Gaga & Guests

13.10.25 — Manchester

Gaga & Guests

13.10.25 — Manchester

Living in a hot country, I’ve grown fond of the transitional seasons, with my favourite of all being spring. Autumn is nice too, though, mainly because it doesn’t bring with it the awful effects of spring asthenia. This year’s autumn has certainly been marked by the exact opposite of lethargy and irritability: I didn’t bloody stop!

My main activity was acting as host to a long list of visitors throughout October. My sister and her partner visited, which was a great excuse to celebrate their recent engagement by eating lots of delicious food. Rhea made her annual visit and we spent lots of time outside together, given that last year she had to tend to me and my broken leg. María also swung by for a weekend, which made a great chance to catch up with the ex-Erretres gang and show her even more of my neighbourhood… quite possibly against her will.

It wasn’t just people visiting me, though, as I also made a trip to England on my ever reliable and punctual Ryanair flight. The main motive for this visit was a Lady Gaga concert with my sister, which turned out to be an absolute blast. I arrived at the stadium quite tired, but thankfully Gaga knows that her fanbase is ageing, and made sure that the entire audience had a seat to in which to sit.

To end October, I decorated my apartment for Halloween. It’s not a holiday that I usually bother with, but it would seem that the more you do, the more you feel motivated to do. I thus entered what would be an equally busy November with a living room smelling of burned pumpkin, all courtesy of the obscene amount of candles that I insisted on cramming into the poor thing…

Interrail

09.09.25 — Paris

Interrail

09.09.25 — Paris

I now believe in train supremacy. Fine, travel by train takes a lot longer than flying, but I’m sat here in a very spacious seat after a quick trip down to the restaurant carriage for a fresh sandwich I ate whilst splayed out on a sofa. There’s things to look at out of the window, there’s WiFi, and there’s the time and stress saved by not having to navigate airports: the most hostile spaces that humanity has ever built.

My trusty Interrail pass has also helped save me a few bouts of tachycardia. The knowledge that I can just take the next train if I miss my connection is nothing like the stress of running through Doha airport in order to make my next flight. I’d thought that train hopping around Europe was a sport best left for teenagers, but the flexibility of being able to board pretty much any train made for absolute peace of mind.

It also allowed me to visit some friends and places that I’ve been wanting to visit for a while. From the high peaks of Austria to the absolute flatness of the Netherlands, I’ve seen some pretty impressive geographical contrasts, explored some beautiful cities and towns, and beheld breathtaking feats of nature straight out of a National Geographic documentary.

My trip began and ended with a few nights in Paris after passing through Barcelona. I visited a theme park with Danni at the start of the trip and then explored as a solo tourist as the trip ended. During the rest of my three weeks I climbed mountains with Loredana, ate delicious pizza by David, had a washout dinner in Germany with María, and ran around various towns in Holland with Cami. I met my friends’ families, my friends’ friends, and the friends of friends of friends. I also made a few new ones of my own along the way, sometimes in the most unexpected of places. I got chatting to a couple of lost American tourists on a sightseeing tour and wound up closing a restaurant with the waitress and the chef.

After spending my summers in the US for three years on the trot, I did miss the company of my American friends, but I found my European trip a perfect balance of solo travel, reunions, and time spent visiting friends who, for one reason or another, have ended up living in different places across the content. I’ve been wanting to do a trip around my home continent for years, and this year everything fell into place. My accident last year meant that I was still learning to walk at the time I’d usually be looking at US-bound flights, and post-operation travel insurance meant I’d to consider something a little bit more local!

It’s been an awesome summer break, one only made possible by all my friends who welcomed me into their homes and accompanied me along the way. To all of you: thank you. I’ll definitely be catching a train again soon…

Kevin Returns

05.08.25 — Oviedo

Kevin Returns

05.08.25 — Oviedo

The problem with being an immigrant and having immigrant friends is that everyone is always on the move. Kevin was a Spaniard in Leeds when we met, then he moved back to Spain, as did I shortly thereafter. He now lives out in the US, whilst I keep his fellow countrymen in check in his absence.

As Kevin doesn’t get the chance to head home all too often, our chance to see each other is usually my anual trip to North America. As of this year, though, these are on hold: partly because I’m still recovering from my injury and partly because of the current US political climate.

So when Kevin called to say he’d be home for a couple of weeks this summer, I immediately bagged some train tickets to visit him up in Asturias. Time with Kevin is always time well spent, and when he’s back in Spain, he’s down to do anything that sounds like fun. We thus ate like kings, drank way too much sidra, and partied the night away in a fiesta de prau (field party). The highlight of that night in particular was watching Kevin drag a plastic chair through the partying crowds so that I could sit down and rest my knee in the middle of the mosh pit. What a guy.

