A weekend in Coimbra, an underrated Portuguese gem
How I ended up spending a long weekend in Coimbra The pandemic grew into the second wave in Europe while I was traveling in Portugal. In early November there was a long weekend due to a public holiday and the Portuguese government put some measures in place to prevent the…
Recovering from my walk in Lagos
Lagos is a cute tourist town in the South West of Portugal. It attracts people from all walks of life, although the historical center has a reputation for parties. Besides this, Lagos is a great place to base yourself if you want to surf the South West. Therefore there are…
Another covid side effect
An end to uncertainty: unemployment It’s finally happened. I’ve been made redundant. Finally, because my job had been hanging on a thin thread since April now. Within a week I went from planning the start of the tourist season to a few days of home office and ended up on…
Walking through Bremen’s history
The most common response to me choosing to go to Bremen, in Germany, is ‘why?’. “Well… to go to language school.” “O. But why Bremen? Why not Berlin, or Hamburg or München?” So I thought Bremen would be full of Germans and wouldn’t have any tourists. It seemed like nobody…
So what’s the deal with Mrauk-U?
Mrauk-U, pronounced Meow O, is a small town in the west of Myanmar, not far from Bangladesh. The town makes it on some itineraries because of the incredible temples and the possibility to visit some Chin villages. It is a pretty sleepy town, where most of the roads are still…
Focus on culture: the Sabah museum
Maybe April isn’t the best time to be on Borneo. It is bloody hot in the city of Kota Kinabalu. It is so hot that every person I meet feels the urge to make a remark about it. It is the perfect day to go to a museum. Too bad I planned on walking to it. Walking to the Sabah museum turns out not to be a great idea. I walk along a busy road, cars chasing past me. There is not much to admire so keep your eyes on the ground, otherwise you might just drop into one of the holes in the pavement.
Adelaide: city of churches
When people hear I’ve been in Adelaide for quite a while they frown and ask: “So, what do you do in Adelaide?” It is true; Adelaide is a relatively small city without much backpacker-appeal. In winter you might as well skip it, or minimize your stay to a day or…