An unabashed tourist and her family explore the world one holiday at a time.
Lonely Planet’s The Best Place to be Today is an amazingly fun book. Let’s face it, who wouldn’t want to know where the perfect place to be on any given day is? And apart from the editors’ obsession with bat colonies, there should be something in here to suit everyone’s taste. I’ve already added at least ten new must-dos to my...
The day after we arrived in St Helena Bay dawned brightly, wind-still and with a clear blue sky. We jumped into our rental car and set out to explore the surrounding coastline of South Africa’s West Coast Peninsula. Our first port of call was Paternoster, one of the oldest fishing villages on the west coast and a lovely little tourist...
There is just something magical about an ocean view. It’s as if all your worries and stress just fade away the moment you sit down and watch the waves lapping on the shore. I don’t know how people who live by the seaside get anything done. I would just stare out my window all day long. On last year’s trip...
“Look at all those cars parked by there? Must be something going on.” Gareth points out the window as we drive through the streets of Stellenbosch in our rental car. “Could it be the cheese and wine festival?” my mother asks from the back seat. I turn off the main road and park the car on the dusty sidewalk. A...
Seagulls soaring overhead, waves crashing on the rocks, cold sea spray on bronzed skin, the salty taste of the ocean on our tongues, and a lighthouse towering above us. This is my quintessential memory of Cape St Francis, a place of the heart, as I’ve written before. We’re fortunate in the fact that my father owns a holiday house in...
Hermanus has become an annual trip for us. We go every year around August or September to see the southern right whales as they come to calve and mate in the waters of this seaside town in the Western Cape in South Africa. We have never been disappointed. 2014’s trip was especially memorable, because although it was our second trip,...
When two people are travelling together, there are bound to be some things that the one didn’t enjoy quite as much as the other one. I think it’s a good idea to reflect on the trip afterwards, to learn from possible mistakes and to better plan for the next one. So… the verdict is out on our Ciao Italy 2014 trip:...
Milestone birthdays should be celebrated, the more spectacular the better. If, like me, you exist in a Peter Pan-like state, it’s best to forget about your age and rather focus on a wonderful experience. For that reason I had decided to spend my 35th birthday in Italy and, more specifically, I wanted the day to be filled with art, culture...
There are perhaps as many as a thousand fountains spread out all across Rome, according to the Inguide to Rome. They were once ancient shrines to water nymphs, but nowadays locals and tourists alike come to quench their thirst at the cool mountain waters still transported via aqueduct to the city. Some of the fountains are famous movie stars, others...
The Inguide to Rome calls the Borghese gardens a “splendid park” and “one of the most beautiful parks in Rome”. True as that may be, our memories of it have been forever tainted by the scammers that prey on gullible tourists underneath its green boughs. Now, we’re South Africans and pretty used to warding off unwanted attention from beggars, overenthusiastic...