Vagamundo New Zealand-friends

Sao Paulo photos

2010-11-13T00:46:00.000-08:00

Paraty photos

2010-11-13T00:40:00.000-08:00

Rio photos

2010-11-13T00:35:00.000-08:00

Boca Juniors vs Colon BA

2010-09-24T06:15:00.000-07:00

I have forgotten to write up the soccer game we went to on Sunday night.
After a busy day in San Telmo (flea markets, antiques and thousands of people, mostly Brazilians on their winter holiday) we got home just in time to be picked up for the Boca game at La Bomberina...the stadium famous for the shape ( a chocolate box) and for the passion of the supporters. I have been before and enjoyed it so much it was worth going again and seeing Sarah's face as the stadium started to vibrate and sway, actually.
I had not noticed how extremely poor the Boca working class streets were around the stadium. Real slum conditions behind faded facades could be glimpsed as we marched along. snotty nosed kids with attitude hung about...I think I had a different access last time. in fact I know I did as last time I was in with the Boca supporters but now we have to be locked in with the visitors for our safety. This means we have to arrive early to avoid Boca supporters, get marched through three police cordons and searches, and past riot police all shielded up. Once we are in our seats, then the Boca supporters start to arrive with the accompaniment of drums and singing. They didn't stop playing or singing the entire game.
I stupidly applauded a great play by Boca Under 18's in the game before the main match and I was told off by the guide. Remember to be careful and you are a Colon supporter tonight!
We also had to be aware of what colours we were wearing, and all of the Colon supporters put their colours over top of what they were wearing after they were safely locked in.

Foodies blog post South America 2010

2010-09-24T05:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the photos of what we have been eating...feasts to the eyes as well as the bellies at times.

The food has changed significantly from Chile to Argentina to now Brazil where it is much tastier and more interesting.These photos are of the first two places.

Stuck in BA airport instead of getting drenched by Iguazzu Falls

2010-09-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well, writing this from the BA departure halls...been here since 6.45 am and it is now 1.20 pm!
The flight got all loaded up, and then unloaded as the weather in Iguassu was a storm. Having survived a hairy aborted landing in Beijing in a thunderstorm/tail of a typhoon I was not too concerned as better delayed than dead. Now it is getting annoying, as other flights are going but ours has not because our flight crew were 'over' time so a new crew needs to be fetched.
The fetching is taking about 5 hours.

The flight eventually let at 4pm!!! We were exhausted and grumpy, but less so than the whole families who had missed tour bookings etc.

Iguassu was a bit damp and the the sky grey, so the water looked a little green. The Devil's Throat was roaring but the butterflies and birds were not too keen to come out in the rain which eventually fell.
Luckily we had time to drop in to the Butterfly and Bird House on the Brazilian side , right next to the airport. If you ever go, make sure you do that too. Flamingos and Hummingbirds were some of the favourites plus of course the Toucans and the parrots of all shapes, sizes and colours.

Still tired from the long useless wait yesterday, we were glad to get on the plane on time for Rio.
My cold is so bad that my ears are playing up terribly on flights , so by the end I was almost completely deaf. Very frustrating.

Our room at Mama Ruisa though has made up for any discomforts in the last few days. Wow what a view over the Bay and it has a veranda which I am writing from now. It was 31 degrees when we arrived last night. We had picked up a good special for the Junior Suite and decided to splurge here. Most of the hotels on Copacabana are ugly and expensive. We are also near to Lapa, the nightlife area for jazz etc. http://www.mamaruisa.com/

More on Rio next time.

Last day in BA...golf at Golf Club Patricio

2010-09-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

Our last day in BA didn’t go quite so smoothly as the rest of the trip. I woke very sick from my cold, unsure if I could even play golf. I took some paracetamol and hoped I would feel better

I had an appointment with an agent (just to say hello, not really work), and then we caught a remis- taxi to the Golf Club Patricio, (former navel course and out on the Tigre delta). Karina had begged us to get a remis taxi rather than the usually black and yellow hail cabs as they are more reliable. Her words were “a taxi might just drive around for ages and make the charge higher.”

