Woke up this morning to a text message, “Want to go for a ride?” Looked out the window and while there were some clouds on the horizon, it was going to be a beautiful, sunny day. In just minutes from my Almohad refuge I can be rolling through olive groves and before you know it,…
The music has died down and faded away, the stage has been packed up, the tourists have gone home and the artists are playing somewhere else. WOMAD 2009 has come and gone, but something hasn’t left…and it’s here to stay for awhile…a LONG while. On Saturday night alone as people danced to the likes of…
I recently came across something that takes travel writing’s top ten tips to the extreme. The Independent published ‘100 things to do before you die‘ last year in memorandum of Dave Freeman, creator of the travel guide of the same name. I have to admit that I clicked through all 100 and found it funny…
May here in Caceres is curious…2 rather big events happen that couldn’t be more dissimilar. The first is the adoration of the local virgin which is carried down from its mountain refuge in late April and then is visited everyday by a certain sector of the population to see the what colour dress it is…
My Almohad refuge has been busy of late. Every year around this time the locals take their beloved virgin down from its mountain hideaway to great pagan-like fanfare. Tears are shed, songs are sung and flowers cut…but less wine that one would expect, gotta travel further south for that I suppose. She’s then placed on…
2000 years and still standing Segovia, Spain One of the travel magazines that I have been writing for Verge, is offering a free digital version of their magazine here. If you’re interested in traveling on a theme and making a difference, click over.
lovely flowers outside the academy where I work Invariably when people think of Spain they think of sunshine, beaches, warm weather, siestas, sangria… But the truth of the matter is that this country is extremely varied and with that variety comes extremely variable weather. The lush, green rain-fed coasts of Galicia have more in common…
…not to read post modern travel writing. – You already know how to pack and don’t need tips from someone who hasn’t even renewed their passport yet – Your tolerance for “how to” articles is limited to the instructions on a piece of IKEA furniture – See through the inherent racism in statements like ,”not…
Springtime in Extremadura and the festival season is in full swing. Right on the heels of Semana Santa celebrations and the parading of the local virgin comes the celebration of the city’s patron saint, San Jorge, better known to English speakers as Saint George. A curious mix of fire, tradition and what some might call…
There’s a saying in Spain that goes along the lines of, “When you move the Saints, the sky opens up.” Well holy week this year in Spain seems to have been like that all over the peninsula, except here in Extremadura. While the temperatures did plunge more than 10 degrees from the week before, only…