“You British? Been long time – where you go?”  The grizzled robed hawker fixes me with a gap-toothed grin as he enthusiastically proffers an armful of colourful pashminas before raising his hands in an elaborate flourish and crying “Welcome to Alaska”.  As we’re standing in the depths of the crowded bazaar in the southern Egyptian…

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It’s not long after 7am and in the gathering light of a crisp autumnal morning Vienna’s elegant streets are deliciously deserted and devoid of the usual tourist hordes. Even locals are few and far between. Exploring the Austrian capital as it starts to wake up gives me a privileged feeling of peeking behind the scenes,...

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Founded in 2002, AmaWaterways is a family-owned company that operates 23 ships on European rivers as well as the Mekong and Chobe Rivers. Co-founded by Rudi Schreiner and Kristin Karst, the company is renowned for its innovative cabin design as well as outstanding cuisine; and consistently takes the top spot in the ‘Berlitz Guide to...

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From its source at Martinskapelle in the Black Forest, the Danube forges an easterly course for 1,771 miles before it reaches the Black Sea in a sprawling delta.  Passing through no fewer than ten countries, this fabled waterway has been a cultural lifeline and commercial highway since Roman times. Despite Johann Strauss’s waltz extolling the...

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