Important Thinking Happening

Lady Traveller is busy working on her annual Advent offering, so no proper post today.  But tomorrow, being the 1st December, will feature the first 'door' in Hints to Lady Traveller's Adventstravaganza.

Roma, Bella Roma

I am going to Rome next week.  I am very excited about this.

Believe it or not, I've never been to Rome before in my life.  People are surprised by this - a nice, art-loving, history-studying, food-obsessing girl like me, who hasn't been to Rome?

I'm going to Rome in the company of my mama and sisters, so won't lack for company and entertainment.

On the agenda:

a trip to the opera
the Caravaggio frescoes at San Luigi dei Francesi
a visit to the mozzarella bar Obika (hat tip to Tadhg's mammy)
much gelato eating
an archaeologist (Hints to Lady Travellers's Little Sister)-led tour of the forum
drinking our cappuccinos standing up at the bar, Italian-style

possibly going to the Vatican so I can cross off no. 49 on my life list: visit a new country every year.  (Although I'm also going to Hong Kong in March ... wait, does that count as a new country?  Perhaps the Vatican + Hong Kong together = new country.)

... and, I'm sure, more besides.

Any hints?  Please don't be shy - feel free to add in the comments.

Monday Miscellany

Hints to Lady Travellers is slowly adjusting to the week after a weekend that didn't go exactly as planned (sick + burgled = sad).  HOWEVER, in the dauntless spirit of my pioneering lady traveller forebears, I am pulling up my socks and looking forward to better things ahead.

They include:
Going to Oxford and London later this week.
Checking out the Little Museum.
Learning to sew (again) so that I can use some of these beautiful Liberty fabrics and make cushions for my small 'ouse (TM Gregory the adorable French nephew).
Rekindling my love of Dublin Bikes.
Finishing my life list and publishing it here so I have no excuse not to start doing the things on it.

And because every post is enhanced by a picture, here's one demonstrating the return of the Mean Face.

Virgil Brigman Back on the Air

(I don't know if this will be a regular thing but, as before, the first person to name the movie that today's title comes from gets a prize from my current location.)

Well hello there from Melbourne! Eight plane journeys later, I finally made it to my destination. The low point was Shanghai airport at two in the morning but we'll draw a veil over that.

I've been having problems connecting to the internet but it seems like I'm back up and running now and will be able to start posting the backlog of pictures and stories from China, Japan and Sydney.

LTBB: in answer to your question, I won't be posting 3 times a day from now on, but as a special treat (and to make up for my prolonged absence) I am going to post 3 times today.

HTLT xxx

The Lady Traveller's Itinerary

On Monday I fell under my to-do list. It’s taken me until today to climb back out and wrestle that thing to the ground. I have a backlog of pictures to post and, I’m excited to say, my sister has volunteered a guest post for tomorrow’s Official Hints Day. Her hint is an extremely important one, the value of which she has learned the hard way (it involves fumigation).

It occurred to me that, since I’ll be departing these shores on Tuesday, I should update the blog as to my whereabouts for the next six months.

The first stop is China, though only for four days. I’m sure that’s nowhere near long enough even to get a taste of the place, but I’m hoping it’ll be long enough at least to get a taste of Shanghai, which is where I’ll be. I’m interested in the East-meets-West history and also fascinated to see the Expo which I’ve been assured is cramazing.

From Shanghai I fly to Tokyo, thereby fulfilling a long-held ambition. Not to fly that particular route, you understand, but to go to Japan. I will be in Japan for a week and have been reading Isabella Bird’s Unbeaten Tracks in Japan in preparation, so expect excerpts to be flung at you.

From Japan I fly back to Shanghai (for three hours) and on to Singapore (for 28 hours). Mostly I plan to sleep in Singapore.

The next leg is Singapore to Sydney to visit some very dear friends and their three adorable children. This will be my third visit to Australia and the third time I’ve visited in the middle of the Australian winter. Yes, I’ve heard summer is delightful there – one day, I hope to experience that for myself!

And from Sydney I’m going to Melbourne where I will be living for four months; teaching and doing whatever other work I can find.

Sometime towards the end of the year, I will head back to Ireland via New Zealand and North America, but that part of the trip is still a bit fuzzy.

And then – well, after that I have no plan, so we’ll just have to see. By the end of it all I will have visited every continent except Antarctica (and if you let me cheat and claim ‘The Americas’ is one continent). ANY suggestions, ideas, itineraries, contacts for any of the places I will be would be most gratefully received.

Things To Do

I’m back, I’m back, I’m back! The road trip was great fun and, starting tomorrow, I will be posting pictures and stories of our adventures on the way from Dublin to Paris and back.

Today, though, has been the day of The List. Sitting on various ferries, I compiled a mammoth to do list and today I’ve been phoning and emailing non-stop. Beds, skips, taxes, accommodation, flights, different flights, contracts, library books – it’s really a very dull list. The only thing that keeps me going is being able to cross things off.

Update blog. There.

Making a Plan

Good morning from Paris! The sun is shining and the only decision I have to make is where to have my first croissant of the day.

Once that's done, I'm planning to spend the morning wandering through the Marais and the afternoon in the Musée de la Magie et des Automates. I will report back with pictures.

A bientot!