Michele's travels

Gallery: Niagara Falls

misch — Sun, 31 May 2009 11:14:00 GMT

The World in my Eyes

misch — Sun, 31 May 2009 11:12:00 GMT

So,

I have come full circle and arrived back in Europe, exactly 7 weeks after departing from London!

I decided at the last minute to change my same-day transfer flight to Luxembourg and actually spent a couple of days in London before heading “home” to family in Luxembourg, and then onwards to Munich, where a “mountain” of new challenges is awaiting me. It was a right decision, because not only has it given me some more time to settle back into “European life”, it has also been good to catch up with friends in London.

Currently I am in my home town Grevenmacher, Luxembourg (according to my aunt Marie-Anne, the most beautiful place in the world…and she may well be right…) and I have over the past week been reflecting on my journey around the world, its highlights and lowlights, and so here are some final thoughts and conclusions, and a little bit of philosophy…

It has definitely been a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I know that a dream has come true and I am very glad and grateful to have done it. And I would do it again immediately and not necessarily change anything. I have enjoyed every single minute of the trip and do not regret spending a single penny, rupee, cent or peso. I am bringing back with me an uncountable number of pictures in my head, and memories in my heart. At the moment, these are of course very fresh, and they spring back to my mind without the need of re-calling them. But I have no doubt that I will draw on this experience for a long time, hopefully for a life-time.

My biggest concern about this trip was that I was going to be moving too fast from one place to another and would be too overwhelmed with all the impressions. However, I am glad to say that, apart from the odd moment here and there, I did not have this feeling while travelling. I took great care trying not to overload my days with too many activities or sightseeing, because at the end of the day, the trip was also meant to be a relaxing holiday and give me plenty of time to catch up with friends. The 7 weeks felt exactly like 7 weeks, and I think I managed to make the very most of the time I had by maintaining a relaxed attitude, an open mind and a curious nature. In addition, writing the travel journal has certainly helped me to digest a lot of things during the trip, and I have enjoyed writing it very much!

I am thrilled that everything has gone so smoothly and made this a totally enjoyable and entirely positive adventure. Contrary to my usual trip plannings, this time almost everything was organized in advance in terms of transits and accommodation in order to save this time while travelling. I have been lucky with all my flights and other transits as I had practially no delays or cancellations (not even in India, imagine that!). There was only one occasion where there was a slight problem, this was my flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City that I had changed (over the phone) to depart 2 days later than originally planned. Upon check-in in L.A. airport, the flight change did not come up on the operating airline’s system (Mexicana) and they would not check me in, despite the fact that I had the updated itinerary printed in my hand, as they could not get a confirmation from Qantas who were the cooperating partner airline in charge of my booking! I then had to make several phone calls myself, to my travel agent, to Qantas (because neither the Mexicana nor the Qantas customer service at the airport were helpful AT ALL), and after waiting in telephone queues for about 45 minutes, eventually got confirmation from Qantas that the change had been corrected on the system, and I could finally check in with Mexicana!

I usually don`t have major health problems while travelling and it seems that I have been fine again on this trip. I had a couple of mild stomach upsets from spicy food in India and Mexico, and caught a little cough/cold on my arrival in Australia after India/Singapore, which was likely due to the drop in temperature and/or extreme air conditioning. I have coped pretty well with all the jetlags, always managing to get into the local time and rhythm with relative ease, even if I was always feeling slightly spaced out on the day of arrival. I always took things easy on the first day after arrival, tried to drink plenty of water and walk around, and make sure to get a good night’s sleep the following day, and I was fine. One thing I have felt on a couple of occasions though, likely a jetlag side-effect, is slight dizzyness and mild nausea for a couple of days. This was particularly strong when there was a bigger temperature/climate change involved.

I have also been extremely blessed with the weather on this trip. Almost everywhere I went, the sun seemed to travel with me and and a clear blue sky provided the perfect backdrop for my photos, and the perfect light to enhance bright colours. There were only 3 days during the whole 7 week trip where it rained and very few days where the sky was overcast with clouds. It was also an almost ideal time and timing for travelling – not too hot in most places, especially Australia, and as I was moving on from West to East on the Northern hemisphere, the temperatures were going up as I was moving on.

I like to brighten up my life with colours and so I am naturally attracted to the colourful things. This journey has indeed been very colourful. The bright saris of Indian women, the many shades of blue of Australia’s oceans, the rainbow-coloured houses of Mexican houses – perfect compositons through the eyepiece of my camera, but most beautifully captured in a single frame in my mind. They will give me ideas for paintings and a palette for my dreams, make pretty collages on bare white walls and empty computer screens. I think every person should dare to add some more colour to their lives – it will not only brighten up their own, but also many other peoples days.

It was also a journey full of contrasts. Contrasts not only in the sense of primary colours, but also in terms of culture and civilisation, the speed of how things were moving and happening, tastes and smells. The biggest contrast was arriving in Singapore after having spent 9 days in India – likely one of the dirties, messiest, and noisiest countries in the world - Singapore was so clean, calm and efficient that it was almost surreal.

There is one unifying theme that has been consistent throughout the trip, and this is really what has made this trip so unique and special: these are my friends that I have visited or travelled with on each leg of my journey. I am therefore extremely grateful to: Jacqui & Marc (India), John & Yas, (South/East Coast Australia), Gemma & Rob (Western Australia), Mansun & Jiyoung (and the rest of the gang, San Diego), Anelore (Mexico), Ollie & Abi and also Sebas in New York, Paul & Sara, Betty & Co (East Aurora), and finally in London, Anna – thank you all for your help and support prior, during and beyond my stay, your fantastic hospitality and last but not least a lot of fun! Local “expertise” is always priceless, but it has also simply been great to spend some time with you! Most importantly, thank you for your friendship – it is invaluable and precious to me. I wish we would all live around the corner and we could hang out more often…and I really do hope that some day, I can return the favour and show you some of the best of my local neighbourhood (whereever that will be)!

