Soon, on the BR

- Our mantastic (that sounds wrong...) trip to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem
- Canada (oh, the leaves!)
- Growing tomatoes in Belgium (sexier than it sounds)
- Pictures, pictures and more pictures!
- This foodie's highlights (because food porn is always fun, and mostly safe)

Just giffing

Visited Countries Map from TravelBlog

Guiana travel log - part 2

Airport, layover, island paradise (Martinique), day 2

And here I am, once again, at an airport.  I spent nearly two hundred Euros on this little stop-over...  Two thirds, on simply getting from the airport to the hotel and back. 

Traveler’s tip:  taking taxis is expensive.  Taking taxis on public holidays is even more expensive.  Airport hotels may feel like you’re not even properly in the country, but when available, can be less hassle. 

Of course, there seem to be exactly zero hotels here within 20 kilometers of the runways.  I fervently hope my travel expenses here will be covered.  Guess we’ll see.  That plus the anti-tropical-nasties meds are starting to feel like the ransom for a minor Saudi prince.  Alright, maybe not quite.

On a more scented note, I get to sit in the mild but detectible aroma of my mosquito repellent.  Hope I’ve put some everywhere that matters (which is everywhere).  All while resentfully glaring at the locked door to the business lounge, at 7 am local time.  Clearly, it’s too early for business, as the lounge only deigns open its doors at the royal hour of 4pm.  Had I known no serious businessman hangs out at the airport before then, I would’ve at least taken the morning to look around.  Of course then I would’ve missed my next flight, which leaves in an hour and a half.  Thus completely messing up the rest of my trip, as a bonus.  At least now I know why there’s no business class on this flight.  It all makes sense now!

In a completely unrelated grumble, the duty free shop doesn’t seem to sell neckties.  Serves me right for forgetting to pack any.  Whoops.  Some business traveler I am.  Though I suppose with it being around thirty degrees Celsius and humid as a Turkish steamer, the detail may be overlooked.

On to South America!

Guiana travel log - part 1

Airport, pre-departure, Paris

Pleasantly warm after a silky shot of quality cognac, I feel it is far past time to rekindle this traveler’s blog.  So here goes.

It’s been… far longer than I expected, but I am once again on bye-bye-bed regimen.  This consists of no more than two consecutive nights spent in any single bed. I am sitting at Paris’ southern airport, Orly, in the business lounge. One of life’s small pleasures, this one is a bit sparsely stocked, but the spirits, as mentioned, are present.

Boarding has just been called, but the hostess at the entrance has kindly advised us to remain in the comfortable exclusivity of the lounge – the French call it “salon”, a far more civilized name – until she calls again. I surmise in order to advise us that it’s time for Business travelers to board.  For indeed, I have reached that point in my life where I’m being ferried around in business class.  At least, for trips going to such distant locales.

Today, I head off to Fort-de-France, Martinique, where I will spend a whopping twelve hours before moving on to scenic (I hope) French Guiana. I look forward to many photo ops, long hours, and few mosquito bites.  I’m just about fully equipped with all manner of vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and sprays.  It’s amazing how dangerous those little buggers are.  A wonder the US hasn’t declared war on mosquitoes.  But then the locally grown variety is considerably less deadly than their tropical cousins.

Next stop, the Caribbean!

Swiss Travel Log

Day 1.

I've finally arrived in Switzerland.  The best part?  Land.  The flight out of Brussels was an unusually harrowing experience.  Not only were we the last flight to leave the airport that night, but there were only twelve of us on the plane, plus the crew.  As night flights go, this one was particularly turbulent.  All in all, I couldn't sleep, I barely ate, and I spent the entire flight wondering whether when we crashed, my body would be found burned up, mangled or not at all.  And how the headlines might read - Swiss Air crashes in the mountains.  Thankfully, only 16 dead - but no survivors.

-----

Quick, quick, must catch the train!  My thoughts after calming down at Basel Euroairport. This place has exits into three countries (Switzerland, France, Germany).  Not sure how they pull that off, but the bus awaits!

