Christian Cummins
Christian Cummins moved to Vienna 14 years ago, after a stint as a radio journalist at Vibe Fm in Ghana. He currently presents shows on the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation's fm4. For Metropole he writes about all things tasty and about outdoor sports.
A Backcountry Dream
Fieberbrunn's fortunate microclimate makes it a powder hound's paradise.There comes a time in every avid skiier’s life when the thrill of the pistes wears off and even steep black runs lack that c...
Delta Blues | Discovering Romania’s Danube Delta
The Danube Delta is a haven of biodiversity, but animals and humans need a helping hand. It’s early morning and I’m wandering around a small tongue of land in the heart of the Danube Delta in Romania, where the mighty river splits into dozens of channels, spreading like a spiderweb over 580,000 hectares of wet-, […]
Prague Nights | Sex and Sorcery in Benjamin Black’s Addictive New Thriller
Benjamin Black’s addictive new thriller re-creates an irresistible world of sex and sorcery in 16th century Prague It’s a snowy December 1599 in Prague, then the capital of the Habsburg Empire, and the emperor’s mistress has had her throat brutally slashed open. A naïve young scholar, new in the city but with delusions of grandeur, […]
Communism or Populism? Protests and Politics in Czechia
One generation after the miraculous Velvet Revolution brought down totalitarianism, Central Europe is still dealing with its legacy – and seeking to preserve the spark of the Prague Spring
The Road Most Travelled | An Austrian Cider Guide
A tour around Lower Austria’s cider region, the Mostviertel, blends tradition with innovation. I have vivid memories of my first encounter with Most, the fermented drink that gave the Mostviertel (Most district) its name. On a sun-kissed late spring afternoon, my girlfriend’s uncle had taken me on a mountain-bike ride along the dusty roads winding through […]
Vienna International Cycle Club’s Social Media Success Story
The Vienna International Cycle Club is a social media success story. It’s a Sunday morning and the clock is approaching ten in the morning. On the Steinitzsteg, the yellow footbridge straddling the Neue Donau, a huddle of around 20 cyclists have gathered for a ride with the Vienna International Cycle Club (VICC). As each new rider approaches the group, they are welcomed by the […]
Just Because Spring Is Coming Doesn’t Mean the Snow Is Leaving in Obergurg...
The Obergurgl region’s rich snowfalls make it a skiing paradise beyond wintertime. As I walked out of the Alpine Hotel Laurin in Hochgurgl in the early morning this January, Martin, a seasonal worker from Czechia, was clearing a walkway that had disappeared overnight under freshly fallen snow. “Ah, this is nothing special,” he said, noticing […]
Sports | Dust off Your Skis and Check out our Guide to the Zillertal!
The Zillertal caters to both daredevils and families, boasting Austria’s steepest slope and gentle pistes At last, the wind blew the last storm cloud o the knobbly buttresses of Penken mountain, leaving one of Austria’s most famous ski runs right beneath the tips of my skis, glistening invitingly with a thick coat of fresh snow. […]
