Mar21

Cruise Day 2: Venturing into Valencia

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Cruise Day 2: Venturing into Valencia
Cruise Day 2: Venturing into Valencia

Accustomed as I am to Oxford’s severe Gothic, the Baroque of continental Europe never fails to floor me. The cathedral of Valencia combines both: a Gothic bell tower rubs shoulders with its sweeping facade, renovated in the latest style of the eighteenth century.

My first day in port, I had joined an excursion into city center. The guide highlighted the Colosseum-style bullfighting arena, the massive gates of the historic city walls, and the bizarrely futuristic aquarium complex as we rolled towards Valencia.

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Mar20

A Mediterranean cruise

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A Mediterranean cruise
A Mediterranean cruise

Trying something new this trip – instead of booking my overland travel leg by leg, a week-long cruise! After one day at sea, we will stop in a different city every day.

I rushed to the port only to find the terminal empty – with over an hour to go before check-in closed, I was the only passenger boarding. After a passport check, I scrambled up the steps to find myself in plush purple halls, en route to a balcony room.

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Apr11

Partaking at the Prince’s Vineyard

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Partaking at the Prince’s Vineyard
Partaking at the Prince’s Vineyard

Liechtenstein’s welcome guide recommended the Torkel Restaurant so emphatically that I spoiled myself with another multi-course affair.

This time, I booked ahead and arrived early enough that twilight had yet to darken the Alps. Floor to ceiling windows gifted me a front row seat to the majesty on display.

The venue hosting this fine establishment once pressed the wines for their prince, and his vines continue to flourish there. They certainly gave me the royal treatment.

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Apr8

The Heights of Tirano

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The Heights of Tirano
The Heights of Tirano

With a few hours to spare after my visit to the Basilica, I spotted a pair of travelers toiling up the mountainside. I determined to track the same path skyward, towards the minute stony structure perched up there in the hills.

The journey delighted at least as much as the destination: over a sprawling river by bridge, threading my way through vineyards, and emerging at last into the sparkling air.

The nearer I advanced, the more the stony church in the sky grew in size — while down below the Basilica shrank.

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Apr7

Touring Tirano

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Touring Tirano
Touring Tirano

A modest town in the shadow of the Alps: Tirano attracts visitors, one must admit, mainly because there the Bernina Express terminates.

An afternoon spent exploring the surrounds did not disappoint, however. One main restaurant manfully acts as the tourism center: steps from the train station, it promises hot meals prepared fast all day (“no break in the afternoon!” – a marketing strategy revealing of the local customs), plus luggage storage and, naturally, wi-fi.

I dropped off my backpack and turned my steps towards the town’s true attraction: la Basilica Madonna di Tirano, a church founded more than half a millennium ago.

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Apr5

Morning in Milan

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Morning in Milan
Morning in Milan

You must see the Castello, the hotel receptionist said, shaking his head sorrowfully. You can’t come to Milan without seeing the Castello.

The cultural contrast after crossing the Alps struck me forcefully at moments like this. In Liechtenstein’s little corner between Switzerland and Austria, a restaurant dinner cost triple (10 EUR, say, for a plate of pasta in Tirano — 30 CHF if you were lucky at a sit-down restaurant in Liechtenstein). On the other hand, the sun-swept cities of Italy couldn’t quite match, it must be admitted, that same sparkle of care and cleanliness.

Above all, the German-speaking staff had regarded me with polite distance, making themselves more invisible than not. In Milan, my newfound friend fetched out a map and planned my itinerary, suggesting enough sites to occupy me for several days.

The next morning, after I tore myself away from Il Duomo, I went to see the Castello.

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Apr4

Milan’s Marvel

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Milan’s Marvel
Milan’s Marvel

The Bernina Express deposited me in northern Italy, where a bevy of airports offered flights back to London.

Some internet sleuthing decided me on Milan, a city too glorious for the meagre half day my itinerary afforded it — but too marvelous to pass up the chance of visiting either, however brief.

I determined to brush off my Italian and attend an early mass at the Duomo, Milan’s crown jewel: a Gothic cathedral of dazzling proportions.

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Apr1

Hiking to Triesenberg

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Hiking to Triesenberg
Hiking to Triesenberg

Yes, I thought to myself, gazing from rows of wooden-sided homes to the sheer blue drop below. This is where I would retire.

The tourism office had patiently instructed me the day before in the route for a morning hike.

I would tackle a fraction of the marked trail, which spanned the length of the country, for the intrepid and committed. My jaunt would cover a single leg, from the town center up into the mountains.

Forests, views, something of everything, he promised me.

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Mar31

Oxford Blooms

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Oxford Blooms
Oxford Blooms

England may deserve its reputation for dreary weather, but it makes up for dismal winters with its slow-dawning, always charming, long-lasting spring.

The first blooms emerged this year in January (January!): dainty drooping snowdrops, too shy to raise their heads. Vibrant crocus followed, in pools of purples and pinks.

Then daffodils took the city by storm.

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Mar22

Dining in Vaduz

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Dining in Vaduz
Dining in Vaduz

When I happen on a fabulous establishment accepting reservations for one, I treat myself to a set menu.

If the chef himself has selected your courses, the experience combines all the charm of surprise with the certainty of excellence.

In Vaduz, the finest hotel invites guests to the restaurant Marée, where the waiters greeted me with the warmth of long-time friends. Neither did the menu disappoint.

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Mar21

Welcome to Liechtenstein

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Welcome to Liechtenstein
Welcome to Liechtenstein

Today commenced a new venture into continental Europe, the next phase in my ambitions to soak in the Alps. Farewelling friends in Rome, I braced myself for an overnight bus ride spanning three separate legs and twenty hours of travel time. If I wanted to save on my voyage to one of Europe’s most diminutive nations, I would undergo the punishment at the outset of the trip, then rest myself in the mountains.

Once Friday morning dawned, the winding bus ride graced us with spectacular views of the peaks, most white-capped and gleaming with the chill indigo unique to alpine atmospherics.

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Oct9

Pony-Trekking in Lesotho

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Pony-Trekking in Lesotho

En route to visiting Zulu libraries in KwaZulu-Natal, I booked a tour to Lesotho — an independent mountain kingdom completely encircled by South Africa. The promise of awe-inspiring altitudes and stark skylines had long inclined me to make the trip, all the more tempting when I imagined traversing the peaks on pony back.

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Mar29

Ziplining in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

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Ziplining in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

originally published November 4, 2024

Last March I resolved to visit the famous falls of Zimbabwe, on my way to research and friends in South Africa. The drive from the airport struck me with the resemblance to my old stomping ground — in fact, it sits directly above Limpopo province, where Peace Corps trained us in isiZulu and rural living. The chief difference, I found, lay in its residents’ sunny confidence in safety from crime.

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