Onwards and upwards

Ever since I started this blog three years ago, whenever I shared a new post I would describe it as something like "new on my silly little travel blog", like I had to apologise for writing about what I love, because I don't do it full-time. Recently I've decided to stop apologising. So now I am delighted to present The Imagination Trail; a new, expanded and shinier version of what I've been doing here. Which means it's time to say goodbye to Rachel's Other Adventures, which has served me well as a space to practice my writing, find my tone and hone my style.

So if you've enjoyed reading my travel writing so far, please join me at the site, or on Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll come over to continue the journey onwards and upwards with me.

My favourite food and drink of Lisbon

It was my birthday this week, and to celebrate my boyfriend and I went to eat at a small Portuguese restaurant in Bedford that I’d heard great things about. It’s called Baia de Cascais, named after the coastal town of Cascais, near Lisbon, from where the owners hail. We had a lovely dinner (you can read my review on IndyBrit to find out more) which made me think of the food and drink I enjoyed during my trip to Lisbon a few years ago.

Fish

I would like to go vegetarian but the thing that stops me is my love of fish; I eat it several times a week and would be lost without it in my diet! Some of the best fish dishes I’ve enjoyed so far were in Lisbon.

Salted cod is popular; this could be grilled, fried or boiled, and served with various shades of potatoes, fries or rice, depending on the dish. One evening our hostel owners cooked salted cod fish cakes with rice and beans for the guests, which was absolutely delicious; I could have eaten plates of it!

Vinho verde – “green” wine

You’ll find this available in most restaurants. It’s not actually green – the “green” aspect refers to the young age of the grape that’s used to make it. It’s a white wine which is slightly sparkling – not enough to earn it the status of “a sparkling wine”, but it’s a light and refreshing accompaniment to your meal.

Ginja

You’ll want to buy a bottle of this Portuguese cherry brandy to bring back with you! It’s a must-try whilst you’re in Lisbon. If you’re visiting the Castle of São Jorge, look for the little shop near the entrance where they’ll sell you ginja in a chocolate cup, which of course you eat after you’ve drunk the liqueur – yum!

Pasteis de nata

You’ll find these delicious custard tarts in every bakery and café in Lisbon. They originated in one particular bakery in the Belem area of the city, which usually has a long wait for tables and a significant queue for take-away, but you’ll find good quality tarts elsewhere too.

What do you think…have I missed anything fantastic?

Me at the real Cascais a few years ago

Eclipse

Sometimes you don't have to go very far from home to see something magical.

Today, outside my workplace in Bedford, I witnessed the biggest solar eclipse in the UK since 1999, with at least 83% totality in all parts of the country. 

It had been cloudy all morning and I didn't hold out much hope of seeing anything...but suddenly, about fifteen minutes before peak darkness was due, the light went strange. I dashed outside to join a small crowd of staff and students manouvering homemade pinhole cameras and trying to take photos through the cloud. The light grew dimmer, and the temperature began to drop; within a few minutes it felt bitter and icy. Then just at the right time, the clouds parted to reveal the Moon making its way across the Sun.

The clouds quickly recovered and continued to tease us with occasional glimpses of the spectacle, until the darkness began to lift. I only saw it briefly, but what I did see was fascinating, and the whole experience - the dimming of the light, the drop in temperature - was eerie and special.

If you missed it today but want to catch an eclipse sometime soon, check out in this article in The Guardian on where in the world you can see one in the near future.

Why TripAdvisor SHOULD be "political"

TripAdvisor has been in the news in the UK this week, after removing a review where a customer highlighted the inappropriate behaviour of a Bedfordshire restaurant manager towards his female staff, saying that it “breached guidelines which asks reviewers to refrain from personal political, ethical or religious commentary” and was “irrelevant”.  The reviewer was later allowed to repost it, leaving the details of the incident in but without referring to “International Women’s Day” or “feminism” as she had originally. The original post also attracted a response from the “manageress” which accused the reviewer of spreading her “boring, inaccurate and feministic views” rather than reviewing the restaurant (this too has now been removed). This whole incident has prompted debate about what reviewers should be allowed to say on the site, and whether TripAdvisor is correct to claim that such comments are neither helpful nor useful.

