Author: Tyler the Tartan Traveller

First time blogger | Aspiring Piano Aficionado | Lover of all things Travel, Food, Music & Sports |

Buying bread from a man in Brussels, He was six-foot-four and full of muscle 🍞

A couple of days in Brussels with under 24 hours notice, what could possibly go wrong?

Setting the scene

Belgium wasn’t somewhere that was on my radar, but Skyscanner popped it up as a suggestion & it turned out to be a fantastic adventure! An incredibly fortuitous set of circumstances led me to having the opportunity to see the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on one of the evenings (more on that later in the post!) 🎹🎻

Modern Day Brussels

Brussels is the Capital of Belgium & plays host to elements of the European Parliament, the NATO headquarters, awesome Museums, Cathedrals, Art galleries & cool tourist sites. There is a real mixture of cultural influences within Brussels. There are all sorts of amazing foods & beers to try. I made a solid attempt at completing the culinary scene, however my waistline will never forgive me!

Story time 📔

When I was doing my obligatory Google search for things to get up to in Brussels, I spotted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra were playing 2 pieces, Dvorak9 & Elgar Violin Concerto. I really wanted to go, but it wasn’t exactly on Ticketmaster & the venue site wouldn’t translate into English. I managed to scrape by but ended up paying hundreds of euros & it turned out I had bought a premium champagne reception ticket. A humble guy from the hood, did what any guy from the hood should do, try to make the money back in complimentary booze! I must admit I felt a little out of my depth pre-show mixing with people who were most certainly not from the hood. However, the arts are for everyone & if anyone tells you differently, tell them to sling their hook. The concert was worth every penny 😊

The Brussels bar crawl was great fun, I am pretty confident when speaking to new people, but normally on holiday I just wander around with my head in the clouds, this is the first time I have went to a bar crawl type event. Everything was going so well until a French lad sank 20 Jagarbombs in one go, I often wonder how he is or even if he is still alive, he wasn’t looking too clever about 25 minutes later & that was the end of the bar crawl, photo below of the aftermath! 😂

In Brussels they have these mental trains that are double deckers, they are really cool & an ingenious solution. We need them in the UK, as I type this, sat cramped on a Cross Country train boiling alive 😂. Prime minister, get it sorted, we want double decker trains!

Photos from the trip 📸

  • Grand-Place Square
  • Random Cathedral
  • BOZAR Centre of fine arts
  • French lad post 20 Jagarbombs
  • Grand-Place Square
  • Leffe is a game changer
  • Random Cathedral
  • European Parliament
  • Brussels most famous photo bomber
  • European Parliament

Useful information 🧑🏼‍🎓

Public transport in Brussels was really great, although I walked most places, the buses, trams & trains were very regular! Some of the bars etc were expensive, but if you read the boards outside you can usually find cheaper local beers etc. If you go to an ‘Irish bar’ & buy a Heineken, you’ll get hit for a pretty penny, try the local stuff! Depending on the length of your stay, if you need to stock up on supplies, the Aldi’s there are banging! Much better than the UK 😂

Leffe is bloody strong, don’t drink it at the same pace you would drink a normal beer. You will end up being an absolute nuisance!

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be posting about Bruges & then onto travel guides for some domestic places ahead of Summer! The UK is awesome when the sun comes out, for that whole week once a year. There will be a mini series on spots in the Peak District, then more historical places like Chester, Edinburgh & York. Would love to take any recommendations, if I can get there by bus, train or plane, I will go 🤠

Hit subscribe to get notified when the post goes live, thanks for reading through as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️

Elche | A must visit when in Alicante! 🦕

Amazing tapas & a near disaster catching flight home!

Setting the scene

The conclusion of my Alicante region tour brought me to Elche for a day trip. I wanted to find somewhere awesome to spend my last day & Elche definitely delivered the goods! The town has a cool history, there are ruins of an ancient Synagogue & over the centuries it has had Roman, Greek, Byzantine & Goth (Germanic people) rulers.

Modern Day Elche

Elche is the third most populated city within the region & quite big compared to some of the other towns I visited.

You can visit the world heritage site – Palm Grove, the stunning Basilica de Santa Maria, Museo Paleontológico (cool dinosaur museum), Palau dels Altamira, Elche museum, beautiful parks & Huerto del Cura (one of the most impressive botanical gardens I have ever seen).

Story time 📔

Never trust Google when it comes to small local bus routes! I had planned the day trip meticulously, if you have read previous posts from me you will know I haven’t done this well in the past. For this trip, I knew where I was going, how long I was spending there & my travel plans between sites.

My whole day was going exactly to plan, I found all of the sites without issue & even found an amazing little spot for tapas. With a full belly & slightly merry from the lunch time beers, I made my way to the bus stop to head back to the airport, which according to Google was a 30/40 minute journey.

A few buses had passed but none of them were the airport bus, I started to worry ever so slightly. So I jumped onto the next couple of buses that came & tried to ask the driver where the ‘aeropuerto autobus’ was. I can speak basic Duolingo Spanish, I cannot speak rapido Elche Bus Driver Catalan language, but I quickly came to realise there was no airport bus coming to save me. I still had a couple of hours until wheels up, no need to panic.

I looked to get an Uber, turns out there were no Ubers or street taxis, the heart rate starts to increase apace! I had however remembered that on the way to Elche I passed the airport on the train, I could just get the train back & get off at the stop closest to the airport. I had to run my fat ass back to the train station to catch a train to Torrellano (which was the closest to the airport).

Once I got to Torrellano, thinking surely I could find a taxi to the train station, alas I was wrong. I also couldn’t pin point myself on Google maps, or see any airport or planes in air, so I had to make a best guess judgement & decided on a road. My thinking was it looked like the sort of road that would take me to the airport. After around 40 minutes walking (with my luggage I might add), I saw a sign on the roadside saying aeropuerto & I have never wanted to kiss a road sign so much in my life! I made the flight home, all is well that ends well.

