Illness Terry is half right in comparing your situation to The Great Philippines Conjunctivitis Catastrophe, although I was not "laid up", and I did not "miss" my flight. I was completely mobile (though seriously vision-impaired) through the whole experience, and was on time for all three of the flights that I was refused permission to board. My main problem was being effectively trapped (while half-blind) for twelve days in a country I desperately wanted to leave. The real analogy here (this theme will be familiar to you, Lloyd) is with what happened to me when I got home. After about three days I got very sick, which I put down to the fact that my body gave up after having held it together for so long in such a stressful situation. I reckon that's what's happened to you. The bright side of it is that you do get better if you take it easy. On the other hand, if you're still sick after a few days, it might be time to see a doctor.
Piggyback Blog Hi Lloyd, thanks for allowing me to piggyback my mini-blog on the back of yours these last few weeks! I’m too lazy to set up my own blogging account and I saw an opportunity to talk about my travels here in Bali within the confines of ‘Comment Corner’ right here at the bottom of your own blog. I’ve been following your trials and tribulations each day, adding a comment here and there and then appending a little of my own adventures as well. Hope you don’t mind. Well, my holiday here in beautiful Bali is drawing to a close. Heading back to Melbourne on a late flight tonight. Have had a fabulous two week break here in Indonesia. The highlight of my trip was spending seven days on the remote island of Trawangan in the Indonesian Archipelago. It’s one of 3,000 islands. And it’s so relaxing to be in a place where there are no cars or motorized transport of any kind. Didn’t end up visiting Keroboken Jail after all. I was worried that some dreadful mistake might be made and they’d accidently or intentionally lock me up there as well so I stayed away from the place. Of course, your travels Lloyd are much more ‘educational’, more ‘travel experiences’ than the ‘lay-on-the-beach’, snorkelling style holidays that I like. Hope you recover from your bout of illness soon and start tapping away once again on that wonky keyboard soon! Rob O’ Connell has suddenly re-surfaced and wants to have Mexican soon with the lads. Can I make a booking at Mexicali Rose for 7:30?
Illness Lloyd, sorry to hear you're not well and cooped up in your room. This is one of the aspects of travel that unfortunately sometimes happens. You'll recall that ME was laid up on one of his many and frequent visits to Asia not so long ago? Eggs ended up missing his flight. He was a broken egg indeed! You've booked in for several days to your pension so hopefully your illness will pass soon and you'll be able to get on with your travels and your quirky blogging. Keep updating this journal as often as you can. It's a highlight for several of us back in Australia. I'm in Bali right now and I have to tell you that tourist numbers here are at an all time high. Bali tourism is once again running with a full head of steam and appears to have completely recovered from the effects of the bombings a few years ago. Building of new resorts continues apace and there are more swimming pools per square meter here than just about anywhere in the world. I have my own private pool here in my villa. I am trying to lose weight like you Lloyd and I am doing fifty laps a day. My villa also has Wi-Fi direct to my room and I am typing this on my laptop in my lounge room. It’s luxury alright but it doesn’t break the bank. This is one of the reasons why so many Australians flock here. I’m thinking about visiting one of the Bali Nine tomorrow at Kerobokan jail but am still undecided.
Fire in the Hole! When you mentioned the story about the fire in the newspaper, it
triggered the memory of a big fire just down the road from your apartment that happened about a month ago. It took out Jamie Oliver's restaurant and two other businesses at the cost of about a mill. dollars. Turned out the culprit was a chef who worked for Jamie Oliver! Good to see you are still writing, drinking, suffering, learning and living. Lisbon seems to be trapped in time; a force that is contracting space, pushing everything closer and closer together. There's probably a perfectly good replica of this at Disneyland somewhere.
Travel and Food Lloyd, I love your descriptions of foods you encounter in your travels. You paint a very vivid picture of tastes and textures that I can almost smell! Yet your decriptions are disarmingly simple. How do you do it?