Well our remis driver could not find the course....the time for our booked start came and went and we were still at the side of the road asking locals for directions. This was all despite Karina having given me the instructions on how to find the course in Spanish, and me having copied them out clearly.

The driver, old, shaky hands and quite deaf kept glancing studying the piece of paper and re-reading the same sentence over and over and getting more and more uptight. Karina had also given me a mobile, in-case of trouble, so he eventually rang the number. It didn’t seem to help, he just muttered. Eventually he found some people who gave him instructions he could follow, and we rolled up to a desolate looking field, surrounded by swamp.

Two hopeful and relieved looking men smiled at us at the checkpoint, they were the caddies who had been waiting for us.

After much waiting round, miming and general confusion, we paid our money, borrowed clubs and got to play on the course which was somewhat desolate looking as it was built on a delta in the middle of swamps. Quite attractive, in an ugly kind of way!

I managed to put a ball into the water, and even more disastrously knocked a bird and her nest...making her scream like crazy and go really mad at me. The ball ended up against her egg and cracked it!! I felt like a murderer.

We called it quits after 9 holes as it was already getting late and they were bringing the flags in behind us. Sarah’s knees were hurting and my chest was getting no better. We bowled into the club rooms for a beer and the way it went quiet we suspect we were not meant to be in there or something, too bad. Our caddies came in too and we shared a few cold beers.

Another day to write down to experience.

Mendoza, Argentina via a flight over the Andes

2010-09-19T06:20:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
Sorry but I am a week behind so I am struggling to remember what I did on what day and how I felt about things disappears.
Anyway, Sarah got her first flight over the Andes in clear blue sky and saw Aconcagua, the biggest mountain in the Americas, and higher than the snow falls at the top so it just sticks up like a rounded lump of rock.
Mendoza was it's usual sleepy little self. Plastic bags littered the brown parched fields as we drove from the airport to the hotel and the obviously very poor houses on the outskirts reminded both of us of travels in India.The one way grid road system takes a bit of getting used to too. It seems you play chicken all day.
We stayed at a little guest house/hotel called Hotel Zamora, http://www.hotelzamora.netfirms.com/ which I had sussed out last April as a better alternative to a hostel for the same price ($50NZ a night for the double with own bathroom!). A once flash Spanish style house opening out onto a tiled courtyard along an internal veranda. Now quite dilapidated but very clean and comfortable and in an excellent location.
Our Mendoza stay was very active. We did a salsa class at http://www.salsamendoza.com.ar/ which was a laugh and too difficult , in Spanish and ona slippery floor with my sandals. 1,2, 3 eh!, 1, 2, 3, eh! she shouted (uno, dos, treis, eh!) I sat out once we got to spinning etc. I think a more successful way to salsa is to drink heaps and then just do it! Seems to have worked in the past in Colombia, Brazil and Chile.
I was confused as to where the class was, as I was sure it was in the same place the milongo/tango dance was held 2.5 years ago. It all became clear when we went by taxi to the tango place and sure enough it had shifted to a more upmarket place near to the 5 star hotel.
http://www.anayluistango.com.ar/

Well it was Sarah's first up-close look at tango and she was surprised. Middle-aged/elderly couples clinging to each other in awkward positions shuffling around the dance floor, with an occasional expert flicking their legs impossibly high or twisting them around their partners legs.
No village idiot to dance with this time thank God.(see previous blog)

Have to dash, next installment golf and winery and photos.

Golf in Chile with caddies

2010-09-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

With great excitement on Sunday, Sarah and I headed to Club de Golf Lomas de la De Hesa for our first ever game of golf with caddies! It was cloudy and quite cool which was not expected for the day, the forecast being for a clear day, however as the rain became harder and harder as we drove closer we began to realise we might get wet.
The club lent us coats luckily, plus gear, and it was clear when we teed off. The caddies were an older guy who had a few words of english (super, excellent, very good) and a young highschool guy who was the son of the golf coach.
The course is in the foothills of the Andes, quite high up we realised afterwards when it cleared momentarily and we saw the snow on the hillsides not that far away.
I will let the photos do the talking. Bravo.

