Out of Africa

Despite everyone still speaking French, Brussels, even if just for 60 hours, was a very pleasant change from Senegal. Although I thought I was getting away from the touts, the cheats, and the average person who simply wants to get your money - case in point, being cheated at the airport on the way out when I thought I was being nice by taking some Euros off a woman who I thought was given them as charity by arriving passengers and giving her CFA, only to find out later that she had substituted some Euro coins for similar looking worthless CFA coins – may be people like that burn in hell! – but back to the story. I was reminded, upon arrival in Brussels, that capitalism simply results in large, organised companies being evil and trying to rip you off rather than individuals doing it in a non-organised way. A coffee in a large cup at the coffee shop chain at the airport results in them taking it a little too literally – the cup is large, but the volume of coffee is slightly less than what would have fitted in the small cup. May that company suffer the wrath of the European financial crisis!

The Kindness of Senegalese (and work..)

The friendliness and generousity of people in Senegal cannot go unnoticed. Unfortuntaely, with my limited (or should I say, lack of) French, the only appreciation I seem to be able to show is "merci", or the occassional "merci beaucoup". It just doesn't seem to do it justice.

Bumper Cars in Dakar

Today I got a ride to my hotel with a Japanese woman in the office who happened to be leaving at the same time as me and heading in the same direction. When I mentioned that I thought she was brave to drive here, she told me that it's not so bad, and I only need to go to downtown to see 'bad' drivers. Wow! I've seen good-bad drivers (Israel), crazy-bad drivers (Bangkok), and now, scary-bad drivers (Dakar). There was certainly no need for the humanitarian aid agency I work for to have a rule about no driving when on deployment, there is no chance in hell I would chance it here!

White Out

Our village of Val d'Isere can be seen at the bottom of the valley.

Rather than waste precious electrons on the 'printed' word, I will let the photos do the talking here. One week snowboarding in the French Alps, right near the Italian border, with a good friend of mine from Australia, equals an awesome time, great boarding (for me, as an Australian, but I'm sure more fresh snow wouldn't have gone amiss), awesome food, lots of pains, and best of all, no fractured scaphoid!

Tasting Torino

Our four nights in Turin were meant to ease us into the holiday spirit prior to snow-boarding. However, both of us managed to come down with pretty bad colds which, if I were at home, would have been a great excuse to stay home in bed. However, I am not one to waste a good holiday, especially when it involves eating. I got the low-down on what to eat and where to eat it from a colleague of mine, and was ready to take all of his suggestions on board...

Piazza Castello and the Royal Palace

On The Top of The World

Trondheim - our last major stop

The Coastal Steamer has been running along the Norwegian coast for over 100 years. For the past few years, it has also been known as the Hurtigruten - the name of the most recent company to run the route. Every day, a ship calls in at each of the 34 ports. Each ship takes 11.5 days to sail the return trip from Bergen to Kirkenes. Whilst not designed as a tourist experience, tourists have become an integral part of the journey, I think, primarily, to keep the business afloat. The traditional role of delivering mail and goods, and ferrying locals is apparently not that lucrative. Anyway, we hopped on board the MS Richard With in Kirkenes for a 5 night journey down to Bergen. We didn't really know what to expect - apart from a lot of peace and quiet and some beautiful sights. What we got was so much more...

Making A Jewish Mother Proud - Bulgarian Style

This typical train station is indicative of my overall impression of
Communist buildings in Bulgaria...

Well, it seems like Jewish mothers have some competition - Bulgarians! Never would my mother be so proud of the way someone extended hospitality towards me and worried about me so much more than one would think possible, than with my friend and guide in Bulgaria.

Mineral water springs in the centre of the city - the locals are constantly
filling up water bottles to take home so they can enjoy the good minerals.

The warnings I got prior to and during my trip made me think I was entering the third world: Don't cross the street when the green man appears without first checking for cars (only to have my guide cross at a red light instead). Don't go north of this street, it's very dangerous. I wasn't allowed to walk around by myself at night. Warned about getting ripped off left, right and centre. Concerned that there were lots of ugly buildings around. Worried that I would be too busy and get tired. Concerned that there was more to see and do. Very tiring. But wow, what an absolute pleasure! My experience in Bulgaria could not have been better, and despite all the bad things I had heard from my friend, the country was a pleasant surprise for me.

