Tag: hiking
-
Elba – A Jewel Venus Scattered into the Tyrrhenian Sea
As the ferry sails towards Elba, I cannot detach Seán from his App that tells him the names of the romantic, volcanic islands. Excited as a boy, he points out what he thinks is Pianosa, which we later discover is called the island of silence; then Capraia, island of goats; Montecristo, setting of Dumas’ tale…
-
Gorgeous Gavín in the Aragonese Pyrenees
974 metres up in Aragón’s Tena Valley, Camping Gavínis terraced, surrounded by holm oaks and pines, the russet, jagged mountain teeth sticking up through the tree canopy. It takes us back to when our children were small and we came upon a gem of a terraced campsite, scented with hot pine, behind the busy Côte…
-
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…
-
Wexford’s Kilmore Quay to Basque Arbitzu
Kilmore Quay’s campsite gifts us a view of blue sea and an everchanging sky. The granite walled harbour is busy with tractors delivering crates of crabs to the warehouses, cranes lifting catches of fish from the small trawlers. We pass the rib bone of a whale beached on the strand here, and the memorial garden…
-
Wherein we Embark on What is Meant to be a 3 hour Walk through the Glacial Valleys of Winsome Wicklow and End up Walking for 7 Hours
The first view of the morning is the stone arched bridge at Glenmalure and the house martins swooping through the air; the first sound the rushing Avonbeg river. The plan today is to walk 7 miles from Glenmalure to Glendalough, along the Wicklow Way and Miners’ Way. Soon, we gaze down at the ruins of…
-
Begur – Where Catalan History, the Modern Tourist Industry and Wandering Walking Trails Meet
Begur is a typical Medieval Catalan Village, with castle ruins topping the mountain, a lookout tower just below. Alleyways of stone houses radiate down from it. A sign on a street stepping up to the castle tells of the past inhabitants being required to offer the feudal lords a cup of water on their upward…
-
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…
-
Rambling in Italian Alpine Val Camonica and the Passo dell’ Aprica
We’re both a little shattered by the sadness of the WWI museum, memorial and fort so when we start descending from the pass into Val Camonica, and I spy a campsite sign in Temù, even though we haven’t travelled more than 60 kilometres today, we swing into Camping Presanella and what a find it is.…
-
Moody Mountains and Pirates’ Coves – Waterford’s Dunmore East to the Ring of Kerry
Waterford’s Dunmore East offers up classic seaside holidays. Think, pirate coves ringing with people splashing and swimming until 11 pm. The Strand Inn packed to the rafters inside and out. The cliffside park studded with scarlet montbretia and the sounds of the kittiwakes squawking. As if that’s not enough, there’s fresh hake and Dublin Bay…
-
Climbing, Sliding and Losing the Trail on Mount Montgrí in Torroella
We park up in Torroella de Montgrí carpark, which happens to sit among olive groves. Croissants never tasted better. The winding path is rugged, make no mistake. Up we wind, until the sounds of the school yard and traffic below fade, and we’re surrounded by ochre and russet rocks, mica shining in the sun. The…
Campervan Therapy 