Tag: #homethoughtsfromabroad

home thoughts from abroad

Home thoughts from abroad is a new series on Travel Words featuring a single photograph that reminds me of a country visited and showing something that uniquely identifies it as being ‘abroad’.

My one and so far only trip to New Zealand was four years ago. My son and his Kiwi partner took me over to Raglan to meet the in laws. I fell in love with the incredible green landscape of the north island and the black sandy beaches which sparkled in the sun. 

This is the last of the Home Thoughts from Abroad series. I hope you have enjoyed travelling with me this year to places from my past. It has been lovely to go back in time and relive some of the many places I have been fortunate to visit.

home thoughts from abroad

Home thoughts from abroad is a new series on Travel Words featuring a single photograph that reminds me of a country visited and showing something that uniquely identifies it as being ‘abroad’.

One of the best things about Prague is the transport system. Buy a pass to cover how long you are in the city to make it easy to get around. Trams and the metro are plentiful and hopping from one to the other simple. Although  I prefer to walk around a city, we stayed a little way out of the centre and the weather wasn’t all that good in late September. Cold and wet. So I happily used trams to take me closer to where I wanted to explore.

home thoughts from abroad

Home thoughts from abroad is a new series on Travel Words featuring a single photographs that remind me of a country visited and showing something that uniquely identifies it as being ‘abroad’.

“Here in Lisbon it is a warm 20°C on a sunny day in late May. I am dressed in sandals, jeans and a light linen top. Lisboans on the other hand are still wearing boots, opaque tights, cardigans and leather jackets. Some are even in puffer jackets with fur collars! I am sweating just looking at them.”

It reminded me of a conversation I had with my daughter in March many years when I was on holiday in Johannesburg. The temperature was around 19°C and again it was a lovely bright and sunny day. I was outside in T-shirt and jeans. My daughter, up from Durban was shivering in jeans and a jumper. “Ma” she asked plaintively, “Aren’t you freezing?” I smiled and shook my head. In England it had been a mere 8°C when I left. These were summer temperatures for me. She on the other hand had just spent the winter living in Durban where temperatures rarely fall below 20°C with a 90% humidity.

Everything is relative.

home thoughts from abroad

Home thoughts from abroad is a new series on Travel Words featuring a single photograph that reminds me of a country visited and showing something that uniquely identifies it as being ‘abroad’.

This pretty little restaurant is at Church Point 32kms north of Sydney and the large outdoor deck is suspended over the Pittwater – my son and his partner took me there for lunch and breakfast whilst I was visiting them in Sydney. The area is very beautiful and fairly quiet with a lovely walk around the water. An idyllic spot to watch the boats glide by. The Waterfront Cafe and Store is where the local residents of Scotland Island – mostly artists, writers and creative spirits – come to chill out, or pick up supplies.

home thoughts from abroad

Home thoughts from abroad is a new series on Travel Words featuring a single photograph that reminds me of a country visited and showing something that uniquely identifies it as being ‘abroad’.

Our few days in Montreux were very busy. On our first day we caught a bus* to Vevey Funi and took the funicular railway up the mountainside to Mont Pèlerin (no views sadly because of the fog lingering over the water) then walked back along the promenade (Quai Ernest-Ansermet) into Vevey town centre for a look around. From Vevey-Marché (lac) we caught a ferry boat to the Castle of Chillon which is at the far side of Montreux, with the intention of visiting the castle in the afternon before walking back via Quai des Fleurs and Quai Alfred Chatelanat to our hotel (2 miles). A full self-guiding tour takes approximately 1.5 – 2 hours, depending on how fast you walk and how much reading you do. Castle of Chillon is the result of several centuries of constant building, adaptations, renovations and restorations with excavations affirming this site has been occupied since the Bronze Age.

*free transport passes are provided to visitors by your hotel in many parts of Switzerland on local buses, trams and trains.