Before my memories of being in Madeira fade completely in the light of being back to a more regular routine (more on that in another post), I'll write my last set of recollections of my brief slice of island life. Hiking - 25 Fontes: We realised that we couldn't get to this walk by public… Continue reading Island Life – part 5
Category: Travel
Island life – part 4 – sensory experiences
My time here on Madeira has been built around not just what I have seen, but also what I have experienced with my other four senses. Hearing The bells of the cathedral that start at 8am every morning and chime every quarter hour.The happy "honk honk" of the Porto Santo ferry when it arrives back… Continue reading Island life – part 4 – sensory experiences
Island Life – part 3 – the dreaming
If your holiday is going well, there is always a point where a little voice in your head says, "You could live here, you know." Yes, that sounds like a good idea. I could live here and I would stay in this nicely located, nicely equipped apartment in the city centre, with bars and restaurants… Continue reading Island Life – part 3 – the dreaming
Island life – part 1
One week into our Madeirense holiday and some observations: The Madeiran geography is part cake, part Swiss cheese. Let me explain further. If you imagine a cake where someone has cut random slices around it, that is what the coastline of Madeira is like. Only instead of someone, it's nature in the form of rain,… Continue reading Island life – part 1
Travel in a time of Covid-19
We read all the instructions several times to make sure we'd covered everything. Vaccination proof? CheckMadeirasafe website information completed? Check Airline check-in done? (although with much cursing at the airline's rubbish website on my part) Check (Although the airline website generates a document that declares "This is not a boarding pass. Please check in at… Continue reading Travel in a time of Covid-19
Travel A to Z – Z
Congratulations for anyone who's made it with me all the way to the end. It was fun when it started but now we're at Z, I can admit there have been times when this has felt like a hard slog. Zadar and Zagreb, Croatia: Yes I'm going to combine two cities from the one country… Continue reading Travel A to Z – Z
Travel A to Z – Y
The penultimate post on my travel retrospective, in which I've been travelling in my mind while my physical self remains sat in a chair in my living room. York, England: York is a wonderful place to visit because it combines several layers of English history in one small space: Viking history, medieval history, Victorian history… Continue reading Travel A to Z – Y
Travel A to Z – X
You were probably wonder how I was going to handle a tricky letter like X, but don't worry, I fully admit that I'm going to cheat here. Oxford, England In my first visit here back in (scratches head and thinks hard) 1997, I was sure you could still stick your head into the colleges and… Continue reading Travel A to Z – X
Travel A to Z – W
West Bay, England It was my sister's idea to go here. She had seen the TV series Broadchurch and wanted to see the beach and cliffs where the body was found. So we planned a convoluted route that would take us to Cornwall via West Bay (I'll make a small point here that these two… Continue reading Travel A to Z – W
Travel A to Z – V
I'm nearly at the end of my alphabetic tour through travel memories and I'm glad, although I have also enjoyed travelling back in my mind and reliving good - and sometimes not so good - moments. Venice, Italy Venice is beautiful, to visit is like walking into a painting. You've seen it in movies and… Continue reading Travel A to Z – V
