The Travel Map

Walking on marble paving stones I admired the old town

and later spotted a cat drinking from a fountain

If I were to analyse what I do on a weekend break in Europe it is this: I look for a place to have breakfast, wander about streets with interesting historical architecture, look for a place for lunch and then continue to look at anything interesting in my path before dinner in a place that locals regard as authentic. My recent visit to Porto can be described like this and I managed to take home some Pastel de Nata too.

From cold London,

and a cheap four hour flight southwards…

• I arrive in 24 deg C Arrecife, Lanzarote,

which feels slightly more authentic than the industrialised tourism a few miles further down the coast. Food and scuba diving!