When tourists go to a country they look for the spectacular, the noteworthy, the interesting. They congregate in the Cordobas and the Lake Districts of the world. They do not generally partake of the fields that form the agricultural breadbasket or the cities that provide the manufacturing jobs in a country. But I am visiting …
Tag Archives: travel
Learner drivers and the art of the double declutch
My friends and family are in mourning: the Conservatives have sailed home with a workable majority and the Scottish National Party has all but obliterated Labour in Scotland. And I have come home to the Tory heartland, to the town of my birth, a distinction that I share with Margaret Thatcher. It pleases me to …
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Leeds leads
We arrived back from Spain at 11:30pm. The booked taxi did turn up and we careered through the Yorkshire countryside, rolling around in the back seat. We fell 23 degrees C in three hours, down to a welcome of three miserly degrees above freezing. Why are butchers always cheery? As I brought a couple of …
Private smiles
Smiles, it seems are a cultural thing. The Spanish do not indulge in the habit where strangers are concerned. Brits and Aussies bestow them fairly liberally, I suppose it’s a mixture of politeness and signalling non-aggressive intent. My smiles are automatic, but were rarely returned in Spain. From an outsider’s perspective the Spanish are a …
Undies require two pegs
It is always interesting to go to foreign lands and see their domestic arrangements. For instance, how can life proceed without a kettle? Hairdryers and irons are always found, but kettles rarely. Now we are in Madrid, this is big city living and we are the proud possessors of both a kettle and a bath. …
Moorish is moreish
Cordoba has always been a melting pot and today is no different. We wander through streets thick with milling tourists, and for the first time we have struck gold with the marketing opportunities. Tacky tourist shops line the narrow streets. Tiles and dolls, frocks and leather vie for attention. All very expensive and very, very …
Salatheel 