City

Europe’s cheapest city break is already a firm favourite with visitors thanks to its cheap food, drinks and attractions – so we went to see if it lives up to the hype

With prices on the rise in many European cities, as well as issues from overcrowding to anti-tourism protests in many city break hotspots, many travellers will be looking for cheaper locations for short breaks.

Search for cheap city breaks and Poland often tops the charts, and there’s one city that’s particularly popular among budget travellers; Krakow. Poland’s second city has all the elements of the perfect city break destination. Pretty cobbled streets, cheap food and drink, and plenty of historic and cultural spots to explore.

But is it the cheapest city break? I visited in September, just after the school holidays, and had a look at some of the prices during the shoulder season. With temperatures still at 26C early in the month, it seemed a great time to visit. The city was busy, but nowhere near as crowded as many destinations during this time of year, and there were still outdoor events in the town’s main square in the evening.

For a start, there are various budget-friendly flight options, with Jet2, easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air all offering direct routes, with a flight time of just over two hours. When I took a look, I found fares with Ryanair from £19.99 each way, although this doesn’t include a second bag if you want to take more than a small handbag or backpack with you.

I stayed at the newly-opened TRIBE hotel in Krakow. It’s about a three minute walk from St. Florian’s Gate, the entrance to the historic old town. This four-star hotel has rooms from as little as £57 a night, and was modern and comfortable. I also liked that it was next to a tram stop, so it’s easy to get around. There are cheaper options available, but if you’re on a short break it has a great location, and it’s an excellent base to explore.

Travel and days out

Krakow’s public transport is cheap, clean, and reliable, so getting around isn’t going to cost you a lot. Getting from the airport to the city centre takes under half an hour by train and costs just 13PLN (around £2.67). The city is quite compact and walkable, and there’s also the option of getting a tram. Journeys of up to 20 minutes cost around £0.50, while a 48-hour ticket, perfect for weekend breaks, is just over £7.

In the old town, you’ll find the Czartoryski Museum, one of Poland’s oldest museums and a popular tourist spot. While it costs nearly £13 to get in, it’s a huge museum and you could wander round for hours. It’s worth getting a guided tour because there’s too much to take in by yourself. You can see an original Rembrandt, as well as the museum’s most famous piece, Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci.

The price of days out varies. There are plenty of inexpensive things to do in the city itself, or you can go further afield to visit sights such as the Wieliczka Salt Mine. This stunning underground series of mines includes chapels, sculptures, and intricately carved walls, all buried below the ground’s surface. Tickets cost from 143 PLN, nearly £30, but it’s well worth the visit.

Many visitors to the city will be looking to visit Auschwitz. There are lots of tour providers offering full day packages, which cost from £60-80. However, you can take the train and get in free without a tour guide, but it is worth booking the tour with an educator, which costs 130PLN (around £26.63), to learn more about the site’s history.

If you don’t have much time to explore Krakow, look out for the Melex tours. These electric golf carts zip around the old town, taking you to sights such as the Renaissance-era Cloth Hall and the Town Hall Tower, with short guided tours from as little as £10.

Food and drink

Most food and drink prices in Krakow are reasonable. Being in the Old Town, you’ll find things pricier, but they still compare well to other city breaks.

In the Old Town, you’ll find a wide variety of restaurants. If you want to try local dishes, you can enjoy a large plate of pierogi for less than £10. You can also grab a lunch to-go at one of the Zabka convenience stores. This Polish brand can be found on every corner, and have food like snacks and sandwiches for around £2.50. You can even get a cold beer with your lunch for less than £1.

And of course, it’s the beer prices lots of visitors will want to know about. Is the beer in Krakow cheap? Relatively, yes. A pint in the Old Town’s main square did set me back £4.50, but I was in a very touristy area. Most places I visited were more around the £3 a pint price mark, or cheaper once away from the Old Town.

So, was Krakow the cheapest city break? Some of the prices weren’t as low as I expected, but overall things like food, drink, and transport were very good value for money, especially when compared to other European breaks I’ve taken recently. If you’re a history buff or just like wandering around beautiful cities, it’s a great choice for a weekend away.

Book the holiday

Stay there: Prices at the TRIBE Krakow start from £96 per night based on two adults sharing a room. Members of ALL Accor can enjoy up to 10% off public rates as well as earning reward points which can be redeemed on stays and experiences across the world.

Get there: Ryanair offers fares from £14.99 each way to Krakow from London Luton.

The Pride of Cumbria train carried me out of Piccadilly station and, eventually, beyond built-up Manchester. After Marple, everything turned green as the valleys narrowed. It was a classic northern autumn day: the clouds were low, the mizzle and mist were closing in and the world was grey-filtered but for the glow of dead leaves all around.

South-east of Manchester is a bit of an unknown for me. Between the city and the Derbyshire borough of High Peak, you don’t quite enter national park territory, but it’s nonetheless a charming and eye-calming landscape. The Mancunian Kinder Scout trespassers of 1932 probably came this way, as do Pennine Way-farers bound for Edale. But the region is also post-industrial and close to conurbations. The Steel Cotton Rail Trail, which officially launched earlier this month after several years of planning, hopes to bring together elements of the land and the heritage while also drawing walkers and cyclists to areas of the Peak District perhaps ignored by those who rush for the main spine of the Pennines.

The 62-mile (100km) trail has been split into 14 day-friendly sections between the rail termini at Manchester and Sheffield, with stops along the Hope Valley Line marking the start and end points. There’s something for everyone. Urban explorers will enjoy the metropolitan mooches at either end, summit fiends will love the middle hill and moor sections, while those with young families or old dogs can opt for canal and riverside walks.

I was the only passenger to alight at Chinley, a small, smartish-looking village in the Blackbrook valley. I soon found a sticker to show that I was on the right track; way marking is now complete along the route. I also had printouts of the handy pdf maps posted on the website. GPX files are available, but I didn’t want to spend the day looking phone-ward.

The route, sloping downward, took me past a cafe and on to the Peak Forest Tramway Trail. As anyone who has been out on a recent country walk will know, 2025 has been a mast year, with an abundance of fruit and nuts falling from trees. I could hear the loud crunch of dry acorns and beech nuts as I began my walk towards the west.

The tramway – serviced by horse and gravity-powered vehicles – opened in 1796 and carried on operating right up till the 1920s. Limestone, quarried all around the area, was taken out along these tracks. While much of the primary and heavy industrial plant has gone, I passed a polymer factory close to Chinley and I was rarely far from traffic (the mighty A6, England’s longest road once upon a time, was just beyond the curtain of trees) or light industrial units. Some people probably prefer the illusion of “real nature” but I like ambling through parts of the countryside where work and wilderness rub along. Anyway, I was always able to look down and let the golds, reds and ochres of leaf litter blur my ruminations.

Soon I came to Bugsworth Basin on the Peak Forest canal – once the largest and busiest inland port on the canal system and the only one to survive intact. An information sign alluded to “canal mania”, the period between 1790 and the 1810s when dozens of cuts were made across England and Wales by speculators banking on “faster” logistics. In 1808, workers shifted sufficient limestone to fill 2,000 canal boats. A vital raw material, it was used in buildings, chemical manufacturing and agriculture. Limestone historians will probably challenge the steel and cotton of the trail’s name – cities edging out town and country, as ever – but you could also make a case for calling it the Millstone Grit Trail or the Coal Trail; this part of the world produced so much for Victorian Britain.

I swerved right, joining the River Goyt. Despite its guttural name, the Goyt is a lovely river. It threads a pastoral squiggle from soggy moorland just west of Macclesfield all the way to Stockport, where it runs into the Mersey. As well as the new trail, I was also walking on sections of the Goyt Way and a long-distance path called the Midshires Way. The path passed close to Furness Vale station on the Manchester-Buxton line – an alternative railway option to get to this section of the trail.

