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Women Travel Writers: Two Episodes complete, and the Road Ahead to Spring 2027
My neighbour, the travel writer Stephen Powell, and I started this series with a simple question, what did it take for a woman to travel, alone, and write about it, in centuries that gave her almost no permission to do either? Two episodes are now complete and the answer is turning out to be different every time. Two women, living nearly 80 years apart, travelling for entirely different reasons, and writing books that still need to be read. In May 2026, we facilitated a Travel Writing Retreat at our homes in the Algarve. For a few years I have offered writers the opportunity to meet and learn together in a…
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Easter 2026 São Brás – Torch Flower Festival
The Resurrection Procession in the eastern Algarve town of São Brás de Alportel is a deeply felt, singular expression of local faith and community connection. Yesterday, Sunday 5th April 2026, we visited the vivid, communal, and welcoming celebration of renewal that invites everyone to share in São Brás’s traditions. The procession route usually winds from the Igreja Matriz through the historic centre, pausing at small chapels and squares. Each Easter Sunday the town transforms, residents carpet the streets with intricate mats of purple, white, orange flowers and greenery. Locals don their best clothes, and men from associations, the council and community groups lift flower torches high as a procession moves…
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Join us in Portugal on 18-21 May 2026 for our Travel Writing Retreat
For me, travel writing is about connection and community. It is about exploring myself as much as it is discovering new and challenging places. Stephen and I, are inviting you to a journey. This retreat is not just about improving writing skills. It is also about discovering why travel writing matters. We draw inspiration partly from 19th century English art critic John Ruskin, for whom beauty was key. Ruskin taught drawing to working men and he wanted to go beyond technique. His fundamental aim, he said, was to develop in his students a deeper appreciation of beauty. Writing works in much the same way. To describe a place well, a…
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4 day Travel writing retreat 18-21 May 2026
My neighbour Stephen and I are both writers. During my last writing workshop in 2025, we discussed the possibility of a shared Travel Writing Retreat and created an event page on Facebook.We both live on Monte Agudo, near Tavira, in the Eastern Algarve. I live at Casa Alexandra and Stephen at Casa Anatôlio. Both venues will be used for workshop sessions during the retreat.We created the following text: Could this work as a spring treat – a four day travel writing course in the sunny Algarve? This course aims to give you the tools and the mindset to bring your ideas to life. There can be so much richness in…
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Open Mic Night in Tavira
The Álvaro de Campos Festival / Birthday Party takes place in Tavira from 15 October to 30 November each year. Last year, I helped organise an impressive and enjoyable Open Mic Night in the cold of winter. On Friday, 22 November this year (2024), we will try again to bring musicians, poets and writers together to perform on a small stage to an eager audience at Casa Álvaro de Campos. The venue is a cafe with a piano and a small stage. Last year, we managed to get 6 delightful musicians and singers on the stage! The cafe is on the steps, just down from the Tavira Museum near the Igreja da Misericórdia de…
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Whisky Galore Fundraiser- Help Tavira artists to perform in Glasgow!
Tavira and Glasgow have a cultural connection that is about to become even more potent. In 2019 two Scottish poets performed in Tavira, together with their Portuguese colleagues, and this year the event will take place in Glasgow. Unfortunately, there is not enough money for travel and hotels. From the total costs of € 6.000 still € 4.000 need to be raised. Why is the connection between Tavira and Glasgow important? Tavira’s famous poet, Álvaro de Campos, was born here in 1890 and moved to Glasgow to study naval engineering. Álvaro de Campos including his birthday, only existed in the poet Fernando Pessoa’s imagination. He was one of his heteronyms,…
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Reflections: Visiting Birmingham
Jim and I travelled in May and June (for nearly seven weeks) to the UK, Greece and Ireland. We are now back in Portugal. This latest post is some reflections on Birmingham, UK, our first stop. I may share more from my journal about Bloomsbury and then Ireland in other posts. The last time we lived in the UK was 15 years ago. We have not visited for the last five. On Tuesday, 7 May, we landed in Birmingham and stayed a few nights in this modern changing City. I was born and grew up in South Brum, so I know it well. Some of my memories could be clearer,…
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Drought, World Water Day and Saharan dust
On World Water Day, 22 March, the Municipality of Tavira sent out details of a new awareness and information campaign entitled “Water is Life, but it can End.“ I was puzzled at first because this theme is taken from the Lakota phrase “Mní wičhóni” “Water is Life” which was the protest anthem from Standing Rock. It also has a spiritual meaning rooted in Indigenous world views. “For Native Americans, water does not only sustain life, it is sacred.” The campaign is launched as the Algarve is being hit by Saharan sand, which will continue until next Monday. Everywhere is covered in brown mucky dust. So don’t wash your car or…
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Cachopo, the windmill, wild flowers, the earthstar and the stones
Some days I just want to bottle moments of joy. That not being possible, on International Women’s Day 2024, I decided to start recording the events of a magical day from earlier in the week. Four women had a mission, an electric car, which I drove and the sun on our backs. You could call our mission one of spirit – that is we wanted to find ancient stones. We are women who meet together to meditate and create art. We feel connected to each other and the earth, so for me our exploration was about deepening our relationship with nature. But also the opportunity for a “jolly out” together.…
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New – History tours of Tavira
As part of her master’s degree, Isabel Macieira has published several studies about the History of Art. She is the author of the book – “A Pintura sacra em Tavira, séculos XV a XX – estudos e inventário” (The Sacred Painting in Tavira XV to XX centuries). As a teacher between 1983-2014, she developed with various groups an awareness of local history involving the natural and built environment. So it could be said that she knows something about the city of Tavira, its heritage and architecture. Once a month or so since September 2016, she has offered a city tour to residents, visitors and tourists. The tours are grounded in…
