MrMink

mr mink

travelling - it's a way into Somewhere Else vital to me - one can only learn more about Life from Other Places and Others



Travel Blog Posts


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mr mink
March 11th 2013

this is the end of Monday, which is a public holiday here (Adelaide Cup day) and I am doing this luxury style - on one of 3 big Imacs in the Internode free wifi test. So what happened yesterday Sunday? well late brekky of bacon and eggs and toast etc at local place near hostel which is quite reasonably priced. Got up to Womad to see the end of Vieux Farka Toure doing his geetar power trio thang. Then bit of a break then the Soweto Gospel Choir, who I actually paid money to see in Sydney once at Star Casino casino or summat. They were the expected rousing self. The a bit of the Correspondents, a local duo who fool around with sound clips and styles while one of them sorta dances on and off. ... read more



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mr mink
March 9th 2013

well time for a Womad update on evening of day 2. It started yesterday Friday but being a business day not until 6pm or so. There was a fairly long queue to get in with bag check etc. So my first musical experience was The Tallest Man on Earth, the somewhat confusingly named Swedish solo guy Kristian Mattson, mostly cos this was his only show. He maybe is going to Port Fairy folk fest which is very soon. Comparisons to Dylan as just one man and guitar, and he does sing in English natch but nothing too exciting or attractive. However the next thing was Big - Malian Basseyou Kouyate & Ngoni Bar. With his 2 sons and a cousin also on the ngoni - fretless Malian lute I guess - he is a master and ... read more



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mr mink
March 7th 2013

well it is still more or less broiling - the usual 32C or whatever - seems til the end of the week and no change other than promised coupla showers (won't hold my breath). Wed. 6 March was a late start and lunch/brunch at almost 2pm at Press * (I think the asterisk is part of the name). Anyway later found out it was Advertiser (the local rag) restore of the year last year. Anyway I had a pappardelle with blue swimmer crab with chilli tomato creamy sauce, which was pretty good. And a glass of SA syrah/Gamay red which I wondered about later (red in the middle of the day that is). Style of the place was suitable boho - long communal benches and stools and rough cut timber walls. Will likely go back there ... read more



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mr mink
March 5th 2013

well to those who did not know, yes I am in Adelaide broadly for Womad music at end of week, but also bookended by Festival events. Despite the technical problems of no wifi at hostel, but can do from data on mobile, I am managing - thx in this case to free wifi in Rundle Mall. I flew over yesterday Monday and had a couple of hrs nap when I got to the Shakespeare hostel as v little sleep afore. Only just got to Itoseng, a solo piece by a black Sth AFrican guy about the death of the township community after they burnt down their shopping ctr in 1994. 18 years later they were still waiting despite the promises of the new ANC govt that they would all be rich etc. Alongside this was the ... read more



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mr mink
September 23rd 2012

I did not mention yet that the problem with hotels (as in getting one) was La Merce annual festival, the biggest thing in Barcerlona. The actual fest was on Monday 24 Sept but the weekend before Sat-Sun was full of events and free concerts - and some free museums (more on that later). The maddest one seemed to be the Correfoc - to quote the info: .... The correfoc (literally, “fire run”) was an invention that dates back to the restoration of democracy; nevertheless, it brings together the traditional ingredients of Catalan culture and the absolute essence of Mediterranean festivities. This procession kicks off when fire-spitting beasts and devils pour out from the Gates of Hell, bathing the streets in fire .... Honestly this is one of the maddest events I have ever seen in terms ... read more



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mr mink
September 20th 2012

(warning - contemporaneous flashback in progress) Now this is not what I was expecting - (almost) sending an email from a moving bus, rather than a train! Yes leaving Bilbao - but not as I intended, on a train, but on a bus. I effectively tore up 21E train ticket (fortunate with 40% discount rather than 36E) - by the time I left the Guggenheim, waited for tram to Metro station - got Metro to Pension (12 mins), then just missed Metro back to town (5 mins wait - might have JUST made the RENFE train). No train til tomorrow - either 6.50am (not that desperate) or same time of 3.28pm. Had a stiff coffee and a bocadillo and contemplated what to do. Could have got a 5 hr train to Madrid at 5.10pm, then another ... read more



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mr mink
September 17th 2012

another of those sort of whistle stops/one nighters in a town of interest. This time Burgos, and one would have to say there is one reason - yes, another Cathedral. But this is THE Cathedral in Spain I think I can say, and I am not just repeating the guide books (which do say just). Anyway got the train here from Valladolid - and am in fact writing this on the same train (number 4087 Alvia that is) as it runs from Madrid (via Burgos) to Bilbao. I had heard from the Aussie couple from Melbourne I had spoken to that there was likely some sort of industrial action on the Monday. I did not mind, otherwise I would likely have just missed the train as I left my fast walk to the station a little ... read more



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mr mink
September 11th 2012

This might even more or less kick start the blog season {likely going backwards anyway - seeing as how I have 3 1/2 hrs on this Alvia "fast" train from Zamora to Santiago de Compostela with nothing much else to do - other than listen to some Miles Davis "Tutu" (the difficult Warners period Miles fans) on my Ipod. The train is not that fast - would be on Madrid fast train sections but out here in the scrub it is more like 80kmh average due to the track no doubt. It runs all the way from Zamora. It was a one night town - I will have to be doing more or this as my pace has been too relaxed. However getting into Santiago at 8.30pm I have booked 4 nights there, in 2 separate ... read more



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mr mink
September 9th 2012

Although this is notionally entry number 2 in the Spain blog , it is actually about my three nights in Salamanca from Friday 7 September through to Sunday night 9 September. Because of the often problems with booking weekend accommodation, especially Friday and Saturdays, I decided to book the three days as a block. Apart from the fact that Salamanca seemed a relatively pleasant place to spend such an amount of time. Although already the travel arrangements are starting to become hazy, I got the bus over there (about 90 minutes) from Avila - we may or may not ever catch up with that place. The hotel was a reasonable place called the Monterrey - an old 50s style but a reasonable price , although the room was somewhat small. It was on the fifth floor ... read more



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mr mink
September 2nd 2012

Yes, there had to be one, a "corrida" (bullfight) edition, but I decided to make it a completely separate one, not because it was that important, but because some people might not want to look at all at the images. By request I have chosen relatively delicate ones - no bulls streaming with blood etc, although some will inevitably be seen cos that is what happens. However I have censored the gorier ones (especially those with the picadores - who lance the bull from horseback to "slow it down"). But there is also I must admit a certain art (or nerve) to what the guys out there with the capes do (matadors/toreros) - even more so the guys (called banderilleros?) with small lances who place the lances on the bull's neck/back with no cover whatsoever. This ... read more






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