If Walt Disney, an Indian rajah, and Salvador Dalí had ever met in an opium den, they might have designed something like the Pena Palace. With its pink turrets, daffodil-yellow tower, and monstrous gargoyles, it’s Sintra’s most visually striking landmark. Gothic-gone-mad Sintra is a 40-minute train journey from Lisbon, Portugal’s capital.
It’s sunset at Waihi Beach. Earlier, its six miles of glorious beach were almost as white as sand could get. Now the sky’s reflections are brocading the wet shoreline into orange and blue, pink and lilac. One of New Zealand’s North-Island gems, Waihi Beach is a laid-back community on the Bay of Plenty.
I’ve long been a fan of haiku poems, those little word-paintings that capture fleeting moments in time and nature. But Katikati, a small country town in New Zealand, isn’t the obvious place to find a haiku pathway. Home to around 4,000 people, Katikati is only a speck on the North Island map. Yet it’s well worth a stopover if you love poetry, art, and nature.
Photographers call the last hour before sunset “the magic hour.” In Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, the luminosity is extraordinary. Traditional tiled houses dazzle. Pastel pink and yellow facades blush and glow. Glasses of vinho verde, a quaffable white wine, prism into silver half-moons on table tops.
I’m not lost. More like slightly astray. I don’t know how, but the main road from Tralee vanished a few miles back. The map shows I’m on the longer route to Listowel, a market town with a fascinating literary heritage and an annual Writers Festival. And it passes through some villages that weren’t on today’s travel plan.
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Great weather, golden beaches, outstanding culture and a low-cost lifestyle make southern Spain a prime retirement choice for Europeans. With a wide choice of properties now on the market for under $100,000, it could be the perfect place in the sun for you too.
Beaches, mountains, flowery countryside; history, art and opera under the stars; delectable food and wine---Italy offers the lot. Even glorious Tuscany has its undiscovered places where you can still bag bargain properties for full or part-time living---discover how affordable ‘La Dolce Vita’ can be.
From gastronomic pleasures to the world’s best health care, France is all about the art of living well. Even renowned locations such as Paris and Provence can be more affordable than many people realize. And if you’re entranced by rivers, castles and fairytale market towns, bargains abound in the countryside of the Dordogne.
Great weather, golden beaches, outstanding culture and a low-cost lifestyle make southern Spain a prime retirement choice for Europeans. With a wide choice of properties now on the market for under $100,000, it could be the perfect place in the sun for you too.