Dear Travel Diary, Today, I saw something I’ve never seen before. I heard hail hitting the window of my room and when I went to take a look I saw there was rain mixed in with the hail. I grew up in the Yorkshire Dales and, before I decided...
I Enjoy the High Spots of Porto Without Getting High
Dear Travel Diary, Yesterday I took the train to Porto. I’ve been busy with work and it was the first chance I had to explore. One of the first things I noticed about the city is there are a lot of inclines, so Porto won’t be a good choice...
Francesinha: A Portuguese Dish with a French Influence
Francesinha is a Portuguese sandwich that is served in a dish and eaten with a knife and fork. It’s mostly served in the city of Porto and consists of two slices of bread that contain ham, linguiça (a type of smoked pork sausage), chipolata sausage, and a slice of...
Introducing Dear Travel Diary
I’ve decided to add a new section to the blog. It’s called “Dear Travel Diary”. Blog posts I write under this category will be about my day to day activities and observations as an Englishman living abroad. I am doing this for two reasons. First of all, I like...
Why I Decided to Leave the Netherlands and Start Travelling Again
I was born in England, but the Netherlands is the only place that ever really felt like home. Yesterday I left the house I’d been living in for nearly two years, made my way to the airport at Brussels and then flew to Portugal. I’m travelling again. While I...
How to Buy a Scooter in the Netherlands (And Then Sell It)
Four weeks ago I bought a scooter. I sold it today, for reasons I will explain in my next blog post. As with most things in life, it proved to be a learning experience and I was quite surprised about how the process worked. The fact that I have...
German Currywurst: A Fast Food Dish Inspired by a Blending of Cultures
Currywurst is popular German fast food that contains steamed pork sausage that’s been fried and cut into slices The slices are covered with curry ketchup and topped off with a sprinkling of curry powder. Currywurst is sometimes served with a bread bun, but it can also be accompanied by...
My Thoughts on Altstadt, the Longest Bar in the World
In German, the word Altstadt means old town and the Altstadt area of Düsseldorf is known as the longest bar in the world. This is not entirely accurate. The longest bar in the world is the Beer Barrel Saloon at South Bass Island in Ohio, USA and it says...
A Short Dusseldorf Visit (With Snow and a Carnival-Like Celebration)
I haven’t spent much time in Germany so I decided to visit Dusseldorf at the weekend. The Journey from Eindhoven only takes around 1h 40 mins and it costs less than €10 each way if you travel with FlixBus. During the 1980s there was a popular UK TV series...
I’m Always On Holiday, Even Though I’m Always Working
I’m a free spirit and I live my life very differently to most people. In some ways, every day of my life feels like a holiday because I left the UK behind two years ago, live in the land of my choice, and always have plenty of options for...