Stories from travels in

Mary Murphy

The separation of person and passport

My greatest fear, as a traveller, was realised last week. For years, I’ve broken out in a cold sweat when hotel receptionists ask me for

Spanish humour

When I don’t have anyone to talk to, except myself, and having nothing good to read either, I tend to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations. 

Las Palmas

A while back, taking  a rare full day off when in Malta, I tried my damndest to relax. I went down to the pool and

Built for the sun

If ever a city was built for the sun, Las Palmas was. The locals will tell you that it only rains 10 days a year

It’s all about the emphasis

Isn’t it odd how, when for all your reasoning life, you’ve heard a word pronounced in one way, and then you hear it, from a

This beach was made for walkin’…

‘So how many beaches do you think there are on Hawaii’, I asked. After a few seconds of mental arithmetic, she said ‘I can count

My new house

I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to where I’d move, if I had to move. The political situation in Hungary is getting a

2013 Grateful 50

Driving around the biggest of the six Hawaiian islands is like reading a book of fascinating and at times, amusing, roadsigns. You’d think they’d be

Mark Twain’s monkeypod

Mark Twain visited the Hawaiian islands back in 1866 and took copious notes of what he encountered. He had a particular fondness for trees, as