It was a mellow, easy walk all the way to New Mills, a town I only knew hitherto as the home town of punk/Oi! band Blitz, but which is a very dramatic constellation of magnificent bridges and stone viaducts, vertiginous gorges, fast-flowing water, the oldest community-owned hydro scheme in the land, some lovely llamas in a bosky paddock, and the sweeping steel Millennium Walkway. I’d passed a couple of rural pubs already, but New Mills has plenty of food and drink for those stopping or pausing here.

I continued along the canyon – past Torr Vale Mill, the UK’s longest-running textile mill till its closure in 2000 – and used the Goyt Way to enter Mousley Bottom nature reserve, a pretty patch of woodland occupying an area previously used as a landfill site, gasworks and sewage works.

I left the river behind at Hague Bar, and headed for Strines, to complete my two-stage, 6.5-mile walk, where I knew the train was hourly (it’s half-hourly from the larger stations). As fate would have it, just when I needed to speed up, the path went up too – quite sharply, in fact, as it ascended a green lane. After all the level walking, the views were suddenly much bigger, and the mist had burned off too. I was half-tempted by the Fox Inn, a Robinsons’ pub in the tiny hamlet of Brookbottom, but given my now terrible thirst, bursting lungs and the one-hour wait, I knew the rest stop could easily morph into a three-pint siesta-inducer. So, I struggled on and actually jogged down to Strines to make the train for Piccadilly with three minutes to spare.

This new rail-pegged walking (and, along many sections, cycling) trail will be welcome in Manchester, where it links up nicely with the also quite new 200-mile orbital GM Ringway. It may also tempt Sheffielders to look beyond the obvious Edale-Kinder Scout hikes – though Edale is a start/finish point for a nice 7.5-mile leg of the Steel Cotton Rail Trail. More frequent, reliable trains would make these walking trails really attractive. But for an autumn amble, the 14 new walks are almost perfect. Choose your challenge and altitude, decide whether you want trees or moors, towns or fields, and you will catch several of the moods of this magical season.

Read more about and download guides at the Steel Cotton Rail Trail

“Is L.A. a theater town?”

The question, typically posed with New York condescension, fails to recognize the obvious reality that L.A. is a city of actors. True, most of them are here to make their names on-screen, but the talent pool rivals those of more established theater capitals. Don’t bother, however, trying to convince those denizens of New York and London who cling to old stereotypes of L.A., perhaps to compensate for their own inferior weather.

Southern California, of course, boasts some of the most prestigious playhouses in the country. The Mark Taper Forum, Pasadena Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, La Jolla Playhouse and the Old Globe are all recipients of the Regional Theatre Tony Award. The Geffen Playhouse, once considered the entertainment industry’s local theater, has entered a new era of bold vision and integrity under the leadership of playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney. It would surprise no one if the Geffen Playhouse is similarly honored in the next few years.

East West Players, the Latino Theater Company, Ebony Repertory Theatre and Native Voices at the Autry reflect the cultural, ethnic and racial diversity of a majority-minority city. The avant-garde is admittedly not L.A.’s strong suit, but REDCAT and CAP UCLA have filled the breach hosting interdisciplinary performance work from all over the world.

The Getty Villa’s annual outdoor classical theater production treats the canonical treasures of ancient Greece and Rome not with kid gloves but with an exploratory 21st century spirit. And A Noise Within has cultivated in its loyal audience an understanding that the classical repertory exists in the present tense and can speak directly to us today.

The stage is still the basis for acting training, and there comes a time when even the most successful film and TV actors want to return to their roots. Those with civic consciences are happy to tread the boards close to home. When Tom Hanks chose to play Falstaff in Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles’ production “Henry IV,” he did so at an outdoor venue, the Japanese Garden on the West Los Angeles VA campus, that was only a short commute from his own backyard. Annette Bening, a stalwart champion of L.A. theater, has notably performed at the Mark Taper Forum, the Geffen Playhouse and UCLA’s Freud Playhouse.

Beyond the A-listers, there’s a vast population of working actors hungry for opportunities to hone their craft. It’s to satisfy this need that L.A. has built up an extensive array of small, shoestring companies. This scene is decentralized, dispersed within an uncoordinated sprawl of regional fiefdoms, but the independent spirit has endowed many of these companies with astonishing capacities for survival.

Indeed, it’s this network of 99-seat theaters — those houses with 99 seats or fewer — that are the lifeblood of the local theater scene. The cultural landscape would be unimaginable without Rogue Machine Theatre, the Fountain Theatre, Echo Theater Company and Boston Court Pasadena. The resilience, imagination and integrity of these small companies have demonstrated that heart matters more than size.

L.A. is indisputably a theater town, but a theater town that operates by its own rules and urban logic, neither of which is easy for an outsider to crack. What follows is a curated list of some of the most essential venues in the city and surrounding region. Not meant to be comprehensive, this compilation tilts toward companies that have been active in recent seasons and have a dedicated home. Nomadic ensembles and those that have been dormant or less prominent in the post-pandemic recovery phase have been excluded from this selection. But the ecology of L.A. theater is ever-changing and ever-adapting, calling for updates and new classifications. Stay tuned for future lists and supplemental guides.

— Charles McNulty

Formula 1 driver Liam Lawson said he narrowly avoided a fatal accident during Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix after two marshals ran across the track in front of him.

The incident happened in the third lap when marshals were seen on the circuit as Lawson rejoined the race after an early pitstop to replace a front wing.

Shortly afterwards, Racing Bulls driver Lawson said on team radio to his race engineer: “Are you kidding me? Did you just see that? I could have… killed them.”

After the race, he added: “I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“[I] came out on a new set of hards [tyres], and then I got to Turn One and there were just two dudes running across the track.

“I nearly hit one of them, honestly, it was so dangerous.

“Obviously there’s been a miscommunication somewhere but I’ve never experienced that before, and I haven’t really seen that in the past. It’s pretty unacceptable.

“We can’t understand how on a live track marshals can be allowed to just run across the track like that. I have no idea why, I’m sure we’ll get some sort of explanation, but it really can’t happen again.”

Formula 1’s governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is investigating the circumstances.

“Following a turn one incident, race control was informed that debris was present on the track at the apex of that corner,” said the FIA.

“On lap three, marshals were alerted and placed on standby to enter the track and recover the debris once all cars had passed.

“As soon as it became apparent that Lawson had pitted, the instructions to dispatch marshals were rescinded and a double yellow flag was shown in that area.

“We are still investigating what occurred after that point.”

McLaren’s Lando Norris avoided early mayhem to cruise to a dominant Mexico City Grand Prix win and retake the Formula One championship lead by a single point from teammate Oscar Piastri on Sunday.

Australia’s Piastri, who started the race seventh and 14 points clear of the Briton, finished fifth after a virtual safety car in the last two laps denied him a shot at fourth after a thrilling chase.

Charles Leclerc was runner-up for Ferrari, a hefty 30.3 seconds adrift of Norris, while Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen took third – just 0.7 behind the Monegasque driver.

Norris, who started from pole position and led every lap, now has 357 points to Piastri’s 356, with Verstappen on 321 and four rounds remaining.

“What a race. I could just keep my eyes focused and forward and focus on what I was doing,” said Norris, who was booed by the home crowd for reasons that remained unclear.

“A pretty straightforward race for me, which is just what I was after. A good start, a good launch, a good first lap, and I could go from there.”

Norris turns championship frontrunner

Norris last led the drivers’ standings in April, a gap of 189 days, and had not won a race since Hungary in early August. Sunday was his sixth victory of the season, one less than Piastri, and his 10th career win.

“I felt like the whole race I was right behind someone and struggling with the dirty air. That was pretty difficult,” said Piastri.

“Today was about trying to limit the damage, but also trying to learn some things about that. If I’ve made some progress with that, I’ll be happy.”

