The place was dusty, almost as grainy as my memories of being in Barra de Navidad over 32 years ago.
The place looked familiar, and at the same time it didn’t. The same can be said about the traveller as well.
Barra de Navidad is a small beach town located about two and a half hours south of Puerto Vallarta, an hour north of Manzanillo and about a 5-hour drive from Guadalajara. [continue reading…]
Dublin reminds me of a well-worn tee-shirt. A very comfortable, old favourite, threadbare shirt sporting a few holes.
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Although it is a 45 minute drive from the center of Rome, Trevignano Romano is officially within the boundaries of Metropolitan Rome.
The city of Rome is an amazing place to visit, we were there for the first time in May 2023 and were blown away. As the locals say nonchalantly “Rome is Rome”.
Venturing out of the City of Rome is also rewarding for travellers.
We ventured North to Trevignano Romano, located on Lake Bracciano. We spent a month here in late May early June 2023. [continue reading…]
I have been to Italy once before in 2012 and Rome was never really on the radar.
In May 2023 we spent 4 days in Rome being tourists before we started a housesit in Trevignano Romano, 45 minutes north of the city.
Impressions of my first visit to Rome Italy.
Rome is a city that displays simultaneous elements of disciplined geometry and organic randomness. Some of the buildings employ amazing geometry, on the other hand life in the streets is wonderfully disordered.
The city is like a living museum – a cross between an exhibition and a living room.
Everywhere you look there is something of interest, around every corner there is a building that inspires awe. There are fantastic details hidden in obscure corners.
One of the reasons I love to travel is it allows me to constantly view the world with fresh eyes.
Familiarity has a tendency to erase the obvious; the world can lose its sparkle and become dull after a while.
Seeing different sights, hearing new languages, and walking upon new terrain keeps things fresh, so routine things are never really become routine.
Impressions of Istanbul
Europe’s largest city has almost 16 million inhabitants.
Istanbul is at the cross roads between Europe and Asia. The city straddles the Bosphorus Strait with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia. This prime, enviable location has resulted in a city up to it armpits in history, with civilization built upon civilization.
Impressions of Dubai
We stopped in Dubai for a few days in April 2023 to break up the trip from Hanoi to Istanbul.
My first impression of Dubai is how clean it is, after South East Asia it was a pleasant change. It was wonderful to be able to sit by a waterway and actually be able to see the water – not rafts of garbage, and not have your guts heave and twist with the smell.
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