Oslowdown

From a towering height of some 60 metres, as you gaze down the in-run of the Holmenkollen ski jump in Oslo, one particular thought proves almost inescapable – ski jumpers are definitely more than a little bit mad. Perhaps it is the fascination of this sport – one that can, and does, do serious damage to many participants – that attracts more than a million visitors to the hill each year. Regardless of the reason, it is Norway’s most popular tourist destination, and after all, there are few other cities that offer such a precipitous – and vertigo inducing – attraction, while also letting you ascend to the top to take in the view.

There’s a curious thing about Oslo – as you find your way around, you’ll end up wondering quite why you haven’t been there before. It could be that it’s the cost. You’ll soon discover that the ski jump slope isn’t the only steep aspect of the Norwegian capital. Its regular appearance in league tables of the world’s most expensive cities is perhaps enough to deter many visitors. That, however, would be a shame as Oslo is quite rightly earning plaudits as an up-and-coming travel spot.

In any event, is it right to judge the quality of any holiday solely on how much it costs? While “how far will my money go?” is a primary consideration for many travellers, it remains the case that New York, London, Sydney and Hong Kong are among the most expensive places on Earth to visit. They are, however, all hugely popular destinations, largely because, outlay aside, they offer truly priceless experiences. Can Oslo justifiably claim to be in the same travel league? The answer may surprise you. It’s definitely a location that has come in from the cold.

Let’s get back to the top of that ski jump though. As you gaze across at the Oslo Fjord from your elevated vantage point, it’s all too possible to take in “the blue and the green and the city in between.” It’s a truly stunning sight and one that neatly illustrates the changes taking place across the city.

Traditionally, Oslo was very much a low-rise conurbation, with only a handful of buildings more than 100 metres tall. Recently, a boom in commercial, retail and residential development has led to a wave of construction that has dramatically rejigged the skyline.

Fortunately, the emphasis has been on the aesthetic, with a number of developments – notably the Barcode project in Bjorvika and Aker Brygge (a former shipyard) – leading the way in reviving the city’s waterfronts. The jewel in the crown – and reason enough to visit Oslo in its own right – is the spectacular Opera House in the Bjorvika development area.

Opened in 2008, its gleaming angled exterior emerges from the fjord like a giant iceberg. You don’t just look at this 21st century wonder, however, you can actually walk over its roof and take in yet more panoramic vistas, as well as the floating She Lies sculpture, fetchingly anchored to a platform in the fjord. Inside, the hall is no less aesthetically pleasing, a testament to its sweeping marble and oak interiors, ingenious lighting and built-in art installations.

In essence, the whole point of the building is to attract people whether they’re going to an opera or ballet performance or not. On that front, it is a triumph, bringing in nearly as many visitors as the ski jump each year. A particular recommendation is the back stage tour, a chance to marvel at the sheer scale of the whole enterprise.

If it was its Opera House that helped put Sydney on the world map, this triumph of contemporary design promises to do something similar for Oslo. If you’re not in the mood for an aria or two, then simply go there for lunch, and then work it off afterwards with a nice overhead stroll.

Another building well worth seeking out for its undoubted wow factor is the Astrup Fearnley Museum set at the end of Aker Brygge. The museum is made up of three pavilions, all residing under a distinctive sail-shaped glass roof. Don’t just stand outside and stare, though. Inside you’ll find a significant collection of modern and contemporary art, together with a series of rotating exhibitions from international artists.

An iconic image wholly synonymous with the city is, of course, The Scream. Possibly inspired by a tourist discovering the price of a glass of beer, you can see the work in two of the city’s galleries – the National Gallery and the dedicated Munch Museum. In total, Edward Munch created four versions of his masterpiece in both paint and pastels. Look closely and you will be able to discern subtle variations in the backgrounds and the vividness of hues in the different versions. Three of the originals are still in Oslo, while the fourth was sold privately in 2012 for US$120 million. Munch is about more than just The Scream, however, and in particular, check out his Madonna, Sun, The Day After and The Dance of Life.

The best bargain (and there are some) for the price-conscious visitor has to be the Oslo Pass. This not only provides entry to virtually every museum and sight in the city, it also includes free public transport. At 355 Krone (US$40) for one day (or 620 Krone (US$70) for three days, it’s a veritable steal. It also comes with a useful app – Visit Oslo – and one that many other cities will soon be copying.

Although Oslo is compact enough, you’ll still need to use a bus or a boat to access the museum complex at Bygdoy, while the train is the best way of reaching Holmenkollen. Tram use is also included in the pass and it’s an easy system to get your head around.

Overall, you’re going to need a whole day to explore the peninsula of Bygdoy, not least because it’s home to at least six galleries. Here, the country’s seafaring prowess is very much to the fore, beginning with the Viking Ship Museum, home to three recovered burial boats from around the tenth century. If you close your eyes, you can almost see Kirk Douglas running across the outspread oars.

By contrast, the emphasis of the Fram Museum is on polar exploration. Within its walls, it intricately details the exploits of various Norwegian expeditions to both the North and South Poles.

Wackiest of all, is the Kon-Tiki Museum, a riotous celebration of the exploits of Thor Heyerdahl, the legendary maritime adventurer. Back in 1947, Thor and his crew set off from Peru aiming to cross the Pacific Ocean in a balsa wood raft, all part of a plan to prove his theories about inter-continental migration.

