The interpretation being that Naples is such a fabulous city, it can’t be surpassed, and having seen it, one can die happy. It’s often attributed to Goethe, whose Letters from Italy include a section on Naples, but I couldn’t find this quote there. Whatever, my ideas about Naples were far more mundane: pizza, ice-cream, slums […]Read Post ›
No not me, but a series of books. Readers may remember my first Italian trip was as a spectacularly unsuccessful au pair, paired with a family of four: two vegans, one alcoholic and one nymphomaniac – or so others described them. The vegan part was accurate. And the second visit was as part of my […]Read Post ›
My dear readers may be surprised to learn that my first visit to Italy was as an au pair. Yes, me responsible for children and ‘light household duties’. It was the year of my world trip. I’d chucked my job and I was waiting for my travel companion to get the results of her journalism […]Read Post ›
February 14 1986, Melbourne, Australia I shoved the Valentine’s card in my rucksack, hoping it wouldn’t get too screwed up, and in due course we boarded the ‘plane for Singapore. We’d got flights back to the UK with Singapore Airlines and SAS. No, not the evil military Brits, but Scandinavian airlines, which unsurprisingly, went via […]Read Post ›
‘Mustafa’s dead,’ said Chair. No idea how his name is spelt, but it sounds like chair, so chair it is. Partner had bumped into him down Main Street, as you do. He came back from Morocco, was rushed into hospital in Spain, and died there after not very long at all. Later Partner bumped into […]Read Post ›
Minutes to spare. Hours to wait. The reappearance of employment for poor old working Partner meant the reappearance of the commute to Spain run for me. (Hop) On the bus. Not only is he out of the house for 11 hours of the day Mon-Fri, he has to work Sats too. So I did the […]Read Post ›
Good one Liz. You know who Liz is, that woman who lives in London in a chic townhouse facing The Mall. (Buckingham Palace) If you think I am being flippant with the term townhouse, try the wiki link. More info on the actual monarchy website about the history. However, browsing through the Gib govt website […]Read Post ›
Holy Week in Spain is a big event. Especially in Andalucía. The capital cities of each province vie with each other for the biggest, best and most lavish processions. Seville, reputedly, is the classic one to visit, closely followed by Málaga and Granada. Depends what you read as to which one is ‘best’. Other great […]Read Post ›
In my own house no less. Imprisoned. Locked in. I set off to do the weekend turnaround on the bus. Nice sleepy journey up. Arrived in Málaga just after 1pm. Plenty of time to catch the 1.30 bus to the village. But no! What was that long queue doing there for tickets? There must have […]Read Post ›
As someone who has delusions about her station in life and far more aspirations than I can afford, I naturally decided when I quit work, to quit flying. I should have been born to the rich families whose offspring went on The Grand Tour overland through Europe. In fact I’ve done The Grand Tour more […]Read Post ›
roughseasinthemed 