Photos from the trip 📸

  • Basilica De Santa Maria
  • Huerto del Cura
  • Palau dels Altamira
  • Parc Municipal
  • I am saved!!!
  • Basilica De Santa Maria
  • Street Art
  • Huerto del Cura
  • Basilica De Santa Maria
  • Basilica De Santa Maria
  • Beside Palau dels Altamira
  • Parc Municipal
  • Random Holy Building
  • Random Street
  • Dinosaur Museum

Where to eat?

  • Jam on toast & fish 😂
  • Calamari
  • Patatas Bravas

I highly recommend “Restaurante + Que Tapas”. They haven’t paid me for this post, but if the manager sees this & wants to offer me some free tapas, sign me up 😍

They do great Tapas, beers & the place has a chilled out vibe! Be careful what you order if your Spanish isn’t great, I ended up with Jam on toast with cold fish 😂. Either it’s a delicacy or I made a tit of the order (more than likely the latter!)

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be posting about my trip out to Bruges & Brussels. From there I will be posting travel guides for some domestic places ahead of Summer! The UK is awesome when the sun comes out, for that whole week once a year. There will be a mini series on spots in the Peak District, then more historical places like Chester, Edinburgh & York. Would love to take any recommendations, if I can get there by train or flight, I will go 🤠

Hit subscribe to get notified when the post goes live, thanks for reading through as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️

Elda-Petrer | 2 cities combined into one conurbation 👠

Besides almost getting eaten by a massive dog, an awesome day trip!

Setting the scene

As part of my Alicante region tour, I decided to venture further out for a day trip in Elda-Petrer & was not disappointed. I was fumbling around on Google maps looking for unique places off the beaten track. Generally speaking I am very amenable to visiting anywhere boasting historic Castles, with both Elda & Petrer having one each, I was instantly sold.

Modern Day Elda-Petrer

Elda & Petrer are 2 distinct individual cities speaking their own languages, one Spanish & one Valencian. There has historically been difficulties between the neighbours & various disputes throughout the years. Lordships granting more land to one than the other etc, sounds remarkably similar to Scottish history 😂.

The whole conurbation has lovely architecture, beautiful narrow winding streets, colourful houses, holy buildings & awesome street art.

Something rather unique about this area is the shoes. I like shoes, they stop my feet from getting cut & bruised when outside walking however, I wouldn’t say I was a massive fan. Although, within Elda, shoes used to be a major industry & all over the town you can see shoe statues & equipment that was used to make shoes, they even have a shoe Museum! I really need to start taking my own advice & planning ahead, the Museum was closed when I went unfortunately 🤭

Story time 📔

Elda Castle, whilst beautiful looking from a distance & on Google Maps, is near on impossible to find the entrance! Wandering around trying to get in, I felt like I was trying to get the Gold on Fort Boyard & the Tigers were coming to eat me. The outer perimeter of it is quite big & as usual with any half decent Castle, it is perched up high on a hill. After going in circles, I eventually just gave up on finding the entrance, having also consulted Google to find out the Castle was closed anyway 😂, I should just re-name this blog to “Plan ahead people!”

There is lovely park that you should definitely stop by called “Parc El Campet”. It has a lovely walking route, a cool stage for performances, plenty of shade to hide from the sun & an awesome little waterfall etc. However, stay alert! One of the locals has what can only be described as a terminator dog. I love animals, especially dogs & I am not afraid of them in general, but this dog looked like it was bred in the pits of Isengard.

The dog was just trying to be playful by jumping up on me, but I don’t know enough Spanish to talk to a dog 😂, I just let out a tumultuous squeak & mumbled something about the ‘mascota’ being ‘bonito’. It’s amazing how quickly you forget words when a big ass dog is trying to have you for supper. At the time, I was sat on the ledge of a pond under a waterfall trying to do one of those really cheesy waterfall selfie videos. In the melee I fell back a little into the waterfall & also dropped my phone in the pond. I got it back out very quickly, thankfully it still works. I would have been devastated as I only just bought the phone after breaking my old one in Morocco less than a month before!

Photos from the trip 📸

  • View from Petrer Castle
  • Petrer Castle
  • Parc El Campet
  • Waterfall where Terminator dog tried to eat me
  • Elda Castle
  • Elda Castle
  • Elda-Petrer Train Station
  • Random Shoes dotted around
  • Random Shoes dotted around
  • Random Shoes dotted around

Where to eat?

  • Some sort of Calzone
  • A free Croquette
  • Those Olives have big ass rocks in them, be careful!

Usually I wouldn’t suggest going to Spain & eating Italian food, however I was very hungry & this was the only spot I could find.

The family that ran this place were really lovely & the food was awesome. They don’t speak much English though so either learn Spanish or have Google translate ready to go.

Pizzeria PAPILLON was the name of the place, definitely stop by if in town!

Bonus tip; Look up! ✅

For a variety of reasons we often have our heads down, trying not to make eye contact with street Electricity sales reps, avoiding nutters, looking at Social Media or following Google maps to find our way around. However, everything about this town is beautiful, there was something in particular that really stood out & that was the street art.

Ranging from portraits of the city to some of the awesome animals, it is definitely advisable to look up 🤠

  • Street Art
  • Street Art
  • Street Art
  • Street Art
  • Street Art
  • Street Art

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be writing about my trip out to Elche where Google had me waiting on a bus that didn’t exist & there were no Ubers, causing me to almost miss my flight, I had to go full survival mode! So definitely hit subscribe to find out what happened when the post goes live, thanks for reading through as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️

Villena | A quaint Spanish town 🏰

Cheeky whistlestop tour!

Setting the scene

Whilst I was soaking up some winter sun in Alicante I decided to venture further out into the wider region. That way I wouldn’t spend the whole morning in bed dying from the 2 euro beers the night before. This brought me on a day trip to Villena, whereby I originally only wanted to see the Atalaya Castle, but fell in love with the whole city. Other than making a complete calamity of the planning & organising it was well worth the journey.

Modern Day Villena

Villena sits to the NorthWest corner of Alicante near the borders between Murcia & Castilla – La Mancha. It is the Capital of Alto Vinalopo.

