Martin's Mag.

And, of course…

1. Find a dog;
2. Add to water;
3. Inhale.

On Kilve Beach, Somerset.

It’s been nearly six years since our last dog, the globe-trotting Archie, died. We have adopted a Welsh Collie, Lucy, who is about seven and already doing her best to wear us out! We’re still trying to get used to those huge ears, which I’m sure get bigger each day. There’ll be many more pictures, I expect, in future months. And years, we hope.

Good old Charles Saachi. It really is a fabulous gallery. And it’s free, which suits we poor pensioners (saves money for a decent bottle of wine with lunch!)

Two pictures of Sally and me.

Three views of the same work:

Plus some others:

The Design Museum moved to its new home in Kensington last year.

This bicycle was not part of the museum, but it could have been!

The Wildlife Trust volunteers are having a break from Walton Common and instead we’ll be clearing paths and repairing steps and bridges at Prior’s Wood, which is near the Tyntesfield estate, north of Wraxall. We had a stroll around the area today to assess the extent of our tasks.

This picture taken a week or so later:

The Tarka Trail is one of the country’s longest continuous traffic-free walking and cycling paths, and forms part of the Devon Coast to Coast Cycle Route. We cycled part of it, around the River Taw estuary near Bideford.

The Taw estuary, Devon.

Our first visit to W&G’s dockside flat in Gloucester. Took this picture on the way back to the car park.

Setting a run for the Bristol Hash House Harrier (“Gentle Exercise for the Slightly Drunk”), I noticed this rare visitor in a private carpark at the east end of Shirehampton High Street. Although I’ve seen them abroad before, this was the first Trabant (for that’s what it is) I’ve spotted in the UK. It looked as if the journey from Poland was not without incident.

14th March. Lisbon, at last. We flew, without incident this time, from Bristol, arriving at our apartment in the Rua de Sao Paulo near the Barrio Alto in the old centre at about 7:00pm, to be met by Catia, who recommended a rooftop tapas restaurant in the next road. All seems good. The apartment building is a converted seventeenth-century convent, so expecting to see a ghostly nun or two during the night, depending on the amount of vinho verde we drink.

15th March. We went on a long walk around central Lisbon, to get our bearings:

16th March. We took a tram to Belam, walking back along the coast:

17th March (still brilliant weather). We walked through the Baixa Chiado area and up the Avenida Da Liberdade to the Marquês de Pombal monument at the top. Then the National Natural History Museum, which reminded us of the Eden Project in Cornwall. Then to a seventeenth century aqueduct and back, via various parks, to the apartment. Evening in al fresco restaurant down the road:

View from the apartment.

18th March.Train to Cascais, fab lunch in fish market, snoozed, paddled and read on beach. Proper tourists!

Cascais fish market (Sally’s photo).

Cascais fish market (Sally’s photo).

19th March. Lazy-ish Sunday in Lisbon finding places previously missed. Back along the beach accompanied by live bands and via the bun fight that is the Time Out central market:

Real dog on left, sand dog on right.

20th March. Took another train journey (from the northern Rossio station) to Sintra, which, being higher and a little colder than Lisbon, had the feel of an Indian hill station.

The bargain basement lunch spot! Four big sardines, huge salad, potatoes, drink, bread. 8euros. We know how to live!

21st March. Last day in Lisbon. Weather has been brilliant, specially for March. Long wait at airport but home safely mid-evening.