It was a perfect day for a bike ride. Clear skies and 18-20C and a light breeze. We were 4 cyclists from the Gladstone area and 5 from Kingsbury making it a good size group and with very interesting stories and chats as we went along the route.

After a steep climb in Kingsbury we made it up some of the local legendary architect Trobridge unusual houses.

Ernest George Trobridge designed some of the more unusual houses in Kingsbury, North West London. His buildings are striking and are either thatched elm wood cottage style or ornate houses with twisted chimneys or turrets and battlements. There has recently been an exhibit about Tronbridge at the local library. Unfortunately most of his amazing houses are in rather poor condition.

After Kingsbury we started to make our way out to the “green belt” with gates and bridges to cross in various parks.

We made it to an aerodrome to see a couple of small planes take of and someone getting lessons in flying a helicopter.

As our bellies were starting to growl we headed for The Battle Axes to quench our thirst, stretch our legs and fill our stomachs.

Before heading homewards we made a slight detour to see Grim’s Dyke Hotel where David could enlighten us in the story of how W. S. Gilbert lived and died here (trying to save a lady from drowning). There was the most beautiful cherry tree in the garden of the hotel.

We went to see the grand view of London from a viewpoint called “The City” end then made the trip back to London. On the way passing by an enclosure with deers that seemed even more curious about the bunch of us, than we of them.

David Arditti had done a wonderful job of planning the trip and could tell stories of the places we passed on the way – a few of them mentioned here. Apart from David the other lads also knew a lot about the places we passed and I thoroughly enjoyed the day in the saddle. Hopefully I’ll be able to join for more of the rides this season.

The trip for the Gladstoners (heh) was 49.43 km – the route is up on EveryTrail, GPSies and Google Maps.

UPDATE: David wrote a great report of the ride and more of the stories connected with the places we went.

Malta is very photogenic and very different from my usual habitats so there is lots to “shoot” at. Especially for the Christmas trip where I had a new camera and was spending 16 days. Here is a couple of my favorite pictures and themes from this trip and others to Malta.

Malta has many cats – some are pets others just roam around.

Typical Maltese balconies can be seen everywhere.

The decorative doors and windows begs to be admired whether they are falling apart or had a new lick of paint.

Old, rustic street decorations as niches, statues and signs can be found on a lot of buildings.

Beautiful panoramic views of the sun, sea and the sandstone of Malta.

And a couple of the quirky and cute ones;

Shepherd and his sheep

Green toes!!

Japanese truck

Privte Propeirty

Last but not least I need to mention that I won two nights stay and the luxury hotel Kempinski in Gozo! They had a competition where you should write a blog post about Gozo and then the winner was found in a draw. If you are interested you can go read my piece here: Going to Gozo – A vacation within a vacation.

…and now it started to snow – again – in London [sigh].

A week ago (before the Euro08) Femi, Mehmet and me took an extended weekend in Lisbon. We didnt really know much about the city before we arrived but we were very pleasantly surprised.

The atmosphere was really nice and everybody seemed like they took it very laid back. We followed suit and took it easy the days we were there. The picture at the top is from Praa do Comrcio (Commerce Square) where they had put up a maybe a hundred plastic trees decorated by school classes. On the picture Mehmet is taking a nap in the forest. Behind him you can see the Arch linking the Commerce Square and Augusta Street. After the nap Mehmet was up again.

All over the city they had these violet trees which we thought were lavender (but please correct us if you can). Here its in Alfama the area with winding roads leading up to the citys castle.

Many of the houses had tiles on the facades and it was impressive to see all the different colors and patterns they have come up with. A lot of the tiles even seemed quite old and hand made.

We stayed at a hostel in the part of the city called Bairro Alto which a quite, sleepy neighbourhood during the day and turn into a block party at night with hordes of people at night.

It was a quick trip but Lisbon is definitely worth the recommendation. After I got back I found this pretty cool pieces:

Lisbon has no idea how cool it is. The city lives in the shadow of Europes superstar capitals, unaware of its own modern charms.
- New York Times

A bunch more Lisbon pictures at Flickr

And arrived at Malta a few hours later. Heres the tiny Maltese island of Comino as it looked on the approach. Wikipedia claims there are only four permanent residents but there is also a 100 room hotel and the Blue Lagoon so in summer time its a bit more crowded.

The weather was cloudy and we had some scattered rain – but I didnt care, Ann was there to greet me

Last time I was in Malta I only had 4 days there and everything was new and different. This time around I knew what to expect and I was there for a week which gave me a better chance to take it all in.

In the meantime I also had a chance to learn more on Malta, the history and follow a few of the local bloggers to get a grasp of what Malta is all about. A couple of my favorites are the politician and economist who tracks everything Malta online, the Salvadorian who married a Maltese, the Peruvian, the newlywed, the German in Gozo and the pregnant Danish couple.

