Sophie’s World

Inspired by a cold, dark wintry Oslo, here’s where I’d rather be right now:

1.  Svalbard - even colder and darker, Spitsbergen is magical during the polar night.
2. Oz – anywhere in Oz would be super, smack right in the middle of summer. Take me there! Tasmania! Never been to Tas. Would love to go to Tas.
3. Devonport, New Zealand – right now, I’d love to walk along Narrow Neck beach gazing at the sail boats passing by Rangitoto and all the other islands in the beautiful Hauraki Gulf. (Well, it’s midnight right now – but let’s say a lazy stroll along the beach tomorrow afternoon).
4. Singapore – I wouldn’t mind having a coffee by the book store on the corner of Orchard and Scott – watching hectic Singapore hurry by, while I had all the time in the world.
5. Buenos Aires – one of my favourite cities in the world. I’d land early, then head directly to the centre to watch the city wake up, either from a café serving medialunas - or stroll along the avenues. A nice 25 degrees C is forecasted for tomorrow morning.
6. Paris – winter or not – Paris is always wonderful. Right now, Paris is slightly cloudy with a bit of wind and 9 degrees C, just warm enough for an ice cream from the Berthillon shop on Ile St Louis. Saturday will be quite a bit colder - I’d slouch about in the dusty, delightful Shakespeare & Co.
7. I could be on top of Table Mountain as well right now – looking out on Cape Town, one of the most stunningly located cities in the world, or
8. get sunburnt in Windhoek. Haven’t been to Namibia for 15 years – it’s bound to have changed heaps. But I’d probably still get a sun burn.

Where would you rather be?

Yup, I’m into lists. Here are my favourite sleeps of 2008 - in no particular order: 

1. In January, we spent an entire week in the same place. That’s pretty rare, as I get restless after a few days. This hotel was a boat, though, the M/S Helio, cruising along the Nile.
2. In the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – oh, what the hell, let me be politically incorrect and call it Macedonia – I stayed one night at the Stone Bridge Hotel in Skopje. The hotel was nice; the main draw being its location right by – you guessed it – Skopje’s very cool, 6th century Stone bridge and only metres from the old bazaar and the old fort. 5500 MKD (ca 90 EUR/125 USD)
3. Going to Moldova, Alex and I had to spend a night in Latvia as the outbound flights didn’t connect on the same day. We stayed at Homestay Riga, a great rambling guest house a bit out of town, run by Diga Daga. Good price as well - for LVL 40 (ca 55 EUR/80 USD) we got separate bed rooms, large ones - and a huge breakfast.
4. Our most interesting overnight in 2008 was spent in a private flat belonging to a lovely woman named Lubov in Tiraspol, capital of the internationally unrecognized state of Transdniestr, where the Soviet Union is still alive and kicking. It was weird and wonderful to go “home” to a Soviet block-of-flats, watching children play and old women knit outdoors in the late afternoon sunshine. Arranged through Marisha, it cost 30 EUR for the two of us.

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