Europe 9. ROME-ING AROUND

day by day, train by train: the story of our European adventure Eagerly launching an early morning, I organised our bookings for the Vatican and nibbled on a cracker based breakfast. Once the technological deal was sealed, we set off swiftly and said goodbye to Kaila who was going to meet Serena. We arrived at [...]

Europe 7. Ciao Lerici, we beseech thee, Flo was not fond of your Iced Peach Tea, but each of us will miss your beach, even when we reach Rome Termini

day by day, train by train: the story of our European adventure And so went our last day in Lerici, which was naturally spent, rather than Lerici, out-of-town trekking in La Spezia and the first of the Cinque Terras. Our first stop raiding the local supermarket, we then explored La Spezia with our packed lunches [...]

The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk (review)

The pressure was high and the colours were bright as Emma Rice painted the final strokes of her career as Artistic Director of the the internationally acclaimed Kneehigh. In an innovative explosion of music, balloons, paint-brushes, banners, torches, choreography and confetti, this production ironically may not be anything new from the company’s renowned style, but [...]

Europe 4. you don’t know nothing

day by day, train by train: the story of our European adventure As Kaila and I didn't really sleep all night, feeling like a slightly over-proud and very under-successful martyr, I continued into the next day fuelled by a sickly chocolate oozing pastry (or two), meaning that I felt an inconvenient concoction of ill and fatigue on a very uncomfortable train to [...]

Europe 3. roothub

day by day, train by train: the story of our European adventure. ODE TO ROOTHUB Our hostel had reached its incredibly low expectations with the sweet surprise of a (hopefully small) bedbug infestation. Well, when I say infestation, I mean that we found one creeping and crawling about just on Kaila's bed. Dampening the inclination to shift the [...]

Europe 2. bed bugs and selfie-sticks

day by day, train by train: the story of our European adventure. We spent an unsurprisingly sunny and tentatively tranquil day exploring Barcelona. Refreshing our palates with more croissants and orange juice, the seven of us battled our way through the maze of Boqueria market, slurping a dragonfruit and coconut smoothie and navigating aimlessly. Maddy descended into [...]

Europe 1. train man, train man, are there any more? no girls, no girls, all trains full

day by day, train by train, from page to screen: the story of our European adventure. It was 4.30 am: that strange time which isn't really early morning or dead at night and honestly should be slept through to entirely avoid the matter. Yet this would be the time to set our alarms and heroically fight our [...]