Write to Travel Heads for the High Seas...

As I write this, I'm sitting in the lobby of Four Points at Sheraton in Sydney, Australia, catching up with emails and blogs before boarding the Dawn Princess for the first leg of it's World Cruise. Traveling with my mother, I will be spending the next 54 days port hopping on our way to England.

During this time, the Write to Travel blog will be taking a sabbatical from travel writing information and instead, will be featuring 'photo of the day' posts tracking my travels.

I'll be writing about life on the high seas over at Planet Eye Traveler and Perceptive Travel Blog.

Write to Travel is on the road this week...

Off on a short road trip this week to the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island so Write to Travel will be taking a break from it’s usual weekly posts.

With only limited internet access, it’s likely that there won’t be any posts until next week.

.......

Meanwhile...

Write to Travel is on the lookout for guest bloggers for the Guest Post Friday slot.

So far, we have had three Guest Post Fridays which have been interesting and entertaining.

What National Geographic Taught Me by Lola Akinmade

'Bells and Whistles ... Incorporating audio and video into your blog' by Keith Kellet

Travel Media Showcase by Kara Williams

Want to join in? Have something to say about freelance writing, travel writing, conferences, courses, blogging, etc.

Then send through an email to Kiwiwriter (at) xtra (dot) co (dot) nz. We want to hear what you have to say...

Spain Revisited: Segovia in one day...

Only two hours northeast of Madrid by train (10.20 Euro return), Segovia is often overlooked by travellers who daytrip instead to the more well known Toledo and Avilla. Bur for my money, Segovia is the place to go.

To start with, it’s less crowded than Toledo and Avilla. And after dealing with crowded streets of Madrid, this is a definite plus.

But it’s the ruins of the Roman Aquaduct that's the main attraction.



An amazing feat of engineering, most likely built in the 1st Century (98-117 AD), this aquaduct is one of the most well preserved Roman structures in the world.

Then there is Alcazar, the fairytale castle that sits at the top of the city.



And for something truly unique (and disturbing) there is the Ancient Museum of Witchcraft.



Of course, along the way, there is also the Plaza Mayor, numerous churches, and an amazing cathedral to discover.



Segovia can easily be explored in one day. But to get an in depth view of this historic city, it would be worthwhile stay for at least a week. Next time I will. I have already chosen my hotel. It overlooks the Plaza Mayor...

NYC Revisited: Ellen's Stardust Diner...

It was only by chance and a whole lot of rain that we discovered Ellen’s Stardust Diner at Broadway and 51st. A chain reaction you could say. Two days earlier we had been booked on a walking tour of Movie Locations around Central Park. But just as the tour started so did the rain. The skies opened up. The rains came down. Appearing just as suddenly as the rain, street vendors started waving souvenir umbrellas for sale at highly inflated prices. We had already looked like drowned rats but of course we bought the umbrellas. After all, the tour must go on.

It was a bedraggled looking group of umbrella huggers who finally entered Central Park. Our determined guide rattled of names and locations as we tried to listen and avoid increasingly large puddles of water. But as the rains continued to bucket down, it soon became evident that tour was quickly becoming a wash out. And although it wasn’t in the terms of the ticket (which said tours would happen rain or shine), we were offered the chance to take a future Movie Location Bus Tour instead. Having stepped in one to many puddles, it was an offer we couldn’t refuse.

The pick up point for the bus tour was Broadway and 51st, just outside Ellen’s Stardust Diner. And that’s how we discovered a slice of Americana, complete with singing wait staff.

This retro theme 1940’s and 1950’s diner, outfitted with nostalgic memorabilia, provides great diner style food, good service and plenty of entertainment. We were there for breakfast and it couldn’t be faulted - a huge plate of eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, and a constantly filled coffee cup. And then there was the singing. We were entertained with a steady stream of music. One minute you were being served coffee, then next your waiter was bellowing out ‘Sweet Caroline’ to a group of girl scouts celebrating the birthday of one of their group. Yes, you guessed it - the birthday girl was named Caroline.

It was like being in a time warp, circa 1950s. I kept looking to the door, expecting the gang of ‘Happy Days’ to walk through. Of course, that never happened but the astmosphere within the diner made it feel that it could...

Madrid...Visiting El Rastro.

Madrid’s best known flea market, El Rastro, is located right in the heart of the city. Run every Sunday and feast days, this market features over 1,000 stalls spread over numerous streets, alleys, and plazas. Popular with both locals and tourists, this is not the place to go if you dislike crowds. It starts out quietly at 9 am but within two hours the streets are packed with people, all seeking bargains.