Oliver Bearman was fourth for Haas, a best result for the Briton and also the US-owned team, and was 1.1 seconds clear of Piastri at a chequered flag waved by former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield.

“I held off Max in the first stint, I held off the Mercs in the second, and I held off the McLaren in the third one,” the rookie said.

“I spent more time looking in my rearview mirrors than in front. But that’s sometimes how it has to be.”

Kimi Antonelli was sixth for Mercedes, with teammate George Russell seventh and Lewis Hamilton eighth for Ferrari after a 10-second penalty dropped him from third and dashed his hopes of a first podium for the team he joined in January.

Esteban Ocon was ninth, making a double points finish for Haas, and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto took the final point.

Ferrari moves back into second place

The top three all completed the race on a one-stop strategy, while Bearman, Piastri and the Mercedes drivers all pitted twice.

Ferrari moved back into second place, a point ahead of Mercedes, in a constructors’ championship already won by McLaren but with a tight scrap for the runner-up slot.

Norris made a clean start from pole when the lights went out, but was caught in a four-way tussle down the long run to turn one, with Verstappen cutting the corner and bumping over the grass.

Leclerc then cut turn two, giving the place back to Norris, who emerged from the chaos ahead, while Verstappen gained a place in fourth to the intense irritation of Russell.

“I got squeezed like crazy,” said Verstappen over the team radio as Russell, who started fourth, called in vain for the four-time world champion to hand the place back.

A scary incident saw Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, who came in for a new front wing on lap three, accelerate out of the pits as two marshals ran across the track in front of him.

Verstappen and third-placed Hamilton made contact on lap six as they went side by side with the Red Bull driver trying to go past at turn one, but ending up cutting the next corner.

Hamilton went off at turn four, cutting back across the grass, and was handed a penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Bearman, meanwhile, climbed to fourth, from ninth at the start, and looked on for a podium once Hamilton took his penalty on lap 24, only to be reeled in by Verstappen.

While Norris enjoyed a calm afternoon in the sunshine, Piastri had to fight back from a low of 11th after his first stop, passing Antonelli in the pits and Russell on track.

The virtual safety car was deployed after Williams’s Carlos Sainz, last year’s winner for Ferrari, spun and stopped on track on the penultimate lap with smoke coming from it.

Norris admitted after the race in Mexico that there had been times earlier this year when he “certainly did” doubt himself.

“When the car was winning and Oscar was winning,” he said, “the last thing I could do was use the excuse that my car wasn’t good enough.

“I wasn’t getting to grips and finding a way to make it work and I’m finding a better way to make it work now, so it’s as simple as that.”

It is now Piastri facing that feeling, after two difficult weekends during which he has been a fair bit off the pace.

“For some reason, the last couple of weekends has required a very different way of driving,” said Piastri.

“What’s worked well for me in the last 19 races, I’ve needed something very different the last couple of weekends. Trying to wrap my head around why has been a bit of a struggle.”

After qualifying 0.588 seconds and seven places behind Norris in Mexico, Piastri spent Saturday night deep in the data with his engineers, trying to come up with some answers.

The race was about trying to apply them – even if he was not able to get a definitive answer as to whether they had worked, given he spent most of it stuck behind other cars on his way to a fifth place that will have felt painful, but in reality amounted to a solid recovery and exercise in damage limitation.

“Ultimately today was about trying to experiment with some of those things,” continued Piastri. “Because driving the way I’ve had to drive these last couple of weekends is not particularly natural for me.

Team boss Andrea Stella had an explanation for Piastri’s struggles.

He said that Norris excels in low-grip conditions, whereas Piastri’s driving style tends more towards high-grip levels, and he pointed out that, in only his third season, Piastri still has things to learn about adapting to different conditions.

“In the final four races, no reason to think that one may favour one driver or the other,” said Stella, pointing to Las Vegas as the most problematic potentially for the team.

“For Lando and Oscar, there’s no problem in terms of track layout coming in the next four races. If anything, we need to make sure that from a McLaren point of view, we are in condition to extract the full performance that is available in the car, like we have been able to do here in Mexico.

“The confidence in terms of the championship is increased. It’s increased because we have proven that we have a car that can win races and in some conditions can dominate races. This is the most important factor to put Lando and Oscar in condition to pursue the drivers’ championship.”

Lewis Hamilton hailed his best qualifying result at Ferrari for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix as a “huge step” after what he described as a “hard slog” of a season so far with the team.

The seven-time world champion will start third after an impressive display from Ferrari, with team-mate Charles Leclerc finishing second fastest behind Lando Norris, who secured pole position.

Hamilton has endured a difficult time since joining from Mercedes last winter – and has yet to win a race for the team.

He faces a tough task in changing that statistic this weekend with Norris looking imperious, although three of the past five races in Mexico have been won from third.

But Hamilton is just happy to see things improving for the team.

“Definitely happy to be making progress and finally be up there,” he said.

“Charles has been used to these results, or at least being close to the front most of the year, but for me it has been a hard slog, being like sixth, seventh or eighth – mostly eighth.

“So to get P3 is a huge step for us and I am really grateful for the efforts of the team and the amazing support I’ve had from the team.”

This is also the first time this season that both Ferraris have qualified in the top three and Hamilton added: “These guys have been so quick all year and it’s an amazing feeling.

“The team truly deserve it, so we are just working as hard as we can and I’m super grateful to everyone in this team for continuing to push and not give up.”

Piastri, meanwhile, cut a somewhat forlorn figure. He had a difficult weekend in the US a week ago and thought he had found the answers. But as he put it: “What’s been a bit surprising here has just been that the gap has been the same pretty much every session.

“I feel like I’ve done some decent laps through the weekend, but everything seems to be about 0.4-0.5secs off.”

Team principal Andrea Stella said Piastri was losing a little bit everywhere, and Piastri said: “I feel like I did a reasonable job and the car felt reasonable as well. So, yeah, the lack of lap time is a bit of a mystery.”

Piastri has been off Norris’ pace whether on short runs or long, low fuel or high, so it is more in hope that he said of the race: “If I can unlock the pace in the car, we can have some fun. We’ve just got to try to unlock it.”

This is now Piastri’s fifth difficult weekend in a row, his form mysteriously evaporating since he won in the Netherlands at the end of August.

He did not talk directly about what this means for the championship, but there was no hiding the meaning behind one of his comments: “There’s a lot of things I could worry about, but ultimately being that far off when you feel like you’ve done a reasonable job is a difficult place to be. And so that’s my biggest concern at the moment.”

Stella said that the conditions in Mexico, like those in Austin, are ones in which Norris thrives and Piastri is less comfortable – low grip, hot tyres.

And he said that “every evidence, every piece of data, every indirect measurement of information we have, tells us that there is no problem with the car”.

He added that it was “good” for McLaren to be able “to confirm that we can have the fastest car”, adding that their “focus is to stop the momentum of Verstappen”.

Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. It’s Rebecca Ellis, with an assist from David Zahniser, Noah Goldberg and Matt Hamilton, giving you the latest on city and county government.

There is no shortage of budget-busting costs facing Los Angeles County, Supervisor Lindsey Horvath recently told guests at this week’s Los Angeles Current Affairs Forum luncheon.

There’s the costly fire recovery effort. And the deep cuts from the federal government. And a continuing homeless crisis.

As Horvath wrapped up her remarks, Emma Schafer, the host of the clubby luncheon, asked about yet another expenditure: What was up with that $2-million settlement to the county’s chief executive officer Fesia Davenport?

“We were faced with two bad options,” Horvath told the crowd dining on skewered shrimp.

Horvath said she disagreed with Davenport’s demand for $2 million, but also believed “that we have to focus on a functional county government and saving taxpayer money.”