For example, here's how another blogger might describe eating a pizza:
'It's like no other pizza dough I've ever tasted. It's soft and chewy and yielding but incredibly thin. It's a doughy, strong, gummy, yummy, chewy, salty pizza paradise. On top is sweet tomato sauce that foams up all bubbly and creamy when it melts the fresh buffalo mozzarella.' But thankfully you, Lloyd, dispense with such unnecessarily florid descriptions. You simply say 'The pizza was very tasty. Went down a treat!' And that's what I like about your writing style. Very plain. Very stolid. Very straightforward with absolutely no bullshit. Keep on blogging as only you can, Mr Word Smith.
santa justa lift from wikipedia The Santa Justa Lift (Portuguese: Elevador de Santa Justa, pron. IPA: [elhvP'do~ dh 'sPtP '’utP]), also called Carmo Lift (Elevador do Carmo, pron. IPA: [elhvP'do~ du 'ka~mu]), is a lift in the city of Lisbon at Santa Justa Street. It connects downtown streets with the uphill Carmo Square.
Neogothic structure of the Santa Justa Lift. The bridge leads to the Carmo Square.
Neogothic structure of the Santa Justa Lift. The bridge leads to the Carmo Square.
The Santa Justa Lift was designed by Raul Mesnier de Ponsard, an engineer born in Oporto to French parents, and apprentice of Gustave Eiffel. Construction began in 1900 and was finished in 1902; originally powered by steam, it was converted to electrical operation in 1907.
The iron lift is 45 metres tall and is decorated in neogothic style, with a different pattern on each storey. The top storey is reached by helicoidal staircases and has a terrace that offers views of Lisbon Castle, the Rossio Square and the Baixa neighbourhood. There are two elevator booths. Each has wooden interior and accommodates 24 people.
The lift has become a tourist attraction in Lisbon as, among the urban lifts in Lisbon, Santa Justa is the only vertical one. Others, including Elevador da Glória and Elevador da Lavra, are more like funiculars that help climb the slopes of Lisbon.
the tower is not a tower the tower ..,wich you depict in the blog is not a tower. it is an elevator.
You can take it and enjoy the wonderfull view of lisbon
Lisbon Interesting reading about Lisbon and your experiences there. The photos you've posted look strange. I can't see any footpaths anywhere and the streets look devoid of all human life? I will assume that the photos were taken on a Sunday, perhaps early morning? Congratulations on your new fancy money belt, sounds like you're going to need it.
Beggars can be choosers What you might not know is that Portugal is one of the poorest countries in the E.U., and as a consequence, probably has more beggars than other member countries. The standard of living might be cheaper but there's a downside. My advice is to buy yourself a garland of garlic and a crucifix ... Hang on. I think that's only applicable to Transylvania.
do not forget to eat the famous pasteis de nata you can see them in wikipedia. just search for Pastel de nata.you can find them in any pastry shop. Be carefull while going out at night in lisbon,especially in places like rossio,where you staying.
portuguese are generally friendly..,but.
I am portuguese and I live in Lisbon. I do not trust everyone.
Coffee in a glass Where on earth did you get the idea that some Aussies disapprove of this practice? It's very common here in Melbourne, and it does not in any way demonstrate a mindnumbing inabilty to select an appropriate vessel for the service of a hot beverage. It must be very sophisticated because they do it in Lygon Street.
Here's lookin' at you kid Note to Terry: Pronunciation is "ah- ga- deer", according to Dictionary.com. So that's it for Morocco. No further plans for Africa, then? Not heading down to Zimbabwe where that nice Mr Mugabe is doing so well? Glad to see that your keyboard seems to be fixed. Your last email contained so many typos I assumed it was set on "random".
Key defenders are premium investments I want to know whether you will be shoring up the key defensive post come the Alice Springs Masters' Soccer Tournament in October? Does the Manager know you're globetrotting? I think he would have some very stern words to say about it. If you're wondering whether to buy a one year return Skybus ticket, that tells me you're NOT committed to the Manager and the Manager's plans. He always screamed THINK TEAM, not personal glory. Or was it think personal glory and not team? This globetrotting thingo sounds very much to me like personal glory.
touts Hotel Tarik sounds like it deserves a visit from an AFL football team. That would serve them right. Re touts: an approach I found useful once or twice in Paris when I spied the barefoot gypsy girls approaching me was to immediately confront them and request (in French) that THEY give ME ten euros, before they had a chance to speak. Not sure if it caused their brain circuits to fuse and melt or confuse them or just infuriate them, but it seemed to work fine. JC
New entry or not? Lloyd, this new blog site is heaps better than the old one. The photos are good, and it's easy to navigate. It seems to be sending update notices, though, when there is no update. I got an update email a few minutes ago, but, as far as I can tell, nothing new has been added. Am I missing something?
