I read something like 100 books a year. All sorts of stuff, from travel literature, history, fiction, classics, philosophy and memoir. And I like to end each year with a quick wrap up of what I liked best. These are the books that stood out for me in 2013. Have a look through the list, and pick up a few. You won’t be disappointed. Weeding out the best from the borderline — so you don’t have to...
I was in Berlin this past week, getting a huge dose of art and culture — something I’m starved for on my small Mediterranean island. I went there to soak up the gritty feel of the city, and to hang out in museums and small galleries. But I also ended up wandering through a bunch of Christmas markets. They were everywhere. And they had good food. The Christmas Market tradition goes all the way...
The British overseas territory of Gibraltar guards the entrance to the Mediterranean. The landward side of the peninsula borders the Spanish province of Cadiz. It’s a rather contentious border, and if you stretch it a bit I guess you could call it one of the last potential flashpoints in Western Europe. That’s what Spanish politicians would have you believe, anyway. I drove there from Conil de la...
You’ve spent 15 patient years saving for that once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe. You dreamed about it. You talked about it. And you finally flew over and lived it — only to be left thinking, “Was that it?” Or maybe you’re a frequent business traveler, and despite the exotic cities you find yourself in, all you’ve ever seen is snooty restaurants and shopping plazas. There’s more to travel than...
I was searching for insights into this 40’s decade that I’ve somehow slipped into… I wanted to know more about the challenges ahead. Where I should focus my efforts. And why I now have this sudden very clear sense that the clock is ticking and my time is running out. My search led me to a classic book about the major crisis points we all face in our lives: I wanted advice for the...
You’ll recall that in my last blog I was scouting out the Costa de la Luz in Spain as a potential candidate for my “life after Malta” base. And I promised to reveal more about how I choose my next location. I’ve heard so many horror stories about folks who sold their homes and cashed in all their chips to move to their dream “place in the sun,” only to realize they absolutely hated it and wanted...
My Andalusian adventure continued down to the coast. If you missed the previous episodes, you can check out Seville and Granada by clicking the links. We detoured back west again — around the mountains and down past Jerez — to the Costa de la Luz. It’s that bit of Spanish coast to the west of Gibraltar. It’s on the Atlantic rather than the Mediterranean, so I thought it might be colder. But there...
Thanks very much to Vagabond Dreams reader “Voyageur” who took the time to drop me a line this week: I received the gift-book on Sunday from my visiting brother-in-law and regretfully put it down last night after having read and savoured each page. More than a mere travelogue, this semi-autobiography revealed not just your visual interpretations of the landscapes and bodies of water which you...
There’s a 34m tall lighthouse on a rocky headland just a few towns east of my rented apartment on Spain’s Costa de la Luz. At night I liked to sit on the balcony with a glass of wine and watch its spectral eye flash a warning through the inky darkness. The cape has a long sandy beach that’s a favourite of hippies and windsurfers based in the nearby town of Los Caños de Meca. But this unassuming...
My Andalusian adventures continued in Granada… We left Seville in a rented white BMW. After a short stop in the ancient Roman hilltop town of Carmona for an espresso and a brief poke around its fortified Seville Gate, I pointed the nose east across an open country of low rolling hills and olive groves. I miss taking road trips since I relocated to Malta. The roads are cramped there, the...