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A blog about writing and travelling. Text and images © Morelle Smith

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Travel articles on Substack, Bourgas to Sofia, Bulgaria

December 12, 2025

Bulgaria Sofia trains travel travel writing

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Occitanie to Brittany

November 12, 2025

autumn Black Cat Brittany France Languedoc rain Saint Antonin Noble Val sea travel travel writing

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Birutė Park, Palanga, Lithuania

October 07, 2025

Baltic States Birute Kaunas Lithuania park sculpture sea snakes travel travel writing trees walking

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Edinburgh Book Festival Authors

August 25, 2025

book reviews Charlotte Philby Edinburgh Edinburgh International Book Festival Laurent Binet Literary Festival Scotland

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Walking on the Isle of Arran, Scotland

August 11, 2025

coastal path isle of Arran Scotland sea walking

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Kaunas, Lithuania

Baltic States Čiurlionis Kaunas Lithuania travel travel writing

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Thomas Mann's Summerhouse at Nida, Lithuania

birds Eastern Europe ferry Germany Klaipeda Lithuania Nida sculpture sea Thomas Mann travel travel writing trees

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Morning Sea & Evening Sea, Palanga, Lithuania

Baltic States Lithuania Palanga sea travel travel writing trees walking

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dritanje

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92 Acharnon Street
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"The travel writer has no choice but to fabricate reality. If the writer is good, the fabrications generally overlap with reality. We should add, that reality itself isn't so stable. It too, travels."
Dubravka Ugresic

"On croit qu'on va faire un voyage mais bientot c'est le voyage qui vous fait ou vous defait"
Nicolas Bouvier

TIRANA PAPERS - Discovering Albania

Comment on Tirana Papers

With the immediacy of a journal, this book is a must have for anyone wanting a snapshot of Albania in the early part of the 21st century.
A Common Reader

EVERY SHADE OF BLUE

From the pale blue skies over San Francisco to the deep blue of the Mediterranean Sea, Every Shade of Blue describes travels with the musician John Renbourn. One of the original members of the innovative folk group Pentangle, John continued touring, composing, recording and teaching right up until March 2015, when he was on tour with the legendary Wizz Jones. His music, both his own compositions and his arrangements of medieval, classical and traditional folk music, has been an influence and inspiration to many.

Contributor to

Prose insane

- METAMORPHOSIS OF THOSE THAT HURT BY Adam Parry I ungainly creature spread-eagled, bloody on the bed like a crucified man in repose. Yet, not a man...
22 hours ago
Asymptote Blog

What’s New in Translation: December 2025 - In our final round-up of the year, we present a thrilling novel capturing the margins of Germany as the nation begins to veer into fascism, a collection ga...
1 day ago
Caroline Gill: Poetry and Other Writing

'Polar Corona', my prize-winning poetry pamphlet on Antarctica - I am excited to say that I have just received advance copies of *Polar Corona*, my prize-winning 'crown-of-sonnets' poetry pamphlet, published by the...
5 days ago
Sonofabook

Teeth: On negative reviews - One of the funniest episodes of last month was a friend telling me that, coming on the Tube, he’d read one of the Poems on the Underground and hadn’t bee...
1 week ago
The Robert Moss BLOG

Substack time - Many thanks to all of you who have followed this blog over many years. I have yielded to the times and moved most of my posting of new essays - and som...
1 week ago
Sheena Blackhall's Screivins

The Poems: Marischal the Gargoyle - Acknowledgements Title Marischal the Gargoyle Cover: Marischal the puppet (Pauline Cordiner) Printed by Retro Overflow Pamphlet no 216 For more information...
1 week ago
Autumn Voices

The Red Pen 9: Presenting Your Work - Our thanks to Moira Forsyth for allowing us to share these posts with our readers. They were formerly published on the Sandstone Press website. Moira wri...
3 weeks ago
La Guérison Spirituelle - Dr Jean-Jacques Charbonier - Éditions Guy Trédaniel Ce qu'il faut avant tout savoir : Le Docteur Jean-Jacques Charbonier , anesthésiste-réanimateur pendant trente-cinq ans, est l’un de...
1 month ago
New Contemporary Literary Horizon

NEW IN BIBLIOTHECA UNIVERSALIS. THE BOOK NUMBER 286, VICTOR GRIPPOLI (URUGUAY) -
2 months ago
Lizok's Bookshelf

New Russian-to-English Translations Published in 2024 - [image: New Russian-to-English Translations Published in 2024] And so, another year, another list of translations! I’m doing something a bit different thi...
11 months ago
Recollections of a Vagabonde

Greetings of the Season - The year 2024 is coming to an end. Many a day since my last post in February I started to write a new blog post, but somehow, every time there was an inte...
11 months ago
the swiss lounge

the well tempered clavier -
1 year ago
Talking 37th Dream (rumors of peace)

