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Beer, Tapas & Champions League: Southern Spain, Buoyant Germans & A Dash Of English
Michaela drops me off at the airport and we kiss goodbye: it’s going to feel a little odd being apart for a few days having been welded together on our travels for so many months. Adrian climbs out the back of the car looking more than half asleep, but then it’s so early that it can’t reasonably expect to be called morning yet. We’re booked on a red eye flight that’ll be in the air before the birds are; Adrian came down last night as we live much nearer to Gatwick than he does. “At least with me here you can’t go to the wrong bloody airport” he grunts. We’re…
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Leaving The UK Again
It may be just a little bit harder than usual to leave the UK this autumn. Rampant inflation, soaring energy bills, a clueless and incompetent Government who have set about destroying both the economy and the nation’s reputation in one go, rail, bus and mail strikes….these are all things which will really make us wish we’d stayed at home. For those unfamiliar with the sarcasm of British humour, welcome. So it’s with absolutely nothing approaching a heavy heart that our plans for autumn and winter travel are coming together. This Monday, 3rd October, I’m off to Spain for a few days – but not with Michaela who is spending a…
- Africa, Asia, Central America, England, Greece, Independent travel, India, Mexico, North America, Photography, Transport, Travel Blog, Turkey, World food
Questions About Travel
Travelling the way we do, in regular lengthy stretches, is not something everyone is fortunate enough, well enough or even inclined to do. Whatever your chosen style of travel, there are some questions which all of us who do so are asked on a regular basis. Like… What do you miss about home? Answer: very little. My stock answer is “proper English ale” which is true, I do find myself craving a good pint sometimes. Michaela meanwhile goes straight for the roast lamb and mint sauce. With both of our families being scattered around the country, we always make a round of visits on our return and probably don’t see…
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More Tales From American Bars
In our short stay in the well heeled wine country town of Napa we were to fall in love with Downtown Joe’s, one of many bars around the World which have etched themselves into our travel memories. Our first call there though was ahead of the fun of nighttime and was instead in the bright afternoon sunshine, outdoors rather than in its welcoming interior. As ever, it doesn’t take long to get into conversation, the guy in the Santana T-shirt at the next table was soon in conversation, welcoming us to the state he loves and interested to know who we are, where we come from. Not long into our…
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Tales From American Bars: Barstow CA
We could have guessed that Barstow was going to be an experience. Just approaching the town down the wide, sloping highway gives a sense of being somewhere different, as the sun baked town creeps outwards to fill the shallow basin in the otherwise barren desert. From Barstow it’s many miles to anywhere, its nearest neighbours being a long drive away across the unforgiving desert which stretches to the horizon in every direction. Heat hazes shimmer above the asphalt and the early evening sun, still blistering and intense, creates dazzling reflections in windows and windshields. The broad main highway sprouts giant signs – McDonalds, Starbucks, Home Depot, Chevrolet and no win…
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Looking Back And Planning Forward
Our garden looks strange as we take our first look at it after 12 weeks away. So much has died in the unusually hot and dry summer, but the heavy rain which has now fallen in the last few days has turned all the dead stuff into an untidy grey. Green patches try their best, but there is precious little colour and the whole garden looks a kind of damp monochrome with splashes of green paint. Within minutes of our arrival home, we are alerted to the drama unfolding at Balmoral and, around four hours later, the Queen’s death is confirmed. As the BBC plays the national anthem Michaela and…
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Tales Of Smut, Keys & Turtles: Last Days In Mexico
We described Tulum in our last post as being too over developed, too touristy and very much too over priced for our liking, with an enormous amount of further development in the midst of construction, but, you know, everywhere has redeeming features – it’s just that in places like Tulum you have to look a bit deeper to find them. The music in some of the bars in the main street is simply too loud to hold a conversation, so loud in fact that I’m reminded of what my Dad used to say. “I do detest pubs which are so loud that I can’t hear myself drink”. But as we…
- Belize, Central America, History, Independent travel, Mexico, Music, North America, Photography, Transport, Travel Blog, Wildlife
Nearing The End & Back Into Mexico – Or Are We?
Only on our last night on the island do we discover Caye Caulker’s best bar, where the superb soul/blues band named, perhaps predictably, Andrew & The Go Slows, are playing live. These guys are so good – Andrew, if that’s really his name – has a voice so soulful that he gives us goosebumps. Anything and everything from Lynyrd Skynyrd (Sweet Home Alabama) to Tom Petty (Mary Jane’s Last Dance) to Bill Withers, Otis Redding and Kings Of Leon, given THE most soulful, bluesy treatment. This guy is GOOD. Time to go. As we pack up our backpacks once again and prepare to walk the short distance to the “water…
- Belize, Central America, Independent travel, Photography, Transport, Travel Blog, Wildlife, World food
Out Of Mexico And In To Belize
A dreadlocked guy lazes in a hammock and raises his hand as we alight from the ferry. “Welcome to paradise” he beams. The delicious smell of barbecued seafood drifts across the sandy track, a smiling girl clocks our backpacks and suggests we taste the local rum before we walk any further. We turn right, heading to where our next bed is. The breeze is deliciously warm, the sun incredibly hot. And everything is different, just a short journey has brought us to a different culture which feels so different that we could call it a different world, let alone a different culture. No longer is there any significant Spanish influence,…
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Ancient Sites & Plunging Cenotes: Our Time In Yucatan
After several hours of walking the ancient sites in soaring temperatures and 100% humidity, jumping from the rock platform down into the cool, cool waters of the cenote is exhilarating and refreshing beyond belief. Swimming in one is a pure joy, but more of that later. A half hour collectivo ride out of Valladolid is one of the so called “new” seven wonders of the world, the extensive remains of the ancient Maya city of Chechen Itza. Paying our entry fee and ambling towards the first section of the city, the first thing that strikes us is the sheer number of visitors. It’s not even peak time of day yet…
