Carol Drinkwater

I travel so much that life has become a matter of honing things down to the barest essentials. Nowadays, I almost never go anywhere with anything more than hand luggage - and a laptop.

Warsaw's historic heart was deliberately almost entirely destroyed towards the end of the Second World War by the German occupying troops. After the war, it was painstakingly rebuilt and that reconstruction is perceived as expressing the nation's determination to survive, to conserve its history and its culture.

Reunion has been nicknamed the Rainbow Isle because it is considered one of the most integrated societies on the planet, and you feel that vibe wherever you go. There is joyousness, warmth and a sense of equality.

While the olive is high in fat, it's monounsaturated fat, which, in a balanced diet, can help control heart disease by lowering cholesterol levels.

The Garden of Gethsemane is halfway up the Mount of Olives, where Christ grappled with his courage during those last dark hours of life. Today it is a Franciscan monastery.

The French take their festive platters seriously and spend lavishly on them. Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas Day, is when they tuck into the big family meal known as Le Gros Souper or Le Reveillon. Traditionally, it was served after the return from midnight Mass.