Here’s a collection of our cosmestibles. Food in Germany was predictably hearty and meaty, much the same in Poland. Dumplings and pierogis features a lot. But of course it’s worth noting that on a 12 day roadtrip we were mostly seeking out places serving “typical” cuisine so we could try the classics. Related Images:
Archive for category ‘Countries’
29 September 2023
Trail of the Eagle’s Nest
Behold! We brave adventurers journeyed two days along the trail of the Eagle’s Nest and beheld no less than thirteen mighty fortresses! Well… twelve fortresses of various levels of crumble and one rock outcrop that apparently once had a fort on it! Related Images:
28 September 2023
Handsome towns
Touring through Bavaria, Saxony and then Poland we just kept finding incredibly handsome towns and cities with bewitchingly photogenic squares, houses, towers and streets. So here’s a selection… Related Images:
24 September 2023
Gorlitz again
So we came back to Gorlitz because it looked lovely and yet we only had an hour to stop on our way through before. It’s only 2 hours drive from Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport which gave us a good couple of hours to explore this morning before we had to get going. Also worth noting: our » » »
24 September 2023
Black Madonna
Actually, more than a million people visit Częstochowa every year, just not at the same time we are here (which might explain why we had no trouble finding a neat little apartment). This city is home to Jasna Gora, a monastery that is in turn home to the Black Madonna. This little image is immensely » » »
24 September 2023
Castles of the Eagles Nest
Okay, although we’re never going to love a hotel covered in scaffolding, it has to be said that Hotel H15 Francuski is a great space with good rooms and very friendly and helpful staff. Superb value, really. After breakfasting at Bakery Lajkonic on the most insanely over-sweet salt caramel croissant ever created, we buzzed (literally) » » »
24 September 2023
Extra Krakow
We had one more day in Krakow, and mum and dad decided to take a break before flying home. So given that we’d also worn ourselves out with a solid week of monster roadtrip sight-seeing we decided to take it easy too: we only spent the morning sight-seeing! We wandered to the Wawel, the citadel » » »
24 September 2023
On foot and hoof in Krakow
Sunday 10th September 2023 Today was Exploring Krakow Day. We started by walking around the old town. One pleasant element is a park that circles the whole old town like a ring; it’s actually the old moat and fortifications, but now it is green and shaded with trees (handy, as we’re still at 27C). One » » »
24 September 2023
Heading to Krakow
Saturday 9th September 2023 Today was a 4.5 hour drive to Krakow, stopping only for lunch in Opole. Some way out of Jelenia Gora the hills gave way to flat plains (and a faster road) and it remained flat and featureless farmland all the way to Krakow pretty much. This is the Great Northern Plain » » »
21 September 2023
Mountain sunglasses day
Friday 8th September 2023 Our hotel is lovely but has two flaws. Firstly, our rooms are on the 2nd floor and there are no lifts – mostly good exercise, but less fun with suitcases. Secondly, the breakfast buffet looks lovely but is actually full of disappointment (dry pancakes, chewy old pastries). Today we headed south » » »
21 September 2023
Handsome Germany
Thursday 7th September 2023 We’ve seen so much in Germany that is impressively handsome and grand. The canals of Augsburg, the walls of Rothenburg, the old city of Bamberg, the might of Koenigsburg. Today we can add the romantic castle of Meissen, the tower-ringed town of Bautzen and the medieval centre of Gorlitz. Not needing » » »
21 September 2023
High above the Elbe
Wednesday 6th September 2023 Our hotel has one redeeming feature: a garden that goes down to the riverside with some tables and chairs. We got take-away pastries and coffee from a local bakery and ate in the garden looking across at the castle, a much better breakfast than whatever was on the buffet indoors. Today » » »
21 September 2023
Steps of Meissen
Tuesday 5th September 2023 We left Bamberg first thing in the morning to continue our drive eastwards towards the Polish border. Our first stop was briefly at a roadside ice cream parlour to buy tickets online for a Ghibli play in London next year! I spilled my sticky drink everywhere and then fell on my » » »
21 September 2023
Mighty beer lady of Bamberg
Monday 4th September 2023 We began the day with more exploring of Rothenburg, finding our way up to a section of the astonishing wall walk with views across the rooftops and then trekking all the way down to the bridge in the verdant wooded valley beneath the town for views back up to the walls » » »
21 September 2023
Romantic Road
