We’d been wanting to visit our friends in Paris for quite some time and as luck would have it our time had come. Our pet sitter from a few years ago would be happy to stay and look after Betty while we were away. So preparations were made. We’d always wanted to go by train but didn’t realise how difficult, or expensive it would be. I will spare the details but it turned out many times more expensive than flying…
We’d seen a lot of what Galicia had to offer but for our latest trip we went just a little bit more east, into the region of Castile and Leon and more specifically the locale of Ponferrada. So far inland there were no beaches but we were after history and a bit of hiking in spectacular countryside. We were rewarded with both. We’d booked three nights in a cottage in a small hamlet just outside Ponferrada which was about 4.5…
Ever since watching a stage of La Vuelta de Espana some years ago we had wanted to go to the Picos de Europa and this was the year. We had booked an AirBnB and were all set when the hairy member of our family had a medical emergency. She had a growth on her leg which burst requiring surgery. It wasn’t all bad as our host was agreeable to postpone our stay for a week, when the weather was also…
I can’t believe we’ve been living up north (Ponte de Lima) for over a year already. As we are still in rented accommodation and waiting for our new house to be built, our traditional September getaway is restricted to just a couple of nights away. Of course, the whole point of living up north is the ease of travel to Galicia so it is no surprise that we chose to spend a couple of days in the Rias Altas, near…
It was getting to the end of summer, so just time to squeeze in a weekend away – this time up north to the Rias Altas. It was already late September so if we got some decent weather it would be a perfect time for a dip in the clear blue waters for which this area of Spain is well known, and it was. But we had to get there first. Since 1 July we had been living in our…
We like a drop of dry sherry so “the sherry triangle” of South West Spain was an obvious choice for a short holiday. We like to mix things up so we also included a bit of whale watching and a trip to the Donana National park. First up was the seven hour drive south to Tarifa, the southernmost town of Spain. It has a distinctly Moroccan feel to it – not surprising, as upon arrival we could clearly see the…
We needed a break. We couldn’t go far or for long as we had to take the dogs and leave the chickens (we couldn’t get our regular house sitter to look after the house in our absence). We decided on a couple of nights just across the Spanish border from Marvao in Extramadura at Casa Rural Quinta de Luna, (Edit 2024: It is no longer available for rent) an attractive collection of three cottages nestled among a landscape of neolithic monuments…
One of the joys of living in central Portugal is to go up into the hills in the summer and swim in the lakes and rivers. Not just for us but also our dogs Betty and Jussi. Although it was only a half hour drive we sometimes camped on the side of the Cabril Reservoir. Near one of our favourite spots we heard that there was some land for sale so in May 2013, almost on a whim we bought…
I’d always wanted to visit the famous Roman ruins in Merida and Jackie had always wanted to see the Griffon Vultures which live around the Spanish/Portugal border near Alcantara, so we decided to include both, and a trip to Elvas on the way back, in October 2020. Firstly, we headed to the Spanish border and the Parque Natural de Tejo International, or rather specifically, the small town of Salvatero de Extremo where we knew there were some vultures. As it…
We had bought our new home in December 2019. I say home, but as of August 2020 it was still a ruin and even planning permission was still a long way off. Anyway, we thought we would go up to explore the area and pop across the border to Galicia, Spain for some delicious seafood. The first stop was actually for some delicious seafood in Portugal at the excellent Tasquinha da Linda in Viana do Castelo. We had a seafood…