And the really important question:
Are you riding on the Marrakesh Express? (Sings: Don't you know we're riding... on the Marrakesh Express.... They're taking me to Marrakesh.... All Aboooaarrd thaaaat traayaain....... All Aboooaarrd thaaaat traayaain.... All abooooooaaaaaaorrrrd........................)
Tangier Troubles Con artists, touts, hoons in cars...dear, dear me!
Phew! I must say it doesn't sound very appealing this North African city! Yet the pics paint quite a different picture of Tangier? Very colorful women at markets, blue sunny skies, traffic humming quietly along the streets. One of your pics is entitled 'Good Taste Takes a Holiday', well, if you think about it even good taste sometimes needs a vacation.
But let us turn to that age old problem of beggers and touts. Want my advice? I have only one sentence for them 'Have a good day'. THat's it! No other words pass my lips. I repeat this benign phrase several times until they are sick of it and go away. But what is really needed when travelling is an all-purpose tout repellant. Imagine it! Just spray on new 'Tout Away' before leaving your hotel room and con artists of all descriptions won't come within a bull's roar of you. Guaranteed to produce results! Ah, it's truly wonderful stuff! Now, if I could produce a product like this I'd be a millionaire! Well, at least maybe I'd have one customer?
Scam artists The guy you encountered on the beach sounds a lot like a con artist TC and I encountered in Mumbai a few years back. He claimed to be a Tanzanian sailor down on his luck. He engaged us in conversation, then hit on us for money, then five minutes later he was back trying to sell us Columbian cocaine! We had quite a job getting rid of him.
You are covering an awful lot of territory in a relatively short time. At what point does exhaustion set in?
Hotel Tarik I did a web search of Hotel Tarik and it had a Ratings grid at the top of the page. The 'Fun' factor came in at 30%, which upon reading your blog, sounds a little on the generous side perhaps?
But as you suggest, Hotel Tarik offered the opportunity for 'local color' and a couple of priceless anecdotes that served to spice up your visit and your blog. Sounds like Hotel De Paris is more up your alley? Closer to where the action is. Pity you didn't book this in the first place but alas the fog of tourism was to deny you yet again and no doubt will again before your trip is concluded.
I wonder how long you intend to stay in Morocco? What is your next destination? And of course, you haven't mentioned the weather.
My new car in Seville! I bought a new car two weeks ago. It's exactly the same make, model and colour as the one (1151 CFN) in your photograph "18th century street meets 21st century traffic".
How the hell did you manage that?
Still Saville? For the last five days there has not been a new blog entry? 'Ah Saville' is the last which you posted on May 31. Is all OK?
If so, then no need to blog. Just kick back, have few beers, enjoy the sunshine. Do a few touristy things. Have a few beers, then go out to a nice restuarant and see what happens.
Sunny weather Amazing but true. Sunny weather certainly helps to raise the spirits. Good blogging, Mr Smith. Enjoyed every word. Sounds like Seville is a great place to add to my 'Must Visit' list. Keep on blogging!
I guess I'm a travel junkie. I find new places and people stimulating. I grow bored easily in the same environment and crave new experiences. I also find that travel is an excellent way of losing weight. ... full info
ME
non-member comment
Illness
Terry is half right in comparing your situation to The Great Philippines Conjunctivitis Catastrophe, although I was not "laid up", and I did not "miss" my flight. I was completely mobile (though seriously vision-impaired) through the whole experience, and was on time for all three of the flights that I was refused permission to board. My main problem was being effectively trapped (while half-blind) for twelve days in a country I desperately wanted to leave. The real analogy here (this theme will be familiar to you, Lloyd) is with what happened to me when I got home. After about three days I got very sick, which I put down to the fact that my body gave up after having held it together for so long in such a stressful situation. I reckon that's what's happened to you. The bright side of it is that you do get better if you take it easy. On the other hand, if you're still sick after a few days, it might be time to see a doctor.