Category Archives: Travel

Gelato and culture in Venice

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I’ve been thinking so much about returning to Italy this year. It has been a couple of years since I’ve visited and whilst I love Venice, it is probably time to visit somewhere new.  Sitting here thinking about my holidays and travel plans for the next six months, it felt like a nice time to do a bit of a Throwback Thursday to gelato and pizza.

Pretty much any post about Venice focuses first on the gondolas. So I thought I’d do something a bit different and mention the cramped stores in cobbled streets that have an amazing display of masks. The Masquerade ball was a huge part of Renaissance Italy and I love the intricacy and delicacy of the masks on display.

MasquaradeMasquerade Dress

I just loved walking the streets peering in windows, and it certainly goes on my things to do in Venice list.

There is simply so much culture and architecture to absorb, it is almost impossible to do in a single trip. Everywhere you look, you remember why Italy was the hub of culture at one point in time. It is so unique, so beautiful, that I’ve never been to anywhere in the world that has moved me as much in this way.

Venice architecture

Admit it though, this is the real reason you’re still reading. The food porn shot. No memories of Venice would be complete without memories of gelato, sold on every street, a swathe of colours and flavours.

Mmmmmmm gelato

Mmmmmmm gelato

St Marks Square is a tourist hotspot and everything costs up to four times the price you would be charged elsewhere, but sometimes it’s worth it. I loved getting a cone, a couple of flavours and then walking to bench somewhere in the sun and just soaking up the atmosphere. If you go at the height of the season it can be uncomfortably manic. At quieter times though, if the sun gods still shine down on you, it can be a little piece of paradise…

Vancouver Water

Must do attractions in Vancouver

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It’s got to that time of year again when I start thinking about holidays. Who am I kidding? It is always that time of year. So, instead of moping around and dreaming of sunshine, I thought I’d do another little Throwback Thursday post.

Canada, oh Canada.

Grouse Mountain

 

You would never think that this is within spitting distance of the city itself. Grouse Mountain is a must do  if you ever did yourself in Vancouver. Unfortunately, we were there in a strange lull between spring and summer, so not all of the attractions were open and the bears didn’t look massively chuffed about life. I have a distinct memory of the coffee at the top not being that great either, but do with that piece of information what you will. Nevertheless, there is breathtaking beauty in this part of the world, and you don’t have to travel into the wilds to find it. The lack of man-made entertainment actually allowed us to focus on the natural wonders around us instead.

Capilano Suspension Bridge was actually one of my favourite touristy type attractions. I even got over my fear of heights enough to look down from a few hundred feet up:

 

Trusty Converse as always

Trusty Converse as always

In fact, my current profile pic was taken on the bridge itself. I’m almost smiling, so you know it must’ve been good. It doesn’t look too scary until you’re actually up on it, and then you get to swaying and bouncing all over the place. There was a lot of screaming. Not from me, obviously.

So that’s my little trip down memory lane and into Vancouver. If you go, those are two must do things.

Plus Tim Horton’s.

*sigh* now I’m missing Timbits as well as holidays…

 

The majesty of Doubtful Sound, New Zealand

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It’s been a while since I’ve done a tbt for the Antipodean part of the world, so I thought I’d take a quick trip down memory lane to Doubtful Sound.

As this time last year I was landing in Christchurch for my writing sabbatical, the one thing I wanted to do most was make sure I travelled down the southern island to visit this unique part of the world.

Doubtful Sound (and it’s neighbour, the better known Milford Sound) is pretty much as far south as you can get in the world without setting foot in Antarctica. Not always easy to get to, it was a place I couldn’t reach the last time I was in New Zealand because that would have required all kinds of snow chains and adventuring in a campervan that I wasn’t quite ready for. This time I managed to get there during late Spring which meant the destination itself was the focus, and not the hair raising attempts to get there. Which is good, because the place itself is so remote and peaceful, those were the feelings I wanted to take away with me.

Doubtful Sound

 

The weather wasn’t the greatest, but as it is one of the wettest places in the country, the fact it hadn’t rained for nearly three weeks was being considered a drought. Of course, given our gift of making rain happen, we soon brought the spell of good weather to an end as we set sail into the low hanging mist.

Doubtful Sound Boat

 

The thing about the Sounds in New Zealand is that they have very little top soil, with the hard bedrock of the mountain being just below the surface. This means that even a moderate amount of rainfall causes the steep mountainsides to erupt in an abundance of waterfalls. Despite the cold and wet, as night began to fall we took some kayaks and went off to see these up close and personal. The silence was astounding. There were only fifty or so of us within miles and no other manmade sound.

Waterfalls of Doubtful Sound

If there is any possibility left for peace and quiet on earth, I think this is where I would always like to find it.

For anyone thinking of travelling to this part of the world, I would definitely recommend it. Having spoken to a lot of people, Doubtful Sound jumped to the top of the list over Milford Sound, which is a bit more of a commercial operation. To fully experience the qualities this part of the world can bring, the fewer the numbers with you the better. You can get all the loud hijinks you want later as you travel back up to Queenstown.

