Category Archives: trips

travelling plans

29 Thursday Nov 2007

Posted by in holidays, life stuff, nablopomo, trips

≈ 6 Comments

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Suddenly we seem to be going everywhere! (well, maybe)

Yesterday I mentioned that Nog & I might be going to Granada over the holidays. Since then even more travel ops have turned up! f_bigeyes.gif

Today my friend Carmen said to me that as her husband will be working on Saturday 22 December, she thought this would be a good day to drive me to Gibraltar so I can finally buy some underwear. It’s no joke – ever since Marks & Spencer closed I’ve had to get my knickers sent to me from friends in England as M&S doesn’t deliver outside the UK. My two previous botched attempts to get to the M&S store in Gibraltar have been mentioned here and here. But Carmen has never forgotten my plight and so it looks like I’ll be getting new knickers for Christmas! f_somersault.gif Oh, and also see Gibraltar.

Then another friend Paco told me he’s going to be driving to Lisbon the weekend of December 28-30 because he wants his girlfriend to see the city in winter all decorated for Christmas. And Nog and I have been invited along because Paco knows how we fell in love with the place when we went there last June.

The planned Granada trip is also going to be with Paco as he and his girlfriend often go there to ski during the winter, so apparently we’ll have several weekends to choose from. Paco says they can just drop us off in Granada on Friday evening before they head up to the mountains and then pick us up Sunday on their way back to Sevilla.

And then, while I was talking about possible ways to sell some of our natural clothing stock this spring, it was suggested that I go down to Marbella. Carmen said she was there not long ago and there were several boutiques selling similar looking stuff, so I might have some luck there. And I remembered that my friend Manolo had offered Nog & I the use of one of his holiday apartments in Marbella for a weekend (well, as long as it isn’t booked) and said he might even be able to drive us there and back as he often goes to Málaga at weekends.

And so suddenly there are four possible trips to think about, none of which should cost much. In fact, all of them together should cost less than our Lisbon trip did. And since we’ll only be away two nights max (and no nights when we go to Gibraltar) we won’t have to worry about a cat-sitter. Ohhh, this is quite exciting! Hope it all works out as this would certainly make the coming winter months a lot more interesting. 🙂

temptation . . .

28 Wednesday Nov 2007

Posted by in christmas, nablopomo, photos, retail therapy, trips

≈ 5 Comments

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Gorgeous, innit?

And here are the specs.

I have to admit that a couple of the features (face detection, smile shutter) seem both silly and insulting, but the thing I love best about this baby is the 3″ viewing screen. And another big difference is that the one I have now has a lens that goes in and out, which I’ve been having trouble with for the past year or so. Unless the batteries are almost fully charged the camera keeps shutting itself off when I try to take a photo, though I can still view the pics on the memory card. So I thought having a camera with fewer moving parts might be a good idea. But mostly I’d like a bigger viewing screen as the one I have now is only a measly 1.5″ (about 4 months after Nog & I bought it the new models came out, all with standard 2 or 2.5″ screens. Grrr… )

I mentioned over here that I was hoping Santa would bring me a new digital camera with a 3″ screen, but after checking out prices Nog & I decided that it’s too expensive for a Christmas pressy, so we’re going to go halfers on it and maybe also give each other a weekend in Granada over the holidays (we’d be getting a ride there & back so we would only have to pay for the hotel and meals).

Last time we went to Granada I was still using my crappy old snapshot camera, so the photos should be much better next time. 🙂

az’s travelblog

07 Wednesday Nov 2007

Posted by in blogging, nablopomo, photos, spain, trips

≈ 11 Comments

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Yeah yeah, I know . . . another blog!!!

But I was looking at my sadly abandoned and neglected trips page this afternoon and thought it might be more interesting to have everything together in one place, kind of like I did with the sevilla tapas page, moving it all over here.

The main ‘problemita’ is that the travelblog is going to have way more photos than the tapa blog – and there is no way of doing bulk uploading of photos on WordPress. Which turns uploading a photo album into a most tedious and arduous task (especially like earlier today when I uploaded and posted 58 photos !!! and then found out they were all the wrong size and had to do it all over again!) f_wah.gif

Anyhow, there is only one category even somewhat set up so far – the Barcelona one. I’ve transferred the Barcelona blog post over from here, which talks about the trip – though it still needs to be edited. And there will also be different ‘albums’ (much like how I set them up on Fotki) on separate posts. The only Barcelona album up at the moment is my favourite one, with photos of Casa Batlló. But Nog says 58 photos on a blog post is maybe too much and I should think about editing them down. What do you think?

~ Viajando ~

turned-off tourists

19 Sunday Aug 2007

Posted by in culture, holidays, trips

≈ 14 Comments

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Tourist sites ‘prove turn-offs’

MOST DISAPPOINTING SIGHTS

UK:

  • Stonehenge
  • Angel of the North, Gateshead
  • Blackpool Tower
  • Land’s End, Cornwall
  • Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, London

OVERSEAS:

  • The Eiffel Tower, Paris
  • The Louvre, Paris
  • Times Square, New York
  • Las Ramblas, Barcelona
  • Statue of Liberty, New York

Well good. Maybe more of them should stay home then . . .

Living in the centre of Sevilla, tourists are regarded as a kind of necessary evil. Sure they bring in lots of cash but tourism is also responsible for my neighbourhood changing from a barrio with family run corner shops and bars, greengrocers, bakeries, bookshops and newsagents, to chain-run ‘typical tapa’ bars and practically every storefront selling exactly the same crappy souvenirs. And every day I have to plough my way through herds of tourists blocking the sidewalks and even the entrance to my front door.

Anyhow, what did you think of the article? Have you ever been disappointed by a world famous tourist attraction? What are the most impressive sights you’ve ever seen while travelling?

fuck man it’s hot!

05 Thursday Jul 2007

Posted by in friends, holidays, home, life stuff, miscellany, sevilla, trips

≈ 10 Comments

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And it’s only the beginning of July!

The official temperature states that it’s 37ºC (99ºF) at the moment, but you can always add another 5º for being in the centre of town late afternoon (6pm).

Last night Nog and I went out for an ’emergency beer and air-conditioning session’ at Bar Flaherty and on the way home we were remembering that it was exactly a year ago since our friend Craig ( aka zoomer ) was here and we took him on the Magical Mystery Tour. And it sure as hell wasn’t this hot! Ah well, not complaining (much).

Especially as I just got an email from zoomer this morning saying he is likely to be here for another visit in October!

Yay! f_somersault.gif