For the longest time, I’ve had this dream of renting a rustic old Tuscan farmhouse and using this as my base to explore Italy properly. The choice of Tuscany probably comes as no surprise as I keep banging on and on about how much it’s easily one of my favourite regions in Italy – especially … Continue Reading
After our day in Lake Como, we left our hotel in Milan in search of what would be our new home for the next week – our very own Tuscan farmhouse! Our farmhouse was located pretty much on its own (with no neighbours so to speak) about halfway between San Miniato and San Gimignano and … Continue Reading
The last time we were in Italy on a road trip (in a rickshaw), one place we really wanted to visit was San Gimignano. We had lots of people recommend it on Instagram and Facebook yet for some reason or the other, we never quite made it to San Gimignano. Well, this time, we had … Continue Reading
All that walking around San Gimignano works up an appetitite that even the finest of wines is unable to satisfy. As a result, we pretty much spent the entire drive back from San Gimignano looking out for a decent Italian restaurant. If there’s anything I learnt from our Italian rickshaw adventure, it was definitely the … Continue Reading
On the way back home from Pisa, we decided to stop at the nearby hilltop town of San Miniato, a beautiful place recommended by our friend Gabriele (he’s from Sicily in Italy) when we went around Italy last year. Last time we visited, we spent a very short amount of time here but this time, … Continue Reading
The night before we left for Cologne, our flights over were cancelled at the last minute. Funny thing is, before that, I’d never even considered any other way of getting to Germany, let alone Cologne. This all changed of course and before long, we rebooked to take the train to Cologne from London with a … Continue Reading
Cologne Cathedral is as amazing as they said it would be! I’d seen it briefly when we arrived by train the night before but didn’t have much time to explore it (nor would I have wanted to with our luggage in tow) so I was justifiably excited to finally get to see it properly (especially … Continue Reading
The sun came out to play the next day in Cologne! It’s funny how a little thing like blue skies can change the look of a city so much. After a quick walk through the city to burn off the breakfast calories, we found ourselves back at Cologne Cathedral, totally determined to climb it! By … Continue Reading
Making our way over from KölnTriangle to the city centre, we decided to pop into the fairgrounds for some more toffee apples (anyone who’s ever eaten a soggy supermarket toffee apple) will understand why we (but especially Lloyd) is obsessed with the stuff. We got a couple to go and walked over the bridge in … Continue Reading
Leaving the party at Museum Ludwig, we decided to go with the easy option and head next door to the Roman-Germanic Museum. The vibe here is a lot more laid back, even down to the musical act which made for a great cool-down spot with a brew while popping between ancient Roman artefacts. As Lloyd … Continue Reading
Our return to Sri Lanka was something of a last-minute plan. As you might remember, we’d been to Sri Lanka earlier in the year and although our itinerary back then was quite full and we managed to pack in quite a lot for one week, there was still so much of Sri Lanka that I’d … Continue Reading
After our much-needed lazy and relaxed first day in Sri Lanka, we arranged something very special the very next morning. A boat ride through Madu Ganga river! This was in part ‘special’ because this is something I’d wanted to do after we left Sri Lanka last time, actually get to experience more ‘real’ parts of … Continue Reading
One of the most iconic images I’ve seen of Sri Lanka, long before we visited even the first time was of the stilt fishermen on the coastline of Galle and, understandably so, this is something I’d wanted to see for quite some time! But more on that later… first off – lunch! Lunch was at … Continue Reading
After our brilliant night, we got up bright and early to set off on a long drive to Udawalawe National Park where the plan was to safari in the morning and lunch in the afternoon. Thankfully free of a hangover (or perhaps still ‘merry’ from the night before), I hurried through breakfast and promptly fell … Continue Reading
