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The Funeral
Bill was summoned home for his father's funeral and to be welcomed into the bosom of his family. He was in for a shock. |
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Bratislava and Slovakia
In the summer of 2003, I seized the chance of a personalized invite to Bratislava. Upon arriving at the city's train station from Budapest, I was collected by Tómaš, a Slovakian I had met in Vancouver, who was then toiling as a tech wizard for Orange telecom. On this piping hot day, Tómaš and his high-IQ biologist wife Katrina drove us in a smart new Skoda (the famous Czech car) to an ice cold crystal lake on Bratislava's outskirts. Here, amongst the tolerance of naked or non-naked bathers, we could happily cool ourselves off before proceeding to eat a Slovakian staple, apricot jam-filled dumplings, that were prepared by his mother,.
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The Charms of Business Travel These Days
Here is a typical reaction that you get when someone finds out that you travel regularly for business. Wow, that must be exciting! Oh yes, the glamour of it all. I mean that is if losing 4-5 hours of your week not including the airtime is appealing to you! |
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The Oz Journals VI
To my way of thinking, a surf culture, be it in Bondi or Big Sur, would be lost without the automobile ( just try getting to the beach with your surfboard on a ten-speed, because it ain't happening, Moondoggie!). |
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The Oz Journals V
“ You can smell it in the air. They’re burning the dry brush away.” The old man exclaimed as he trudged down the sandy path toward me. We met in the middle as I walked away from the beach and he toward it. |
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Brisvegas
However, my sojourn down to Brisvegas didn’t go quite as planned. Firstly, there was no flirting with a mysterious stranger due solely to the fact that instead of Brad Pitt beside me on the plane, I was seated next to Mrs Blob and her husband – not quite what I had in mind. Next, the lovely family with whom I stayed had a very cute, very cheeky but very lively three year old boy (I’ve never seen any three year olds in James Bond films have you?) Anyway, being a kind and generous person, I had taken him a present wrapped up in blue tissue paper and a big red bow. I’d had forgotten, however, that if you give a 3 year old a present, they expect you to play with it again and again and again. He was cute but hardly Pierce Brosnan. |
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The Oz Journals - Entry Four
Footwear is optional in a country where shopping in bikinis is de rigueur, as new Australian resident Tom Nicholson is rapidly discovering. |
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The Oz Journals - Entry Three
Well I have been here a little over a month and it still amazes me. I saw a cockroach today as I was walking into the lobby of our building that was just slightly smaller than your average compact Japanese imported car. This was not a first for me, as I had come across one before that was the size of a Volvo station wagon, but that one was on its back wriggling its spindly legs in the air in its death throes. What could have killed it? Another huge insect ? Perhaps a June bug the size of Mack Truck? Insecticide? It would have to be an inordinately large can of Raid. Who knows? |
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The Oz Journals - Entry Two
Killer animals, foreign royal families, honest politicians and strange spellings - the magical Land of Oz, as in 'Australia', is proving to be a very strange place indeed for ex-pat Canadian Tom Nicholson. |
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Oz Journals I - My New Home
Moving house is challenging at the best of times, but as Tom Nicholson reveals to The Cheers, he has taken the bull by the horns, leaving behind his old life in Toronto, Canada for a new one a world away in sunny Perth, Australia. |
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Hitch-hiking to Spain! A trip of 8000km
Travelling from Estonia to Spain and back, covering about 8000km altogether, passing through Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Germany and France its not the easiest trip to take, is it? Try doing it by hitch-hiking all the way and by never staying the night in some hotel, but always using alternative ways. |
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English Premier League round-up
Welcome to Season Ticket, a weekly round up of all things football. Want initimate details of Beckham's latest affair? Then go somewhere else, but if you care about Chris Armstrong's knees, Sven's luggage and the true identity of Father Christmas then read on... |
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Polar Triangle (Part Two of Three)
I went to the tourist office of Arjeplog. Far up in the north is Arjeplog, rjepluovve. The name Arjeplog comes from the old Sami language "arjep" (a lot /mycket) and "luogt" (rocks/stenigt). In the great forests. By the mountain ranges. Among thousands of lakes. Peter made it his mission to show me his favorite municipality and made sure that there was not a second of boredom. I had an interview today - the local paper, The Times...Arjeplog Times. It is strange not to do the interviewing but to be on other side, all though I should be used to it.
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Travel Bug
What does it take to be a lone female traveller? A woman reflects on how far she has come through travelling far. |
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