Madrid Takes to the Streets

Madrid has the eclectic feel of a capital, but also a strong sense of community with a live and let live attitude. It oozes a quality which I can only describe as “Spanishness”. The same quality that made me fall in love with the Spanish way of life, when I first visited the country 12 years ago.

Salamanca Resources

These resources are meant as friendly tips about Salamanca from one traveller to another, and are in no shape or form to be seen as expert advice.

They include information about how we got to Salamanca, where we stayed, maps of what we did and a few links to web sites with useful information about Salamanca.

in search of peace in festival-hungover Salamanca

Hitting a town in the aftermath of a festival is never a good idea. People are tired after all the celebrating, the town will be overflowing with rubbish waiting to be collected and if the weather is hot the extra rubbish sends out a smell that Chanel will be in no hurry to bottle.

All of this I was willing to ignore, when I visited Salamanca straight after its Fiesta de la Virgen de la Vega (a two week festival held in September in honour of the Virgin of the Valley, Salamanca’s patron Virgin). After all the mood changes, people bounce back and the rubbish will get cleared eventually.

Devil’s Work? - The South Downs Way Walk

With Beeding Hill, Truleigh Hill, Edburton Hill, Fulking Hill, Newtimber Hill and Devil’s Dyke only just out of my legs, I’m sitting here thinking how strange the latest leg of our South Downs Way walk was!

Perhaps it was all fitting for a walk involving work of the Devil himself (See Devil’s Dyke further down). It was definitely hot enough for the Devil to have been involved and some odd things did happen.

For the Love of Sheep - The South Downs Way Walk

I really noticed the sheep on the fifth stage of our South Downs Way walk. I don’t think there were more sheep than on any of the other stages, but I came home with quite a few photos of sheep this time.

The walk took us from Amberley to Upper Beeding and was supposed to be 12 miles, but we added a bit by detouring to Washington for lunch.

The Walk of Changes - The South Downs Way Walk

We walked through all 4 seasons in one day on our 12 mile walk from Cocking to Amberley. The weather changed from mild spring tempature to autumn rain to blazing summer sun to strong winter wind.

Lost on the Milky Way - South Downs Way Walk

The warm Hampshire air was filled with the tempting smell of juicy meat slowly cooking on barbecues as we walked through Queen Elizabeth Country Park in our continuing quest to conquer the South Downs Way on the last Sunday of July.

Sweltering South Downs Way Walks

Walking the South Downs Way in the hottest month of the year is not the best idea I have ever had. But I have had plans to walk the South Downs Way for 4 years now, so it was with a now-or-never frame of mind that I took the first steps of the 159 km journey last weekend.

Dodging Bruno The Bear in the Austrian Alps

Watching the bubbles in my St. Johann beer gently rise to the surface, the flooded line of our train journey between Munich and Salzburg the night before was long forgotten. I was feeling confident that all 6 of us would make it to the end of our hiking trip without major incidents.

Gaudí Giddy in Springtime Barcelona

I remember only one bad thing about Barcelona, pollen go crazy there in the spring. But armed with antihistamine I cannot think of a single reason, why you shouldn’t have the time of your life in this beautiful, vibrant city.