Position: 41° 8′ 23” N 8° 36′ 35” W From my walking notes of Porto I remember the following: Incongruous banjo player outside the cathedral. He wasn’t Béla Fleck, but this gentleman playing classical music on an anachronistic five string …
Position: 39°36’17.0 N 09°05′ 07 W Portugal’s west coast isn’t the most welcoming geographically. Much like the west coast of the United States, Portugal has few natural havens for sailors. However, roughly half way between Porto and Lisbon lies Nazaré …
Cabo Fisterra – POSITION: 42° 52.95’N, 09° 16.31’W Finisterre is the end of the earth. Literally. One of the most foreboding points of land in Europe, sailors for centuries have sung shanties and recounted tall tales of its fearsome weather …
Leaning into port tack our starboard (green) navigation light lights up the water. Suddenly it shines more brightly. A blotch moves in the viridescent limelight. Then vanishes. Then reappears, flapping. A seagull, brilliant white in daylight, now reflected with the …
Position: 41° 8′ 23” N 8° 36′ 35” W This is how local kids entertain the tourists in Porto, Portugal. In the UK it’s called ‘tombstoning’ and jumping straight down from bridges is frowned upon there. There are signs that …
Position: 43°22’11″N 8°23’46″W Viveiro and A Coruña are maritime cities on the northwest coast of Spain. Both date back well before the Romans occupied Galicia starting in 137 BCE. Like the Basque Country and Catalonia, Galicia is one of Spain’s …
Position: 43°32’48″N 5°39’54″W Every schoolchild learns that their world floats on big plates. It’s also obvious to every 10-year-old that the land masses of the world should snap together like a puzzle. As an optimistically precocious urchin, I used to …
As fair and balanced as this blog is, it’s time to quit pining for the past and talk about the present. Britain offers an incredible number of cool, fun, and interesting things to do in a very small space. Many …
Here’s a short collection of photos from our grand tour of North Wales that start in Llandudno, a holiday town at the far west end of Colwyn Bay. Llandudno has a pier that extends well out over the bay with …
