Rachel Wandering´s in Spain – Dust Masks and Sunglasses
What weird times we are living in! I walk the streets of Martos in my mask, now a pretty, flowery one, yes I have succumbed. More for the...
Rachel´s Wandering in Spain – Freedom to Move, but Not to Breathe!
So it´s nearing the end of June, nearly half a year gone already. Where did it go? Quite a lot of it was at home, but that has been a...
Rachel´s Wanderings – Moving Around the Province
So after leaving the house 5 times in eight weeks, not counting walking the dog in the olive groves, we are now free to move around within the...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain – Don’t Count the Days, Make the Days Count
I am amazed we have now completed seven weeks on lock down. Where did April go? Did it happen? As someone who thrives on business it has been...
A Place to Stay – Finca la Fronda
A cat lies motionless in flickering shadows cork oak trees. Its whiskers barely move in the welcome breeze. Except for a dog’s bark in the distance, a lone donkey...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain has Become Rachel’s Stay at Home
What an extraordinary experience we find ourselves in. I am not counting days, I am having trouble knowing which day it is! Two weeks into our lockdown, which was...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain Small Critters, Big Problems
It’s animal life again that rules my life, not because the fibre cables have been chewed through, see Ups and Downs (and Ins and Outs) of (Animal) Life...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain Ups and Downs (and Ins and Outs) of (Animal) Life in Spain
I missed my deadline, not for the first time, last week but this time with my alloted article writing time on the agenda I’d headed home only to...
Rachel´s Wanderings in Spain 15 El Caminito del Rey – The King´s Walkway
Once known as the world´s most dangerous walkway, the caminito – which means little walkway – and it was little. The old path was built as a narrow path...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain What a Busy Year Since My Introduction in April – Me and ‘my’ bit of Spain
I’m very happy to be joining this eclectic group of rambling writers from all around the world. I’m in Spain, but let me start at the beginning and introduce...
Rachel´s Wanderings in Spain 13 Guadix, Renaissance Cathedral, Amphitheatre and Cave Dwellers
Usually I ignore the emails I get with special offers, but this particular hotel just kept popping up. What could I do? Cheap night away, spa circuit included in...
Sippin’ Sherry in Spain
Tio Pepe, Sandeman, Harveys, cream or dry – does sherry bring memories of a family Christmas – that sweet tipple, enjoyed once a year, before tucking into the festive...
A Place to Stay – Palacio de Oñate, Guadix, Andalusia
Guadix is well-known for its troglodyte districts but it wasn’t a cave that took me there on a recent visit. It wasn’t the first time I’d been by any...
Rachel´s Wanderings in Spain – 11 – Long and Winding Road and Stunning Views of Inland Andalucia
Now it´s been over four weeks since our new estate agency office opened its doors. We finally have received the furniture ordered at the beginning of August (see article...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain – 9 – Good Rain, Bad Rain and in the Mountains Not on the Plain
Well after five or six months with no rain we have had some. Lots actually. Before moving to Andalucia I lived in Devon and I thought after 33...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain – 9 – Autumn Looms, Almonds Fall and Time Flies By
I expect you know the feeling when days fly by and a week ago seems more like a month ago. That’s my life right now. Organising the Estate Agency...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain – 8 – Estate Agents, Spanish Sunsets and Second Hand Cars
It’s been an odd month so far and we’re just over halfway through. The early part of the month saw me visiting family in the UK on a short...
Steve’s Sojourns A day in Salamanca,
Breakfast Why not join the people of Salamanca on their way to the office having an Espresso and an amarguillo, scrumptious almond biscuits that are a legacy of the...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain – 7 – Summer Nights, Capers and Caperberries
So August is here. The earth is hard baked and any ground foliage golden brown but there is one wild plant that is resplendant at the moment and...
Seat is a car company with a classic past that has an equally vital future
IAIN ROBERTSON For the first time in its history, Seat transported three of its immaculate classic models to the UK and allowed Iain Robertson the opportunity to be whisked...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain – 5 – End of June Heat, Snakes, Dust and Corpus Christi
‘It’s #8217; I’m hearing from France and the UK. As well as ‘enjoy it, it’s the first blue sky we’ve seen in #8217; That from the north of...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain – 4 – Stunning Scenery in Seville Province
Andalucia never ceases to amaze me. Twenty-three years I’ve lived here now and the views, the open roads, the scenery is always beautiful. Different around every corner. This...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain – 3 – Inland Malaga, Rural Hotel and Stunning Scenery
In the last couple of weeks we’ve headed down to inland Malaga twice. With very different scenery each time. One thing that never ceases to amaze me here...
Rachel’s Wanderings in Spain – 2 Cordoba – Meanderings and Ramblings
After a blip or two with some much needed rain (for the olive trees, not me,) spring seems to be here and pretty settled. The olive trees are...
Legendary drives – 6
IAIN ROBERTSON In a change to the intended feature, with full intentions of repeating his previous year’s victory in a Mazda6, Iain Robertson was entered in a Jaguar S-Type...
Mumbai Memoir 63- Mumbai nurturing the ‘art of whistling’!
Mumbai is a melting pot of various artistic pursuits. Many artists from all nooks and corners of the country are seen migrating to Mumbai, who try their luck here....
10 Things I Loved About Barcelona, Spain.
I loved strolling along Las Ramblas, straight off the seafront. The tree-shaded street with its pedestrian area in the centre was protected from the hot sun. I loved the...
MALTA DIARY: You name it – we have it; popular sport in Malta
Surrounded by blue skies and blue seas almost throughout the year it stands to reason that water and water sports feature highly on the Maltese agenda. Yet, it’s...
Malta Diary A CHAPEL A DAY KEEPS TEMPTATION AWAY
Those of a religious inclination who feel the way things are developing world-wide has become the time to start praying to higher authorities will feel thoroughly at home...
Malta Diary Malta’s panoramic, majestic and beautiful Grand Harbour
A major chunk of the history of the Mediterranean region, for centuries known as “the cradle of civilisation” before Marco Polo’s long trek to China and the discovery...
Malta Diary “The lamps are going out all over Europe…..” yet again!
On the eve of the First World War (1914-1918) British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, sadly remarked to a close friend “the lamps are...
Is Asparagus an Aphrodisiac?
IS ASPARAGUS AN APHRODISIAC? Tradition says that asparagus is an aphrodisiac, but it’s never had that effect on me, nor on anyone sitting at the same table as me,...
Malta Diary Industrial manufacturing on skid row?
With Malta’s Independence from Britain on 21st September 1964, the Government of the day had announced that the future of the islands of Malta and Gozo would...
Cadiz: Southern Spain as it used to be
When on the P & O ship Oriana, we visited Cadiz. This is how we think Spain used to be many years ago, traditional, welcoming visitors on their terms,...
The Bullfighter’s Bar
‘Another cerveza Juan, por favour!’ Pepe calls. Juan hooks the top off and places the bottle in front of him. Drinking beer out of a glass isn’t ‘macho.’ The...