Julie Dawn Fox's Page

The last thing I expected to see in the grid of shopping streets in Lisbon's Baixa district was a couple of men in hessian suits wearing blood red devil masks. They weren't alone, either. A very odd couple with distorted, bubble gum pink papier maché faces danced past me and the other bemused onlookers to the beat of the drums of a marching band.…

The rejuvenating properties of white cement are noticeable in the lakeside town of Santa Comba Dão (aka the 'Princess of the Dão) in central Portugal. Like botox for buildings, the cement has been used extensively to smooth out the deep gaps that had formed between the granite blocks of traditional buildings. The rough stones are now boldly outlined in white, creating a lace-like effect around the smaller ones and a dramatic background for the chunkier…

An attempt to beat the crowds at last year's international chocolate festival in Óbidos backfired on me. Having been warned that the town's narrow medieval streets would be teeming with families on Sunday afternoon, I decided to delay my visit until the following day, hoping things would be a bit calmer.

I arrived on Monday morning to find the town almost deserted except for gangs of cleaners busy removing sticky  chocolate-smeared and cherry-stained rubbish from the gutters and…

A while ago, I promised to have a go at the A to Z of Travel that's been going around so here it is.

A: Age you started travelling?

The first time I flew, I was 23 and on a package holiday to one of the Greek islands. I realised during that trip I could travel on my own but I didn’t really start…