Special thanks also to Mike, for coming out all the way to Australia, and going on a crazy sailing trip with me!

Towards the end of my trip, and especially now on my return, people constantly ask me: “What has been the best part/your favourite place?”.I am sorry, but I have no clear reply to that question, because there is simply no single one that stands out above the rest. Each country and place that I visited has been unique and amazing in its own respect, and I do not really have a favourite country or city. I have loved (and loathed) the innocent persistence of locals in India and their impressive collection of colourful clothing; I have indulged in Singapore´s little luxury; I have enjoyed the sight, smell and touch of every single beach and ocean in Australia; I have a glorious memory from my surfing days in San Diego; I will definitely return to Mexico to discover the “other” ways of drinking tequila, and I suprisingly liked walking around the city of New York! And, despite of a rather “grey” return to London, it has been nice to be back there as a visitor too and I will miss everyone I have met there in the last few years.

Some highlights include (in no particular order, apart from nr 1, which is really a top moment/place)

-   Visit toWhitehaven Beach (Queensland, Australia)
-   Bus journey from Pushkar to Bundi (Rajhastan, India)
-   Escape to an Island I and II (Three Hummock and Rottnest Island, both Australia)
-   The sunset where I had no camera with me (Buffalo Beach, Western Australia)
-   Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef (Cairns, Queensland, Australia)
-   Enmoladas y Micheladas (Guanajato & Patzcuaro, Mexico)
-   Americans and Luxembourgers dancing to “Lacs du Connemara” (East Aurora, NY, USA)
-   Riding my first proper wave (San Diego, California, USA)
-   Our private tour guide in Morelia (Michoacan, Mexico)
-   Champagne picnic on the west bank of Manhattan (New York, USA)
-   Shopping in Fabindia (Jaipur, India)

Very few lowlights:
-   Bus journey from Bundi to Jaipur (India)
-   Checking in for L.A. to Mexico flight (USA)
-   Second night on the sailing boat (Australia)

A few things to do and not do that I gathered along the way (if you ever consider doing a crazy trip like this):

Do:
-   learn as much as possible of the local language
-   speak to strangers
-   less and you will realize that it is more
-   take a pashmina (scarf). I have used mine as a 1. scarf, 2. skirt, 3. beach towel, 4. head cover, 5. blanket, 6. dog leash!
-   Register in the frequent flyer programme BEFORE you embark on a round-the-world trip (because sometimes you can not claim miles afterwards, especially from alliance partners)
-   Run a virus scan on all your computer equipment (flash drives, camers, etc) that you have used in internet cafes around the world. I had several infections on my return.

Don´t:
-   take heavy hiking boots when you’re not actually going to do any serious walking. Take a pair of trainers, they are more versatile.
-   Buy Boots-brand DEET insect repellent. It stinks! Get a more expensive one instead. (Still toxic, but less suffocating).
-   Listen to airlines when they tell you that you have to call your travel agency to change your flight. After your departure, the airlines are in charge of your ticket, so if you need to make a change, you do it directly by calling the airline.
-   Just add spoonfuls of red or green salsa to your quesadilla/tacos/whatever when you haven’t tasted it first. Spicyness is very variable…

And to finish, a few more random facts:
During the trip I have done 4 laundries, changed 3 flights, sent 2 parcels and only 3 postcards (but many e-mails), signed 1 fellowship contract, taken approximately 3000 photos and had 0 sunburn or haircuts!

This is it!

For those of you that have been reading these posts regularly, I hope that you have enjoyed it and that I have managed to show you a little glimpse of the world through my eyes.

There were various reasons why I wanted to do this trip (I needed a break, I love travelling…) but there was one more reason for doing this particular trip (this is the philosophical part … ;-)).
We all have dreams, hopes and fears that we deal with on a daily basis in one way or another. Regarding hopes and fears, well, I am not always good at confronting my fears, but I definitely never give up hope. As for my dreams, I chose, some time ago, that I will try to live some of them, and it makes me happy knowing that I have fulfilled this one of the round-the-world-trip, that has been lingering inside me for more than 10 years. I am aware, that fulfilling these dreams involves a certain degree of selfishness and sometimes occurs at the expense of my nearest and dearest’s feelings and patience. But I believe, for a long time now, in exactly what Andrew, the Australian at Hamilton Island airport said: Life is a journey. And that’s how we need to live it. It is always good to have a plan and a final destination, because it helps you to focus on the end point (which is, I think, at the end of the day, to achieve happiness for ourselves and those that we hold close to our hearts). But we should always leave space and time for the Unexpected. And sometimes stand still and just take a good look at everything around us. Because as we go through the ups and downs of our every day, it is sometimes easy to get submersed, or become superficial, and forget that it is the small things that make life so beautiful. And finally, with thousands of sad and bad news hitting the headlines every day, you just never know when they will hit you, right in the middle of your very own heart. I hope to continue this journey in years to come, but at the same time, probably the most important lesson I have learned from this experience is what really makes this world so beautiful is the people you share it with. You can be in the most amazing place in the world, and be stunned by its beauty, but it is worth nothing compared to the smiling faces of your family, your friends, and even just that of a total stranger.

Thank you for reading. May you all have a safe journey through your lives. And don´t forget:

Always love.
And keep smiling.

☺ Michele
31st May 2009

Gallery: Paul & Sara's Wedding

misch — Sun, 31 May 2009 10:50:00 GMT

Gallery: New York City

misch — Sun, 31 May 2009 10:25:00 GMT

Niagara Falls

misch — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:11:00 GMT

The day after the wedding, everyone staying at the Roycroft had breakfast and then pretty much left straight away. I got a lift to Niagara Falls, where I spent my last night of my trip in the YHA on the Canadian side of the falls. Niagara Falls are super-stunning, the town itself super-tacky! (probably the tackiest town in Canada). Anyway, it was a good opportunity to stock up on Maple syrup and go for a long walk on the morning of my departure to Toronto, from where I was catching my overnight flight back to London...

