Christmas in Vienna
Having left Melbourne at 6am, Emirates dropped us into Vienna at 8pm, and Lidia was on hand for our first walking tour - of our...
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Andrea P
Oct 4, 201616 min read
Jordan: Amman - Jerash - Madaba - Petra
After settling into my room at the Kempinski Amman, I headed down to breakfast at 6.30 and tucked into a pair of fried cackleberries but...
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Andrea P
Oct 6, 201510 min read
Iran – the “Hello” edition
Romance, jewellery, fashion, celebrity… The Iran Crown Jewels is the largest collection of its type in the world. It includes crowns,...
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Andrea P
Oct 5, 201511 min read
Masai Mara – Entim Camp
Collectivism in Safari-land. The flight out to the Masai Mara was pleasant, although the low cloud cover robbed us of the view flying...
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Andrea P
Oct 8, 20148 min read
Persepolis Plus
The drive from Isfahan to Shiraz takes about six hours, across a mostly barren landscape, but it’s full of interest, nonetheless. There...
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Andrea P
Oct 8, 20149 min read
Iran - the (oil) drum
When Vita Sackville-West visited Iran in 1926, her husband, Harold Nicolson, was working there in the diplomatic service. No doubt part...
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Andrea P
Oct 1, 20146 min read
To Isfahan
Fifty kilometres out of Hamadan is the Iron Age mound of Tepe hush-i-Jan. In the middle of a vast plain, it’s a stiff climb up to the...
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Andrea P
Oct 1, 20145 min read
Hamadan (ancient Ecbatana)
It’s day four swathed in headscarf and shapeless garb and I’m over it already. But Iranian women have to live with these cleric-imposed...
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Andrea P
Oct 1, 20146 min read
Tehran
Despite all the warnings, our entry into Iran was quick, easy and welcoming. It’s a thirty minute drive into Tehran, the freeway passing...
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Andrea P
Oct 8, 20134 min read
The Fairweather Range and Lituya Bay
A highlight of Alaska, Glacier Bay is good tourist stuff, but, as usual, I managed to get utterly sidetracked by a nearby attraction –...
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Andrea P
Oct 6, 20139 min read
Potted History of Shanghai
Originally a fishing village, its name means ‘on the sea’, which it isn’t these days. By the time of the Qing dynasty (established in...
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Andrea P
Oct 1, 20133 min read
Life and Death in Kamchatka
The native Kamchadals are pretty plucky folk. The aboriginal peoples (there are about five different tribes, but let’s not go into...
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Andrea P
Oct 1, 20136 min read
The Aleutian War
The Aleutian chain of island stretches across 1,000 miles, marking the northern boundary of the Pacific ring-of-fire, with the Bering Sea...
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Andrea P
Oct 28, 201212 min read
Out-running Sandy
The flight from Barcelona to NYC was uneventful, as was clearing customs at JFK. I checked into the NY Athletics Club – a marvellous...
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Andrea P
Oct 7, 20129 min read
Churchill - Wild
Boarding the plane for Winnipeg, the forecast was for clear skies and freezing temperatures. They were right about the temperature: they...
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Andrea P
Oct 2, 20125 min read
Norway - Myths and Mortals
So what has Norway given the world, you ask? It turns out plenty. Trolls, valkyries, Valhalla, Hell, Grieg, fjords, Ibsen, aquavit,...
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Andrea P
Oct 1, 20124 min read
London Games
Welcome to the first Great British Games. This major event has taken over from the erstwhile Olympic Games, which sank ignominiously due...
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Andrea P
Oct 5, 20114 min read
Biblical Jordan
Who knew that Amman, the capital of Jordan, was the original Philadelphia? Certainly not me, and the cheese here bears no resemblance to...
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Andrea P
Oct 13, 201020 min read
The Galapagos
After checking into the Quito Swissotel, I met up with Lynne and Ed at the bar at 6pm, with much laughter all round. Their friends Morris...
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Andrea P
Oct 7, 200931 min read
Cat-sitting in Tuscany
It started with an email from John, seeking, on short notice, a volunteer for a cat-six-pack minding stint at his house near Arezzo, the...
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Let the Pootlings come to you.
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