Midway stop

Day trip to Valparaiso

2010-09-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

Enough of the city...so we arranged a taxi for the day and headed for the coast.We had actually slept in too long, so had missed the possible bus day trip...not that I was so keen on that option anyway.

The beauty of having our own driver was that we could stop when we wanted to. I was keen to re-visit Bodega Indominta and perhaps have lunch, but the taxi driver convinced us to try another one called Emiliana.It is a winery in the Colchagua Valley and it is certified organic, plus has some bio-dynamic lines so was interesting. We had the board of organic cheeses and I had their flight of premium wines while Sarah had one wine.
First was the Novas Sav Blanc 2009 limited selection it was clear, acidic and not a touch on NZ Sav blancs.
The next up was the Novas Chardonnay 2009 Limited Edition It was nice and light with vanilla, citrus and some buttery tones. I don't like whites in most cases so it was for the research!
Carmenere Cab Sav Novas Limited Selection 2008 was up next and it was more interesting to me. The carmenere was meant to be balanced by the cab sav.
Their top wine is the Coyam label. We tasted the 2007 biodynamic certified assemblage. There are 6 grape varieties in it......Syrah 38%, Cab sav 21%, Carmenere 21%, merlot 17%, Petit verdot 2% and Mourvedre 1%. each brings a different element to the wine eg fruitiness, colour, spices, tannins etc. It was very nice and balanced of course. Rolled around the tongue and all through the mouth as you were seeking out each element.
The taxi driver got excited and pointed out the poster on the wall that said there was a mini-festival on in the next valley for the bi-centenary...wine tasting, food stalls, dancing, musica.
Let's go ....the parking was difficult so he took us to another winery called Casa del Bosque but we were not very interested, so walked in and out quite quickly. We wanted the grass -roots variety thanks.
Well it was in a very small village called Casablanca and there were small stalls set up in the village square/green. Sarah needed to try her first empanadas so we went to the stall and first of all bought the cheeses ones then went back for a meat one. We bought tickets for the wine tasting which also got us a commemorative glass, and proceeded to taste and wander.
A lovely drop in...impossible if we had been on the bus.
We were dragged away by the driver to get to the coast before the sun went down.
Valparaiso is a world heritage site as the colourful wooden houses tumble down very steep hills above the once important port. One up from slums, very interesting. Up in the clouds is also Pablo Neruda's coastal house where he wrote. He is their most famous writer/poet and won a Nobel prize. We did the tour of the house and caught the vistas that inspired him.
We also braved the antique cable car down the steep slope. Most are broken!

Chile 2010

2010-09-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

Arrived Thursday 9th September, a few hours before we left...does your head in every time.
back to the favourite place Hotel del Patio in Bellavista, a really interesting neighbourhood of Santiago. www.hoteldelpatio.cl/english
The problem was, that they are still building the university across the road, so the noise is terrible, not the mention the party goers coming out of the clubs at 4 or 5 am and the music blaring from various bars for most of the night. I wear earplugs, so I sleep ok, but for new comers it is a bit of a shock.
Of course they had the big earthquake at the start of the year, so some of the construction noise was from re-building. I only saw one building that was obviously damaged from the quake. A taxi driver told me that most of the damage is on the outskirts of town as the CBD was rebuilt quickly.
One thing that has changed is that businesses have gone or changed names since I was here last April. My favourite restaurants had gone! I will have to change my links now.
However, a whole set of new restaurants have emerged on the cityside of Patio Bella vista, so we didn't go hungry.
Grills, cafes, jazz bars, French bistros, rock bars...you name it, it is there.
Sarah and I enjoyed one of our first nights at the Bistrot Jazz Club Le Fournil where we were treated to a big night of Latin Jazz. "con Antoine Alvear Quinteto". We were seated right up the front of the small room, and could practically drum ourselves. A whole bunch of musos came in, perhaps the next band...or not, as they seemed to switch roles and some of the newcomers appeared to take over the set. www.lefournil.cl.
A few nights later we came back to the bistro and loved the food. Recommended.
When in Chile you must drink Carmenere of course. We shared a bottle of Vina Chocolain
Carmenere Selection 2009 from Valley Maipo which was very nice to warm up by.
because it was the celebration week coming up for the Bicentenary of Chile there were many events specifically arranged to commemorate it and the other up-risings of the past 200 years.

