Find relief in Citta della Pieve
We often ask the question: “How would you like to live here?” Sometimes it’s very tempting, but then I remember our mountains, the sea, my ordinary predictable, yet, incredibly happy, life, my friends and family and I can’t imagine living anywhere else but in our Sleepy Hollow surrounded...
BUCEANDO TORTE DE CHOCOLATE MEXICANO
Best chocolate cake in Mexico. Carla and I can attest to that. On a recent visit to Mexico we enjoyed this magnificent chocolate cake. Moist, packed with chocolate, yet light and not overly rich. It certainly ticked all the boxes after a night out when one needed a Caffè and Torte....
What's Cooking Good Looking?
A few weeks ago Butch went off to the butcher to see what we could braai (barbecue), we regularly enjoy a steak, especially on Fridays. This time he returned with a Brazilian cut, PICANHA, recommended by the butcher. Tender, packed with flavour. Really hard to beat. Picanha is a cut of...
Greeky Portuguesy Chicken Espetadas
On Sundays, if we're at home and have a desire to take things easy we do chicken. Ring the changes by smothering large Espetadas in a delicious easy to prepare Greek-style yogurt dressing. Of course one can also use ordinary kebab or sosatie skewers too. Just soak the skewers in cold...
Suffusing My Senses In Siena
Most weekends, in fine weather, I enjoy a long walk along the cliff path in Onrus, I’m always touched by the names imprinted on plaques carefully laid in tiles dotted along the way. These tiles of remembrance are mostly dedicated to loved ones or pets. Sometimes it can be just a poem or...
Travels With Tozers Tuscan Tours
There is nothing amusing about two middle-aged couples in a hire car. You have the driver, co-pilots and backseat drivers. All experienced, experts, who think driving on the “wrong side” of the road is a walk in the park. And then you have the GPS. An unfortunate woman with a posh accent....
27 November, A Day I’ll Always Remember
I adored a beautiful boy once, he was born on the 27th November 1955, I met him in July 1972 and if truth be told he was the first boy who impressed me. I had a crush on him for years, he didn’t really notice me all that much, but, our stars did align and our paths crossed occasionally. He...
Sayulita Señorita
Say me, say you, Sayulita! That’s the way it should be. Naturally! Right next door to Punta de Mita is this uber cool hippie/surfer beachfront village — I’ve been told it’s very similar to Tulum, but with waves. All roads lead from the steep hills down to the sea — surrounding the zocalo...
The Destination Wedding Vacation
Elation! I must confess I am always a little in awe when I hear of someone jetting off to some exotic destination, and especially so for a wedding. The charmed life. Glamorous. Romantic. The first time it was mentioned in my company was when a recent graduate, earning a pittance, announced...
I Can't Keep It In
There’s no other way but to spit it out. They say “a secret’s only a secret once you’ve told someone”, so I’m going to tell you all about a big secret. It’s not your usual, let’s gossip about the neighbour secret, it’s all about a holiday destination. One everyone should explore. For now I...
Cuisine, Sunscreen, Tambourine I've Seen '17
Highlighting a year brings back sweet memories. It’s through hard times that we take note, but it’s in the cool afterglow that we can sit back and let our hearts and minds recall good times. This has been an amazing roller coaster year. My 60th! My mind has been churning with thoughts, words...
Celebrating Effortless Summer Fare
I am so inclined to repeat my menus that it takes a luncheon with friends to inspire me to delve into old recipe books, files and faded food magazines, those I hoard. I always find inspiration as the clock ticks ever nearer and my “to do” list gets longer. Our guests arrived dressed to the...
A Painful Nip And Tuck Turns Into Reconstructive Surgery
The last six weeks have been hell. Butch’s ears blocked up from stress and my continual nagging. My Grandmother would've said "a wife should not be like a dripping tap"! Torture. At times I thought I might have a heart attack from stress and anxiety as my oesophageal stricture goes on a rampage...
