It’s not actually Australia Day, but it was the only image available that worked for the theme. 😜
As our second visit, it is nice to be back. This time, though, we are going to be seeing more of the country than before. It will actually be a busy tour, but that is part of the fun – in my opinion. After the length of the travel to get here (about 36 hours door to door and then having to wait three hours to check in to our hotel room), I am not sure how eager we will be to come again. Of course, if there is a reason, we never really say no to traveling. 😅
Anyway, the first day was just arriving, waiting for our room, and trying to adjust to the new time zone. We did manage to go for a lovely dinner with D and her friend R. Easy and stress-free is the way to be!
Yesterday was Day 2/20 and so went in to the Sydney Opera House area (Circular Quay) where we had a little wander around.
It was a chill day as we were basically just waiting to get our flight out to Brisbane, where we will be heading to Byron Bay for a couple of days and then back to Brisbane for another day or so.
So…not much to add for now, but will try to share a bit here and there as we go along.
My happy place has always been by the ocean. When I started to travel, I learned that there were warm beaches unlike the chillier one of the Oregon Coast, which I still love in many ways.
Still, when given a choice, I would prefer a warm beach, blue sea, and golden sand.
I’ve seen a number of beaches over the years that have come close to this ideal. But, this…this is something else.
We are spending 8 nights in the Bahamas on Paradise Island. Although the island is man-made, the name is appropriate for the water and sand that is all natural.
Although I am still sick, we are slightly jet lagged and the weather is as temperamental as my partner’s moods sometimes 😅, it is rather amazing to see the blue of the water and the glow of the sand when the sun ☀️ shines.
With that, time to get back to enjoying paradise. More to come.
Well, the remaining days in Japan flew by so that I ended up not taking as many photos since we were busy socializing and enjoying our time. I put together a quick montage of images in video format here, so you can have a look at the whole trip in quick images.
We are back in Japan for a visit. It’s been just over three years since we left during the early pandemic/shutdown days.
When we left, we didn’t quite know what we were doing but the timing seemed right to try to move with the freedom of online work. Turns out we rode the wave well – thank you Universe. 🙏🏽
Since it was a somewhat unplanned decision and M was still working in his job, he didn’t get to say a proper “cya later” to people. Also, I have never gone longer than a year or two between visits, so it was time to come back.
This time, we stayed in Ginza for the first part. I took a girls’ trip to Kyoto with my BFF and are going to spend the rest of our time with her and family.
It’s been fun to refresh our tastebuds with Japanese cuisine and revisit old haunts for nostalgic purposes. Also, we have done some shopping given the euro-friendly exchange rate.
So, more on everything next week when we are back in Italy for a bit before we continue our winter travels. ❤️
Ladies’ trip with the fabulous A.N. in Palma Majorca (Mallorca) is a wrap with wonderful memories, lots of laughs, much chit-chat, and as an overall amazing experience.
First, about Palma – the Spanish capital of the Balearic island of Mallorca (Majorca in English spelling). It’s an interesting city with a mix of flavors in architect and dishes that come from European and Moorish influences. Even good ol’ Gaudi has had his hand on some of the sights. It’s a smallish town that can be walked around in about an hour, but there’s enough to entertain for a short holiday whether a sightseeing history buff or one in need of some retail therapy.
A and I were keen to catch up and decided a little trip might be just the ideal opportunity to do just that with a bit of travel as well. The four days flew by really and we had a great time seeing Palma, taking the train and tram through the mountains to the northwest side where Soller (soyer) and the port are located, doing a bit of pampering at the Hammam and eating some delicious food – some local and some not.
Overall, I would go back again as we did skip going into some of the attractions as we weren’t so into hopping on or off, but if I never went back I wouldn’t feel as if I missed anything major either. It might be a nice little Spanish getaway for a long weekend and worth exploring the other side of the island another time, but … I’m glad I went and I enjoyed it fully, but don’t necessarily need to go again. 🤪
Although our lives are admittedly in the realm of “every day is a holiday”, we did take a week to really be on holiday. M has always wanted to surf in the Atlantic, so we headed that direction from our place in the Var, France.
To break up the journey a bit, we revisited a few places that we had been to before when we first got together and M brought me to France for the first time to see if I would like it here. Remember, this was always meant to be our “final destination” – that was before Italy hit our radar. So, we stopped for a night in Carcassonne, which is a wonderful medieval town. We stayed within the castle walls this time as well, which was rather amazing.
From there, we headed for our almost week-long stay in Biarritz. This is a well-known seaside town for surfing and seafood. It was a great town even if the weather did not cooperate for the entire time. We still got a few days of surfing 🏄♂️ (for M) and beach bumming (for me) in before a storm came through with wind and rain that made the waves 🌊 too big for those who care about their lives. 🤪 We probably could have stayed one or two fewer nights there, but it did give us a chance to explore around a bit more.
One day, we drove into Spain to visit San Sebastián. It was a bit too grey to fully appreciate, but it was still a cute seaside town as well. Of course, us being as fickle as we are briefly considered whether or not it was somewhere we could live. Fortunately, neither of us were overly enamored with that particular place, so we said no. 😅 However, it was nice to hear some Spanish and feel the flair for a couple of hours.
