We stopped for a picnic lunch in the beautiful village of Santa Lucia during our drive through the mountains of Gran Canaria. The fountain in the Santa Lucia park There’s a lovely park in the village with a picturesque fountain as its centrepiece. The park also has a sports court, kids play area and public [...]

When Karen and I were on holiday in Gran Canaria, I took a morning walk along the Maspalomas dunes, also taking in the Charca de Maspalomas Nature Reserve and having a swim in the Atlantic. The walk lasted just over 2 hours and it was medium-strenuous, but could have lasted anything from 1-4 hours and [...]

We stayed for one night in February 2011 at the Hilton Edinburgh Airport, on a complimentary basis arranged by hotels.com from their selection of Edinburgh hotels.  As we had to be at the airport by around 5am the next morning, we were concerned if there was bad weather we wouldn’t be able to reach the [...]

I had a chat with someone yesterday who said that tourists coming to London have a bad experience when it comes to service. I thought about this (we were in fact talking about the Barbican Lounge, where I’d had the worst service of my life) and it occurred to me that sometimes I’ve had absolutely [...]

The Mediterranean island of Malta is a great European destination, offering visitors historic cities , spectacular beaches and glimpses into its ancient past . On a visit to Malta, my family and I chose to base ourselves in the picturesque capital city of Valletta and to make our way around the island on Malta’s historic [...]

With Valentine’s day coming up next week, I thought I would post about about my favourite cheese – which just so happens to be heart shaped. France is well known for the overwhelming variety of cheeses. I once heard that there was a different cheese for everyday of the year. In truth, there are more [...]

The island of Gotland off the eastern coast of Sweden was once a major trading center in European commerce.  During the Middle Ages, Gotland and the German Hanseatic league saw unquestioned economic prosperity.  With this prosperity, and the Christianity which had come to the island just a couple of centuries before, came the need for [...]

Later this month, I’m off to Devon for the weekend (to stay here, I can’t wait). In May I’m off to Cornwall.I’ve never been to any of these places, and I’m just as excited as I would be if I was going abroad. I can’t wait to walk along a freezing cold beach in February. [...]

It’s the rare visitor to Rome who doesn’t make his or her way to the Vatican. Visiting St. Peter’s and the Vatican Museum are highlights of any visit to the Eternal City, as Heather has described in her post “Be a religious tourist in Rome“. As most visitors know, Vatican City is actually its own [...]

A couple weeks ago I wrote about mainland France’s region of Alsace. All my own experiences from visiting Alsace and anything I have read about the region comes back to one thing, the beauty of the mountainous landscape. But, in researching my post last week about the new and as yet still proposed memorial to [...]