CJ writes: Ferrol is a strange place. An important port since Norman times, it is now (apparently) the best equipped port in northern Iberia. It also hosts a large naval base, and the marina is stuffed with small boats - some clearly working boats, others rather fancier. Lots of employment and lots of money, you might think - yet the town is dying on its feet. Lovely old stone fronted buildings abound, yet a significant proportion are empty, derelict, collapsing or reduced to a heap of rubble. The main shopping street is tired, the bars in the main somewhat scruffy. (SC: Yes up in the corner of Spain it feels like European backwater.) Thankfully, we found what has to be the best restaurant in town last night x and we’ve booked to go back tonight. It ... read more

SC writes: Our guides on this trip are A) The RUTA (route) of our pre package Paradores trip; B) Lonely Planet - a downloaded large PDF file and C) Our own instincts for a worthwhile visit. Yesterday was a good one for C) as Cathy explains; CJ writes: We left the delightful Santillana del Mar relatively early today (ie somewhat after 9:30 - but this is a holiday after all!) and travelled just a couple of kilometres to the Museo de Altamira. This celebrates the discovery, in 1879, of a cave with the most stunning cave art created from 36,000 to 14,500 years ago. The cave itself is now far too fragile to admit the thousands who travel here every year (in the 1960’s well over 100,000 people a year!) and so an absolutely millimetre-accurate replica ... read more

SC writes: After the relative disappointments of Mito, yesterday we headed for Tokyo, and the very popular area of Shinjuku. We dropped our bags at the hotel, eventually, and headed off to Kappibashi Dori, a street famous for catering to the restaurant trade. Here you can buy crockery in any style you like, chefs’ knives, and plastic food, which the restaurants use to display their wares - very helpful when you don’t understand a word! See the photos for a couple of spectacular examples. Cathy was shopping for dinner plates but, despite looking at hundreds, came away with nothing more than a side plate. I on the other hand went looking for a plastic fried egg but came away with plates and pasta bowls. (We are taking advantage of the fact that our baggage allowance is ... read more

SC writes: When we first came to Kyoto nearly 5 years ago, on an Exodus trip, we rattled round and I always felt we missed lot, through being jet lagged and disoriented. The plan this time was to cover Kyoto thoroughly, revisiting some places but focusing on the new. Kyoto is a large city and it can take 30 minutes to get across town by bus, and you need buses because the city is poorly covered by Japan Rail (JR) lines, where our passes are good. Yesterday we bussed out to the East of the city for a long walk around numerous temples, exotic old Edo period shopping streets and ended at the garden for one of the temples. The walk was good and interesting but it soon got really rather hot. In the end we ... read more

SC writes: We had a relaxed and comfortable trip up from Kagoshima to Okayama: 3 hours plus on the Shinkansen yesterday, and having checked in we immediately set off on a pre-planned trip out to the Kurashiki Bikan historical quarter, where we were able to stroll through streets boasting traditional architecture from the Edo period. Simply delightful with a waterside setting and lots of very attractive retail opportunities. The weather was again really good, so I‘m going to let the the photos speak for themselves. A really good side trip out via local trains......What had been a very good day ended on a downbeat. We went to an Ozzie Bar, recommended in Lonely Planet, but it was dreadful. A real wasted opportunity! (Cj writes) Another day, another fabulous garden - the second of the three best ... read more