Prospective Retrospective (Update) - In order to continue posting my artwork, I've created a Substack page: https://ellamuir.substack.com *No need to subscribe. I'm not looking for paid su...
1 year ago
Grandy's Landing

The Wager - A gorgeous gibbous moon hangs pearly white, the golden sunset fading over the estuary now. Such is the view from my high window, here on Halkyn Mountain. ...
1 year ago
photographs from a white space

rescued from the middenheap - How beautiful, After the autumn storm, The red pepper. Buson
2 years ago
Sabotage

Say by Sarala Estruch - -Reviewed by Emma Lee- Through the poems in Say, Sarala Estruch explores subjects such as losing a father as a
2 years ago
Wolfe Murray

¡Hola, mundo! - Te damos la bienvenida a WordPress. Esta es tu primera entrada. Edítala o bórrala, ¡luego empieza a escribir!
2 years ago
A Common Reader

Hello world! - Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
3 years ago
In My Own Accent

Poetry Book Boot Camp with Katerina Stoykova - Poetry Book Boot Camp with Katerina Stoykova The goal of this five-month class is to take your project from a pile of poems to an edited manuscript that yo...
4 years ago
chez Nicolas Bokov

Organigramme - Vous êtes dans l'espace francophone pour la vie de Marie Bokov Théâtre Rencontres & News *Imago Spirito* Cagibi Если жe вы читаете по-русски, добро пожалов...
4 years ago
Landscaping the Sacred

The Departed - I “In the mornin’ when you rise Do you think of me, and how you left me cryin’? Are you thinkin’ of telephones, and managers, And where you got to be at no...
5 years ago
Nouvelles Und News

- *organigramme* *сhallenge russe*
5 years ago
George Szirtes

Magda's Boy - Film by Anthony Wilks https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/videos/bookshop-events-films/magda-s-boy-how-george-szirtes-invented-his-mother
5 years ago
Sue Reid Sexton

Showing Off - This week, I had a lovely message from a happy reader which she was kind enough to let me share. It is always good to hear from people who have read you...
5 years ago
LE CHEMIN DES GRANDS JARDINS

- " L'échelle de Jacob " pour Maria-DoloresCano Ce qui donne un sens à notre comportement à l’égard de la vie, est la fidélité à un certain instant et...
5 years ago
CONTEMPORARY LITERARY HORIZON

ORIZONT 2020 - *EDITORIAL TEAM OF* *CONTEMPORARY LITERARY HORIZON* *BIBLIOTHECA UNIVERSALIS*
5 years ago
travels with persephone

What Are We Looking At? - Walking through the Botanical Garden on a gorgeous fall day, looking at the changing leaves, you come upon some fellow garden goers. As you grow closer,...
6 years ago
Vita Brevis

Art for heart's sake - Art is a haven because it is the best humans can do. It heals the soul because it is an act of gratuitous love. The best of human endeavour consoles...
6 years ago
ein klage-himmel

So disappearing is the destiny of destinies. - Bring me the sunflower, let me plant it in my field parched by the salt sea wind, and let it show the blue reflecting sky the yearning of its yellow fac...
6 years ago
TRANSEÚNTE EN POS DEL NORTE

Charles Darwin en Patagonia y la Tierra del Fuego - El Beagle fondeado en la Tierra del Fuego. Pintura de Conrad Martens, *paisajista británico que formó parte de la tripulación del barco.* (Down House, Ken...
6 years ago
Forest Dream Weaver

Barley Fields - Barley fields last week - East Lothian On the right the road follows a historic estate boundary wall. This road leads to a country pa...
7 years ago
Starry Universe

Cherry and Rose - Wild cherry leaf, prematurely turning to autumnal bronze - wild cherries - green rose hip and seeds ..... Rosa moyesii - maturing rose hips an...
7 years ago
The Shape of Light

WELCOMING A NEW FRIEND - *Barred Owl (Owlet)* *Home * *Upstate South Carolina* These images of a young barred owlet were made about fifteen minutes after it emerged from its nes...
7 years ago
Wordarts

The Posy Ring: Coming Soon. - The Posy Ring, the first novel in a planned series called The Annals of Flowerfield, is due for publication by Saraband on 12th April. Here's what it's a...
7 years ago
Wordpill Blog

Tindaly Tn - Hacked By TinDaLy.Tn Hacked By TinDaLy.Tn Hacked By TinDaLy.Tn Hacked By TinDaLy.Tn Hacked By TinDaLy.Tn Hacked By TinDaLy.Tn Hacked By TinDaLy.Tn Hacked B...
7 years ago
le ciel au-dessus de la rue

deux jeunes filles marchent dans la campagne - Sarah Bernat et Armelle Furet dans Rose d’Oradour La matinée claire d’un samedi de juin. Deux jeunes filles marchent dans la campagne. Elles ont dix-sept, ...
8 years ago
The Solitary Walker