At the time, few expected to see them again. The voyage, however, proved a success, and in the name of science, Thor dreamt up further daring – some would say hare-brained – schemes, including sailing across the Atlantic in a reed boat. It’s the sort of inspired mad genius and Norwegian derring-do that becomes a little more understandable if you stand on top of that ski jump slope…

Back in the centre of the city, you’re going to get an awful lot more use out of that Oslo Pass. Alfred Nobel ensured that Oslo was put on the world map over a century ago, forever enshrined as the home of The Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Peace Centre celebrates the recipients of every Prize since 1901, though it’s fair to say, with the gift of hindsight, that some of the names might raise eyebrows today.

In reputational terms, on much safer ground is Henrik Ibsen, the renowned playwright (Hedda Gabler, A Doll’s House), known as “The father of realism.” Ibsen lived in the city for the last 15 years of his life, 11 of which were spent in an apartment, opposite the Royal Palace, now home to a museum dedicated to him. A guided tour of his preserved living quarters is recommended, not least to hear the story of his last words. On hearing his nurse inform a visitor that he was a lot better, he piped up: “On the contrary.” Realistic to the last.

Another of Oslo’s famous sons with his own museum is sculptor Gustav Vigeland, but for those visitors who have had their fill of exhibits, an introduction to his work can be found in the adjoining Frogner Park. A 46-foot high monolith of 121 human figures is a particular high point.

Overall, Norway took some time to emerge in the form we recognise today. For more than 400 years, it was united with Denmark. In 1814, Napoleon intervened and ceded Norway to the King of Sweden. Full independence arrived only as recently as 1905, with even that challenged by the 1940-1945 Nazi occupation.

It’s not just its sovereignty that has chopped and changed. While originally called Oslo, King Christian renamed the town Christiana after a 1624 fire necessitated extensive rebuilding. From 1877 the name was Kristiana, before it was changed back to Oslo in 1925. Are you keeping up?

You can discover much of this history courtesy, once more, of the Oslo Pass. The medieval Akershus Castle, the Norwegian Resistance Museum, Oslo Cathedral and the City Hall are all included within its remit and are all well worth a visit. Stortinget, the Norwegian Parliament, also offers one-hour tours on most Saturdays of the year. It’s free, but you can’t book in advance and numbers are limited to just 30.

As you might expect from a country that owes much of its wealth to its vibrant fishing trade, you will be getting plenty of Omega 3 down you as part of your Norwegian diet. In fact, Restaurant Fjord is somewhat reminiscent of the old Monty Python spam sketch in that it offers cod, cod, cod and cod on its sampler menu, ableit only in the cod season. How do they manage that? Tartare of cod, cod tongue (they have them and they’re big), fried cod roe and baked cod all form part of its repertoire. Other high-end restaurants in the city, however, offer more varied and more expansive menus. In particular, check out Hos Thea, Gamle Raadhus, Feinschmecker, Lofoten and Solsiden.

It’s natural to associate Oslo with winter – especially all those snow sports – but it’s equally beguiling in the summer, a time when you can hang out at the Aker Brygge, dining alfresco or taking a glass of wine or two. Or, perhaps, you’d prefer to take a boat trip or to pack a picnic and head to the park?

If you go in the summer, though, you will, of course, miss out on the winter weather that so defines the Norwegians. Go anytime that suits you is probably the best answer, but pay particular attention to just which clothes you pack.

Joking aside, is it really that expensive to visit Oslo? Well, it’s not cheap, but if, however, you’re looking for somewhere new, different, on the up -– and you’re used to paying London and New York prices – then the clear advice is: take the jump.

Rio Grandly

Two years ago, nearly a million football fans went to Rio de Janeiro for the 2014 World Cup. Every February, two million or more dance their way through its famous Carnival. For Brazil’s second largest city, then, when it comes to the 500,000 visitors expected for the Olympic Games’ Latin American debut in August this year, it should just be pretty much business as usual.

Indeed, people have been flocking to Rio for hundreds of years. Back in 1501, when a small group of indigenous fishermen saw the first Portuguese sailing ships nose towards the coast, they were not to know they would get little peace thereafter.

The French followed, taking over an island in the bay. Huge numbers of slaves were shipped in to work on the sugar plantations. Indigenous people moved east from the interior. Half a million Portuguese arrived in the gold rush of Minais Gerais. More slaves were brought to labour in the coffee industry, then on the cotton and rubber plantations. In the last hundred years, immigrant Italians, Russians, Germans and, more recently, Japanese have been added to the mix.

This history has created the spicy stew that is Rio today. The people call themselves Cariocas, a word from the indigenous Tupi lnaguage. They pray to African and European and local traditional gods, eat food with roots in the Amazon, Africa and Portugal and have created a musical genre all their own – the Samba and the Bossa Nova.

To understand Rio de Janeiro, take a cog train to the heights of Corcovado – The Hunchback – a mountain in a rainforest in a city of 37 beaches. From there, you can see the city spread out on all sides.

The locals call it Cidade Maravilhosa – the City of Marvels. Many of the world’s great cities display a sterile plain of high-rises and housing. But not Rio. From the top of this 700-metre granite peak, you are struck by the spectacular natural environment – white sand beaches, monolithic mountains of rounded rock, lush tropical forest, lakes and lagoons, and an emerald sea stretching out to both the South and East. The city is tucked into the spaces between the blue, the gold and the green.

The iconic Christ Redeemer statue on Corcovado stands with outstretched arms presenting the delights of Rio. Straight ahead, the Sugar Loaf mountain rises out of the sea. To the left is the Centro, the commercial and historic centre of the city, with the great bay of Guanabara curving away in front of it.

Turning to the right, you look down on Copacabana beach, with its high rise blocks between the sea and the hills. Further still to the right is the Ipanema beach, backed by a lake and the Botanical Gardens. Stretching away even further to the West is a long finger shape of sand – the Barra – separating three great lagoons from the Atlantic Ocean.

