It was 3.45 am. The world was dark and cold. Every single soul in Europe lied curled up under a fluffy blanket. But somewhere in rural Belgium, an alarm clock went off. It must be a bad dream, it cannot be morning yet- these were the only thought rushing through my head. But deep in my heart, I knew it was time to wake up. There was no time to waste. We needed to cover 60 kilometres today, using only feet and nothing else. Continue Reading →
On the beach of Pärnu, an arrow on a changing cabin points at Ainaži. 66 kilometres, it says.
Latvia is less than 70 kilometres away. Not that the Estonians have such a passionate relationship with their neighbours. It’s one of a brief hello in the hallway – no more, no less. But since Jevgeni Ossinovski, the former Minister of Health, raised the excise duties on alcohol, the Estonians like to make weekend trips to the SuperAlkos of Ainaži and Valka. Children and dog in the back of the van and the road trip can begin, towards cheaper alcohol! Ironically, the Estonians have made fun of their Finnish brothers for years when the latter went on yet another booze cruise towards Tallinn. Those Finns now also have to travel one stop further for affordable drunkenness. Continue Reading →
First of all, before anyone gets any big ideas about the concept of cultural capital: Dangriga is no Paris, Rome or even Mol. It mainly got its status as the hub for Belize’s contingent of Garifuna.
But even though Dangriga does not feature highly on most tourists’ lists of places to visit in Belize, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in this scruffy seaside town.
Here are the five things you should and one you definitely shouldn’t do in Dangriga:
We had decided to check out volcano Santa Ana. Mainly just because I’d seen so many pictures on the internet. I was keen to find out if the lake in its crater is really as turquoise the pictures promised. Continue Reading →
The evening before our trip to Laguna Chicabal, we watched a cartoon called Zootopia. Don’t judge! When spending all day going to Spanish classes and trying to cram as many irregular verbs in your head as possible, we all need time to cool down our slowly sautéed brains. For those less educated in animated films, Zootopia is about Judy Hobbs, a rabbit from Bunnyburrow who tries to make it as a police detective in the big city.
Assigned a case about a dozen missing predators, Hobbs and her unlikely partner Nick Wilde, a red fox, head to the Department of Mammal Vehicles to have a plate run. Alas, the department is staffed entirely by three-toed slots which are stamping and stapling forms at a speed that would make the latter Pope John Paul II cringe. It’s easily the best scene of the film, and I laughed my head off. But Anete, as ever more prescient, asked: “Would you be laughing if it happened to you? Continue Reading →