We ended up in the Casa del Aire a few times to listen to political songs and hear the crowd noisily join in on the anthems. One night we were in the 'red' bar and heard political songs from singers from Argentina, and Chile. There were badges for sale, political newspapers and pamphlets from a table manned by bearded students. It seemed like a time-warp.

Preparing for South America again

2010-08-27T22:58:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
I am off to South America on the 9th of September, for nearly a month of fun and just a little work. Barry is too busy to come but I am lucky enough to have my friend Sarah come along.
We will be visiting Chile, Argentina, and Brazil.
Hope you enjoy the tales,
Suzette

Italy vs New Zealand Milan

2009-11-17T23:51:00.000-08:00

Ps I am home now, tired and jet -lagged.

Another meal out-Milano

2009-11-12T09:34:00.000-08:00

Roma by bus

2009-11-12T04:50:00.000-08:00

U2 at Brandenberg gate

2009-11-12T04:45:00.000-08:00

The 12 hour lunch-blog for foodies

2009-11-12T04:39:00.000-08:00

Occasionally on the road you can take an entire day for yourself!

The 7am alarm goes so I can catch the 8.15 am train from Milano Centrale to Montova, about 2 hours away, towards Verona.

Where I really wanted to go to was Renate, a small hamlet next to a tiny lake, near to a small town called Sul del Olio but the not so-helpful train staff at platform 21 insist this will be the closest station.

The sun was finally shining and it was a warm 5 degrees as Jo and I strode to the station. The sun helps to put a different light on the backside of any city which is what I think any entrance or exit of a city on a train looks like. Always scruffy and covered in graffiti with crowded tenements like festering spots.

As we picked up pace across the plains and headed north east the sun disappeared into a mist. Every now and again it cleared enough to glimpse men walking with dogs across fields with guns dangling at their arms.

Jo was quickly feeling travel sick as the train rocked at speed. I seem to have lost that tendency on the way thank-goodness.

We arrived in Mantova at 10.30 and then had the challenge of trying to find our way back to Runate using local transport. We were booked into lunch for 12.00 but it was still impossible to connect local trains or buses and get there on time so we were forced to take the 60 Euro taxi.

Villa Santini was our destination, and Dal Pescatore the restaurant housed within. Not any restaurant...one of the top 50 in the world with 3 Michelin Stars. Worth eating off platforms for weeks beforehand,we hoped.

Villa Santini is a traditional farm set up with a cluster of buildings around courtyards and gardens. The grandfather was the original ‘dal Pescatore’ as he had caught and fried the local small fish from the lake. There are dozens of restaurants in Italy called Dal Pescatore of course, ‘the fisherman’.

We were ushered into the one of the reception rooms as we were somewhat early. Jo went for a wander to try to settle her stomach but was soon back inside as it was so cold outside. I read various guides to the top eateries in Italy and took in the colours and textures of the room.

A waiter appeared and offered us a Spumante as an appetizer with melted/fried Parmesan that looked like potato chips. Why not? The waiters were all friendly and helpful and able to explain everything in English. In fact our first waiter was Japanese.

Closer to our allotted time we were ushered through into the dining room. It was quite lavishly decorated with large mirrors, copies of famous paintings, and plenty of large flower arrangements. The tables were set exquisitely of course, and what took my eye as useful were the foot stools next to each seat to place your handbag on. What set the room off was the view through the portico's or sloped ceilings of the deep veranda, and the large farm dogs playing in the yard.