All of the four Olympic venues are visible from here – Maracanã and Deodoro on the left in the city centre and the suburbs, and Copacabana and Barra on the beaches to the right. The Maracanã area, close to the city centre, is based around a famous football stadium of the same name.

For Brazilians, it is a temple to soccer, a piece of footballing history. It was here that Brazil won four qualifiers in the 1950 World Cup before losing to Uruguay in the final round. It also hosted the 2014 World Cup and will be the centre for the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies and all the key football matches.

From the Maracanã you are short taxi ride from Centro, the business district, once an area of historic buildings with sixteenth century foundations – the Imperial Palace, churches and monasteries. The modern city has grown around them and the imposing Church of Our Lady of Candelaria now stands at the eastern end of an enormous highway bisecting Centro.

A few blocks away, the Teatro Municipal, built in 1905 in the art nouveau style of the Paris Opera, continues to be the home of Rio’s opera, orchestra and ballet. The opulent interior can be viewed during the daytime, but looks better still if you can attend a performance – booking and formal dress are essential.

Deodoro, an hour inland from Centro, will be the setting for the modern pentathlon events – the swimming, the fencing, the riding and the shooting. The five-kilometre mountain biking course and the white water canoe slalom course look spectacular and will form part of Rio’s Olympic legacy.

Then there is Copacabana, one of the most famous parts of Rio. It was while staying here that singer Barry Manilow dreamt up his hit song. The calm waters of its bay will host the long distance swimming events, whilst triathletes will cycle and run along the waterfront.

Just three parallel streets fronted by a five -kilometre beach and backed by steep forested hills, Copacabana is spectacular in the sunlight, but a little less safe after sundown. An early twentieth century party venue for the rich and famous, it still has historic architecture hidden among the high-rises.

The neoclassical Copacabana Palace Hotel retains its glamour and remains the destination of choice for heads of state, rocks stars and royalty. If you can’t get a room there, you can at least have a chance to sample one of its excellent restaurants after a day on the beach.

There is one stand out Olympic sporting event being held in Copacabana – the beach volleyball. Beyond football, this sport is Brazilian down to the last drop of sweat on a tanned thigh. The body beautiful, the beach and the Samba beat all come together when Brazil’s women’s beach volleyball team hits the sand. This year, according to insiders, they will finally take gold from Kerry Jennings and Misty May, the US’ three-time Olympic winners.

There are several preliminary rounds before the USA and Brazil, barring upsets, meet in the later stages. Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes are the Brazilians to cheer for, in their green and yellow colours, and the hot tickets will be the quarter finals onwards, from 14th to 17th August.

The next beach west of Copacabana is Ipanema, known to the world from a song written by two composers in a local bar. The Garota de Ipanema (The Girl from Ipanema), is still there behind the beach, serving cold draught beer and appetisers.

The Ipanema-Leblon district is the neighbourhood for the young, the beautiful, and the wealthy, with the most expensive apartments in the city. It also has many of the best restaurants. The beach is long and, like a street of bars, has areas for different cross-sections of Rio society – surfers, young stylists, old hippies and gays, and perhaps a small section for shy teenagers with legs like wet spaghetti.

Moving a couple of blocks back from the sea front, the scene opens out on the Lago Rodrigo de Freitas. Bordered by several parks and private clubs, for the first week of the games the lake will host Olympic rowing, followed by sprint canoeing. Lakeside “Quiosques” are great venues for evening dining in the open air, often with live music. Those fronting Parque de Cantaglo on the east side have some of the best sunset views.

This could be time to try your first caipirinha, Brazil’s national drink. It’s a sharp and feisty blend of lime, sugar and crushed ice, all served on a base of cachaça, the sweet and powerful cane spirit. Strangely, after beer, it has now somehow become one of Germany’s most popular drinks.

Cachaça is cane alcohol and most cars in Brazil run on cane alcohol, so you may find your caipirinha a little rough. Ask instead for a caipivodca, the same fruit cocktail with a vodka base.

Funnily enough Rio also has the unique distinction of having been, for a short time, the capital of a European nation. Fleeing Napoleon in 1807, the future king of Portugal Dom João sailed for Brazil with 15,000 of his followers. He was so enamoured by Rio that he chose to stay on after Napoleon met his Waterloo eight years later. And, really, why not.

Dom João made Rio the capital of Portugal and Brazil and created many of the city’s more reflective retreats. Further back, beyond Lago Rodrigo, you can take a walk in his Jardim Botånico. Laid out round one of the city’s more accessible smaller lakes, it boasts elegant rows of royal palms imported from France, giant water lilies from Amazonia, and a steamy greenhouse where you can watch brightly coloured hummingbirds sip nectar from hundreds of native orchids.

The rhythm of Rio – and of Brazil – is the Samba. This and its more modern jazz- and blues-influenced offshoot, Bossa Nova, are best experienced in the district of Lapa. In the early years of the last century Lapa developed as an area for the midnight hours – gambling dens, cabarets, brothels and late night bars. Lapa retains an edgy feel and is now a centre for old style dance halls and samba clubs. If you watch the Olympic sailing in the sublimely sculptured Marina da Gloria, you can head up the straggling hillside streets to Lapa in the evening.

The fourth Olympic Games area is out to the west of central Rio. The Barra de Tijuca (literally swampy sandbank) is 18 kilometres of beach with the Atlantic Ocean in front and the lagoons and salt marshes behind. The Olympic Village will be based here, along with many of the main events, notably the gymnastics, swimming, cycling and tennis.

