Owing to a family issue we decided to postpone our second Interrail trip to Europe from June to September. So we're off tomorrow morning. Trains - and the odd Flixbus Itinerary as follows: Eurostar (London to Paris) Strasbourg (1 night) Innsbruck (1 night) Pertisau am Achensee (3 nights) Venice (3 nights) Monopoli (6 nights) Bari…
I read this week that "drivers over 70 face eye tests every three years”. Why “over 70?”, I ask, as a grumpy 70-year-old who has just had to renew his licence. As arbitrary numbers go it's no worse than 65 or 75, but what's the reasoning? The RAC will have a view (supporting its members,…
It may have passed you by that last week was the 50th Anniversary of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution. On 25 April 1974, suddenly and almost bloodlessly, the Estado Novo, a fascist dictatorship that had endured for 48 years, came to an end. I was a first-year student at The Queen's College Oxford at that time: the…
Is November the most miserable month of the year? Dark (even in London) by four in the afternoon, raining more often than not, and often surprisingly cold. That the clocks have just gone back hardly alleviates the gloomy atmosphere. And the knowledge that winter hasn't even started yet. Oh dear. Only a couple of months…
I've been remiss in not posting for over a month. I was going to write about our lovely holiday in Greece, (I sometimes wonder why we bother to go anywhere else) but that can wait a bit longer. After a frenetic summer, partly by choice and partly by necessity, Anne and I are now in…
One evening after school Steve called round with his latest purchase, Led Zeppelin II. I could not believe my ears. That opening riff! It was almost pornographic. Why hadn’t I heard this stuff before? Where had I been? The only pop album my parents possessed was Rubber Soul — admittedly not the worst place to begin…
It used to be cheap. It no longer is, but I don't care. I've enjoyed every day I've spent in Greece. Having just come back from a fortnight in - possibly - my favourite country, I'm waxing lyrical yet again. We day we left Herne Hill began rather strangely. While waiting for our train to…
We haven't been annihilated by Russian missiles. The invasion of Ukraine continues, with thousands killed and millions made refugees, but it all seems far away, certainly far enough to be forgotten on a sunny day in May. I have a feeling that British interest in this war is waning, as it becomes almost normal, a…
Have you ever trapped your finger in a door frame? I hadn't until we were in holiday in Suffolk this August. I don't recommend trying it, because it hurts like hell. And all because I was careless and not looking at what I was doing. I well remember losing a toenail 40 years ago. You…
Brittany is (or was originally referred to as) La Petite Bretagne - did you know that? It was a place of refuge for Britons escaping from the Anglo-Saxon invaders of their homeland. Or maybe they just wanted to go somewhere a bit warmer, as millions of Britons still do. Having had a holiday home in…
The Wight Stuff 