Author Archives: Dreamaticus

Pink knitwear in autumn (Rousse)

Posted on November 9, 2025 by Dreamaticus

I sat at the vast picture window to admire the autumn colours across the valley below. Although we missed city living, I loved our new house in the country. I was also very proud of my new wardrobe. Inside it, … Continue reading →

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Dealing with unwanted garden intruders and a boat ride to a Scottish island (Rousse)

Posted on November 7, 2025 by Dreamaticus

I climbed out of bed and stepped across the room to open the shutters. Outside our bedroom window I saw a small dog in a bright red Santa jacket nosing through the vegetable patch, and a man – presumably the … Continue reading →

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Tattoo show-off at the staff Christmas party (Rousse)

Posted on November 6, 2025 by Dreamaticus

When I left the lobby of the the modern tower block to cross the busy road, I shuddered as the cold of the paving slabs hit the soles of my feet. There was no time to take the lift back … Continue reading →

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A proposed oral penalty (Rousse)

Posted on November 5, 2025 by Dreamaticus

EH was away so I was left to chaperone the learned dignitary who had flown in from the US to deliver a guest lecture to the final year students. She was the only British academic to have ever won the … Continue reading →

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An odyssey through London’s night-time economy (Belle)

Posted on November 3, 2025 by Dreamaticus

I was using a borrowed bicycle and decided to park it, along with my suitcase, under a bench where a man and his dog were sleeping. I continued my journey on a night bus, and found a stranger’s handbag on … Continue reading →

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Struggling to rejoin the Camino Português por la costa (Rousse)

Posted on November 2, 2025 by Dreamaticus

Gathered together in Porto at their annual conference to discuss the nature of being, a clutch of Finnish philosophers welcomed me into their company. They gave me protection from the bullies whose insults referred to my stupidity of flying home, … Continue reading →

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Apple Mac con man scam (Rousse)

Posted on November 1, 2025 by Dreamaticus

I should have trusted my instincts when the man struck up a conversation with me at the bridge. Instead, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and fell for his charm. Before long I was lifting up the screen … Continue reading →

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Sci-fi at the Four Seasons hotel and an abandoned bike (Rousse)

Posted on October 26, 2025 by Dreamaticus

The short cycle ride to Waverley station was torturous. From Broughton Street I was diverted onto a narrow, and almost unnavigable, forest track. I dumped the bike, then continued on foot to the Four Seasons hotel. Here thousands of sci-fi … Continue reading →

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A dubious passage to Porto (Rousse)

Posted on October 26, 2025 by Dreamaticus

TPR was determined to revisit Porto. I couldn’t afford to miss yet another weekend at home, so I did my best to persuade him that a return trip to Portugal so soon after our last was not worth the effort, … Continue reading →

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Given away by a Teesside accent (Rousse)

Posted on October 14, 2025 by Dreamaticus

JC retrained as a London cabbie. I only found out when I jumped in her taxi one day. Her hair was dark again and her teeth bigger, but the big giveaway was her Teesside accent.

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