Once an area for fishermen and marginal farmers, Barra was not redeveloped until the twentieth century. Now it is an elite extension of the city, complete with US-style shopping malls and private access communities. Barra Shopping, for instance, is a giant mall. At four kilometres long with 700 outlets, it is Rio’s largest and is clearly aiming for an international Disney feel with its giant replicas of New York’s Statue of Liberty, Paris’ Eiffel Tower, London’s Tower Bridge and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The affluent residents of Barra live a modern, Miami life, but it lacks the cultural layers of central Rio. Visitors come at weekends to surf and shop. There is, though, more to Barra. Several areas of the salt marsh and beach have become protected reserves, including the Chico Mendes Ecological Reserve, named after an environmentalist who was murdered in 1988. Like many progressives, he has achieved more in death than he did in life.

There is also the Museo Case de Pontal, a collection of folk art representing Brazilian modern culture. Here you will find visual expressions of daily life, music and dance, family and home, religion and race – the interwoven strands of Rio de Janeiro. To complete the picture of Rio’s exuberant diversity, this would be a fine place to end your visit.

The Rio Olympics opens on August 5th and closes on August 21st. Tickets went on sale in April 2015, and are available through authorized agents in each country. The authorized agents for Hong Kong and China are China Travel Service (Hong Kong) Limited or Grand China Express.Tickets are also available through brokers and resellers but you should plan your schedule and buy your tickets as soon as possible.

Sidney Pointiers

Sailing, it seems, is still the preferred route for many arrivals to Sydney. It’s a tradition some 200 years old, from when the British dispatched convicts down-under-wards on a no-expenses eight-month passage aboard whichever flimsy frigate came to hand.

Today’s maritime visitors have clearly been offered an upgrade. The harbour is full of gigantic super-liners, with passengers spending less than two days ashore – a bit of change from the lifetime tariff enjoyed by their 19th century forebears.

The food and sleeping arrangements are also a notch or two up from those offered to those sheep stealers and cutpurses of yesteryear. Given the state of the modern cruise industry and today’s oceanic travel enterprises, however, it might be worth requesting some testimonials to that effect.

In truth, though, the world is now beating a path to Sydney’s door and largely on a voluntary basis, too. With the city’s look and feel soaring, the tourists have poured in. It’s a development that has delighted the locals. Whether in sport, culture or civic pride, the Aussies are a competitive and proud bunch. Nowhere is that more true than in Sydney. And so long as Sydney is beating Melbourne – at pretty much anything – that’s fair dinkum, as they say in these parts.

While both cities lay claim to being Australia’s leading metropolis, the Olympic-boost Sydney received from hosting the 2000 Games opened a gap that, as yet, shows no signs of closing. And, as Sydney-siders will inevitably ask you, just which city is home to both the iconic Opera House and the Harbour Bridge?

Those cruise visitors, then, have clearly got it all wrong. Two days is nowhere near enough to sample everything Sydney has to offer. It’s a city that should be savoured, a location you can truly immerse yourself in.

Assuming you’re not staying on a boat of any description, the choice of accommodation is endless. Business and tourist hotels abound – as well as the more funky option of a night in the likes of the QT – but Sydney is also very much an Airbnb type of place, with a wide number of rentable apartments to be had.

While location is important, so too is style. Will it be the superb Victorian suburbs of Paddington and Darlinghurst that catch your eye? Or, perhaps, the more upscale, secluded villas of Rose Bay or Surrey Hills? Then, again, there is also the array of modern luxury apartments springing up around Darling Harbour and Walsh Bay. Wherever you choose, just make sure you’re connected to the superb local transport system – a well-planned interchange of trains, buses and ferries. A rechargeable Opal card, covering all these options, is really the first thing any visitor should invest in.

Inevitably, as with all of those cruise ships, Circular Quay will be the starting point for most tourists, with the inevitable first decision being whether or not to climb Sydney Harbour Bridge. Many do. Often at dawn, occasionally in fancy dress. In fairness, it’s a once in a lifetime experience and one that’s well within the physical capability of the vast majority of visitors.

The walks are meticulously managed, with (you’ll be glad to know) a particular emphasis on safety. Connected to a secure cable all the way to the top and back, the only risk is a touch of vertigo. There’s also “short” version of the walk – 150 minutes versus 210 – and pre-booking is pretty much essential. Oh, and don’t overdo the tinnies the night before – every would-be bridge walker is breathalysed before being allowed up.

Of course, if you opt to not walk over the bridge, you can always stroll across it, via the free-to-access pedestrian walkway. The views are just as spectacular and you still get to wave to all the cruise ship passengers. And they will all wave back.

As to what’s at the other end of the bridge, well, there’s Luna Park for a start. This is one spot where you have to spend at least half a day before you can even think about leaving Sydney. It’s one of the most quaint and old-fashioned theme parks in the world, famous for its clown’s face entrance (very Stephen King). While Luna Park may not match up to the high-octane rides of Disney or Universal, it is full of charming funfair attractions and an atmosphere that more than makes up for it.

Back across the harbour and Sydney Opera House (SOH) looks resplendent in full sail, while almost certainly waiting for you to board. As with the bridge, there is a big difference between those who actually go inside SOH as opposed to those who just have their photo taken with the unmistakable landmark in the background.

You really should make the effort to explore the interior, though, taking in a performance or just joining one of the behind-the-scenes tours. It’s not just opera. Ballet, theatre and orchestra all feature heavily in its comprehensive programme, as well as a number of contemporary music concerts. Once you’ve done that, you can then join the throng outside and enjoy the open-air bars and restaurants clustered around the most visually stunning backdrop in the world.

