I arrived in Glasgow via Prestwick airport. My hopes to get far north were shattered in the first hour when the train that took me into town lost an engine. That delayed my arrival in town until after the train to Inverness had departed. The other options didn’t seem any better. I could get a… Continue reading Glasgow
Category: Europe
Bilbao
We rose early the next morning to make our way back towards Bilbao, first stop La Hermina. It was a sleepy village in the shady depths of the canyon, built on the edge of the river cutting its way along the base. It was only 7:30 and no one was around. Carrying our packs, we… Continue reading Bilbao
Potes
We caught the bus to Potes on Monday morning, Sabine once again noting features of towns we passed through and where they were on the map, while I just gazed at the mountains. We determined to get back to La Hermina and San Vicente de Barquere, two of the more spectacular towns. San Vicente was… Continue reading Potes
Santander
Sabine was waiting for me at the tiny Bilbao international airport after spending six hours exploring the two shops and a restaurant in the facility. She’d also obtained a map from the tourist information centre and done some research. Since she’d made the decision to go to Spain and invited me I fully expected her… Continue reading Santander
Day 4-6
Merle didn’t manage to get any days off while I was there, so I joined her for the trip into town, with a plan to wander. I looked around while we waited for the bus. “Look how close we are to the mountains here,” she said. There was a park at the end of the… Continue reading Day 4-6
Day 2-3
Merle, like most people I know, is not a morning person, so I sat reading for a couple of hours the following morning, a Saturday, until she got up. We had decided to go to Parnassos, a ski area about 5 hours from Athens, but by the time we left, we knew we wouldn’t make… Continue reading Day 2-3
Day 1
I arrived in Athens just after noon, although Merle wouldn’t finish work until 5pm. We were planning to rent a car for the weekend, so I dropped my bag at the airport luggage and stopped off at the tourist information centre. I’d spent the flight reading up on the Greek writing system and some key… Continue reading Day 1
Hopscotch
It rained on the weekend. I mean, it really rained. Not this piss-weak mist that everyone complains about here, barely roughing the surface of puddles and drying on your clothes before the next drop can hit. This rain was heavy enough for me to put up the umbrella I normally only carried so as not… Continue reading Hopscotch
The customer is always…
After Japan, it’s not surprising that Belgian customer service fails to please, but surely they can do a better job than this. I used to take a few minutes to do my grocery shopping on the way home each day. Here it takes a good hour just to get through the registers so, needless to… Continue reading The customer is always…
Famous
If you finished the sentence by talking about the European Union, chocolate or the Maniken Pis, you get one point. If you answered with the name of the ugliest monument I’ve ever seen, the Atomium, score two. But Belgians would give you most points, say five, for realising that many things other countries are famous… Continue reading Famous