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No Tour: Naarm Day 2 and change
Soundtrack: “Changes”, David Bowie After a night of excellent sleep (sassy tracking bracelet’s words, not mine, though I felt I slept pretty well) I headed down to my regular little laneway breakfast cafe. A place where I’ve gone most trips in the past few years, where I can sit in a slightly untidy corner next to various boxes of ingredients, enjoy a spicy and hearty Eastern Mediterranean style pile of eggs and other yummy things (though checking back to my last visit I went with eggs benedict as they’d started drifting more Mexican inspired). This time around it’s more change, big change, under new management type of change. gone are…
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Iberian Sprint: Day 7 Seville
Soundtrack: “La Isla Bonita”, Madonna Our last full day in Seville. We started with a little wandering the local streets, a bit of shopping. As luck would have it, the nearest barbershop to out apartment was the eponymously names The Barber of Seville. I’ve been holding off on the shaving so that I could get a shave here, and when they said they could fit me in at midday it was perfect timing. I just hoped there wouldn’t be any singing, or at least I wouldn’t have to sing. We found a little place for breakfast not too far away, down a side street and while they had an English…
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Iberian Spring: Day 6 Seville
Soundtrack: flamenco clapping and stomping For our first full day in Seville we booked a food tour, a mix of culture, history and hopefully good things to eat. We met our guide P under Seville’s controversial Parasol or Setas (mushrooms), a huge wooden structure that dominates one of the old squares. The square has featured a marketplace for hundreds of years, but about 15-20 years ago the authorities decided to jazz the place up, held a competition that was won by a German architect, and the result was an over budget structure now known as the mushrooms. From here we headed off into the market under the mushrooms for a…
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Iberian Spring: Day 3 Lisbon
Soundtrack: “Six Months in a Leaky Boat” – Split Enz / “Folsom Prison Blues” – Johnny Cash (both preferably sung in portuguese fado style) While our Lisbon bed is a bit firmer, the pillows aren’t great, so I was awake early with a sore neck (and a touch of heartburn, likely from the copious amounts of cheese consumed yesterday). I used the time looking at nearby breakfast options that might have something gluten free on the menu, found a couple of possibles that might do something gf other than a couple of eggs. In the end my research wasn’t required as L had already picked out Chez Bea as they…
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Baltics24: Day 18 – Istanbul
And yet, despite everything, it’s still not Constantinople. I’m beginning to think that I can’t go back to Constantinople. Our last full day in Istanbul, and kind of the last day of the trip. Tomorrow morning we grab breakfast, then a car takes us to the airport, then the next stop is a couple of hours in Singapore before the final stretch home, where a dog should be very happy to see us. Today was all about commerce: Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul has been a centre for trade for a while, like most of its history. Marco Polo was here (though I don’t think he graffitied the Hagia Sofia). Out of all this…
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[NY Day 12] Catching up
Late checkout arranged. New suitcase bought. One Rueben on rye consumed (the Rueben weighed almost as much as the suitcase). Time for a brief pause as the sounds of New York assert themselves through the open window. Should probably catch up on the blogging. This is it, the last day in NYC. It’s been an amazing trip, seeing iconic landmarks, standing where the awesome and inspirational stood, often while people walked past, perhaps not knowing the esoteric history of the spot, possibly knowing and not caring, or possibly just quietly satisfied that their daily life takes them through such places. A lot of songs have been going through my head…
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[NYC Day 2] Downtown, the Village, On Broadway
I’m writing days 1 and 2 out of order because, basically, day 1 got a chunk written off in a migraine (then again, given I crossed about 13 time zones, it was a pretty long day). Dragged myself out of my migraine stupour and headed west in search of breakfast. I succeeded in the form of a ye olde style diner, with endless coffee refills and a menu out of what I imagine is the 1950s. This place perfectly fit the bill for my wants: coffee, no frills, and a solid plate of food (I skipped dinner last night). Went for the eggs, beef and hash or something: a couple…