Although the Atalaya castle is the centrepiece of the city, there has been some important archaeological finds of treasure & jewellery etc. There are a couple of small museums, awe- inspiring holy buildings, scenic landscapes, a cool theatre & beautiful skyline views.

Story time 📔

Google is a liar sometimes! According to Google maps in Villena there is a Castle – Castillo de Salvatierra, I am now fairly confident that this is a lie. If you go on maps you can see there are no streets around it, when I got there it was the side of a mountain with quite a rugged terrain & insane precipitous drops all over the area. Let me know in the comments if you have ever actually found this Castle! After around 90 minutes of going in circles & not finding the Castle (which may or may not exist) I was fully ready to send up an emergency flare in the hope that Bear Grylls would come save me.

Plan your trip! As this place isn’t a major tourist hotspot a lot of things weren’t open when I went & it was quiet as it was a Monday in February. This meant I didn’t get to go into any of the Museums or the Atalaya Castle 🫣. However, I still loved walking around looking at the buildings etc.

A few cheeky snaps! 📸

  • Villena auditorio
  • Santa Maria
  • Atalaya Castle
  • Atalaya Castle
  • Villena skyline
  • Entrance to the phantom Castle
  • Atalaya Castle
  • Atalaya Castle
  • Santa Maria
  • Arch of Santa Maria
  • Santa Maria

Money 💰

I did not see many cash machines around & a lot of places looked very local & cash only.

So I would suggest bringing some paper with you! As I didn’t get into any of the tourist sites I am not sure which accept card & which don’t.

Getting around 🚕

I didn’t see many taxi’s floating (pun intended!) about but the city isn’t massive. I would say your best bet is to walk if you don’t have a car.

Getting into Villena was easy enough, the train goes directly from Alicante & only costs a couple of euros.

Bonus tip ✅

There are a variety of places called “Mirador de *Name*” on Google maps. These don’t look like anything you would stop by. However, I highly recommend that you do. They are basically platforms whereby you get stunning views of the city & sites.

The 2 that you should definitely visit are Mirador Alt Vinalopó & Mirador del Castillo de Villena. They are close to each other so you can get between them easily enough.

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be writing about my trip out to Elda-Petrer where I had a meltdown trying to get into a Castle, got chased down by a terminator dog & fell into a water fountain! So definitely hit subscribe to find out what happened when the post goes live, thanks for reading through as always, if you have any questions drop me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as possible ❤️

Alicante | Cathedrals, Castles & Cervezas🍻

Awesome trip, but Spain definitely needs to outlaw 2 Euro beers & 6 Euro bottles of Gin 😂

Setting the scene

My yearning for Winter sun brought me to the effervescent Alicante. Usually I try not to visit the same city twice, however it was such a wonderful experience that I am strongly considering making Alicante a yearly pilgrimage. That is assuming I am not banned after my overtly jovial antics on this trip. I have made an executive decision that anything occurring after 10pm does not make it onto the blog as a travel tale 😂

Modern Day Alicante ⛱️

Alicante is a lovely city within the Valencia area. It has pristine beaches, beautiful architecture, cheap beers, amazing food & plenty of tourist sites to see.

The weather there is decent all year round but I was really lucky to have had 20+ degree weather in February, meaning I just wandered around in my kilt most of the time 😂

Story time 📔

If I ever write a book about my life, the flight out to Alicante would require an entire chapter. The plane was full of rather unique characters & stag parties headed out to Benidorm. The lovely young chap beside me was having a meltdown because he wasn’t allowed to smoke. When I say lovely young chap, what I mean is he actually looked hard as nails. I did my best to avoid eye contact & pretend I was sleeping when he kept trying to speak to me 😂

On the first evening, there was a big football match on, the Madrid derby. I was walking down a street that had lots of seats outside bars/cafes with people watching. I decided to stop by for a beer & see if I got talking to anyone. I thought everyone was supporting Athletico, so when they scored I started cheering. Obviously I was wrong & they were all Real fans, leading to boos all round & I think someone called me fat ass. My attempts at diffusing the situation failed, “lo siento, estoy amigo” didn’t get me out of the pickle, so I had to relocate to another bar, I just kept quiet the next time someone scored!

I found a little bar that can only be described as a pathway to Narnia. It didn’t have a sign or name, it isn’t on Google maps & has a little board outside advertising 2 Euro pints of Guinness (which turned out to be lager in a Guinness glass 😂). This bar is the most wild place I have ever been in! The DJ (a barman with an AUX cord on his phone) was only taking requests for Spanish songs. I spent 15 minutes trying to convince him Take That were Spanish, so he would play relight my fire. He eventually gave in & played it, just to shut me up!

Within this bar there was a female birthday party, I think must have been between 50-60 age range & they were a very very rowdy gaggle! In hindsight, before going to the discos it may have been wise to ditch the kilt! As the only male customer in there, I was getting a lot of attention, which I was loving, I have to admit. It is hard to pin point at what stage in the evening the line between flattering attention became full on assault by these rowdy women 😂. There was only one toilet with no lock, which had a urinal & toilet seat in same room, which incidentally was where they stored the empty kegs (photo below). As there wasn’t many people in the bar, I thought if I was quick I could get a number 1 done without any interruptions. WRONG! In bursts one of the revellers & plops themselves down on the toilet (which is mere inches from the urinal) & proceeded to slap me on the backside. Having no idea what to say, I just spluttered “Feliz Cumpleanos” (Happy birthday), I don’t even think she was the birthday lady. This was around 10pm & nothing after 10pm makes the blog, so you will have to use your imagination as to how the evening ended!

Places worth stopping by! 🏰

There are so many amazing places that you really need to visit! Some of my key highlights were Santa Barbara Castle, the Basilica Santa Maria, Alicante Market, Castell de Sant Ferran, La casita de las macetas azules, Playa Postiguet, Paseo de la Explanada de España & El Carrer dels Bolets (the mushroom street!)

