With apologies to Men Without Hats, ‘The Safety Dance’ has been our theme song for Gdańsk .…. We can Gdańsk if we want to We can leave your friends behind 'Cause your friends don't Gdańsk And if they don't Gdańsk Well, they're no friends of mine We continue to be amazed by Poland, and Gdańsk … Continue reading We can Gdańsk if we want to…..
I’ve never fallen for a city as quickly and completely as I have for Warsaw. Even the taxi ride from the airport, which usually displays industrial wasteland, urban ghettos and the raw underbelly of a city, was completely charming. Our apartment is small, but modern and clean. It has a comfortable bed, great water pressure … Continue reading Love at First Sight, Warsaw
“I won’t be going to Cinque Terre wearing anything other than linen”, Rosco declares as we discuss our upcoming and rather ambitious day trip to Italy’s famous five villages.
I wander around, head in the clouds, chatting, pointing out all the pretty dogs (bel cane), looking for river otters, trying to decide if a building is in the neo-classical, renaissance, or baroque style, day-dreaming and taking photos. I let Rosco lead the way, and I follow behind him like a little lamb. No point having a dog and then barking yourself is there?
In one short week, we’ve grown to love Turino. For us, week numero uno has been about the river otters, and Aperol Spritz, and hot afternoon naps, and the song L’appuntamento, and the fountains. It’s the tree lined streets, the architecture, the parks, the numerous gelato shops and the cold waters of the Po River as it sweeps majestically through the city.
Have you ever had an experience so amazing, so surreal, so astonishing, that you cannot believe it is actually happening? Our last full day in Spain will forever be embedded in our memories as one such day.It was meant to be a quiet affair comprising a stroll to the city, a nice restaurant for lunch, … Continue reading Three Failed Plans and a Party
Our Friday fun-day adventure was to walk the 5km El Caminito del Rey (The King's Little Path). It’s a walkway that clings precariously to the vertical sides of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, with the Guadalhorce River churning across the rocks some 100 metres below. If you’re afraid of heights, it’s the stuff of nightmares. The walkway … Continue reading The awesome and alarming El Caminito Del Rey
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and based on the thousands of people who flock to Costa de Sol beaches every day, there’s a lot of beauty to be found on the playas of southern Spain. This beach (pictured) is called Playa-Balneario Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Beach Spa of Our Lady of Carmen) … Continue reading Spanish Beaches & Restaurants …. I Will Survive
It’s an amazing place for people watching. I love to watch the Northern Europeans and the Brits as they straggle from the beach to the bars and restaurants. They glow pinkly from too much sun or too much cerveza, or both. Their feet are sandy, the shirts are off, and they grin widely as they walk along the promenade, volleyballs and beach umbrellas held hostage under sweaty armpits.
It has been a less than auspicious start to our holiday, as the following trio of bad news explains…… uno, dos, tres. Let’s go! Uno - Swiping right with Uber and Airbnb Compared to a hotel booking, the Airbnb check-in always has some complications around it, the Malaga apartment being no exception. We had arranged … Continue reading Bad news comes in Tres? (hopefully)
We had heard a few, less-than-positive stories about the 5-hour bus trip from Tirana to Sarande, but we were not deterred. We knew the bus ride would not be a luxury trip, that the timetable was more of a suggestion than a schedule, and that the driver would likely stop along the way to chat … Continue reading If you want to know Albania, take the bus
We’ve been travelling for 129 days (four and a bit months) most of which has been in the European Summer, including a horrid Italian heatwave. Now, with the leaves starting to yellow and fall, we find ourselves in the rapidly cooling temperatures of Autumn. This blog is called ‘part 1’, because these are the mistakes … Continue reading What not to Pack for Extended Travel (part 1)
This week we climbed a mountain. But first, let me explain the context. A few days ago, we hired our neighbour Nikola (who owns a taxi) to drive us to Budva. He’s an excellent driver and has lived in Kotor his entire life, so he was extremely knowledgeable and took us via the scenic route … Continue reading Nearly there Miss, and other such lies – Montenegro
Poland is our third ‘long-stay’ country, but this time, we’re spreading the love between three cities: Warsaw, Gdansk, Kraków, and back to Warsaw. To be honest, we were concerned that moving each week would be tiresome, as travel days (packing, transit, unpacking) can be unpleasant and time consuming. But to our surprise, the travel days … Continue reading Scooter mishaps, new friends and Nazis…. Kraków
The Tepid Travellers 