Call me ceramically challenged As a mother and son activity goes, a pottery workshop is a winning idea for a rainy afternoon. Matthew is top of his class at art, and I am top of the class at art in my head. And we are in Dali country, in La Bisbal D’Emporda, a region of [...]

Is Catalan food the best in the world? There are many reasons you should visit the Costa Brava. But ultimately there is only one. The best restaurant in the world. It seems that unless you are an internationally recognized food critic, there’s little chance of getting a table this summer. But don’t panic, you won’t [...]

A country of many moustaches What to pack for a Spanish holiday? Bucket and spade? Suncream? Trashy novel? Well I’m off to Spain this week and I’m packing a moustache. Yes, I know, it’s more common to defoliate before than take extra facial hair with you, but I’m off to the home of Salvador Dali… [...]

Out Under the Stars: Our Sleepover Season The Family Adventure Project is having a sleepover. In fact, we’re having loads of them. In different locations. With our kids. Because everyone knows that kids love sleepovers. But they also love their bedrooms. And we don’t want our kids to stay in their bedrooms. So, with the [...]

Bike, bus, boot or banger: 4 great ways to see Berlin For me, one of the joys of a city break is ditching the car. And in Europe, where parking charges can be astronomical, and traffic terrifying, I wouldn’t dream of taking my own vehicle. While doing without a car can feel like you’ve lost an arm [...]

Reykjavik Children’s Cultural Festival 2013 What’s your view on culture for kids? A waste of time? A developmental priority? A welcome distraction from online gaming? In Iceland, it’s highly valued. So much so that they’ve hooked one of their annual city festivals onto it.  As the third Reykjavik Children’s Cultural Festival kicks off again this [...]

I don’t normally do Disney, but Tinkerbell is different  You can’t do Florida without doing Disney. How many times had people told me that? So, despite my conviction that Disney wasn’t for me, I agreed to spend a day in one of world’s most popular theme  parks to see if might  experience the magic… “No [...]

Lake District Tobogganing in Bivvi Bag Style Unable to get away during Easter, and tired of the kids niggling each other at home, we take off into the hills around Haweswater in the Eastern Lake District. We plan nothing more than a short hike to a tarn. But then we stumble across some snow, build [...]

Algarve beach life – not just for beach bums I recently spent a week at the beach. Without a sunbed, a novel, sunglasses or a towel. There were no crowds and few other tourists. And no, I didn’t go to Bermuda or The Maldives. I was only a stone’s throw from the main tourist strips of The [...]

Antarctica Empire of the Penguin SeaWorld Preview Antartica is about to get much more accessible. The biggest ever extension to Florida’s SeaWorld is due to open May 2013 and will introduce visitors to The Empire of the Penguin. While in Orlando recently SeaWorld gave us ten minutes behind the scenes with one of the stars of the [...]