Fun with google maps

Here's a breakdown of the main stops for the current long trip I'm on.  I'lll be on the road from the 15th of November to the 8th of December.


View Larger Map

Swiss cheesy road trip

Here's a breakdown of next week's stages of my switzerland trip.  We'll be spending a LOT of time in the mini-bus.  Whoo (not so much).
View Larger Map

How to stalk me

Lesson 1:

Get access to google calendar, and ask me to make my calendar visible to you.  Then any time you go to my blog, you'll be able to see where I am in the snazzy calendar gadget to the right of the screen.

On the road again

I was all too grateful for the past week's breather at home, in my own bed.  Which is probably why I did my level best to stay in it as much as possible.  That, and the fact I have no chair in my room.

Now, I've once again hit the road, as the prospect of financial incentives (aka, money, cash, gimme-gimme-gimme) is hard to resist.  Next stop, Brussels.  Then Switzerland (4-5 cities in all, plus daily road-trips).  Then Budapest.  Followed, in theory for now, by Prague.  Then Paris for about 2 days, tops.  Then Brussels again.  And then, maybe, a bit of time off.  None too soon.

There was even the possibility I might fly off to Tunis again, instead of Prague.  This way I score fewer airmiles, which I do so love (yes, I see the George Clooney analogies too) but get to travel in a slightly more coherent way.  Slightly.

Signing off for now!  Oh, and free wifi in first class on the train is lovely.  As is the onboard meal.

A month (or two) in retrospect

You might be wondering what mischief I've been up to these last few months, mischief that's kept me from posting more detail-rich entries about my wanderings.

Well, wandering (mostly fincancially remunerated wandering) really sums it up.  I've been on the road for what seems like more than half of the last two months.

In September, I came back to Paris from Toronto.  Then later, I spent a few days in Brussels, a week and a half in Luxembourg, and about a week in Budapest.  That was all in September.

In October, I came back to Paris from Budapest, then spent about a week in Tunisia, a week in Paris which included a 13-hour interpreter-insomnia marathon at the television station, then a few days in Brussels, followed by a few days in Marseille.  Then I went off to Budapest again.  For a trip that was supposed to last a week.

Only come November, after spending a week-end in Budapest (to which I got by way of Bratislava, silly me), I get called back to Tunisia (by way of Paris, naturally).  I spent this entire week in Paris (hurray!), but next week I'm off to Brussels, from where I'll then be flying on to Basel, and road-tripping around switzerland (again, thankfully, in a professional capacity).  I'll be with the Swiss for about a week and a half.  Then it's off to Budapest for a long-weekend.  I'll be back in Paris at the very, very end of the month.  In all, I'll have spent one week here.  Kinda makes the rent I pay seem a bit less worthwhile, but at least I get to come back home every so often.

So that's the rapid-fire road report.  Tune in next time (whenever that ends up being) for more in-depth coverage of the different segments of my tongue-tripping! (bad pun based on the fact that I travel thanks to my linguistic skills).

Glee!

Watch the series.  It's incredible.  Loving it.

Expression of the day

Talk is cheap, but so am I.

A tale of two cities

Yesterday Budapest, today Tunis.  The life of an international man of mystery, indeed.

Must make a point of writing my blog entries even when no internet connection is available, as otherwise it gets difficult finding the time.

Reminder to self

Things I need to write about:

- slaughterhouses
- luxembourg
- Hammamet and Tunisia
- Marseille
- Ryanair

Awake, bored but cashing in

It's 4:30 am. I'm at the offices of a french TV news channel.  We've been here since 0h30.  Still haven't worked for so much as 30 seconds.  Just told we have to stick it out longer.  Which means more money.  But also more time without sleep.

Later today I'll be giving my first class at my former university.  That'll be funny, considering how utterly zonked I'm going to be.  And afterwards I come right back here for some more "work".  Hopefully we will eventually get to interpret.  There's a pleasant, collegial and relaxed atmosphere - hard to imagine anything else at this time of night (and with a strike going on throughout the country as a bonus!)

