At Roncesvalles, we had a fairly comfortable night in a 4-bunk cubicle. I took the top bunk, with Sharon below. The ladder was a challenge as it sloped in where it joined the lower bunk, so it was a bit like climbing a ladder from underneath. But once up there, …
After two days in St Jean Pied de Port, we rose at dawn all packed and ready to go. We set out over the bridge with a quick stop for a selfie at the Virgin’s Gate. The dawn chorus was in full song while the water rushed beneath our feet. …
The Camino is both an external and an internal journey. The weight of our pack reflects our concerns as the outer journey reflects the inner one. Today, travel is more comfortable than in times past — and far safer.
The Mezquita, or mosque-cathedral in Cordoba, Spain is an extraordinary piece of architecture, symbolising the intermingling of Christian and Islamic culture.
Searching for the Puente Maria Pía, I picked my way along the long-disused and much-overgrown remnants of the railway line. It clung to the steep side of the valley overlooking the Douro River like a shelf on a wall. A light drizzle fell as I lifted my camera to get …
Strangers become friends The first night of our first Camino was extraordinary. We had climbed what seemed like an 8km (5 mile) staircase — without the stairs. At Orisson where we had booked to stop for the night, we found ourselves bunked in with another Australian couple and we quickly …
The Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, near Frankfurt, Germany presents a wonderful collection spanning the history of printing from its beginnings in Asia to Gutenberg’s press and into the modern era. The collection also houses two 42-line Gutenberg bibles.
The Bocca della Verità is a bit special. In the absence of a handy lie detector, how do you know if someone is being truthful? Trial by ordeal? Convince people that the gods know if you’re being truthful? How could that work? To find out, we need to go to …
I shivered in the winter chill, as the sheep grazed unconcerned in the paddock next to the giant metal dish. Magpies warbled in the distance and I wondered what it must have been like for the technicians worried, as heavy wind gusts tugged at the dish, yet knowing they were …