Here is a map of some of the places we covered this time round. (click on the blue pins)

View Malta March 2008 in a larger map

Off to Gozo

Malta is really seven islands were only the three biggest, Malta Island, Gozo and Comino are inhabited. Comino is the small island I flew over in the beginning. Malta Island is the big, main island and Gozo is the little brother to the northwest – this was where we were heading.

Before we crossed over we made a stop in Mellieha where one set of Anns grandparents is from. Next to the parish church on the picture was a small sanctuary with lots of letters, photos, crutches, casts and other items sent from people who thanked Our Lady for all sorts of miracles.

I later realized that Mellieha also is the place of The Danish Village a resort own by the Danish Folkeferie.dk.



As we were crossing over the strait to get to Gozo the weather had turned for the worse so the sea was a bit rough. Here we are approaching Marr the only habour on Gozo. One of Anns aunts have an apartment on the island and was kind enough to lend it to us.

The next day the weather was great and we went out to explore the beautiful island of Gozo. The first picture below is the view from Gozos Citadella in the middle of the island.

Gozo is greener, more rural and calmer than the main island of Malta,
its the place where people from Malta go for a weekend breaks and I
can understand why;

Imagine yourself on the most tranquil, isolated, sunshine-filled island. You have no worries. You feel at peace with your
surroundings and time seems to slow down. Well, this isnt an imaginary
place, this island is Gozo, also known as the island of Calypso. A calm, clear, deep blue water surrounds the island. This relatively unknown island may be small but it is rich in culture, history and beauty.

I recently got contacted by a publishing company because they wanted to use one of my pictures for a book. They said it is going to be used in a re-edited version of Roadside Americana.

Roadside Americana is a beautiful 130-page, color, hardback coffee table book that features dozens of quirky and offbeat places and events in the United States and Canada. This book inspires curiosity and a taste for adventure! Our travel books in general are big, coffee table titles that display beautiful imagery and lively write-ups.

Pretty cool if they end up using my picture

The picture above is from a road trip I took in the fall of 2005. I rented a car and in four days drove the 2000km around Lake Michigan. The trip brought me through some of the more remote areas of Michigan and Wisconsin and in the middle of nowhere I saw this huge chainsaw. It turns out that it is (supposedly) the biggest running chainsaw in the world – 7 meters long and with a V8 engine inside.

I made the trip alone and it was fun doing a real road trip in a brand new car. It was a great escape from daily life in Ann Arbor were I lived in a house with 20 people with constant partying. So four days of solitude on the road was welcomed. Here is a couple of the other pictures from that trip:

Hover the mouse on the pictures to get explanations of the pictures – or click on them.

]]> http://blogging.gelle.dk/2008/03/11/sunday-walk-in-prague/feed/ 7 http://blogging.gelle.dk/2008/02/24/19-degrees-in-prague-today/ http://blogging.gelle.dk/2008/02/24/19-degrees-in-prague-today/#comments Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:05:00 +0000 michael http://blogging.gelle.roquefort.pil.dk/?p=837 Continue reading →]]> I just want to send a warm greeting to the people of Denmark today as they are stuck in the gray, windy and wet winter Here in Prague the spring peaked out today with 19 C and clear skies. Here’s a picture from the park by Brevnov Monastery just 5 minutes down the road from our place.

Update: “March ducks” arriving to Prague in February.

Im going to Denmark next week (monday to monday) and will most likely be hitting Toftlund, Randers + århus and Copenhagen. Get in touch if I can catch you any of those places.

My parents were in Prague 34 years ago on sort of a honeymoon in the dark days of communism, coal burning, side street money exchange and disrepair. What met them today was a very different sight. They were very thrilled about what the city had become. Almost all of the central city has been repaired and today its an amazing trip to walk through the city both at day and at night.

They asked me if I never get tired of living out of a suitcase and that got me thinking. First off Prague is my home now, so I dont consider it living in a suitcase. It didnt take long before I felt very comfortable here. I also realized that I dont need that much to be comfortable. As long as I have a place I can call mine with a bed and another place to sit with my computer I can manage.
We are sticking around in Prague for another 8 months and then its time to move again. Where to is still up in the air

Joanna one of the AIESEC girls from Ann Arbor was in Prague for autumn break as well so we went out and had lunch with her. Great catching up on old days.

Im back in Prague after three fantastic weeks in Hawaii. We did a lot of different things over there. I took about 350 pictures that I am working on uploading and tagging plus some videos which I might edit together. There will be a couple of posts about the trip coming up later.

I went over to visit friends from IAESTE Michigan 2005-2006. Here is the gang we got together, from left: Alberto, me, Ivan, Femi and Fernando (who got a job in Hawaii and hosted us).