Paul & Sara's Wedding

misch — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:36:00 GMT

From New York, I took a train across the "Empire State" to Buffalo, near the Canadian border, in order to get to East Aurora, where my friend Paul (from Luxembourg) was getting married on the weekend to Sara (from East Aurora!). It was a beautiful train journey, which went all along the Hudson River up to Albany, and then cut across the state. Upon arrival, I took a taxi from the train station to get to East Aurora. Turns out this was going to be my worst taxi ride of this trip. The driver, a 60-something fierce Republican first took me to Buffalo Airport, where he dropped off two other passengers, then we nearly got into a fight over the number of miles it was from the train station to East Aurora, but finally, I got to my destination, but I had to listen to his anti-Obama ramblings for about 20 min. East Aurora is your typical small, middle-to-upper-class American town: quaint, with neatly painted white house with huge front and back gardens, and a proud American flag. There was hardly anybody in the streets on this Saturday afternoon, and I was wondering, where are they? On Friday evening, there was a little ice-breaker party with local food, the two families and those friends of the bride & groom who had already arrived. I caught up with SLSB friends (Betti, Robi, Thierry, Danielle) and was getting into the mood for the main event. The next day, we waited 1 hour in a local diner for an American-style breakfast (but it was well worth it!) where we could overhear some conversations of the locals. Here's an extract from one of them. Old Lady: "She was only 16, and they got married." Old Man: "Why, was she pregnant?" Old Lady: "No. But it didn't last anyway." At 3pm was the wedding ceremony, which took place outside, next to a tree, in a park. Very simple, but very amazing. There were readings by friends & family, music by Marc (Paul's brother) and his girlfriend, vows by Sara & Paul and a proper big kiss at the end! Afterwards was the wedding reception, with speeches, at the Roycroft Inn, where almost everyone was staying, followed by dinner and dancing! The DJ did a good job, and almost everyone was dancing. We ended the night with two Luxembourg "party classics": Lacs du Connemara and Sprangprocessioun! The Americans loved it, but must think now that the Luxembourgers are descendant from the Irish. Who knows, maybe we all are? (Ady would probably agree with that ;-)). When it comes to partying, I would definitely say that there are at least some Irish influences there. At 11 pm, the wedding ended, all the Amercians went to bed and all the Luxembourgers gathered in the garden to finish a great night of celebration with the wine leftover from the evening...

New York City

misch — Mon, 25 May 2009 10:33:00 GMT

After a night in luxury at the Ramada Hotel in Mexico City Airport, I was all set to fly back to the U.S., once more on this trip, this time to the East Coast and the Empire State of New York! I landed in New York JFK and went straight to New York City! I took a cab (yellow, of course) to Midtown Manhattan, where my hosts, Ollie & Abi, had kindly offered me to stay in their 2-bedroom appartment with stunning views over the city's skyline, including Empire State Building!I hadn't seen Ollie in ages (5 years) and never met Abi, so I was very excited to meet them! After a warm welcome, I took the plunge into New York life pretty much straight away, as Ollie & Abi took me out to a lovely Italian restaurant with an al fresco garden dining area, great food and great wine (chosen by Ollie, and later on complimented by the restaurant's sommelier!) After a good night's sleep in the "city that never sleeps" ;-), I was ready to make the very most of my 2 days and 2 nights that I had to spend here, before heading upstate for Paul & Sara's wedding. In a city like New York, that has it all, and much more, where do you start? Well, Midtown turns out to be a great starting location, because from there, you can roughly divide Manhattan into uptown and downtown - and that's exactly how I spent my 2 days! On day 1, I took in iconic upper Broadway, crazy Times Square with its infamous naked cowboy (I wonder why there is no naked cowgirl???) and went up to the "top of the rock"; (the Rockefeller Centre) from where you can enjoy the best views over both sides of Manhattan. I took a stroll through Central Park, past Strawberry Fields (commemorating John Lennon's death), the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim before heading back to Midtown on a local (very slow) bus along 5th avenue. For the evening, Ollie & Abi had organized a little aperitif-type picnic on the Western edge of Manhattan, and we arrived just in time to catch the last glimpse of the sunset over New Jersey on the other side - fantastic! Turns out that the world is rather small, and Jon, another former CRUK PhD student, happened to be in town too, and he joined us for a beer later on in the West Village, the only part of New York that does not have the grid-like street system. On day 2, I learned that Manhattan was an even smaller place, and I met Sebas, who I had worked with in the lab during the first 2 years of my PhD, at NYU medical centre, which was right next door to where Ollie and Abi lived!Sebas took me out for a great (and enormous) New York style Pastrami sandwich, and we caught up on the gossip from London and his life in New York - great fun! For the afternoon, I headed downtown, through Soho (=South of Houston Street) and the southern stretch of Broadway, popping into the odd shop left and right... I eventually arrived at ground zero, the site of the former World Trade Centre and twin towers. The site is currently still (and has been for years) a construction site for the hugely controversial and massive rebuilding project. It was rush hour when I arrived and hundreds of Wall Street workers crossing the street at the corner of ground zero. To them, it was their everyday journey. To me (and lots of other tourists), it was an eerie empty space, literally a hole in the heart of Manhattan. I had not imagined the space that the twin towers used to occupy to be so big. Around the corner, on Wall Street, heavily-loaded guards stand watch in front of the New York Stock Exchange and the imposing Trump tower. I found my way down to the Southern tip of Manhattan and caught the free Staten Island ferry for breathtaking views of the famous Statue of Liberty and the skyline of Manhattan. It is still an impressive view, even without the twin towers. On the return ferry ride, looking at the skyline, I was thinking to myself: I really like this city! I had not expected this, because I am not a fan of big cities. Living in London has been a great experience, but I always missed to be relatively far away from nature and outdoor. activities. Yet, there was something about the buzz of New York that made me reconisder my judgment on big cities. Maybe it was just because I was on holiday. Maybe because the weather was nice. Maybe because it was Carrie Bradshaw's city. What is true though, is that Manhattan is surprisingly compact and easy to get around. You can easily walk to a lot of places and it won't even take you forever. Then Central Park, on the contrary to Hyde Park in London, truly represent a green and tranquil getaway from the city's hustle & bustle. But there was something else crossing my mind: maybe the experience of living in London, with all its highs and lows, has changed my attitude towards big cities and shaped my approach of dealing with the less pleasant side of big cities, and enjoy the good one: a young, multinational and multicultural community, the 24/7 availability of everything, just around the corner, great concerts, shops and restaurants... And so, as I stepped off the ferry and down to the subway, I couldn't help but wonder: you can take the girl out of the city, but can you thake the city out of the girl?

