I also love volcanoes I also love volcanoes. I've been fascinated by them ever since I was a kid and the fascination doesn't get less as I get older either. /Ake
Tunisia on the bucket list You ran into some sketchy people. The bus ride sounded horrible. I'm glad nothing nefarious happened while you were there. Stay safe.
The bus ride I don't think I've ever been so scared in my entire life as I was during that bus ride. He probably knew the way and thought that he could drive like a racecar driver and still drive safely. But at those speeds it takes only a minor mistake or miscalculation to kill us both. /Ake
A blast from the past Been looking forward to your Tunisia blogs from your trip in 2002, Ake, and worth the wait. What a plethora of fabulous memories and images...bringing the extraordinary history of Tunisia to life. Magic!
I want to go back Tunisia is a country I really would like to return to some day. There were several places I didn't have to visit and I feel that it could be rewarding to visit random places there as well, places not mentioned in the guidebook. But it is not likely that I will go there any time soon. I don't think it is safe there at the moment. /Ake
A petrol museum...What a Gas!!! Love the idea of this museum Ake. And best of all you had the collector turn up for your private tour. There is nothing better than the collector sharing his or her obsession and carrying one along with his or her vibe. So much more interesting than just turning up and looking. Reminds me of the Shell cards my Dad used to get me as a kid, and ones we immersed in country towns last year (war, fish & weird collectables). And also the 'surprise collection' blog I haven't got around to finishing. Ah the quirks of the obsessive collector...even better when it leads to their private museums...the World would be a duller place without them!
Some collections are increadible I agree that it is fascinating to see some private collections. I can't understand where they find the time to acquire all the items in their collections. They must spend thousands of hours. In Stockholm I once visited a collection of historical medical litterature. It is possible that that collection is the largest in the world of its kind. It is not open for public though, I was invited by a lucky coincident. Also that time the collector showed me around. He explained that when he had a decent size collection doctors, professors of medicin and others started to donate their own relevant books to him. People working in the field of medicin bought books they found at auctions or in second-hand bookstores because they thought it was fun at the moment. Later on they didn't know what to do with them so they gave them to the collector. Some of them only had one or two, others had several hundreds. So once the collection was large enough it kind of grew on its own. /Ake
Tunisia is lovely... just not now I think I think the political situation in Tunisia might be a bit turbulent so I probably wouldn't go there right now. But hopefully it will be better a few years from now. When it is safe to go I can strongly recommend it because Tunisia is lovely. /Ake
Ancestry Research Thank you so much for the article! I did a DNA test a few years ago and was noted that I have Swedish and Estonian DNA and only found out this year of this village in Ukraine. My Great-grandparents are from Ukraine and wanted to do more research on them, unfortunately there's not much to go on. I don't even know what year they came to Canada, they met here and had two sons (both have passed away). Is there a way to find more information? Family names are Bash (changed when immigrated here) and Busko (great-grandma was illiterate so I don't know if this is the correct spelling). Thank you for any help.
I answer in a private message I have answered you in a private message. But I leave your comment here in case someone who have useful information reads this. /Ake
Tunisia We were on the verge of planning a trip to Tunisia when the Arab Spring took place... I hope we can make it there some day soon. Thanks for posting your memories :)
Similarities I loved seeing these photos, it reminded me so much of the architecture and clarity of light in Berber country in southern Morocco. The scenes from Star Wars that were filmed in Tunisia are still fresh in my brain all these years later- I loved it :)
The pictures don't do it justice Sadly my pictures are old transparencies that I have digitized. Over the years the colours have faded. It was much better to see it for real. Since you have been to Morocco you know what I am talking about. /Ake
Tasteless Joke? Not at all. It's actually a very Australian sense of humour, and from what popular culture remembers of him - it's absolutely suited to him too :)
Nostalgia I love this sculpture - it must have been a newish addition in 1995. I remember they added it in the early 90s while I was at uni and also using the State Library (building it's in front of) a lot... It took a bit of getting used to having it on the pavement; but despite bumping into it a few times when running to catch a tram (!) I really love it. I finally got around to reading your Australian blogs, and I have seriously enjoyed the nostalgia of seeing Melbourne as it was when I was growing up there. I grew up in the inner northern suburbs and only about 10km or so from West Coburg where you stayed :)
Pandani These shrubs are uniquely Tasmanian and one of my favourites to spot while hiking in the alpine areas. I love that you did the Overland Track - Cradle Mountain is our favourite NP in Tas :)
We are Emma Holmbro and Ake Dahllof. We live in Stockholm, Sweden.
We have travelled more or less regularly since the mid 1990-ies and it seems like the more we travel the more difficult it is to decide where to go next. Not because we are running out of places to visit but because we find more places we want to go to faster than we manage to travel to them.
Some of the things from our travel bucket list we have ticked off since we started this blog in 2006 are
Angel Falls in Ven... full info
RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
Big bird
This is exactly what a seagull waiting for an opportunity to swoop down on your hot chips looks like :)