The best city on earth: Sydney

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Sydney Opera House

Given the events of this week, it seemed a perfect choice to do a Throwback Thursday to Sydney. Sydney was my home for a while a few years ago, and a place I’ve once again visited in the past six months. In fact, as I sat here twelve months ago, the plan was to be living in Sydney right now. So the siege this week was something I saw with the detached sense of someone who wasn’t there, but could quite easily  place myself at the scene mentally.

The ‘I’ll ride with you‘ hashtag, appearing so quickly and easily during the events, reminded me of why I love Australia (and Aussies) so much. While much of Europe takes its typical approach to these sorts of things – I’m thinking the approach that always seems to lead to war – and America certainly isn’t much better, Australia instead embraced the theory of mateship that it knows itself for. No one needed to feel unsafe because of the actions of a madman. We’re all in this together. Not send them back to their own country or they’re all coming over here and stealing our jobs/benefits. It is a different culture. A different world. One which is far away, but always in my heart.

This is how it looked when I first saw it and digital cameras were very much in their infancy. There is something about being in Sydney that is so unique – there is no way you can confuse it with any other part of the world:
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Sydney is my favourite city in the world. I’m not a huge fan of cities. I never dreamed as a kid of wrapping up all my possessions in a knapsack and leaving home to find my fortune with the big lights. But Sydney gets so many things right it’s hard not to fall in love with it a little bit more every time.

Sydney Water Views

Of course, the fallout from one madman’s events will continue to land for a while to come. I just hope that the people of Sydney are able to continue with their first response of compassion and understanding as the grief rolls through.

It’s no understatement that my time in Sydney went a long way towards shaping who I wanted to be and what I wanted from my life, in terms of quality, writing, experiences and relationships. And this summer, when I walked back to Manly Wharf, it was a place that still felt like home…

Manly Wharf

Traveler’s nightmare: Thanksgiving in Miami

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I thought I would do a special tbt today, in honour of the only time I’ve actually been in America for Thanksgiving. The holiday as a whole was amazing, but Thanksgiving, not so much. It’s easy to see why.

Thanksgiving is like Christmas. It’s a time to be with family. It is not a time to be a tourist alone looking for a restaurant that will serve you the closest thing to a traditional dinner. That is my strongest memory of Thanksgiving. The whole nightmare that was the restaurant.

But first, the positives. In November, when it would be grey and rainy and generally miserable back home in England, at least I was waking up to this view:

Miami Beach

 

So no complaints there.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Rascal House. Why? It was near, it wasn’t too expensive and most importantly, it was open.

It was also the worst experience I’ve ever had eating in America, and that includes the time we were accosted by a crazy lady wearing a wedding dress in a McDonald’s in downtown LA. True story. Who knew someone could care so much about chicken nuggets on their imaginary wedding day?

Anyway, the food was mediocre at best, and looked like it had been carefully plated from a distance of about six feet by someone with a slightly better than average pitching arm. It was the kind of food you poke at suspiciously when it comes out, making sure there are no nasty surprises underneath.

Perhaps the waitress delivering it – the one with the twitch and track marks of a seasoned heroin user – was another reason I was uncertain. In fairness, she looked like she wanted to be there less than anyone else in the room, and that’s saying something.

Waiting for my pumpkin pie (I wasn’t going to have anything else now, was I?) gave me even more opportunity to look around the room. The restaurant was actually rammed, but I’m assuming by the conversations I overheard that it was full of families who didn’t want to be with each other enough to cook and invite their relatives into their actual homes. Several arguments, a sense of seething animosity that cut through the air – it was like being in one of those hidden camera shows of the 80s, but with a stronger hint of desperation and danger.

The pumpkin pie, as it turns out, was not worth waiting for either. Forgive my British assumptions, but I thought it was meant to be sweet. And cooked.

Luckily, we could see the funny side (maybe the waitress did slip something into the gravy after all) and spent much of the meal in fits of giggles as we watched one disaster unfold after another.

The best bit of the whole day was grabbing a beer and watching the football game back at the hotel room. But it was certainly one of those once in a lifetime experiences.

My favourite things about New York

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A quick Throwback Thursday to one of my favourite cities in the world.

I’m lucky enough to have been to New York three times. The first time was filled with relatively unhappy memories as it was in the wake of my father’s death and I was taking his place. That still feels like a painful tug at the heart, but I’m happy I got to see New York when the twin towers were still there.

New York is the setting for at least three of the stories I’ve written and I suspect it will be in many more. It has everything you need as a backdrop.

I’ve done New York in the winter and it was the perfect place for Christmas shopping. I have to say, it was probably the one time where something was as romantic as it is portrayed in the movies. Christmas trees, the displays in Macy’s, skating in central park. Not to mention my favourite picture taken from there, a winter sunset from the Empire State Building:

Sunset in New York

For me, that photo really captures what is special about New York. It is standing there, proud on the river, no matter what, and I can’t wait to go back again.

