Hiking
Favourite Views, Zweiselalm above Gosausee, Austria
When I think of views that have embedded themselves deeply in my mind, Zweiselalm above Gosausee is one which automatically bustles its way into one of the top places. […]
Picture This
Gran Canaria
Favourite views, above Tejeda on Gran Canaria
Unfortunately, this portrayal of the Canaries as being arid rocks isn’t uncommon, and yet the reality couldn’t be more different, as illustrated by one of my favourite views in the archipelago, this vista from above Tejeda on Gran Canaria. […]
Picture This
The Wish You Were Here Travel Photographs
Whenever we head to any destination, I make a tick list of images I want. Sometimes I have a good idea of what the ‘I want to stand on that spot image’ is, at others it presents itself… […]
Hiking
10 reasons why snowy destinations are for non-skiers
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve written quite a bit about snow breaks for non-skiers. By now I should be weary of trying to describe wintry scenes using numerous different words, wishing I was […]
Europe
Four seasons in a day, scenes from around Scotland
A trip from Scotland’s lowlands into an increasingly wild north matches the drama of constantly changing seasons; the metamorphosing landscape adding its own crescendos and diminuendos. […]
Europe
Scenes of walking in Peneda-Gerês National Park
Portugal’s only National Park meanders spreads south from the Castro Laboreiro to the Mourelo Plateau. It is a wonderfully wild expanse of glacial valleys, boulder-strewn plateaus, lakes and rivers, high mountains (in Portuguese terms), cork and oak forests, and tiny settlements… […]
Europe
From Florence to fishermen’s jetties, 10 views of the year
The most valuable treasures, whatever form they take, don’t just fall at our feet. If they did there would have been no Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, or James Tiberius Kirk. We have to seek them out; to boldly go where, well, some others have gone before. […]
Alentejo
Ten scenes of the Alentejo in Portugal
Ask me two years ago what visions the word Alentejo formed in my mind and my immediate answer would have been vast golden plains; a landscape devoid of people save for a handful of settlements, […]
Europe
In a valley on La Gomera
Jo will be gutted when I tell her Benedict Allen almost chose La Gomera as a place to lay his dusty, old wide-brimmed hat for a while. She’ll be furious when I tell her why. […]
Picture This
From Tenerife to Tortel, WOW travel moments
Some images, on the other hand, speak for themselves. These are the ones which show that WOW travel moment. It was one such photo which prompted this pondering. It remains one of my biggest WOW travel experiences. […]
Hiking
Scenic saunters across Europe
Something occurred to me the other day as we stood on a ridge overlooking a valley in Arrabida, Portugal. Whenever I hear the name of a specific area the image which pops into my head usually isn’t one of just bricks and mortar, it’s often a countryside scene […]
La Palma
Scenes from the water’s edge
As the wintery sun yawns and slips towards the duvet of the horizon there’s a mini pilgrimage in Alcochete on the southern banks of the Tagus. The place of worship is Alcach, a bar with jazzy sounds and chairs facing west. […]
Europe
Ten scenes of Drôme Provençale
Drôme Provençale, although exhibiting many of the classic Provence ingredients, had a slightly different personality; one which was typically soft and beautiful in that dreamy Provence way, yet with a slightly wilder, more carefree edge. […]
Europe
Scenes of a stroll around 5 districts of Venice
Venice is one of those destinations which sat loftily on a grand cerebral column. But reports of it being an overcrowded tourist destination (regularly lumped in with Barcelona and Dubrovnik) had made us wary that it might be just another dreamy bubble waiting to be burst. […]
Andros
10 scenes of the Greek Island of Andros
Over a week’s walking from north to south we passed a grand total of seven other walkers. Three of these were Greek, the others were a Dutch couple we passed twice. […]