Beachscape - I haven't blogged for a while, but here is a new poem. *Beachscape* *Surprising that I never knew before* *the bright curve of this bay,* *the way the wash...
8 years ago
Transit Notes

THROUGH THE EASTATOE VALLEY TO TWIN FALLS - *Like many other days this fall,* *I left early this morning and drove northward* *to the Blue Ridge mountains. Give me a day like this, * *my hiking boo...
9 years ago
Paula Roïd PhotoBlog

Candélabre -
9 years ago
Donald Adamson Poetry Blog

- This was included in the recent Scottish PEN 'PENning Peril' issue. For full magazine click on https://issuu.com/scottishpen/docs/penning_april_2016 FUNNY...
9 years ago
washed stones

Class conflict & reading Henry James and Malcolm X - After 5 1/2 months of no posts, this sudden appearance of a long piece might seem odd. I simply want to post it, and I have no other place that seems appro...
10 years ago
walking in words

The Visionary - He is not like us. He reads strange books Of mystic poetry, mythology. He walks the beach alone, pausing to look Beyond the black horizon of the sea For hid...
10 years ago
Three Sea Horses

- Looking at my drafts I find a post I wrote while still house sitting but had not finished or published. So putting it up now, although it ought to be slot...
10 years ago
istrosbooks

Promoting writing from around the Union and beyond…. - EUROPEAN UNION PRIZE FOR LITERATURE – promoting writing from around the Union and beyond…. The EU Prize for Literature, founded in 2009 and financed by the...
11 years ago
schadenfrieda

Mixtape tune #2 - Congratulations to my fellow Leithers Young Fathers on their Mercury prize win last night, for debut album Dead – well done! YLT4LYFE! Popping this track G...
11 years ago
Dom's photography blog | Thoughts and ideas about photography

new blog address (in case you missed it) - After I started this blog a few months ago I started considering having a self hosted WordPress blog and website. So after some work I published the first ...
11 years ago
TRANSEÜNT QUE ALBIRA EL NORD

Marian Raméntol Serratosa i Cesc Fortuny i Fabré: la passió d’un “tàndem poètic” - El mar. Ámbito exacto: allí acaba, aquí empieza, aquí estoy yo, allí ella. Pedro Salinas No em sembla gaire agosarat considerar que en Avui fosquejo morta ...
11 years ago
Raspberry Read

All the Rage by Kevin Ridgeway - Kevin Ridgeway's new chapbook of poems, All the Rage, is now available from Electric Windmill Press: http://www.storenvy.com/products/2089358-all-the-ra...
12 years ago
Poetry Scotland Reviews

Subject and syntax to fear and enjoy - *Helen Ivory, Waiting for Bluebeard, Bloodaxe* *Ira Lightman, I, Love, Poetry. Knives, Forks and Spoons Press* “I would like to extend my thanks to everyon...
12 years ago
words and silence

A Difference Of Reading - Weighing machine, Luxembourg Gardens, Paris Image: Wikimedia Commons A strange thing happened to me this week. I'd gone for my annual medical check-up at...
12 years ago
Cruising with S/V 'Jolie Brise'

Page Two - Darwin to Kupang – first leg of the Sail Indonesia Rally 2012 As an introduction it’s already early March 2013, Jolie Brise is anchored in Ao Chalon Bay n...
12 years ago
a pint of plain

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception - So, in keeping with the reason why God put me here on Earth, I had to drive a carful of teenage girls to some event. Normally I tune out their conversation...
13 years ago
Walking and Writing

How to write on a camel - Walking with animals Part 2 Camels are a bit different to ponies (see last post). Getting on and off them is more interesting for a start. But they have qu...
13 years ago
cagibi

Culture de vélo -
13 years ago
sparks and mirrors

To deliver oneself up to silence - Photo, *Untitled,* by Thomas Merton "To deliver oneself up, hand oneself over, entrust oneself completely to the silence of a wide landscape of woods and...
13 years ago
A Year with Rilke

With our thanks - *Rainer Maria Rilke * It seems appropriate that we, Ruth and Lorenzo, feel both sadness and joy as we close out this year of Rilke readings, translated by...
13 years ago
in search of white space

How To Live Without Violence, a poem to everyone i love: (with audio) - i will not straighten the books or clean the fridge. i will not mention what you have forgotten, nor will i think it. i will not pick crumbs from your shir...
14 years ago
The Poetry Society

The Poetry Society Members’ Site - This is an independent Poetry Society site set up by and for Members. Non-members are welcome and encouraged to join. See the About page for a link to the ...
14 years ago
Involutions and Revolutions

The Arrival of Summer - This is my first blog entry in nearly two months. The recent inactivity is mostly due to a new hobby of mine called blipping, which has consumed almost all...
14 years ago
Catapult to Mars

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Sailing Jolie Brise

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El Hombre de Rivera Oveja

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Alison Anderson

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The Gleam of Light on Water

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l'oeil libre

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