Everything and anything is sold at El Rastro - clothes, paintings, household fixtures, books, stamps, etc. But don’t expect to make the find of the century. Most of the stuff being sold is quite ordinary. In fact, it’s kinda hard to find anything authentically Spanish. Most of the products for sale seem to have been imported from somewhere else. Pictures from Italy and Africa, clothes from China and Korea, and home decorations from around the world. The market really is a demonstration in the effects of globalization.

Fieria de Libros - Madrid's Open Air Book Market

This unique open air book market is located along the Cuesta de Moyano. Named after Claudia Moyano, the politician who reformed the Spanish education system in the mid 1800s, it has been a favorite with locals for generations. Wooden stalls, piled high with old and rare books, sit along the Cuesto de Moyano from the Atocha end of the Paseo del Prado heading uphill to the southwestern corner of the Retiro Park.

The market is open daily from 10 am to 7 pm but Sunday morning is the liveliest time to visit.

Leaving Madrid...

I’m leaving Madrid this morning heading for La Alberca in the province of Salamanca. La Alberca is one of the first rural villages in Spain to be awarded National Historic Heritage. It is also the venue for the Pueblo Ingles program that I am participating in for a week. Pueblo Ingles is a an emersion program for Spaniards looking to improve their conversational English. Volunteers, such as myself, are recruited from all over world to help maintain an ‘English only’ environment.

It sounds like fun…and perhaps hard work…

I’ll let you know…

Art around Plaza Mayor...

Artists




Performance Artist

Riding the buses…the Madrid Vision

With only a few days in Madrid, it makes sense to look for a way to see as much of Madrid as possible. I usually try to ride the local buses around a new city to get a feel of the place and observe and interactive with local people. But this time, with such limited time, I opted for a tourist bus - the Madrid Vision. This highly visible red double-decker bus travels two routes - the historic and the modern - around the city. Each trip takes around 45 minutes and provides an great overall of places and sights around Madrid. And you can hop on and off as often as you wish.

On boarding the bus, you are given a red headset that provide access to a running commentary in the language of your choice. Be warned, though, not all plugs seem to work. It took me three seat changes before I found my commentator. As the bus wasn’t very full, this wasn’t a problem.

The Madrid Vision made sightseeing around the city easy, allowing me to discover the location of places that I had previously only seen in pictures. The bus travelled down the Calle Mayor to the Plaza Puerto del Sol, then on to the Atocha Train Station, stopping briefly at The Prado, skirting the Parque del Retiro and heading back toward the Palacio Real. I saw brief glimpses of the many monuments and statues around the city and was enthralled by the ornate windows, doors, and roofs of the buildings.



Sitting up in the open air top level of the bus, it was easy to look down onto the street and observe the locals and other tourists. It’s a bit voyeuristic really. I could watch people as they wandered along the streets, stopping at lights, and shopping for food and drink.



And from such an elevated location, there was also a much clear view of the buildings, and in particular the monuments and murals that seem to be common place along the streets of Madrid.



Along the way, I also learned some interesting things about buses and sightseeing…

- trying to get a good photography when the bus is moving is impossible.

- there’s never a good shot when the bus is stopped- the view is either blocked, shadowed, none existent…

- standing up when the bus is moving is not always a good idea.

- sun burn and heat stroke is a good possibility when sitting in an open air bus.

Have iPod can travel…

A couple of weeks I mentioned that I had been reading through old copies of National Geographic Traveler and Budget Travel magazines. One of things that kept catching my eye was all the information out there on audio tours and MP3 and iPod city tours.

I had always looked at the iPods as a music appendage that teenagers and runners had connected to the ears. I hadn’t planned on ever getting one.

But that changed once I saw what a great travel tool it could be. I hadn’t realized that you could download city tours and other travel information plus audio books. Imagine no more lugging around heavy books in the luggage. I’m a convert.I now have an iPod.

So far I’ve loaded on 11 hours of music. That’s enough to get me from Sydney to Singapore. To get all the way to London, I’ll have to listen to it twice.

I have also downloaded free copies of The Rough Guide to Eating and Drinking in Madrid and The Rough Guide to Eating and Drinking in New York City.

And thanks to Lastminute.com (where I had booked some accommodation) I have now got an iPod Translator for six languages. So I can ask ‘where’s the toilet’ in Spanish, Germany, Dutch, Italian, Greek, etc…

Now all I have to do is find some audio books...

I wonder if Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has been made into an audiobook yet???