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Oasis Days: Pisco, Desert Wine And An Earthquake
Carlos in Nasca asked us one of the funniest and most unusual questions we’ve ever been asked on our travels. The conversation went along the lines of… “So, in England it rains a lot, yes?” “Well, yes, on lots of days” “And sometimes it rains at night?” “Yes” “And you can hear that it is raining?” “Well….yes” “I cannot understand. How would you be able to sleep if you can hear the rain?” So here speaks a man whose whole life has been spent in the desert, a man who cannot even conceive of a world where you would be able to fall asleep to the sound of rain. Doesn’t…
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On To Mojácar: Pink Lakes, Red Prawns & Silver Moonlight
More often than not, when you visit something with a name like “the blue forest” or “the purple mountains”, they’re not really blue or purple, are they. OK so there may be a hint of the colour which gives the place its moniker, but you would never call it vivid. Until, that is, you visit the Lugano Rosa, the “pink lake”, just outside the town of Torrevieja, which is properly, undeniably pink. It’s rental car time again as we look to fully explore the next section of Spanish coastline and head down into Andalucia, driving south from Alicante and taking a detour specifically to see whether this lake really is…
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Glimpses Of Life In Happy Town
Antonio is not having a good day, despite his smile. “Today is not a good day. Already I have a broken ankle, and now the printer doesn’t work”, he explains, as I try to work out what the connection between the two events might be. Despite these things, Antonio quickly warms to the task of telling us about his town, becoming even more animated when we ask about restaurants. He grabs his pen and starts to draw circles and arrows on our town map. “These restaurants in this road are very touristy”, he says, rather dismissively, “except this one” – he jots down the name – “and this one at…
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Tarragona: Heart And Soul Of Catalunya
It is with an absolute, unbridled delight that I discover that nothing much has changed. Plaça de la Font is absolutely alive, almost every table at every restaurant taken, a stage set up in front of the grand Town Hall in readiness for tonight’s show of traditional dancing, the atmospheric square packed with families where small children, teenagers and grandparents mix as if socialising with all ages is the most natural thing on Earth. It’s gone 11pm and the children still have boundless energy as they ride stabilised bikes, burst balloons and indulge in games of chase. This is Tarragona, a place I have visited many, many times before and…
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Mexico By Bus: Veracruz-Villahermosa-Palenque
Order a drink called “lechero”. Your waiter will deliver a tall glass with a generous measure of espresso coffee in the bottom. What you must do next is tap loudly on the glass with your spoon, and immediately a different, immaculately uniformed waiter will dash to your table armed with pots filled with hot milk, and flamboyantly pour it into your coffee from a great height, theatrically stopping just as your glass reaches the brim full point. Welcome to Gran Cafe de la Parroquia, Veracruz, established in 1808 and apparently serving their lechero in this extrovert style for over 200 years. We’d read about it before we arrived here and,…