But it’s not just Kevin that I had chance to see. We met up with Raquel and Joel, whom I first met during the hilarious Descenso del Sella, to celebrate a special occasion. They’d just bought a plot of land to build a house together, so we met up there for a picnic, more sidra, and some ribs from the local grill. They were the best ribs I’ve ever had, made even better by the great company and gorgeous surroundings.

By now, I don’t have to profess once more my love for Asturias and its people on here once more, but I will regardless. Being around Kevin means guaranteed laughs and great conversation, and being in Asturias means delicious food and the beauty of the countryside. Bring them together? That’s perfection.

Dr Briggs

01.08.25 — Sheffield

Dr Briggs

01.08.25 — Sheffield

I remember once shouting at my sister in our parents’ garden. I’d invented some new kind of death trap, like a ride on a sledge down an inclined piece of wood, and I was furious that she didn’t want to take it for a spin. Thus begun our teenage years of leaving each other to our own devices, with the occasional bicker thrown in for good measure.

Nearly twenty years later, we were at the University of Sheffield. Eleanor had just been robed for her graduation, and seeing her appear in bright red amongst a sea of black and dark green was an emotional moment for all of us. This wasn’t just any graduation: my sister was becoming Doctor Briggs!

I’d to skip the ceremony due to capacity restrictions, but I had a lovely time in Sheffield’s Student Union with Eleanor’s partner and friends. We played some pool, had a round of darts, and watched the live stream of the ceremony on the TV above our table. It was a great chance to put faces to the names of people Eleanor had spoken about for years, and a relief to skip the duller parts of the proceedings until the category I was interested came up: doctor of philosophy.

With the formalities over, it was time to celebrate. We had some drinks, saw the laboratory where Eleanor worked for the past few years, and then walked into the centre of Sheffield for some food. It was a long day that had left my dad and me wilting, but that was nothing that a tactical nap across the benches of a secluded booth couldn’t fix…

As you can imagine, I’m insanely proud of my sister. I can still recall the day she announced she wanted to study biology, but none of us could ever imagine that she’d walk out with a PhD in hand all these years later. I also never thought that, from arguing over nonsense, the two of us would come to get along so well, but I now hold very dearly our close relationship and the ease with which we can chat about anything.

Congratulations, Bel.

Alicante

12.07.25 — Alicante

Alicante

12.07.25 — Alicante

This year marks my last chance to make the most of half-price train tickets offered by the Spanish government for travel around the country, and Sara certainly wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass us by. After some very last-minute planning, the two of us headed off on together a bullet train bound for Alicante to spend a weekend away on the coast.

Our hotel turned out to be rather fancy, smack in the middle of the old town and five minutes from the beach where we’d eventually spend an afternoon burning ourselves in the sun after failing to put our newly purchased parasol to use. Sara’s insistence on the benefits of beach life wasn’t entirely a lie: I did enjoy the lukewarm water of the Mediterranean and the disconnection of leaving my phone at the hotel. I didn’t love the extra crunch that the sand added to our lunch.

In better culinary experiences, and as we were in the Valencian Community, we made sure to gorge on all the delicious fresh rice and seafood. Breakfasts consisted of fartons (sweet bread sticks) dipped in horchata (a sweet drink made with tiger nuts). We spent our days people watching as we wandered around the city, and spent our evenings in various cocktail bars by the port. Sara got a taste of the British tourist experience, in which I was constantly approached by waiters and various salespeople offering me boat rides, city tours, and “authentic” paella. I think she found it quite funny.

Sara was a dream travel companion. After suggesting we make the trip in the first place, she never tired of investigating the best spots to eat, drink, and visit. My sole contribution to the organisation was to book the lift up to the Santa Bárbara Castle on the first night, necessary as my dodgy leg still wasn’t up to the trek up the hill on which it sits. We headed up to see the sunset, an idea suggested by my colleague Rebecca and which made for a lovely welcome to the city.

I’d still have plenty of walking to do, though, as on the last day we scaled the heights of the old town to visit a neighbourhood whose streets were as pretty as they were deathly steep. I eventually made it, thanks in no small part to the energy provided by some iced tea, a cheeky beer, and a stop for a chat with an old Australian couple who were, rather embarrassingly, scaling the steps much faster than we were.

Suffice to say that I had an absolutely wonderful time in Alicante. Although we crammed in an impressive amount of stuff, the 48 hours flew by. Sara isn’t only a dab hand at organising, she’s also a dear friend who’s as talkative as I am: I don’t think we stopped for breath the whole weekend we were together!

I’ll be back to Alicante, and I’ll certainly be travelling with Sara again.