Keeping the Circular Quay as your orientation point, a stroll to the Botanical Gardens should be next on your to-do list. The gardens celebrate their bicentennial in 2016, two centuries of providing a rich, varied and colourful, haven of peace within the city. Follow the park round to Mrs Macquarie’s Point, a finger of land jutting into the harbour offering spectacular views of the Opera House and bridge.

As to the identity of the Mrs Macquarie in question, she was the wife of Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales between 1810 and 1821. The couple’s influence was extensive and it was they who set about turning the crime-ridden shantytown into a modern, civilised urban development. It is thanks to the couple’s championship of culture and beauty that Macquarie is still a name that resounds across the city today.

Whether as much attention is being paid to the Macquaries’ guiding principles as the city continues to expand, though, is something of a moot point. The new Barangaroo development on the edge of the Central Business District (CBD), for instance, has met with considerable opposition from residents in Millers Point with regard to the consequent loss of social housing. Nothing, however, is standing in the way of the city’s determination to create an ambitious commercial, residential and leisure suburb in this primest of waterside locations.

It’s a process that Darling Harbour – one wharf along at Cockle Bay Point – has already undergone. Some 10 years ago this thriving area of the city was very different, with none of the apartments, restaurants and attractions that characterise it today. Now it’s an unmissable item, whether for a visit to the Maritime Museum (with its impressive replica of Captain Cook’s Endeavour), The Star complex (with its theatre and casino) or the trio of Merlin-operated attractions – Tussauds, Sea World and Wildlife.

This is where your Opal card really starts to come in handy. From Darling Harbour alone, you can enjoy ferry access to the Manly beaches, Watsons Bay and the mightily impressive Tarronga Zoo. On a Sunday, you can travel on as many ferries as you want to for less than US$1. This is why you’ll find yourself bobbing from one point of interest to another, especially if you’ve allowed yourself more than two days in town.

As with many New World cities, Sydney is very keen on its own admittedly short history, with many museums offering insights into its birth and growing pains. Recommended is the Sydney Museum, which is notably strong on Admiral Arthur Phillip’s post-1788 colonisation of Australia, the conflict with aboriginal tribes and later development of the settlement.

Equally striking – if not more so – is the Justice and Police Museum (only open on Saturday and Sunday), which provides a stark résumé of the criminal underclasses of the city in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Then there’s the Hyde Park Barracks Museum, with its recreation of a prisoners’ half-way house dating back to the aforementioned Governor Macquarie’s time.

For an actual “walk through time,” though, it’s back to Circular Quay and a stroll through The Rocks, the site of the homes of the very first settler-built homes. Once notorious as a crime and disease-filled ghetto, The Rocks is now home to restaurants, bars, galleries and numerous shopping opportunities.

With the forethought to book ahead, a visit to Susannah’s Place, a preserved terrace street, provides an authentic insight into living conditions endured by Sydney families for more than 150 years.

It goes without saying, you really ought to check out what sporting events are taking place during your visit. Aussies take their sports exceptionally seriously and a trip to Sydney Cricket Ground for a Test or a Big Bash game definitely won’t disappoint. Similarly, Australian rules football will baffle and excite, while a day at the races may deplete your wallet. A game of rugby – of either code – will certainly get you fired up.

Out of town, Sydney offers another marvellous gem in the Blue Mountains, some two hours drive west. Again, no visitor should pass up an opportunity to take in the Three Sisters rock formation or a journey to the valley floor via the Katoomba Scenic funicular railway. You should also make a point of visiting the Featherdale Wildlife Park en route. Here you will get the chance to see an array of indigenous animal life in a sympathetic setting. No journey to Oz, after all, is complete without a koala-kangaroo-possum selfie.

The Australians, of course, love the outdoor life and why wouldn’t they? They are, after all, blessed with a climate that all but guarantees the hottest of summers and the mildest of winters. The top of any sun worshipper’s checklist, then, will be the renowned Bondi Beach, the legendarily expansive stretch of sand set in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. While parking may be a problem, and getting your surfboard aboard a bus is far from ideal, the locals would be outraged if you came all this way and missed the beach off your itinerary.

The barbie on the beach is a well-established Australian tradition, so join in with a bucket of prawns and a cold one if you get the chance. If you have been fortunate enough to be in Sydney on December 31, then pick your vantage point early in order to fully appreciate the 12-minute firework display that welcomes in the new year pretty much before anywhere else in the world. Except, maybe, for Melbourne and Kiribati – and those two locations are well behind Sydney in pretty much every other respect.

Warseen

Just a few short years ago, Warsaw wouldn’t have topped too many travellers’ “must visit” lists. The city – Poland’s capital – has, however, had a remarkable habit of resurrecting itself over the centuries and is now enjoying something of a resurgent period, the latest development in its long and often difficult history.

Today, the starting point for most tourists is the Market Place in the Old Town (Stare Miasto), complete with its charming facades and stunning period detail that encapsulates hundreds of years of Polish heritage and prosperity. If walls could talk, you’d imagine this square would have plenty to say. It’s all the more staggering then to realise that the entire Old Town was, in fact, reconstructed following the Second World War. It’s as if Disney had decided to add Poland to its Epcot Centre World Showcase Pavilion.

The Nazis wrought the most vicious retribution on the city following the Warsaw Rising in 1944, a time when the Poles tried to retake the city after five years of occupation. The resistance failed and an incensed Hitler ordered Warsaw be razed to the ground.