Sunday 3rd September 2023 The Romantic Road is a post-WWII concept aimed at reviving tourism in Bavaria, stringing together a bunch of picturesque medieval towns and castles roughly south to north. Augsburg is one of them. Today we drove the road north, taking in Harburg, Dinkelsbuhl and ending in Rothenburg on der Tauber. Rothenburg is » » »
21 September 2023
Augsburg landing
Saturday 2nd September 2023 This is our third visit to Germany. First time was three days wine tasting in the Mosel, based in the ancient city of Trier. Second time was three days exploring Cologne and then Bonn and Aachen. This time we’re touring with mum and dad, from Bavaria eastwards and across the border » » »
20 August 2023
Italian castles
We visited a lot of castles! But first we stayed in one: Spedaletto, in the Tuscan countryside, our first stop after Florence and our favourite accommodation of the whole trip. Related Images:
20 August 2023
Eating Italy
We ate too much food in Italy. It was inevitable. Generally we found the best experiences were reasonably priced cucina tipica. Almost every time we tried to go up a notch and try more inventive & modern cooking… it was disappointing (Cortex in Parma being the noble exception!). This might well be our own inability » » »
20 August 2023
Italian landscapes
It feels like Italy has a continent’s worth of landscapes in one country, and we were only exploring the northern half. From Ligurian coast, Renaissance cities, Tuscan hills, Po plains, Marche countryside to Dolomite mountains… Related Images:
19 August 2023
Gallery of the Renaissance
Florence is a ridiculous city where you can gorge yourself on an endless feast of Renaissance art in any number of museums and churches. We added to our experience piecemeal after that, in Parma, in Torrechiara and especially in Urbino. So this is just our own little gallery of idiosyncratic faces and surprising works of » » »
14 August 2023
Breakfast banter
Monday 10 July 2023 Just before going home we had a nice traditional blast of French hospitality. Our chambre des hotes, Les Accacias, was a converted farmhouse down a kilometre long woodland track in the middle of nowhere, run by a retired couple who spoke no English (but made good use of Google Translate on » » »
14 August 2023
Once more unto the Alps
Sunday 9 July 2023 This morning we got up at 4:30am and left our hotel in the dark at 5am to drive 3 hours west through the Alps and look for ibex on the Niederhorn, a small mountain near Interlaken. Mammal-watching is a hobby with weird habits. And we were a bit miffed that we » » »
14 August 2023
Liechtenstein
Saturday 8 July 2023 Time for another couple of wineries before heading across borders to teh tiny nation of Liechtenstein! First we tried Kellerei Bozen (kellerei = cantina and I guess the choice of word is a strong indication of whether the owners think of themselves as more German or more Italian!), which was another » » »
14 August 2023
Gambolling about
Friday 7 July 2023 In the morning at check-out Giselle talked us through some wine makers we might want to try for tastings (especially smaller ones). You can’t get much better advice than the sommelier of a Michelin 2* restaurant in the area you want to go tasting! Mmm… also need to note the lovely » » »
14 August 2023
Magic Place
Thursday 6 July 2023 This was definitely the relaxing and indulgent day we needed after all that hiking! Okay, it started a bit odd. Rather than stopping for breakfast in Val Gardena I decided we should get going and find breakfast along the way to Bolzano and the Adige valley… only to find that there » » »
14 August 2023
This is the hike
Wednesday 5 July 2023 Today’s hike was the best. Defying the weather forecasts once more, it was the sunniest yet and the clouds hadn’t even come over by the time we finished around 4pm (unluckily we couldn’t find any shady parking… so the car was a teensy bit hot by the time we got back). » » »
14 August 2023
Robot hotel
Tuesday 4 July Our new accommodation is Residence Boe, a block of apartments managed and run by robots (we believe). When you arrive you check in by speaking into a phone, and a voice tells you to put a blank key card on a little plate and then tells you that this is the key » » »
14 August 2023
Up the Kaiserjager Route
Monday 3 July Today we twisted our way back along all the mountain roads to the starting place for the Kaiserjager Route. There was more sun than yesterday, although still a mighty load of clouds browsing on the mountains like a herd of giant sheep. What is the Kaiserjager Route? It’s a hiking trail that » » »
10 August 2023
Cursed Dolomite day
Sunday 2 July 2023 No, really. The day dawned cloudy but at least dry and we set off really early for our chosen hike – the somewhat challenging Kaiserjager Route up to the top of Lagazuoi where there are incredible views. Gnarly opener, but we picked this because the forecast suggested the weather would get » » »
10 August 2023
Oh so now it rains?
