Podworld - Exploring interesting places

The one thing about travelling to southern Spain in December is that you will not be trampled under foot by hoards of tourists. Whilst many of the seaside attractions like ice-cream parlours and seasonal shops are closed there is something about an autumn Spain you can not find in the summer. That is the light. Due to the abstract nature of this phenomenon it is difficult to describe in words. Gone is the searing heat and haze of the summer to be replaced by a gentler sun casting a calmer  and often diffused light over the countryside.  Out to sea the clouds dance and cavort in ever changing shapes and sizes with shafts of sunshine penetrating through. Often they look like giant Alps resting on the sea's horizon and at other times giant waves threatening to overwhelm all before it. Then comes sunset and this being autumn the cloud formations present a giant canvas on which the sun can create its finest abstract. For an intense period of maybe 15 minutes ...

One of the pleasures of travelling is the opportunity to return to places one has not visited for some time. Such was the opportunity with Crete where, through a family connection, I was able to return 25 years after my previous visit. This was to be my third time on the island. Just four years had separated my first two trips and even then then the coast town of Malia had altered out of all recognition. So how would the island shape up after more the decades away? There was one significant difference this time. This was an out-of-season holiday in October rather than the June days of the previous vacations. Questions about about what might be open and how warm would the weather be, were obvious. The answer in the first case was pretty much everything was sill functioning. Crete, as with much of the Mediterranean area was enjoying an extended summer. Temperatures was frequently more that 20C during the course of the day. Tiny Beach Church   The village of Analipsi was my...

It is fair to say that part two of the road trip did not proceed as well as part one. This took us to the island of Penang and to its incredibly busy and dusty old capital Georgetown. First of all a word about the accommodation. It was excellent. We stayed in two locations. The first, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is what can best be described as a grand home constructed for a former merchant whose name it bears. It was a quality and classy place to stay and the staff were warm and helpful. Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion The second place was the Mango Tree Place. Different from Cheong Fatt Tze but no less enjoyable. These are individual converted houses on the edge of town where the whole street makes up the hotel. Individual and collective together. It works wonderfully. Not cheap but worth the money. Elsewhere Penang was a little disappointing but this might be in part to myself contracting food poisoning from what at the time was a splendid curry in Little India. It made the what c...

The Cameron Highlands This blog is usually written retrospectively but occasionally time allows for it to be scripted as the journey in undertaken. This is the case with an entry about the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. The Cameron Highlands seemed to be a Nirvana on the previous trips taken to Malaysia. As one marvelled at the modernity of Kuala Lumpur or the tropical excellence of Langkawi here was a part of the Malay peninsula that evoked images of Scotland. Surely not. The Lakehouse Inevitably the journey began in KL but fears of hours spent negotiating traffic were unfounded and within twenty minutes were were on the road north, initially on the main highway to Ipoh. Tea Plantation Then after turning to the Highlands we came across extraordinary scenery. Here the single carriageway road rose and twisted through rain forest and lush vegetation. No need to rush. Only one road takes traffic through the Highlands and it is not long before you come up behind a slow-mo...

Ornate Work Sagrada Família Sagrada Família Ceiling Sagrada Família Windows The other focal point of a trip to Barcelona is the Sagrada Família the city's astonishing new cathedral which is still under construction a century after it was started. In recent years the main basilica has been covered but at least another ten towers are yet to be completed if Antonio Gaudi's vision is to be realised. A provisional completion date of 2026 has been targeted. Do not bet on it. Paid entry can be obtained by turning up and queuing at the cathedral which has its own metro station. However it is possible, for a small additional fee, to select your time and book ahead online using a credit card. This was our choice rather than spend two hours of our valuable holiday time sweltering in the summer sun. The basilica is simply stunning. It has all the grandeur of a medieval grand church like Seville, Notre Dame, Paris or York Minster but with a style and flourish un...

It has been some years since I was last in Barcelona in fact my previous visit was prior to the 1992 Olympic Games. I remember it though. I had taken a long weekend on the nearby Costa Brava at a rather sorry resort called Malgrat le Mar. It was possible to take a train to Barcelona and the journey took about an hour. My travelling companion and I did not spend long in the city. We wandered up La Rambla, took in the Columbus state, had something to eat and headed back. Barcelona's time had come gain so this time it was not to be a flying visit but a more leisurely four day holiday. We booked accommodation close to the music museum right in the centre of the town. A perfect place from which to explore the city. The hotel was fine, rather quirky but with no iar conditioning in the rooms. This was August. First up for us as football (soccer) fans was a visit to the Camp Nou, the cavernous home of CF Barcelona. It cost as much to get in for the stadium visit as I would expect to p...