Here’s some advice for future travelers: do Cordoba first, then Sevilla. It will be easier to appreciate Cordoba’s charms when not comparing to Sevilla’s. Cordoba has an Alcázar. The palace is mostly ruined and nothing special. The gardens are wonderful, full of the noise of playing fountains and the intoxicating scent of jasmine. Not far […]
In terms of volume, it’s the largest cathedral in the world (beating out the Hagia Sofia after a thousand years in the top spot) and third largest church (after Saint Peter’s in Rome and some other church I hadn’t heard of until I read about it on Wikipedia). Noteworthy, I’m sure, but to be honest, […]
I think Islamic architecture may be my spirit animal. It just speaks to me in ways that nothing else does. The patterns and colours and elegant shapes laid out symmetrically and with water everywhere. It feels both maximalist and minimalist at the same time. Balanced and beautiful. That’s what’s behind the walls of the Real […]
Praised be that I had the foresight a few weeks ago to tack on a weekend in Spain ahead of some meetings in Madrid on Monday. After one of the crappiest weeks in recent history at work, I need a mini break (and this just after a 4-day weekend in Ireland!). I left London a […]
You know that rocky island with the beehive huts where Luke Skywalker goes to grow a beard and become mystical in the most recent Star Wars movie? Well, it turns out that’s a real place. Off the western coast of Ireland two tiny spikes of rock (“skelligs”) jut out from the sea. On the larger, […]
Forty minutes outside of Cork lies the tiny village of Shanagarry, where Stephen Pearce makes his famous pottery (well, to be more accurate I think other people make it for him, but still). In the past couple of years I’ve collected several pieces of this pottery from shops in London and other parts of Ireland, […]
As an expat in Europe, few things betray my North Americanness more than (1) not taking an extended vacation in August, and (2) castles. I can’t seem to get over either of them. Hence my one-day August holiday to visit Irish castles… Today’s destination: Blarney Castle, just outside Cork. It’s one of the better examples […]
It’s the August Bank Holiday weekend and I need a break. I’ve been meaning to come back to Ireland since my first short trip left me wanting more, so this was my chance. I took the day off work and caught an early flight to Dublin, hired a car at the airport and set off […]
I saw these on my way to get lunch and felt like I needed them in my kitchen. They’re just so bright and cheerful.
I read a review of the new production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat that’s running at the London Palladium. The reviewer classed it with The Bridge Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and said they were both delightful must-sees. Having seen Midsummer the week before and unable to agree more, I bought a ticket […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 