I am indebted to a friend who gave me a book to read before our cruise - ‘This Thing of Darkness’ by Harry Thompson tells the stories of Captain Fitzroy and Charles Darwin as they navigate and chart Tierra Del Fuego in the 1830s. It set the tone beautifully for our visit to the region … Continue reading Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel →

Blessed with a magnificent autumnal day, Moira and I decided to walk the thirteen mile trail around Loch Leven. We had walked most parts of the trail in stages but never the whole journey in one outing. We set off on a crisp, clear morning, beginning at Kirkhouse Pier and walking clockwise. A map of … Continue reading A walk around Loch Leven →

Memory is fluid; Sorrento seems different from when I was here in 1995. Of course, my life is very different now from then so perhaps it's no surprise. Sorrento seems to have more to offer this time around, not just a base from which to tour - the Amalfi coast, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Ischia and Naples … Continue reading Sorrento →

It's always interesting to come back somewhere you visited many years ago. We're in Sorrento, where I last stayed in 1995. As I did then, I took a tour along the Amalfi coast, stopping at the three locations most tours encompass - Positano, Amalfi and Ravello. They were as beautiful as I remember, but the … Continue reading Amalfi coast; beautiful but be prepared to share →

It’s a wonderful experience spending time with our children and their partners on St Lucia. We’ve enjoyed sunshine, great food and drink and activities around the pool, beach and on the water. But it’s always good to get a flavour of the local scenery so we arranged a trip to the local rum distillery and … Continue reading Family time in Saint Lucia →

Travelling - do we see the ‘real’ country? Well, I guess the answer is obvious; it depends upon how you travel. My backpacking days aren’t as much over as never happened at all. I didn’t travel much in my youth; too busy settling down and working, sadly. When I did travel, I went to city … Continue reading The real Mexico? →

Today represented our first steps on Chilean soil, a country I know very little about and am looking forward to exploring. The topography of the country is interesting; over 4700km north to south, with a long western coastline bordering the Pacific and dotted with hoardes of islands, and an eastern spine formed in part by … Continue reading The beautiful Chilean lakes →

There are several themes underpinning today’s account of our visit to Nicaragua, some of which will be familiar to those who have read my previous pieces. Firstly, the effect of a person on one’s impression of a place. Next, how and why we travel. And finally how we inevitably tend to rank and compare rather … Continue reading Nicaragua →

Each morning after arriving in port, our effervescent captain greets us with ‘Good morning and welcome to beautiful...’. With the best will in the world, not every port is ‘beautiful’, but this morning it’s hard to take issue. We’re in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, and it’s gorgeous. With warm nights we are sleeping with curtains and … Continue reading Costa Rica – a green and pleasant land →

Our tour today was ‘The Best of Lima’. I was immediately reminded of the opening to Charles Dickens ‘A Tale of Two Cities’: ‘it was the best of times, it was the worst of times’. I cannot sum up Lima as one city; there are several multilayered facets to this complex place. I’ll approach the … Continue reading Lima – a tale of several cities →