I have been ‘home’ for a little over three months, now, and I hadn’t, until tonight, been able to bring myself to write here. The change in lifestyle was, still is, a shock to my system.
I spent a little over six months in Edinburgh, and after five months of continuous travel, it was comforting to [...]
I image that any passing Edinburgher would have been amused – a small group of Australians, dressed for a warm lounge room, staring into the sky. Shivering, stamping our feet, but with silly grins on our faces.
After a minute, a Canadian poked his head out of the door.
“That’s not snow, it’s sleet.”
Nobody was disappointed. We [...]
Scotland is starting to get cold. Last night I was out in a long coat and was still freezing. Every word I spoke misted on the air. Can’t wait for winter. It’s strange finding a 17° day warm enough to be riding in a T-shirt – at home it’d be jumper weather, but after almost [...]
I’ve been living in Edinburgh for almost six weeks, now. We’ve moved from our damp (but nice) flat by The Meadows and into a converted schoolhouse in the Old Town. I’ve never dwelt in the centre of a city before, but even after just a few weeks here, it will be hard moving somewhere [...]
Slow down. Sleep more. Cook a bit. Laugh a lot.
I’ve been here a week. I’ve seen some live comedy. I’ve done a night tour of Scotland’s most haunted graveyard (no ghostly attacks, but I’ll probably go again).
A few nights ago my housemates threw a surprise birthday party for me. They’ve been threatening it for [...]
Exactly five months after I hefted my pack upon my shoulders and walked out of the house in Townsville, I walked through the door of my new home in Edinburgh and set it down. My housemates picked me up from the bus station and we had a pint in a Scottish pub in the way [...]
Or, Not Spanish, Basque or How a bunch of girls drank me under the table.
I think I’ve discovered the friendliest people in Europe, if not the world. I’ve spent three nights in Azkoitia, the heartland of Euskadi, the Basque country. I came to visit Dafne, a friend I made in Chiang Mai, and her family [...]
Or, I fought Renfe, and Renfe won.
Getting to Bilbao was supposed to be fairly simple, but a series of late trains led to missed connections everywhere, and I found myself stranded in dusty Miranda de Ebro for about five hours. Never one to miss an opportunity to explore a new town, I went awanderin’ (with [...]
On Saturday morning, Sarah and I took a regional train (my favourite kind, really) from Madrid to Segovia and checked into the Pension Ferri, a guesthouse in a tiny alleyway off the town’s central plaza. Being an old stone building, the guesthouse was surprisingly cool, despite the heat outside. The owner gave us a price [...]