It’s a long time since I wrote anything about Belarus (even though I once wrote a chapter for a book on my trip there). And as it’s yet to feature on my Friday’s Featured Food series, I thought it was time to recollect that day I tried Belarussian Porridge in the drab city of Bobruisk.…
Read More
In my series of world borders, I’m usually talking about borders between separate countries or territories. Today however is all about a border within the same country – Ecuador. This isn’t a territorial border – it’s the Equator! It separates the Northern Hemisphere from the Southern Hemisphere. Crossing the border by foot here in Ecuador…
Read More
Today’s Thirsty Thursdays takes me back to December 2010 on my travels when I stayed in the Old Town of Quito in Ecuador. I simply loved the local charm of the Old Town in Quito and was staying at the quite excellent Colonial House Hotel. A four storey terraced house turned into a hostel. All…
Read More
Manic Street Preachers first came into my ears about 20 years ago, in 1992 when on a chance radio listen, I was enthused by their hit single “Suicide Is Painless” (Theme From M.A.S.H.). At the time I didn’t realise it was a cover version, nor knew anything about this band. As the 90s progressed I…
Read More
I was on a money saver. Only the way I do. I’d gladly spend a few quid on dinner and beers yet neglect a bed for a night’s sleep. So that’s what my last night in Quito was all about. I’d been to the New Town that day with Norbert, the German guy I met…
Read More
Staying in Ecuador’s capital Quito was never something I had longed to do, as it happens. However I had wanted to cross the equator by foot for the first time in Ecuador, so with Quito being fairly close by, it ended up being the obvious place to stay. Once I got there I realised that…
Read More
This is the second part of my trip from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere. I had spent almost 15 months living in the Southern Hemisphere from October 2009 until December 2010, and when I made it to Ecuador, it was time to cross the Equator by foot for the first time in my…
Read More
Lima is the capital city of Peru. I had no real intention of visiting it to be honest as on a quick tour round South America, I dipped into Peru purely to see Machu Picchu, yes I was that selfish and that unhungry to see the rest of Peru, just yet. But without having been…
Read More
It has forever confused me as to what people mean when they say “old town” and “new town” about the same town – almost as if they are dividing a city into two parts based solely on age. I don’t do it with football shirts or girlfriends, it feels a bit odd to do it…
Read More
The very words “Finn McCool’s Irish Pub” will linger forever in my own memory and those of 5 other Northern Ireland fans. The reason being that back in 2005 we launched the glamorous and innovative South of England Northern Ireland Supporters Club in a bar of that very name in the seaside town of Weymouth…
Read More