New Zealand must do activity: Mount Cook Stargazing

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Last week I did my quarterly review and it was incredible to reflect on all the changes that have happened in my life this year. So I thought I would do a Throwback Thursday to one of the most amazing experiences I had shortly before leaving New Zealand back in July.

Of course, July is Winter down under, so whilst my friends from the northern hemisphere were cheerily talking about the prospect of a long and warm summer, I was travelling to the snowcapped peaks of Mt Cook.

Mt Cook Stargazing

 

I was there to do the Mt Cook Stargazing Experience and I can hand-on-heart say that if you are ever in that part of the world, it is a must do. I’m known to be a bit hard to please sometimes (who doesn’t demand perfection every now and then? ahem), but I would truly give this experience 5 stars. I was completely blown away. Plus, it’s a handy stop off between Christchurch and Queenstown, so you’d really have no reason not to.

Attached to the in-the-middle-of-nowhere, zero light pollution hotel, is the Sir Edmund Hillary museum. Apparently, despite his own rather well known adventures, Mt Cook remained his favourite mountain. Which makes it pretty special when you think about it. I love the way his statue faces outwards towards it, with a faint sense of longing.

Mt Cook Star Gazing

 

Such longing is inspirational, but I’m not foolish enough to grab a set of crampons and go crazy climbing. I did manage to do a bit of a hilly walk though before the sun began to set. Which was amazingly beautiful in itself.

 

Mt Cook Stargazing

Once it is dark, part of the experience is an hour talk explaining the universe. I found it fascinating, and clearly everyone else in there did as well, regardless of age or culture. It was a great way to prepare for what lay outside, a short drive away.

As part of the experience, they set up astronomy telescopes to be able to see planets. The stars themselves need no such human intervention. The last time I saw stars like that, I was out in the middle of the ocean in a sailboat. The amount of light pollution on this planet is astounding and I’m sad that, despite all my travels, I’ve never been able to see a sky like that in the northern hemisphere. Without a proper night camera I couldn’t get a photo worth putting up here, so I will simply have to do my best to describe it.

Remember those huge pieces of black cardboard they used to have in school when you were a little kid? You’d put transparent glue on there and then throw silver glitter in what you thought was an artistic fashion, but was in fact too much to create anything but a mass of sparkle. Then you’d get that one kid who wouldn’t shake the pot gently over the paper, but instead fling it straight out with a stiff arm so there was just a thick line of glitter through the middle…

….that was the Milky Way I got to see that night.

Visiting the top of the earth. Alaska

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Today’s Throwback Thursday: Alaska.

IMG_6192

 

 

Irrespective of anything else crazy that happened this year, Alaska has been on the cards for a long time. Mainly because I was starting to get cynical about whether or not there would actually be any ice left if I waited until retirement. Okay, that is a gross exaggeration, but there were reminders everywhere of just how much ice has indeed receded over the past 20 years.

I was writing a story about the Alaska/Canada border while I was here, so technically this should count as research. Hopefully I managed to get more of a real feel for the place by actually being there than I would have done relying on my imagination alone.

Right in the middle of the picture you can see some mini icebergs that are the most vivid aquamarine. Maybe turquoise. It’s hard to say, because it was a colour so pure it almost defies belief. My humble iPhone fails to do it justice. But that is why I love getting into the great outdoors to experience the wonder of nature whenever I can:

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The best place in New Zealand: Lake Tekapo

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Thinking a little bit about Throwback Thursday made me realise that even in the space of less than a year, there have been so many twists and turns that it seems to be okay to do a throwback to only about three months ago. Specifically, to here:

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This is Lake Tekapo and is one of my favourite places ever. If you look closely, you can see the tiny chapel in the middle. Talk about views from the pews. It was one of my favourites from New Zealand when I was over there a decade ago, so going back this time was something special. Only a few hours outside Christchurch, but it felt like another world away from the construction and the temporariness of life there. It was a quite place, where I could get out a notepad and just mull over ideas and life in general.

Over time it had changed a little bit, but I was lucky enough to go there three separate times this year.

NZ wasn’t the place I needed to be any more, but I do miss the lakes and the mountains on a blue sky day…

World’s Cutest Library, Banks Peninsula

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I have officially found the world’s cutest library:

 

photo

 

How adorable is that? It’s in Tai Tapu village, which you can find on the main road out of Christchurch to the Banks Peninsula. In a country whose European heritage is actually not that old, it was quite a find. The building itself is not actually that old (1932) but having spent so much time in a place where pretty much everything has been levelled, I was thrilled to find it at all.

Plus the lady in their was lovely, offering to take out a book for me in her name. She was happy for me to just meet up with her in Christchurch and hand it back over at some point when I was done with it. This was the Kiwi friendliness that I remember from last time.

Plus, there’s a nice cafe on the corner, so you can completely justify making the trip if you have a nice brunch. Calories are free when you support local libraries, honest.