  • View from Santa Barbara
  • View of Santa Barbara Castle from Castell de Sant Ferran
  • View from Santa Barbara
  • View from Santa Barbara
  • View from Santa Barbara
  • View from Santa Barbara
  • View from Santa Barbara
  • View from Castell de Sant Ferran
  • The counterfiet 2 Euro Guinness
  • Narnia bar where I got abused
  • Random Street
  • Random Street
  • Basilica Santa Maria
  • Basilica Santa Maria
  • Avenue General Marva
  • Mushroom street
  • Spain trying to murder me with 6 euro bottles of gin!
  • Elite level candy

Where to eat & drink? 🍻🍽️

Restaurante CASABLANCA

Lovely little tapas spot in the shadow of the Santa Barbara Castle. Relative to the price it’s a nice spot & the staff are cool too. They have a decent courtyard you can sit in outside.

Would highly recommend the Albondigas, I didn’t get many dishes there but everything coming out of the kitchen looked awesome! They do cold beers etc too.

100 Montaditos

There are a few of these as it is a chain. It isn’t 5 star standard, but really cheap & they do 100 flavours of mini baguettes. It’s the ideal place if you want to try different small plates without breaking the bank!

The beers here are 2 euros & it was the best pint I had in Alicante, there is one beside the beach that is worth a visit!

Red Corner Sports Bar

This is a cool Sports bar & has everything on you could imagine, with plenty of seats outside. It isn’t the cheapest place in Alicante but really good beer!

There are 2 of the same bar on opposite corners, the TV’s in the bigger one are a couple of minutes behind, so if watching sport, go to the smaller one!

Murphy’s Celtic Bar

This is a decent little pub if you want to watch rugby, football or anything in between. The staff here are really sound & the owner is a good guy. He has about 4 laptops going with all sorts of streams & will get whatever sport you want to watch on one of the TVs.

Please note; It is a decent pub, but it isn’t somewhere you would go for a nice date night for example.

Money 💰

Everywhere I went took card, but for food etc it’s best to have some cash to tip.

There are cash machines all over, I spent around 200 euros over 3 days & that was with eating well & drinking a lot of beers.

Getting around 🚕

Alicante does have Uber but everything you need is within walking distance so I never got one. There is a tramline & trains are decent to get between cities. I took a bus from airport, it was under 5 euros & only took about 20 minutes to city centre, saved a fortune on a taxi!

Bonus tip ✅

The centre piece of the entire city is the Santa Barbara castle, but it is perched up on top of a seriously high ass mountain! You can spend the whole day climbing up the side of it & give yourself a heart attack.

Or you can do a little research ahead of time (I didn’t!) or read my blog, there is actually a lift you can take from the bottom of the mountain to the top, but it wasn’t all that obvious to me that it was an option 😂. To get to the lift the entrance is just off the Postiguet beach.

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be writing about my trip out to Villena, which is an hour away from Alicante. Unfortunately it was not as eventful as the Alicante trip but managed to get some awesome photos & did make a complete mess of the organisation. So definitely hit subscribe to find out what happened when the post goes live, thanks for reading through as always ❤️

Lanzarote | A surprisingly wonderful trip! 🏝️

Sun, Sand & Sea, the perfect mini Winter getaway!

Setting the scene

Occasionally I will put ‘Everywhere’ into Skyscanner & visit the first place that comes up which I haven’t been to. It has led to some incredible experiences & some less so, but such is the magic of travelling. On this occasion, I landed with Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. Usually I book first & ask questions later, however with Lanzarote I had some slight trepidation.

I knew little of the Island previously, other than it’s reputation for attracting a very particular demographic of UK tourists. I had thought it would be full of rowdy, drunken whoppers that seem to be ubiquitous on some of the Spanish Islands, lacking any sense of propriety (I know, I used to be one of them, many moons ago!). However, I am very glad Skyscanner gave me Lanzarote, I was pleasantly surprised & had a lovely time. It reminded me that it’s important not to allow your pre conceived notions & perceptions to stop you from getting out & experiencing the world for yourself.

Modern Day Lanzarote ⛰️

Lanzarote is one of the Islands in the Canary Archipelago, not far off the coast of Africa. It is the island furthest East & is the only one that has an active Volcano, however it probably won’t erupt while you are there so don’t worry 🤭

I was only there for a few days so missed out on a lot of fun, however you can do all sorts from surfing, to mountain climbing, to sea safaris, to cave exploration or you can just load up on the Cervezas & enjoy the beach!

Given that the region has historically seen a lot of Volcanic activity, the Island is full of beautiful mountains, providing the opportunity to see the most stunning skylines & sunsets.

After spamming Duolingo & learning some basics from Spanish friends, this trip was the first time I tried to only speak in Spanish to locals etc. Given that I am from Scotland, I can barely speak English properly so conversing in Spanish was a challenge! For about 60% of the time I managed to pull it off. However, calling the more senior/elderly ladies ‘senorita’ instead of ‘senora’ definitely doesn’t come off with the level of charm I had thought it would. I definitely need to work on my ‘Rizz’, I think the young folk are calling it these days! 🫣

If you would like to go walking up in the mountains, definitely make sure you plan ahead, sort out travel, take appropriate clothing, provisions & a map or tour guide. Definitely do not rock up in trainers, without any supplies & having sunk 6 or 7 cervezas the night before. Only a dimwit would be so foolish & yes I can confirm I am the aforementioned dimwit 😂.

My visit was the week before Christmas & I stayed in Arrecife, the capital. It was a lot quieter than Peak season which I really enjoyed. On my first day I managed to pick up a pair of Armany (with a Y) sun glasses on the beach for 5 Euros, however I managed to lose them on the first night unfortunately. No matter what you are in the market for, I am fairly certain you can pick anything up at Playa del Reducto for 5 Euros. When I went back to the beach the guy was gone, I managed to find him later in the trip but the replacement Armanys had magically double in price! The gent was an astute businessman indeed 💷

Places worth stopping by! 🏰

As mentioned, I didn’t do nearly enough ‘touristy’ activity. However, It wouldn’t be a travel guide without at least some recommendations. The Castillo de San Gabriel is well worth a visit. The Castle itself isn’t massive however the bridge, beach, pier & surrounding area is really beautiful. You also get a cool view of Arrecife against the background of the mountains.

