Random thoughts on things and places: What we have been up to

Monday, 13 August 2018

What we have been up to

Extremely-long-post-warning: It has been a loooooong long time since I wrote the last time. And not because little was happening – quite the contrary! So in the spirit of now-or-never, this is going to be a mega-update. Yes, that means a long one.

I have left off the blog-writing when snow was still covering the mountains around Torino (in this stifling 30°C+ heat it seems absurd something like that could ever be possible). So what have we been up to since then?

In January, we ventured to the warmer Liguria with friends for a weekend of climbing.

And to contrast, we also piloted some skiing weekends, to a great success.

A few weekends, and I'm on the verge of losing my position in the only sport I'm better at than Miky. Dammit.

I finally managed to go back to Madrid, at least for a quick weekend, to see again my beloved horda and for them to meet Miky. So so so so so amazing to catch up with everyone.

Then in March, I went for a work trip to NY.

We took advantage and Miky joined me afterwards for a week of holiday - the most untypical holiday for us, and we still can’t really get over having spent more than a week of free time in a single urban setting. I guess out of all places in the world, Rome and NY are just about the only ones where this is possible.

SO. COLD.

With all that time on our hands, we covered pretty much all the must-sees.

The ferry to Staten Island, with the obligatory view of the Statue of Liberty

Prefer the Fearless Girl statue over the Charging Bull one (for some reason, touching the bull's testicles seemed a highlight for all tourists?!)

The Brooklyn Bridge really is unmissable, and very photogenic

Central Park, trial 1. - soon abandoned due to the pervasive cold

The High Line - urban reinvention

A piece of glass over a road, or How to make something out of nothing

Chinatown, just a tiiiiny bit disappointing. But the food is good and cheap.

Williamsburg, the hipster Mecca. Though at the time we were there, there were hardly any men with a beard any more

Banksy - the original

How NY is this?!

It was like being in a movie, all the time.

With the absurd contrast of the older brick buildings and the shiny skyscrapers.

Apart from that, the two things that struck me probably most was the immense quantity of rubbish generated, and the absurd size of everything - from food portions to the average cars.

Not an average car, of course, but even the huge car is more huge than our huge car

I caught up with friends from the Ugandan and Malaysian times.

With Jeff

And with Carolina

We went to see a Broadway show, as necessary when in NY.

If we thought to have a remote possibility of witnessing spring, we definitely chose the wrong place. At the end of March, we saw people doing cross-country skiing in the Central Park.

Happy spring to you all...

Central Park, trial 2

NY was definitely worth a visit – though next time I guess we’ll go back to the more mobile, and more nature-involving travels that suit us better.

As spring was trying to arrive even to Torino and surroundings, we explored the surrounding medieval villages and valleys.

Orta San Giulio, on Lago di Orta - in the official group of "the prettiest villages in Italy"

Island San Giulio

Val di Susa

Val Pellice. Can you find parallels in our weekend trips?

With view of Mon Viso

I finally visited Miky’s workplace.

In May, my parents came for a holiday to Italy, and I joined them for a stretch in Liguria, in the impressive but crowded Cinque Terre…

Vernazza

From Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare

Manarola

Riomaggiore

Porto Venere

Lerici

… then we all came back to Torino…

Back in our camper-size-kitchen

… and then, taking advantage of my obligatory work break, I went home with them to catch up with my Czecho-Slovak world.

In June, we made an attempt at a holiday in Sicily. Though shorter and less adventurous than we planned, due to external circumstances, it was still a lovely and much-needed time off.