Tag Archives: Travel

Gozo – and beyond!

Uncategorized, ,

gozo4

(Read about part 1 of the holiday HERE.)

I had commented to my friend how civilised Malta seemed for a holiday island. How respectable. How safe. How thoroughly elegant, despite the throngs of people everywhere you turned. On Thursday night I had a little rethink. We decided to take a promenade along the seafront as the Victorians preferred. As we are now more seasoned individuals it seemed like a classy thing to do. I was struck again by how built up it all seemed. Then again with so many people living in such a small space, what else can you expect? We dined in an Italian restaurant, run by a Croatian brother and sister, along the Maltese waterfront. Afterwards we went wandering. And ended up in the seventh circle of hell. A place called Paceville. Continue reading Gozo – and beyond! →

Love on the No. 40

Dublin, Ireland, Travels to work, Uncategorized, ,

bus

Now that we are plumbing the depths of winter, with daylight a distant, hazy memory, and climate conditions that would chill you to the bone, my trek to work to the industrial wastelands has become virtually intolerable. My work place itself, is in the November of locations – a singularly dank, grey, miserable, depressing, ugly part of town.

The journey has become a relentless obstacle course.

For starters, you never know when or whether the bus is going to arrive. The road which was closed while the tram track was being built, has now reopened. It’s since become a lottery whether or not you’ll end up standing by the side of the road, like a streetwalker, waiting for half an hour. In the dark, biting cold. Continue reading Love on the No. 40 →

Hitching a ride

Ireland, Uncategorized,

Abfab
I was talking to someone about my recent experience hitchhiking in Leitrim. They looked horrified that I had engaged in an activity that would so obviously end with me buried alive in a shallow grave in the hills of the west. I thought about this on the bus, on the way home from work on Wednesday.

I understand people’s concern about this means of transport. A few horrible stories of murdered travellers about twenty years ago seems to have ended its popularity. It is a rare sight to see someone thumbing a lift these days.

It was not always so. Way back in the mists of time, during and immediately after college, it was my preferred method of getting from point A to point B. Firstly it was free, which was always a consideration for a poor student. Secondly it was what people did back then. There was no scandal in hitching a ride. It displayed an element of courage and practicality (even back then though people had justifiable misgivings about its safety). And you’d meet some interesting people along the way, who hopefully wouldn’t dismember you and feed you to the fishes.

I’ve had some interesting lifts. Continue reading Hitching a ride →