Alison Stewart's Blog, page 2

Ravishing Riga – Art Nouveau beauty

Ravishing Riga hides a secret within the folds of her ornate civic garments. She is draped in all the normal accoutrements of a beautiful European city – picturesque old town, swathes of green, a calming river running through.

But her Art Nouveau buildings are her crowning glory – masterpieces, often multi-storey apartment blocks, built in the “flaunting modern” style employing sinuous, organic lines with a strong synthesis between decoration and construction.

Here’s my story published in November 2019 in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller and online at Traveller.com.au here: https://www.traveller.com.au/sailing-into-latvias-riga-one-of-the-worlds-greatest-art-nouveau-cities-h1jcqw

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Mexico’s Palenque where the world was meant to end

This still, green jungle is awe-inspiring and vaguely terrifying. There’s a temptation to walk quietly, whisper. It seems to possess knowledge and power far greater than ours. At its centre is the magical Maya city of Palenque, wreathed with doomsday conspiracy theories, witness to an ancient, erudite culture.

Here’s my story published in November 2019 in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller and online here at Traveller.com.au: https://www.traveller.com.au/mexico-and-its-mysterious-maya-ruins-h1j9cu

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Abu Simbel – Saved from the Flood

Once, Egypt’s mighty temple complex of Abu Simbel on the Sudanese border was a potent symbol of a pharaoh’s dominance. Then, for centuries it was forgotten, lost to the desert sands. Re-discovered, it faced annihilation, consigned to the bottom of the Nile’s waters forever.

The tale of how two absolute gems of ancient art – the colossal Abu Simbel and Aswan’s Philae Temple – were saved from oblivion is a love story to shared cultural heritage in the face of hardnosed progress.

Here is my story published in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller and online at Traveller.com.au: https://www.traveller.com.au/egypt-nile-river-cruise-marvel-at-abu-simbel-and-philae-temple-h1he0j

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Stavanger’s Undersea Black Gold

The Norwegian city of Stavanger is the glittering gateway to Norway’s riches. It won a multibillion-dollar oil lottery and the country invested wisely in its rivers of undersea black gold.

Here is my story published in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller and online here at Traveller.com.au: https://www.traveller.com.au/norways-stavanger-is-an-oilrich-city-with-fine-dining-hiking-and-amazing-fiords-h1hn2n

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Six of the Best shore excursions

Here are a selection of excellent shore excursions for those of you who enjoy cruising.

The story appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age Traveller in October 2019 and includes Cape Town’s Table Mountain, Norway’s Torghatten, Egypt’s Luxor, Istanbul’s Sultanahmet, St Petersburg’s Hermitage and Phnom Penh’s Royal Palace.

You can also read the story online here at Traveller.com.au https://www.traveller.com.au/six-of-the–most-spectacular-cruise-excursions-h1hn26

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Dordogne – Valley of 1000 Castles

Cycling “en plein air” in the Dordogne is like gliding into an impressionists’ masterpiece. Around every corner, the flower-stippled green, purple and honey-drenched landscape glows under the region’s distinctive light.

But the Dordogne is not simply a pretty picture. The region is enhanced by an unusually rich heritage and culture. The French call it a land with “un peu de tout”. A slow cycle is a perfect way to trace these ancient paths through a landscape that does indeed offer “a little of everything”.

Here’s my story published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Melbourne Traveller and on Traveller.com.au on September 16, 2019.

You can also read it here: https://www.traveller.com.au/ancient-...

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The Cult of the Camino

For about 1200 years, myriad paths have streamed towards the “field of the star”, the light in the darkness – Santiago, the radiant destination for Camino pilgrims.

The Way is no longer about war, fanaticism or religious ascendancy. Today’s pilgrims walk arguably in what was always the true spirit of pilgrimage – for acceptance, forgiveness and redemption. And in the case of my friends, utter generosity.

Here is the PDF link to my cover story, published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Melbourne on August 20, 2019. And here’s the online link: https://www.traveller.com.au/how-and-why-you-should-walk-the-camino-h1h389

Camino cover story

What lies beneath the Tromso Fjord

The waters of the Tromso Fjord hide sombre slice of Norwegian history. As we sail out of Tromso harbour into a peculiarly blue evening light, we note that beneath the still waters to starboard, off the island of Hakoya,

are the remnants of Germany’s WWII battleship the Tirpitz, sunk in November 1944 during Germany’s occupation of Norway.

Here is a screenshot of and link to my story published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Melbourne Traveller section in August 2019

http://www.traveller.com.au/norway-tromso-cruise-where-tirpitz-was-sunk-during-world-war-ii-h1gzn5#ixzz5xO89EWw8

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Into the Wild at South Africa’s iSimangaliso Wetland Park

There are various degrees of peace, beginning with city peace, which is a contented quiet underwritten by the gentle hum of urban life. At the other end of the spectrum, there’s the deep, almost troubling peace of a pristine place, a layered stillness devoid of human sound. This is South Africa’s iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

Here is my piece published in July 2019 in the Traveller section of Fairfax Media’s The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Melbourne:

You can also read it online here:  http://www.traveller.com.au/isimangaliso-one-of-south-africas-largest-and-wildest-protected-places-h1ez9m#ixzz5wLM45UeK

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Hasta la Vista, Donald – Mexico, the land beyond Trump’s wall

The shape-shifting land of Mexico is as dynamic as the place of my dreaming, sometimes gruelling, yes, but as astonishing as opening a nondescript door to a shining land.

Here is a PDF link to my cover story, published in the June 11, 2019 edition of Fairfax Media’s The Sydney Morning Herald Traveller and Age Traveller: Mexico cover story

I’m also including a link to the online version at

http://www.traveller.com.au/why-mexico-is-a-must-see-h1f28o#ixzz5rwFFsHOl