THE ART OF BELFAST’S STREETS

The Cathedral Quarter is becoming almost hip.

Few would describe Belfast as one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. It does, however, have character.

The Cathedral Quarter, the streets surrounding St Anne’s Cathedral, is working to reinvent itself as a cool cultural hangout. To judge from our little stroll around the area, it’s succeeding.

INDIA: THE LIVE SHOW

Both this man and his moustache are professionals. It’s what they do for a living, we’re told.

It may be a bit hokey at times, but this Maharajas Express train trip is pure theatre, and we love it.

At every whistle stop, before we board the bus to take us around each town, we’re greeted by troupes of local musicians and dancers.

SCHIPHOL AIRPORT–the art of being the best

If there’s a better airport than Schiphol for pre-flight culture anywhere in the world, I’d be very interested in seeing it.

At most of the world’s airports, time before or between flights is spent aimlessly browsing the duty free shops, converting currencies in your head and trying to calculate how much you could save by buying a bottle of whisky or an iPad case you don’t need.

The rule about using up local currency before you fly out is that whatever takes your fancy, be it a camera or a cup of coffee, it will always cost 5 cents more than the amount you still have jingling in your pocket.

MY YOUTUBE DEBUT – an internet sensation!

It’s going viral. Hits on my first YouTube appearance are up over 700% in just three days (okay, from 7 to 50, but hey, Lady Gaga would be pleased with that sort of percentage boom in popularity.)

My friends Theo and Marja discovered I was a closet fiddle player and put me in touch with a couple of Dutch musicians.

When Henk and Boudewijn came round to our place with the guitar and banjo I thought it was just a few old blokes getting together for a bit of a jam. I didn’t realise we were making our instant internet debut.