Gallery: Michuocan

misch — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:10:00 GMT

Gallery: Guanajato

misch — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:49:00 GMT

The spirit of Mexico

misch — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:18:00 GMT

I am SO happy I decided to come to Mexico, despite all the "dangers & annoyances" and the recent swine flu outbreak, and I really wish that I'd had more time to explore this great country, in particular Southern regions.

I was somehow expecting Mexico to be more tricky as a travel destination, but found it actually a very pleasant and refreshing experience. Of course, I had Anelore as my local guide who offered me not only great hospitality, but also lots of advice on do's and don'ts, as well as a feeling for "the spirit of Mexico". On the other hand, I think speaking a little Spanish has also facilitated things, and here I wish to thank Anelore, and all the Spanish speakers in London who have contributed to the building of my vocabulary in the past few years (especially swearing words - they were not useful at all, but who cares, it's always a good icebreaker;-)). I am proud to say that my Spanish has considerably improved during the few days in Mexico and I reckon I could be fluent pretty soon!

I encountered no particular dodgyness in Mexico. All the Mexicans I met were extremely nice and friendly, and, contrary to for example India, guys did always talk to me but were very polite when I was alone. The police definitely look dodgy though, even in Mexico City airport...

The few Mexican people that I met on this trip nicely reflect the spirit of the country: they are warm and welcoming people, always up for a fiesta and savouring the delights of life in their country, when they are not working hard. At the same time, they are deeply spiritual (but in a good way, not in a George Bush kind of way).

Interestingly, I saw very few people begging on the streets, but we all know, and I have seen that too, that many, especially rural areas of Mexico are still very poor. However the Mexicans attitude is generally NOT to sit around and beg or complain, but get up on their feet and work. They will do anything to earn a living - clean, sell fruits on the street etc, no matter how much work and at what price.

A few other interesting things about Mexico that one might not know:

- They make wine! I had a very good (semi-dry) Chenin Blanc from Valle de Guadelupe, 2005 in Guanajato

- Some very famous Hollywood blockbusters were almost entirely filmed in Mexico, for example Titanic or Romeo&Juliet.

- tequila is sipped here, not downed in one shot, without any salt or lemon involved!

- in Mexico, girls have a huge party when they turn 15 - which represents their entering "womanhood". She is a real princess on that day, with a dress like a bridesmaid and at least one "cavalier". And of course a fiesta.

- Mexican food in Mexico is hardly comparable to what you'd call Mexican food abroad. There's no such thing as a burrito (in Mexico, that's a "little donkey") and tacos are eaten with soft, not hard tortilla.

Like India, Mexico is an extremely colourful place, which is another reason why I loved it so much. Then the people seem genuinly nice, and oh my god, the food is amazing! I have a new favourite dish, the "enmolada", which is chicken wrapped in tortilla smothered in a dark rich sauce made with chocolate!!!

I would love to come back, to discover the South and catch up again with Anelore (and buy lots of Mexican jewellery;-)).

A note on the recent swine flu outbreak. I had come prepared, with facemasks and everything, but saw hardly anyone actually wearing any, neither at the airport, nor in any of the places i travelled to. The only people occasionally wearing them were those working in restaurants, street vendors and perhaps taxis. And the only reason why people wear them, is because the government enforced them by law, as a preventative/protective measure. It is probably the first time in the history of modern Mexico that people actually do what the government says!

Michelita in Michoacan

misch — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:34:00 GMT

As you can imagine, it was pretty tough and rough to get up the next morning. Fortunately, a very typical Mexican breakfast is a great cure for hangovers: 2 "kekas" (quesadillas - tortillas with melted cheese and a filling of your choice) with a little bit of superspicy red salsa, and a large "jugo de naranja" (orange juice), and you feel much much better right away. Here, I also had a chance to practice some serious Spanish smalltalk, as we were joined by some of Anelore's Mexican friends/colleagues. And I think I did well! Especially considering the fact that I was "cruda" (hungover).

Two of Anelore's friends, Verenice (Mexican) and Celine (French), came on the weekend trip to inland Michoacan, a region with lots of small little villages ("pueblitos") with local arts & crafts, the perupecha towns of Patzcuaro and colonial Morelia.

On the way to Patzcuaro, we stopped in tiny Capula and Tzintzuntzan, to look at (and buy) some beautifully handpainted pottery, and pyramids in the shape of a kolibri respectively (Tzintzuntzan received its name from the sound that the wings of a kolibri make : apparently tzin-tzun-tzan). Unfortunately it rained quite a lot on that day (and when it rains in Mexico, it pours...) and the sightseeing was therefore quite limited. We stayed for the night in the traditional Michoacan town of Patzcuaro, where every house is painted in the same style and the town is listed as a Unesco Heritage site. In Patzcuaro, you can shop for nice colorful textiles that nicely brighten up your home.

Since Anelore & I had some sleep to catch up on, we finished the night early but me not without trying a local speciality: the "Michelada". This is your favourite Mexican beer with the standard squeeze of lime juice, but has an additional twist: some chilli powder sprinkled into your beer, giving your drink a whole other sensual experience (that burns on your lips basically) and makes beer so much more exciting and interesting for a non-beer drinker!

The next day, after another hearty Mexican breakfast, we had another stroll around town and a peek into the church, where a wedding was going on (there's always a wedding going on, with lots of Mexican music, especially guitars).

