-
Nuraghe, Mountain Towns & Murals: Crossing Sardinia.
The nuraghe of Sardinia have been the subject of considerable debate over the years, with some disagreement over their original functions and purposes. According to what appears to be the current school of thought, and definitely the thrust of websites and guide books, the reason for the confusion is that the nuraghe were multi purpose and therefore inconsistent in design from one to the next. What is certain is that they are unique to Sardinia, that traces of over 10,000 have been identified, 7,000 of which are still standing in one form or another. Grain stores, fortresses, family homes, lookout posts, communal meeting places…all have been theories, each with strong…
-
Into The Pyrenees: Mountain Hikes And Marvellous Trains
After a run of apartments we’re now in a middle sized family run hotel in the beautiful Pyrenees mountains in Vernet-les-Bains, a quiet and ancient hot spring spa village nestled among the towering peaks. We arrive with the mountains basking in the glorious afternoon light of bright sunshine, then watch in delight as the evening casts the mountains as yet darker shadows against the darkening sky. Overnight, cool mountain air fills our room through the open door to the balcony – it feels so long since we felt cool air – and by morning the silent giants form a blurred jagged line in the misty light. Mountain views from a…
-
Amorgos: The Big Blue
We’ve only been on Amorgos for a few hours when we first start talking about it. So instantly attractive and with so many things to do and see, Amorgos quickly asserts itself into needing more than the 4 days we have allocated to it on our schedule. By morning we’ve extended that to 6 days after poring over the changing ferry schedules and finding ways to re-jig our forward moves. After a 5:15am ferry departure from Astypalea, we have made the crossing, driven over Amorgos’s mountains and down to our new base in Katopola before the menus are out on the breakfast cafe tables. Katopola is one of a trio…
-
Karpathos: The Windy Island
As the early morning ferry leaves its white surf wake in a curve away from Siteia harbour, we bid farewell to Crete after a varied and interesting two weeks on the island. It’s just over a month now since we left the UK and the island hopping that we had envisaged to be earlier on this journey now begins in earnest: if our plans don’t change we are due to call in to at least ten islands in the next four weeks. Our last night on Crete is in Siteia, which we thought was just a port town but turns out to be so much more. Our one night stay…
