Gaztravels

After a bit of surfing looking at where I could go for a reasonable amount of euro Rome won out. Having pretty much surrounded it in previous incarnations around Europe now the time was right to drop on in and see what it had to offer. As sad as it sounds, due to an unfortunate set of circumstances I’ve ended up spending a week in Rome. Not having researched it at all before I was having a bit of a stab in the dark as far as where to stay and what to do. That’s where working for Italians comes into play. Stay near Termini they say, it’s close to the Metro and the Metro will get you wherever you need to go. Oh and there’s this great little wine bar if you hang a left ... read more

Morocco has been a bit of a surprise, especially after my previous foray to the African continent. They've really got the tourism thing working well here and on a variety of levels. I was half expecting it to be like Egypt with that mixture of dirt, chaos and everyone wanting a part of you from when you clear immigration til the time you're safely back in the metal tube out of there. But it was not to be, firstly you arrive at this amazingly clean and fresh airport followed by a complete lack of taxi drivers/touts hassling you as soon as you walk out of the arrivals. Taking the easy way out I had "organised" a transfer to the riad that I was staying at. It did not go exactly to plan, guys holding up signs ... read more

There I was sitting around in the hotel room taking it easy after a huge day of pack up the day before and there was an almighty crash. Just like a miniskip being dropped from a height, about 20 minutes later I get the phone call - where are you? There's been a bomb go off in Taksim Square and everyone is heading back to the hotel. Taksim Square is about two blocks from where the hotel is which explains the almighty crash and the sounds of more sirens than is normal for this part of town. Even though most of the crew were out roaming the streets, fortunately none were too close to the bang. Not so fortunate for the thirty six people injured by the suicide bomber though. Considering most of us have spent ... read more

Well it may be home of the tango but all I´ve been doing is making an absolute gourmet pig of myself. Living on an island of limited choices when it comes to dining selections having more than five choices should be taken as a warning sign. Instead I´ve been trying to consume my bodyweight in lomo (see more spanish, it means tenderloin) and half bottles of red wine (I´m not that silly to attempt full bottles in a foreign country). One would be led to believe that there are other attractions in Buenos Aires apart from the food but I really beg to differ. First night in I did the semi aimless wonder near the hotel with these vague directions to a parilla (bbq steak place) a couple of blocks from where I was staying. Fortunately ... read more

It's the journey they say not the destination, well in this case the journey has been more of a thrill then the destination. It all started with the escape from that jewel of the Pacific that I call home at the moment. You know it's not going to be the best when you have to be checked in manually as the computers are down at the airport. Those familiar with where I live will find this unsurprising, but after an hour sitting on the tarmac waiting for the paperwork to bear some resemblance to who and what was on the plane it was all starting to wear thin for the flight crew let alone the passengers. But to their credit the flight crew managed it well and eventually saw the funny side of things. The offer ... read more