Three months ago, all five supervisors quietly voted behind closed doors to pay Davenport $2 million, after she sought damages due to professional fallout from Measure G, the voter-approved ballot measure that will eventually eliminate her job.

Measure G, which voters passed in November, reshaped the government, in part, turning the county’s chief executive into an elected position — not one selected by the board. The elected county executive, who would manage the county government and oversee its budget, will be in place by 2028. Davenport, a longtime county employee, had been in her post since 2021.

Davenport, as part of her financial demand, said Measure G caused her “reputational harm, embarrassment, and physical, emotional and mental distress.”

Critics contend unpleasant job changes happen all the time — and without the employee securing a multimillion dollar payout.

“Los Angeles County residents should be outraged,” said Morgan Miller, who worked on the Measure G campaign and called the board’s decision a “blatant misuse of public money.”

Horvath, who crafted Measure G, promised during the campaign it would not cost taxpayers additional money. More recently, she voiced dissatisfaction with Davenport’s settlement, saying the agreement should have had additional language to avoid “future risk.”

Horvath said in a statement she considered having the settlement agreement include language to have Davenport and the county part ways — to avoid the risk of litigating additional claims down the road.

Supervisor Janice Hahn, who pushed for Measure G alongside Horvath, said she voted for the settlement based on the advice of county lawyers.

“In the years I worked to expand the board and create an elected county executive, I never disparaged our current CEO in any way,” she said in a statement. “I always envisioned the CEO team working alongside the new elected county executive.”

Davenport has been on medical leave since earlier this month and did not return a request for comment. She has told the staff she plans to return at the start of next year.

It’s not unusual for county department heads to get large payouts. But they usually get them when they’re on their way out.

Bobby Cagle, the former Department of Children and Family Services head who resigned in 2021, received $175,301. Former county counsel Rodrigo Castro-Silva got $213,199. Adolfo Gonzales, the former probation head, took in $172,521. Mary Wickham, the former county counsel, received $449,577.

The county said those severance payments, all of which were obtained through a records request by The Times, were outlined in the department heads’ contracts and therefore did not need to be voted on by the board.

Sachi Hamai, Davenport’s predecessor, also received $1.5 million after saying she faced “unrelenting and brutal” harassment from former Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

Davenport’s settlement was voted on, but not made public, until an inquiry from LAist, which first reported on the settlement.

David Loy, legal director for the First Amendment Coalition, says the county is required under the Brown Act to immediately report out a vote taken on a settlement if the deal is finalized and all parties have approved it. But if it’s not, he says, they don’t need to publicly report it — they just need to provide information when asked.

“You don’t have to proactively report it out in that meeting. You still have to disclose it on request,” said Loy. “ I don’t think that’s a good thing — don’t get me wrong. I’m telling you what the Brown Act says.”

State of play

— DEMANDING DOCUMENTS: Two U.S. senators intensified their investigation into the Palisades fire this week, asking the city for an enormous trove of records on Fire Department staffing, reservoir repairs and other issues. In their letter to Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) showed much less interest in the Eaton fire, which devastated Altadena but did not burn in the city of Los Angeles. An aide to County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Altadena, said neither she nor other county offices had received such a document request.

— BUMPY BEGINNING: The campaign of City Council candidate Jose Ugarte is off to a rocky start. Ugarte, who is backed by his boss, Councilmember Curren Price, recently agreed to pay a $17,500 fine from the Ethics Commission for failing to mention his outside consulting work on his financial disclosure forms, But on Wednesday, two ethics commissioners blocked the deal, saying they think his fine should be bigger. (Ugarte has called the violation “an unintentional clerical error.”) Stay tuned!

— A NEW CHIEF: Mayor Karen Bass announced Friday that she has selected Jaime Moore, a 30-year LAFD veteran, to serve as the city’s newest fire chief. He comes to the department as it grapples with the continuing fallout over the city’s response to Palisades fire.

— LAWSUIT EN ROUTE: Meanwhile, the head of the city’s firefighter union has accused Bass of retaliating against him after he publicly voiced alarm over department staffing during the January fires. Freddy Escobar, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City Local 112, said he’s preparing a lawsuit against the city. Escobar was suspended from his union position earlier this year, after an audit found that more than 70% of the transactions he made on his union credit card had no supporting documentation.

— HE’S BACK! (KINDA): Former Mayor Eric Garcetti returned to City Hall for the first time since leaving office in 2022, appearing alongside Councilmember Nithya Raman in the council chamber for a celebration of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. Garcetti, a former U.S. ambassador to India, described Diwali as a “reawakening,” saying it may be “the longest continuous human holiday on earth.”

— GENERATIONS OF GALPIN: The San Fernando Valley auto dealership known as Galpin Motors has had a long history with the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners, the civilian oversight panel at the LAPD. On Wednesday, the council approved the nomination of Galpin vice president Jeffrey Skobin, to serve on the commission — making him the third executive with the dealership to serve over the past 40 years.

— AIRPORT OVERHAUL: Los Angeles World Airports is temporarily closing Terminal 5 at Los Angeles International Airport, carrying out a “complete demolition” and renovation of the space in the run-up to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. During construction, JetBlue will be operating out of Terminal 1, Spirit shifts to Terminal 2 and American Airlines lands in Terminal 4, the airport agency said.

— OUT THE DOOR: Two of the five citizen commissioners who oversee the Department of Water and Power have submitted their resignations. DWP Commissioner George McGraw, appointed by Bass two years ago, told The Times he’d been laying the groundwork for a departure for six months. McGraw said he found he could no longer balance the needs of the commission, where he sometimes put in 30 to 40 hours per week, with the other parts of his life. “I needed extra capacity,” he said.

— NO MORE MIA: DWP Commissioner Mia Lehrer was a little more blunt, telling Bass in her Sept. 29 resignation letter that her stint on the board was negatively affecting her work at Studio-MLA, her L.A.-based design studio. Lehrer said the firm has been disqualified from city projects based on “misinterpretations” of her role on the commission.

“As a result, I am experiencing unanticipated limitations on my professional opportunities that were neither expected nor justified under existing ethical frameworks,” she wrote. “These constraints not only affect my own business endeavors but also carry significant consequences for the forty-five professional and their families who rely on the continued success of our work.”

QUICK HITS

• Where is Inside Safe? The mayor’s signature program to address homelessness went to Cotner Avenue near the 405 Freeway in Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky’s Westside district.
• On the docket next week: The board votes Tuesday on an $828-million payout to victims who say they were sexually abused in county facilities as children. The vote comes months after agreeing to the largest sex abuse settlement in U.S. history.

That’s it for this week! Send your questions, comments and gossip to [email protected]. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Saturday morning.

GHOSTLY figures dressed all in white walked quietly past me on a dark street – hundreds of them, each with a single flame illuminating a skull-painted face.

It felt spooky, even sombre, but then came the crackle of a sound system, the pop of a tequila bottle opening — and raucous laughter.

Say hola to Mexican tradition Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), known to Brits through the blistering opening scene of the James Bond movie Spectre, kids’ film Coco or the “sugar skull” make-up craze that became a Halloween trend.

Capital Mexico City draws thousands of tourists annually with its skeleton-themed parades around November 2, but the underrated city of Merida also comes alive for the celebrations.

Set in the western Yucatan peninsula — a region more known for beach resorts such as Cancun and Playa del Carmen, plus the Mayan ruins at Tulum — indigenous heritage is strong in this city, and it shows.

Day of the Dead here is called Hanal Pixan (han-al pish-an), meaning “food for the souls” in Mayan, and sees families and friends gather to celebrate departed loved ones, honouring them with a home-made altar often covered in pictures and their favourite foods.

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I visited Merida as its fiesta kicked off on October 31 with the Parade of the Souls.

This candlelit procession from the cemetery into town made for an eerie sight, but that soon changed when they cleared the way for a huge street party along Calle 64.