Saturday 1 June 2023 Quite annoying departure from Palazzo Valmarana Braga. We took one load of luggage down the road to the car at 9ish… and came back to find that the cleaner had already come in, had assumed that we’d “left” the rest of our luggage (it was moved to the office) and had » » »
10 August 2023
Prosecco day
Friday 30 June 2023 Breakfast for the second time at a pasticceria on the main square. I’m a bit addicted to the little buns here – the dough is a bit like hot-cross bun dough, but there’s no dried fruit and they are full of a tangy apricot marmalade. Prosecco is grown in another set » » »
10 August 2023
Soave day
Thursday 29 June 2023 Today we went wine-tasting in Soave. It’s a white wine region that didn’t have a very good name back in the day – mass-produced plonk that was a byword for cheap. Imagine Sharon asking for a glass of swar-vay. As in many other places around the world, a new generation of » » »
31 July 2023
Staying in a Palladian villa
Wednesday 28 June 2023 We’re in Vicenza now, staying in an actual literal Palladian villa designed by Palladio in the 16th century. Palazzo Valmarana Braga. Although this isn’t quite as deluxe as it sounds, since our apartment is actually fairly basic in equipment and furnished with vintage pieces. Still… Palladio, eh? Before leaving Ravenna we » » »
31 July 2023
Mosaic town
Tuesday 27 July 2023 Ravenna is an odd city. It’s flat, hot, with typical modern low-rise buildings lining typical streets filled with shops and cafes. Then you wander around a corner and, bam, there’s a 6th century church. Inside the church there may well be some Byzantine mosaics from about the same period. This is » » »
31 July 2023
Even more castles in the hills
Monday 26 June 2023 Today was another day exploring, this time on our way from Urbino to meet up with Tim & Nessa in Ravenna. Yes, back to the heat and mosquitoes of the Po plains. So we set off on a twisty route through the mountains of the Marche and back into Emilia-Romagna. First » » »
31 July 2023
Crown of the Renaissance
Sunday 25 June 2023 Okay, I have to admit that I’ve fallen in love with Urbino. It is clearly (and undeservedly) off the tourist trail for most visitors to Italy, but it has met my expectations and more. My expectations were set when we listened to a course on Renaissance history and learned about Frederico » » »
31 July 2023
San Marino Grand Prix
Saturday 24 June 2023 We did a lot of driving, but not so fast as a Grand Prix. Masses of seaside-bound Italians and some prangs meant we had quite a laborious 4 hour drive along the featureless Po valley from Parma down to the tiny landlocked state of San Marino. We set out at ten, » » »
24 July 2023
More castles in the hills
Friday 23 June 2023 Today we had an even better crop of castles! And another pleasant day of just mooching around the countryside. It’s a bit unfair just how easily the Italians seem to leave eye-catchingly beautiful little towns and villages scattered all across the landscape. This was meant to be a gentle recovery day, » » »
24 July 2023
Castles in the hills
Thursday 22 June 2023 Today we got on the road again and headed south from Parma into the foothills of the Appennines. I’ve got some kind of grotty cold or flu out of nowhere, so today was accomplished with only 60% energy and a sort of mental fog in between me and the world. Thanks » » »
24 July 2023
Mooching around Parma
Wednesday 21 June 2023 The weather forecast said 30+ degrees for Parma today and both of us felt a bit meh and worn out. Maybe suffering from all the over-indulgence, maybe also from the horribly fierce aircon in our apartment (but turn the aircon off and it’s just not possible to sleep). We stuck to » » »
24 July 2023
Picnic before the towers
Tuesday 20 June 2023 We’ve left Tuscany and are on to the next leg of the tour: Parma and Emilia-Romagna. Our apartment is a neat city-centre place, very good location, kind vintage decor, fierce aircon. In a very Italian style, the owner Francesca showed up 20 minutes late to let us in, but at least » » »
24 July 2023
Wine tasting Brunello
Monday 19 June 2023 So we loved Spedaletto so much that we decided to stay one more night, and by sheer fluke tonight happened to be unbooked (but only tonight). Which meant we could actually tackle some wine tasting today! The first one we tried was Ciacci Piccolomini, an old family winery whose Rosso di » » »
24 July 2023
Not wine tasting
Sunday 18 June Happy birthday to me! Given how we’re struggling with not over-eating in Italy, the last thing we needed was the generous and tempting breakfast spread at Spedaletto. It seems to be run by a mother and her daughter; the former cooks breakfast and looks after our basil plant, the latter speaks English. » » »
23 July 2023
Staying in a castle
Saturday 17 June 2023 Today had everything. We started the morning with one final bit of sight-seeing in Florence (yes, I know I said we’d had enough of art but this was booked in advance ‘cos you have to). The Brancacci Chapel is a small chapel that contains possibly the greatest early Renaissance fresco cycle, » » »
23 July 2023
Stibbert
