A little dazed and half confused, we disembarked off the T2A bus at the top of Tibidabo mountain overlooking Barcelona city. As we stepped off the bus after our rollercoaster ascent, we blinked away the bright sunlight. I breathed in the fresh mountain air. I felt right at home. We staggered onto the hillside, marvelling…
Barcelona is hot. It’s got that jungle fever. Everything sticks to you; your hair, your clothes, the car seat. My first impression was not flattering. I landed in a haze at Barcelona airport, and an orange dust had settled in the city. I could only just make out the mounds which I soon realised were…
I have had the perfect holiday. I spent two weeks in Kerlouan at the beach, and a week in Paris. It gave me a taste of France I will not forget. The two weeks were spent with Marc’s family. They have a beautiful house in Bretagne (Brittany), the north-west province of France. There is a…
I can now give a whole new meaning to “shop till you drop.” I am recovering from an eight-hour shopping excursion in the nearby town of Brest. “Tomorrow you will go shopping in Brest with my mother,” Marc said. “Good luck,” his brother warned. “You have about 120 shops and three hours. You are going…
Saturday was a slow day. We rolled out of bed, had a quick breakfast (baguettes of course), and began to plan our day. We decided to start with a morning cycle to get a sense of the town and to explore a local jewel: the hamlet of Meneham. I hopped on my bicycle, refamiliarised myself…
“Pilgrim’s Rest, where ghosts are still panning for gold.” Pilgrim’s Rest is one of those places full of history. You can feel it in your bones. As we took the R533 that curved along the mountain side, we could sense it. It was a place of gold. This old mining town in Mpumalanga dates back…
Many who travel think exploring a new city is about raving at the nightclubs, clambering aboard buses and meandering along city tours. I guess it is a little about that. But for me, it is about the in-between spaces I find myself suspended in. It’s those unique encounters that remind us we are all merely…
The Swiss landscape is something to behold. It is something out of The Sound of Music. Manicured carpets of grass stretch wide along Zugersee (Lake Zug) and trees burst out of the earth in an array of colours, from lime to crimson to jade green. Today, a cycle was on the to-do list. I am…
Lucerne is a city in central Switzerland. It is a compact city, caught between Lake Lucerne and the towering shape of Mount Pilatus. After a short tour of the city highlights, we headed towards the station to grab a bus to the foot of Mount Pilatus. I ended up having one of my stereotypes about the Swiss ruined…
Time to explore the central city in Switzerland, Lucerne. Lucerne offers a great city sight-seeing tour with a chance to appreciate historic architecture and intricate design, as well as bustling markets. It is famous for its many bridges spanning across the rivers, most notably, the Kapellbrücke, which dates back to 1333. I woke early the next day. It must…
