Blogs from Europe - page 7

We got up at 5.30 am, because this is a Wade holiday. And because we were being picked up a 15 minute walk away at 6.50am. The day started how it planned to stay: dark and wet. A guy in a minibus met us on a random bit of pavement outside someone’s apartment. There were 8 tourists, all British except one lady from north Sweden. And so began the 70 minute journey to Auschwitz. The lovely architecture of Old Town quickly gave way to flat-sided, grey and dull apartment blocks, the traffic seemed less pedestrian friendly. Once through the slippage of the city, we drove through leafless winter trees along a highway that appeared to be in better condition than most British roads, probably because it was a toll road. Then the trees gave way to ... read more

Our short trip to Krakow started in Yorkshire and until very recently I was completely unaware that there’s an airport at Leeds/Bradford, but there is and I think it might be bigger than Liverpool airport. The best part of it is that everyone up here calls you ‘lovey’, which makes being scanned by a lady in security very intimate. ‘Just lift your leg, lovey’, ‘turn around and raise your arms, lovey’, ‘bend over lovey’. Ok, the last line didn’t happen, but it wasn’t far off. The two hour flight last night landed in a wet and dark Krakow, it felt like being home. The customs guy was all smiles, which isn’t that common for customs guys. The airport loos were clean and arty, a good loo at the airport is often a good indicator of what’s ... read more

When you live in the same place for a while it is hard sometimes to think of places to visit . You find you have done them all. Sometimes more than once . The choice of places to look at diminishes over time or the distance between each becomes too great for a day trip out. There is something to be said for moving home on a regular basis . Perusing the local maps doesn't always give you new ideas. Trawling through the internet draws blanks . Sometimes I find somewhere we have not been to but it is either too far to drive to or the weather puts us off . February is an inclement month . We can expect frosty nights or exceptionally mild ones . We may get high winds or torrential rain. ... read more

1st February Originally Ferrol was a fishing port, but its development was due to Philip V recognizing the strategic value of its estuary and building the A Graña arsenal and shipyards. Ferrol came to control Spain's maritime interests in the North Atlantic, threatened by England. In 1800, the British fleet landed on Doniños beach, in what is known as the Battle of Brión. The objective was to take Ferrol and destroy the shipyards, but the local forces responded quickly, causing the English to withdraw. Currently, Ferrol continues to suffer the effects of the economic depression of the 80s, as a consequence of the naval crisis and a reduced military presence, plus the effects of the recent real estate crisis, this was obvious as I walked around. I took the shuttle bus from the ship, the bus ... read more

In other news…the first picture I took early this morning while having coffee on the balcony is the sky over the ocean just down the way from our house. Isn’t it beautiful? And there’s a picture of Suki. She’s the cutest little thing, very smart and appropriately pampered. She’s a little Papillion, 12 years old and walks everywhere we do. She never gets tired and keeps looking back to see if we’re coming. She doesn’t need a leash, just stays close and listens very well. We are taking a break from driving today and exploring the Old Town of Albufeira which is only minutes away from our house. It’s typical of all European towns with the medieval centre of the business area full of very narrow streets and small shops with apartments on the upper floors. ... read more