Gandma was seen at one stage in her pinny wandering through the garden, probably off to pick some fresh herbs or flowers for the dishes. She grows the crocus from which they collect their own saffron.

Mr and Mrs Santini preside over the kitchen and the dining room. He was the host coming to each table in turn at intervals, and she in the kitchen. The son and daughter are also in the kitchen. I think it was their daughter who had greeted us and was later on waitressing.

I had read that the ideal way to make the most of dining experience was to opt for one of their tastings menus, although it is possible to do a la carte. I opted for the special autumn menu while Jo went for the local specialities menu which had quite a few fish dishes in it. The tasting menu dishes are tiny and pictures of beauty. Each tasting menu has around a dozen dishes in it!

I won’t bore you with the exact order or too much detail but highlights included:

-tiny deep fried and crumbed frog legs (speciality of the area)

-trio of ravioli with fresh white truffle grated on top

-beef that disappeared in my mouth before I had a chance to chew

-a trio of desserts that were then accompanied by a tray of finger sized sweets such as handmade truffles, pralines, lemon tarts the size of a finger nails, Turkish delight, walnut sized chocolate mousse....

Of course accompanying all of this gastronomy was wine. I chose a bottle of Sangiovese. It was just right, aromatic with some tannins that didn’t grab too much initially and by the end were feeling like soft caressing velvet slip- sliding down.

Well heeled ‘locals’ appeared to be the main clients, couples on a special outing or small groupings. Jeans, hounds tooth jackets for the men, women in tight designer jeans and a flash blouse, plenty of jewellery or the more horsey type also in a hounds tooth jacket, no makeup.

The complicating factor in us leaving was that Jo had decided to try to make Rome by night as the trains were going to be on strike from 9pm until 9pm the next day, so she had all her gear, whereas I had decided to stay put in Milan for the weekend and get the early Monday morning express to Rome. She rushed off in a local taxi trying to make the connections (she missed by less than 5 minutes) while I got a ride later on to the main trunk line between Verona and Milan, from the neighbouring couple from Austria. He is a professor of chemistry and she a doctor who played golf, so we had plenty to talk about.

Waving goodbye (they had gone a long way out of their way), I had a nice warm feeling all through, not just from the wine and food. What a great day! Snoozing on the train back to Milan was easy, and we pulled back into the station at 7pm. I strolled home, with a few burps of truffle to help me on the way, and collapsed into bed for a sound night’s sleep.

It will be hard to beat this 12 hour lunch experience.

Munich-Locarno Switzerland

2009-11-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

Berlin high jinx

2009-11-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

Well I have finally done Berlin justice, even if it did have to wait until 50+!! Nearly all previous times here I have watched hockey or been too tired to leave the hotel.
Parties, night clubs, zooming around looking for the next party as teens do..all part of ICEF, one of the biggest 3 day parties I have ever been to (the working parts for people working were also awesome but that story belongs on my work blog which locked for clients only, and I was not working as such as I was there as a guest, just floating and networking for myself).
My Kazakhstan sister and I began the dancing on the second night ICEF Party, and my Saudi brother and I finished it. Bloody good for the soul. About a thousand people going hard can be quite intoxicating! I scared the man off, who asked "what room are you in?" with "I am 51 mother of 3 and happily married"!!

On the last day everyone is exhausted but then all the after parties start. You get invitations during the events.

I was a bit of a granny and came home early at 1.30 am. as the night club pumping was a bit too much however the views from the 24th floor of the Europa Centre made it all worthwhile.
1st party was the Italian one where I jacked up an appt in Bologna next week (always working) and then to Irish party where live Irish music was playing and then to GLS party at their campus. Finally to the I LAC party at the night club where I met my Colombian agent, did some go-go impersonations with my Kazhaktsan sister then came home!!. Jeepers, until next time.

