....can go pearshaped very easily. In our case, it was a massive blister and a head cold, which both arrived on day one of our Camino trek. And both are mine... We left León early on Wednesday morning, full of enthusiasm for the day ahead. Our destination was Villadangos Del Paramo, a distance of 22 … Continue reading The best laid plans..

..will be followed by many thousands of others, before we reach Santiago de Compostela. It's 6am and Our Camino starts today and, even after months of planning and discussion, it still feels quite surreal. Our Pilgrim passports have arrived (Credencial del Peregrino) and our maps are ready. Ours is a self guided walk, so we'll … Continue reading One small step…

A woman, on the wrong side of 50, while travelling in northern Spain, has finally discovered the cure for jet lag. A bucket of Vodka and Lemon. Recipe: Take one punch bowl ( or something of an equal size) Add a few ice cubes Fill the glass 3/4 full with vodka Top up with Lemon … Continue reading Headline: Woman discovers sure fire jet lag remedy…

  A 2.5 hr train journey from Madrid, through a stunning landscape of rolling green fields and snow capped mountains, we've arrived in León y Castilla and what a beautiful city it is. With a population of approximately 125,000 it is just the right size, in my opinion. There are parks, flowers, fountains and beautiful … Continue reading To tapas, or not to tapas…that is the question.

Well, we made it! After 28 hrs in transit and not without considerable angst at Melbourne immigration - the scanning machine attempted to eat Kate's passport, resulting in her photo being torn. Aargh! After lengthy determination by the immigration authorities, it was deemed 'minor' damage and she was allowed to leave the country, but with … Continue reading Hola from Madrid

Not my usual form of introduction, I'll admit, but 'mes pieds' will be a hot topic over the next few weeks, when I'm walking the Camino St Frances in Spain, from Léon to Santiago de Compostela, so I figure you need to become more familiar with them - their likes, their dislikes, their strengths and … Continue reading Meet my feet…

We arrived safe and sound at 6.30am Saturday morning and, after nearly 30 hours in transit, were happy to be home. I really needed to hug Rhiannon. I miss my daughter badly whenever I am away.  And I wanted to speak to my lovely friends. Long, chatty phone calls are not an option when roaming … Continue reading Les morceaux……

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 9.pm, so we decided to get up early again, and visit the Musée du Louvre, hopefully before all the crowds....We arrived at 9am, opening time, just in time to greet dozens of others who obviously had had the same very clever idea that we did...... No matter, we … Continue reading Notre dernière journée à Paris……

Our second last day in France and we'd planned a cycling trip of the gardens of Versailles. Up and off by 7.30am, we  met our group at The Fat Bike Tyre Company at rue Edgar Faure, 15th arrondissement at 8.45am and headed off to catch our train with Drew, our guide for the day. A … Continue reading Versailles: Louis XIV + Louis XV + party time & massive debt = Louis XVI ‘off with his head’