Driving along one of Norway's well maintained highways, the E6, one could be forgiven for missing them. But here and there are dotted brown signs pointing to 'helleristninger', or rock art or rock carvings - some estimated to date back as far as 9,000 years. I got to visit some of them on a road … Continue reading Hiding in plain sight: Norway’s Bronze Age rock art
It's been a long time since I've published my recent readings, so here goes. The biggest shift in my reading habits came in mid-2024, when I bought a Kindle after being recommended it by a couple of younger friends who are big readers. I thought about buying a different e-reader, but I didn't have the … Continue reading Every book I’ve read in 2023, 2024, and 2025 (so far)
Six months after I started reading Knausgård's Min Kamp (2009-2011), I have come to the end of my pilgrimage.
São Miguel island (Ilha da São Miguel) is the largest in the Azorean archipelago of nine, and is often the first stop for visitors as most flights go to Ponta Delgada, the capital and biggest city. Like the rest of the Azores, the weather in São Miguel is very unpredictable - truly four seasons in … Continue reading Bad weather activities in São Miguel, Azores (and some for good weather too)
Unquestionably my most memorable read this year has been the memoir, An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie (1981), which I came across when visiting my bookshop family at Shakespeare and Company in April. I bought a copy, then devoured the book while sitting on my green sofa back in Lisbon. The memoir follows an … Continue reading My year in books November 2021-2022
When we are children, we think about certain things with only with the strange combination of vagueness and vividness that characterises dreams - in colours and shapes that seem literally beyond reach. For me, this was the case with the great whales. At once totally otherworldly and eerily familiar, whales are laden with symbolism in … Continue reading (Baja) California dreaming, with whales and whale sharks
The region surrounding the grand port town of Cascais offers many superb day trips, including historic towns, natural scenery and, of course, Lisbon just half an hour away by train. As a relatively small country with high quality roads, Portugal can be explored quite easily by rental car, and good public transport links make it … Continue reading Seven fantastic and easy day trips from Cascais, Portugal
With its grand buildings, cobbled streets and fishing village charm, Cascais is the pretty port town just a short train ride away from Lisbon. There is no shortage of great sights and activities to do here, even if you don't have access to a car. Historically, Cascais served as a sleepy fishing port, but after … Continue reading Things to do & see in Cascais, the ‘Portuguese Riviera’
Having resided in Lisbon for over a year now - and with much of that spent under lockdown - I am delighted to make new discoveries on about a weekly basis. Most recently, that was the fact that it is possible to walk along the Lisbon aqueduct, or Águas Livres Aqueduct. This aqueduct is an amazing … Continue reading Insider tip: how to walk along the Lisbon aqueduct
Since arriving in Portugal, something I've been somewhat missing is a deeper sense of history. So far, I've mostly focused on trying to gain some understanding of the 48-year dictatorship of Salazar, which ended well within living memory in 1974, with the Carnation Revolution - so called because carnation flowers were inserted into the ends … Continue reading Day trip to Elvas, historic fort citadel on the Portugal-Spain border
no cash on the highway 