Posted by Rachel on Tuesday, July 17th, 2012 , Posted in Blog , 2 Comments »
We first met Cyrille last October; the French friend of a French friend, he came to Bali for a holiday. His visit coincided with the rugby world cup final – New Zealand versus France – and he joined us as a guest at our Kiwi dominated party. France lost the championship by a single point, but it didn’t spoil the show for Cyrille; with a Gaelic shrug he continued to party with us ’til late into the night. He told us if ever we came to Paris, he would return our hospitality by treating us to a barbeque on the balcony of his apartment, which overlooks the Moulin Rouge. Read More »
Posted by Rachel on Thursday, July 12th, 2012 , Posted in Blog , No Comments »
We spent 24 hours in the beautiful, old, old city of Bologna – home of Bolognaise sauce and full of colonnaded walkways. So how did we spend we evening? Read More »
Posted by Rachel on Saturday, July 7th, 2012 , Posted in Blog , No Comments »
Driving across the Swiss Alps, we were subjected to the autobahn toll. As we were only staying in Switzerland for one night we hadn’t bothered to buy any Swiss francs, but that was okay, we were allowed to pay in Euros. The only problem was that we were given our change in Swiss francs, a total of about six francs in coins. We reckoned the canny Swiss government was probably making quite a lot of money from all the small-change francs that never got spent by the drivers who were just passing through, so we decided to buck the system and spend it at the next motorway services. And what did we buy? Read More »
Posted by Rachel on Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 , Posted in Blog , 1 Comment »
Wearing a straw boater and horizontal-striped shirt, the gondalier was lazing against the wall of a bridge. His shining gondala moored below. Read More »
Posted by Rachel on Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 , Posted in Blog , 2 Comments »
Returning to Istanbul for the first time since the mid-eighties releases an assault of memories – tastes, landmarks, sights, sounds, words – that leaves me flummoxed. How could I have forgotten the cherry juice that I used to drink every day? How could I have not recalled the names of the bridges, the Galata Tower and Taksim Square? The toasted cheese sandwiches wrapped in paper? Each resurrected memory is like unexpectedly finding a wad of ten pound notes in my back pocket, then pulling them out one after another after another and cashing them in for Turkish Lire. Read More »
Posted by Rachel on Wednesday, June 13th, 2012 , Posted in Blog , 7 Comments »
Tomorrow, I’m stepping out of Asia and setting out on a month-long trip around Europe, visiting some cities that I haven’t been to in a long, long time, as well as a few places that I’ve wanted to visit for as long as I can remember, while catching up with family and old friends along the way. Read More »
Posted by Rachel on Saturday, June 2nd, 2012 , Posted in Blog , No Comments »
Julio is a male, white-breasted waterhen. This beautiful creature hatched in my garden and has been coming into my house ever since he was a fluffy little black chick. Read More »
Posted by Rachel on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012 , Posted in Blog , No Comments »
I’ve just come back from a brief two-day visit to Singapore where I grabbed a bit of culture by catching the final night of a month-long performance of Shakespeare in the Park. Read More »
Posted by Rachel on Friday, May 18th, 2012 , Posted in Blog , No Comments »
On my travels in Lombok this week, I witnessed one of the many illegal gold mining operations where mercury is used to extract gold from the rock and is then dumped, along with other mining waste including cyanide, into rivers and then flushed into the sea. Read More »
Posted by Rachel on Thursday, May 17th, 2012 , Posted in Blog , No Comments »
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Read More »
Posted by Rachel on Monday, May 14th, 2012 , Posted in Blog , 2 Comments »
Look at the world differently and you may be surprised at what you find Read More »
Posted by Rachel on Thursday, April 12th, 2012 , Posted in Services , No Comments »
The most important step towards getting a job is getting your foot through the door for an interview. A resume that stands out from the others is the best thing you can do towards getting that opportunity. Read More »
