Unless stated, all restaurants accept credit cards, recommend reservations, and are open for lunch and dinner. Charlie Trotter’s One of Chicago’s top gourmet eateries, and one of the nation’s best, Charlie Trotter’s serves the exquisite and rarefied fare of its eponymous chef. The menu changes daily but expect creations such as venison loin with semolina … Read more

Chinese New Year Also known as Spring Festival, Beijing’s favorite holiday is celebrated with a cacophony of fireworks, let off night and day across the city. There are also temple fairs with stilt-walkers, acrobats, and fortune-tellers. Everyone who can heads for their family home, where gifts are exchanged and children are kept quiet with red … Read more

Outdoor drummers Kite flying A major hobby among gents of all ages, especially popular on public holidays when the skies above the city’s parks and squares are crowded with fluttering birds, dragons, lions, and laughing Buddhas. Kite flying Mahjong Like gin rummy it’s all about collecting sets or runs to score points, only mahjong uses … Read more

Plaza Dos de Mayo On 2 May 1976 a young couple climbed on to the statue of Daoíz and Velarde and performed a striptease in front of a boisterous crowd of youngsters celebrating on the square. This was one of the first manifestations of the movida (scene), a period of hedonism, enthusiasm and creative energy. … Read more

Museo del Prado The world famous gallery is housed in Juan de Villanueva’s Neo-Classical masterpiece – an artistic monument in its own right. The relief over the Velázquez Portal depicts Fernando VII as guardian of the arts and sciences – it was during his reign that the Prado opened as an art gallery. Its strongest … Read more

Chinese With a history of revolution, migration, organized crime and incessant trading, the witty and streetwise Cantonese are the New Yorkers of China, and make up the majority of Hong Kong’s population. There are also large communities of Shanghainese, Hakka (Kejia) and Chiu Chow (Chaozhou) people. Chinese fisherman Chinese chequers British Colonial power may have … Read more

Chinese New Year Hong Kong’s most celebrated festival is a riot of neon and noise. Skyscrapers on both sides of the harbour are lit up to varying degrees depending on the vicissitudes of the economy, fireworks explode over the harbour, shops shut down and doormen suddenly turn nice, hoping for a handout of lai see … Read more

Some 2,000 years ago, ancient Rome’s lively international port city was right on the beach and at the mouth of the Tiber (ostium means “river mouth”). In the ensuing millennia the sea has retreated several kilometres and the river has changed course dramatically. Ostia was founded in the 4th century BC, first as a simple … Read more

Moments in History Romulus and Remus The foundation of Rome is said to have occurred in 753 BC. Twins Romulus and Remus, sons of Mars and a Vestal Virgin, were set adrift by their evil uncle and suckled by a she-wolf. They then founded rival Bronze Age villages on the Palatine, but Romulus killed Remus … Read more

From windswept fells to craggy peaks, we explore the heart of English landscape photography in the Lake District Lake District – Featured location England’s largest national park provides 865 square miles of rugged mountainous cliffs and deep sweeping valleys ‘A marriage of grand vistas and gentle farmland, framed within a backdrop of mountain peaks’ The … Read more

 ‘Optimism is the name of the game, it’s no good moaning about the weather.’ Let’s not forget to explore the remnants from an industrial era; visit Hodges Close, a slate quarry to the south of Little Langdale. This wonderful location provides the opportunity to shoot fine art landscapes as well as a much lesser known … Read more

Catbells Walking Cat Bells in the Lake District Although a stiff climb, Catbells presents a spectacular opportunity to photograph mountain scenes with relative ease. Consider layering compositions with interest throughout the frame. Cathedral Quarry Cathedral Quarry, Lake District This wonderful moment at Cathedral Quarry was taken when pouring rain forced creativity underground. A school trip … Read more

DP reader Darren Athersmith share his Lake District images Keen amateur photographer Darren Athesmith (www.lakeand-images.co.uk) has lived on the edge of the Lake District his whole life, ‘I’ve never lived more than a 20 minute drive from one of the Southern Lakes. My job takes me to some of the major cities in the country … Read more

National Gallery of Art Displaying one of the most distinguished art collections in the world, this gallery gives visitors a broad but in-depth look at the development of Western art over the centuries . Phillips Collection Opened in 1921, the Phillips is America’s first museum of Modern art. It is celebrated for its collection of … Read more

National Air and Space Museum The 20th century’s love affair with flight, from its intrepid beginnings to the mastery of space travel, is explored in this wonderful museum . National Air and Space Museum National Museum of American History Mixing the “America’s Attic” approach with fine contemporary interpretive exhibits, the museum offers a fascinating look … Read more

Grace Cathedral San Francisco’s own Notre Dame combines Italian Renaissance with a lot of American originality . Grace Cathedral Mission Dolores Photos and a diorama offer a stirring impression of what life was like for the Native Americans who built this Spanish mission in the 18th century . Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption … Read more

Transamerica Pyramid Hated by many at first, the Pyramid is now loved as an icon of the city. Recalling pyramids of ancient cultures, to some it is a symbol of the mysticism that has always played a part in the San Francisco mentality. At 853 ft (260 m), it is the tallest building in the … Read more

Ägyptisches Museum: www.smb.museum Museum für Naturkunde: www.museum.hu-berlin.de Pergamonmuseum Berlin’s most impressive museum is a vast treasure trove of antiquities . Ägyptisches Museum The star exhibit in the Egyptian Museum, part of the Neues Museum, is the beautiful bust of Nefertiti, wife of Akhenaton. The long-necked limestone bust, discovered in 1912, probably served as a model. … Read more

Neue Nationalgalerie: www.smb.museum Gemäldegalerie Berlin’s best art museum, the Gemäldegalerie focuses on European art of the 13th to 19th centuries, such as Caravaggio’s Cupid Victorious, and works by Dürer, Rembrandt and Rubens . Neue Nationalgalerie The National Gallery’s collection includes modern German art and classics of the 20th century. It often holds spectacular temporary exhibitions. … Read more

This is the great masterpiece of Sir Christopher Wren, who rebuilt the City’s churches after the Great Fire of 1666. Completed in 1708, it was England’s first purpose-built Protestant cathedral, and has many similarities with St Peter’s in Rome, notably in its enormous ornate dome. It has the largest swinging bell in Europe, Great Paul, … Read more