The long avenue was decorated with giant skeleton structures and millions of orange marigolds, while the pavements were lined with family shrines, each blasting reggaeton or ranchera music from speakers.

Shamanic rituals

It’s a great place to tuck into authentic Mexican street food because, as well as leaving the deceased’s favourite meal as an offering, families make it in bulk to sell to passers-by.

Try Yucatan’s specialties, cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork), pan de muerto (a sweet bread made for the event) or a marquesita (if you’ve ever wondered whether Nutella and cheese taste good together).

Even beyond the festivities, this city is a foodie’s dream.

Keep things cheap by eating tacos al pastor on virtually every street corner for as little as MX$10 each (40p, take pesos to pay), or lunch at the sensational and great value Taqueria de la Union.

And no trip to Mexico is complete without a plate of chilaquiles (fried tortilla chips) for breakfast or brunch. Merida’s best are at Marmalade 47.

November 2 was the day of the main parade, and people began to line the streets early to get a good spot.

I was glad we did, too, or we would have missed the ever-changing flow of mariachi bands, traditional dancers and even pets in costume.

The Catrinas — people dressed as elegant, sombrero-wearing skeletal women — were the most eye-catching part of the evening, with unique outfits and elaborate face paint.

Unlike so many Halloween extravaganzas, this event was free of gore and heart- stopping scares, making it very kid-friendly.

It wasn’t all about the parades. Smaller-scale events took place across the city for almost a week surrounding Day of the Dead, from concerts in plazas to shamans performing Mayan rituals on street corners.

Plus, the end of the fiesta didn’t mean the end of the fun; we tracked down a speakeasy called Malahat tucked away behind a plaza, where what looked like a fridge door led to a mezcal cocktail heaven.

Colourful Merida is easily walkable and its array of crumbling colonial buildings are painted pink, yellow or blue.

Footsore? Why not wind through its kaleidoscopic streets in a horse and carriage?

The city is also a great base for discovering the Yucatan, where hundreds of cenotes (natural sinkholes) make magical swimming spots and, for a beach fix, the white sands of Puerto Progreso are 40 minutes away.

An hour more takes you to Chichen Itza, site of some of the planet’s most breath-taking Mayan ruins.

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Its New Seven Wonders of the World fame usually eclipses Merida in these parts, and the busloads of visitors are mostly heading back to resorts in Cancun and the Riviera Maya.

But if you linger in Merida, you’ll find a soulful city with its own pulse — and this beats strongest around November 2.

Lando Norris said McLaren were “already a little bit behind” after Friday practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri are under pressure from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after a strong run of races for the Dutchman – and the four-time champion topped Friday practice at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Verstappen, 40 points off championship leader Piastri after a run of three wins and a second place in the past four races, set the pace, leading Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.153 seconds.

Norris was fourth fastest, while Piastri, 14 points ahead of the Briton, was down in 12th.

Norris, one of nine drivers to miss the first session while handing his car over to a rookie, said: “We’re in a reasonable place, for sure.

“I got up to speed quite quickly, I was quite surprised. I found the limit quickly… but I found the limit quite quickly, which is just holding us back a bit.

“Not that it was a bad day, but normally we’re very good on a Friday and then everyone catches up on Saturday.

“We are already a little bit behind so we have definitely some work to do tonight. The balance is a bit all over the place, same as the last few weeks. Single-lap stuff we’re struggling a bit at the minute.”

However, although Verstappen was quickest overall, he was also dissatisfied with his day, saying he was struggling for pace on the race-simulation runs later in the session.

“The short run on the soft (tyre) we managed to do a good lap,” said Verstappen, who has a new floor fitted to his Red Bull as the team chase every last bit of performance. “The rest, everything else was pretty bad.

“On the medium [tyre], the short run was not great and the big problem was the long run, where we seemed to struggle a lot. That is a big concern for the race.

“The balance wasn’t even off. There was just no grip. That is the bigger concern. So, as soon as you go into a sustainable run, the tyres are going hot, we were nowhere, so that is a tough one to sort out, but we’ll see.”

When it was pointed out to him that his consolation was that single-lap pace should put him in a good position for qualifying, Verstappen shot back: “Yeah, but you are not going to win the race like that.

“You can be fast over one lap and if you have zero pace in the race then it is going to be very tough. I prefer to be fast in the race and not so fast over one lap.”

CITY SECTION PLAYOFFS

(Matches at 12:30 p.m. unless noted)

MONDAY’S SCHEDULE

First Round

DIVISION I
#1 LA Marshall, bye
#9 Cleveland at #8 Wilmington Banning
#12 LACES at #5 GALA
#4 Eagle Rock, bye
#3 North Hollywood, bye
#11 SOCES at #6 Van Nuys
#10 Taft at #7 San Pedro
#2 Chatsworth, bye

DIVISION II
#16 Fairfax at #1 Granada Hills Kennedy
#9 LA University at #8 New West
#12 Sylmar at #5 Franklin
#13 Verdugo Hills at #3 Bell
#14 LA Wilson at #3 Gardena
#11 Jefferson at #6 Downtown Magnet
#10 Legacy at #7 Grant
#15 Sun Valley Poly at #2 Carson

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

Semifinals

OPEN DIVISION
#4 El Camino Real at #1 Palisades
#3 Venice at #2 Granada Hills

Note: Division I-II Quarterfinals Oct. 29 at higher seeds; Open Division Finals Oct. 30 at 11 a.m. at Balboa Sports Center; Division I-II Semifinals Nov. 3 at higher seeds; Division II Finals Nov. 5 at 11 a.m. at Balboa Sports Center; Division I Finals Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. at Balboa Sports Center

Oct. 24 (UPI) — U.S. House Democratic Party leader Hakeem Jeffries on Friday endorsed Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor, 11 days before the Nov. 4 election.

Jeffries hasn’t issued a public statement but his endorsement was confirmed in a statement to The New York Times, with sources telling USA Today and Politico about the House minority leader’s plans.

Early voting begins Saturday.

Mamdani, who was born in India and raised in Uganda, is attempting to become the city’s first Muslim mayor.

Jeffries, who serves Brooklyn in New York, had held off endorsing Mamdani, who is a state assembly member serving Queens since 2020.

The state’s two U.S. senators, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, haven’t endorsed Mamdani.

Mamdani has been endorsed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letita James.

Also, he has been backed by New York Reps. Jerry Nadler, Adriano Espaillat and Yvette Clarke. Two other House members, Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman, have said they don’t plan to endorse in the election.

And New York Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs said he doesn’t plan to endorse him.

In the June 24 primary, Mamdani, 34, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, 67, and Mayor Eric Adams, 65. His opponents then chose to run as independents, but Adams dropped out on Sept. 28 and endorsed Cuomo on Thursday.

Mamdani is favored to defeat Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, 71, a Guardian Angels founder and radio show host. President Donald Trump has pressured Sliwa to drop out to give a better chance for Cuomo over Mamdani, whom he has labeled as a Communist.

Jeffries told The New York Times said they have had “areas of principled disagreement,” including Israel’s war in Gaza, but agreed on other matters, such as the desire to retain New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

“Zohran Mamdani has relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and explicitly committed to being a mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy,” Jeffries wrote.

“In that spirit, I support him and the entire citywide Democratic ticket in the general election.”

Jeffries first met with Mamdani in July in Brooklyn before the primary. They met again in August.

Jeffries had said he was focused on the federal government shutdown rather than the New York City race.

“Stay tuned,” he told reporters this week in Washington. “I have not refused to endorse. I have refused to articulate my position, and I will momentarily, at some point, in advance of early voting.”

Jeffries has questioned how Mamdani would implement his policies and combat antisemitism and gentrification.

“We’ve got to figure out moving forward how we turn proposals into actual plans so that he is successful if he becomes the next mayor, because we need the city to be successful,” Jeffries told CNN last month.