Somehow, his retreating forces found time to do just that. They destroyed 90 percent of the city and left it little more than a smoking pile of rubble. At the end of the war, the city’s fortunes hardly took a turn for the better, with the whole of Poland coming under the control of Russia and Stalin, its fearsome master.

The Soviet approach to reconstruction was orderly, utilitarian, low-cost and very much in the Le Corbusier school of architectural thought – concrete and brick. And plenty of it. Even though rebuilding in the style of the “golden” imperial period of 18th century Poland was hardly in line with Communist thinking, the authorities finally consented to this very plan – largely in an effort to stem civic unrest.

As well as the actual buildings, most architectural records had also been lost in the war. This left the planners forced to turn to any reference that could provide a guide for the reconstruction – old photographs, student architectural drawings and, most unusually of all, the works of Bernardo Bellotto (aka Canaletto), a late 18th century townscape painter. Eschewing true Epcot style, the restoration was completed using as many of the original materials that could be salvaged from the ruins, as well as through the use of traditional craftsmanship wherever possible.

Does a visitor taking endless photographs of the Old Town need to know this story to appreciate the aesthetic? Does it actually matter? Well, yes. It does. In order to properly enjoy Warsaw, you need to factor in the story of its remarkable re-birth. It will also help you appreciate the Poles’ redoubtable sense of history and the identity that they refused to relinquish, despite the terrible odds.

It will also give you a better understanding as to just why this modern day capital sports three distinct personas – the baroque and neo-classical resurrection, Soviet brutalism and, latterly, the ultra-modern Warsaw that is emerging as the locals embrace the 21st century

Let’s get back to the not-so-old Old Square first, though, and take in a coffee. Maybe a Zywiec beer or a glass of Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka. How better to decide just how to spend the few days at your disposal?

Firstly – and most obviously – this is an area made for walking. The square itself, the network of narrow streets set off it, the Barbican fortification and city walls that look exactly like they did five hundred years ago, are best seen on foot. After that, take a stroll down to overlook the River Vistula that flows through the city.

The Varsovians – as the natives are known – love statues almost as much as they seem to love the stories that accompany each one. If you want to play monument bingo during your trip, look out for The Mermaid of Warsaw (Syrenka). Armed with a sword and shield, she’s ever ready to defend the city. Perhaps that’s why she’s represented on the city arms.

Then there’s the Jan Kilinski Monument, a proud commemoration of the cobbler who led a peasants revolt against the Russian occupiers in 1794. The “fighting-the-Russian” theme continues with the statue of Josef Pilsudski, the statesman who led Poland to independence in 1918 and then saw off the Bolsheviks at the gates of Warsaw two years later.

Take time out to appreciate King Sigismund’s column, an enduring symbol of the capital, while the Copernicus monument honours the Pole who first theorised that the Sun – rather than the Earth – as the centre of the Universe. As both the Russians and the Nazis had a tendency to remove nationalist monuments, it’s only in recent years that statuary has made a collective reappearance. The fact that they survived at all is yet another small miracle.

Another remarkable landmark comes in the form of the Royal Palace in Castle Square. Unlike the adjacent Old Town, which was reconstructed in the 1950s, the Soviets were at first reluctant to allow the former official residence of generations of Polish monarchs to be rebuilt, finally relenting in the early 1970s.

There was one condition, though. The Poles had to pay for it themselves. As with the Old Town, you would be hard-pressed to spot the fact that is has only been recently constructed. As you immerse yourself in the Great Assembly Hall, the royal apartments and chambers, the chapel and the impressive From Destruction to Reconstruction basement exhibition, it scarcely seems to really matter. In fact, it only adds to the wonder of the achievement.

Maintaining the regal mood, turn left on exiting the Palace and head for the Krakowskie Przedmiescie – the Royal Route – one of the best known and prestigious streets in the capital. Here you’ll find a succession of historic palaces, churches and manor houses as well as the Presidential Palace and the University of Warsaw. Pre-war Warsaw was often referred to as the Paris of the East and this was its Champs Elysée.

By now you’ll have recognised that the dominant building in the city centre has very little to do with the 18th century or with earlier, classical reproductions. It’s actually the imposing communist-era Palace of Culture and Science and it towers over every building in the city. Commissioned in 1955 by Stalin as a “gift from the Soviet people,” it’s 231-metre high and can be seen from 30 kilometres away. It remains a symbol of the Soviet domination, intently disliked by most locals.

Far more popular and beloved by the locals is one Frederyk Chopin, the celebrated composer who lived and studied music in the city during his formative years. Chopin is celebrated throughout Warsaw. There’s a museum in his honour and international piano competition held in his name every five years. There’s also an urn supposedly containing his heart which resides in the basilica of the Church of the Holy Cross. The most intriguing way to remember the composer, though, is to track down the fifteen benches dotted around the city that commemorate episodes from his life. They also have extracts from his works. Musical chairs. Quite literally.

All this walking and fresh air will inevitably see you work up an appetite, which is just as well given that Polish food is renowned for its heartiness. Try zurek soup made with white kielbasa (smoked sausage) and vegetables, topped with a hard-boiled egg, or pierogi dumplings. These can be either boiled or fried and come with a choice of sweet or savoury fillings.

If that doesn’t suffice on the carbohydrates front, look out for the pyzy – small, boiled balls made from grated potatoes and flour, again coming with a variety of fillings. Remember, too, to leave room for dessert – the locals are mad on paczki deep-fried donuts, while wuzetka (cocoa) and zygmuntowka (almond) cakes are the signature sweets of the city.

