December 7th – December 9th: Buckingham Place

Those who know me will be aware that I like to have a plan. Having a plan means you get to do the things you want to do, but with minimal faffing. That said, a good plan is robust enough to allow for spontaneity when inspiration strikes, and this was one of those occasions. The…

Monday 4th December – Thursday 7th December: Galle

Galle is actually a fairly large city on the south coast of Sri Lanka, but the main reason to visit is for the UNESCO Heritage site of Galle Fort, an originally Portuguese, then Dutch fortification that was taken over by the British, and is now Sri Lankan, although apparently many of the properties are still…

Thursday 30th November – Sunday 3rd December: Colombo

When heading to a new country, it’s always advisable to check the weather. Turned out we arrived in Colombo at the tail end of an unseasonable and highly unusual cyclone, so we were greeted by monsoon-style rain. Luckily we’d already organised a driver to bring us to the delightful Taru Villas Lake Lodge, so by…

24th November – 28th November – Mendoza and Chacras de Coria

We say ‘we are going to Mendoza’, but strictly speaking we meant the region and not the city. Mendoza city seems to be perfectly nice, with wide avenues, plenty of squares, and mostly low-rise buildings (all designed after the earthquake). However, our visit was not about the city but about the WINE, so after one…