Frankly marvellous France and gorgeous Genoa February half term 2017

This was such a lovely break, such a positive experience.Genoa was a great place to start.  It is a big old lumbering place in some ways but you go round a corner and there is a stunning medieval building. The port is great. There are wonderful winding streets each with a local tart hovering in it. Meanwhile the museums were virtually empty. There wasn't even a guard in some rooms.  Nuova Strada.  But also the youth hostel was just wonderful and the mix of ages and nationalities made it a great place for discussions.

A short coach trip bought me to Nice, which is a really lovely town - very multi cultural and with a great vibe.    I visited the Matisse museum and the local town museum.  But the time was dominated by the Nice carnival.  I was a bit panicked by the police presence and potential mad men but held on had a great time.  Cannes felt a bit flat in comparison and I felt alone for the only time in the week but on my return to Marseille and a jolly hostel there it was once more great chats between me and two young Germans and a Canadian living in France,

Painful Portugal and positive Portugal. 2017

I have been searching for access to the site and have just realised one can now get in from the actual blog!  So that is different.

Having had a wonderful time in Brecon just before Easter, I have now just come back from Portugal.  It was the first visit since having to pull out of the purchase of a property there and several other very stressful events so that might explain why despite many wonders - the flowers, the sun, my son, my Dad, Mooji, Monte Sahaja, the food, the company, our accommodation, storks - I felt deeply disturbed whilst there. Apart from a lovely first day revisit of Silves it did not really feel like a holiday instead it just felt distressing.   So not what one wants from a trip abroad at all.  It is a long time since I have holiday shakes and ones that have lasted so long.  Luckily when I returned a month later, I was fine,  clearly I am just no good at holidaying with others - or something like that, but I had a lovely time really getting to know Silves and debating if I could live there and then just having a real holiday lying on the beach in Tavira,  a typical Portuguese town having both a river and seaside,  yet one with several Indian restaurants too.

Glam Youth Hostel in Tavira. 

Storks in Silves

Waiting in Garvao