Many of these “comfort” foods can be found in and around the Old Town, the site of any number of authentic Polish restaurants. Some, notably U Fukiera and Przy Zamku, go in for slightly more modern takes on traditional dishes. If you’re on a budget and want a taste of Soviet–era Warsaw, then check out a milk bar (Bar Mleczny) – hangovers from the Communist period when meals were heavily subsidised. It’s still the cheapest way to eat out in Warsaw. Don’t expect silver service, though. Having said that, even with Poland’s economy on the up, your zlotys will go a long way here in comparison to other European capitals.

In terms of post-lunch diversions, Warsaw boasts many and varied museums and these figure significantly in the itineraries of most visitors itineraries. It’s definitely worth investing in the official sightseeing pass for reduced entry to museums and a other key sites.

Particularly worth seeking out is the Copernicus Science Centre, renowned for its hands-on and immersive approach to learning. Then there’s the considerably smaller Maria Sklodowska-Curie Museum, a repository of all things related to the discovery of Radium and Polonium. It’s Warsaw’s more recent history, though, that strikes a more sombre note in many travellers’ hearts. There are three key sites that best bring home the degradations suffered by the locals.

The first of these is the Warsaw Uprising Museum, an institution that records the tragic account of the city’s failed bid to throw off the Nazi yoke in 1944. This harrowing story is sombrely told through an array of interactive displays, video and exhibits. Don’t miss the 3-D City Of Ruins, an animated aerial flight over the all-but destroyed Warsaw at the end of the war. The Jewish Ghetto and its earlier uprising in 1943, isn’t so well represented, but the old ghetto is clearly marked.

Here you should really make the effort to visit the Footbridge of Memory, a light installation that recreates the structure that once connected the large and small ghettos. This should be followed by a tour of the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews. This tells the story of the Jews in Poland. Once home to more than 3.3 million of them, now just a handful remain. Pulling few punches, the exhibits explain how this happened.

As a travel destination, Warsaw may well not be party-central – but if that’s what you want stay in the suburb of Praga on the other side of the Vistula. For the discerning traveller, one with an eye for history and culture, there are few more absorbing European cities. While its relatively recent past was certainly painful, this is a city on the up – something its new Daniel Liebeskind designed 52-story Zlota 44 residential skyscraper testifies to only too clearly. While it may still be a few metres shorter than the nearby Palace of Culture, for once it will give the Varsovians something to look up to that’s not reminder of the city’s darker days.

Acropolis Now

As understatements go, saying Greece has had a fair few problems over the last few years ranks alongside calling the Himalayas a little hilly. What with political upheaval, economic disarray, mass demonstrations and teargas-strewn riots seemingly a daily occurrence, it’s hardly surprising that the country’s been having trouble attracting overseas visitors.

That is, of course, unless you count the seemingly endless waves of distressed Middle Eastern migrants arriving by the hourly boatload. Add in images of the Aegean islands being overrun with makeshift refugee camps and it soon becomes clear why Greece is largely omitted from most folk’s Top Ten Places To Go For a Stress-Free Relaxing Vacation.

Appearances, however, can be deceptive. Although to the outside observer Greece might seem to be on the verge of economic and social collapse, the reality is markedly different, as anyone who braves a trip to its shores will pretty soon come to realise.

Arriving in Athens, the country’s bustling capital, you would have to work extremely hard to see it as anything other than a typically prosperous European city. The roads hum with traffic, the public transport is sleek and efficient, the shops are busy and its restaurants and bars seem ever full.

Contrary to popular belief, there are no queues of angry customers outside the banks, all trying to withdraw their last euros while they still can. Everyday Athenian life, in fact, seems resolutely normal.

There are still some signs, however, that all is not entirely well. Any city with a high percentage of its walls covered in angry-looking graffiti – largely consisting of the initials of various political parties – is not necessarily one at ease with itself.

But at the Plaza Syntagma, the huge central square that became the focus of frequently violent anti-austerity demonstrations, the protestors and the police appear to have given up and gone home. Now it once again caters solely to strolling couples and street vendors. And, of course, the thousands upon thousands of tourists who turn up for a bemused gawp at the evzones, the bizarrely-dressed soldiers who parade outside the parliament building.

It’s actually quite difficult to see what use the evzones would have been had any of the rioters been truly intent on doing damage to their duly-elected representatives. They are not really the most fearsome-looking of sentries. Their uniform (tasselled fez, short skirt, white stockings and pom-pommed clogs) and weird ceremonial march (goosestep, pirouette, balance on one leg for a bit) appear designed more to provoke hilarity than terror.

Strangely enough, the costume was not created by some Jean-Paul Gaultier-type couturier on one of his more eccentric days. Instead, it’s a respectful nod towards the uniform of the klephts, resistance fighters who battled the ruling Turkish forces for many centuries at a time when Greece was under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

Hopping about looking like badly-dressed clowns seems an unlikely military strategy for defeating an occupying army. But don’t tell the Greeks that. They’re rightly very proud of their history.

And so they should be, as they seem to have so much more of it than most other countries. Remnants of its glittering past are literally everywhere – and nowhere more so than in Athens, with the city flowing out from round the ancient rock of the Acropolis.

Squatting imperiously atop this edifice, like some doughty dowager duchess peering disapprovingly down on her unruly grandchildren, is the vast temple of the Parthenon. It’s a stiff climb to access its precinct, but the greater challenge is to take a photo of it without getting any scaffolding in the shot. The site is currently undergoing a massive restoration and repair programme – though, in fact, the truly astonishing thing about this ancient site is just how much of it has actually survived.