We drove to Morelia, the beautiful colonial town with Spanish architecture & culture. It's the home town of Jose Maria Morelos, a hero of Mexican independence. We learned quite a bit about Morelia and its history, as we were invited by a young and very nice Mexican guy, David, at Morelos's birth house. He was keen to give us a tour not only of the birth house, but also the government palace, which was simply fantastic. Celind liked the tour (and perhaps the guide) so much that she decided to stay for the evening's celebrations that were happening in Morelia in honour of the 468th anniversary of the town (yes, they celebrate every year). The rest of us drove back to Guanajato/Irapuato with all our "shopping" , picking up some tacos on the way home in a traditional tacqueria.

Guanajato - Capital del Beso

misch — Fri, 15 May 2009 05:51:00 GMT

After much deliberation, I have decided not to cancel my trip to Mexico after all, and I am very happy I didn't!!!

I am now in Guanajato, a small university town in the centre of Mexico, about 4 hrs from Mexico City, where my friend Anelore lives and works in nearby Irapuato.

I had an overnight flight from L.A. to Mexico City, which arrived super early in the morning and again, i didn't get much sleep. By the way, this was my first flight ever where the crew didn't do a safety demonstration and it was the quickest take-off every! (Mexicana airline...) I was curious how the atmosphere and situation in Mexico, and particular Mexico City was, after the recent outbreak of influenza here. To my surprise, everything appeared to be normal, and in Mexico City airport, hardly anyone was wearing a face mask.

I had breakfast in the airport and then took a bus straight from there to Queretaro, which took about 3 hrs. From there, I had to take another bus to Irapuato, where Anelore picked me up. I was seriously impressed by the standard of Mexican buses, very nice and comfortable, with snacks and movies onboard, but to be fair, I have to say that I was travelling first class (but the ticket only cost about 12 pounds...:-)).

Upon arrival in Irapuato, we drove to Anelore's lab, which is a flash new government-funded research institute, designed by a famous architecht. Very nice, but according to Anelore, also very impractical...and it took them a long time to finish it.

From there we drove half an hour to Guanajato where Anelore has a very nice 2 bedrom flat set on top of the hill, with a small terrasse and a gorgeous view over the beautiful city! All the houses in Guanajato are distributed amongst the hills and in true Mexican style, in all colours you can imagine.

Since I was pretty jetlagged, we went for a quick dinner which was delicious chicken pancakes with mole, a sauce based on chocolate and chilli - yum!!!

So today, I am exploring Guanajato and I can already say that I love it. In fact, this might become my favourite city of the trip... there is such a nice atmosphere in this place, and as you are wandering through the narrow and steep streets, all cobbled and colourful, you are greeted everywhere with a friendly "Hola". And at every corner, there is music coming out from somewhere, ranging from traditional folk music to pounding techno. And then, I turn around the corner, and there it is again: the familiar tune that brings back so many bittersweet memories: "Are we human, or are we dancer?"

Everyone's favourite "callejon" (alley) in Guanajato (and also mine) is "callejon del beso" (alley of the kiss) which is so narrow and houses close together, that their balconies almost touch. This alley has this name because Guanajato has its own Romeo & Julia legend: a girl of a rich family living on one side of the street fell in love with a boy of a poor miner's family on the other side of the street. They exchanged secret kisses across the balconies and...of course, the story took a tragic ending...

Ah, those were the days of true love and romance...it seems that today, many of us have lost the ability to show any sign of such emotions and passion seems to have sadly become only a transitory or temporary element of many people's lives. Whether it is a defense mechanism for our own protection, or a simple bluntness to the sheer feeling of joy or pain, as a result of overcapitalisation and -materialism, I don't know, but it is somewhat sad.

Fortunately, it seems that at least in Guanajato, people are still able to exchange at least passionate kisses, and do so in public too. So intense, that in fact last year, the mayor of Guanajato introduced a new law that forbid exactly that: passionate kissing in public - because he found it to be inappropriate behaviour. A couple of months of public debate did not have any effect on the decision, but one phonecall from the mayor's cousin finally convinced the mayor that this law was complete nonsense, and it was revoked. Interestingly, Guanajato was pronounced "capital del beso" (capital of the kiss) shortly after, and has been kissing happily again ever since...

...that is until a few weeks ago, when the news of the swine flu hit the headlines. Anelore told me that for a week or two, the streets in Guanajato were almost empty and of course nobody was seen kissing on the streets, despite the fact that most cases were confined to Mexico City and there were (and still aren't to date) no reported cases in the whole state of Guanajato.

So it was very pleasant to go out with Anelore into town on Friday night and find the city centre bustling hieving with people, laughing, kissing and enjoying a fine, warm evening outside.

We had a "non-mexican" dinner at Bossanova restaurant on Plaza San Fernando, a small restaurant run under French management (and of course Anelore had already met the manager). The said manager, Mael, and his friend Nathalie (also a Frenchie) both turned up at Bossanova as we were just enjoying our deserts (crepes, mmmm...)and joined us at the table. Of course, the evening did not end there, but took us to Mael's other restaurant, for several nightcaps of red wine, followed by tequila from Mael's "reserve", followed by salsa dancing...we eventually got a taxi home at about 5 AM (I think) with a couple of hours to sleep before we were supposed to get up and meet Anelore's friends for our trip to the Michuocan region.

Surfing in SoCal

misch — Tue, 12 May 2009 04:51:00 GMT

I have now arrived on the “other side”, in Southern California (SoCal), after a long journey lasting 28 hours, from Perth to Sydney, Sydney to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to San Diego, and believe it or not, got over the huge jetlag amazingly well and quick!

