daverymer

About an hour and a half on the train from Vigo is Santiago de Compostela a place you may have heard of because despite it being smaller than Vigo and A Coruna, it is probably more famous than both due to its religious significance in a very religious country. My own, terribly outdated and incorrect view of such places is such that I thought, on arrival I’d be greeted by a huge throng of people, all completing the Pilgrimage to Santiago or that I simply wouldn’t be allowed out of the station and into the city for not being religious enough – a la Medina or Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Of course, neither of these are even close to being true and only serve to show, again, just how ignorant, kind of uneasy and yet slightly ... read more

About an hour’s walk from my flat, there is a beach called Samil, maybe it is the fact that since I left Liverpool 10 years ago, I haven’t lived near a beach – Leeds, San Jose, Xiangfan and Budapest all being decidedly inland – but as beaches go, it’s a damn good one. White sand, clear blue water, little quiet inlets and bays and lots of rocks just waiting to be climbed on. The islands opposite, accessible only by boat and only in the summer, are called The Cíes Islands and a few years ago they were voted the most beautiful beaches in the world – although by whom is something I’m not sure about as it may have been The Cíes Islands tourist board for all I know. Of course, it’s not all sunshine and ... read more

The first time I went to Sheffield, I remember thinking that the city was built on some kind of giant see-saw because it felt like everywhere we walked, we were going uphill. In my first few days here, I had the same feeling. There is no such thing as a flat, level street in Vigo, everything seems to resemble either a mountain that you need a Sherpa and boots to try and get up, or a slide where you have to really try to stop yourself from gathering momentum so you don’t run into the road at the bottom. Actually, this set up is a surprisingly good thing for anyone like me with no sense of direction at all. All you have to know is that downhill takes you to the sea, and once you know ... read more

When getting to somewhere new I always have a tendency to compare my arrival with my arrivals in the places before it, almost as a way of getting a handle on things immediately and trying to get a feeling of comfortability and familiarity straightaway. Getting to Vigo airport was no different. The jet-lag, the nerves and the crying baby on the plane were all reminiscent of the flights to Costa Rica, China and Budapest, which provided me with some comfort. What was different, however, was that here, I was accompanied on the flight by the entire Celta Vigo squad (the local football team) who then proceeded to chat to kids who were staring in awe before loading all of their gear up themselves and leaving – difficult to imagine this happening in England somehow. It was ... read more

Budapest, as you may know, is also known as the City Of Spa's (thermal baths rather than discount supermarkets). I'm not sure how well known this title is, because to be honest, it sounds rather like when someone you knew at school introduces themselves with a new nickname the first time you see them after university - "No, it's not Peter anymore, everyone calls me 'Scorpion' now". But either way, that's what the signs say here. Budapest is one of the only cities, so people tell me, to have been built on a natural thermal spring and as a result, the spas are everywhere. A lot are combined with swimming pools and hotels and things , but the best feature of some is that they have outdoor parts - ok in the summer, but in the ... read more

Since I was a little boy, certain things have always fascinated me, magic, ghosts and the solar system are three that spring to mind, and for many years, Mount Everest was another. It is very likely that this was thanks to my 'Strange But True with Michael Aspel' book, that was just about the only thing I read for about four years of my childhood, which talked about the stories and myths surrounding things like The Loch Ness Monster, UFOs, and Yetis, and I think I secretly assumed that seeing the Himalayas would somehow be the culmination of all of that, and would almost certainly result in Meh-Teh (oh yes!) popping up from the snow to say hi. Of course, no one ever gets 100% of what they thought they would so this last bit didn't ... read more