Recently in Travel Category

All the items I put up for auction a while back were sold. So here's another thing that needs a good home. It's my gorgeous black/grey Crumpler Stripper Ripper, a photo and laptop bag. It fits a 17" laptop, 1 camera body, up to 4 lenses, cables and accessories or your toiletries, magazines, and carry on clothing. It is so awesome I'd be married to it, if it weren't just a tad too big and too heavy for me when packed.
You'll find the auction on Marktplaats. I paid around 120 Euro for it and I used it only once. Bidding starts at 60 euro. Click through to see the inside.

I used to have a handful of Belgian readers. Wonder if they're still around.

Next week I'll be travelling to Gent (Ghent? I never know whether or not to slot an 'h' in in English) for a two-day stay (we'll be going to this event, do come too if you like Shakespeare and don't mind listening to some utterly depressing music) and I've been trying to research good places to eat, but personal recommendations are always best.

The last time I was in Gent was November 27, 1995. I can't remember where I ate that time, but it may have been the café at Vooruit. So... if anyone can recommend a good eatery in Gent, perhaps Italian, perhaps not, let's hear it!

Oh, and if you happen to have a copy of this week's Focus Knack magazine... check out the four-page interview with the man and a full page photograph + smaller one both taken by me. I haven't seen it yet myself. You can see a preview on the Focus Knack website, but I don't have access to the larger pdf files.

I joined Dopplr today. It's a place to share your trips and travels with friends...

... just having started a new job, I'm not going to be doing a lot of travelling any time soon. So I'll be gnashing my teeth watching other people's journeys.

Lemme know if you want in.

I haven't said much about my trip to the South of France. Not like three years ago when I kept a diary during the holiday and posted it when I got back. I tried to do that again, but my notebook has exactly one page filled.


If I ever go again, I'll skip Nice. I should have remembered that from 2004. I don't really like the place very much. I could have spent a lot more time in Marseille, somewhere I feel quite at home. I wish I had. I could have spent more time relaxing too.


It wasn't until the final days that I started to be not so stressed. Maybe I was a little too active. Up at the crack of dawn to take pictures. Walking everywhere, even if the locals said where I was going was too far to walk. It never was.

I'll remember the stunning Cocteau church in Villefranche and the evening boat trip off the coast of Marseille where, for a short while, I befriended a Parisian English-teacher who said 'actually' every other sentence. The teacher, the  Polish lecturer with the weirdest speech impediment - imagine the Welsh LL-sound, every other word - and I drank our complimentary wine while the sun set slowly behind the Frioul Islands.

Perhaps the best part was the 1st class train ride back to Paris and from there to Brussels. Will absolutely choose to do that again over flying, if time permits. Trains are good.

But now I have started my new job. I am soaking in a new environment and new tasks to do. It doesn't quite feel like I have a shorter commute just yet, the extra hours sleep are needed for my brain and body to recover.


It looks like I'll want to be in Dublin about three weeks from now, it's that time of year again. I haven't got the date yet, but unless it's on a weekend, I've no chance of going. I'll be there in spirit.

Picture sets:

• Marseille
• Vieux Nice
• Nice (black and white)
  

It struck me just now that I am more active during my holidays than I am at home. I've been back since Tuesday afternoon and have done sweet f.a. since. Hanging out online all day, twittering, editing a few pictures, chatting to a friend, eating and going to bed very, very late.

In France I woke up early most mornings, sometimes before dawn. I'd break fast soberly with some french bread and a few bites of Comte cheese, or a little bit of yoghurt. By noon, I would have been out walking and taking pictures for four hours or more. After lunch, I would pick another part of town to explore. I'd walk around till dinner time, feed myself, chill out a bit and be in bed before 10pm.

I do everything arseways.

Am away till September 4, but I might send some pictures to my Flickr account and will probably Twitter too.

Or maybe you'll spot me on one of the Nice webcams.

While I'm gone, here's something to keep you occupied: on the 28th (that's Tuesday) you should be able to download a lovely mp3 of the classic 'Singing in the Rain' (as interpreted by GF) from Lemonland.net. I'll link to the news item, but you may have to go to the site's front page to find it.

I'm not sure if it's a one day only download or whether they're going to keep it up there, so I'm going to try to download it later today if I find a good internet place in Nice. If that doesn't work I'm going to have to rely on one of you to do the honours for me.

For reasons known only to myself (I'm baffled), for my holidays next week I've decided to fly into Nice and then travel back via Marseille, Paris and Brussels. I fly in on Tuesday 28th, will stay in Nice for a few days, move on to Marseille on the 31st, stay a few more days and then from there take a train down to Paris, where - after a three hour break - it's off to Brussels, arriving in the early evening. I'm travelling first class, so it should be fairly comfortable.

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From there I have two options. Go straight on to Amsterdam, which is another three hour trip, or stay over in Brussels, and the next day go photo hunting and have lunch at Scheltema before catching the train back home.

... can't seem to make up my mind.

Did you see what I did there? Embedded a Google Map.

I'm off to the South of France next week and was researching my trip online. Found this on Wikitravel, among recommended drinking places for the city of Nice:

Ma Nolan's [6] - Right in the heart of the 'Old Town' and next to the opera, Ma Nolan's has everything you would expect from an Irish pub and more. Live music every night, major sporting events on 4 screens, really good food and very friendly staff. This place is a must.

Why anyone would want to go to an Irish pub outside of Ireland in the first place I find less and less easy to understand as I grow older, but really... four screens of sporting events?

Thanks, I think I'll pass.