All tagged Travel

Ethiopia in transit

Ethiopia in transit

Gerald FitzGerald
Africa, Ethiopia, Photography, Travel

Long, long day. Lufthansa to Frankfurt in Business and then a flight to Addis with a stop in Khartoum en route, also Lufthansa Business. In the 24 hours leading up to departure I had my usual fit of nostalgia and early homesickness. Weird but I guess it's good to get it out of the way early so that it doesn't actually get in the way while on the road. Nevertheless it is inevitable, no matter how many times I travel, that I always get homesick before I leave. Once underway all is good, but the preliminary pre-departure mood always includes a significant component of early homesickness, nostalgia for my cats and a deep sense of wonder about quite why I'm doing this. I find that as I'm getting older this mood comes earlier and is more intense; I suppose that the logical extension is that one day I may just say, enough, I'd rather stay home with the cats and rip up the tickets. Mood always passes but.....

Buenos Aires - Day 1

Buenos Aires - Day 1

Gerald FitzGerald
Argentina, Buenos Aires, Food, Photography, Road Trip, Travel

Arrived on Friday morning after a relatively easy 10 hour flight. Have reached the conclusion that if you have to fly, and as exciting as I still find it after many years, it's getting to be a real PIA, the ideal flight crosses only 1 or 2 time zones, is an overnight flight, there are lie-flat beds available and is about 10 hours long. Using that yardstick the Houston-BA flight was ideal. Departed at 9PM had a large glass of red wine after take-off, refused dinner, laid my bed down flat, sleepmask on and a sleeping pill ingested I slept for a solid 7 hours. Awoke to a hot breakfast and shortly afterwards landed with virtually no jetlag since we crossed only 2 time zones. Met Hugh of McDermott's Argentina at the airport and spent a pleasant couple of hours driving to our hotel, having lunch and comparing adventures. Hugh is a widely-experienced young guy whose adventures have led him from a childhood in Dorset, to horse rearing on the Masi Mara in Kenya, to riding his horse Pancho across the Andes and riding from the northern top of Argentina to the southern bottom end....

Paris - Days One and Two

Paris - Days One and Two

Gerald FitzGerald
Food, France, Photography, Road Trip, Travel

Up early on Thursday morning, packed and enjoyed the suddenly ever-present sunshine. Our TGV to Paris is at 11:45 so left about 10:15 and ambled our way to the train station bought some sandwiches for the trip, and relaxed on the platform until the train arrived. Our luggage, like us, has gained considerable weight since we arrived. My two bottles of pinot, V's very large earthenware jug a duplicate of which she had admired at La Cloiserie and tracked down at a local store, and multiple acquisitions both large and small. Coming down from the airport last week we had taken two first class seats which, since the train is a two story affair, were on an upper level. Going back up to Paris we were on 2'nd class tickets which are on the lower level of the train which makes stowing luggage much easier, and apart from the difference in altitude, there really is not much difference in the classes; such is not always the case....

Provence - Day Nine

Provence - Day Nine

Gerald FitzGerald
Food, France, Photography, Provence, Road Trip, Travel

Yesterday's red sky at night was a snare and a delusion; could hear the rain drumming on the roof overnight and it greeted us when we rose to start the day. There are a number of villages perchés, old medieval towns built on the heights of the highlands in the region that we have been wanting to visit, but had delayed since there was not much point of driving up in the rain only to be greeted by cloud-covered vistas when we reached the top, but since today was our last day we decided to go anyway. Chugged our way up the hills to Bonnieux, where there was a restaurant that had been recommended and arrived at its doors as the town clock struck twelve. The restaurant was not yet open but fortunately we stuck our head in the door and made a reservation for 12:30 when it opened. I say fortunately because, as it was May Day and a holiday, the town was full and when we returned at 12:30 for our table, the place was packed and people were being turned away....

Provence - Days Five and Six

Provence - Days Five and Six

Gerald FitzGerald
France, Photography, Provence, Road Trip, Travel

Saturday morning dawned grey, fog-shrouded and cold, continuous, unremitting and relentless rain.

A slight digression here; in the last couple of months we have become great fans of the Nespresso coffee system. Small counter-top footprint, very easy to use and really good coffee. Our little house here has a machine and our hosts had generously left us a couple of sleeves of coffee with 10 Nespresso capsules in each....

Provence - Day Two

Provence - Day Two

Gerald FitzGerald
France, Photography, Provence, Travel

Yesterday was, for the most part, cloudy, overcast and periodically threatening but today dawned hot, bright and sunny.

We had originally planned to spend the day in Aix but the weather was so charming that we decided on a drive to Cassis for lunch. My only previous knowledge of Cassis was as the critical ingredient in a Kir Royale but the town, as we discovered, is an extremely pleasant place to spend a sunny afternoon, on the water with massive headlands and cliffs directly behind the town....

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