Europe

Being James Bond in Siena, Tuscany

Tables, chairs and parasols line narrow streets and fill small piazzas, their occupants enjoying fat-crusted pizzas whose slices reluctantly pull apart in a cat’s cradle of melted cheese, and plates of pasta topped with rich sauce and drizzled in aromatic olive oil. […]

As we walked out

A series of short walks in Scotland

A short route recommended by the folk at our hotel, the 15th century Knipoch, took us along a grassy path lined by bushy confers and moss-covered drystane dykes to an open hillock surrounded by crispy bracken and a tartan coloured vista which took in slender Loch Feochan, Mull, Islay, and a rolling landscape which had me wishing I was wearing my kilt. […]

Food & drink

7 steps to culinary enlightenment

If you’re the sort of person who, in culinary terms, likes and dislikes exactly the same things you enjoyed as a child, stop reading. This will be meaningless. On the other hand, if your palate has evolved over the years, then you might want to try this little exercise yourself. […]

Europe

The end of spring in central Portugal

The season has changed. This hit home on Friday in the supermarket where there was a distinctly different vibe. People were dressed in full on summer uniform. There were telling empty places on the shelves where boxes of Sagres beer and sacks of BBQ briquettes should be. […]