Jeffries noted that his district, which includes historically Black communities, has “been subjected to gentrification and housing displacement.”

Mamdani has sharply criticized Israel and the war in Gaza, which Mamdani describes as genocide.

During Wednesday’s debate, he said: “I look forward to being a mayor for every single person that calls the city home. All 8.5 million New Yorkers, and that includes Jewish New Yorkers who may have concerns or opposition to the positions that I’ve shared about Israel and Palestine.”

Hundreds of rabbis had signed a letter criticizing him.

And powerful real estate and finance industries have donated millions of dollars to political action committees opposing his candidacy.

This city is considered a ‘hidden gem’ as it gets fewer tourists than hotspots such as Barcelona or Malaga, but it could be the perfect combination city and beach break for autumn

Ryanair have launched a new direct flight from London Stansted to a Spanish city that has been dubbed ‘underrated’ and a ‘hidden gem’.

The budget airline will now operate a London to Murcia flight four times a week, with the journey taking just under three hours. Murcia, which is set in Spain’s southeast, just over an hour from Alicante, is a lesser-known region, but once you step off the plane you can choose to explore the city or head to the nearby coast.

The timing of the new route is perfect for those who are already a little sick of the autumn weather. This week, Murcia has seen highs of 31C, while in November it can hit up to 21C. While it’s not the hottest destination in December and January, with highs of 18C and 17C respectively during the day, it tends to be mild and have low rainfall. However, it’s worth packing cosy pyjamas, as it can get cold at night.

The city of Murcia is packed with things to do, and it’s a must for history buffs, having been settled by the Romans and the Moors. Visit Murcia Cathedral, an ornate, Gothic cathedral that dominates the skyline, or the Santa Clara Museum which was once a Muslim palace, that became a Monastery in the 14th-century.

You’ll also find a wide variety of museums, such as the Museo Arqueológico de Murcia, which is full of treasures, and the Salzillo Museum, dedicated to the locally born sculptor Francisco Salzillo, who made dramatic religious artworks.

Murcia also has amazing shopping. The huge Centro Comercial Nueva Condomina has lots of big Spanish and European brands from Bershka to Zara, while Centro De Artesania De Murcia is full of handcrafted and artisanal items that make great gifts. It’s no wonder Murcia was dubbed ‘underrated’ by National Geographic.

Just over 20 minutes from the airport is the port city of Cartagena, famed for its Roman Amphitheatre. It’s also packed with historic sights such as the Roman Forum Museum and the Punic wall dating back to the 3rd century BC.

Cartagena is also perfect for a beach break. Visit Cala Cortina, an unspoilt beach surrounded by rugged cliffs. It has soft sands, and because it’s set in a bay, the waters are calm for swimming.

Another beach destination close to Murcia is La Manga, just over half an hour from the airport. This unique spot sits on a strip that’s 13 miles long, but only 100 metres wide, with a lagoon on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other. This means you’ll never struggle for a place on the long sandy beach, and pretty much all hotel rooms have either a sea or lagoon view. There’s also a large marina with lots of restaurants and boat hire if you want to take to the water.

Whether you’re planning a city break, or want to hit the beach, it’s worth considering Murcia instead of one of the bigger, more touristy Spanish cities. Despite its numerous historic attractions and close proximity to amazing beaches, Murcia only received 1.16 million visitors last year, compared to 26 million who chose Barcelona. But tourist numbers are on the rise, so plan your visit before it gets discovered by the crowds.

Book it

There are direct flights to Murcia from several UK airports available this October from £15.

SPAIN is usually just a short flight from the UK, but there’s one city further afield and is actually closer to Morocco than the Spanish mainland.

The small coastal city has plenty of historical sites, beaches and a mythically-inspired building.

The city is called Ceuta, and doesn’t tend attract Brits, instead visitors tend to be Spanish and Moroccan thanks to where it sits in North Africa.

But there’s plenty to see, including one popular attraction called House of the Dragons, aka Casa de los Dragones, which sits on the corner of Kings Square.

Construction on the building started in 1897 and was completed in 1905, it got its name thanks to the four bronze dragon statues on the roof.

The original dragons were removed in 1925 and lost, but four new dragons were later added in 2006, these are made of resin and fiberglass – they weigh less than 200kg each.

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One visitor wrote on Tripadvisor: “Stunning architecture and well kept with dragons on the roof……… Straight out of Game of Thrones or Harry Potter!!!”.

There’s a similar building in the town of Valencia, which is called the Building of the Dragons.

The Valencia house incorporates dragons too, but more subtly.

Despite its proximity to Morocco, the official currency in Ceuta is the Euro, as it’s a Spanish city.

Visitors can expect to pay about €2.50 to €3 (£2.62) for a local beer and around €15 (£13.08) per person for a “menu del día” – which is a set Spanish menu.

Ceuta has beaches like Playa del Chorrillo, which is close to the Strait of Gibraltar and has pretty scenic views.

The city has cobbled streets, historic buildings, and cultural landmarks like Royal Walls of Ceuta, also called Murallas Reales de Ceuta, a historic fort dating back to 962 AD.

Another popular site is the Ceuta Cathedral, a yellow-and-white cathedral overlooking Plaza de África.

As Ceuta is in North Africa, it’s convenient to explore Morocco too.

About an hour away by car is the seaside city of Tangier city is at the very tip of Morocco and on a clear day, you can even see Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar.

Tangier has been a major trade centre for thousands of years thanks to its location and busy port.

Visitors can learn about its interesting history with a guided tour, and wander through Kasbah, the walled part of the city full of tiny streets and alleys.

Kasbah has been used for Hollywood movies including James Bond and the Bourne film series.

For more on a trip to Morocco, check out the other cities with souks and where to find golden beaches.

For Brits, the best way to visit Ceuta is to fly to a Spanish mainland airport like Malaga or Algeciras, then take a car or bus to Algeciras port, and finally a ferry to Ceuta.

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One UK tourist attraction has been named the spookiest tourist attraction in Europe

For those keen to inject some spine-chilling thrills into their next holiday, Europe offers countless eerie destinations to explore. Yet the most bone-chilling spot of all might be right on our doorstep.

Norwegian Air has declared the Edinburgh Vaults in Scotland as Europe’s most terrifying tourist attraction. These underground chambers were carved out within the nineteen arches of Edinburgh’s South Bridge.

Initially serving as storage facilities for South Bridge businesses from 1788, this purpose proved short-lived. During the Industrial Revolution, they transformed into overcrowded slum dwellings, with cramped rooms sheltering families of up to ten people.

The vaults eventually earned notoriety as one of the city’s most perilous areas, becoming a breeding ground for criminal enterprises.

Underground spaces were converted into illicit gambling establishments and bootleg whisky operations. Sinister tales even suggested that body snatchers would temporarily store cadavers in certain vaults overnight.

Given this grim and shadowy past, it comes as little surprise that the Edinburgh Vaults are reportedly haunted. Spectral encounters include phantom children who grasp visitors’ hands during tours, and the infamous ‘Mr. Boots’, whose thunderous footsteps occasionally reverberate throughout the chambers.

One TripAdvisor reviewer shared their experience: “Had a wonderful time exploring. Worth booking in advance. Very interesting to learn new things. Unfortunately I can’t remember the young ladies name who lead us but she was amazing and very knowledgeable.”

Another added: “We had the most amazing tour thanks to our guide, Kieran. It was just myself and my partner on our tour, but that didn’t phase our guide! He struck the right balance between scary/paranormal stories and the dark historical past of the vaults. If you’re coming to Edinburgh, carve out an hour to go on this tour, it was my favourite thing we’d done on this holiday!”

Meanwhile, a third wrote: “Great tour with a fantastic tour guide Aimee who was very informative & comical. Really interesting to learn about the history of the underground vaults.”

