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2012 – A full day in Budapest
Budapest was hot. I sticky kind of hot as if you were a melted plastic toy covered in cat fluff. Our British friend Ben took us for a walk around the city. Nowhere in specific. A general wander that took in a few sights with no real pressure to be anywhere. It was nice. Hot,… — read more
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2012 – Budapest
Arriving in Budapest in late August and it was hot. Really really hot. We met my wife’s friend there and he lead us to our apartment for the week. It was my first time staying somewhere that wasn’t a hotel and I was a bit nervous. Where does food come from in the morning? (Spoiler:… — read more
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2012 – The Return to Paris – Part Deux
A full day to wander around Paris before leaving for the sleeper train to Budapest. This was my first real test of the new Fuji X100 and it was a joy to use. I felt like a proper street photographer using a Leica. It’s easy to be energised by a new camera and a city… — read more
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2012 – The Return to Paris
2010 was my first trip to Paris where I fell in love with the architecture and simple food I enjoyed. 2011 was a flying visit on the way back from Valencia. In 2012 we took another flying visit on the start of a 3 week European tour as happy Europeans with our European passport that… — read more
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A brisk walk through Montmartre – Paris, 2011
After spending a few days in Madrid and Valencia it was time to come home. Our hotel had been great. The rooftop sun lounge area gave views over the port and out towards the City of Arts and Sciences. My legs were doing ok post marathon and we had discovered a new drink called ‘Frozen… — read more
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Valencia 2011 – Part 2
In Valencia our hotel was situated right next to the port. Being from the Liverpool City Region we love a good port. It was interesting seeing familiar ships visiting. Our main reason for being here was not to look at the port though. It was to sit on the beach and rest after running the… — read more
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Valencia – 2011 – Part 1
Our post marathon Spain recovery trip included a few days at a beach in Valencia. Back then I wasn’t much of a beach person but my legs welcomed it so I let them rest. That said, we did 1 bit of exploring which was to go see The City of Arts and Sciences or a… — read more
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Madrid 2011 – Day 2
Our second day in Madrid was much like the first. Beautiful. Sunny. Warm. Our first stop was Atocha Station. The inside of this iconic train station has been turned into an arboretum. You can still catch a train there but the older part of the station is this wonderfully relaxing calm space to sit and… — read more
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Spain – Day 1
October 2011 On 9th October 2011 I ran the Liverpool marathon. The first marathon in I think 23 years. My time was 5 hours and 24 minutes. The next day we were on the train to Paris for a Refuges des Fondu special and then to Madrid to relax. In planning this trip I forgot… — read more