The Marina Arrecife should definitely be on your list of places to visit. There are lots of shops, bars & awesome boats. It is definitely a dream of mine to have a boat there one day as a retirement retreat. So if you or someone you know is in the market to settle down with a slightly podgy Scottish person who may or may not be a little bit zany, hit me up! We can split the cost of rent, heating & other exponentially growing bills, then use the saved £££ to buy a boat in Lanzarote, solid plan if you ask me! There is also the added benefit that if I am driving you mad, just launch me overboard, the sharks will think you have laid on an all you can eat buffet for them 🦈

  • View from bridge of Castillo de San Gabriel
  • Bridge to Castillo de San Gabriel
  • Charco de San Ginés
  • Arrecife from Castillo de San Gabriel
  • Marina Arrecife
  • Random beach
  • Charco de San Ginés
  • Castillo de San Gabriel
  • Christmas sand castle display
  • Random beach
  • Random Street
  • Marina Arrecife
  • Arrecife from Castillo de San Gabriel
  • View from the Marina
  • Random beach
  • Charco de San Ginés
  • Lizard Point Lighthouse Pier View

Where to eat & drink? 🍻🍽️

Unfortunately I didn’t get many photos of the bars or restaurants I visited. However a couple of decent bars to check out are Manhattan Cocktail Bar & Mojito’s Lounger Bar. They are on the same street & close to beach. Manhattan has an American pool table in the back, lots of decent drinks & you can get shisha if that’s your thing (I didn’t try it so can’t say if any good). Next to Manhattan there is a cool little Italian pizza place called Pizzeria La Sonrisa that I enjoyed. If you want something more authentic, Malecon was awesome! It is on the waterfront at Charco de San Gines & had amazing food!

Money 💰

There are cash machines dotted around the Island, however I just paid on card & used Starling as they have no fees. I took 150 in cash I think & that covered me for about 3 days. If you aren’t smashing back the cervezas you could get away with spending a lot less.

The tipping culture isn’t as prevalent as some places I have visited, but if you receive good service, throw in a few Euros, don’t be tight!

Getting around 🚕

Lanzarote does not have Uber, but there are regular taxis. You can rent bikes & the buses are pretty decent too, although the timetable is more of a guess than as actual plan.

On the first night I ended up at a party on other side of Island with some Moroccan lads I met & had to take a taxi back at 1/2 in the morning, it was around 30 Euros from one side of Island to the other. Lets just say the driver wasn’t exactly shy on the accelerator either 😂

Bonus tip ✅

Usually in this section I would share some really useful information on keeping safe, or some little anecdote. However, what I am about to share is the most important piece of information on this blog.

If you are planning on doing some snogging, bin that idea immediately, find the nearest corner store & get a bag of these badboys in. They are unparalleled in the crisp world, you will suffer crisp induced halitosis for days, no amount of toothpaste or mouthwash will get rid of the stench. But believe me when I say, these are a Jewel in the Spanish crown. Increíble!

What is coming next? 🤔

Next up I will be writing about a recent trip to Alicante. It will cover a fair few incidents from trying to convince a local that Take that were Spanish, to being accosted by a mental birthday party, to visiting some of the most wild west Bars I have ever been in, definitely not one to miss! Hit subscribe to get a notification when it goes live ❤️

Agadir | A charming picturesque winter seaside retreat 🏖️

Aside from almost being hijacked by a couple of French behemoths, a really enjoyable excursion!

Setting the scene

After the chaos of Marrakesh I decided to take the trip out to Agadir for a placid & tranquil retreat. My 3 days of relaxation here were much needed! There are no direct trains from Marrakesh to Agadir, so you need to take a bus, which is an experience in of itself! After only 30-40 minutes on the road, the driver decided he was stopping for a half hour to get lunch 😂. However, the circa 4 hour trip was well worth it, Agadir was wonderful.

Modern day Agadir

Agadir is a beautiful city, situated on the shore of the North Atlantic Ocean, in the shadow of the Atlas Mountains. The city is less populous than Marrakesh & as such is a lot more chilled out & not as fast paced.

Unfortunately it was hit with a deadly earthquake in 1960 & killed around a third of the people living there. It also destroyed a lot of the inadequately designed buildings & some of the historic sites, such as the Kasbah.

There is a lot to do & see in & around Agadir, however I didn’t do a whole lot of tourist activity as I just wanted a relaxing beach trip. But you can go to Markets, Jardins, the incredible Kasbah, quad biking in the desert, Paradise Valley, Crocopark & different cooking classes.

Whilst I was there during quiet season there was still a lot of locals & backpackers hunting you down for money etc. On my first day 2 French backpacking ladies approached me saying that they needed help but weren’t selling anything. Now usually when I am walking around, I am head down & not stopping to speak to anyone. However, at the risk of sound like a sexist pig, it has been a long time since 2 girls as pretty as that have smiled at me 😂. Whilst it is unwise to get into these types of situations, the devil in me did think if I get robbed I can always make more money. Out of nowhere 2 strapping French guys appeared, much bigger, stronger & mental looking then me, inviting themselves to stay in my hotel. I caught a sudden case of amnesia & forgot how to speak English & scuttled off. I would suggest avoiding the backpackers more than the street sellers!

Agadir has really cool cable car tours that take you up to the Kasbah Oufella, the centre piece of the city. Of course, when I say really cool, I actually mean bloody terrifying! It took all of my courage to go into them, however the experience was worth overcoming the fear! I do have a videos of me inside the cable cars, but they are are filled with vitriolic expletives & subsequently not appropriate for a family friendly blog. If there was a swear jar, I would have about 1,203,478 Dirhams by the end of the journey!

Tourist sites ☀️

Without a doubt the most stunning site to visit in Agadir is the Kasbah Oufella. It is perched on a mountain at over 200 metres above sea level, the remains of the Castle are captivating, but it is the view of the city & the mountains that make this a must visit! Important note; when you come to the castle entrance, it looks like you have to scan a QR code, set up an account & buy your tickets online. However, you can actually pay just inside the Castle doorway, just ask the guards. Whenever we see a queue of people outside trying to sign up for tickets, we automatically think someone must have already checked & you can’t buy tickets inside. But you can, cash or card, don’t bother with the QR code outside.

