~130km by Bicycle in 4 Days

According to Lonely Planet, Bornholm is the sunniest part of Denmark. Not exactly a hard feat to achieve, but impressive none-the-less when our 4 day cycle trip around the island saw nothing but perfect sunny weather!

Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea that can be reached by a short 1 hour ferry ride from Ystad, on the Southern coast of Sweden. It's in the middle of the Baltic and its circumference is around 120km. It is a bit different to the rest of Denmark, both in terms of landscape (it actually has hills), architecture (walking through the villages is like stepping back in time) and the people (they are remarkably extroverted towards foreigners - at least compared to the mainlanders).

Nordsjælland

Gilleleje harbour-front

When a friend invited me for the weekend to her family's summer house on the North coast of Zealand (as opposed to the North island of New Zealand), I jumped at the opportunity. It wasn't quite summer weather - if anything, the weather was typical of Perth in the winter - however, that wasn't to deter me.

Danes (and I think Scandinavians in general) have a 'thing' about summer houses. Most family's have one somewhere or other, and there are many towns scattered all over the place (mainly beachside) which are specific summer house towns. In other words, they are zoned for houses which aren't permanent residences. In winter they are all but dead, and on beautiful summer weekends they come alive. The town we went to was Smidstrup, not far West of the more popular town of Hornbæk, As it wasn't really summer yet, the town was still quiet and we got to enjoy the area without the crowds.

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.

Too Political For This Blog?

I was sitting in Bangkok airport waiting for my flight to Dusseldorf when news came through that Osama Bin Laden has been killed. Within moments of the first rumours coming through on BBC, there were signs of cheering outside the White House, congratulations all around, and of course the self-congratulatory message from Obama followed soon after. The scenes from outside the White House looked as though a massive crowd of people had all together won a major lottery. Quite amazing I thought. But in all this, I had two thoughts:

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!

Wave Rock

Not quite on the childhood wish-list, but Wave Rock is something that has been mentioned for many years. In fact, 12 years ago when my mum and I drove across the Nullarbor, we considered 'stopping' at Wave Rock along the way. It was only a couple of hundred kilometres off the main road, but with over 3,000km ahead of us, we figured there would be enough driving. So it got put off. And now, finally, I made it there. There are some natrual formations in Australia which are extremely spectacular - Uluru is one of them. And then there are some which are definitely interesting, but one has to also appreciate the clever people who turn them into big tourist attractions. Wave Rock falls into the latter category. It was definitely interesting, and something qutie fascinating to behold, but on a totally different scale to something like Uluru or The Great Barrier Reef. Either way, it provided a great excuse for a proper family outing and a good flight.

Childhood Wish Come True

Throughout my childhood (ie., prior to the age of 25) there were a number of places I decided I just 'had' to go to, or experiences I had to feel, at some point in my life. Slowly slowly, I've been checking them off my list. Seing the Leaning Tower of Pisa and wandering around Venice were 2 items on that list that I managed to check off quite early, but others lingered on. Some of them I'm guessing I will never manage - such as walking on the moon or another planet, or even just piloting a jet beyond Mach 1. Now at least, another one is checked off - visiting the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

I could easily have spent a day at this place (and probably another day at the Udvar Hazy - the second Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in DC), but time was short and the crowds were almost unbearable. However, the main Air & Space Museum was amazing and seeing some real classics 'in the flesh' was quite an experience. Most notable, of course, was the Wright Brothers' Flyer. Talk about an impressive machine! Anyway, this is a place I would recommend for anyone who has even the slightest interest in aviation or aerospace - there are classics, early passenger aircraft, and modern day UAVs. The only dissappointing thing, is the reality, that so many of the aviation and technology advances advances on display are all related to finding better ways to kill people in war...

The weekend I spent in DC was the start of a 10 day work trip to New York (that obviously being a side trip). DC was absolutely packed as it was Spring Break and the Cherry Blossom Festival was in full bloom. Quite an amazing site (the cherry blossoms, not the throngs of people). DC is a rather interesting city - somewhere I could probably spend a week. The Holocaust Museum was the other main attraction I went to - extremely impressive (both the museum, and the fact that it was so packed!) It's a museum which although focuses on the Holocaust, deals a lot with genocide in general and they had an interesting exhibit which encompassed the recent atrocities in Rwanda and South Sudan.

Most of my time in the US, unfortunately, involved me being at work and dealing with the frustrations that are my job. Thankfully though, I got to spend the week with a good friend so it half felt like I was on holiday, and not just working. I had what is now my favourite New York experience of seeing a Broadway show (this time it was Catch Me If You Can - a musical I thoroughly enjoyed) and eating more than I need to. Of course there wasn't much idle time - between the working, eating, Natural History Museum and visit to Coney Island, there was only a bit of time left to sleep. A great trip overall. Not least because after the trip there was only 3 days back at work before heading off to spend 2 weeks of beach weather with my beloved Jessie...

The Highline - an old, disused elevated train line running along Western Manhatten has been converted into a park.