chaosaccountant
Owen R Seaton Joined: May 28th 2008
Logged in: May 14th 2009
Logged in: May 14th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
You know how it is, you post a long, rambling entry, get out of the internet cafe, and straight away you remember a whole string of things you were meaning to mention or ramble about. Then when you get back to the cafe, you can't remember any of them. I can remember one thing I was going to write about, although I don't suppose anyone who reads this will be at all interested... I have discovered the reason that the Egyptian civilisation ruled so greatly, and for so long. I found it in a poorly labled case in the 'objects from everyday life' room in the Cairo Museam, surrounded by razors and pulleys and such like. It wasn't to do with the incredible fertility of the nile valley, or the possition at the crossroads of ancient ... read more
Okay, this is going to be a fairly long entry, because I have many things to say and haven't had a chance to say them for a while. On a couple of general notes, first all the photos so far can be found on Stephanie's Blog, generally in huge information dumps all at once. At some point I'll stick some of the best up here. Steph's blog has more of a 'what we actually did' rather than my ramblings. It's also better spelt. Also, if you look at my blog, please comment, even just to say that you have. I'm wondering if anyone's even coming to it except by mistake... On Camels I have come to an important realisation - not all the dinosaurs died out or evolved into birds. And I'm not talking about crocodiles, ... read more
So, long wait but Ive finally made it to Africa. And the Sahara is beautiful in an oh so desolate sort of way. I havent been able to go very far into it yet (I hope to spend longer when I explore the Western Desert in Egypt), but the splendid desolation of searingly hot dunes and terrain so flat and endless that it plays tricks on your eyes is something to see. Also, I have descided that Bedouin-style turbans suit me, and I intend to aquire one when I have the chance. The single most wonderful thing I have found in the desert so far have been the dust-devils. The sight of spinning colomns of dust, hanging in the otherwise still air, is intensly evocative. Of course in a photo they come out as nothing more ... read more
So, the storm following us has had to give up its water to cross the Adriatic. Did this mean it would give up? No. Of course not. So the second day after we arrived in Athens, the wind blows up - sunshades wrench at their moorings, and up on the Acropolis, unimpeded by the buildings below, the wind howls through the ruins of temples and ancient monuments, driving stinging dust and a steady stream of dislodged sun-hats before it. And nothing catches dust like sun-creamed legs. The overall effect, however, was very impressive. The feeling of an abandoned, spirit-haunted, ancient place was inescapable, even through the omnipresent crowds of chattering tourists. The they were all below the notice of the columns towering over them, and beyond the statues impassive, blankly eternal gaze. This was a place ... read more
So, thunderstorms in Germany? It's to be expected, right? It's not a country renouned for being hot and dry. So fair enough. But thunderstorms in Italy? That's starting to take the micky. We were in Periugia, as a base to explore Umbria. I'll get to why we were in Umbria specifically in a moment. Perugia is a pretty little town, but without an enormous amount to actually do unless you get their for one of their festivals (Jazz festival, Chocolate festival, and so on). What it does have going for it is it's metro, which is a sort of ariel-tram system, built and powered in much the same way as a rollercoster would be. The carts that run along it are little futuristic opalesent plastic things, looking amusingly like giant white bugs trundling along the rails, ... read more
I#m writing this from a tiny hut on a campsite in the Black forest. The night before last was truly spectacular. We had just arrived in Freiburg that morning, after getting the night train from Paris. Paris, by the way, was nice, but not spectacularly nice. The view from the Eiffel tower wos entrancing, and the rush across town to get to the train afterwards got the addrenaline going, but it still wasn't a patch on what we saw in Germany, although that could just be me. Anyway, by the time we're rolled our weary selves in the the campsite ( we hadn't been able to sleep proberly on the train), set up the tent, and had a nap, the sun had come out for the first time since we arrived in Europe. Surounded as we ... read more
