Tag: travel
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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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A Personal Pilgrimage to Bulgaria Offers up Sofia with its Long and Vivid History
It seems strange writing about our trip to Bulgaria, considering the reason we’re here is to commemorate Seán’s sister, Jackie, who retired with her husband to her dream home in the small village of Dimcha, only to die shortly after. We first visited in a shocked haze last year but this year we’re back to…
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A Rollercoaster Road from Lake Maggiore’s Locarno, across the Swiss Border to Italian Val Antigorio – A stupendous stop-off on our last night in Italy
We border hop to our last stop in Italy, starting at Lake Lugano in Italy and crossing to Switzerland half-way round it. I thank the universe for SatNav as it guides us through Switzerland’s Locarno, onto the tiny mountain road to the border at Camedo so that we can return again to Italy at Re.…
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Limpid Lakes – Lago di Como, Piano and Lugano
As we hit the shores of Lake Como the mountains tower up on each side. It’s easy to see how it’s the deepest of the major Italian lakes. It is magical with its lemon sherbet and terracotta houses, iron-work balconies, enormous oleanders and vine-shaded terraces. Some villages are haunting with their air of gracious crumbling.…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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The Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean Sea at Collioure – home of the Fauvists and the iconic Hôtel des Templiers
From the minute we hit the D81, the sinuous coastal road to Collioure, memories assail us. We had many happy holidays here with our teenage children and a collection of various friends. But there’s more to celebrate here than memories, the Pyrenees undulate down to the postcard blue sea, the vines cling to the hillsides.…
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Dieppe Again and the Start of Our February Campervan Therapy We fail to dodge the pelting rain at home as we pack the van up. But the Channel from Newhaven to Dieppe is calm today, providing just a gentle rock to my dozing. Notre-Dame de Bonsecours stands sentinel on the chalk cliff, guarding Dieppe’s port,…
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Campervan Therapy
We’re ten days away from our 34th year of European road trips. Seán, my partner-on-wheels, chauffeur, photographer, bottle washer, oh and husband, is up to his eyes in two screened computer life. He’s finishing his marking contracts before we hit the open road. I’m planning… and oh how I love planning. Plans, by the way,…
Campervan Therapy 