Friday 16 June 2023 For our fourth day in Florence we decided to cast ourselves out of the dense tourist-washed streets of the central area. We walked for 45 mins, often in the blazing sun (did I mention we’re in a heatwave and Florence is hitting 30C most days?), to a far-flung museum called the » » »
23 July 2023
Getting into Florence
Thursday 15 June 2023 Third day in Florence and maybe we’re starting to get into it – we even finally relaxed enough to stop at a completely random cafe-bar for negronis before dinner, instead of needing to research “the best bars for a negroni in Florence” first. So once you get past the initial wow » » »
23 July 2023
Big Uffizi gallery day
Today we soaked ourselves in Renaissance painting at the Uffizi gallery. Then it poured with rain so we lurked in our apartment for the rest of the afternoon, which is acceptable behaviour when you’re away for a whole month and can spare an afternoon. Big national galleries are marathon events, I still remember destroying our » » »
23 July 2023
Into the Renaissance
Tuesday 13 June 2023 Florence exploration, day one. We started leisurely, with coffee and pastry in the little cafe at the end of our road, but managed to squeeze in San Marco, San Lorenzo, the Medici Chapel and the Bardini Gardens. Santa Croce was also in our sights, but was closed just this one day » » »
23 July 2023
Camogli on the Ligurian Riviera
Monday 12 June 2023 Today we drove from Vercelli to Florence via the only stretch of coast to feature in our trip, a bit of the Ligurian Riviera between Genoa and La Spezia. The geography in Italy is splendid. First we are hurtling across dead flat plains, then suddenly green-clad mountains rear up and the » » »
23 July 2023
Fluffy St Bernards
Sunday 11 June 2023 Today we saw so many fluffy St Bernards! That’s because every few kilometers along the St Bernards Pass road there would be somewhere selling St Bernard stuffed toys. Mainly, though, it was a stunningly beautiful road and we were very surprised to find ourselves surrounded by snow and pretty flippin’ cold » » »
23 July 2023
Besancon after a long drive
10 June 2023 We’re travelling to Italy for a month in our own car, which means a cross-channel crossing by Eurotunnel and then a long, long drive through the flat parts of France before we finally hit the Alps. Such a boring drive. So we ended the day in Besancon, a small medieval city that » » »
4 March 2023
Stunning Tenerife
Tenerife is a volcanic island packed full of mountains covered in trees that just tumble into the Atlantic Ocean, and a central volcano that towers over them at more than 3,000m. So there are some great views. Related Images:
28 February 2023
Farewell Tenerife
Saturday 4 February 2023 And so we come to the end of our winter hiking holiday in Tenerife. Highlights have been the super varied hikes, the astonishing vistas and some great food. Lowlights were cold, cold, cold accommodation and me getting a cold. We left La Laguna and, having a few hours to kill, took » » »
28 February 2023
Hike to the end of the land
Friday 3 February 2023 For our final day hike we picked the furthest east you can go in Tenerife, and tackled a walk from Chamorga down a steep barranco to the tiny hamlet of Roque Bermejo which is only accessible by sea (or by walking down this barranco!). Then of course we had to climb » » »
28 February 2023
Roque de Taberno: the view
Thursday 2 February 2023 We settled on two short circular hikes today, instead of trying a long one. Mainly because I still felt a bit grot, and the weather forecast was still hinting at cloud and rain. The fact is (and today bore it out) that we’ve had a really good mix of sun and » » »
28 February 2023
Wiggly, wiggly Anaga roads
My cold being in full effect, and the weather forecasting grey with a chance of showers, we settled on a driving tour today. The eastern tip of the island is the Anaga Peninsula, supposedly even more picturesque and mountainous than the Teno Peninsula in the north-west. For breakfast we found a chocolate con churros place » » »
23 February 2023
Ramble along the Canadas
Tuesday 31 January 2023 Breakfast at the weird little bakery/cafe around the corner: good coffee, and a really weird pastry that is a bowtie-shaped twist of incredibly light flaky pastry complete covered with a bright yellow sugar and egg glaze that is crispy on the surface but still gooey underneath. So sweet. Very good. Icod » » »
23 February 2023
High above the valley
Monday 30 January 2023 The Orotava Valley is a huge, wide valley whose coastal end is filled with towns and villages, higher parts filled with farms, tiny lanes and fields, and highest parts filled with fuzzy green pine forests. The whole valley looks a bit like a huge scoop of the landscape of northern Tenerife » » »
23 February 2023
Black sand
Sunday 29 January 2023 Today started cloudy and the forecast was for probably rain, so we settled on a walk we could do in 2-3 hours and could be abandoned. This began in the wet forest above La Montaneta and climbed to the black sand volcano of Arenas Negras. At first we couldn’t see it, » » »
23 February 2023
T-t-tenerife (or: we never learn!)