There are a couple of lovely Jardins that are worth a wander. Jardin Ibn Zaidoun & Jardin Olhao (although the opening times on this are very random so check ahead before visiting). The Agadir Amazigh Heritage Museum is pretty cool if you are interested in art. I went around in under 1 hour but it was only 40 Dirhams to enter. Then obviously anywhere along the beach is a must visit! I would recommend renting a deck chair/bed for the day. They only charge around 30 Dirhams & it is good value for money.

  • Entree 15 beach view of Kasbah Oufella
  • Kasbah Oufella
  • Kasbah Oufella
  • Kasbah Oufella
  • Jardin Ibn Zaïdoun
  • Kasbah Oufella
  • Danialand Cable Car View
  • Danialand Cable Car View
  • Kasbah Oufella
  • Agadir Amazigh Heritage Museum
  • Agadir Amazigh Heritage Museum
  • Kasbah Oufella
  • Entree 13
  • Kasbah Oufella
  • Entree 15

Where to eat? 🥘

In days gone by I have usually stuck to food I know & rarely ventured into new territory. However, I decided I was going to try anything & everything I came across. In most restaurants I visited the Moroccan section was loaded with different Tagines, therefor I decided I had to complete the Tagine circuit. I had a seafood tagine that had all sorts I had never tried, like Octopus, Shrimp & John Dory. I needed to give myself a pep talk before ordering it, but glad I did 🤠

Le Jardin d’Eau

Loved this place, the food was really nice. If you are an out of control degenerate like me & eat all of the table bread before the starters come, they top you right up!

The Moroccan soup starter was decent & the Fish Tagine was epic too! They do have a live singer, it’s a little cheesy but really nice vibe!

Le 20 Restaurant

Lovely little restaurant, not far from the beach. The starter was a bit strange with Lime on the Beef Carpaccio but it wasn’t terrible.

The Lamb was incredible though & by far the best Tagine I had while in Morocco. This place is definitely worth a visit if you are in town.

Ô Playa

This restaurant on the beach front was awesome. I was only in quickly for lunch but you get a great view of the Sea.

The Fish Tagine accompanied by cous cous was really tasty. Although it is a little more expensive than other places & they never topped up my free bread!

Keeping Safe 🥷🏼

Agadir felt quite safe, there are a lot less cops than Marrakesh, but also a lot less people. Something to watch out for is if you see camels etc & try to take photos, the owner may try to charge you for this. But there is all sorts, people singing to snakes, people with monkeys etc.

I would say to avoid these people unless you are happy to part with some Dirhams. I don’t know how much they were charging.

Getting around 🚕

Agadir airport is in the middle of nowhere. Whilst I took a bus into Agadir, I did fly out. You can pick up street taxi’s easy enough, however most places I wanted to venture into were within walking distance so I can’t attest to the charges etc.

The airport is a bit of a shambles, even if you do not have hold luggage you still need to check in! You also need a printed boarding pass. They check your details 3+ times so keep your boarding pass & passport handy.

Bonus tip ✅

Bring a spare pair of jeans! Given that I had loaded up on Casablanca beer, Tagines & everything in between, I was carrying a little extra podge.

This led to me ripping the arse out of my jeans trying to tie my laces. Walking through the crowds with my bottom hanging out was a shambles! The last night I made an executive decision to go to dinner in my kilt much to the bemusement of the fellow diners.

I am completely new to blogging & only set this up to help people out on their journeys. If you have any questions about the article or feedback, please do leave a comment & I will get back to you. You can also subscribe for free to get a notification when my next post goes live. Thanks for taking the time to read through. Over the coming weeks & months I will be covering some beautiful places in Spain & Belgium!

Marrakesh | A city that is truly Enchanting, Vibrant & Bustling 🌇

My first trip to Morocco, less of a travel guide & more of a chronology of calamities!

Setting the scene

I decided to pull a rash trip to Morocco for some winter sun with only a couple of weeks notice & little planning. The trip consisted of 3 days in Marrakesh & then 3 in Agadir (which will be my next post). Marrakesh was an incredible experience, however a series of unfortunate incidents definitely took the wind out of my sails! This article will cover some tourist sites, money, keeping safe & of course the travel tales for your amusement 🤭

Modern day Marrakesh

Marrakesh was founded in the 11th Century & has a truly unique authenticity. The architecture of the buildings bear such beautiful intricate art work without being unnecessarily ostentatious.

I am guilty of over using the term ‘hustle & bustle’, however I have never felt it more appropriate than to describe Marrakesh. Imagine visiting a real life Diagon Alley, the entire place is just buzzing with energy & dynamism.

In Marrakesh you can visit the most amazing Palaces, Medinas, Holy Buildings, Jardin’s, Museums & Restaurants. Whilst Marrakesh is utterly alluring, the trip was certainly not without hiccups shall we say!

For the first time, I brought my Kilt on this trip & bought a camera tripod so I could try & get some semi respectable photos to share on this blog. This is where the dramas began. I had found a beautiful place to take some photos (Parc El Harti), getting there early doors to avoid the massive crowds. Like a true amateur I had not done a trial run with the tripod / camera delay for photos. The tripod came with a little bag, which I placed on the ground beside the tripod when taking photos. As I was pulling a pose, a stray dog came running by & scooped up the camera bag & hightailed away from me. So I had to chase after the dog to get the bag back, he was having the time of his life, completely mugging me off, eventually I successfully managed to retrieve the bag.

As I returned to my tripod out of breath & almost dead, a couple of the gardeners had spotted the commotion & were fairly amused, I tied the bag around the neck of the tripod & then I tried to reattach my phone to the tripod stand. Disaster strikes, I drop my phone on the ground, the screen doesn’t even smash but it goes black & switches off. Now, not having a phone isn’t the end of the world, so long as you aren’t in a different continent with no idea which streets are which & you don’t speak any of the languages the locals do!

