It all started with the police check last night.
Torchlight zig-zagged across the car and we huddled in the backseat.
“You are English,” said the policeman. “And yet you say you want…
Córdoba, in Andalusia, has an unusual cathedral. Unusual in that it was built within a mosque. Not on the former grounds of one, or as an adaptation of one, but actually totally and utterly in the middle of one.
What really made me sit up and take notice, though, was the mushroom liquor – some sort of home brew…
A Photo Journey Through the Capital of Wales
The Taff Trail strides through the valleys of South Wales, taking in castles, countryside and what has been optimistically described as “industrial archaeology.”I’ve strolled, cycled and even rollerbladed along its path, although I’ve never made the complete trip from the capital city of Cardiff through to the town [...]
Pedro Martina’s sun-worn face lights up as he grabs my shoulder and points into the distance.
“Three of them are under the water now,” he says. It’s certainly not the first time Pedro has hunted whales…
Geneva is a city with an international reputation and Place du Molard clearly wants people to feel at home. Snuggled among the charcoal cobbles, glowing squares say hello in languages from around the world.
At least I assume that’s what they mean. I couldn’t translate them all…
Find more travel photos – and all sorts of welcomes [...]
Mont Blanc, the white mountain, rises out of the Alps to claim the title of the highest peak in Western Europe. I’ve been lucky enough to..
Speeding along the tarmac road, I wonder how long it’s been since I last took a normal breath. The road drops…
The crowd cheers and I duck as a rainbow of hardboiled missiles pelts down around me. A moment later, men, women and children scrabble around on the lamplit pavement, their hands brushing mine, their fingernails gouging mud and fruity pulp…
It’s an ominous start to the day: dragging 40 kilos of equipment through Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter. We are a group of travel bloggers; the demonic machine, the Segway.
The monks who chose to settle here must have had an eye for beauty and antennae for peace, and it’s hard to imagine a more restful place for those…
Spain, like many European countries, has plenty of cathedrals.
But how many have an astronaut in their delicately-carved stone?
Sparks fly in Seville – and it’s all in the name of love, eternity and structural maintenance.
For a few years now,
Everyone talks in whispers, the omnipresent classical music giving the atmosphere of a reverential mass, or perhaps a mix between a library, an art gallery and heartbreak hotel.
England, France, Spain.
Different dresscodes, different foods, different languages, different outlooks. But when it comes to furniture, Swedish
Who could resist? I was walking around Ronda, home to an incredible bridge and arguably the birthplace of bullfighting, when a sign caught my eye.
Museo Bandolero. A bandit museum.
A little further out, however, Seville reveals its modern face, the lights and the energy of a city on the up.
It’s not an urban legend - the streets of Seville really are lined with orange trees. Right now, they’re sprouting orbs of green but I’ve spotted a few that are getting ahead of the pack…
We’ll see oranges in no time…
FRENCH FRIDAYS
A shiny pink intestine sits on the Charles-de-Fitte Avenue in Toulouse, reaching out of the ground to an overpowering height. I’ve always had the feeling that the museum curators don’t call it the intestine, but Toulousains certainly do.
It’s a handy landmark for giving directions – and it symbolizes the entrance to Toulouse’s museum [...]
Last night, for the first time in months, purple clouds billowed and thundered over sun-scorched Andalucia.
By the morning, the storm had settled but the evidence remained: the end of summer in Seville.
Every country seems to have a slightly different hygiene fetish. France, meanwhile, forces men to pay to wear a stranger’s moist speedos. All in the name of hygiene.
I’m delighted to know that even in this Coca-Cola world, travel can still show me some new tricks.
Biarritz has a name that should mark it out for greatness. Instead of playboys in woollen bathing suits, Biarritz greeted me with
In Europe’s largest aquarium, small creatures still command attention.
Oceanográfico, Valencia, Spain
I’ve survived raw and ready steak tartare, reheated animal parts floating in jars and dismembered amphibeans.
But the tomato has floored me.
France does not claim steak tartare as its own…
Southwest France proclaims itself as the family home of cassoulet, even if the towns bicker over who thought of it first like relatives at Christmas.
Its peaks reach up to 3000 metres and waterfall jets breed across its splintered surfaces, forming rainbow haloes against the snow.
Andalucia has embraced the tomato and created a dish that’s perfect for its parched plains.
Gazpacho, like pizza, had humble beginnings
This is going to sound pompous, but travel really does teach you as much about your home country as it does the places you visit. I’d already realised …
ABOUT ME: I’m a freelance writer with a passion for travel and a background in Neuroscience and Emergency Medicine.
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