In my previous blog you will have read all about our adventures in and around the fair town of Potenza. If not, go right back to start and catch up before reading on…

So having chanced upon the wondrous Laghi di Monticchio after our laborious travails through the hills of Basilicata, we promised ourselves to come back and explore this little hidden paradise properly. This is exactly what we did a few days later, following the much easier route from Calitri along the gently winding valley road en route to Melfi. Well before that town, however, you turn off and upwards towards Rionero in Vulture. (more…)

Those of us who know Tarifa love it for its fresh, laid-back surfer’s paradise ambience untainted by the kind of mass-tourism that has blighted large parts of the world’s coastal regions.

Tarifa is a seaside resort with a difference. Instead of blocks of high rise apartments and hotels dotted with snack bars and souvenir shops, expect to find instead a funky little town that basks in a classic hippy chic atmosphere as much as it basks in the Spanish sun. (more…)

Having got to know Sunil and also met James Hewitt at the Polo House we were invited to a pre-opening sampling at Chowka, the new restaurant at the fantastic venue of the former Polo House.

Getting a peek before the official launch is always exciting, and the concept behind Chowka is an enticing one that blends modern Indian cuisine with the convivial Spanish tapas style of eating out. The first thing you notice is how the ambience has been given an Indian twist with subtle changes to the décor, yet the refined feel of the Polo House remains. (more…)

Perhaps it’s a generational thing but I’ve never really gotten poetry. With few exceptions poems to me seem a random jumbling of words that speak of self-indulgent rambling in the same pseudo-intellectual manner of abstract art. If you can’t discern deep and poignant meanings from a wild array of painted dashes then chances are you won’t be able to feel the pained emotions of the poet either. Apologies to all true poetry lovers, but this kind of navel gazing ain’t for me.

And yet, we all know that words can stir emotion like few other means of human expression. Perhaps only music and art can convey feeling with the same intensity – and it is therefore from the most unexpected sources that I have come to enjoy poetry. Like when a sentence in a book suddenly causes you to sit up and ponder it, quite apart from the overall story, or when you hear certain parts of a song. The latter may be good, bad or indifferent, but can stand out for the poignancy and feeling of a single line. (more…)

So there I was, quietly enjoying a drink at Bar El Casar in the little village of Benahavís where I live, when I got talking to the bar’s proprietor Chuck and fellow local resident Daren. Word had got out to them that I write restaurant reviews for Essential Marbella Magazine, so when they started comparing notes on what the perfect hamburger should look and taste like it ended in a hamburger cook-off challenge – with yours truly as the judge. (more…)