Friday, November 1, 2013

Travel Roundup

I think after a certain number of long haul flights, bad airline food, and long waits at security, one needs to take stock of what makes them endure that in the first place.
Here is my collection of some of the most memorable things from the year that had me take 50 something flights to be somewhere.

1. Water sports. I don’t know why I hadn’t discovered them until now.

2. Sat in the longest cable car in the world.

3. Hiked to one of the prettiest natural beaches in Spain.

4. Celebrated my birthday at 3500 meters above sea level at Jungfraujoch.
 
5. Traveled from -1 degree Celsius to 30 degree Celsius – in 2.5 hours.

6. Ate the best key lime pie. EVER.

7. Went to Disney world. TWICE. There is still room for more.

8. Discovered the east side gallery at Berlin.

9. Had the best currywurst.

10. Drove along the Spanish coast listening to Florence and the Machine.


11. Lost money in Macau.

12. Understood the joys of using the pervasive Octopus Card in Hong Kong.

13. Had the best crème Brule in the world – not in France but in Hong Kong at the Intercontinental in Kowloon.

14. Enjoyed the Wiener Melange at the majestic Café Central which operates since 1876 in Vienna.

15. Experienced altitude sickness for the first time. 

16. Managed to rake up enough miles to upgrade to the next tier.


17. Visited London for the first time in my life! And keeping the momentum – Gibraltar.

18. Saw Africa from Europe.

19. Bid farewell to Guangzhou – my vacation home for the last 10 years.
 

20. Prayed at a Buddhist temple in Bangkok and Hong Kong. 

21.  Discovered that there are more nice people in the world than not-so-nice people.