My flight from Sydney arrived in L.A. at 7 AM in the morning, and despite little sleep on the plane(s), I was excited enough to last me through a day of sightseeing in the “City of Angels”. I picked Hollywood, because in downtown L.A. there is not really much to see. So I spent the few hours I had to spare along the walk of fame and Hollywood Boulevard, had lunch& icecream, and my picture taken with a member of Kiss (photo was taken by Superman by the way). At 4 pm, I caught the “Pacific Surfliner”, a train that runs from L.A. all along the coast to San Diego, famous for many surfing spots. Upon San Diego, my friend Mansun picked me up from the train station and drove to Pacific Beach (or “PB” as it is known locally), where he lives 3 blocks away from the beach (also called Pacific Beach). I was very excited, because I was finally going to meet Jiyoung, Mansun’s girlfriend, who I had previously only spoken to on the phone. After a first warm welcome, I got a second one a block away at Mia’s, a South African friend of Mansun who has spontaneously invited us to come over for dinner. And so I managed to get into the new time zone with relative ease, but was nevertheless happy to crash that night.

San Diego is the only place that I am visiting during this trip where I have actually been before, and so it almost felt like coming “home”. This was for the most part due to Mansun and Jiyoung’s warm hospitality, but also because I already knew some other people here, and last but not least because I simply love San Diego so much that I actually almost made it my “home” about a year ago…

Since there was not so much sightseeing left to do here, my stay in San Diego was all about hanging out in PB, and more importantly, really improving my surfing skills! And so yesterday, I finally “upgraded” from the whitewash (that is the foam that is formed after a wave has broken and washes onto the shore) to the line up (this is the spot in the water where all the surfers sit on their board and wait for a good wave to form for them to catch), and I tried and I tried, got tumbled over and nosedived countless times, but then I did it: I caught my first proper wave and rode it… what a feeeeeling!!! From now on, I will forever hunt and be haunted by that memory…

But surfing was not the only thing I did in San Diego! Apart from eating lots of great food, thanks to Mansun & Jiyoung (Sushi, Vietnamese, Korean, the best burger of my life, a huge American-style breakfast…), I caught up with some more friends, and made some new ones.

On Friday evening, we met up with a few people I met at a conference in Arizona last year. They are all scientists (and most of them surfers), and one of them, Christophe, is also the singer in a band called Streamview, and they had a gig in town that night! So we all headed to Ocean Beach (OB) to see Streamview in concert and it was really good! It’s very heavy metal but good stuff, check it out: www.myspace.com/streamview

On Saturday morning, we got up super early (6 AM) to do a charity walk that Mansun and Jiyoung had signed up to. It was hard to get up, but only a 5K walk, and the best thing about it was that it took place in San Diego zoo, which is really famous and has a great selection of fauna and flora from all over the world. So after finishing the walk, we had a huge breakfast, and then went back to the zoo to check out all the animals. And here I finally got to see some wombats, which I had missed out on in Australia! It was an activity-filled day and although we should have been knackered by the time we got home for dinner, we had enough energy left to play Guitar Hero until our arms and backs started to hurt and our eyes started to turn at the sight of the screen!

During these last few days, I had my first chats about science in about 5 weeks, and I found it both hard and refreshing at the same time. I have now arrived in a state of mind where I am sufficiently well disconnected from the stress of the PhD and with all the attractions and memories surrounding San Diego, it is very easy and very tempting to slide into a neverending dream…on the other hand I am also very aware that while I am on this trip of a lifetime, where I am enjoying every single second and experience to the maximum, family back home are worrying, friends in labs in London are working harder than ever, and a new challenge is awaiting me in Munich…

People always say that life comes and goes in waves, right? (watch out this is going to be very philosophic now;-)). But really, what’s that supposed to mean? Now that I am slowly starting to understand waves (in general), I am a little confused and I wonder who made this analogy (maybe I did it myself, in which case I am not surprised that it doesn’t make any sense). There is no such thing as “the perfect wave” or “you just gotta ride them”, at least not when you’re out there in the water. But on the other hand, I guess there is still some truth in there. It is certainly easier to surf a good wave. But at the end of the day, it is all a matter of timing, and lots and lots of training. You need to be in the right spot at the right time, be ready for it, then move like crazy and most importantly, stand up and keep the balance. Once you know how to do that, you no longer need to wait for the perfect wave. Because you can turn every single wave into a perfect wave. And just ride it for as long as it lasts. And then you take a rest, until you feel ready for the next one.

Any comments on that one are most welcome!

Gallery: SoCal

misch — Tue, 12 May 2009 04:12:00 GMT

A Land Down Under

misch — Sat, 9 May 2009 05:09:00 GMT

At the airport in Perth, waiting for my connection to Sydney for my flight out to L.A., I took some time to reflect on Australia. After spending almost 4 weeks in “the land down under”, with only 3 days where the sun didn’t shine on a bright blue sky, I was truly sad to leave because it has really grown on me!

I have to admit that when I arrived in the beginning, it took me good few days to adjust from the India experience, being back in civilization where everything seemed “normal”, and probably a lot of initial impressions were slightly blurred for that reason. Even though I spent the first few days in Australia in this amazing remote island, I seem to recall the best memories from Queensland and Western Australia. This may also simply have to do with changes in mood...

Now, I think that Australia is an absolutely magic place. So then what is it that I liked so much about it?

Nr 1 has to be the beaches! I have walked along so many nice beaches in the last few weeks but never ever got tired of them. Every beach is different and has left a lasting memory, but Whitehaven beach in the Whitsundays has gotta be way up there – I will forever rave about the softness of that sand! And the sunsets of Western Australia…

Secondly, the wildlife – both that on the ground, in the air, and underwater. So many species, so many colours … I have seen wild kangaroos, possums, quokkas, cockatoos, parrots, dolphins, countless fish, sea turtles but no snakes, spiders, great white sharks, crocodiles and still no cockroach!

