Traveling is an amazing experience that will more likely than not leave you with stories to share in the future, but sometimes things don’t go quite as planned. Behind the photos of picturesque landscapes, white sandy beaches, exotic street scenes, or quaint European towns, every traveller has their share of travel mishaps.
I caught the bus to Sydney, one morning last week. Canberra to Sydney. A taxi pick up at 5 AM. I have a penchant for being early. Although it is only a five minute ride to the bus depot, I bring a book and make sure I am there on time. Well, before time actually, but it gives me time for that pre-journey "P" (there are three Ps in Peppinck, and that is about right for the journey!). Perhaps one aboard the swaying bus, and as the terminus for our journey is Central station, there are plenty of facilities there!
It’s the smell that hits you first: a ureic stench so thick it feels like something solid is foraging up your nostrils. Tourists are given sprigs of mint or rosemary, like the nosegays carried by Renaissance gentlefolk. But if you want to be accepted by the tanners, you have to go unprotected.
So, you think you had a busy day? Consider what a typical working day might be like for composer Megan Cavallari. Start with the fact that Cavallari is one of only a very small handful of women who have established themselves as major creative artists in the professional music industry. But not even most of the men can point to a resume as diverse, eclectic, and impressive as this diminutive Jewish-Italian Philadelphia native: more than a 100 film scores as performer, arranger, conductor, or composer; the official composer of the L.A.
Blood on the station floor. Mine! Yes, another fall on the escalator as I hurried to catch the high-speed German ICE (Inter City Express) train in Amsterdam’s Centraal Station. Heavy bag deciding to go south, me following. A bang on the head and a cut finger. Police there in an instant, tissues materialised to stem the dripping, wanting me to sit and calm down … and the train to leave in two minutes. And you know how German trains leave as the second hand hits the Twelve. No, not dizzy, shaken but okay ..
I suppose that if you are “going Dutch,” and you are lulled by the lure of Amsterdam Gouda, Haarlem, or even The Hague, all gables and canals, then Rotterdam may come as a bit of a disappointment.
Well, fooled be you.
Like going to see the Mona Lisa and walking past the Pissarro, without much of a glance.
If you're like me, you devour books from places you visit - and want to visit - and get books for your kids, too, to devour. For nothing teaches a place like learning about it from locals - whether you're there in person, or reading their stories.
This summer, we road tripped to Newfoundland from Michigan (what a drive!), and loved just about every place on our route. But Newfoundland is special. Called The Rock, it's an island full of Jellybean-colored houses, whales and puffins, and the most adorable dogs in the world - look!
Murder. Innocence and guilt. Justice. Ghosts. Vengeance.
The Ghosties and Ghoulies Haunted Hike in St. John's, Newfoundland, shared all that and more.
Photo: Wandering Educators