Saturday 28 January 2023 The problem with countries where it is hot for ten months of the year is that they don’t see any point in adding heating into their homes and buildings for the short spell of cold winter weather. You look in a local cafe and see people having their lunches still wearing » » »
27 November 2022
Kenyan mammals
A bit belated, but here’s a gallery of many of the mammals we saw on our two week trip to Kenya. There’s a handful we didn’t get useful photos of, so our actual tally was 75 different mammals. Related Images:
26 November 2022
Cyprus postcards
Here are a grab-bag of photos from Cyprus, from ancient ruins to mountain landscapes, food and plants, sunsets and donkeys. Related Images:
19 November 2022
Back to Paphos
Saturday 5 November And so we left the mountains and headed back to Paphos for our evening flight home. We had entertained some ideas of doing a bit of shopping for interesting or quirky gifts, local artisans and designers. Doesn’t seem like there’s much of that – Cyprus is perhaps a bit too much of » » »
19 November 2022
Good timing day
Friday 4 November Some nifty bits of good timing today. We got out early and started with another hike, up to Mount Adelphi which is Cyprus’ second highest mountain at 1650m. This sounds more impressive than it was, as the layby where we started the walk was already at 1300m! Still, a lovely trail where » » »
19 November 2022
Old, old wine
Thursday 3 November We took a break from hiking today and even had a lazy start, not getting out of bed until almost 9:00am. Leisurely breakfast included more amazing Cypriot yogurt which is just a lush way to start any day. Then we went for a stroll around Lofou village itself. It’s probably the prettiest » » »
19 November 2022
Into the highlands
Wednesday 2 November This was transfer day, from the north-west coast to the southern hills via the central Troodos mountains. We said goodbye to Aphrodite Beach Hotel with its clinical room, thronged breakfast terrace and friendly staff. Driving up into the mountains again we rounded a corner and Maureen spotted a mouflon by the road, » » »
19 November 2022
Free figs and the sea
Tuesday 1 November Today we started the morning with a long walk through the agricultural hills from the village of Miliou, not far from Kathikas. We saw lemons and oranges, grape vines, olive trees and almond trees, walnut trees and fig trees. We saw huge bright red pomegranates, bergamots, prickly pears, crab apples and medlars. » » »
8 November 2022
Gorging ourselves again
Monday 31 October We reset our body clocks with an early night and got out at a decent hour today (well, 8:45ish) so we could start our hike by 9am. We were doing one of the two nature trails above the Baths of Aphrodite and by 9:30 in the sun it already felt roastingly hot. » » »
8 November 2022
Nimble as a Mouflon?
Sunday 30 October The Aphrodite does a decent breakfast buffet to set us up for a day of hiking in the mountains. The Troodos Mountains in the middle of Cyprus rise up to almost 2,000m, not bad for an island only a third the size of Wales. So then poor Maureen twists her ankle and » » »
8 November 2022
Aphrodite’s Welcome
Saturday 29 October We land in Paphos after dark so there’s not much to see of Cyprus on our first day. We do encounter a handful of classic Greek/Cypriot men between the airport, rental place and hotel: stocky, barrel-chested and darkly bushy-bearded every one. We collect our tiny hire car and head north to Aphrodite » » »
26 September 2022
Cars, boats and planes
Thursday 25 Aug Last day, flight home at 23:10, so we had a good part of the day to relax. Our transfer to Mombasa airport was going to be at 3pm for the internal flight back to Nairobi. While we were still eating lunch we were told our driver had arrived and was saying that » » »
26 September 2022
Last day, let’s relax
Wednesday 24 Aug And so finally a day of zero mammal watching and all relaxation… except we did just do one more forest walk in the morning by ourselves, in the hope of some elephant shrews. No joy. Oh, and one more bit of night spot-lighting on the main track. Argh! We are clearly addicts. » » »
26 September 2022
Just one last drop
Tuesday 23 Aug Yesterday we made some attempts to ask about exploring the forest trail and maybe spot-lighting in the evening, only to be met with a wall of “no I don’t think that’s possible” and “the management can’t accept liability” and gentle yet definite refusal. So this morning we took the “Guided Nature Trail” » » »
26 September 2022
And now we relax…?
