One of the joys of living in central Portugal is to go up into the hills in the summer and swim in the lakes and rivers. Not just for us but also our dogs Betty and Jussi. Although it was only a half hour drive we sometimes camped on the side of the Cabril Reservoir. Near one of our favourite spots we heard that there was some land for sale so in May 2013, almost on a whim we bought…
I’d always wanted to visit the famous Roman ruins in Merida and Jackie had always wanted to see the Griffon Vultures which live around the Spanish/Portugal border near Alcantara, so we decided to include both, and a trip to Elvas on the way back, in October 2020. Firstly, we headed to the Spanish border and the Parque Natural de Tejo International, or rather specifically, the small town of Salvatero de Extremo where we knew there were some vultures. As it…
We had bought our new home in December 2019. I say home, but as of August 2020 it was still a ruin and even planning permission was still a long way off. Anyway, we thought we would go up to explore the area and pop across the border to Galicia, Spain for some delicious seafood. The first stop was actually for some delicious seafood in Portugal at the excellent Tasquinha da Linda in Viana do Castelo. We had a seafood…
For us, September is holiday time and it usually means a road trip into Spain. We had an ulterior motive this time – we were also looking for a possible place to live. We had decided to head due north from our house in central Portugal to the Rias Baixas of Galicia. It was motorway most of the way so it only took us 3.5 hours to get to Camping Aldan. As it hadn’t taken us too long we had…
Easter, or rather the week leading up to Easter Sunday, Semana Santa, is probably the biggest festival in Spain and famous for age-old traditions specific to each region. Some of the most solemn and famous processions take place in the ancient capital of Spain, Toledo. We decided to find out for ourselves in Easter 2019. But first, football. My team, Liverpool were playing Porto in the Quarter-finals of the Champion’s League. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get tickets but we…
My latest trip to India was almost at an end. I was up early and checked out of the hotel, the Bundi streets were strangely quiet first thing in the morning, as was the station, but the buses were still running and I managed to catch one to Jaipur just as it was leaving. The roads were surprisingly quiet as well so it only took four hours rather than the five and a half I was expecting. Jaipur and its…
Getting the bus from Udaipur to Chittorgarh was no problem. Semi-deluxe, that’s a laugh but I got a seat. The journey was pretty boring, just views of major road works everywhere and dust. The station in Chittorgarh is across the river from the old town so I managed to avoid the trishaw drivers and just walked across the bridge observing the hill fort in the distance. I found my designated hotel, Hotel Ganesh, pretty easily. Their website describes it as the best…
The beautiful lakeside town of Udaipur is supposed to be one of the most romantic places in the world and a travellers’ favourite. I was about to find out. The seven hour bus journey from Jodhpur wasn’t too bad. The station is in the modern, eastern end of the town but soon I was headed by rickshaw into the old town cum tourist centre attractively situated next to shimmering lake pichola. My chosen hotel, the Little Prince Heritage Home, was on…
My 1994 trip to India took in the entire Western side of the country, but I only managed a day in Jodhpur. This time (Feb 19) I was going a bit deeper. I was spending a couple of weeks in Rajasthan and four nights in Jodhpur. The hotel was certainly a bit more expensive. I noted in my diary that it had cost me one pound! This time I stayed in the much more salubrious but still fairly cheap and…
For us, September is holiday time and it usually means a road trip into Spain. This year we went to the Canyon del Sil in southern Galicia and then returned south to the Peneda Geres National Park in northern Portugal. The main objective was a bit of camping and walking but also to see a stage of La Vuelta de Espana bike race. Headed north at 9 am. 4.5 hrs, 385km. Canyon do Sil Campsite, pretty good, right on canyon…