Tag: 2017
Parma: an overlooked Italian city
Note: this post was written in August 2017 during my trip to Europe. Whenever I mentioned to people that I was visiting Parma, I was most often met with puzzlement and questions asking why I would go there. My answer was always the same: for the food. But on my arrival in Parma, I was…
Two days in the Lake District
Note: this post was written in August 2017 during my trip to Europe. That a European can fly for 55 minutes and be at the end of a totally different country is still something that amazes me. The same amount of time in Australia would barely get you between two major cities. Today I bid…
Why Rotterdam is my favourite Dutch city
Note: this post was originally written in July during my trip to Europe. I have found that sharing my high opinion of Rotterdam with others elicits a variety of responses ranging from furious agreement to simply fury. On the upside, it does stimulate discussion on the relative drawbacks and merits of Dutch cities which I…
My trip to Rhoon
Note: this post was originally written in July during my recent trip to Europe. Every day on this trip, I try to find time to walk or cycle to a new part of Rotterdam. Last weekend I set out on another one of my trips which took me semi-accidentally to the beautiful town of Rhoon.…
Pound Bend and Warrandyte
Warrandyte State Park seems to be one of the underappreciated areas of natural beauty in Melbourne. It is the closest state park to the CBD and follows a particularly nice stretch of the Yarra River. And despite its proximity to the eastern suburbs, I had never actually visited. So I decided to give it a…
Food in the Netherlands
Note: this post was originally written in July during my recent trip to Europe. I must admit, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from a culinary perspective in the Netherlands. My knowledge of Dutch cuisine was very scant; basically limited to pancakes, baked potatoes and bitterballen. Needless to say that the actual situation is…
Bicycle trip: Diamond Creek Trail
We really are lucky to have so many more or less contiguous off-road paths in Melbourne. Many other cities don’t posses these types of important transport and recreational corridors through green open space. As part of my quest to ride along all of them in Victoria, yesterday I travelled to Diamond Creek via the Diamond…
Walking in Wandong Regional Park
One of the good features about Victoria’s fare system is the weekend cap. For only $6, you get unlimited travel within Zones 1 and 2 for the entire day. Zone 2 also extends further out from Melbourne than you might think. This makes many trips into the nearby countryside around Melbourne very cheap. Wandong, located…
Bicycle trip: Ballarat to Linton
The Ballarat to Skipton Rail Trail follows an old passenger and freight branch line that ran from Ballarat to the town of Skipton, about 50 kilometres south-west of Ballarat. The line closed in 1985 and was subsequently turned into a shared use path running along its entire length. Unlike the Bellarine and other rail trails…
The ridiculous private parks of Kensington, London
Note: this was originally written in August during my recent trip to the United Kingdon. It is not often that I find something that frustrates me enough to complain at fenceposts. Unfortunately, this is how my otherwise wonderful day in London ended on a warm summer evening in August. In search of a park I…