Barbados

The start of May was a busy time for me in terms of travel. On 24 April I arrived back in England after 2 weeks in America, seven days later I was having a long weekend away in England, and 2 days after that it was time to fly back over the Atlantic to Barbados. But who can complain about that?

My then girlfriend worked for a travel magazine, and managed to get us a great deal for a week’s holiday on the Carribean island. Our package included flights and all-inclusive accommodation in a beach resort in Holetown, all for about the value of the flights alone.

As soon as we touched down and left the plane, it felt like somewhere tropical. A constant 31 degrees greeted us to the airport that was more outdoors than indoors – even the check in counters were outside! Must be a great way to save on air conditioning.

Most of our days were spent like this:

• Get up after a small sleep in, and head to the buffet breakfast.
• Absolutely stuff yourself with a fantastic breakfast selection, including Bajan hot sauce on your eggs and delicious sausages, and maybe plantain pancakes for dessert.
• Head to the beach for the morning.
• By 11 am it is probably time to start drinking. Afterall, the poolside bar is serving free cocktails.
• Lunch by the pool provides a choice between the Bajan buffet, usually rice with something delicious like slow-baked chicken or flying fish.
• Back to the beach for the afternoon: swimming, snorkelling, relaxing and drinking rum punch.
• Watching the sun set over the Carribean.
• Dressing up for cocktails in the evening bar, followed by yet another delicious buffet dinner.
• A few more drinks and an early night.

The majority of the days went along those lines. The highlight was on the first day when we took a boat trip out to a spot where you can snorkel with the massive turtles. The turtles can be found around the same spot where they are used to being fed, and they are quite tame. Swimming with them meant just that, and these majestic creatures that just glide through the water even came close enough to be touched.

One morning I was excited to see a monkey run across the garden, as normally all you could see running around were the mongoose.  But of course we did not spend the whole time just around the resort. The biggest two days were where we hired a car and went exploring around the island.

We rented a Suzuki Jimny four-wheel-drive, and explored all around the island with the roof down. We went swimming at the wild surf beaches on the Atlantic coast, drove through lots of towns consisting mainly of corrugated iron shacks, got off the beaten track through the sugar cane country and spent some time relaxing on well manicured beaches of the south coast.

My favourite part was the wildlife park, outside of which you could hand feed green monkeys (that’s what they were called but they were more grey than green), whilst inside you could find everything from large tortoises to peacocks wandering around, and even the odd crocodile in the pond!

I found Barbados to be a really interesting place, but also a place of contrasts. One day I was walking down the beach in front of the luxurious and very expensive Sandy Lane resort, and the next day I was driving through a shanty town where it appears people don’t have enough funds or resources to build a solid house.

Yet people were hospitable, and it all felt very safe. Often if I was lost, a local would yell out to tell me which way to drive.  At times the locals were hard to understand, but you could always understand their unrivalled sense of hospitality.

Minneapolis, Chicago and New York

I am on an early morning train from London to Leeds. And I forgot my iPhone earphones! On the bright side, this presents an opportunity for me to catch up on my travel blog.

In April I went on a business trip to America.

My company’s head office in a suburb of Minneapolis. And I was due to visit for a week.

I decided to fly with American Airlines. They didn’t have direct flights, but I was up for a stopover in Chicago. I figured that AA, being one of the flagship members of the oneworld alliance, would be a comfortable, full service airline just like Qantas or British Airways.

But I soon found out that AA is quite poor in comparison, and doesn’t even serve free alcohol on transatlantic flights!

I landed in Chicago in the late afternoon, and had a couple of hours to kill before my regional flight to Minneapolis.  Once I got to Minneapolis, it was quite late. I was quite scared about having to get a rental car and drive it on the wrong (right) side of the road whilst jetlagged and tired, but it turned out OK.  Driving on the other side of the road is always tricky but the wide roads of America and the courteous Midwest drivers made it alright.

I spent the next few days in the Minneapolis suburbs, going to work during the day and enjoying the glorious spring sunshine in the afternoons. It was the hottest April they had had in a long time, and a perfect way to thaw out after a long London winter.

On the Friday afternoon I left the office and headed straight to the airport, and flew back to Chicago for the weekend. It was going to be a rushed weekend, arriving in Chicago late Friday night, and having to fly back to London early Sunday morning.

But as luck would have it, the Icelandic ash cloud descended over northern Europe that Friday, so my flight back to London on the Sunday morning was cancelled.

I had a few extra days to enjoy Chicago – thank you ash cloud! Chicago itself was a lot nicer than I had expected. I had been to the States a few times before, and had always wanted to go to Chicago but never made it there as it was a bit out of the way of my travels.

