Well, it’s been a strange couple of weeks. The week leading up to Hallowe’en, the Slovak government decided to lock down the country again and restrict travel. Out here this was a major thing because it coincided with one of the biggest religious festivals – Dušičky – All Saints’ Day. In Slavic countries, this is […]

It’s  a very long way to Peljesac, Croatia, and it’s an even longer way back… This summer holiday we rented a place on the sea in a remote area of the southern Peljesac peninsula (6kms to the nearest basic shop – that’s remote). As usual we drove south through Slovakia, then went from the East […]

I really thought we’d get away with a mild winter this year and thus didn’t bother switching off my water. After seeing this week’s forecast, with temperatures dropping below minus 20, we headed out to the house to switch everything off and drain the pipes. It never saves everything – there’s always the odd tap […]

Yesterday we got back from a four-day trip to the Hungarian capital, Budapest. I’ve literally travelled from East to West across Hungary, and passed both through and around Budapest many, many times over the years en route to Croatia, but this was the first time we’ve ever actually stayed in-country. It’s a 5-hour drive from […]

Wow! What a cool little adventure. In the last couple of weeks my kids have slept in a hotel, a converted stables/barn, a tent, a hammock, a modern detached house and a ship’s cabin. They’ve eaten in restaurants, in the kitchen of a 400 year old thatch-roof farmhouse, on a patio, in fast food joints, […]