West Highlands Scotland Auchindrain
Scotland’s West Highlands are one of the most magical places on the planet. In summer they are umpteen shades of green, pink and purple (heather in flower is so beautiful). As the days grow shorter and the cold sets in, the Highlands become a picture of contrast; brown, orange, grey, green, black (and white!). One
Porto Laneways
I love the lane ways of Porto Portugal! So much colour and beautiful decoration. Sadly, due to the poor economic state of Portugal, many buildings are unoccupied and run-down. Note the wall tiles (Azulejo) in the picture below – these are very common in Portugal. They can be found everywhere from churches, and palaces to
The Fear of Missing Out and Missing Home Instead
When it comes to travel, I have an underlying fear of missing out. It is such a great big beautiful world, and I wish to see as much of it as possible before my time upon it ends. I want to experience its richness, meet its people, learn its languages, taste its food and savour
Camino Portuguese Day 12 – Padron to Santiago
Camino Portuguese Day 12 – Padrón to Santiago de Compostela – we did it!! Oh My God it hurt like hell, but WE DID IT! Today was supposed to be around 24km, about a third of it on paths through woodland. What the book failed to note was that the woodland paths would all be
Camino Portuguese Day 11 – Caldas de Reis to Padron
Camino Portuguese Day 11 – Caldas de Reis to Padron – completed! Woo hoo! Only 24 km left to go to Santiago de Compostela! Today was a relatively short 18km through some spectacular woodland areas. 50% of the Way was on forestry trails, mostly dirt or gravel. The other 50% was on asphalt or pavers.
Camino Portuguese Day 10 – Pontevedre to Caldas de Reis
Camino Portuguese Day 10! There’s only 2 more days to go! Oh thank God for that. Today we had a wonderful walk through some beautiful countryside. The weather was perfect – the morning started crisp and cool and rain-free. The sun poked its head out around 11am (of course, sunrise wasn’t until 9am anyway). Dave
Camino Portuguese Day 9 – Dave Pastry Update
Camino Portuguese Day 9 – we’re in Pontevedre for the day! After seeing the forecast for today, we made the decision, correctly as it turns out, to avoid getting thoroughly soaked. There’s nothing more miserable than a sore soggy pilgrim. It has poured rain on and off for most of the day. The thunder and
Camino Portuguese Day 8 – Tui to Porrino
Camino Portuguese Day 8 was going to be Tui to Mos … but we ended up catching a train in Porriño instead! 🙂 The day started off well enough. We spent the night in a very basic and not terribly well designed (hello, group showers) albergue. The greatest asset to the hostel was its location –
Camino Portuguese Day 7 – Rubiaes to Tui
Camino Portuguese Day 7 – we made it to Spain!! Woo hoo! It was with a fair amount of pride that Dave and I crossed the river Minho from Portugal. We’ve walked roughly 146km so far, and we’ve got about 114 km to go until Santiago. There is a noticeable difference between Portugal and Galicia
Camino Portuguese Day 6 – Ponte Lima to Rubiaes
Camino Portuguese Day 6 was wonderful and challenging. Our plan was to at least get over the big hill (Portela Grande) to the first main town with accommodation, Rubiães. This is a relatively short part of the trip – 18km by the guidebook. It’s a tricky spot because there is no obvious accommodation between Ponte
Camino Portuguese Day 5 – Vitorino to Ponte Lima
Camino Portuguese Day 5! We made it a grand total of 12km today 🙂 Dave and I both agreed this morning that we wanted a ‘day off’ from all this silly walking nonsense. We should have reached Ponte Lima yesterday (according to the guidebook). Being the seasoned walkers that we are, the rain and sore
Camino Portuguese Day 4 – Barcelos to Vitorino
In trying to catch back up on posts, I’ll keep this one brief! There was a lot less walking today than yesterday. THANK GOD. And much more of it was on unpaved trails which satisfied my feet no end. I awoke with great trepidation as I thought that I had blistered the underside of my
Camino Portuguese Day 3 – Vila do Conde to Barcelos
Camino Portuguese Day 3 was my idea of hell! My feet were hurting so badly by the end of it there were a few moments where tears were a good possibility. This post was not completed yesterday as I crawled into a ball on my bed and napped for 12 hours instead! I have decided
Camino Portuguese Day 2 – Matosinhos to Vila do Conde
Camino Day 2! We were up early (okay, not that early, 7am) and attempted to be out the door by 8 but Dave took a while to do his hair etc, so it was more like 8.20 by the time we left the hotel. We spent the night at the Brierley Guidebook recommended Hotel in
Camino Portuguese Day 1 – Porto to Matosinhos
We have started our Camino! Day 1 is what I’m calling a ‘soft start’ as we’ve completed 12km along the Portuguese coastal route to Santiago de Compostela. Dave and I were going to start our trek tomorrow but the short walk from Porto to Matosinhos was appealing in its brevity. Dave flew in from Sydney
An Introvert Abroad – Solo Travel With Others
I am an introvert and I love to travel. The opportunity to see new places, experience new things and try new foods are key factors in a fulfilling life for me. I love exploring and finding quiet spaces to watch the world go by. I love quirky architecture, hidden alleys, artistic graffiti (can’t stand the
Quinta da Regaleira Palace Part 2
For more photos of the gardens, see Quinta da Regaleira Part 1 Pan’s Labyrinth Timing Your Visit – Quinta da Regaleira The best time to visit Quinta da Regaleira is just as it opens at 10.30 am. It’s not exactly a super early start to the day so should be manageable by most. It’s before
Quinta da Regaleira Part 1 – Pan’s Labyrinth
Upon first seeing images of Quinta da Regaleira (Palacio da Regaleira) online, I could only think of the Guillermo del Toro movie Pan’s Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno). Quinta da Regaleira was the primary reason for my visit to Sintra, Portugal and it did not disappoint. Quinta da Regaleira is the fantastical work of Antonio