As we left the ICEF we found out that U2 are playing in Berlin on Thursday night as per 20 years ago, so we changed our sleeper train reservation to a train out of Berlin rather than Frankfurt.
subsequently have found out that you need a ticket for the free event but will go and hang with the 10's of thousands anyway. Happy anniversary Baz, I will wave on the MTV show.

ICEF in Berlin

2009-11-03T03:24:00.000-08:00

I am now back in Berlin, on the last day of the ICEF agents fair, the biggest in the world. around 900 agents and similar institutions so the whole of the Intercontinental taken over plus another couple of hotels. All of the existing guests had only been booked until the first day so there was a mass exodus including a couple of important guests, Gorbechev and George Bush Snr!!
GB shuffled past me but didn't stop and chat as he obviously figured I was busy. A Maltese agent guy was in the lift and an old guy got in with a funny mark on his head and he thought, no it can't be?
Sunday was a conference set up, so listened to presentations to online solutions, new products, surveys on state of market etc. The presentations will go up on the ICEF site.
At night we had the opening party with food, free flowing wine and thousands packed in. We all had to shout which was not good on the vocal cords. Much networking took place and tom foolery eg dancing until 1 am with a huge range of people, my new 'sister' who loves Latin and is an Ozzie Singaporean, her Spanish new-mates, their mate who is English Jamaican and can speak most languages, some Sardinians who were goggling my 'sister', a NZer in charge of marketing ICEF blond westie that she is..... enough I am getting tired remembering. The main requirement for being on the road is stamina as I keep saying and the ability to net work.

Yesterday (Monday) was even more full on.

The others all had face to face interviews every 20 minutes in a huge hall that was hot and loud. I was so pleased it was not me in there. Extremely hard work.
I parked myself up near the bar area and people kept sitting next to me who were relevant and interesting. the fact I had my 100% Pure t shirt over a long sleeved woollen top helped! I also toured the display stands and gathered interesting info and chatted to people.

I also had a few actual meetings with people as some of my requests to visit said they would be here.
I also had a meeting with a German agent who did not answer my request to meet in Stuttgart, and it went very well. I got that chance through the networking. Details later.
I have been getting taxis as it has been raining and 3 degrees,

Off to the GLS meeting now so more updates later on from the free internet here at Arcotel Velvet hotel.
Tschuess,
Suzette

A very funny response from my friend in the Hawkes Bay..worth a bigger audienceH

2009-10-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Vagamudo Blogger,

What the hell are you waffling on about in Brugge?Giving Jamie Oliver a run for his clothes.Have you started a new blog ___ food & crims .Europe/come.!!!?*%*3#.

God you're hard to keep up with,what with muggers,bag snatchers,gourmand delights,leather boots- if only Agatha Christie could still put pen to paper it would be moreTitilating than training on Her Orient Express.

Busy organising Maori Haka at Mangere on your arrival Tama Iti (Activist),Buck Shelford (Sportsman),Charles Royal( Chef),Tariana Turia (Politics) nb:Cross section covering all bases!! are hoping to be there so hope you will be wearing your Promote NZ T shirt,Jandals and dark shades so we recognise you.

Having fun in the sun sipping cool Hawkes Bay Viognier & munching olives,figs & cheese.

When do you hit NZ shores as Powhiri takes a bit of organising!!

Love (Kiwi Semi -Naked Chef)

Joce

Train journy reports....swine flu??

2009-10-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

Guten morgen

From a frikken train still! I am feeling like my life is on a train. Prob cos I have spent 18 hrs of last 36 on one!

Flying through the night to Manheim, starving, as bloody useless boy has not brought me the menu. He is scared of English and also thick and new. I heard the guards talking when I waited for the loo. I finally got my Spanish red vino, thank god.
I change trains to Bonn so hopefully can get some real food. The breafast place said on a sign "please do not take food away", so that stopped me taking a snack away for train.

The train feels like it is going a million miles an hour, backwards into time. Maybe I should sit going forward?
Probably going 300 km again but no speed dial this time to confirm. On ICE you get power so my iPhone is running songs in my head and I am doing this. Too tired to write up rest of today Got 15 contacts into data base before I gave up.