Yet another great photo, thanks to my guide & photographer. This is the old mineral bath house

Munchin' in München

A very cool "map of Munich" for the blind - allowing them to
experience the city in 3D

Following the very 'business-like' city of Frankfurt, I moved on to the hustle and bustle of Munich. Once again I found myself in a hotel smack bang in the middle of the red light district - but the location really was convenient (for touring, not prostitution!)

Munich's maypole

Definitely a more exciting and lively city, Munich has a lot of character, is a great city to walk around, and has plenty of things to keep one entertained. My first day was really a 'walking and exploring' day, though prior to this, I got my first pleasant surprise....

Despite the concept of the EU, commodities and services can vary so significantly in price within the zone. My gold chain required a new clip - a tiny pice of 14 carat gold. In Denmark, this was going to cost DKK 650 (~EUR 85). The chain itself probably cost slightly less than that around 10 years ago. The argument presented to me by the jeweller was the increase in the price of gold over that period. The same component in Munich, EUR 25. Holy cow! So, there I was, off to a good start already with EUR 60 in my pocket...

The Spanish Revolution

My first real taste of Spain was all I had hoped it would be. I think I got a bit of a whiff of the culture during my travels in South America, and getting to know some Spaniards quite well during my time in Copenhagen imparted nothing but positive impressions, so I was eager to visit. Well, I most certainly was not disappointed. My good friend Carlos invited me and his house-mate Nico, to join him on a trip to his home town, Madrid. We had 4 full days there and did not waste a moment...
Within a couple of hours of arriving in town we were off to the city centre to watch a flamenco show and eat our first of many tapas meals. Amazing! The music and dancing was fantastic, and although put on for the tourists, I can't complain because it was a great introduction to the dancing and the music - definitely lively, definitely entertaining, and put together with quality food and beer, the night was perfect.

Diving the Similans

There is something quite magical about a country where people will quite happily try and rip you off to your face, but if you turn your back, they will not steal a penny from you. This is what I love about Thailand. Since my first visit to the country I've loved the place. On my first night there I went out for dinner at a restaurant just down the road from where I was staying. Having flown through the previous night I wasn't exactly 100% awake, and when the bill arrived, I left THB 180 (or at least I thought I did) on the table and left. A few metres from my room I hear someone calling after me - the middle aged waitress who had served me had run a couple of hundred metres after me to chase me down. I had mistakenly left THB 580 (~AU$18) on the table instead of THB 180 (~AU$6). Wow! Talk about service!

Nang Thong Beach @ Khao Lak - all to myself!

Chicken & waffles

While strolling through Harlem on the weekend, I decided to stop at a small take-away/diner for some lunch. I was hungry. But couldn’t decide what I felt like, so decided to pick something random. The place I walked into offered Chicken, fish and waffles. I figured it would be a standard take-away joint that also sold desserts, perfect. Much to my surprise though, there were no desserts, waffles formed part of the main dish! Although I got myself a standard chicken and chips (though I did try the ‘jerked’ chicken, having no idea what it meant – and I’m still not quite sure what it means), the guy at the counter next to me had what seemed to be the standard dish there: deep fried chicken together with large thick waffles. The waffles then got saturated with butter and maple syrup and formed part of the main meal eaten with the chicken! Wow! Not even I could stomach that!

On the subject of weird things in New York, I still can’t get over the role of doormen here. While I think I have been convinced somewhat of their usefulness (added security, someone to sign for parcels when you’re not in, etc), I’m really not sure I get the utility (efficiency?) of the doormen in the building I’m staying. Mainly because more often than not there are 2 on duty. In the evenings, one of them seems to be permanently assigned to operate the elevator as if the people who live here are incapable of pressing numbered buttons themselves! And this is a relatively small apartment building – 25 floors or so and about 5 apartments per floor. Talk about a waste of money!