Category Archives: Travel

Diary of a Slow traveller – Airports

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The title of today’s Daily Prompt, Chaos made me think immediately of international airports. No matter how you plan, whether you have access to an airport lounge there is something about an airport that screams CHAOS!

What time do I need to leave the hotel by to get to the airport?
Will the train get me there on time? Should I get a cab? What time do I need a cab?

Where is the departure gate?  There are only about 300 of them in Changi, Dubai, Rome?

Do I have my passport? How many times will I check to make sure while I’m in line?

Then once I get on the plane – will I be able to store my carry-on conveniently? Am the only person who has read the size rules?

Then arriving – what line do I need to be in? Will my luggage arrive? It hasn’t before.

The list of questions goes on and on?

Does Chaos spring to mind as you think of airports?

 

The Diary of a Slow Traveller – Sunglasses at Mt Etna

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Coffee after our early morning bike ride is part of my weekly ritual.

During the week I was sitting with my riding buddies at coffee lamenting not having sunglasses to deal with the morning glare. It provided me with a great opportunity to talk about how my sunglasses got wrecked at Mt Etna.

Mt Etna

Mt Etna

It was on our two daughters’ last day in Sicily before they headed off for the next part of their holiday. We organized a day tour to Mt Etna. While my favourite person, our youngest daughter and I had been there before, our eldest daughter hadn’t and was super keen so I arranged a tour rather than a self drive. Continue reading →

It’s time for Study!

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In recent weeks as our time away recedes to a very lovely memory its been back to study. Days spent walking the Island of Ortigia with the only concern being where to find a coffee have been replaced with meetings with my Supervisors, the research librarian  etc, all part of the early stages of my PhD.  Sure I have high levels of motivation but these are matched by even higher levels of anxiety.

Its time to settle down Continue reading →

Diary of a Slow Traveller – We are in no hurry

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Sitting with a friend over a coffee discussing our recent trip to Italy I started to discuss how we got there

Sure the centre piece of our trip was spending three months in Italy but we had a strategy for getting there. We weren’t going to be hurried. We’d take our time. Fly only during the day and not any long haul.

This meant a stopover in Singapore. We were spoilt for choice for accommodation that fits any budget. We are fans of Tablet  a boutique hotel website. We found a nice little hotel reasonably priced and a short walk from the MRT that linked directly to the airport. For my favourite person there was a relaxing bath for me a gym.  It also provided us the opportunity for a relaxing evening, nice meal and a sleep in a comfortable bed something that being in a hurry to get there doesn’t allow.

The Bath!

The Bath!

 

After a relaxing sleep it was an early trip to the airport on the MRT and check-in, where we were surprised to have been given an upgrade for the short flight to Colombo. Silver service and more leg room!

Silver Service!

Silver Service!

When you are not in a hurry, why not enjoy the journey. Continue reading →

The diary of a Slow Traveller – Walking the streets, Siracusa, Sicily

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The very nature of  Slow Travel is that you can establish a daily routine because there is no  need to race to the next new thing.

Over our weeks in Sircausa our daily routine became a leisurely walk through the streets of the Island of Ortigia and its  nearby mainland. Siracusa is a place that has  seen so much over more than 20 centuries. it was something that we came to appreciate as we walked the streets each and every day.

These shoes are made fro walking!

These shoes are made for walking!

While our daily routine almost always started in search of a coffee and a pastry  we were always captivated by  Ortigia’s narrow streets that were laid out centuries ago.

Who else has walked these streets?

Who else has walked through this archway?

These are streets that Plato quite possibly walked. It was amazing to imagine Archimedes having walked the same streets pondering some problem as we sought to solve the difficult problem of where to go for our morning coffee!

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Did Archimedes walk down here?

Reading the guides or Jeremy Dummett’s book about Siracusa makes it impossible not to wonder whose footsteps we were retracing as we walked to coffee or just meandered through these narrow streets. In one of these streets Archimedes was murdered. Continue reading →