Tag: europe
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Dieppe to Elba – Proof that the journey is sometimes as good as the destination
I don’t expect our journey to Elba to be anything special, apart from the visit to my old school pal, Pina, in the Aosta Valley, which is always wonderful, as we’re setting off on 1st October’s low season. But our very first stop at Camping Châlons-en-Champagne is a musical surprise. We spend a little time…
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Gascony’s Aire-sur-L’Adour to Charente Maritime’s Fouras-les-Bains
Weaving down through the Pyrenees from the Somport Tunnel is stunning, under cliffs and through gorges, vultures swooping above and the rushing River Gave d’Aspe. When the mountains give way to rolling hills and fertile fields, the vineyards appear. We stop in Aire-sur-L’Adour’s Camping Les Ombrage de L’Adour, beside the lazy, green river, the ancient…
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Arbitzu – Basque Country on the Spanish Side of the Border
It’s as if there’s a festival in the carpark of the EkoCanpina at Arbitzu, in the Pyrenean foot hills. Large groups are partying while they wait. But far from being turned away as I suspect we will be, they find us a place in the field, right on top of the outdoor gym equipment. We’ve…
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Waterford’s Ardmore to Wexford’s New Ross
Ardmore on the Waterford coast proves to be a treat. Ardmore Campsite sits beside the sea. Grey wagtails dip and dive for insects around the van and goldcrests feast on the hedgerow. We walk along the beach for the 5 minutes to the village. We start the evening in Keevers Pub, a quintessential Irish pub,…
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Esponellà – Catalonia’s Hidden Gem
Our friends Mary and Martin recommend Catalonia’s Camping Esponellà near Figueres. We wind up into the Pyrenean foothills leaving the bustle of city far behind. Our first sigh of Esponellà is the pinkish rocks of the River Fluvia’s Gorge, our next, the honey stone village on the summit of the hill, the church tower…
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Street Art, Street Food, An Independent Bookshop and the Driverless Ghost trains of the Postal Museum at Mount Pleasant
We double back on ourselves today so we’re whisked into Whitechapel again from Abbey Wood to hunt down Hanbury Street, which crosses Brick Lane, to trace the street art. Huge outdoor murals have us darting from one to the other. The most gripping for me being the close-up of a man’s sad face, lines like…
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Mayfair Meanders and on to Little Venice
Off we trot from the Elizabeth Line’s Bond Street station through Mayfair to the Halcyon Gallery on New Bond Street. I must admit that the easy-going attitude of the Whitechapel Gallery is more my style. Halcyon’s walkie-talkie clad, black suited doormen are perfectly well-mannered, but the formality makes me feel like an intruder. It’s worth…
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Canary Wharf’s Sci-fi Skyline to Mayfair’s Church of Food
The Elizabeth line’s Canary Wharf is our destination, with its sci-fi obelisks, very 2001. Soon we’re walking in the cross-rail roof garden where glass and steel meet giant palms, fatsia japonica, spices, cocoa, banana and coffee bean trees. The roof garden sits on the Meridian between the west and east hemispheres and features plants from…
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From Veliko Tarnovo’s Historical Sights to the Rural Peace of Dimcha – The end of our Personal Pilgrimage
One ticket to Veliko Tarnovo’s historical sites lasts for two days. We spend a good portion of that time wandering round in circles searching for them. The Museum of the Bulgarian Revival is a gloriously colourful blue and white building. It is where the Bulgarian Constitution was negotiated by a multitude of representatives at the…
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Bulgaria’s Veliko Tarnovo – Tsaravets Fortress and Dramatic Gorges
We arrive at the attractive Tarnovgrad Apartments, complete with gym, right in the middle of Veliko Tarnovo’s old town, round the corner from the Bey House, where the Turkish administrator lived. Redbrick, low-slung, surrounding a lush courtyard garden, it lends a little bit of Turkey to the town. The apartments sit just below the stunning…
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