In the 25 centuries since it was constructed, it’s been ransacked, renovated, looted, shelled, set ablaze, turned into a mosque and used as an ammunition dump. It’s endured marauding pirates, invading Turks, English aristocrats intent on stripping its glories and even the pollution of the Athens traffic. Yet it remains – largely – intact.

Sadly, the same cannot be said of all of Athens’ antiquities. The colossal Temple of Olympian Zeus, once boasting more than 100 mighty columns, now has just 16. Another lies rather sadly in pieces, symbolically strewn across the site. On the bright side, it’s so far gone there’s no point sticking scaffolding up to save it. This allows you to walk round it unimpeded, imagining the temple in all its former glory.

Some former glories, however, you don’t need to imagine. The ancient amphitheatre, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, built into the Acropolis hill, for instance, has had its seating and stage magnificently restored and now hosts the Athens Festival each year.

Then there’s the Panathenaic Stadium, originally built in the sixth century BC as a site to honour the goddess Athena with displays of athletic prowess. In 1896, it was faithfully reconstructed in every detail in time for the first ever modern Olympics – marble seats, elongated running track and all. It was called back into service to host the climax of the marathon race when the Games came back to Athens in 2004. It is now open for visitors to wander around at a less frenetic pace.

Should the mood take you, you can even have a quick sprint around the track and pose on the medal podium, selfieing yourself as one of the sporting heroes of Ancient Greece. It’s probably best not to take this particular fantasy too far though – in those days they used to compete largely in the nude.

Another ancient site completely rebuilt as near to the original as possible is the impressive Stoa of Attalos in the Agora (ancient marketplace). It was reconstructed by the American School of Archaeology in the 1950s and now sits among the rest of the ruins housing a superb museum, home to many of the more memorable finds from the nearby digs.

Even if you’re not normally a huge fan of museums, this one is worth a visit and it won’t even take you all that long. Among its attractions are some truly fascinating finds – such as the original stone-carved tablet setting out ancient Athens’ democratic principles, a sort of marble Magna Carta or dacite Declaration of Independence.

While Athens is truly an impressive city, its dust and the heat do make it hard to endure for more than a few days at a time. Thankfully, a number other equally fascinating destinations are just a day-trip away. Most notably, several of the country’s more beautiful offshore attractions – the Saronic Islands – are accessible via a short ferry ride from the port of Piraeus.

Hydra is one island that comes particularly recommended. It’s a sort of environmentalist’s paradise where cars are totally banned. For many, though, neighbouring Aegina is actually far more interesting. Once a great naval power and very much a rival to Athens, it now thrives mainly on tourism, fishing and pistachio nuts (they claim to have the best in Greece and sell them by the barrowload).

Aegina also boasts the Temple of Aphaia, a sacred site older even than the Parthenon. It was once decorated with scenes depicting the Trojan War, which, to the builders of the temple, was pretty much recent history, having taken place just a few hundred years before. It seems incredible to be walking round a building constructed at a time when stories long morphed into myths were actually comparatively recent headlines.

Back on the mainland, the coast of Attica is also well worth exploring. The bars and beach clubs of Alimos, Glyfada and Vouliagmeni are where the country’s well-to-do hang out. They are very relaxing resorts, though only if you like your sunbeds arranged in regimented rows up and down the sands.

Vouliagmeni does, however, boast a more unusual and interesting attraction – a large lake, half seawater, half freshwater and heated by a thermal spring. Given its dramatic setting – deep, dark waters at the foot of a dizzyingly-high sheer cliff face – it’s small wonder it’s reputed to have healing qualities.

Inevitably, it has a spa attached to it, but the 13-euro (HK$107) entry fee is reasonable enough and the staff reassuringly unobtrusive. Whether the lake actually has healing powers is, of course, debatable. What it undeniably has, however, are thousands of little fish, all only too keen to nibble away at your dead skin should you stay still in the water for even a few seconds.

It’s an initially uncomfortable feeling, but you soon get used to the slightly tickly sensation of being exfoliated by these particular finny friends. Some like it so much they let whole schools of fish cover their body from neck to toe. That, however, is very much an acquired taste.

Once you’ve had enough of being pecked at by piscine predators, you should head down the highway to Cape Sounio on the southern tip of the Attican coast. It’s a long drive, but here, on a clifftop above the Aegean Sea, sits the famous Temple of Poseidon.

It’s an incomparably beautiful view, one that the poet Lord Byron was so taken with he implored the gods to let him die there. Most visitors aim to get there in time for sunset, when the stark white columns of the temple stand out against the crimson sky and the Aegean turns from a sparkling sapphire to a deep imperial purple. It’s a challenge for even the most hard-hearted not to come over all poetic at the very sight.

Greece, it has to be said, does do sunsets rather well. Back in Athens, there’s a particularly splendid one, best observed from the summit of Lykavittos Hill, looking west towards the Acropolis. As the night falls and the colours of the sunset fade, you get a bonus – the sight of the Parthenon lit up with bright white lights, a shining star above the city.

Greece can truly beguile you with its beauty. On our last night in Athens, my partner and I found a restaurant tucked away on a cobbled side street, on the hillside by the Acropolis. We sat at a table on a balcony, aromatic jasmine draped along the ironwork, the illuminated Parthenon in the background, laughter and music drifting up from below. The scene seemed so far removed from the riots and austerity so long associated with Greece, that it hardly seemed to belong to the same country or period of time.

Greece is a country you must visit and Athens is a city not to be missed. Despite the recent ructions that have rocked its economy, there is a timeless beauty to the place. When the financial hardships and uncertainties have long faded from our memories, Greece will once again resume its rightful place as one of the true cradles of civilisation. Some would say it already has.