2020 was supposed to be another big year of travel for me, with a four-week Europe trip in August and September including Iceland, the top country on my bucket list of places to go. Safe to say, COVID-19 tore these plans to shreds and there’s no certainty on whether any international travel will be possible this year at all. So I thought I’d look back and blog about one of my most memorable overseas holidays, a solo car trip in New Zealand.
sightseeing
Europe Trip: Italy
I’ve never been to Italy before, but I had no doubt that I’d absolutely love it, and surprise, I did.
Europe Trip: Scotland
After having great time on tour in Ireland, I continued the Celtic leg of my holiday with a car trip around Scotland.
Europe Trip: Ireland
I’m finally back from my four-week holiday in Ireland, Scotland and Italy. Since I can’t go back in time, blogging is the next-best way to relive the trip.
Bali
Last time I went to Bali I was so determined to have a purely relaxing holiday I deliberately left my big camera at home and didn’t bother about photos. Though this recent week was also mostly about relaxing and pampering (hot stone massage, mmmm) I did take some shots of a few beautiful places we visited.
Bali Botanic Garden, a green oasis of calm
Bali Botanic Garden
Bamboo grove… now that’s proper Neighbours-Be-Gone hedge
Lake Beratan
Lake Beratan
Local market
View on the rice fields from our hotel in Ubud
Ubud Monkey Forest
Ubud Monkey Forest
Ubud Monkey Forest
Macaw at the Antonio Blanco Museum
Antonio Blanco Museum – the roof
No idea what the deal is here, but it’s a striking sight
Sydney – Vivid Festival
Sydney is always great to visit, and this time I got to attend the annual Vivid Festival, when Sydney is illuminated by some amazing light shows. We were also lucky to catch the Archibald Prize portrait exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, spend some time at the Manly Beach, and enjoy some great food. I tried non-alcoholic beer for the first time, which was surprisingly nice (real beer still gets a no from me though).
Sydney Opera House is of course the most spectacular light show on offer
Light installations in the park
Light installations in the park
Light installations in the park
Manly Beach
Archibald Packing Room Prize winner, the portrait of Jimmy Barnes
Tasmania – Bruny Island
I’ve been to Tasmania at least five times before, and seen most of its major attractions, but never made it to Bruny Island off the south-eastern coast near Hobart. This beautiful spot exceeded all of our expectations and was very much worth the trip.
First big trip – USA 2001
I got inspired by another blog to write about my first ever big solo overseas trip, which was USA back in April and May 2001, when I was 20 and a month away from the legal drinking age (not that it mattered since I’m a boring non-drinker anyway). I’ve travelled a lot since then, but your first independent trip always remains a rather special memory. I even dug out my travel diary, which was an interesting read in retrospective. For one thing 99% of it is written in Russian, whereas now my travel diaries are 99% in English, and it’s a bit sad to see how much fluency I’ve lost. And good lord it’s overzealous with descriptions; I spent three whole pages listing all the things I’ve seen at the American Museum of Natural History.
USA & Mexico Part 3
St Cristobal is a charming place with the pedestrian-only streets in the centre and endless cafes, restaurants, bars and shops. From there, a couple of us went on a half-day excursion to the local villages and Chamula, a town which is mostly famous for its most unusual church. Unfortunately you couldn’t take any photos inside – a fact which was stressed to us over and over – and the descriptions don’t do it justice. Let’s just say that the church is a very bizarre blend of the pre-conquest Mayan and Christian traditions, and involves pine needles on the floor, hundreds of candles, and a chicken sacrifice.
USA & Mexico Part 2
Mexico trip was a blast; I loved the places we visited and while I almost never had a bad group on my organised trips, our group in Mexico was probably the most fun one and just a great bunch of people. We started in Mexico City, which I wished I could have spent more time in as it felt like I only scratched the surface. Or maybe not, because, as I realised only a few days before, Mexico City is 2,250 m above the sea level, which means altitude sickness and its lovely symptoms like increased motion sickness and feeling bloated. Anyway, the highlight for me was visiting Casa Azul, The Frida Kahlo Museum, where she and Diego Rivera lived and which is dedicated to her life and works. There weren’t that many actual Frida Kahlo paintings, but it’s still a must-visit for any Frida fan (and I so want her colourful kitchen).
