A summer in Le Havre
Finding the unexpected in Le Havre, the French seaside city that’s full of surprises.
Categories
Posts tagged ‘travel’ (page 2)
Away to Galway
In need of a break, I headed to Galway and the far western reaches of the British Isles.
Prague: An adventure in space and time
Comparing a city with those previously visited might not be the best means of appraisal, but that’s what I found myself doing during a three-night stay in Prague.
Rotterdam reflections
Some thoughts after spending a few days in the Netherlands’ second city.
Briefly Berlin
Before going freelance, I decided to take some time off during February. Part of this included spending a few days in Berlin.
Andy Higgs: Journey into Africa
Although it’s easy to feel envious of Andy’s travels around the world, his writing is vivid enough to make you believe you had joined him. His latest series of posts, detailing a trip trough Africa, are no different. It sounds like an amazing continent, one that offers the intrepid traveller some incredible sights:
Great rich earthy trails of red, amber and ochre form streaks across huge plains of deep green foliage and scrubland. Huge white outcrops soar up through groves of yellow-pocked acacia trees, chunky bare-trunked baobabs and the fluttering sprouts of the banana plants.
Blade-like roads slice directly through villages where bright white eyes peer out from under the leafy shade of communal trees, and terracotta coloured, tin-roofed houses are lined up like matchboxes to each side of the varying qualities of tarmac – which range from rough to barely present.
Yet this beauty is threatened by a persistent danger, be it from wild game circling your isolated camp, or from fellow humans in a crime-ridden city:
…it was repeated to me a few times that you don’t stop at red lights after dark in Johannesburg, nor do you drive with your windows fully up (it stiffens the glass which makes it an easier task to smash with a crowbar at an intersection). Security is a massive concern of daily life, and every brick built house squats in a concrete or iron-fenced compound, and comes with a big board showing which particular company will provide the armed response. It’s quite a strange sight for European eyes.
What an experience.
(Re)introducing Bradshaw’s Guide
Based on the 1866 edition of George Bradshaw’s handbook for tourists using Britain’s nascent railway network, my latest project puts his historical insights into the hands of a new generation, many of whom use the same routes he described 150 years ago.
Exploring the Causeway Coast
After attending Build in Belfast last month, Chris Armstrong gave Ethan Marcotte, Chris Shifflet and myself a tour of the Causeway Coast which, as the name suggests, is home to the famed Giant’s Causeway.
The road to nowhere
Ben has posted his photos from our recent US road trip; five states, four days, three nights, two drivers, one misbehaved passenger.
The Journey
A new pair of jeans, the reignited love for a city and an inevitable answer to a surprisingly surprising question. Just some of the artefacts collected during two weeks in America.
On the road again
Once again, I’m in Austin for SXSW Interactive; the forth time I’ve attended an event I find easy to disparage. Yet this is the first stop on a trip that will take in several hundred miles of Interstate highway between here and San Francisco; two points of familiarity on an itinerary that promises to be anything but predictable.
San Francisco: There and Back Again
Transcending America’s Pacific coastline aboard Amtrak’s Coast Starlight.
Vibrant Vancouver
In the front seat of a float plane, I enjoyed a breathtaking view of Vancouver as I descended into its harbour. For such a densely populated city, I’d arrived somewhere small and friendly.
Across the Salish Sea
After eight days exploring North America, it was time to visit its more westerly extremities, starting with Saltspring Island.
A taste of Toronto
Some cities are best arrived at by air, while some are best approached by car. Others are best suited to arrival by train. Toronto is one such city.
Onwards to Ottawa
After Washington, it was on to another North American capital, Ottawa, a city with no end of ATMs unwilling to accept my debit card.
Back in the District
My North American adventure started in Washington DC, ostensibly to attend a conference, but it was also an excuse to see Shannon, who graciously planned a tour of the city.
Continuing adventures in America
Before I write about my most recent travels across Canada and the United States, I address the hypocrisy of taking such a trip.
October: So far, so fun
October has been a crazy month, and I’m not even done with it yet.
Remembering Brasília
Thoughts on Brasília, which I visited back in March.
Ampersand and more
Much of the excitement has come in the form of web conferences, and looking back, I find it surprising just how many I’ve attended this year already.
The Brasília Palace Hotel
For anyone coming to Brasília for its modernist architecture, no visit would be complete without a stay at this hotel. Designed by Oscar Niemeyer and opened in 1958, it hosted dignitaries such as Queen Elizabeth and Che Guevara before being devastated by fire in 1978. After facing decades of abandonment and neglect, it was modernised and reopened in 2006.
I never left my heart in San Francisco
As I walked the streets of San Francisco, buoyed by their comfortable familiarity and unique soundtrack, I knew that this was still a city I could never call home.
The streets of San Francisco
Me, after a day spent exploring my former home of San Francisco:
Underground cables rumbling, sirens wailing, horns beeping. Trams ringing and drums thumping. San Francisco has a soundtrack, and I like it.