Category Archives: Travel

“Tickle me Elmo” – taking the funicular to Vomerio, Naples

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View from Castel Sant'Elmo

View from Castel Sant’Elmo to Castel Nuovo

I recently posted  about three cities that you must visit. One of  those was Naples, and as I was searching for links to my posts on these three wonderful but under-rated cities, I realised that I hadn’t completed this post.  So, I dusted the cobwebs off and moved this post from my Drafts to Posted.

As we extended and then extended again our stay in Naples we were able to move from a concerted attack on the highlights of Naples,

National Archeological Museum, Naples

the Duomo, Gran Caffe Gambrinus, the Archeological Museum with its amazing  Pompeii exhibition that includes a very naughty  exhibit of ancient pornography (yes we did take a Peak!) and start to  look further afield.

Sitting on our hotel balcony in Piazza Bellini, making some calls to home, we could see a castle and wondered what it was called. Perhaps we should pay a visit? Once we found that it’s name was Castel Sant’Elmo we decided we had to visit. How could you not visit a place called Elmo?

Coffee – Gran Caffe Gambrinus

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Diary of a Slow Traveller – You miss one train…

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St Emilion

I was reading one of my favourite travel blogs, Picnic at The Cathedral and WOB’s hilarious reflections on missing a bus in Poland  and was immediately reminded of missing a train in Bordeaux on Bastille weekend and the repercussions of missing that one train!

Some years age my favourite person and I were traveling through Europe with our youngest daughter, who was about fifteen at the time.

We had arranged a train trip from Bordeaux to Taormina. Yes I  know, this involves going across the water and trains don’t normally travel over water, but in Italy they sort of do! They barge the carriages from the mainland across to Messina and then you continue your journey. We thought it sounded like fun.

St Emilion

Back to the story. We were staying in St Emilion and needed to drive back to Bordeaux railway station to drop the car off and then board the train to Paris, travel across Paris to catch another train to Amalfi where we’d planned a couple of days sightseeing before re-boarding the train to travel onto Taormina. As I write this it now seems so obvious it wasn’t going to be straight forward but I didn’t expect it to turn sour even before we boarded our train in Bordeaux.

After a delightful Saturday morning in St Emilion, we allowed ourselves what we considered to be a more than ample time (two and half hours) to get to the Bordeaux train station. I allowed this time because the previous year I’d been in Bordeaux for work and seen how busy the traffic was.

So all packed and seemingly with plenty of time, we loaded the address into the GPS and set off for the station. Continue reading →

Diary of a Slow Traveller – Catania, Palermo, Naples – three cities that you must visit

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Palermo Cathederal entrance

Palermo Cathedral entrance

 

It would be fair to say that when you think of three cities that you must visit, it’s doubtful that Catania, Palermo and Naples immediately come to mind? However they are each cities with enormous character and personality. Each enjoys a reputation of being dark, dirty, unruly and not safe.

The words of warning are appropriate but so are the reasons to visit!

We took the opportunity to visit all three on our last trip to Italy.

While we had visited Palermo twice before, we had steered clear of Catania and Naples previously, due to the general commentary around safety. So  as I said, on our last visit to Italy we decided to visit both Catania and Naples as well as revisiting Palermo. Infact, we enjoyed each of them so much that we made a return trip to Catania while we were in Sicily and extended our stay in Naples. We also wished we’d allowed a little more time for Palermo.

Each of these cities have their own personalities. Continue reading →

The Diary of a Slow Traveller – The Southern Fleurieu, South Australia

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Sunset at Second Valley

Recently South Australia has been getting some attantion as a hidden gem. AS a local I can only say to those who are thinking of visiting SA – come on down.

We have just had a couple of days on the glorious Fleurieu Peninsula, where we are lucky enough to have a beach house. I love it because our beach house is in a quiet little town, Second Valley where we can hide away  and with the start of winter relax by the fire.

I also love the opportunity to ride up over the range and toward SA’s major tourist town of Victor Harbour about 60 kms away, across to Cape Jervis where the Ferry terminal is for the short trip across to Kangaroo Island or to ride a loop that takes in the range, Torrens Valley and then the stunning coastline at Lady Bay.

I thought for this post I’d let some pictures I took tell the story…

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Two Years of “What’s Next”

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It is now two years since I commenced “What’s Next”. I am no longer the man in the suit peering over the fence to see what’s there. I am living, and dare I say loving “What’s Next”!!!

Source: http://innovationpov.com/evolution-of-concept-stimuli/

I am well into my PhD, with my Supervisors telling me I am on track. There is still an enormous amount to do, however it does seem to be coming together. I have completed my Major Review, a year one milestone. I have written more than 20,000 words, some of which might even make it into my thesis!

We have enjoyed a significant stay in Italy, a cornerstone of my planning for “What’s Next”. We have also had a short trip to the USA, courtesy of a paper built on my Honours research and are now planning another trip.

My bike riding has been consistent, but I am not riding as often as I’d like. I read Jim’s Fit Recovery Blog  and realise how much more I could be doing, buy hey, I am out on the bike!!!

I have continued with my blog. Continue reading →