There are some things that are so beyond the range of your normal tourist sightseeing that it's hard to do them justice in a blog post. Of course, experiences like swimming under a two-thousand-year-old Roman aqueduct spanning the river Gard near Nîmes in southern France, or emerging from the labyrinthine arches of Córdoba's Mezquita into … Continue reading The Pyramids of Teotihuacán
Ciudad de México, the town they call CDMX
Well, we flew in on a redeye from LA, having spent three days in the Californian desert, and were met by our friend Luis's dad, Luis, at Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México (the city goes by the abbreviation of CDMX nowadays more than the older 'DF', which stands for Distrito Federal. And yes, it's usually … Continue reading Ciudad de México, the town they call CDMX
Guanajuato, city of Don Quixote
Guanajuato twists and turns, soars and plunges. Callejones empedradas - cobblestoned laneways - descend into plazuelas and teatros. Tunnels, once rivers, convey the newly-arrived visitor on an old green boneshaker from the bus station through improbably narrow calles, past a statue of what looks like Don Quixote, and into the crowded pavements of the centro historico. … Continue reading Guanajuato, city of Don Quixote
Show Your Kids the World
Things have been pretty quiet since we've been back - we've slotted back into everyday life almost like we never left. Now, that's not necessarily a good thing and we still have the travel urge so we've been planning for the future. One thing that enabled our long trip as a family was work exchange … Continue reading Show Your Kids the World
The Mountains on the Way Up
The Ivory Curl trees were in full bloom the day we drove to the mountains. Other than Milano's on the Mall after work on a Friday, the loose scattering of odd-shaped volcanic plugs called the Glasshouse Mountains are one of my favourite places in Queensland. Driving up to the Sunshine Coast these past few weekends, Mt. Tibrogargan always catches me … Continue reading The Mountains on the Way Up
Sunday morning, Alexandra Headland
Walking over the rocks that separate Alexandra Headland from Mooloolaba I nearly stood on a sea snake. I made sure it was dead before inspecting it closely. It was silver, with dark bands, and up close you could see it had non-overlapping hexagonal scales. They weren't perfect, however; it was as if they came from the … Continue reading Sunday morning, Alexandra Headland
On the good ship Gráinne Mhaol
The Mooloolah river flows into the Coral Sea just south of the seaside town of Mooloolaba. In its final half kilometre it wraps around a spit, enveloping the boats anchored in Mooloolaba Marina that stick out into it on hundred-metre-long arms. On arm C of the Marina is a thirty-five-or-so foot yacht called the Gráinne … Continue reading On the good ship Gráinne Mhaol
From Zakynthos to Athens
A krasáki at Kolonáki We left Zakynthos the old-fashioned way: by ferry and bus to Athens. There's nothing like being on the water to make you feel like you're leaving or arriving on an island - coming by plane just can't compare. On a calm sea we slowly watched Zakynthos turn into a hazy blur on the horizon, a … Continue reading From Zakynthos to Athens
The end of a long road
It’s nearly time to leave Zákynthos. Our year-and-a-half-long odyssey to Europe is nigh-on over. What a time we’ve had! And yes, I can feel another book about Zákynthos, or better, about the whole trip, coming on. View of Ναύαγιο When we got back here, after leaving Ireland, and spending six weeks in France and Italy, people … Continue reading The end of a long road
A little tour of the Alpilles
Our couchsurf near Salon-de-Provence was perfectly situated for day tours into the hill towns of Provence. Our first tour was to be of the Alpilles, a long limestone range full of olive trees, vineyards and medieval towns. We got off to a bit of a bumpy start, circumnavigating Salon a couple of times before finding the correct road. … Continue reading A little tour of the Alpilles