Every Picture Tells A Story
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No matter how many beautiful photographs I’ve seen of Cinque Terre nothing beats being there oneself. Like any great beauty there is more to her than meets the eye. This place has soul, history and charm. Being a World Heritage Site does not happen at the...
A Leaning Tower And A Pisa Pizza
Since the Arno has silted itself up and cut the city off from the sea Pisa has become slightly off-kilter and a little seedy, but, that’s only my opinion of course. The decline of this once powerful naval city is noticeable, and I wonder how popular it would be if it did not boast such...
Drastic Remedial Action For The Honey Badger
Bi-carbonate of soda is my constant companion, wherever I go I have a good dose stashed near at hand. I don’t snort it, I take it with warm water to still my burning stomach. Indigestion burns like a white flame in my chest. The root cause. Stress. Anxiety. Anger. Disappointment. (one would...
Three Letters From Santiago
Insomnia. Lying here in my single bed, in our Spartan Nun’s cell in the former Convent on the square. I move my feet to feel the cold part of the starched white linen sheets. The thick ancient walls can’t keep the heat out, the muggy air does not stir. Our pilgrimage has come to an end. Lise and...
Solidago Santiago
We’d heard on the grapevine that there would be thousands of Pilgrims flooding into Santiago de Compostello from all four corners of Europe. We had to make haste unless we were prepared to queue for hours waiting for our certification. Early it would be. I set our alarm for 4am at 5am we’d set...
Butch Bites The Bullet
Like much in life, unless one is 100% committed to a task it is sure to be a failure or at worst a disappointment. I know that if asked 5 years ago whether he’d attempt to walk halfway across Spain Butch would’ve said “NO!” Unequivocally. The only reason he did it was because Anna (his...
Overweight Honey Badger Must Streamline
The Honey Badger is on a crash diet. No more heavy metals. On the spur of the moment it was decided to weigh the truck and huge was the collective surprise when she came in weighing a few hundred kilogrammes over her recommended weight allowance. “How on earth can that happen?” you may well...
Big Butch Battles Bravely
Like two pom-pom girls we stood ready to welcome our Butch at Vigo airport. We caught a glimpse of him way down the passage coming through customs long before he spotted us. He looked exhausted, thin and quite pasty (and not at all like a Cornish pasty, rather, grey and pale) around the...
Vigo Splish Splash And Get Sun-Kissed
It’s raining. If one’s lucky to be there when the first drops fall you will get the smell of rain on dusty tar and it’s just amazing. In Redondela we took deep breaths of rainy air, it was heaven, but, not quite like our African rain, here we smell dust, dry grass, and the blue of water...
Kick-Ass Heroes For A Day
Although we were quite content with each other’s company and had no need of hooking up with other Peregrinoes we did meet and chat to a father and son walking alongside us. The attraction was our feet of course. Flip flops! When I mentioned that St James would've approved we got a "touché"! One...
A Flip-Flopping Peregrino On Camino
My friend sent a photograph of her amazing knitted patchwork blanket, a gift to her grandson, the other day. I am in awe. You see, I started one too. Years ago. On all our wanderings I’d sit in the car and knit, miles of strips and squares I’ve done. Haphazard they are, not all exactly square,...
There's No Snoozin' With Susan
Camping with my sister-in-law Sue is a treat. She’s organised and runs a tight ship. She has to, with her family of 3 plus 2, plus all the friends and extended family members who make themselves at home there. This whole mish-mash of friends, family and vreemdelinge (strangers) often accompany...
A Sucker For Punishment
Is exactly what I must be, when I agreed to repeat my 2016 performance of hiking the Fish River Canyon. Needless to say I couldn’t go back on my word so I saddled up the old back pack, loaded it with the bare essentials and set off on a nine day adventure to Namibia. We would hike for five...