I stayed on the Magnificent Mile, where everything was clean and sparkling, with interesting high rise architecture all around. I enjoyed going to “the Loop” (downtown), where the raised “El” trains rattled above the streets, just like in the movies.

I did a lot of shopping in the various stores, and look forward to sporting my Chicago Cubs jumper this autumn.

By Tuesday, flights back to England had not yet resumed, and the first flight I was able to get booked on was the next Sunday.

But what to do in Chicago all this time?  Ought I go back to Minneapolis so I can at least do some work? My boss had a better idea. “Why don’t you go to New York and visit our office there?” Brilliant!

So on Tuesday I booked myself a flight to New York city.  And my work managed to find me a flight back to London a day early, on Saturday. The only flighty available was premium economy with British Airways, so I saved myself a cattle class, teetotaller route back across the Atlantic with AA.

There’s a reason why people all around the world wear “I love NY” T-Shirts. New York City has a great vibe about it, a really unique atmosphere. Though sadly being my third time to NY, the excitement had worn off a little bit. Nevertheless, I had a great time. I managed to catch up with a friend from uni who was doing an internship. My New York colleagues were really accommodating, and took me out to various lunches near our Times Square location, and I enjoyed perfect April weather for a few days before having to head back to rainy London.

My trip was twice as long as it was meant to be, and it didn’t cost me anything as being on a business trip meant all my food and accommodation was paid for. Thank you ash cloud!

Greece

I peaked too early! It is mid July and all my summer holidays are over and done with.  After Barbados in May and Greece in June, I have nothing else to look forward to, apart from enduring muggy London, watching the tourists have fun outside my work building, while I sit in the office.

But would I change my summer plan given the choice? No. I’ve had a wicked summer so far! And actually I am just loving London right now - plenty of time to get out and enjoy the sunshine.

A definite highlight of my summer has been my trip to the Greek Islands. It was me and seven friends. We all met in Athens on a Saturday morning to climb the Acropolis and do some general sightseeing. I liked Athens. It reminded me of Melbourne in many ways, and not just by the abundance of Greeks. I think the main thing was the choice of interesting cafes, bars and bakeries all over and late into the night.

And cafes were very useful, given my 2:30 am arrival at Athens airport the night before, culminating in checking in to my hostel at 4:30.

Athens - view from Acropolis

After a great day of sightseeing, and a big night of drinking, we eventually crawled into bed. But only for a few hours, as we had to be on the early ferry from the Port at 7am.

So we all started with a very hung over 5am start, and boarded “Highspeed 4” in Piraeus, bound for the island of Mykonos.  A few hours later we were there, and found our boat quickly, moored in the next dock.

The others of the 30-strong contingent had not yet arrived, so some of us made instant use of the closest beach and went for a hangover-relieving swim. Then the others started arriving, and we had some drinks on the boat before sailing off to Naxos.

The boat was comparable to the one I had sailing Croatia four years ago, but more spacious and slightly less engulfed with diesel fumes! The common area was much more spacious and the bar was well equipped. I was excited and thought this would be a fantastic trip!

But we did have some hurdles along the way. Our one -night-stop in Paros turned into 3 nights due to strong winds, our boat broke down and we lost running water and power for the best of two days. It was quite challenging at times (seasickness and lack of running water don’t mix well!) and we lost  a few destinations on our itinerary, but overall being with a great bunch of people, in a beautiful part of the world made it hard to feel down.

We spent our days on the islands quad-biking around, exploring many beaches, coves, hills, and some very forgotten-looking deserted tracks.

exploring islands by quad

When we got stuck a second day in Ios unexpectedly, we got lucky because it was the Swedish midsummer party. The boys and I enjoyed a long day at Far Out Beach Club watching the Swedish girls in their hundreds strip off into bikinis, throw each other into pool and generally frolic around drunkenly!

On the down side, we missed any amount of useful time in Santorni, arriving one evening and having to set sail back to Mykonos the next morning.

So what of the Cyclades? These islands are quite amazing. The natural landscapes are mainly brown, baron, and dry, but against the contrast of the bright blue seawater and dotted with chalk-white buildings all over, it actually makes for stunning scenery!

The towns mainly consist of narrow, cobbled, alleyways between softly rounded buildings showing off their bright white paint with blue doors and window shutters, and colourful flowers for extra contrast. All the time under a bright blue sky, everything glimmering in the bright sunlight.

a typical Paros street

If I had to retire and live somewhere in Europe – these Islands would probably be one of the first choices!