Sorry for the radio silence, I’ve been in Brazil, of which more soon! But first I want to write about one of my favourite sporting events of the year. No, not the Olympics, although that will soon be upon us. It’s almost time for the Tour de France! As a Tour obsessive this is my…
Category: Europe
Random photo generator – winter edition
Vilnius, 2005
Random photo generator
Taken in St Guilhem-le-Desert, France
Postcards from Porto
Earlier this year we took a trip to Portugal’s second city, Porto. I wasn’t expecting much, but came away charmed by the brightly-tiled buildings and churches, narrow hilly streets and pretty river front.
Delft
You can’t go into a souvenir shop in Holland without falling over dozens of knick-knacks painted in blue and white. The traditional pottery comes from the town of Delft, a gezellig little place halfway between Den Haag and Leiden. So is Delft a tourist trap, or is it worth a visit? Like many southern Dutch…
Party by the river in the land van Cuijk
Isn’t it often the countries that you think you know the best, where strong visual images of the countryside come easily to mind, that can surprise you the most? Most people think of Holland as canals and windmills, but head south and the landscape changes completely. Just back from another week in Holland, enjoying the…
You’ll never walk alone: up to 40,000 hit the streets of Nijmegen for the Vierdaagse
Nijmegen, 4am. 40,000 people, awake at the crack of dawn, assemble on a city centre street. While the air still holds a certain chill, everyone’s dressed for the warm day ahead. As the starter gives the signal, tens of thousands of people spill out across the bridge over the Waal, silhouetted against the early morning…
Macy and Montmartre
I was aimlessly wandering around FNAC one day, a couple of months into my year at uni in France, when the ticket counter caught my eye. Macy Grey, Paris, coming soon. This was just after she’d released her first album, playing a small venue in Montmartre. Asked around, but no-one fancied making the trip up…
Random picture generator, World Cup edition: France V Uruguay
To tie in with today’s world cup game, France v Uruguay (kick off 7.30pm, BST) some pics from the archives. France (Montpellier and St Guilhem-le-desert) Uruguay (Colonia)
Vier dagen lang
This guy must be really plugging his single, because we came across him four times last week, twice in person. First up, J’s parents wanted to take us to the Flag Parade which is the traditional launch of the Vierdaagse, he was there. Then he turned up singing to the walkers at 4am as they…