A History of Christmas Markets through Santa’s Beer Goggles

A different spin on pub crawls and Christmas markets

All too often we miss what is right in front of us. This book hopes to open the reader’s eyes, not only to drinking establishments, Christmas markets (home and abroad), but to provide you with some interesting facts, traditions, history and trivia to boot.

Christmas and alcohol seem to have been in step for centuries, and this set of ‘crawls’ aims to make your trips to the Christmas markets a little bit different.

Although we have left the EU, thousands still travel to Europe (as well as in the UK) to quench their thirst for all things Christmas.

So, if you like socialising, having a tipple or two, enjoy finding new places to eat and drink, and visiting Christmas markets, these reasons alone would be enough for you to dig further into this book.

But is you are also interested in history, ghosts, traditions, trivia, around Christmas itself, and on top of that the locations, then look no further.

Six crawls, six Christmas markets, lots of pubs, and so much more.

Enjoy your crawling!

A Suitcase Full of Boomerangs

A Suitcase Full of Boomerangs is essentially a romp around the Republic of Ireland. Tiny boomerangs are bequeathed to colourful characters encountered throughout the three-week round trip.

Narrated in the first person, the protagonist and two of her sisters manage to have a ball as they traverse the width and breadth of Ireland in a big black jeep filled with suitcases full of boomerangs. This book of travel laughs, mishaps and adventures is a light-hearted, feel-good read, intended to whisk the armchair traveller far away to another time and place – the magic that will always be Ireland.

A Suitcase Full of Koalas

A Suitcase Full of Koalas is a modern, edgy travel book set to test your wits and memory for detail. Gallivanting around London and somewhere distinctly south of the great capital in a sleepy seaside village, the author finds herself handing out tiny furry koalas to the English, to the Polish, to the Italians, in fact to anyone who cares to accept the little fellas as a gift from Australia. In her moochings over a month, she manages to meet a myriad of characters from all walks of life who practically jump off the pavements, à la Mary Poppins and Bert, and into the book.

This is a book about life and living – about the human condition and quest for feathering one’s own nest. As John Donne observed, ‘No man is an island’, but sometimes we yearn to embrace solitude and sit with ourselves and a good book. A Suitcase Full of Koalas will inevitably tickle your fancy and have you laughing on every other page. But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?

A Suitcase Full of Olive Branches

Would it really be out of the question for the coach to make a slight diversion? We heard that this tour was headed for the Northern Lights. That’s why we took it, but now we can’t seem to find those Northern Lights anywhere on the itinerary. Any idea why that would be the case? Now you are curious about this book, right? Let me enlighten you. This is a book about Italy and her beautiful northern lakes.

While travelling on a tour coach on a round trip from Milan, tiny olive branches are handed out to perfect strangers in an effort to let the Italians know that their country is not considered number one in the world in terms of World Heritage and Culture for nothing.

A Suitcase Full of Opals

If you are ever lucky enough to receive an invitation to a wedding in Poland, make sure you RSVP… ASAP. It happened to me. I was invited and travelled to Poland along with 50 other Aussie guests. I knew nothing about Poland. Nothing save the fact that every Polish name seemed to end in ski, ska, or sko. Australia’s highest mountain – Mount Kosciusko, was named after a Polish explorer. If you’d like to find out more about the natural wonders of Poland, the heritage sites, the beautiful, wide landscape, and why so many travellers choose to go to the land of zloty and pierogi, then this book has been bookmarked for you. The laughs, the landscape, the characters, the sheer beauty of it all. Come travel with me and find out for yourself what all the fuss is about.

Above the Circle

What would you do if you knew that you had been given a second chance to sail away from life’s safe harbour? Each of us has dreams of doing something that takes us out of our comfort zone but few of us take the plunge and actually do it.

In this book Mervyn Smith describes a point in his life when he was facing the question of his own mortality as he recovered from a serious life-saving surgery. This is the story of how he responded to that challenge and followed a life-long dream to ride a motorcycle from his Shropshire home to a destination way above the Arctic Circle and who he did it for.

Read what brought him to that decision, what difficulties he overcame to pursue his dream and the adventures he had on the journey riding through the hottest European summer on record. This book will inspire you, challenge you and hopefully motivate you to realise that everyone has a skill set unique to them which, with faith, imagination, and creativity, can be released. And that age is never a barrier to doing something extra ordinary.

