After lazing on the beach in Boracay, it was time for some semblance of culture when we returned to Manila. This time instead of a tango themed guest house, we stayed inside the walls of the old town, intremuros, and spent the whole morning exploring. Definitely worth a look, a few gorgeous gardens, intact walls, and interesting architecture, oh and of course a few cats amongst the ruins…I will put up photos as a separate post soon.
And so to the jump back around the other side of the world, for the wedding of the decade, via Doha for a grand total of 3 hours. It was like Victoria station at rush hour, and this was 1am, anyway all flowed well, and we arrived into Rome on time, and were through in about 4 minutes as we had carry-on only…I can only continue to wax lyrically about the benefits of travelling light.
It’s quite odd to think there are under three weeks to go before we get back to Melbourne.
Probably good timing for a few top 3 travel favourites.
My only rule is that they must all be from this year’s travel so far…
- Top 3 islands – Alonissos, Los Roques, Galapagos
- Top 3 cities – Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Beijing
- Top 3 spots – great wall, amazon jungle, Iguazu falls
- Top 3 meals – l’Atelier HK, Banh mi Hoi An, steak BA
- Top 3 ways to travel – kayak Ha Long Bay, tuk tuk Hampi, by foot everywhere
- Top 3 clothes – sarong, thongs, yoga pants
- Top 3 books – the lonely tide (Ghosh), a cook’s tour (Bourdain), one day (Nicholls)
- Top 3 events – 70th birthday, 40th birthday, wedding
- Top 3 great timings – cherry blossom Tokyo, snow great wall, lantern festival Hoi An
- Top 3 almost great timings – football Uruguay, film festival Goa, yacht race Cascais
- Top 3 must returns – Japan, Vietnam, Portugal
- Top 3 stays – Casa Colombo, La Bamba, casa Doyle
- Top 3 drinks – wine tour urbano BA, port porto, prosecco anywhere
- Top 3 sports – dragon boat, kite surfing, polo
- Top 3 chain shops – Muji, Barefoot, Ateneo
- Top 3 unique shops – cat shop Yanaka, Soho design stores BA, vintage posters Hanoi
- Top 3 parks – fort intramuros Manila, cat park Buenos Aires, Cafayate national park
- Top 3 museums – Prado, Ghibli, Evita
- Top 3 festas – Sutri notti bianchi, Quito Inti Raymi, Trevignano Feragosto
- Top 3 animals – tiger, leopard & cats generally
- Top 3 purchases – tango shoes Buenos Aires, blue crosses Quito, vintage posters Hanoi
- Top 3 things lost – mini lilo, reef thongs, christmas presents courtesy of India post
- And finally, and there are so many, my first cut top moments (for this I break the rule of 3…!)
- Seafood extravaganza, surprise cake, dad’s 70th birthday, Cascais
- Full moon, blue sky, white water, midnight visit, Iguazu falls
- Galapagos swim, with baby penguins, and seal bigger than me
- Great wall of China, snow run effect, only ones there
- Sunrise, la Bamba, over polo fields, followed by horse ride
- Welcome kitten, Agio Demitrious beach, Alonissos
- Night-time safari, first tiger in the wild
- Day-time safari, first leopard in the light
- Romania, creepy dusk, Sighisoara
- Angkor Thom, light on tree roots turning everything silver
- Museo vid y vin, launch night boutique wine tastings
- Secret tango night, BA
- Positano, Soph, Loz, fireworks
- Cornwall, muddy pub walk, Sam
- Bangalore walks
- The last great taste of Hoi An
- Marissa in Mirissa with whales
- Melbournians, Dragon Pearl, Ha Long bay
- Tokyo rain, sheltered and ate superb Sashimi
- Bamboo catamaran, Boracay, birthday
- And the moment about to be…little brother’s wedding this w/e in Trevignano!!!
yeehaahols 