On our way back, we stopped in a town called Espelette – famous for its pimentos 🌶️ . Apparently, it’s one of the only places that these can grow in France due to its particular climate at the bottom of the Pyrenees mountains 🏔️ . So, we explored the town and, of course, bought some pepper products. 😬
I’ll try to get some more pictures posted soon, but am still editing at the moment as my vacation-mode has not yet fully turned off. 😜
Matt has always wanted to go to Venice and I have always wanted to see a proper Carnival experience, so our always wantings merged into the perfect time to go.
Away we went for the weekend to see the last weekend of a two-week period where people dress up in various styles of costume and wear masks wandering around the city. Some had traveled near and far to join in the festivities, either as a spectator or a participant.
The costumes and masks were both creepy and amazing. Here are some of my favs:
While there isn’t that much to do in the city of Venice itself, we wandered the square, at good food, did the gondola ride and had an overall wonderful time!
Now that we are somewhat settled in our house, and public conversations are starting to return to logic with an acceptance that the “C” is not actually going to kill off the human race, we decided it was time to take a holiday.
It was a shock to realize that I had not been on a plane since arriving in Europe 15 months ago. I never would have imagined that I could go so long without air travel; however, thanks to the freedom of movement in the EU, I haven’t been completely one-country-bound. Plus, I admit to having some fear around flying with security measures tightened, people milling about, wearing masks for extended lengths of time, etc. etc. It is not so much that I had any fear around getting sick, but that people’s fear of it would cause an air of extra stress that I didn’t feel the need to expose myself to unnecessarily.
M had said after a few solo flights that everything was really straightforward and easy, so I figured I could test it out for myself. Malta is a short flight from Rome and part of the EU, so it was a good test trip for seeing the process of air travel at the moment.
As promised, it was easy peasy lemon squeezy. Aside from a few extra online forms, which I can manage comfortably, it was actually smoother and less stressful than pre-C days. The only challenging aspect was the early rise to drive to the airport, park the car, and wait for boarding – both directions. So, my travel bug has been nudged again thanks to our little weekend away.
In any case, let me share in pictures our trip to Malta. We were there for three nights and had one full day touring around with one of M’s old friends, who is Maltese. The sun was shining and there was a lovely vibe all around the place. Although it is a bit run down, we really enjoyed the energy of the country.
We said that we would visit again, but – to be fair – we often say this about places. Next time, we might stay in another area of the island that is a bit more modern, though Valletta is an interesting historical center and beautiful. However, there are so many places to explore now that I cannot say when our next visit will be…. With that said, if you ever have a chance to go to Malta, I highly recommend it – when the sun is shining!
~T 😀
Hotel Casa EllulBazilika Santwarju tal-Madonna tal-KarmnuLunch on the first dayDinner @Harbour ClubHotel BreakfastsMdina City GateForm of Bilyeu in MdinaFontanella Tea GardenBasilica Kolleggjata u Proto-Parrocca ta’ San PawlMaltese lunch Day 2San Anton GardensGhajn Tuffieha TowerThree Cities at nightValletta City GateTriton FountainUpper Barrakka GardensGolden BaySt. Paul’s Co-CathedralMyoka Lotus SpaA little Starbucks treatMalta souvenir
Last weekend, we had a little getaway to Rome, which is actually only about 1.5 hours away from where we are living now in Italy.
It was M’s first visit to the capital city, so we did the touristy bit of doing a Big Bus Tour to see the main sights. With C19 limiting visits inside places, we ended up with a long tour of the Colosseum, but it was all part of the fun exploring. Some pics are below, but you can also see more on our @footnersineurope Instagram account.
More importantly, though, it was a nice chance for us to reset as all the stress of moving around and wrapping our heads around making Italy home now was making us a bit snappy with one another – though M claims it was more me than him. Never! 😛
One highlight that had nothing to do with Rome itself was getting a new laptop 💻. It wasn’t a necessity, but a want and a tool to help allow for me to write or do work away from the ‘dungeon’ we call home 👏🏽.
In fact, I am typing this post from a cafe with the comfort of my new laptop and freedom to be a true digital nomad. 😁 So, it’s already paying off. 😂
With that, I shall leave you with just a few images from our trip. More exploring to come.
If you are on Instagram, then you can see all the photos from these stops at @footnersineurope.
As I mentioned in my last post, we took a road trip to break up our drive back from Paris in June. Since I really haven’t seen much of France, it was the perfect chance to stop into, drive through, and explore just a few of the many amazing small villages and lesser known cities on the eastern part of the country.
My favorite stop was Dijon. It was a college town, which seems to be my wont in terms of vibe, layout, and people.
On the other hand, Grenoble is also a college town, but was rather grungy for my liking. It reminded me of my image of what Berlin is like, though it’s just my imagination as I have yet to make an experienced judgment.
The drive through the French Alps, where Annecy is located, was absolutely beautiful. I hope that we can go in the winter for some skiing and see the area with snow as well.
So, just a short post as I’ve already put up pictures on Instagram, but I’m definitely enjoying my European life!