Then, the people, you just gotta love them. Australians are renowned for being laid-back and this is true, and certainly very pleasant for someone who is here on holiday. No matter where you go, you are greeted with a friendly “Hi, how are you going?” (this takes some time to get used to from “hi, how are you?”, and no, you do NOT reply to this question by “oh, I’m catching a bus there…”). Everthing is “awesome” and there are “no worries”. I have yet to meet a miserable Australian and I firmly believe they do not exist (at least not in coastal Australia). Australians are also very sociable and definitely like a drink in their hand. If this happens to be a can of beer, it will always be in a foamie can holder which I have grown to like a lot, because it makes total sense – keeps your beer cold and your hand warm! They also love their food, especially if it’s barbecued, and make very good wines that, surprisingly, don’t seem to give you a headache ! (except if you are tasting it all day).

Finally, traveling in Australia is just really easy, although it can become expensive. Everything is geared towards the tourist, no matter what category, and there is always some organized tour to make your life easier and your wallet emptier. Eating out is generally cheap though, but transport comparably expensive.

And to finish off, couple of favourites:

Favourite part of Australia: WA!!! (Western Australia). It has everything you would ever need in life: great weather, beaches, sunsets, waves, wine, food, music, people and attitude!

Favourite beach: Whitehaven, Whitsunday Islands, Queensland

Favourite wine: Cabernet Merlot, 2007, Woody Nook Estate, WA.

Favourite food: Kangaroo steaks (bbq’ed by John on Three Hummock Island) and venison sausages a la Gemma & Rob!

Favourite soft drink: Solo Lemonade

Favourite animal: still in love with that koala...

Favourite moment: When I was waiting for the ferry from Hamilton Island to Airlie Beach, just after Mike’s departure, and Aussie guy Andrew from Cairns, married with 2 kids, started talking to me about Australia, traveling, love and life, and mentioned at the end of the conversation that all Australians firmly believe that “life is a journey”. I couldn’t agree more.

Gallery: Fremantle & Rottnest Island

misch — Sat, 9 May 2009 04:48:00 GMT

Fremantle and Rottnest Island

misch — Tue, 5 May 2009 21:00:00 GMT

I spent my last 2 days in Australia in Fremantle & Rottnest Island, 20 km south of Perth, but miles away in personality! Fremantle is a picturesque little town full of historic buildings and a hub of the arts & music scene. Moreover, Rottnest Island, just offshore from Fremantle, harbours tropical beaches and a native community. In short, it was the perfect place to linger around and soak up all the best that Australia has to offer once again. I spent the day walking around Fremantle, doing some shopping, until I ended up in a record shop…Here in Fremantle, record shopping is still a real delight. The record shops are small, and the guy behind the counter actually plays in a band! In the first shop, the shop attendant was the lyricist (so he says) of Eskimo Joe (one of the more famous Australian bands) for their new album and he was happy to advise me on up and coming bands from Australia, in particular of course Western Australia. The guy in the second shop was more into electro, and made me listen to a lot of good stuff! So in the end, I spent a small fortune (because unfortunately, CDs aren’t cheap in Australia L) on several indie & electro albums to take home, including some old favourites like Eskimo Joe.

Unfortunately, I had visited Fremantle on the wrong day of the week (Monday) to catch some live music in town, so instead I watched a movie back at the hostel and had a chat with some travelers from Scotland.

On my last day in Australia, I couldn’t make my mind up whether to spend money on a ferry to get to Rottnest Island, but I’m glad I did in the end, because it was well worth it!

I arrived rather late, at noon, and immediately headed for the nearest beach, which turn out to be this little gem with shallow waters and reef. To my great surprise, the water was relatively warm, so I had fun splashing around in the breaking waves. And I realized one thing: I had become addicted to the sea. Damn it, why did I chose to move to the mountains???

A few hours later, I left the island very happy, and returned to Perth airport content to have spent my last day in Australia in this way.

Gallery: Leschenault

misch — Mon, 4 May 2009 02:58:00 GMT

Four leisurely days in and around Leschenault

misch — Mon, 4 May 2009 02:30:00 GMT

On my first day at Gemma & Rob’s “Leschenault resort”, I decided to have a lie-in and make this a lazy day. That does not mean that I didn’t do anything! I took the opportunity to sort out some admin stuff and reply to some e-mails, upload some photos and read up on what the hell was going on in Mexico. That took me quite a while, although I did also play with Molly in the garden inbetween…

When Gemma got home from work, we took Molly for a walk along the “local” beach (Buffalo Beach), which was really nice, because the sun was just setting. Western Australia is pretty famous for gorgeous sunsets, and certainly tonight was a very nice example. One thing that is pretty weird getting used to though, already in India, is that the sun set so early (around 5.30 pm), having just gotten used to the days getting longer in the Northern hemisphere.

That evening, Gemma & Rob took me to a very very nice Thai restaurant in Bunbury, where I had the best green curry of my life.

The next day, I got up early to drop Gemma off at her school as she had kindly offered me her car for the day. From her school I drove straight to the Dolphin discovery centre in Bunbury. This centre is run by conservation volunteers and is one of the few places in Australia (and the world?) where you can get very close to wild bottlenose dolphins. In this particular bay (Koombana bay), a number of Dolphins pay regular visits and come so close to the shore, that you can get knee- to waist-deep into the water and be about 2m away from them! It was a good thing that I arrived early (at 8 AM), because half an hour later, a female dolphin and her calf approached the bay! They came right up to the shore, and all the people that were there (about a dozen) went into the water in a straight line and just watched the two dolphins do their rounds in front of us. Amazingly, the volunteers of the centre can pretty much recognize every single dolphin that is a regular visitor and hence they have given them names. They identify them mostly by the size and shape of their dorsal fin, which they use to maintain stability in the water. I learned a couple more interesting facts about dolphins. For example, a dolphin never sleeps for more than 30-90 seconds! And even while they sleep, only half of their brain is asleep! Crazy insomniacs! (I think that must be similar to the state I was in when I was writing my thesis...)

