The 2025 vintage of Bubbles & Brucey’s European Travels (and wine tastings). Grab a glass of your favourite vintage and read along for their adventures to Italy, Iceland, UK, Ireland, Malta, Sicily, Turkey & more. Read below all current posts, more to come!
# 13 Puglia Calling Us Back Part 2 – Matera
Welcome back to When Wine Calls – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”. On arrival in Matera it was like the logistics in Vieste with us driving to a private parking yard on the outskirts of town and catching a minibus to our hotel in the Old Town. Experiencing the bus driver negotiate the skinny roads up…
# 12 Puglia Calling Us Back – Part 1
The flight from Catania to Bari was only a short one so it was extremely humorous when the flight attendant came over the PA advising that we could purchase drinks and food during the flight. He quickly realised his mistake although did not admit it, coming back on the PA a short time later stating…
#11 Sicily Calling Part 2
Welcome back to When Wine Calls – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”. Leaving Cefalu we got back onto the highway and continued heading west to the coastal town of Trapani. As we approached the outskirts of Palermo, we encountered heavy traffic emerging onto the highway from the city centre with cars suddenly going in all directions…
# 10 Sicily Calling Part 1
Welcome back to When Wine Calls – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”. Approaching Catania Airport, the towering peak of Mt Etna is striking and unmistakeable commanding your attention in comparison to the surrounding landscape. Seeing it for the first time was exhilarating and we could not wait to land and experience adventuring on its slopes in…
# 9 Malta Calling
Welcome back to When Wine Calls – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”. We had long been interested in travelling to Malta but decided we had to include the island into our itinerary after our neighbours visited there last year. In researching the logistics to get there we discovered there was a direct flight from Dublin to…
# 8 Ireland Calling – Part 2
Welcome back to When Wine Calls – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”.The next stop on our Ireland adventure was Galway located on the coast along the Wild Atlantic Way. The Wild Atlantic Way is a 2500 Km driving route along Ireland’s west coast stretching from County Donegal to County Cork with Galway marking the halfway point. …
#7 Ireland Calling Part 1
Welcome back to When Wine Calls – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”. We had not been to Ireland since early 1990 when our son was very young and then only for a short visit to see some family friends and a brief, albeit failed attempt to see the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. This time…
#6 English Countryside Calling – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”
Welcome back to When Wine Calls – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”. We love travelling into the English Countryside when we visit the UK and in particular staying in a traditional inn with their homely, quaint and warm atmosphere, welcoming staff as well as friendly other guests. It is this feeling of relaxation and the opportunity…
#5 London Calling, Only a Brief Stopover This Time – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”
Welcome back to When Wine Calls – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”. Following our unbelievable experience in Iceland we reluctantly said goodbye and boarded the Icelandair flight to London Gatwick. In all our previous visits to London we had never passed through London Gatwick, so it was interesting to compare it to London Heathrow where we…
#4 Iceland Calling, Part 2 – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”
Welcome back to When Wine Calls – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour” and our continuing travels along the Golden Circle of Iceland. After leaving the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon we drove back along the highway towards the quaint town of Vik. Along the way we stopped off at the breathtaking Lomagnupur Mountain, one of the most recognisable…
#3 Iceland Calling, Part 1 – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”
Welcome back to When Wine Calls – “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”. We had been wanting to travel to Iceland ever since our adult children had travelled there 18 months ago after joining us in Austria for our White Christmas – read our 2025 The Winter Grape Tour for more detail on that fabulous trip The difference,…
#2 Milan Calling – “2025 Wine Aficionados Tour”
Welcome back to “When Wine Calls” as we set off on our “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”. As mentioned in our Prologue this was our first time visiting Milan, so we were quite excited on arriving to spend a few days in this fascinating city. We arrived early morning into Malensa Airport affectionally known as MXP…
When Wine Calls “2025 Wine Afficionados Tour”
#1 Prologue Welcome back to “When Wine Calls”. Those of you who have followed our blogs in recent years will recall our fantastic When Wine Calls “The Summer Vintage Tour” in 2023. What a memorable trip it was. Later that year we headed back to Europe on “The Winter Grape Tour” for a memorable “White…
When Wine Calls 