“Why do you love Blackpool so much?” It’s a question I get asked all the time by family, friends and colleagues alike, and not one I can easily answer, so I’m going to go right back to the beginning, to my very first visit when I was barely a teenager. As a child I traveled […]
A Postcard To Blackpool: Sowing the seeds Read Post »
In the coming weeks, I’ll be putting together my ‘Postcard to Blackpool’, a love letter to the much-maligned, neglected and forgotten British seaside resort, which is still the largest in the UK and still holds a very special place in my heart. As opposed to the chronologically ordered chapters of Goa Trip, this will be an
A Postcard to Blackpool Read Post »
Time and reality had finally caught up with me and, after a month’s ‘sabbatical’ in another continent, this was the final morning. The bed sheets that Felix’s wife had kindly laundered for me never felt completely dry, but their methods were more primitive here, one last reminder that I hadn’t really missed the mod-cons of
Goa: A Lesson in Life. Chapter 16: Last Day in Goa Read Post »
My penultimate day in Goa began with the familiar melancholy of leaving something you love behind. I looked around my makeshift setup with the cold reality that this time tomorrow I’d be packing up and this would no longer be home, the desk in the corner reclaimed by my rodent friend as if I’d never
Goa : A Lesson in Life. Chapter 15 : Old Goa Read Post »
The final three days of this eye-opening, life-changing experience were now before me. I’d done Baga / Calangute to death, and saw no point of another bus-ride to Panjim. Boredom was the last thing I expected I’d be fighting. Not having the constant push of having to get up for work everyday meant I really didn’t
Goa : A Lesson in Life. Chapter 14: Vagator and Chapora Read Post »
The morning light jerked me into consciousness with all too familiar and somewhat comforting hangover symptoms. As I got to my feet I could still feel the alcohol coursing through my veins and beating a painful rhythm around the side of my head. I was fully up to speed, in the saddle and relishing another
Goa : A Lesson in Life. Chapter 13: Candolim, Crumbland and the River Princess. Read Post »
I should have felt a lot worse as the blinding light of a new morning pierced through the makeshift window of my room, jerking me out of my slumber. Maybe I was lucky to be alive, or at least glad that there were no broken bones, or even a bruised/pulled muscle, but I felt great
Goa : A Lesson in Life. Chapter 12 : The High Season Begins. Read Post »
Today was everyone’s last day in Goa apart from mine. I donned my tour-guide hat one last time to take them to Panjim, via Mapusa as always. The mood on the coach was melancholic. We’d formed a bond as the aliens in a foreign land and knew we probably wouldn’t see each other again. As
Goa : A Lesson in Life. Chapter 11: Down a Hole Read Post »
And so, for the following week at least, we all went about our business. From time to time we’d get together, frequently back at the Sea Rock, or late at night on the terrace over vodka and coke, but largely we kept a respectful distance, not wanting to tread on anyone’s toes or get in
Goa : A Lesson in Life. Chapter 10 : Cafe Mambo Read Post »
