A little bit of background 📝 This post documents our second experience of Spain as two bookends to our Portugal wanderings. The bookends again took the form of a Brisbane-Madrid flight and a hire car journey into Portugal from Spain and back again. Why fly into Madrid again as a gateway to Portugal? We wanted to take advantage of Qatar Airways membership and our air miles, however the airline doesn’t fly directly from Brisbane to Lisbon. My experience of Qatar Airways over m

A little bit of background 📝 Our first experience of Spain was a feat of happenstance. The focus of our wanderings that year was Portugal, and Spain ended up being the bookends of that trip. We flew in and out of Madrid, hired a car, and drove into Portugal from there. The below map charts our journey in May of 2024, beginning and ending in Madrid. You can read all about our Portugal adventure in between the Spanish bookends. Why fly in and out of Madrid? I had joined the Qa

Exploring Portugal: Our first expedition 🔍 This post is the first of a series on our Portugal wanderings. Portugal is a country we have grown to love after multiple opportunities to experience its natural beauty, warm people, and whitewashed and stone buildings. Our first trip was in May 2024, the subject of this post. I've included some background below to give context to our experiences to date. A little bit of background 📝 Why Portugal? I'm something of a Europhile. The

A little bit of background📃 Matt Haig (born 1975) is an English author and journalist. I have followed him on Instagram for some years now, and I find myself nodding on the regular at his posts about life, politics, and humanity. His values align with mine and I admire that he uses his platform for good. He is open about his mental health struggles and these struggles form the basis of his books. While Matt has written both fiction and non-fiction for children and adults, he

A little bit of background📃 I must confess to never having read anything much about the incredible scientist, Marie Skłodowska-Curie. I could see that the subtitle of the book on display at the library suggested a focus on the pathway that Mme Skłodowska-Curie forged for female scientists, but I was still keen to start somewhere to better understand the most notable female scientist of all time. The elements of Marie Curie: How the glow of radium lit a path for women in scie

A little bit of background📃 It's been 20 years since the first Devil wears Prada film. I loved the first one, largely for Emily Blunt's sarcasm in her turn as ambitious assistant, Emily Charlton, and the thinly-veiled dig at Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue, played faultlessly by Meryl Streep in the form of Miranda Priestly. The devil wears Prada is an iconic film whatever your feelings about it, so I eagerly lined up for number two. Did it live up to my expectations? Read on t

A little bit of background📃 The whole concept of Unruly had me from the get-go. A comedian's take on history? Cool. A journey through the history of England's kings and queens? Also cool. Did the book live up to my expectations? Read on for my thoughts. Unruly: The ridiculous history of England's kings and queens | Published September 2023 | Read May 2025 The author✏️ David Mitchell (born 1974) is a British comedian, actor and writer. He has numerous comedy television cred

A little bit of background📃 Jojo Moyes is one of my go-to authors when I am looking for a break from my usual dark and disturbing reads. Sure, her books are predictable and a little schmaltzy, but they are absolutely a comfort read for me. You can check out my review of the Jojo historical fiction titles I've read, her first book, Night music, and my favourite book to date, Someone else's shoes. I bloody love that book! We all live here | Published February 2025 | Read May 2