The gravity of the situation suddenly dawned on me, I had no way of knowing my way back to the hotel, but also lost my flight details, travel plans to get to Agadir (there isn’t a simple direct train, you have to go by bus) & didn’t even know the name of the hotel in Agadir I was supposed to be staying at. I was also upset that I had lost all of my photos from the first night.

I kick into Bear Grylls survival mode & manage to get myself back to my hotel (all whilst still in my kilt & attracting a fair bit of attention from locals). The hotel reception let me log into my Outlook account so I could print out everything I needed, as you can imagine I forgot my password, so had to do one of the ‘prove you are not a robot’ tests, but the test was bloody hard, you had to match off icons to an orbit, which I failed at twice. Not to panic, I checked Skyscanner & there was a flight home for the measly price of £450 (when the original flight to Morocco only cost £55 return) 😂.

Undeterred, I formulated a new plan, I would just buy a new phone, get logged into my Ryannair, booking.com, google maps & Barclays accounts from there, if I managed that I would be able to stay. I mainly needed the map capability. I found an Orange store on the map in hotel computer, went round & sat outside until opening time, turns out they don’t open on Sundays. The chap at hotel had forgot it was Sunday so said it would open, he then told me no phone stores would open on a Sunday. So I decided to go for a walk around a couple of blocks & clear my head. By sheer chance I stumbled upon a tech shop. From the outside it looked like your Young Gangsters Paradise, selling electric scooters & big ass speakers but I thought let’s give it a try & luckily I managed to get a phone. This whole ordeal almost broke my spirits, however I am truly blessed to even be in a position to go on a trip like this, so you just have to laugh when these things occur & power on!

The new phone cost me £250, which was pretty much my whole fun budget for Marrakesh🥲. This ordeal took up a half day & subsequently I did not get to see as many tourist sites as I had hoped. However, the ones I did visit were stunning!

Tourist sites ☀️

Marrakesh has a plethora of amazing things to do & see. I did not take a guided tour & walked everywhere as my hotel was only 15 minutes walk from the Medina & all of the action. It is important to call out, a lot of the tourist sites only accept cash & most of them charge 100 dirhams. This might sound trivial but the sites aren’t massive, so you could be getting through 4 or 5 in a day & the cost quickly adds up.

Places that I would definitely suggest visiting; Bab Doukkala, Dar El Bacha Museum, Ben Youssef Madrasa, The Medina of Marrakesh, Jemaa El Fnaa Square (utter chaos!), Le Jardin Secret, Koutoubia Mosque, Bahia Palace, Tinsmith Square, El Badi Palace & Le monde des Arts de la Parure. Although my phone broke, I have managed to salvage some of my photos from the first day, as I sent them to my friend Raj that evening, so he sent them back to my new phone, which was very lucky! Here are some of my favourites…

  • Dar El Bacha – Musee des Confluences
  • Koutoubia Mosque
  • Le Jardin Secret
  • El Badi Palace
  • El Badi Palace
  • Hotel Racine Rooftop
  • Marrakesh City Walls
  • Dar El Bacha – Musee des Confluences
  • Marrakesh Medina
  • El Badi Palace
  • El Badi Palace
  • Le Jardin Secret
  • El Badi Palace
  • Dar El Bacha – Musee des Confluences

Keeping Safe 🥷🏼

Whilst Marrakesh felt very safe, it is still important to take reasonable precautions. There is a common scam where someone will accost you & say they work in your hotel & recognise you. This happened to me in Egypt too & isn’t so easy to spot because the person doesn’t have anything obvious to sell. My advice here (unless you do actually recognise them from hotel) is to tell them to jog on, or if you prefer the more polite approach just say they are mistaken.

Just always stay aware of your surroundings, making sure to keep your bag etc zipped up. Generally speaking though, most Moroccans are some of the loveliest most hospitable people I have met! So it is not worth letting a small minority of people ruin your experience. Realistically you could find a horror story online of any city that a tourist has experienced. The Medina streets are very tight & busy so can be a little overwhelming, but the experience is worth powering on through.

Money 💷

When I visited it was around 12 dirhams to £1 GBP. However, certainly in Marrakesh the cost of things worked out fairly similar to the UK. Some places only accept cash, so make sure to keep some on you. Most big hotels have ATM’s in the lobby, so you can withdraw there.

I wasn’t hassled for tips in most places, but it is still good to have some bills for good service. I suggest buying a water somewhere like McDonalds to break a big bill as when you withdraw, the ATM usually gives 200 / 100 bills.

Getting around 🚕

I walked everywhere & Morocco doesn’t have Uber. There was talk of a similar app on a couple of websites called InDrive, but it may be illegal to use, so not sure how wise it is. If taking a street Taxi just ensure they use the meter & you are absolutely clear where they are taking you.

Bonus tip ✅

If you don’t want a Magician to steal your watch, don’t go to the show! Unfortunately there is a lot of poverty in parts of Marrakesh & people have to do what they have to do to get by. If you don’t want someone to try & sell you things or take you on a magical mystery tour, tell them a polite but firm no. In particular people seem to congregate around the Carrefour markets, so just keep your wits about you & stay aware of your environment. It’s important to call out that whilst it is a pain if people are trying to sell you things, I never once felt threatened to hand over money or anything like that. A polite no was sufficient to be left alone.

I am completely new to blogging & only set this up to help people out on their journeys. If you have any questions about the article or feedback, please do leave a comment & I will get back to you. You can also subscribe for free to get a notification when my next post goes live. Thanks for taking the time to read through. Over the coming weeks & months I will be covering Agadir, Spain & Belgium!

Ancient Alexandria | The Mediterranean Marvel 🌊

Spending a day in Alexandria? Find out everything you need to know about some of the beautiful sites!

Setting the scene

Visiting Egypt without stopping by Alexandria is like visiting England & not drinking copious amounts of tea! Unfortunately I was only able to spend 1 day in Alexandria & didn’t get to see everything I wanted. It really needed a couple of days at minimum to do it any justice.

