My brother, his wife and their 9-month-old recently visited me in Austria, and kudos to them for undertaking such an adventure with a young baby! After spending a week at home (which, let’s be honest, is more than enough for my small town), we all headed off on a road trip through Slovenia and Italy.
Travelling with a baby presents its own challenges, so now add to that the fact that we also had a cripple on board (that’s me and my bulging discs), which made life even more interesting.
Group tours – love em or hate em – they definitely have their positive and negative attributes. I personally love group tours for exploring countries less travelled or conquering a lot of distance in a short time period. But I understand they’re not for everyone. Still, regardless of what side of the fence you sit on, some surprising things can happen when you’re actually in the moment – so if you’re thinking about embarking on group travel, take care to beware the following things: Continue reading
Never would I have thought that long, tedious Russian train rides would lead me into a lifelong obsession…
Following on from my super hilarious Monkey Memes from Sri Lanka, today I present… Monkey Memes from our latest Indian trip. Enjoy!
It’s no secret my life revolves around food. And my husband is, thankfully, exactly the same. So it’s no shock that our recent Indian trip involved a lot of eating. For me, curry is rarely bad – even a mediocre curry is not terrible – and in India – where the spices are always flavoursome, well, it just doesn’t seem possible!
Southern India is not as hard core as northern India – it’s slower, safer, friendlier – the poverty is not as confronting – the dogs and cows are better cared for. Naturally there’s rubbish everywhere, the hygiene and toilets can be questionable and the feeling of being unclean never seems to quite leave – covered in sweat, sunscreen, mosquito repellent and just the humidity that clings to the air like a limpet.
From last week’s post I’m continuing my southern India posts with some more details of our adventure.
Southern India is a hot, sticky mess. Houses slant huddled together, hacked into sharp edges, snuggled by the encroaching jungle and its mess of fronds, tangles and branches. Sand seeps relentlessly through bare earth and discarded rubbish litters the landscape like moon rocks.
I have a friend who is a seasoned solo traveller, and only recently embarked on her first group tour. While most people are anxious about the thought of travelling alone, she was more concerned about problems that might arise from being stuck in a group!
Group travel can be wonderful (Jorden/Syria/Turkey 2011… unforgettable), but it can also be challenging (Egypt 2011 shortly after the revolution). Whether you’re put in a group you feel you have nothing in common with, your roomie is particularly annoying, or when group dynamics just don’t work. Tours are the perfect solution for places that are a little more difficult to navigate, or if you just want guaranteed company. But they’re not always peachy. So here’s some tips on how to make the best of one.
The weekend after we arrived back in Austria from our Sri Lanka/Australia trip earlier this year, Thomas turned up with a giant hunk of lamb and we decided to celebrate our return with a Sunday Roast. I was, naturally, head cook, and as I babysat the baking meat, I started sorting through the photos from our trip.
But the further into the afternoon I got, the more wine I drank, and after a while I was unable to do anything useful. And so, facing an excess of random monkey pictures from Sri Lanka, I decided that it was high time I learnt how to make memes. Here are the results, and I think they’re funny, even if no one else does!
I’ve visited Zagreb a couple of times before, but the most recent trip was to celebrate my cousin’s wedding. Not only was it great to have a few days away, it was a privilege to witness the cementing of another successful multi-country relationship! My cousin was born in New Zealand, but having a Swiss father meant he relocated there in his 20s, meeting his now-wife, and eventually moving to Croatia. It’s complicated but awesome that I have a relative that lives so close (only 2.5 hours away).
Another brilliant thing was that my Dad and two of my aunties also joined in the celebratory-travel-party from Australia. It made for a great time to catch up, speak English (and occasionally try to understand Swiss-German, courtesy of the Swiss side of the family) and relax.
an aussie in austria 