Monday 22 Aug In theory we have now finished mammal watching. We are off to a posh resort down the coast at Diani Beach for 3 days of rest and relaxation. So of course we asked Shem if we can have one more visit to Arabuko-Sokoke this morning, just for a short walk in the » » »
26 September 2022
What mammal-watchers do
Sunday 21 Aug Crazy things mammal-watchers do: drive almost four hours north along the coast, to spend two hours looking for rare primates, then drive back again. It was well worth it though! The Tana River Red Colobus and the Tana River Mangabey are both critically endangered, as they exist only in a strip of » » »
26 September 2022
Best bet on bats
Saturday 20 Aug Arabuko-Sokoke has not been very generous to us. We went for another night drive this evening, and it was even less good that the previous one. Just a couple more of the galagos and absolutely nothing else. The dinner we came back to this time was a massive plate of all the » » »
26 September 2022
Hedgehog hunters
Friday 19 Aug Today we left Tsavo NP and headed for the coast at Watamu. We drove right across the park but didn’t really come across anything interesting. It was more interesting to see how the villages in the flat, hot country near the coast change from those back in the highlands. Near Meru and » » »
26 September 2022
Back to not much
Thursday 18 Aug Voi Lodge. So the rooms are a bit tired, especially the bathroom. This isn’t unique to Voi; I think it must be very expensive to replace bathroom fittings in Kenya as it’s always the nastiest part of any place we stayed in. The buffet meals are okay, though nothing to write home » » »
26 September 2022
Gerenuk are cool
Wednesday 17 Aug Shem reminded us today that we needed to take a park ranger on our night drive, and culture in Kenya would make it appropriate to tip him. What would be an appropriate tip? “Whatever you think is right, it’s up to you” was Shem’s answer. I totally understand why it’s difficult to » » »
26 September 2022
Drive across Kenya
Tuesday 16 Aug Today was a monstrous 11 hour transfer from Meru NP to Tsavo East NP, and judging by how relentless and fast Shem drove, they’d miscalculated the timings a bit when creating our itinerary! It didn’t help that the rough dirt-and-rock village road from Rhino River Camp probably took an extra 30 minutes » » »
15 September 2022
Our own Elsa
Monday 15 Aug Today I feel more well-disposed to Meru NP, as we went out for pretty much the entire day (with a picnic lunch) and actually saw some new mammals and a lot more generally. In fact we saw 21 different mammal species today, which is the best daily tally yet. We even saw » » »
15 September 2022
All quiet at Meru NP
Sunday 14 Aug Meru NP seems very… quiet. We’ve been for a morning game drive, and an afternoon game drive, and really haven’t seen a lot of game. If we hadn’t seen a striped ground squirrel we might have gone a whole day with no new mammals. We’ve been exploring the third of Meru NP » » »
15 September 2022
Trout lunch
Saturday 13 Aug Our lunch stop today was probably my favourite place in Kenya so far. The Trout Tree Restaurant is just a few hundred yards off the main Nanyuki road with buildings and human life along every mile, but you feel like you’re back in wilderness. The trout farming ponds are all in the » » »
15 September 2022
It’s chilly on the Ark
Friday 12 Aug Our only activity today was a morning drive. It was even mistier than yesterday and we saw even less stuff, although we did spot our first elephant of the trip. But otherwise, meh. Later we rocked up at The Ark, the big wooden hotel in the Aberdares that has been here since » » »
15 September 2022
Hot water bottle
Thursday 11 Aug I haven’t had a hot water bottle since I was little! But slipping a couple of bottles into your bed while you’re having dinner is one of the things they do to try and help you stay warm at the Aberdare Country Club. There’s a fireplace in the room, but its hard » » »
15 September 2022
Long first day
Wednesday 10 Aug Feels like a very long first day (I think a 5am breakfast can lead to that impression!). We were picked up at 6am by our guide Shem, for a morning game drive in Nairobi NP. This is quite an astonishing park, as the entry gates really are in the city, and the » » »
15 September 2022
Off to Kenya