Modern day Alexandria

Located to the North of Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea, Alexandria was founded in 331BC by Alexander the Great. It is an incredible fusion of historical influences, with Greco Roman, Arab, French & British.

In Modern day Alexandria, along with the most stunning views of the Mediterranean Sea, there are some amazing Museums, Amphitheatres, Statues, Monuments, Forts, Religious Buildings & of course the Bibliotheca Alexandria.

It is much quieter than Cairo & subsequently not as fast paced. The roads are a lot safer & the traffic lights actually stand for something there. I took the train, which was around 3 hours from Cairo. They have new trains called Talgo, which are really modern & you see some beautiful views of the countryside. They are more expensive than regular trains, usually I prefer the cheaper more authentic experience, but on this occasion I strongly recommend Talgo. I took a different train coming home & it was a proper experience, with a lot of unique characters on the train (that is as diplomatic as I can be) 😂

Now, my standard of Arabic is somewhere between getting a left hook from Shaq & one of those brutal deep paper cuts you get. However, I am pretty sure I was told to ‘sling my hook’ a couple of times, the street vendors here aren’t as up for a haggle as they were in Cairo, just be wary.

Tourist sites ☀️

Alexandria has such a rich & diverse history, so there is plenty to do! I decided I wanted to walk everywhere & mapped out a really good route, however I was woefully underprepared. A lot of the sites close early & the distance between sites is a lot bigger than it looks on the map. It sounds like an obvious thing to say, but I would say to scope out everywhere you want to visit & check on their opening times etc to make sure you don’t miss out.

You can click through for a guide & photos on each of the sites. The top places I was lucky enough to visit were The Ancient Roman Amphitheatre, Citadel of Qaitby, The Greco Roman Museum . I did visit the Alexandria Museum & St Marks Coptic Orthodox Cathedral however they weren’t big, so I didn’t take many photos & therefor have not set up a page for them.

As touched upon, poor planning on my part meant I missed out on the Bibliotheca (Library), the Catacombs & Pompey’s Pillar. The library was closed for a holiday, which is a shame as that is the main reason I went to Alexandria, as I am a massive book nerd.

Keeping Safe 🥷🏼

Alexandria felt very safe, as it is much less populous, it is not as overwhelming as Cairo. When you get towards the Sea & Citadel of Qaitby, it becomes a bit more full on. It is like Blackpool on steroids! If you are going to take a boat ride, I would say to go with an established company with good reviews. A lot of people will offer you boat rides, but don’t hop on a random paddle boat because of the implication (if you know the reference, you know!). Generally, just stay aware of your surroundings.

Getting around 🚕

If you are tight for time, I would recommend taking Taxi’s around as this will save you a lot of time. Meaning, you get to spend longer at the tourist sites 🤠

You can walk between some places, for example from the train station to Roman Amphitheatre, then to Greco Roman Museum & then Alexandria Museum is a reasonably short walk, even if you are carrying some extra Shawarma weight. From there to the Corniche or Citadel of Qaitby, you’re best taking a Taxi as it isn’t nearby.

Bonus tip ✅

There is a ‘Fish Museum’ located at the Citadel of Qaitby & it looks like you are going to see some really cool fish from the Mediterranean Sea. I was thinking big ass sting rays, sharks, turtles, the full shebang. Alas, I was fooled, do not go into this Fish museum, they have no fish, only plastic toy fish 😂

I am completely new to blogging & only set this up to help people out on their journeys. If you have any questions about the article or feedback, please do leave a comment & I will get back to you. You can also subscribe for free to get a notification when my next post goes live. Thanks for taking the time to read through. Over the coming weeks I will be covering one or two Spanish places & then moving onto some Moroccan spots!

Luxor | The Worlds Greatest Open Air Museum, an experience to rival the Pyramids?

Considering a trip to the marvellous Luxor? This is a go to guide on all of the top tourist sites & some of the lesser known places to visit!

Setting the scene

Luxor is one of the most fascinating areas there is to visit. It contains the ancient city of Thebes, which during the New Kingdom was the Capital of Upper Egypt & is one of the oldest known cities in the world with inhabitants. Here you will visit everything from Ancient Temples, to the Valley of the Kings, to the Valley of the Queens & various Museums.

You will also be treated to the most spectacular views of the Nile & Sun rise/set across the Sahara desert (photo at top of page). If you are a keen daredevil & don’t mind a 4am wake up, you can take a sunrise hot air balloon ride. If I had the option to return to Luxor, or the Great Pyramids, I would choose Luxor. The only analogy I can think of to explain Luxor is, if you have seen the Night at the Museum movie, that is what Luxor compares to, the history comes alive & you feel like you are standing there as it was thousands of years ago. Luxor will always hold a very special place in my heart!

Must visit sites

Luxor is split by the River Nile into the East Bank & the West Bank. There is so much to do & see here, that I originally planned to stay for 2 days, but this quickly turned into extending my stay to 4 days. On the East Bank you absolutely must visit Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple & Luxor Museum. On the West Bank you cannot miss the Valley of the Kings, Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, Collossi of Memnon & Medinet Habu.

There are a multitude of other sites that I would recommend if you are not pushed for time. These include Valley of the Queens & Ramesseum Temple. The Museum of Mummification is worth checking out as it is right beside Luxor Temple, however you are in & out in 30 minutes as it is very small.

I have pulled together a Page for each of these Tourist sites, with tips on getting there, when to visit, should you take a tour, costs, shocking attempts at selfies & information on keeping safe. You can access each page by clicking the name.

Where to stay, eat & drink?

I haven’t done a separate page for Food, as my hotels food was awesome (my overindulgence cost the life of a deck chair). To see the devastation of the incident click here

I only ventured out to one bar as it was near to my hotel. It was an awesome bar & I would highly recommend it. If you want to see the most unofficial DJ booth click here

I am completely new to blogging & only set this up to help people out on their journeys. If you have any questions about the article or feedback, please do leave a comment & I will get back to you. You can also subscribe for free to get a notification when my next post goes live. Next week I will be posting about Alexandria, the Mediterranean Marvel. Thanks for taking the time to read through ❤️