Lise, My Camino Compañero
We have made it to Barcelos in one piece, a little bruised and battle weary. We could lament the state of our toes until the cows come home, but we’re braver than that. We'll dust overselves off and soldier on. I watch her sleep, always the sleep of the innocent, so quiet, not a snore, not...
Scoring 100% On Her First Test Drive
Our pet project, the Honey Badger lives up to all expectations and passes her first test drive with flying colours. She didn't put a gear out of place and with all the confidence in the world revved her engines and zoomed off at a top speed of 80kmph. I mistakenly said we were going on our...
Mood Swings, Puffy Feet and Cobblestones
Right from the start this day did not auger well. Lise’s jet-lag was settling in nicely and with it came a few gremlins. The madam she was moody, she’d lost the spring in her step. My bag felt a little heavier but my mood, I thought was quite chipper! Silence at breakfast. Bad waymarks...
Board Not Bored Walking - Setting off
This I know is true. Just as we had to take those first uncertain steps into the unknown and blindly take one step at a time to do our Camino, I know that unless I type my first words and just get on with it I’ll never write our story. Simple as that. I have a very simple philosophy, it has...
Bon Camino Peregrino - Introduction
18 months ago I grabbed the bull by the horns and sent the family an invitation-slash-announcement. I was setting my sights on doing the Camino Portuguese before I turned 60 and they were welcome to join me. I knew if anyone would be up for it, it would be Lise. Just as well I put it out...
Picture Perfect Oporto
Four nights in Porto is all I could squeeze into my itinerary. My love for Portugal is a genetic thing. It’s not skin deep, I’m wired to love that slip of a Mediterranean country hemmed in by Spain on one side and the ocean on the other. My aunt lived in a tiny fishing village south of...
We've got to talk about THAT
I sigh, (I do that a lot when I’m sad or depressed) as I open the fridge door after weeks away. Not because it’s a shambles. It’s because we “save for rainy days”. Why do we do that? I look at the shrivelled carrots, the drooping celery sticks and the blackened fine green beans. As I drop...
Driving Dirt Roads, Dunes And Deserts
Twenty years ago my life was a shambles. I was scared, insecure and I cried every day for almost 2 and a half years. I do believe I could’ve filled buckets with tears. Friends can only take so much. My best friends decided instead of writing me off they’d take me to Namibia. We’d celebrate my...
Five Fabulous Friends
It was written in the stars that I would board a steam train and shunt about for two years, making my way from Nelspruit, across the Crocodile River wending my way from the Lowveld to Pretoria every term to attend boarding school at Pretoria High School for Girls. With a quivering lip,...
The Honey Badger Shenanigans
Hallo! It's been a while. I've not updated on the progress of our Honey Badger. I couldn't. Things weren't going as I thought they would. I had to dampen my enthusiasm and realise a few home truths. I am not in charge of this project. In my defence I did begin many scribblings but for...
Good, Better, Idiom
Packing up and traipsing all over the countryside is not the only way to relax after a busy year. We stayed at home. It was different, and, interesting. Our home was our base for making day trips. We lolled about at home as if we were sitting on the beach at Tofo, that’s where we were meant...
Bang! My Bubble Burst
Like a shot in the dark. Unexpected, frightening and loud. That’s how 2017 set the standard. And look! A twelfth has almost gone, right before our very eyes. Fortunately I have no guilt feelings about not accomplishing one New Year’s resolution last year, I didn’t even try compiling a list for...
Don't Get Me Wrong
It’s been a busy month since my last scribbling, an exciting time it’s been too. On the day it rained I set off at the appointed hour, very early, to meet them at the airport. It was exciting. Rain. Soft, gentle, penetrating, misty rain. Enough to soak our scorched land. Not enough to break...
We Can Die Without Food
That’s a fact. We know it. They don’t, really. On this wall it’s a statement, a slogan, a cry for help, a prayer, but it’s also part of life. SINETEMBA means HOPE "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children,...