Fleming planned to drive most of his second tour of cities, which concentrated on places he wanted to visit in Europe. [16] For the trip he took his own car, a Ford Thunderbird convertible, crossing the channel and journeying through Ostend, Antwerp and Bremen before arriving at his first destination: Hamburg. [16] He stayed only briefly in the city, praising the sex industry by writing "how very different from the prudish and hypocritical manner in which we so disgracefully mismanage these things in England". [17] Fleming moved on to Berlin, where he was shown round the city by The Sunday Times correspondent Anthony Terry and his wife Rachel. Terry took Fleming into East Berlin and told him many of the details about Operation Stopwatch, the Anglo-American attempt to tunnel into the Soviet-occupied zone to tap into landline communication of the Soviet Army headquarters. [17] In comparison to Hamburg, Fleming thought Berlin was "sinister". [18] Food is indifferent, waiters rude, strip-lighting hideous, and musicians play nonstop, except for a pause to push a plate in your face.

His asides are both mesmerizing and wistful, like him wondering why the mouth of the Ganges is not one of the wonders of the world, and incisive in deconstructing the popular myths, of Viennese culture and beauty and even of the apocryphal stories of gambling in Monte Carlo.Having read all of Fleming's Bond novels, I considered myself finished with Fleming too. But two things happened in 2020. I discovered several of his nonfiction works and Covid-19 seriously limited my ability to scratch my travel itch. So, when I discovered Fleming's 1963 travel book, I was intrigued. In 1959, the Sunday Times hired Ian Fleming to fly around the world in 30-days and write about several cities on his route. He wrote about:

Discover the best villas in Morocco The old Huguenot church in Franschhoek (Alamy) 8. Cape Town & The Winelands, South Africa For complete details on 007 in New York, including the recipe for Scrambled Eggs “James Bond”, visit this CommanderBond.net article. Well, I have, but it is only a brief and rather dull exhortation to our young to 'Go East, young man!' See the Pacific Ocean and die!It’s a quirky collection with the best pieces being the ones where he is talking to someone, or making his own direct observances. There are nevertheless some fact based moments in the collection which read as if they were taken from a brochure or news article. Fleming collected many such ephemera. I can see him laughing over his scrambled eggs at his expenses paid trip, and smiling as he ruminates over the extravagance of it all between deep puffs of his gold banded cigarettes. The 007 in New York short story was only included in US editions of Thrilling Cities and for several decades remained the only place for literary Bond fans to turn to read it (although the story was originally published in the The New York Herald Tribune in 1963). It finally debuted in the UK in 1999 in a magazine supplement to the Sunday Times. Following this, it was added as the fourth short story to the Octopussy and The Living Daylights collection, which was first published in the UK by Penguin Books in 2002 and in the US in 2004. It remains in this collection in all reprints and new publications since then. But it read too much like a tourist guide with names of best hotels and restaurants of a place at the end of each chapter. The chapters on Hong Kong and Macau are in fact pure tourist guides. Sure, there is quite a bit about the Triad gangsters and gold smuggling in Macau, but I did not find those to be that interesting. NOTE: wherever he went, he was pursued by catastrophic events such as earthquakes, volcanoes erupting, aerial disasters, rainwater leaks] warm and lively city (also thanks to strip-tease shows and prostitutes whose activity is legalised and supervised by medical staff)

Where to stay The posh Dukes Bath* B&B spans two Regency houses and has period-style furnishings, while The Swan* is a cool pub with rooms that lets you explore the eastern Cotswolds close to Blenheim Palace. P53: At the same time, I examined his and saw nothing but happy birdlike eyes and evidence of a rather hasty shave in those difficult comers just below the nose. Having made my way through a couple of his excellent and headily indulgent James Bond novels, I was tempted to read what Ian Fleming, a compellingly stylish, even subversive master of brainy pulp had to tell about his globe-trotting exploits in some of the world's most exciting and enigmatic cities. I was expecting only love or wide-eyed admiration because that is what marks his nuanced and wonderful portrayals of the zingy hotspots in each of his James Bond adventures. But 'Thrilling Cities' is thrilling travel writing, not just for the candor but also the cutting and razor-sharp observations and reflections that he lends to each place he lands in. As you expect, his cruelty is blunt and monotone, spanning the nations and races. But he is strangely aware of this. Where to stay Strong on serenity, the stately, seven-room Chakrabongse Villas & Residences* line Bangkok’s Chao Phraya river. In Krabi, choose Rayavadee*, a 100-pavilion resort deep in tropical scenery, yet right by the beach.Where to stay Beautiful and sprawling, the gardens of the Old Harbour Hotel* offer tranquillity close to the water in Kochi. From Alappuzha, Ayana Houseboats’ two-person vessel makes stops upon request and serves zesty Keralan cuisine. The Whitsunday Islands (Getty Images) 10. Brisbane & The Great Barrier Reef, Australia

To discuss Thrilling Cities visit this thread on the CBn Forums, the largest James Bond 007 forum in the world. Related Articles The second series of articles started on 31 July 1960 with Fleming's trip to Hamburg, [23] and finished with his visit to Monte Carlo. [24] Overall the series was considered popular and successful. [25] Release and reception [ edit ] The chapter on Geneva is the best in the whole book. Fleming's reflections on the Swiss character are fantastic - " For the solidity of Switzerland is based on a giant conspiracy to keep chaos at bay and, where it blows in from neighboring countries, or pollinates within the frontiers, to sweep it tidily under the carpet." The whole chapter is quite amusing.What is so pleasant is that, combined with the delicious, always new sights and smells of 'abroad', there is a sense of achievement, of a task completed, when each target is reached without accident, on time and with the car still running sweetly. There is the illusion that one has done a hard and meritorious day's work (few women understand this—perhaps, poor beasts, because they have been only passengers). In the Sahara Desert, it’s possible to sleep out overnight amid the dunes in tents typical of nomadic Bedouin tribesmen. You could ride camels if desired, before settling down to stories over mint tea around the campfire. Sunset is magical; sunrise is better still. Where to stay Marrakech’s central El Fenn* stretches across 12 interconnected riads, blending traditional decor with ample luxury-hotel facilities. The agency Feel Morocco specialises in desert stays, and can also supply transfers from Marrakech. Where to stay Open to non-members, the seaside Soho House Barcelona contains a 36-seat cinema, a basement Cowshed spa and an indoor pool. In Matarraña, the British-owned Torre del Visco hotel* estate and its rose gardens straddle a beautiful river valley. Bedrooms and the buffet breakfast alike are huge.