Vincent van Gogh » StuartForster

August 2015 in review: travel features, local photos & food blog listing

Sep 012015

The reconstructed gate of Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum in South Shields, England.

August is traditionally a time to take time off but for me it proved a busy and rewarding month.

It was lovely to see my work attractively laid-out on the pages of The Independent on Sunday. I wrote about the Larkin Trail in Hull, to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the death of Philip Larkin, the poet who was a librarian at the University of Hull. Visiting Kingston-upon-Hull proved enjoyable and I’d recommend the city as a weekend destination. I also wrote about the Mas de la Rivoire, a chic bed and breakfast at Villevieille in the Languedoc region of southern France.

My blog, go-eat-do.com, was named as one of the top 50 food blogs to follow in the United Kingdom. It’s always a pleasure to receive feedback like that.

The new posts on go-eat-do.com this month include a review of Restaurant Chez Leon in Brussels, Belgium – a place that has been serving mussels and fries since 1893.

I also added a feature on the city of Sunderland in north-east England because travel writing can (and arguably should) start close to home. With a number of rail offers available at present I thought the post Exploring England by rail: Sunderland might provide visitors with timely guidance.

The National Glass Centre in Sunderland, England.

Following my recent trip along the scenic Limes Strasse in Germany, a 700km route that follows the course of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that once marked the frontier of the Roman Empire in German lands, I wrote about the Roman style food served at Pohl, a reconstructed fortlet in the Rhineland-Palatinate. You can read about it my post New old-fashioned food at Pohl Roman fortlet.

I also wrote about the potential for great travel photography on the German Limes route for The Huffington Post.

The Dinky Guide is aimed at couples who travel together and receives around two million unique visits a year. I wrote about the experience of driving together on a scenic driving holiday in Germany for the site, which was established back in 2009.

Reconstructed Roman tower at Pohl fortlet on the German Limes Route.

I have to admit, I didn’t know what haskap berries were ahead of my trip to Nova Scotia, Canada during July. They are tasty! I experimented with them and created a recipe featuring aubergine and mozzarella cheese. You’ll find the recipe in my post Discovering haskap berries in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Doha, in Qatar, proved a good spot for an unexpected stopover during a long-haul flight in 2014. Find out why I’d break my travel itinerary there again in the post A stop-over in Doha, Qatar.

If you take a look at the recently re-vamped British Guild of Travel Writers’ website you’ll be able to read my feature about events being held to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the death of Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh is, incidentally, one of my favourite artists.

Detail from The Sower at the Kroeller-Mueller Museum in the Netherlands.

I focused on the legacy of Van Gogh in the village of Nuenen, in the Dutch province of North Brabant, for a feature entitled First Impressions, published in the Times of India Group’s Mirror publications.

Cherono took the time to interview me via Skype for a post on the Outdays Adventures blog.

I also had a photography shoot in Newcastle-upon-Tyne with the reality television star Lucy Mecklenburgh for Rex Features. Lucy, known to many people from The Only Way Is Essex, was at JD Sports to promote her new range of Ellesse sportswear.

Lucy Mecklenburgh at JD Sports in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.

I also photographed a handful of travel destinations in the north-east of England, including Sunderland, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Durham. They are now available from the photography stock agencies to which I regularly contribute.

If you want to see some of the photographs I shot using my phone then check out my goeatdo Instagram feed. Feel free to follow the feed to stay up-to-date with my latest travels. See Facebook for regular posts too.

July 2015 in review: Germany, Nova Scotia, New Delhi & Van Gogh

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Aug 012015

The 31 days of July soon zipped by but proved productive.

For part of the month I was exploring Nova Scotia, Canada, an experience which I’ll be writing about over the months ahead. While on a whale watching trip in the Bay of Fundy my 400mm lens helped identify an injured humpback whale. The coastguard were subsequently called.

I was in Halifax to coincide with the arrival of the Queen Mary 2, the luxury cruise ship. She was on a commemorative sailing, marking 175 years since Cunard’s first scheduled crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. Samuel Cunard was born in Halifax and you can find out more about the man and his connections to the city in my online feature, Crossing to Nova Scotia.

An injured humpback whale in the Bay of Fundy off Nova Scotia, Canada.

On go-eat-do.com I posted an interview with Jim de Jong, a young, innovative chef who enjoys creating attractive food at Restaurant de Jong in Rotterdam. Jim believes in using vegetables but prepared a meal showcasing cheeses from around the Netherlands on the night I was at his restaurant.

I also wrote a feature about exploring the attractions of New Delhi in India. They include India Gate, the Purana Qila, Humayan’s Tomb and Baha’i House of Worship, often known as the Lotus Temple. There’s much more to see within Delhi, of course. This feature looks only at the things to do and see in the area that, during the first half of the 20^th century, became the short-lived capital of British-controlled India.

Cheese served with artichoke, lemon, wood sorrel and clover at the Restaurant de Jong in Rotterdam.

The death of Vincent van Gogh went largely unnoticed, even by art lovers, on 29 July 1890. Since his death the popularity of his work has mushroomed and he has proved an inspiration for numerous artists and designers. I took a look at some of the places you can see his work within the Netherlands during a summer that sees exhibitions at 30 art museums in Europe.

The signature of Vincent van Gogh at the Kroeller-Mueller Museum in the Netherlands.

I started the month in Germany, travelling along the scenic Limes Route, one of more than 150 tourist routes in the central European country. This one follows the 550km course of the Roman frontier in German territory, today part of the same UNESCO World Heritage Site as Hadrian’s Wall. I photographed along my way and fortunately had good weather for much of my trip. After getting home my editing meant log hours at the computer to select and caption the best shots from a road trip which saw me drive well over 1,000km.

A reconstructed tower near Idstein, Germany.

Sunderland International Airshow also kept me busy with my cameras. The three day event draw the Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows plus other leading aerobatic and parachute display teams. Around a million people headed to Roker and Seaburn in order to watch performances up in the sky and view displays on the ground.

The Royal Air Force Red Arrows arrive at Sunderland International Airshow.

I acquired lots of material for food and travel features in July and look forward to informing you about where they are published over the months ahead.