Tuesday 9 Aug We touched down in Nairobi around 9pm so my first impressions of Kenya are very brief. Security. I’ve never stayed in a hotel with a gated entrance and a sniffer dog who explores you and your car (bizarrely, an actual courtesy car from the hotel) before letting you in. Nice doggie, too. » » »
12 September 2021
Rain, wind, fog, ice, fire
23 August 2021 Rain, wind and fog: an Icelandic farewell. The last three days of our trip have been such a contrast for weather with our journey around the island. We had in mind a hike up to Glymur, the second highest waterfall in the country, but a three hour walk with gale winds blowing » » »
12 September 2021
Relaxing in Reykjavik
22 August 2021 There’s a particular kind of American tourist that stays at hotels like the Konsultat. They wear the best quality adventure gear, and discuss with noisy confidence today’s guided adventure, or talk about their family relationships so we can all hear. Anyway, the breakfast buffet at the Konsultat is great. It’s the first » » »
12 September 2021
Almost a complete washout
21 August 2021 Today was a washout. We left early, so we could get to Landmannalaguar ahead of the day-trip crowds from Reykjavik. In the event when we arrived there were already a half-dozen tour buses, fifty cars and vans, and forty tents. There was also a strong cold mountain wind driving the rain at » » »
12 September 2021
The many-coloured Hveradalir
20 August 2021 We left Akyureri this morning feeling a bit guilty; we had spent two nights in Iceland’s “second city” and hadn’t seen any more of it than our apartment and two restaurants. But it really didn’t look very interesting, like a small nondescript modern town anywhere in Europe. And a long day’s drive » » »
12 September 2021
Thor mends our wheel
19 August 2021 Oops. Today I drove too fast down a dirt road that was being re-graded, and kicked up a hidden rock which dented the inside wheel rim and so deflated one of our tyres. On the plus side: I heroically changed to the spare wheel once we had limped two kilometers on to » » »
12 September 2021
No puffin
18 August 2021 We wasted three hours driving out to Borgarfjörður Eystri and back. The “cute” fishing village is just a bunch of scattered tin houses. The main reason to come is a puffin colony within a couple of yards of a viewing platform… but alas, most of the colony had left, and the ones » » »
12 September 2021
Hot bath in the rain
17 August 2021 In complete contrast to yesterday, Tuesday dawned cloudy and became foggy and then rainy. We drove eastwards in the hope that the weather might lift as we reached the scenic beauty of the fjords, but no such luck. With nothing to see above maybe fifty metres over sea level, we took a » » »
12 September 2021
Glaciers in the sun
16 August 2021 Just to defy our expectations, today dawned a faultless blue and stayed warm and sunny through the entire day. We hiked in T-shirts up to Svartifoss waterfall and then up to the glacier viewpoint at Sjónarnípa, which was magnificent. We even got hot enough to want a cooling paddle in a stream » » »
7 September 2021
Four seasons in one day
15 August 2021 We got to enjoy the “four seasons in one day” of Iceland, as it rained on us leaving Reykjavik, then dried up to be merely moody and cloudy at Þingvellir and Kerid, then abruptly switched to wall-to-wall sun as we reached Skogarfoss and set off on a hike up the Waterfall Way. » » »
7 September 2021
Landing in Iceland
14 August 2021 Driving from Keflavik airport, at first it feels like you’re just heading out across the same sad, flat, vaguely industry-battered scrubland that seems to surround a lot of the world’s airports. But it only takes a kilometer or two before you realise that the lumps of rock aren’t abandoned quarrying or unfinished » » »
4 January 2020
Resorting to architecture
26 December 2019 And so today we drove back to Colombo, or more precisely Negombo which is closer to the airport. We broke the journey with one stop along the way, at the country house and gardens of the world-renowned Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. This was one of his earliest projects, so he was » » »
4 January 2020
Tea and hoppers
25 December 2019 We’ve explored Galle top to bottom, so today was pretty easy going. We drove out into the country to visit a tea estate, where they take you on a free scenic and interesting hour-long tour of the estate and the tea factory. I now feel educated about tea. There’s also a complimentary » » »