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Sailing into the future?

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My cabin bag is packed and I’m about to head for the airport – destination Stockholm. With colleagues from Wightlink Ferries, I’m taking a look at Viking Line’s flagship, the innovative Viking Grace. Powered by liquified natural gas (LNG), she sails the Baltic between Sweden and Finland and is one of 126 ships in the   …Continue Reading


Feeling bleu over cheese

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Charles DeGaulle once asked how could it be possible for anyone to govern a country that has 247 varieties of cheese. Back in the day, it was a treat to sample artisan fromages of all kinds and ponder a suitable wine to accompany them. Now, alas, I am becoming somewhat concerned about the state of   …Continue Reading


Do you accept credit cards in Yugoslavia?

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OK, I’ll admit it, I’m a historian. To a former student of the Habsburg Empire like me, Tito is almost a contemporary character and the war of the 1990s happened yesterday. Although the conflict ended 20 years ago with the Dayton peace agreement. I got a timely lesson in its role for modern Europeans earlier   …Continue Reading