Coming in second place amongst Europe’s most spine-chilling destinations was Portugal’s Capela dos Ossos, or Chapel of Bones, whilst third place was claimed by Lithuania’s haunting Hill of Crosses.

The Edinburgh Vaults weren’t the sole UK location to feature on the list, with the Tower of London, another notoriously ghostly site, securing fifth position.

Europe’s 10 spookiest places

1. Edinburgh Vaults, Scotland
2. Capela dos Ossos, Portugal
3. The Hill of Crosses, Lithuania
4. Catacombs of Paris, France
5. The Tower of London, England
6. Dracula’s birthplace, Dublin
7. The Church of Ghosts, Prague
8. Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim
9. Pfaueninsel, Berlin
10. Moosham Castle, Austria

Edinburgh is a stunning city at any time of year, but it’s said to be particularly beautiful during autumn when the leaves turn into shades of yellow, orange, and red.

One travel blogger on Ourcrossings described the city as “beautiful” throughout the year, but particularly stunning during autumn.

There’s reportedly an “extra dose of magic” as foliage transforms into hues of yellow, orange, and red.

The blogger observed: “With colourful leaves framing its every corner, Edinburgh turns into an autumnal dreamland that feels like a world away from the rest of Europe.”

Edinburgh presents a magnificent sight, positioned against the majestic Castle backdrop, and boasts numerous parks for visitors to explore.

Key locations include Princes Street Gardens, where you can stroll towards attractions such as the Scott Monument, Ross Fountain, and the National Museum of Scotland, reports the Express.

Additionally, there’s the Royal Botanic Garden, the adjacent Inverleith Park – merely a three-minute stroll away – and Edinburgh Old Town.

“The Old Town is home to some of Edinburgh’s biggest and best attractions,” highlighted Forever Edinburgh.

Renowned landmarks feature Edinburgh Castle, St Giles’ Cathedral, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

The Palace serves as the official Royal Residence in Edinburgh where guests can view Mary Queen of Scots’ bedchamber.

Edinburgh has also gained recognition for its guided walks, allowing you to discover stories from historical periods whilst becoming familiar with the ancient city.

Forever Edinburgh suggests Mercy Tours to uncover stories of murder and mystery along the cobblestone streets.

For those who fancy a bit of exploration, GuruWalk’s free walking tours allow you to hop-on and hop-off at various intriguing spots.

Not to mention, the Scottish capital is brimming with snug pubs, delightful eateries and shops just waiting to be discovered.

The firestorms that broke out in January ravaged two distinctly different stretches of Los Angeles County: one with grand views of the Pacific Ocean, the other nestled against the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

But so far, a push from congressional Republicans to investigate the Jan. 7 firestorm and response has been focused almost exclusively on the Palisades fire, which broke out in L.A.’s Pacific Palisades and went on to burn parts of Malibu and surrounding areas.

In a letter to City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, two U.S. senators this week intensified that investigation, saying they want an enormous trove of documents on Los Angeles Fire Department staffing, wildfire preparations, the city’s water supply and many other topics surrounding the devastating blaze.

U.S. Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) asked for records related to several issues raised during and after the Palisades fire, including an empty reservoir and the failure to fully extinguish a previous fire that was later identified as the cause.

In contrast, the letter only briefly mentions the Eaton fire, which broke out in the unincorporated community of Altadena and spread to parts of Pasadena. That emergency was plagued by delayed evacuation alerts, deployment issues and allegations that electrical equipment operated by Southern California Edison sparked the blaze.

Both fires incinerated thousands of homes. Twelve people died in the Palisades fire. In the Eaton fire, all but one of the 19 who died were found in west Altadena, where evacuation alerts came hours after flames and smoke were threatening the area.

Scott and Johnson gave Harris-Dawson a deadline of Nov. 3 to produce records on several topics specific to the city of L.A.: “diversity, equity and inclusion” hiring policies at the city’s Fire Department; the Department of Water and Power’s oversight of its reservoirs; and the removal of Fire Chief Kristin Crowley by Mayor Karen Bass earlier this year.

Officials in Los Angeles County said they have not received such a letter dealing with either the Palisades fire or the Eaton fire.

A spokesperson for Johnson referred questions about the letter to Scott’s office. An aide to Scott told The Times this week that the investigation remains focused on the Palisades fire but could still expand. Some Eaton fire records were requested, the spokesperson said, because “they’re often inextricable in public reports.”

The senators — who both sit on the Senate’s Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs — opened the probe after meeting with reality TV star Spencer Pratt, who lost a home in the Palisades fire and quickly became an outspoken critic of the city’s response to the fire and subsequent rebuilding efforts. At the time, the senators called the Palisades fire “an unacceptable failure of government to protect the lives and property of its citizens.”

The investigation was initially billed as a look at the city’s emergency preparations, including the lack of water in a nearby reservoir and in neighborhood fire hydrants the night of the fire. The Times first reported that the Santa Ynez Reservoir, located in Pacific Palisades, had been closed for repairs for nearly a year.

The letter to Harris-Dawson seeks records relating to the reservoir as well as those dealing with “wildfire preparation, suppression, and response … including but not limited to the response to the Palisades and Lachman fires.”

Officials have said the Lachman fire, intentionally set Jan. 1, reignited six days later to become the Palisades fire. A suspect was recently arrested on suspicion of arson in the Lachman fire. Now, the senators are raising concerns about why that fire wasn’t properly contained.

The sweeping records request also seeks communications sent to and from each of the 15 council members and or their staff that mention the Palisades and Eaton fires. At this point, it’s unclear whether the city would have a substantial number of documents on the Eaton fire, given its location outside city limits.

Harris-Dawson did not provide comment. But Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who serves on the council’s public safety committee, made clear that he thinks the senators are confused by Southern California’s geography — and the distinctions between city and county jurisdictions.

“MAGA Republicans couldn’t even look at a map before launching into this ridiculous investigation,” he said. “DEI did not cause the fires, and these senators should take their witch hunts elsewhere,” he said in a statement.

Officials in L.A. County, who have confronted their own hard questions about botched evacuation alerts and poor resource deployment during the Eaton fire, said they had not received any letters from the senators about either fire.

Neither Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger — who currently serves as board chair — nor Supervisor Lindsey Horvath had received such a document request, according to their aides. Barger represents Altadena, while Horvath’s district includes Pacific Palisades, Malibu and unincorporated communities affected by the Palisades fire.

Monday’s letter also seeks records “referring or relating to any reports or investigations of arson, burglary, theft, or looting” in fire-affected areas, as well as the arrest of Jonathan Rinderknecht, the Palisades fire arson suspect. It also seeks documents on the council’s efforts to “dismantle systemic racism” — and whether such efforts affected the DWP or the Fire Department.

Alberto Retana, president and chief executive of Community Coalition, a nonprofit group based in Harris-Dawson’s district, said he too views the inquiry from the two senators as a witch hunt — one that’s targeting L.A. city elected officials while ignoring Southern California Edison.

“There’s been reports that Edison was responsible for the Eaton fire, but there’s [nothing] that shows any concern about that,” he said.

Residents in Altadena have previously voiced concerns about what they viewed as disparities in the Trump administration’s response to the two fires. The Palisades fire tore through the mostly wealthy neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Malibu — home to celebrities who have since kept the recovery in the spotlight. Meanwhile, many of Altadena’s Black and working-class residents say their communities have been left behind.

In both areas, however, there has been growing concern that now-barren lots will be swiftly purchased by wealthy outside investors, including those who are based outside of the United States.

Scott, in a news release issued this week, said the congressional investigation will also examine whether Chinese companies are “taking advantage” of the fire recovery. The Times has not been able to independently verify such claims.

