abstract and intentional city in the world”) can do so in one of the cities rougher neighbourhoods – there are plenty – but the sort of grime and undernourishment you may encounter is nothing compared to what the city has been through. It can sometimes be a harsh and unforgiving place, but it’s completely breathtaking and there’s plenty of warmth here. And on the rare occasion when you don’t encounter any warmth, well, there’s always the vodka.

When to go: white days versus white nights
Make no mistake winters can be brutal here, with temperatures rarely resembling anything above zero. If you can brave the elements, you’ll be rewarded with cheaper hotel rooms, shorter queues for attractions and concerts, generally friendlier service and a prettier snow covered city. Due to St Petersburg’s proximity to the pole, there are times in the summer when the sky barely darkens. These famous “White Nights” are at their most spectacular from 11 June to 2 July when the city enjoys a near-constant period of light.

Know your Krakow

Posted on by Charlotte Gill

Indeed, it seems that the 1.3 million Polish who have headed to Britain and Ireland over the last three or four years are gradually heading back home where prospects are seemingly greater. Good news for an increasingly robust Poland, bad news for bitter hacks and tabloid editors in this country keen to report how the Poles were coming over and nicking our jobs.

Perhaps nowhere is this general well-being more evident than in Krakow, Poland’s second city. Elegantly positioned smack bang in the centre of continental Europe – almost equidistant between Lisbon in the west and the easternmost Urals the other side – Krakow has undergone its fair share of turbulence and come away relatively intact. Today the city is thriving. Since the 1940’s its population has quadrupled and now hovers around the 800,000 mark, all of whom seem very satisfied with the city they are living in.

And so they should be. Earlier this year the Observer and Guardian travel awards declared it the second best overseas city on the planet, narrowly losing out to Sydney. In 1978 UNESCO were so impressed with the place that they added the cities historic centre to the list of World Heritage Sites and it was the European City of Culture 2000. Frankly, it’s not difficult to see why. With a cerebral reputation stretching back to the nineteenth century, it has long been regarded as the cultural, intellectual, scientific and artistic soul of Poland. It manages to achieve a delicate balance of being both traditional and modern, and is hip, without being snootily so. An example of this diversity is neatly illustrated by the three Noble Prize winners Krakow has produced: of the three, two were poets (Wislawa Szymborska and Czeslaw Milosz), and the other, John Paul II, became Pope.

The University of Krakow is the second oldest in central Europe (after the University of Prague) and dates back to 1364. Academic life was ravaged during the Second World War, but the educational system has regained a firm presence: at the time of writing, Krakow can boast 23 universities and other institutions of higher education. The dramatic industrialisation that occurred in the 1940s and ’50s, including a massive steel mill in the Nova Huta district, somewhat diluted the intellectual nature of the place, but these days the industrial and the intellectual manage to co exist in relative harmony. Investment, property and tourism are all growing in Krakow and many influential multinationals have a presence here, including Google, IBM and Motorola. As such, unemployment levels are way below the national average.

The heart of Krakow lies in the Old Town, a compact, easy-to-negotiate area home to the best museums, galleries, bars, clubs, restaurants and hotels. It is said that the Old Town and neighbouring Kazimierz district has the highest density of bars and clubs in the world, but pretty much every city in the world has made a similar claim at some point or another, so perhaps it can be taken lightly. There is a snappy nightlife though, and in a well worn yet still entirely appropriate phrase, it’s a nightlife that caters to all tastes. Many of the bars and clubs are below ground – if not physically, then at least in spirit – and they can be as decadent or sophisticated as you like. If budget allows, the Piano Rouge in the Old Town provides plush surroundings, jazz, all manner of cocktails, and snacks that are guaranteed to break both your wallet and your waistline. There are many more raucous bars (and indeed many more sophisticated ones) and to list all the available hot spots would be an exercise in futility, but Propaganda in Kazimierz has a decent reputation and many locals and travellers swear by Nic Nowengo’s, an Irish bar in the Old Town that serves excellent, hangover-easing breakfasts.

Outside of the very centre of the city, the district of Podgorze is well worth a visit. Over the other side of the Pilsudski bridge, Podgorze has recently attracted a bohemian crowd of artists, filmmakers, musicians, writers and students who all seem perfectly content to laze around in the relaxed atmosphere. Visitors may recognise parts of it from Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film Schindler’s List, including parts of the old ghetto wall and Schindler’s factory itself, which stands eerily quiet except when the occasional concert is held here. Podgorze is an area where tourists seldom venture but this, inevitably, looks set to change, especially with the proposed sprucing up of the waterfront scheduled to commence next year.

As with much of Krakow, Podgorze has decent bars in spades, and some pretty good places to lay your head at night too, notably the Qubus spa hotel, complete with rooftop panoramic pool. Elsewhere in the city, the Greg Tom Hostel was recently voted in the top 10 European hotels by the Times and can lay claim to all manner of snazzy up-to-date (indeed, futuristic) features, including a vast home cinema system. Considered the swankiest hotel is Copernicus, a magnificently restored place on the delightful Ul Kanonicza in the Old Town. Unfortunately, and this always seems to be the way, such surroundings and magnificence come at a magnificent price.