Off Grid and Ignorant in Portugal: Opening time
We often wondered if it would ever happen, but four years after moving to Portugal, and two years after construction work started on our crazy off-grid eco-luxe lodge tourism project,
London Calling: September 2024
Capital of the world? On a train into London with his faithful dog, your columnist fell into conversation, dog-related at first, with a fellow passenger. Quickly detecting a French accent,
Poem – Playground memories from the 1940s
Like a praying mantis stands This contraption in a park where weeds Overcome the sodden turf. An iron frame which merits another coat Of dark green paint tinged with red.
Portugal – Migration over the millennia
Some say that pigs can fly. The Flying Squad were police. Police are pigs. Therefore, pigs can fly. This dysfunctional form of argument is at the root of the riots
Euthanasia – survival at the end of life
The film “The Room Next Door” deservedly received the Golden Lion award at this year’s Venice Film Festival for its portrayal of the painful observation by one woman (Julianne Moore)
Life in Portugal: Am I itchy?
It’s been seven years, pretty much to the day, since I moved to Portugal with my wife Louisa and our two young children. Since then, and in this truly marvellous
Age benefits
Every once in a while, I get persuaded to step out of my comfort zone and accept an invite to a social engagement. In other words, I agree to attend
A railway journey
When I was ten years old, I used to catch the train, by myself, from Cascais or Estoril to Cais do Sodré in Lisbon, where I attended school. It was
The Algarve Sunboat is eco-friendly, sustainable, and fun
Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with orange trees, and deep blue skies. Your vessel, called the Sunboat, is solar-powered. What better place than the Algarve, with her
Vis a Viseu
Might I call this ‘pearly gates’ hospitality, where brilliantly warm hosts offer you a glass of chilled rosé, on arrival – made with Touriga Nacional grapes, plucked from vines you