It is compulsory to have a lap top in this cabin!

And to talk loudly into cell ph mentionning Afghanistan, New York,Lucern, whatever... Fascinating.

Finished my jersey and to celebrate I wore it off the train to the platform!!!

Not sure about the collar yet. I doubled it over and sewed it.

I have to look into a mirror. Thank goodness I had the pins with me!! My novel may be called "A dozen pins and a pair of needles.

........

Absoluely every bugger on these trains has a cold and is either sneezing or sniffing. I refused to shake hands with, and blocked my nose, as one of the organizers of WEBA said loudly he was sick "but don't worry he had not been attacked by a pig."

I am seeing swine flu everywhere. I turned around and this guy was behind me and he looked like he was bloody dieing of swine flu. Of course the news us full of the football game cancelled because of 3 cases of swine fllu in the team, which then led to riots btw the opposition supporters

Now in having dinner and a huge sneeze from man and an equally loud "gazunt heit" ( can't spell it) He has kept sneezing as I write this andy nose is itching so I have come to the conclusion it was the pepper the guy opposite was applying liberally.
..........

In a darkened cabin and lights reflecting off the Rhine and every few minutes another castle that is lit up, flashes by. Oh yeah, I am flashing by.

Tooooo much today to soak it all in. The view leaving Zurich was one of the best I have ever seen. Matterhorn dusted in snow in background. I don't think I have seen that view before. The views prior equal to all the best before eg Gt Wall, Iguazzu, Himalayas etc Wow

Brugge

2009-10-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

Munich train station extract from client blog

2009-10-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Munich eventually...meant to be midnight but thought for myself and saw I could jump on an earlier train compared to the one the ticket office had printed off for me.

I chose a quiet zone in the very front cabin and was able to prop my legs up on a shelf and knit my neck of the jersey I need to wear the minute it gets cold again. It does help to eat into the hours. In between I finished reading book number 3 of the trip "A Woman in Berlin." Anonymous. Harrowing first hand account of the rapes by Russian soldiers at end of Second World War. A bit of light travel reading..not. Black humour is part of their mechanism for coping. All very interesting and leaves me gazing out windows musing over the meaning of life, condition of humanity etc.

I feel like I am a hermit living at the station as I am also eating there, but yummy food like smoked eel on fresh bread, pretzels, fresh fruit smoothies, fruit salds, creamed rice and fruit to take away. Poor beautiful Munich is not getting visited by me.A 100 meter circle here.

Always dodgy around the stations however ...some slimy old codgers were crawling around half pissed whatever late last night. one guy literally looked like he had crawled out of the guttter/sewer and people were giving him a wide berth. A couple of crazies in doorways mumbling. Plenty of police about so feels safe enough.

More gazing out window wondering about humanity.

Belgium -history lesson from Skippy and Marike

2009-10-25T05:26:00.000-07:00

From Rotterdam I trained to Menen, on the border with Belgium and France. My sister had lived in nearby Brugge for 20 years so I visited her friends.

The business Sandi and her husband Lode set up is still running and is called Quasimodo tours. I was thinking of being a mystery shopper for them (as they are still majority share holders). However Skippy and Marike kindly offered to show me the fields of Flanders themselves so off we went for my compulsory history lesson. We visited the Messen gate during the day and also for the last post at 8pm (played every day). We also visited the Tyne Cot cemetery (the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world) for fallen soldiers.

The colours were all muted autumn and the wind was chilly but the whole morning was very interesting. In the afternoon I wrote up my notes from Thailand which took ages because I had met so many people.

I am here until Friday morning when I will train to Aachen for an appointment and then down to Munich for a fair for students but I will be doing another guerrilla attack and meeting agents.

In the mean time I am writing up my Holland visit and also making more requests for appointments etc. Had a big hassle today about the hotel bookings for 9 rooms in Milan for the rugby event. Grrrr