I don't know whether I'm still making sense.  I don't think it's a requirement at this hour anymore.  The only legitimate reason for being up at this hour is to go fishing.

Pleasantly pickled in Paris

...and not on plonk!  I left today for my first non-European interpreting mission.  Destination, sunny Tunisia, with a weather forecast calling for 29 degrees.  The location, Hammamet, a resort town on the Mediteranean.

The challenge, not missing my flight.  Which doesn't seem so bad, until you see my track-record with airports.

Things started off reasonably well.  I left home a mere twenty minutes behind schedule, and knowing that there was a problem with the urban train going to the airport.  But then again, when isn't there something in Paris?  Today it was just a ten to fifteen minute delay due to a sick passenger.  Happens every day!  Of course, it didn't keep me from fretting.  But since I only took carry-on items, and not many at that, the suitcase was light and I could speed along at a good clip.

I caught a break, too, when the next train to board was an express to the airport, covering the distance in only 20 minutes.  Jackpot!  I thought, I made up for my late departure!

But no, of course it wasn't going to be that easy.

First step, the boarding card.  The type of reservation meant that I needed to got to a check-in counter and couldn't bypass the whole process through automation.  Fantastic.  Fortunately, there was no line-up, and as an added bonus, the staff-member who helped me out let me know that my ticket gave me access to... the Lounge!

Now for those of you unfamiliar with the Lounge, it is that swanky-looking room that you sometimes sneak passing glances into but can never enter.  Entry requires you to either pay a hefty fee at the door, or to have a so-called Premium ticket.  Even then, not every flight entitles you to free access.  So being the greenhorn interpreter that I am and being told my ticket provided the privilege was like winning the lottery.

...to be cont.

Burg em Lux

aka city of many cheese factories and slaughterhouses.  At least, that's what I'm going to be seeing this trip.

Sounds fun and exciting? Yes! Gory and disturbing?  Probably!  Well-payed and edifying?  No doubt!

Mozzarella made this morning, as it turns out, is delicious.  Not so surprising, but still yummy.  Ditto for fresh ricotta.  That was today.  Tomorrow it'll be not one, but two slaughterhouses.  Hope they have good overalls.  And maybe barf-bags.  Or nose plugs.  And goggles.  And... ah, I guess we'll see how it goes.

Work's taking me to all sorts of new places!  Yippee! (honestly, the cheese factory was really neat).

I feel like I'm 12 again.

At Pearson airport

Here we are, plopped into a chair at Toronto's terminal 1.  Why, you ask?

Because there isn't a drop of whisky worth tasting at the so-called Bacardi tasting station.  All the more galling, given the gallons of perfectly respectable whisky on the shelves of the duty-free boutique.  Whisky which you couldn't open for hours or days, even if you bought it here.  Frustrating?  Yes.  A strong statement for sensible sobriety?  Fiddle-sticks.  The only thing left to do, is to browse, drink water, and wait through the endless line-up for boarding.

Because about half the passengers on any given flight think they have "special" seats, that are in every row, so they can board any time.  Making the queues that much longer.  Good thing there's finally free wireless internet here!  It only took ten years more than in Europe.  That's innovation!  Canadian telecom style!

Heard it through the grape vine

Confucious said:

The sour grapes ripen into the grapes of wrath,
...you alkie.

Zooom -> Paris

T-22 hours.

Let's cross our fingers and hope for no airport mishaps, delays, lost baggage, and quick customs and baggage returns.  But I have no reason to expect those.  Never happened to me before.

C'mon Air Canada, don't let me down!

This marks the end of my Canadian summer.  It was warm, verging on hot.  Cozy, verging on lethargic.  Delicious, verging on sinful.  And all-around terrific, save for the fact that I was far from Europe.  A friend suggested earlier today that Canada should just join Europe.  I second that motion.  We're more european than the Brits, anyways.  The French influence and all.  Plus the Italians, Portuguese, and all the rest.

Oh, and it was the summer of Starcraft 2.  I temporarily turned into a micro-managing, move-my-probe-into-your-base-ing computo-zombie.  Aaah, exercise.