Algarve Travel Guide: 54 Cities/Towns/Villages

One of the largest tour guides for the Algarve (Southern Portugal) covering 54 Cities/Towns/Villages. Find hidden gems and beach hideaways you never knew existed. Money saving tips before booking your holiday. Festivals, fairs, events for the each month, market and flea market dates, golfing courses, camping sites, attractions, zoos and waterparks.
Packed full of useful and helpful advice on almost any subject, easy food translation guide including eating out and other useful phrases, conversion charts, driving information with distance chart to help plan your days out. Airport information as well as clock change times.
Interesting facts that will leave you amazed, a brief history of how the Algarve was formed. At last, a guide book you won't want to put down.

Angling Around Ireland

The fly line hisses as it shoots through the rings, the salt-laden north wind catching it as it touches the waves. The angler, hunched against the elements, pulls in the slack, and waits for the line and flies to sink before beginning a jerky retrieve. Halfway back the line stops, then goes slack again. A muffled curse is lost to the breeze. That’s the second one to come short today. Three casts later a sharp tug is accompanied by a swirl amid the white topped waves. That one is on!

Around the World in Several Ways

For most of us, the desire to travel and see the world is a natural aspiration and for those of us who can, it is an amazing experience. In the early stages of our marriage, my wife and I enjoyed several holidays with family and friends in Europe. It was when the spectre of cancer affected us both that we became more ambitious, more adventurous and determined to see as much of the world as possible whilst we still had time. For the past twenty-plus years or so, we have done just that. We have camped, cruised around the world, yachted, been on road trips, coached, skied, fly-driven and owned a house in Florida for eleven years. This is an account of our experiences full of facts and details, some funny and some serious, with dangerous encounters and amusing and irritating experiences when letting out our house in Florida. We have seen the iconic buildings of the great civilizations, the world’s great waterfalls, spent time with the Borneo headhunters, canoed part of the Amazon, encountered polar bears, a leopard carrying her cub, armed escort in Yemen, intrigue in China and interviewed Debbie Reynolds in Las Vegas. Furthermore, we’ve experienced being trapped by a hurricane in Florida, Olympic Games in Australia, death on a plane, suicide on a ship, terrifying gang fight in Kuala Lumpur, car crash in Florida, five road trips around America and much more!

Authentic Church

If you had a blank sheet of paper and were going to describe what church should look like, what would you include? Why has the make-up, of what we generally understand to be church, diverged so significantly from the kinds of people that Jesus hung out with? For very few of them would easily fit into most churches today. This book is an attempt to consider this and whether or not the Anglican parish system still has anything to offer by way of a way forwards as the numbers of those attending church in this country still continue to decline. This book attempts to describe our experience as members of St Paul’s Church here in Cambridge, as the theology that underlies it emerged in our midst on our journey together and as it is summarised so succinctly by Luke in Acts chapter 2 verse 42.

BBQ, Beer and Bright Ideas

This is a dramatic adventure of two retired police officers, thrown together by fate, as they seek excitement and fulfilment of the challenging Camino de Frances.

This witty and truly engaging account takes the reader on every step of the pilgrimage with their experience being enhanced through the many photographs taken at every stage of their endeavours.

The trials and tribulations from its inception formed during a boozy BBQ to its incredible conclusion and the subsequent raising of over 10,000 Euros for charity.

The reader accompanies the intrepid pair through the snow-capped Pyrenees, into the flooded northern regions of Spain, via blizzards on mountain tops before arriving in Santiago de Compostela thirty-two days later.

This is a social diary, not a historic or religious adventure. Many wonderful friends were made en route and feature throughout. It’s a restoration of faith in mankind coupled with poignant views on life espoused by the author.

Caravanning and Camping in Australia

From the vast deserts of the interior, to the tropical north and sandy beaches of the coasts. Alpine regions and rugged mountains, Australia has such a varied landscape. So, what better way is there to really experience it, other than by road. This book gives the road tripper all they need to know to set up their journey for a safe and memorable experience. What to take, what to avoid, when to go. A good starting point for anyone that likes going on an adventure.