Veronika Wild

First glimpses - approaching Sintra from the Railway Station Sintra (pop. 385,654) is only 25 Kilometres from Lisbon and takes about 40 minutes to reach by train from Lisbon’s beautiful breezy Rossio station. I left at around 10 a.m. but the two lovely girls I’d met at the hostel had to work until 12, so they went by Uber and by the time I had walked from the station to the main square, we arrived at about the same time. I fell in love with Sintra at first sight. When I saw its lush vegetation – some of it subtropical, including palms, and its abundance of big trees, I realised what I had been missing in Lisbon. The ratio of trees to buildings was decidedly reversed. Through a quirk of geography – it too is built on very hilly ground, but is protected from wild Atlantic weather by a ridge of mountains, it retains a pleasant moist climate all year round, and makes it much greener than most of the rest of Portugal. Mists swirled around half hidden castles in the mountain tops, giving...

  At a house near me I always have mixed feelings about this, in the same way that I do about New Year fireworks. At least no animals are as traumatised by this, so while it might be a bit kitschy, it does bring good cheer. It also brings people together -kids love it - and raises money for charity. You also have to admire the love and labour which have gone into it. I guess what I don't want, is that it becomes a new competitive sport - i.e. yours has to be bigger and better than your neighbour's each year.  In Brisbane it's become a regular tourist attraction and the Government or Council supplies a bit of green energy for it.  Meanwhile, I have bought my first Christmas present this week. It's a book for one of my granddaughters. I am so pleased that some of the youngest members of my family have taken up reading in a big way, despite the allure of electronic media.  At the risk of being accused of cultural appropriation, there's an Icelandic Christmas tradit...

The ascensor "Gloria" - just one of several ways to get around Lisbon's many hills When I booked our fares to Europe I was offered a 22 € fare to Portugal. I’d always wanted to go to Portugal - I've had the guidebook since 2006, and it seemed like an offer too good to refuse. I didn’t know it didn’t include luggage, a return fare, insurance or sundry other costs which took it up to over $700. The low -cost airlines now have a new wrinkle. They even charge for the emails they send you to tell you that they have randomly changed all your travel arrangements. My German friends and relatives laughed out loud when I told them this. They have all been caught themselves. While it has long been a problem with the likes of EasyJet and Ryan Air, now even the flagship airlines are doing the same things. It cost granddaughter and I an extra $262, just to be able to sit together on the flight to Europe and almost another $200 to get off in Zurich instead of flying through to St...

The town of Tittmoning, just over the Austrian border. Its castle still casts an anxious gaze towards the Alpine regions to its South One branch of the family I was rather fond of hadn’t made it to the family reunion and no one had heard from them in a while, so soon after I took a train to Austria to see how they were faring. The Trains For the most part, the trains in Europe are excellent. Clean, fast, ubiquitous and so smooth that people literally use them as their office on the way to work. One Swiss train even had proper tablecloths and real crockery and cutlery in the dining car. Some of the regional trains in Germany had compartments which were set up to easily transport bicycles, wheelchairs scooters and strollers and they were very frequent, if not always on time. I am so jealous that so much of Europe is so   easily accessible by train. Train - bike holidays are encouraged in Germany with special compartments to accommodate cyclists   The bad news is that – Sho...