The Inane Babble of a Backpacker
"This life is worth living, we can say, since it is what we make it."
William James, philosopher (1842-1910)
Saturday 24 June 2023
Czech out what I did in Prague
Monday 30 May 2022
Canals and apple pie: a long weekend in Amsterdam
I’m dusting off the blog as I’ve just been on a very new kind of trip – the first time abroad with a child! That child is Vita, she’s nearly four months old and has now been to Amsterdam.
Going on a city break with a baby is a big change but it doesn't completely alter the way you travel. For example, you can still spend the afternoon walking around the canals of Amsterdam, you just need to factor in a few more rest stops and have a ready supply of nappies and outfit changes for all eventualities.
Most of the weekend was spent exploring the city, including taking the ferry across to Amsterdam Noord, a formerly industrial area undergoing major regeneration. Think large apartment blocks peppered with interesting bars and restaurants at street level – it’ll be unrecognisable in a few years’ time. It’s already very different to when I was last in Amsterdam three years ago.
One of the culinary highlights of the trip was apple pie in Winkel 43, in the city’s Jewish Quarter. There was a queue outside the door but it moves along pretty quickly as everyone is going in for apple pie, which doesn’t take long to eat when it tastes this good. I asked the guy behind the bar how many pies they get through on a busy Saturday and he said up to 120, which is more than 1,000 pieces of pie.
Whenever I visit a city like Amsterdam I get very jealous of all the cycling infrastructure. London isn’t a bad city to cycle in but it’s got a long way to go before it gets anywhere near the likes of Amsterdam or Copenhagen. Cycling is second nature to the people who live there and it shows how much more liveable a place is people are prioritsed over cars.
This trip was also the first time I've ever received a passport stamp from an EU country. It was a lovely reminder of the fact the UK is rapidly travelling backwards, cutting itself off from its neighbours and generally making a tit of itself on the world stage. C'est la vie.
Another shot of Amsterdam looking rather pretty in the sun. I feel like I could definitely live in Amsterdam although I suspect the rent on any of the places in this photo would make Elon Musk do a double-take.
Thursday 6 August 2020
A week in Pisa and Lucca that we didn't think would happen
Saturday 14 March 2020
Cape Town and The Garden Route
For a start, food and drink costs half of what it does in the UK. You can go to some very decent restaurants for relatively little money. Then there's the scenery. Once you're out of Cape Town and into the wine region or Garden Route, there's no shortage of stunning views, rolling hills, green forested mountains, endless plains, that sort of thing.
That isn't to say South Africa doesn't have its problems. Poverty is very visible, from the large townships on the edge of all major towns and cities to the homelessness in Cape Town. Or the advice (which we followed) that you should get taxis after dark in the capital. I wouldn't say we ever felt unsafe but the streets did become completely empty after sunset in a way I'd find strange in any other major city.
But every country has its own problems (cough Brexit cough) and to focus too much on them would do South Africa a disservice. I loved it there and would happily go back again. It was always sunny and warm, the aforementioned food was excellent, the people were friendly and there was loads to do and see. There was tons of stuff we didn't have time to do in both Cape Town and on the Garden Route.
Our trip began with three days in the wine region, staying in a homestead on a vineyard near Wellington, followed by a road trip along the Garden Route before heading back for four days in Cape Town. It was 10 days altogether but we could have easily spent much longer there and detoured from the Garden Route a bit more, or spent more time checking out the many amazing beaches dotted along the coast.
If you made me pick some highlights, they might be:
- Climbing Table Mountain
- Cape Point Nature Reserve
- Driving along the Garden Route - beautiful scenery all the way
- National Art Gallery of South Africa, in Company Gardens (much better art and cheaper entry than the Zeitz Museum, which was a bit pretentious in my opinion)
- The Stack - restaurant in Cape Town
- The food in general
- Monkeyland, near Plettenberg Bay
Some might say this is a metaphor for going on holiday with me for 10 days, but they would be liars because I am delightful company.