Looking at the user review guidelines on TripAdvisor, the first rule is “No profanity, threats, prejudiced comments, hate speech, sexually explicit language, or other content that is not appropriate for our community”, with further guidance going into detail about profanity, personal insults and hostile or violent language. The original review contained none of the above. Think about it; how many times have you read a review on TripAdvisor where someone complains about the personal manner of the waiting staff or manager towards them or other visitors? The establishment may post a snotty response in return, but both the review and response remain. Indeed, the amended review still clearly explains what happened, just without any description of the manager’s behaviour being misogynist, even though the reader can clearly draw that conclusion themselves from what the review says. So why is TripAdvisor so scared of allowing reviewers to explicitly engage in discussion of political and societal context?

Everything is political. I was reminded of this recently when I attended a virtual event on radical information literacy – information literacy being something I teach and facilitate in my job as a librarian – which reinforced the fact that information literacy is not just about students being able to find academic articles amongst the rubbish on Google, but about all of us being able to make sense of the world around us, the communities we live in, and to look at it all critically and make our own interpretations and conclusions. In every interaction we have, every journey we make, physical and metaphorical, in everything that we do, we are operating within a context of dialogues, history, societal expectations, and present current events. 

Which brings me to TripAdvisor’s argument that “No content that is not relevant to trip planning and research” will be permitted; further guidance refers to the “No personal political, ethical, or religious opinions, discussion or commentary in reviews” rule that it was deemed the original review breached. I argue that as everything is political, it is impossible to claim that such discussion is “not relevant”. There is much talk now of “responsible travel” and “ecotourism”; travelling the world and visiting other places in a way which does not harm them, as we all have a responsibility towards other human beings and our natural world. But this responsibility extends to everyone everywhere, even closer to home, even when it might seem a like a minor thing. Just as I want to know if my visit to an attraction in another country is ethical, I want to know whether I am giving my money to an establishment which harasses or abuses any member of staff. Travellers and visitors should not be automatons, taking what they want from a city, hotel, restaurant, whatever, and ignoring the hints of what goes on behind the scenes, and I believe the majority are not. Thus, so-called “political” discussion is very relevant.

TripAdvisor has nothing to be scared of. It already hosts a disclaimer saying it does not “endorse” any reviews or responses. It already allows descriptions of unpleasant behaviour and hostile exchanges between reviewer and establishment to remain on the site, and readers are not stupid; they can think critically and reflect on the implications of what they are seeing for themselves. So if TripAdvisor wants to stay credible and relevant, it needs to realise that people can and should make their own judgements on what they read and to allow open discussions – which, as in the case of this one, will otherwise just move, potentially very publicly, to social media – about the issues encountered by reviewers to take place.

Oh, and at least from all of this…I and many others around Bedford are all very aware of which local restaurant not to give our custom to. Cheers, TripAdvisor!

Ten books which inspired me to travel

It was World Book Day on Thursday, and when I went trawling through my blogs to find something appropriate to dig up for the day, I found this post from four years ago, on seven books that changed the way I see the world. Re-reading it, it struck me that several of the titles were there because they had sparked an interest in other parts of the world, and upon further thinking, I realised that many of my past and future travel plans have been influenced by fiction. So here are ten books which have inspired me to travel.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth (Jules Verne) and Journey to the Volcano (Rose Tremain)

Let’s start with one of my favourite topics; volcanoes! I’ve been fascinated by them since childhood, and these are two books I read quite early on which made me want to go and see them for myself. Verne’s classic features characters entering the bowels of the Earth via a European volcano, which fired up my imagination, whilst Tremain’s children’s book, which is out of print now, tells the story of a young British-Sicilian boy who is whisked off to his mother’s village on the slopes of Mount Etna, and finds himself and his family caught up in a devastating eruption. This is one of the two volcanoes I’ve managed to reach so far, and climbing it was an amazing experience.

