Food & drink
Bite Me, Café Aviz in Porto
It might not be the sort of establishment you’d head to for a special meal, but settling into a seat at the Café Aviz in Porto is like slipping on a… […]
Europe
Catalonia
Being Wined, Dined and Wowed at Magical Castell d’Encus in Tremp
Not all vineyards weave as potent a magic spell; it requires a delicious mix of ingredients and Raül Bobet’s Castell d’Encus near Tremp has them by the fairy dust load. […]
Asturias
Bite Me, Restaurant Tierra Astur in Oviedo
Not so much a case of ‘eat me’ but ‘meat me’ at this wonderfully quirky shrine to Asturian cuisine outside of Oviedo. […]
Food & drink
A Visit to the Aldea Rum Distillery on La Palma
Don Manuel removes the cap from a bottle of Reserva 10 Años (10 Years Reserve) and pours two shots. I’m expecting to judder but the rum slips smoothly down my throat, warming and comforting. […]
Food & drink
Seriously Hot Foods from Around the World and the Hiccup Test
We recently bought some chillies in a Spanish supermarket with the most brilliant name; they were called puta la madre chillies. […]
Being Uncool
Highway to Hell, Me a Scooter and Lanzarote
My second attempt in a zillion years at mastering a two-wheeled mean machine (i.e. scooter) resulted in as much humiliation as my first did when I was eighteen. […]
Food & drink
Review of La Placeta, Santa Cruz de la Palma’s Jazzy Traditional Restaurant
On the seafront side, La Placeta’s 18the century façade forms part of one of the biggest attractions of La Palma’s capital, Los Balcones… […]
Europe
A Life Of Wine At Matías i Torres on La Palma
“The vines represent a connection to everything about our home and our history,” says Victoria. “Through them we are connected to the soil, the sea, the volcanic slopes and to our ancestors. The wine is a living embodiment of that bond.” […]
Hotels
Review of Hotel Las Olas, La Palma
The pastel coloured apartments that make up Las Olas are pleasing to the eye and the low-rise complex allows views to the verdant hills behind… […]
La Palma
Cigar Rolling in La Palma, the Cuba of the Canary Islands
This is exactly how I imagined a cigar rolling factory might look. It’s downtown Havana in rural La Palma. […]
Hiking
La Palma’s Guiding Lights
There is never any substitute for the mass of experience and knowledge about a place that is stored in the memories of those for whom a destination is their home and their livelihood… […]
Hiking
Lucky 13, The Marcos y Cordero Tunnels on La Palma
The previous day we’d trekked the hot and steamy Caldera de Taburiente; this route to the Marcos Y Cordero springs was a different animal altogether… […]
Hiking
Finding Rural Accommodation on La Palma
It’s the sort of place you dream about on cold, wet, dark winter afternoons when you’ve forgotten what it feels like to have the sun on your skin… […]
La Palma
An Open Air Art Gallery for the People in Los Llanos de Aridane
On one street alone I’ve spotted naked people, cockerel carrying men, a mermaid, a mythical island and Jean Paul Gautier type sailors. […]
Hiking
Hiking La Caldera de Taburiente on La Palma
I emerge from behind a rock face to see him sitting, cross-legged on top of a basalt boulder ahead of me, his expressionless face watching… […]