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In Bruges!

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In case you haven’t seen the 2008 movie of this name, it’s a story about two hitmen (Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson) who are sent to hide out in the Belgian city, following a ‘job’ that went horribly wrong. It’s a good movie in its own right but it’s the fact that it was set and filmed in this beautiful and atmospheric medieval city that made it a great movie.   In fact, this movie was the main reason for us deciding to visit there on a short city break. I wouldn’t recommend visiting everywhere that looks good in a movie, as they tend to ignore the bad bits, but Bruges (or Brugge in Flemish) actually exceeded our expectations.   I can see why they call it the ‘Venice of the North’. As a bit of perspective, Belgium is a lowland country situated in Western Europe, on the North Sea coast, which has borders with France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.   It is best known for medieval towns, Renaissance architecture, being the headquarters for NATO a...
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Ceylon Tea Anybody?

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We were actually planning on going to India but after being unable to decide where exactly to go in such a vast country, we instead decided to go to neighbouring Sri Lanka! Sri Lanka (or Ceylon as it was formerly known) is an Indian Ocean island located off the south eastern tip of India, nestled between the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.   It measures 435 km by 240 km and has a very diverse landscape, ranging from sandy beaches and arid plains to highlands and rainforests.   It is most famous for its ancient Buddhist ruins, including the 5 th century fortress of Sigiriya and the ancient capital of Anuradhapura, which dates back more than 2,000 years. However, it is also famous for producing Ceylon Black Tea, which is universally acknowledged as the most superior tea in the world. This time we flew from the UK with Qatar Airways, via Doha, which takes around 13 hours.   Quite a long flight really but the standards and service on Middle Eastern airlines (Q...
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The Rio de Janiero International Half Marathon

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When people used to ask me what the most beautiful half marathon course was that I had ever run, it was always a difficult question to answer.  I've been fortunate enough to be able to run through some of the most amazing places in the world and narrowing it down to just one has been next to impossible.  Well, now I finally have a good answer for that question: the Rio de Janiero International Half Marathon. For decades, Rio has been known as one of the most beautiful destinations on the planet.  It's been the subject of many travel shows on television and there have even been  songs written about it.  To be able to visit and see it firsthand is an amazing experience in itself, and to be able to run alongside the coast for 21km brings that experience to the next level. Rio is easy to get to because of its popularity as a tourist destination. There are a number of regularly scheduled flights into Rio's Galeão International Airport from cities around...
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