It is therefore ideal for those including myself who don't want to wade through 500-page egofests with titles such asFive years on a yak

It is, therefore, ideal for those (including myself) who don't want to wade through 500-page egofests with titles such asFive years on a yak (the sort of thing that supports the notion that it is not travel but travel writing that narrows the mind).As the foreword tells us,E B White contributed to Holiday, a monthly US magazine set up in the post-war travel boom. This kind of enterprise was far from the "consumer" journalism of today, especially with contributors such as William Faulkner and Robert Capa, and sure enough E B White at no point refers to the "price for two sharing", as he might now have to do. Rather, he conveys the idea that one is taking an intimate stroll through New York's neighbourhoods, by way of an extended observational musing on what makes the city special. The book engages the mind as well as the feet, and would be an ideal companion on a weekend to New York - perhaps alongside a guidebook providing more basic information.. This pub walk starts at the Crown, a listed building on the corner of Corporation Street and Newton Street in the heart of Birmingham's legal quarter.

As you leave the pub, take time to visit the red-brick and terracotta Assize Courts opposite, the work of Sir Aston Webb and Ingress Bell. In the entrance hall the beautifully executed stained-glass windows depict famous names in Birmingham's history. This pub walk starts at the Crown, a listed building on the corner of Corporation Street and Newton Street in the heart of Birmingham's legal quarter. As you leave the pub, take time to visit the red-brick and terracotta Assize Courts opposite, the work of Sir Aston Webb and Ingress Bell. In the entrance hall the beautifully executed stained-glass windows depict famous names in Birmingham's history. Next, turn left and head up Corporation Street, towards the Old Square. As you go, look across the street at a magnificent example of Arts and Crafts styling, the Deane and Pitman building. Cross into the Old Square,where the first thing to catch your eye will be a large metal cut-out of the comedian Tony Hancock, one of the city's most famous sons.To the right of the square is an attractive brass-and-iron relief mural which tells the story of the area from the 13th to the 19th century.

Cross the road ahead of you into the small shopping precinct of the Minories and check the time on the clock above you on the left, a giant pocket watch.Next, cross Bull Street into Temple Row and turn right into the beautifully restored Great Western Arcade, then go over Colmore Row and down Livery Street. Turn left into Edmund Street and proceed to the junction with Church Street.Before you turn right towards the second pub, the Old Royal, look up at St Philip's Anglican Cathedral. The Old Royal is more than 100 years old with original stained-glass windows, and stands on the corner of Cornwall Street which has some lovely, highly individual Arts and Crafts houses on the right-hand side. On the left-hand side is the splendid Birmingham School of Art, finished in 1885 and another fine example of the Victorian use of terracotta. As you turn left into Margaret Street at the top of Cornwall Street, cross the road and turn to look back at the lovely roundel in place of a window, with its Arts and Crafts lilies and scrolls.Now proceed right under Birmingham's Bridge of Sighs, which links the original Art Gallery with the splendidly refurbished Gas Hall. Here you go straight ahead skirting Chamberlain Square and going through the Central Library complex On the other side of the library is Centenary Square.

The first building, the Hall of Memory, is Birmingham's War Memorial and beyond it is the International Convention Centre and Symphony Hall. Notice the works of art along the way, including Raymond Mason's group of statuary illustrating the city motto, "Forward".Go to the left of the Convention Centre under the Hyatt Bridge and you arrive at Edward's. Dating back to the 18th century, when there was a brewery on the site, the pub boasts some fine oil paintings.As you leave Edward's, turn right and take the steps down to the canal side. The trail takes you to the left, under the bridge which supports the busy Broad Street, and into Gas Street Basin. The James Brindley pub, built in 1986, honours the great canal pioneer and has been designed to resemble one of the warehouses that traded along the canals.The last part of the trail takes you across the Worcester Bar, over the bridge, and left along the opposite bank to one of the newest developments on the Birmingham cityscape: the Mailbox, a mixture of designer shops and restaurants on the site of the Royal Mail Sorting Office.

Head into Suffolk Street and follow the lights under the ring road into the city centre, towards New Street station.Turn left up Hill Street and get your breath back at the top, looking down on the Town Hall. Now go right down New Street and look for the Burlington Arcade on your right. Here you'll find the final pub, the Bacchus Bar, part medieval baronial, and part Italian Renaissance, unique to the Birmingham pub scene.* This walk was devised by Carol Hartill, and is part of a new series of Classic Pub Walks published by Bass Leisure Retail (tel: 0121-420 6034; www.classicpubwalks ). Location Location The Hospedaria Venite is in the Hotel Venite, on 31 January Road, Panaji, Goa, India (0091 832 425 537). It is in the centre of Goa's capital, Panaji, just back from the Mandovi river, on a street which leads down to Fontainhas, the old part of town.Ambience and view The tiny wooden balconies of this first-floor restaurant overlook pretty, multi-coloured buildings. Over their red-tiled roofs peek a couple of lanky palm trees and below, you can watch the flip-floppings of the evening's passers-by.Décor Through a narrow doorway and up a wooden staircase is a room full of Old World Portuguese style The floorboards were salvaged from ancient shipwrecks.