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3 weeks ago | 
telegraph.co.uk | William Cook
Some places have a certain magic, and Basel, a bizarre, beguiling blend of metropolis and market town, is one of themUp to half a million music fans are swarming into Basel for this year's Eurovision Song Contest. The concert venue is in the outskirts and hotel rooms will be hard to come by. Chances are, many fans will simply travel straight in and then straight out again - but if they linger for a little while, they'll be amazed by what they find. Basel isn't just my favourite Swiss city.
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1 month ago | 
pressparty.com | Oxana Lapchuk |Valentyn Koval |Roger Smith |William Cook
French-American musician, composer, and carpenter Zoé Basha, based in Dublin, Ireland has released her long-awaited debut solo album Gamble. A strikingly honest and genre-defying collection, Gamble weaves together threads of folk, blues, Americana, jazz, and Irish traditional music, telling stories of love, loss, resilience, and nomadic life.
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1 month ago | 
pressparty.com | Oxana Lapchuk |Valentyn Koval |Roger Smith |William Cook
Published: April 16, 205 -- BBC Radio 1 has revealed an exciting first for Big Weekend 2025, which will take place in Sefton Park, Liverpool from Friday 23 May – Sunday 25 May. The festival will feature a performance from Radio 1 Anthems acts – celebrating iconic tracks and unforgettable moments from the past two decades of music.
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Nov 9, 2024 | 
spectator.co.uk | William Cook
Here in Berlin, 35 years ago today, at a dull press conference in a dreary conference room a short walk from my hotel, an East German politician made a rookie error which brought about the fall of the Berlin Wall. Half a lifetime later, it’s easy to forget that this seismic shift was the result of a bizarre accident – the unlikely collision of two snap decisions by two men whose names are now almost forgotten.
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Nov 9, 2024 | 
spectator.com.au | William Cook
Here in Berlin, 35 years ago today, at a dull press conference in a dreary conference room a short walk from my hotel, an East German politician made a rookie error which brought about the fall of the Berlin Wall. Half a lifetime later, it’s easy to forget that this seismic shift was the result of a bizarre accident – the unlikely collision of two snap decisions by two men whose names are now almost forgotten.
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Nov 4, 2024 | 
telegraph.co.uk | William Cook
The hilltop town of San Casciano dei Bagni is steeped in ancient history Credit: Alamy In Allerona, a sleepy village in rural Umbria, I’m helping Elizabeth and her husband Paulo with their annual olive harvest. I’m so clueless that their daughter Naomi has to show me how to do it. “You brush the branches like hair,” she says, running a little rake across the leaves. Sure enough, loads of ripe olives come tumbling down. Thanks to Naomi, I gradually get the hang of it, and by the time we break...
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Oct 21, 2024 | 
yahoo.com | William Cook
Hari’s hometown of Leeuwarden is crisscrossed by canalsOn a cobbled street in Leeuwarden, the quaint little capital of Friesland, stands the birthplace of Mata Hari, the most notorious spy of the First World War. An erotic dancer and high-class courtesan, she won and lost a fortune, was caught spying for the Germans and was shot by a French firing squad.
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Oct 9, 2024 | 
yahoo.com | William Cook
Connewitz is home to lots of former factories converted into creative and commercial spacesGenerate Key TakeawaysIn the spooky Stasi HQ in Leipzig, now a rather sinister museum, Tobias Hollitzer, the museum’s director, is telling me about his participation in the Peaceful Revolution which led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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Sep 30, 2024 | 
spectator.co.uk | William Cook
Sitting in a gigantic marquee on the green edge of Munich, surrounded by thousands of boozy Germans singing along to a Bavarian oompah band, I wonder how I got talked into coming to another Oktoberfest. Last time I came, ten years ago, I hated it and swore I’d never come again, but this time feels different. Maybe it’s the beer talking, but this year the atmosphere seems less manic, more relaxed. There are lots of couples, old and young, and hardly any stag parties.
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Sep 23, 2024 | 
telegraph.co.uk | William Cook
Vienna has a reputation for being old-fashioned, but the city has many different sides to it Alexander Spatari/Getty I’m loitering in the Kursalon, an ornate pavilion in Vienna’s lush and leafy Stadtpark. Johann Strauss used to perform here. His gilded statue is right outside. But I haven’t come here today to hear one of his charming, enchanting waltzes. I’m here for something far more strange. Today this flamboyant concert hall, where Strauss used to play, is the venue for an eccentric arts...