Mount Etna

 Sister Carrie (Theodore Dreiser) and Brooklyn (Colm Tóibín)

Sister Carrie was on the syllabus of a fascinating module on 19^th century American Literature that I took in my first year of university, and paints a vivid picture of a young New York City growing up fast. Several years later I was browsing the ebooks from my local public library, and picked Brooklyn, which tells the story of an Irish immigrant making her way in the 1950s city. I was taken by the descriptions of the city in both books, and both contributed to my decision to take a trip to New York last year.

New York City

 The Bone People (Keri Hulme)

Another university find, from a module on postcolonial literature, this is a brilliantly-written book which completely pulled me into the cold, lonely, beautiful and mystical world of New Zealand’s South Island. I’ve played with the idea of looking for work in New Zealand since, and it’s definitely on my list of places to see.

Ghostwritten and Number9Dream (David Mitchell)                  

You’ve probably heard of and maybe read Cloud Atlas, but David Mitchell’s other work is just as intricate and magical. Mitchell lived in Japan for a while and both books feature this country, both the chaotic city and the more isolated islands, placing it firmly on my travel list.

Buxton Spice (Oonya Kempadoo) and Wide Sargasso Sea (Jean Rhys)

We’re back to my university days – I was lucky enough to be on a degree course with some great options – when I took a module on Caribbean women writers. I could have selected most of the books I read during this time, but I’ve chosen just two of my favourites. Kempadoo’s novel tells the story of a teenage girl growing up in Guyana, whilst Rhys’ better-known text, set as a prequel to Jane Eyre, imagines the “mad wife in the attic” as a young woman, meeting Mr Rochester, in 19^th century Jamaica. Both books portrayed the sounds, smells, heat and culture of their countries in a way that brought them to life and prompted me to decide I need to travel around the Caribbean at some point.

The Chalet School (Elinor M. Brent Dyer)

This is a whole series of books, telling the story of a boarding school which starts off in Austria and ends up in Switzerland, via Guernsey, England and Wales, surviving various accidents, disasters and the Nazis. The school operated in English, French and German, and reading some of these books at a fairly young age, this was how I picked up my first words of a language that wasn’t English, sparking an interest in foreign languages and mainland Europe. I loved the descriptions of mountains, lakes and chalets, and it so happened that when my first opportunity to travel abroad arose, aged 11, it was to Switzerland, where I was delighted to see the landscapes of the Chalet School stories for myself.

Have any books inspired you to travel? Feel free to share yours in the comments.

Five top writing spots in Bedford

Bedford, a small town about 50 miles north of London, is the place I’ve been calling home for nearly two years now. I can’t claim it’s my favourite place in the world (or even up there in the top 40!), but it does have its pleasant spots, including for those of us who like to get out of the house to do our writing. Here are five I’d recommend.

Frescoes, Mill Street

I first discovered this café on a bitterly cold Good Friday during my first week in Bedford, when in search of free WiFi. I found not only that, but good coffee and amazing cake, with a warm welcome for this lone soul who knew no one in the town. I have been back many times since and this is probably my favourite place to write; the WiFi connection is always great, the food and drink on offer is good (although I can no longer eat the cakes, being dairy-free, they’ll make hot drinks with soya milk, and they offer gluten-free bread for those who need it too), and I’ve never felt hurried along whilst in there. 

The Ship, St Cuthbert’s Street

No WiFi (or at least not the last time I was there), but if you’re working with pen and paper on a sunny day, you can’t beat a glass of something cold out in the expansive beer garden here whilst you thrash out your words. I went one Sunday afternoon when I had a 500 word flash fiction to pull into shape, but it was too lovely outside to stay indoors. The lack of WiFi actually means fewer distractions!

Bedford Central Library, Harpur Street

Don’t forget your local public library! Join (for free!) if you haven’t already, and you can use the computers or the free WiFi. You can find a spot to work amongst the shelves, or go and grab a coffee in the cafe and people-watch over the market whilst you write.

