Writing
I write on travel, food, history, culture, architecture, football, the relationships between them all and many other subjects, in whole books, sections for a variety of other books, articles and a great many restaurant reviews.
• As Sole Author – Yucatán & Mayan Mexico, Cadogan Guides, a comprehensive 540-page guide to the Yucatán peninsula and the other states of southern Mexico.
– Cancún & the Yucatán Smart Guide, Insight Guides.
– Top 10 Cancún & the Yucatán, Dorling Kindersley.
– Short Breaks in Northern France, Cadogan Guides, a food-and-travel guide chosen by the London Independent as one of its ’50 Best Books for Summer’ in 2005.
• As Writer – Articles for The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, The Guardian, BBC Online, Sunday Express, Sunday Times (London), New Statesman, Barcelona Metròpolis, Time Out (London), Classical Music, Let's Go (Ryanair airlines), JetAway (Jet2 airlines), Voyage (Brittany Ferries), German Wings and other outlets.
• As Contributor/editor – Original editor and main writer for several editions of the Time Out guides
to Barcelona and Madrid.
– Chapters and sections in guidebooks on Spain, France, Mexico, the UK, Italy and other countries for Time Out, Dorling Kindersley, Insight Guides, Berlitz, Michelin, Cadogan Guides and other publishers.
Samples of recent work:
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Articles
 Cider-house rules – Enjoying the special rituals of cider-sampling in Oviedo, capital of Spain's prime cider country, Asturias
Voyage magazine, Brittany Ferries, Spring 2019
 Into the Woods – Half-timbered Lyons-la-Fôret and its magnificent forest, deep in the Normandy countryside
Voyage magazine, Brittany Ferries, Winter 2018–19
 Cliffs of Culture –
The magnificent cliffs and eccentric charms of Etretat, beloved by Monet, Maupassant, princes and poets
Voyage magazine, Brittany Ferries, Summer 2018
 Up Hill and down dale –
A journey through the spectacular valleys of the Navarran Pyrenees
Voyage magazine, Brittany Ferries, Winter 2017-18
 There is more than one nationalism in the Iberian peninsula – The contribution of inflexible Spanish nationalism to the Catalan crisis – Open Democracy,
29 September 2017
 Into a Lost World: El Triunfo, Chiapas –
A long uphill trek into a fantastic cloud forest in Mexico's most remote, least-known nature reserve. Perceptive Travel, May 2017
 A Hot Night in the Chinese Super League with Guangzhou Evergrande, 'the world's richest football club' –
The new world of Chinese football
The Independent, 23 September 2016
 Cape Magic –
Spectacular seascapes, Breton legends and old harbour towns around Cap Sizun and the Ile de Sein in Brittany
Voyage magazine, Brittany Ferries, Summer 2016
 Exploring Uruguay, the world's most successful footballing nation - Uruguay's amazing football culture, and how this makes it a special place for football tourism
The Independent, 8 July 2016
 The Miracle of Montevideo – The special attractions of football and football tourism in Uruguay, the world's most successful footballing country (per head....)
Libero, March 2016
 Castilian Treasures – Stunning landscapes, wild castles, ancient villages and fine living in northern Castile and the wine regions of Ribera del Duero and Cigales
Voyage magazine, Brittany Ferries, Winter 2015-16
 Cornish Mexico: How the pasty was transported to the Sierras – The saga of the Cornish in Mexico and how the pasty came to be a delicacy in Hidalgo state
The Independent, 26 September 2015
 The Wild West – Castles, windblown cliffs, endless beaches, great food and the seaside retreat of Christian Dior, in Normandy's Cotentin peninsula
Voyage magazine, Brittany Ferries, summer 2015
 Bear witness, deep in the woods
– discovering Europe's largest, fast-reviving brown bear population, in Asturias in northern Spain
The Independent on Sunday,
12 July 2015
 Trail of the Unexpected: French Disconnection in Mont St-Michel
– walking to Mont St-Michel across the shifting sands
The Independent, 18 April 2015
 Buenos Aires: ancient meets modern in a boutique barrio – San Telmo and its modern design scene
The Independent on Sunday,
7 December 2014
 The Gourmet Pudding Club – The Perche region of Normandy, and the annual celebration of black pudding at Mortagne-au-Perche
Voyage magazine, Brittany Ferries, Winter 2014
 The Law is the law: Legalistic Distortions between official Spain and Catalonia –
Open Democracy, 17 November 2014
 Is Spain inflating the Catalonia Soufflé? - Background to the Catalan independence vote
BBC Online, 6 November 2014
 Cathedral Bar Crawl - the
Wine Cathedrals of southern Catalonia
JetAway magazine, Jet2 airlines, May 2014
 Chiloé: On the origin of the spuds
– the island of Chiloé, Chile, first home of the native potato
The Independent, 19 November 2013
 Grand Designs with Gaudí
– Torre Bellesguard, the 'unknown' Gaudí house
The Independent, 18 September 2013
 Murcia Me! –
New tapas in Murcia
JetAway magazine, Jet2 airlines, September-October 2013
 Drink it in - The Priorat wine country of Catalonia
Let's Go magazine, Ryanair, August 2012
 Wind & Whales - Whale Watching off Tarifa, Andalusia
German Wings magazine, Feb-Mar 2012
(English text at end of extract)
 Visiting the Zapatistas –
New Statesman, 12 March 2009
 Barcelona - A City and its Packaging –
Barcelona Metropolis, Summer 2008
 The Mayan Photo Album –
mexicanwave.com, November 2005
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Book Extracts
 From Yucatán & Mayan Mexico
"People are very nasty about the city of Cancun. Hotel proprietors along the rest of the 'Riviera Maya' tell you with great self-esteem, 'of course, we're not Cancun'. The implication is that Cancun is big, brassy, 'oh, so tacky', Miami-South, a cross between a beach and a freeway…"
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 From Short Breaks in Northern France
"All over the European continent there are little patches where the official frontiers and the limits of the communities on the ground don't quite coincide, where the drawers-up of border lines, wrapped up in high politics, never took much care to ensure that speakers of one language were all on one side of a line while those of a neighbouring culture were all on the other…"
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 From the Time Out Barcelona and Madrid guides
"Barcelona is sometimes a very showy city. It always seems to ba asking you to look at its new bridge, new gallery space, new parks, all rebuilt state-of-the-art opera house or the perfectly toned grey suits on the pretty staff at an exhibition..."
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 From the Insight Northern France guide
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, Marshal Vauban (1633-1707), is one of the most visible of French architects, if not the most famous - although perhaps the term military engineer fits him more accurately than architect. As Commissaire Général des Fortifications for Louis XIV he built or rebuilt more than 300 fortifications around the edges of France..."
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 Reviews from the Time Out London Eating & Drinking Guide
"Should you be looking for a mellow, stylish hideaway for quiet conversation in central London, this could be it: once you've descended the oddly narrow, stone-clad spiral staircase into this drum-shaped hotel basement not a sound enters from the traffic outside, and the ambient sounds are very muted. Décor is carefully styled in subtle colours..."
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