Europe
Victims of fake news and foggy mornings
Without leaving the house, apart from essential grocery shopping, we’ve managed to find ourselves the victims of fake news in a national paper in the UK. […]
Europe
Europe
Emrelishment, a tale of travel, food and drink preparation
In the middle of the 20th cent in the cool and shady interior of the Imperial, an unexceptional bar next to the bullring in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a regular known to the waiting staff as ‘El Barraco’ grabs a seat at the bar’s counter mid-morning and orders his favourite bocadillo […]
Europe
Walking routes in Arrábida Natural Park
Arrábida Natural Park is a maze of tracks and paths. That’s the upside for walkers. The downside is not all of them are public ways. The trick is knowing which are and which aren’t. […]
Europe
Travelling by train across Slovenia
Sitting on a wooden bench in the early morning sunshine at pretty little Bohinjska Bistrica train station – flower baskets hanging from wooden eaves frame pine-clad hills and the timber yard opposite – we’re old soldiers. […]
Europe
The view from abroad, winter woes
The depths of winter (i.e. now) in central Portugal is a yin and yang affair. Warm enough to eat lunch al fresco in the midday sunshine, as cold as my home island of Bute in Scotland at night. […]
Europe
Taking the red tourist tram in Lisbon
There are three major differences between jumping on a red tram in Lisbon and squeezing onto the iconic number 28 which shakes, rattles, and rolls its way around the streets of Portugal’s capital. […]
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. […]
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. […]
Europe
Chinese swans to Thai tapas, 10 favourite meals in 2019
I couldn’t tell you how many times we’ve eaten in restaurants, cafes, bars etc. in various destinations this year. Basically, a hell of a lot. But there are some dishes which stand out above others for numerous reasons. These aren’t always solely to do with the food on the plate in front of us […]
Europe
Showcasing the best of the real Tenerife
Earlier in the year we spent time revamping Slow Travel holidays on both Tenerife and La Palma in the Canary Islands. We passed the summer writing up guides to accompany them, hoping those who followed in our footsteps would enjoy the journey as much as we had […]
Europe
Adventures in another world, Velika Planina in Slovenia
Forget jaw-dropping, breathtaking, mind-blowing, awesome or any such word. All are too feeble to describe first contact with Velika Planina. The feeling of standing on a ridge looking down on this scattering of wooden herdsmen’s homes is one of a sense of discovery. […]
Europe
Traditional vegetarian options in European walking destinations
When travelling we occasionally get tired of traditional cuisine in some destinations. This happens when restaurant menus vary little from one to another and mostly involve meat, meat, or meat. When this happens, we are on alert for any local dishes which don’t involve a slab of dead animal. […]
Europe
Swapping package holidays for magical mystery tours
Greece was responsible for a radical rethink regarding how we planned our precious breaks from work. I was Mr Package Holiday arguing that, with only two weeks to spare at a go, I didn’t want […]
Europe
Electric scooters, the scourge of Lisbon
It’s effortless to hit a thumbs up on facebook, a retweet on Twitter and share posts which show others just how much we care about our planet. We can do it without expending any energy whatsoever. It’s easy to be an eco-warrior when you don’t need to leave the house. […]
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, […]