Portugal
How living abroad has changed us
The wounds are still gaping red, raw, and very sore. It’s too painful for me to talk about Brexit at the moment. No, painful is not the right word at all. If I let my […]
Travel Talk
Portugal
Cycling, what is it good for?
I like the thought of cycling that involves effortless pedalling along flat country lanes passing rows of vines, or alongside a gently rolling river, the warm sun kissing my face; a soft breeze caressing glowing skin; a bottle of wine, loaf of fresh bread, and a round of cheese in the wicker basket… […]
Catalonia
Road tripping through three countries in the time of COVID-19
We drove through three countries, from Portugal’s Atlantic coast to Provence, not only switching from stuttering along in one language to another, but trying to figure out what COVID-19 restrictions applied where. […]
Travel Talk
Travel dreams or travel nightmares?
Travel is enlightening in many ways, mostly positive ones but not always; what were once romantic notions have been smashed to smithereens on the harsh rocks of reality; exotic dreams painted by travel industry marketeers laid bare by first hand experience. […]
Travel Talk
RIP, the death of the hotel buffet
I don’t dislike hotel buffets, I rather enjoy them. There’s a guilty pleasure in creating anarchic combinations on my plate; ingredients which wouldn’t normally look the road the others were on. No, I don’t dislike buffets, I fear them. […]
Hiking
Why pay for specialist travel guidebooks and holidays?
It’s a convivial gathering, eight of us around a dining table at a rural hotel in a converted farmhouse. The food has been plentiful, the wine flowing. As the evening progresses we get to know one another better and tongues loosen. […]
Europe
Travel and weather, beyond the sun and rain
Ever since we took up walking in earnest, and starting monitoring weather conditions and their after effects, we’ve learned things about the weather we would once never had considered for a second. […]
Douro
The best and worst of travel in 2019
Delivering training sessions about some of the destinations we’ve visited over the year prompts us to reflect on our experiences in a specific location; something which doesn’t always happen immediately after a trip as there’s nearly always somewhere else exciting to visit steaming toward us. […]