In the afternoon, I visited Busselton, about 50 km further south, which is a little sleepy seaside town that boasts the largest jetty of the southern hemisphere (2km). Now, you might wonder where is the largest jetty in the northern hemisphere, and more importantly, which one is the longest in the world? Well, I looked it up and it is in Progreso, Mexico, an impressive 6.5km long! The water there was so crystal clear and inviting, that I had to brave myself and get in for a swim. But it was freeeezing! I only managed to stay in the water for about 15 min: during the first 5, I was frantically swimming because I was so cold, then I was ok for about 5 min, and in the last 5 min, I got cold again and just had to get out. Anyway, it was still a nice swim and warm enough to dry off in the sun.

That evening, Gemma & Rob had planned a very nice barbeque, and I had the opportunity to receive full training in bbq skills. An Aussie-style bbq is a serious business…and as a result, we had delicious steaks, sausages, and veggies, all accompanied, of course, by a gorgeous red wine from the region.

The next morning, everyone (except Molly) went on a day trip to Margaret River, 1 ½ hours south and famous fir waves & wines (what a perfect combination...). It was another lovely day and perfect conditions for winetasting. By the time we arrived at the first winery, it was almost time for lunch, so we had a quick tasting round and chose a bottle of Cabernet Merlot to have with our lunch in the patio area of the little restaurant adjacent to the winery, set peacefully amidst the forest trees. As Gemma had offered to do the driving, the bottle was pretty much emptied by Rob & myself…For desert, we went to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory (also known as Mr. Chocolate Facory…haha.) where you stuff your face with their free chocolate buttons but don’t actually intend to buy anything because it’s way overpriced. We managed to visit two more wineries in the afternoon, take a scenic detour via North Point and buy our dinner at a venison farm. When we got home at about 6 pm, I had a stinking headache, and only after copious amounts of water, barbecued venison sausage and steak, I recovered well enough to watch Mr Bean’s holiday on TV!

The next day was Sunday, and there was another “tasting” event awaiting: this time it was a local beer festival, held at the golf club in Australind. There were about ½ dozen of local, Western Australian, Australian and International breweries and there was even some cider for taste! My favourite was Barefoot Radler, a light refreshing beer with lemon & lime (tastes almost like shandy). This event, like so many in Australia, was very family friendly, and there were lots of kids playing on the grounds of the Golf course, while their parents were merrily tasting their way through the beer section. The golf club must have also loosened their dress code for the day, because practically everyone was there in shorts and flip flops (or “thongs”, like they call them here). We hung around for a couple of hours and drove back with just enough time to take Molly for a walk along the beach. I chose to leave my camera at home and I was punished with the most beautiful play of colours above and below the horizon! Gutted to have no photographic record, yet grateful to have fully memorized the changing image in my head. There was a low-lying, thin veil of clouds just above the horizon, which was tainted pink by the glowing ball of the sinking sun. The warm light was stretching out as an orange gradient all across the fading blue sky. But most striking, the reflection of the red line on the horizon made the grey sea turn purple and gave the whole composition a unique finish. Ah, I love sunsets…(I also like sunrise, but I need a good reason to "rise" in time to catch it...).

The 4 leisurely in Leschenault were extremely pleasant, relaxing and full of leisurely delights, not least due to my fantastic hosts! (Thank you guys) It has been really great to have some time to spend with Gemma & Rob and catch up, and I wish Australia was just around the corner from Europe and I could return more often!

Perth

misch — Sun, 3 May 2009 14:55:00 GMT

From Cairns, I took a direct Jetstar flight across the Australian continent, to Perth on the western coast of Australia. I had a very nice moment on the plane waiting to taxi out to the runway in Cairns, one of those moments that gets stuck in your mind, and just makes you smile. The cabin crew had done all the safety demonstrations, and as i said we were just waiting to taxi out for take off. They had music playing in the cabin, i don't know whether it was a CD or just the radio, and a casual song came on with a catchy melody, but I didn't pay much attention, as I didn't know the song. Suddenly however, I noticed that half the people on the plane were either quietly singing, or humming along to the song! Since it was a happy tune, this created an extremely nice atmosphere in the plane and it made me listen to the lyrics. The chorus was like this:

"so please,

baby please

open your heart

and catch my disease."

(I checked later, and for anyone interested, the song is called "Catch my disease", by Ben Lee).

This little moment made me smile and think that Australians are a truly laid-back bunch, who really just enjoy life as it happens, with "no worries" and are seemingly always in a good mood.

I managed to successfully entertain myself without inflight entertainment on my 5 hr budget flight to Perth and after some waiting around and a conversation with a Japanese girl (in English), finally found the shuttle bus into town that dropped me at the YHA, where I was staying for the night.

I woke up early the next day to make the most of the day I had to explore Perth, before heading 2 hrs south to Leschenault, where my friends Gemma&Rob live.I started the day with a cafe latte and a muffin (always a nice way to start the day - although it's always better with company, because the muffin is always to big for 1 person alone). I went for a walking tour across the city centre, past government house and the waterfront (Perth lies on the Swan River) and up Kings Park for a panoramic view of the city. I then wanted to take a bus from there to the beaches, but no one knew where such a bus would leave from and sent me back to the city centre (Australians generally drive EVERYWHERE), from where I could get a train out to Cottesloe beach. The beaches in Perth, and Western Australia, are famous, and this one was certainly no exception. Miles and miles of white sand, green water...i think i am repeating myself...I put my big toe in the water, and quickly decided that I was just going to walk along the beach, although there were a few hardcore people in the water. So I walked along to Swanbourne beach, where the next stop on the trainline back to Perth also was.

Back in Perth ,I picked up my luggage and headed back to the train station to meet Rob. I got very nervous and excited, as I hadn't seen Rob&Gemma for almost 2 years and was wondering if Rob still looked the same. Fortunately, he does:-) and very healthy and happy too!

We quickly caught a train to Mandurah, which took about 45 min, and then Rob drove 1 hr to Leschenault, where the two of them have recently moved into a very nice house, with a large garden, which they shared with their cute dog Molly! As we approached Leschenault, I got even more excited to finally see Gemma again - and guess what, she is still the same and looks great too!

We caught up over a couple of cold beers and some dinner, after which I retreated to my lovely blue guest room to get some rest.