Hull was once mocked and named the worst place to live in the UK. However, it has now been included on the Naitonal Geographic’s best place to visit – the only UK destination to get the nod

A UK city that has long been the butt of the public’s jokes has been named one of the best places in the world to visit.

Hull has rightly been included in National Geographic’s list of ‘the best places in the world to travel to in 2026’, the only UK destination to make the list. Despite excelling itself as the country’s City of Culture in 2017, it’s fair to say Hull receives a disproportionate—and unfair—amount of jibes.

When I lived in York, which is just 37 miles away across Yorkshire, the snobbery directed towards the city of 267,000 was rife and rarely concealed. Many of the jokes came from those who had never visited Hull. Had they taken the time to hop on a train and made the hour-long journey from North to East Yorkshire, I’m sure their eyes would’ve been opened.

Back in 2003, an extremely well-publicised hardback book proclaimed Hull the UK’s most awful hellhole. The Idler Book Of Crap Towns: The 50 Worst Places To Live In The UK wrote of the town: “No matter what happens to me in later life, no matter where I live, or how bad things are, I will know that it can never, ever be as bad as living in Hull”

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Writing in National Geographic, Lorna Parkes explains quite how wrong some people are when it comes to Hull, and some of the joys that await those yet to visit.

“At the edge of the North Sea, Hull was one of the world’s busiest whaling ports in the 19th century and a fishing and shipping hub until the 20th, before falling on hard times. Over the past decade, the city has undergone significant revitalization,” she writes.

“Warehouses around Humber Street’s old waterside Fruit Market are now lively independent bars, restaurants, and art galleries. There’s also a spectacular performance amphitheatre, called Stage@TheDock, overlooking River Hull where it meets the Humber Estuary; and a former shipyard has for over 20 years been the base for The Deep, one of the United Kingdom’s most highly respected aquariums and marine conservation centres.”

There are good things on the horizon for Hull. Next year, a £40 million project to promote Hull’s maritime heritage wraps up. A network of new interpretive sites aims to bring 800 years of seafaring history to life. Among them are the Hull Maritime Museum, the North End Shipyard two-storey visitors centre, and two permanently docked museum ships: the 1960s Arctic Corsair cod trawler and the Spurn lightship.

A new Maritime Heritage Trail now winds through the city’s Georgian Old Town, which takes in new green spaces and public art inspired by the city’s ties to the sea.

The Express’s Samantha Teasdale visited Hull this summer. “Despite its notorious reputation as the ‘worst place to live’, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the charm of Hull,” she wrote.

“As I meandered through the lively streets under the warm sun, cooled by a gentle breeze, I was delighted I’d made the trip. The sight of pride flags fluttering on numerous buildings added to the allure. The streets were buzzing with chatter, but it wasn’t until I heard the popping of prosecco bottles that I realised why the area was so bustling.

“Graduates in their gowns and hats filled every pub, restaurant, and street corner. Memories of my own graduation brought a smile to my face.”

Samantha’s favourite part of the city was the marina. “There, I unearthed a treasure trove of hidden gems – quaint cafés, charming restaurants and other businesses that you wouldn’t stumble upon unless you dared to venture past the construction works,” she continued.

“Happily perched on a bench by the marina, next to the aquarium, I found myself gazing out at the sea and musing over how Hull seemed rather delightful. Could it really be such a dreadful place to reside?

“Hull has a lot to offer, and while I may not have ventured into the ‘rough parts’, I believe it’s a city that is often misunderstood and is striving to reinvent itself. I’m eager to return.”

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WHEN Brits think about the best cities in the UK, the ones that come to mind are probably the likes of York, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Brighton or London.

But according to National Geographic, one of ‘best places in the world to travel to in 2026’ is Hull – all thanks to its lively bar scene, award-winning aquarium, and completion of a huge project costing millions.

Hull, is a port city in East Yorkshire that sits on the north bank of the river Humber.

National Geographic has named it as one of the best places in the entire world to visit next year, but it’s not always been so up and coming.

For example in Hull took top spot in the book Crap Towns: The 50 Worst Places to Live in the UK back in 2003.

However, it’s set to become more popular in 2026, and National Geographic mentioned that one of the reasons why is Hull’s investment into conserving its rich maritime history.

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Hull was a very important trade route during the 13th and 14th centuries.

Thanks to this, you can see Dutch-influenced architecture buildings that line the streets of the quaint Old Town. 

Since 2020, the Maritime Museum has been undergoing a huge revamp worth £11million, but it will finally reopen to the public next year.

This has been part of a wider £27.5 million project to promote Hull’s maritime history which has gone into restoring the museum and ships.

Another reason is the city’s new leisure spots that have transformed warehouses and the old waterside Fruit Market to become bars, restaurants, and art galleries.

The publication added: “There’s also a spectacular performance amphitheater, called Stage@TheDock, overlooking River Hull where it meets the Humber Estuary.”

It continued: “And a former shipyard has for over 20 years been the base for The Deep, one of the United Kingdom’s most highly respected aquariums and marine conservation centers.”

The Deep is one of the country’s best aquariums, and the attraction is listed as one of top thing to do on Hull’s TripAdvisor.

Inside, visitors will be able to see sharks, turtles, penguins, and the UK’s only Green sawfish.

Head into the city and you’ll find the towering Hull Minster, the largest parish church in England (by floor area), it’s over 700 years old and is known to have some of the finest medieval brickwork in the country.

If visitors want to get a panoramic view of Hull, they can choose to climb the 180 steps up the spiral staircase.

It’s not just all about history, as Hull is a star of the screen having been used in the backdrop of lots of well-known TV shows and movies.

It even has its own showbiz trail called ‘It Must Be Hullywood‘, a walking route designed for tourists to see sites of their favourite shows.

And they’re big shows too like The Crown, Bodies, Enola Holmes 2 and ITV‘s Victoria starring Jenna Coleman.

Visitors to Hull can download a guide or grab a leaflet to follow the trail at their own pace.

It’s not the first time Hull has been revealed to be a city on the rise, it was even named one of Time Out’s best places to visit in 2024. In 2017, Hull was named the UK City of Culture.

Last year, Sun Travel explored Hull as part of Sun Travel’s Best of British series, and writer Hope Brotherton went to explore the city, here’s what she discovered.

For shopping, Hope suggested heading to Humber Street which used to be lined with fruit and veg traders but now has cool independent clothing and homeware shops, an art gallery and some of the city’s trendiest restaurants.

When it comes to things to do, head to Dinostar, an interactive dinosaur museum designed specifically for inquisitive kids where there’s everything from yrannosaurus Rex skull to Triceratops bones.

Other stops include the William Wilberforce House Museum and the Hull & East Riding Museum of Archaeology.

Hull has plenty of pubs and in 2023 was crowned the UK’s cheapest place for beers last year – some of Hope’s favourite included The Minerva pub and the Lion and Key.

The city is also rightfully proud of their Hearth Restaurant & Bakery, which is even listed in the Michelin Guide. 

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After spending a weekend in the city, Hope said: “From its maritime history to its free walking tours and other cultural attractions, Hull has it all for a great weekend break.

After 48 hours in the city, I could see why the locals I met are so proud to come from Hull – I would be, too.”

National Geographic’s ‘best places in the world to travel to in 2026’…

The Dolomites, Milan, Italy

Québec, Canada

Beijing, China

Dominica

Rabat, Morocco

Hull, Yorkshire, England

North Dakota Badlands, U.S.

Manila, Philippines

Black Sea Coast, Türkiye

Khiva, Uzbekistan

Akagera National Park, Rwanda, East Africa

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Yamagata Prefecture, Japan

Route 66: Oklahoma, U.S.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Oulu, Finland

South Korea

Guimarães, Portugal

Basque Country, Spain

Maui, Hawaii, U.S.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Coastal Oaxaca (Costa Chica), Mexico

Fiji

Medellín, Colombia

Banff, Canada