Travel

Milan

Milan

Think of Italy and the Pisan belltowers and Roman arenas of our mind aren't usually capped with snow. It's February and this is Milan! …

  • Originally published: 11 Feb 2010 in Europe

Alsace

Alsace

Squeezed between the Vosges and the Rhine the Alsace region stretches narrowly along France’s spine, flanked by Germany to the north and east and by Switzerland to the south. To the west Alsace …

  • Originally published: 11 Nov 2009 in Europe

Luxembourg

Luxembourg

First, the small stuff: Luxembourg is the 175th biggest country in the world, measuring 82km by 57km. It’s home to less than half a million people. Now for the big stuff: Luxembourg is …

  • Originally published: 21 Sep 2009 in Europe

Grandes vacances 2009: South of France

Grandes vacances 2009: South of France

Rather than face the nightmare of writing up a two-week trip on our return, I decided to keep a sort-of journal whilst on the road. This article shares with you some of the …

  • Originally published: 5 Aug 2009 in Europe

Barcelona

Barcelona

Jaume I of Aragó was one of Barcelona’s many notable figures. Descended from French and Byzantine nobility, his exotic origins were matched by an illustrious childhood spent in the thick of the …

  • Originally published: 14 Jul 2009 in Europe

Köln and Bonn

Köln and Bonn

For my thirtieth birthday, J had organised a surprise trip. This time, unlike so many others, she managed to keep the details a perfect secret for three whole months. Köln (Cologne) When work started …

  • Originally published: 30 Jun 2009 in Europe

Zuid Holland and Zeeland

Zuid Holland and Zeeland

A national holiday gave us the breathing space to disappear to the Netherlands for a couple of days. The temperature was high. So was the pollen count. Perfect conditions indeed for discovering the lush …

  • Originally published: 5 Jun 2009 in Europe

French exchange

French exchange

In the spring of 1992, I participated in an exchange between my school at the Lycée-Collège Gambetta in Arras in the Nord Pas de Calais. The Lycée-Collège today is shown in the …

  • Originally published: 3 May 2009 in Europe

Invasion postponed due to fog

Invasion postponed due to fog

With promises and great expectations of widespread sunshine, J and I headed off to the northern coast of France. A withering, cold fog had descended on the region and it was scarcely …

  • Originally published: 9 Apr 2009 in Europe

Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is a city of strong contrasts and illogical progressions. Graffiti-covered artist squats to cool, glassy government buildings. Triumphant neo-classical architecture to empty plots of weedy wasteland. Enlightenment, growth, political extremism, the Wall, …

  • Originally published: 30 Mar 2009 in Europe

Elsewhere on MikePadgett.com …

Babel

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu US/Mexico, 2006 I always look forward to a new instalment of the González / Arriaga filmmaking partnership. Babel is undoubtedly their grandest effort to date and it’s probably their weakest, …

  • Originally published: 29 Jan 2007 in Film

Pajottenland

Calling itself “the pearl of the Pajottenland”, the little town of Gooik sports a civic shield of three hammers. When we arrived for a walk in the area, those hammers could have …

  • Originally published: 29 Nov 2009 in Walking

Body Worlds in Brussels

The art of the Ancient Greeks and of the Renaissance shares a common concern for anatomical accuracy. It comes as no surprise, then, that these were also periods in which anatomy itself …

Growth sport

Be there or be shaven! …

Celebrating bureaucracy?

Opponents of the European Union are fond of pointing out what they see as the three grand negatives: democratic deficit, lack of transparency and unwieldy bureaucracy. Brussels certainly doesn’t do itself any favours …

  • Originally published: 5 Mar 2009 in Humour

Who is that guy?

Photo of Mike Padgett

Hello you. I'm Mike Padgett and I work in the technology sector as an Information Designer.

I also enjoy travel, concerts, films and walking.

I'm based in Brussels, Belgium. My current favourite Belgian beer is St Feuillien Brune.

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