Charlotte Jones
Charlotte Jones always wanted to be a journalist and from the age of fifteen successfully sought work experience at The Telegraph, The Sun, Conde Nast and Emap. After studying a great deal of Russian history at A Level, Charlotte went on to study East European History at University College London and graduated in 2008. Her interest in the region grew after visiting Slovenia in the 1990s, after the fall of Yugoslavia. Since then she has travelled extensively throughout the region, visiting Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Lithuania, Serbia and Turkey. In years to come there will no doubt be many more adventures throughout the region but without doubt one of her most bizarre and exciting trips was to Chernobyl in 2008. While she did not return glowing the colour of a character from The Simpsons, the sheer devastation convinced Charlotte to champion environmentally-friendly energy in favour of nuclear power.
While working at TopTipsforGirls.com, and inspired by Kate Reardon and Abigail Murray, she mused over the idea of launching Charlotte’s VVeb – Tales of East European Travel, Culture & Food. The site finally went live in March 2009. As well as covering anything and everything travel, culture, food, drink, fashion and beauty related to the region, Charlotte now works as Living Editor at Glam Media UK and is responsible for the launch of their latest vertical (details to be announced shortly). She has previously written for National Geographic Traveller magazine, B2B intelligence resource Stylus.com, top women’s online magazine Glam.co.uk, Channel 4′s 4 Beauty site, food magazine Blue Tomato, and luxury fashion and culture magazine Anglomania. Being a lover of cooking and eating she judges at the annual Great Taste Awards. She is currently learning Russian and speaks a smattering of Slovene, German, Serbian and Croatian. When not in the kitchen whipping up East European culinary delights, she is usually found with a cocktail or glass of wine in hand.
A few favourites…
Books Anything by Ian McEwan, J D Salinger, Barbara Kingsolver, Judith Kerr, Truman Capote, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Foods Skampi Buzzara, Cevapi & Ajvar, Bigos, stroganoff; aside from all things East European I love Italian and Spanish cuisine too
Drinks Red wine such as Teran from Slovenia, Dingac from Croatia, Zubrowka vodka and I’m a lover of gin!
Restaurant in London, probably Mimino, in St Petersburg Ket, in Dubrovnik Kamnice but there are also so many others!
Bar in London, probably Bar Polski, formerly Na Zdrowie because it holds great memories
Secret Hideaway The balcony at Taurus restaurant in Mostar is a real idyllic retreat
