Israeli politics have always been volatile. New parties emerge, existing parties merge, politicians change parties and alliances. When Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu sacked his finance...

The exhibition Canaletto: Bernardo Bellotto paints Europe at Alte Pinakothek in Munich from October 17, 2014 until January 18,...

The early life of William Smokey Robinson The Motown record label owes its success to many people. The first to come to my mind are founder Berry Gordy and singer, songwriter, record...

The most important appointment in the new, largely unchanged, second government Valls, is the one of Emmanuel Macron as France’s new Minister of the Economy, the Industry and the...

Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske in the Bronx, New York City, on September 16, 1924. Her father was a Jewish immigrant from Poland, her mother a Jewish immigrant from Romania. She...

Nicola Benedetti was born on July 19, 1987. She grew up in the small Scottish town West Kilbride. She has a brother and a sister. Both her parents are Italian born, but moved to Scotland as...

At the end of 2008 and in early 2009, Israel already fought a war against Hamas. Only a regime change in the Gaza strip would have “justified” such a large scale operation which caused...

Today, July 7, 2014, the Israeli Foreign Minister and Beitenu party leader, Avigdor Lieberman, announced at a press conference...

Roth Time – the retrospective at MoMA QNS and P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center Dieter Roth (1930-1998) is an artist’s artist. In this, in the 20th century, he is probably only...

On July 14, 1913 the elegant Polonia Palace Hotel opened it’s doors. It remains until today one of Warsaw’s few traditional luxury hotels. Founded by Count Konstanty...

Since January 2015, Christophe Moret is the new executive chef at Shangri-La hotel Paris, notably responsible for the restaurants...

Together with London, the French capital offers the greatest range of luxury hotels in Europe. The elegant Shangri-La hotel Paris is among the newest and the best. Palais Iéna : a building...

The only sour note regarding Madeira comes from the political side. Alberto João Jardim (*1943) has dominated the island’s...

In March 2006, I stayed at the elegant InterContinental Warsaw. I remember it vividly because the fabulous 1048 m2 RiverView Wellness Center on the 43rd and 44th floor, which offers with...

The Vienna Secession movement and of course the famous Wiener Werkstätte, co-founded with Josef Hoffmann, are unthinkable without Koloman Moser (1868-1918). He was multitalented man who...

Until September 1, 2013 the Kunstfoyer der Versicherungskammer Bayern in Munich is presenting an important Margaret Bourke-White exhibition entitled Moments in History...

Since May 19, 2014 Jan Hartwig is the new chef at Atelier Garden at Hotel Bayerischer Hof. Steffen Mezger moved on to the famous Residenz Heinz Winkler in Aschau as chef de cuisine [update...

A few days ago, I had a look at the renovated rooms at Warsaw’s Marriott Hotel. They have finally managed to find an interior designer who is not color blind; the previous designer...

In mid-March 2013, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented his new government. The new coalition will continue the old settlement policy. There will be no peace with this Israeli...

Added on March 15, 2013: Today, the political parties Yesh Atid (19 parliamentarians) and Jewish Home (12 parliamentarians) have signed a coalition agreement with Likud-Beytenu (31...