Coffee With Art, High Street

It feels like a bit of a cliché to recommend a café with a whole wall made of books as a writing venue, but it really is a fabulous place! Great choice of tea and coffee, lunch foods are available, and the cakes look amazing. The WiFi works well and on Sundays they sometimes have live acoustic music to accompany your scribbling. Plus a wall made of books. And art. What more could you want?

It had to be done!

River Great Ouse, The Embankment

Alternatively, leave the coffee, booze and WiFi behind, and take a seat on one of the benches along the river in town. Watch the people strolling/jogging/cycling past, or the wildlife and boats gliding by on the water, while you wait for inspiration to strike. 

  

 What do you think – is there a great writing spot here that I haven’t discovered yet?

Five literary spots to visit in the UK

This is re-posted from my other blog where I talk libraries, books and writing...as it's about travel too, I thought I'd share here too.

Yesterday I spotted a Buzzfeed article on “19 British Places all Book Lovers Must Visit”. It’s a great list, and I was slightly ashamed to have only made it to four of them, but it did miss out some of my personal favourites…so here are five UK literary spots I’d add to the list: 

The West Yorkshire Moors

Although they all left home at various points in their lives, the Bronte sisters were all very much attached to their home of Haworth (itself now a much-visited destination, featured in the Buzzfeed list) and the West Yorkshire Moors are a major feature of most of their novels, perhaps most famously in Charlotte’s Jane Eyre and Emily’s Wuthering Heights. You don’t even have to brave the elements to enjoy this literary setting; take the train from Leeds to Manchester and you’ll be certain you spotted the imposing Wuthering Heights up on a cliff amongst the breathtaking scenery.

St Peter’s Church, Bournemouth 

If you know me well, you’ll know that Mary Shelley was always going to feature in this list! She is buried in the graveyard here, along with her mother, the famous feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, her father, the philosopher William Godwin, and the heart of her husband, the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (he died in a storm at sea and his rotting body was recovered and cremated…it is said that his heart did not burn, and Mary took it and kept it in her desk drawer, where it was discovered by her adult children after she died). As a Mary Shelley fan, this was a bit of a pilgrimage for me. If you fancy a drink after a wander around the churchyard, there's a Wetherspoons called The Mary Shelley next door!

  

St Pancras Old Church, London

Just one more Mary Shelley one, I promise! She grew up in Somers town and her mother was originally buried in the graveyard here (first Mary’s remains were moved to Bournemouth after the second Mary’s death). Mary would often visit her mother’s grave to think and to write, and after she met Percy Bysshe Shelley, this is where they would meet in secret (he being married already). It was here that they admitted their love for each other and, it is suggested, erm…acted on this (well, they didn’t really have anywhere else to go!). There is still a memorial stone for Mary Wollstonecraft here but I have never been able to locate it; however I love walking round the churchyard, following in Mary’s footsteps.

  

Perrott’s Folly and Edgbaston Waterworks, Birmingham

I grew up in north Birmingham, and as a teenager I played trombone in a jazz band which met on the south side of the city every Monday night. I was a bit of a Lord of the Rings fan, reading the books around the time that the films came out, and one evening my Dad took us on a detour home, to see Perrott’s Folly, which is said to be one of two towers in Edgbaston (the second being Edgbaston Waterworks) which inspired Tolkien’s Two Towers. There’s no solid evidence that this is true, and there are many articles and blog posts out there arguing otherwise, but as someone with an active imagination, I loved standing there and thinking about how Tolkien may have pulled these ordinary industrial urban features into his fantasy land.  I’m no longer a LoTR fan but I’d still argue it’s a must-visit for those who are.

Newnham College, Cambridge

The poet Sylvia Plath first came to England on a scholarship to Cambridge University, studying at this women-only college. She wrote lots and published work in the student newspaper, and it was while she was here that she met and married Ted Hughes. I discovered Sylvia Plath, as many girls do, when I was about 17 years old, and around this time I went on a school trip where we stayed overnight at Newnham College, learning about life at the university. I was completely taken by the idea that I was wandering the same corridors that Sylvia Plath had, and that perhaps I or one of my friends were staying in her very room...