I’ve just got the bus to the metro stop and am now on the tram on the way into town. Granada. Where I live now. Again. I first lived here for two years when I came to Spain in 2014 after living in London. I lived in a small village in Almeria in the south-east of Spain for the last seven years. We have a … Continue reading Memento Mori on the Metro in Granada
A while ago, I spent a few months travelling across the USA and one of my favourite places was the rather laidback city of Portland, Oregon. There is a thriving food, art, music and craft beer scene and it’s also renowned for its slight hippyness. What’s not to like? Maybe I could sense something in the air, but it was while wandering around this wonderful … Continue reading How Portland, Oregon Can Help You Appreciate Life More by Doing Less
It’s 6am on the first day of November and quite dark outside. I couldn’t sleep and so I tiptoed through the house so as not to wake Mrs Cortado and our dog Grace to go outside and get my phone which I’d left in the car. On my way back, I promptly dropped it (clearly no coffee yet having an impact) and happened to look … Continue reading Sky Full Of Morning Stars
I’m sitting on a lovely, ever-so-slightly battered brown sofa in my favourite bar (Cafe Cyrano) in Almería, my recently adopted ‘big city’, listening to my new favourite album (‘Hey Mr Ferryman’ by Mark Eitzel) with a cortado coffee and an orange juice. I’ve just put my car in for a service. Not a big deal for most people, but not having owned a car until recently, … Continue reading Nothing Like A Coffee And Some Time
Ayer yo estaba en un bar de Granada escuchando una conversación entre dos amigos. Uno de ellos decía “No me gusta este compañero de trabajo, pues no puedo trabajar con él. Va a ser una semana imposible.” Hay gente que dice ‘No soy cínico o negativo, soy realista’ y tal vez es verdad pero de hecho, ¿qué cosas realistas dicen estas personas? Puedo imaginar la conversación … Continue reading Como Ser Un Realista Más Positivo
Some of you may have noticed that this blog has been quiet for a few months. This because I went travelling across Spain, the USA and Cuba for a few months. Mrs Away From The Noise and I had an incredible time and now we’re back home in Granada settling back into everyday life again. While I was away, I continued podcasting and posting, however … Continue reading Been A While…
I can’t believe that it’s already been in a year since I started this blog. The time seems to have flown by. In that year, I have made some lovely blogger friends and readers, written quite a few posts, started podcasting and learned a lot about blogging and writing in general on the way. It’s been fun and I hope it will continue to be … Continue reading My First Blogerversary
It’s Thursday, so it’s podcast day here at Away From The Noise and today I’m in Greenwich in London. Before I moved to Spain 18 months ago, I lived here for 3 years and Greenwich is without doubt my most favourite part of London. As a tourist or resident, it really is something special. And that is kind of what this week’s podcast is about … Continue reading Now Is The Best Place To Be
It’s Thursday, so it’s podcast day here at Away From The Noise and today we’re in the beautiful and perhaps under-rated city of Alicante. On the last few days of our trip around Spain, Mrs Away From The Noise and I have been travelling in the countryside and along the coast of the Costa Blanca and as a result of being here, the podcast this … Continue reading Do Less. More
It’s Thursday, so it’s podcast day here at Away From The Noise and today we’re in the beautiful city of Valencia. This week’s podcast was inspired by almost literally bumping into the National Ceramics Museum based here and how we need to be more aware and connected with our surroundings to live more happily. As always, the podcast is like the best pop singles – … Continue reading Things Are Looking Up (And Down And All Around)
Walking to the lovely Cafe San Gines in Madrid last week for their famous chocolate con churros, I was listening to one of my favourite bands The Aluminum Group. One of their songs is called ‘Without Erté’ and to be honest, I’ve never known what the title meant but always liked the mystery of the song. Wherever I am, I often like taking different routes … Continue reading Art Deco, Aluminium And A Bar In Madrid
After living in London for 17 years, my wife and I decided to move to Granada in the south of Spain in 2014 to get ‘away from the noise’. Most people assume that the ‘noise’ was the urban-ness of the millions of people and the traffic chaos of the big city and to some extent that’s true, however in reality, it was more about the … Continue reading How To Get Away From The Noise?
Away From The Noise 