Author: Flo

Monopoli

Monopoli and surrounding towns

We set up our first base of our Puglia road trip in the charming town of Monopoli. We had no appetite of staying in a major city like Bari and Brindisi where parking could be a nightmare. Monopoli was the perfect mix of picturesque old town, quick access to the...

Monopoli

Road Trip through Puglia – Introduction

Fall was approaching quickly and with it typical rainy weather in Switzerland. Time to escape for a little to somewhere nice and warm. I usually manage to make a compelling case with my wife to go somewhere far away and exotic at this time of year. Somehow that did not...

Fiat Tagliero Building

Weekend trip to Asmara

I’ve been fascinated by places with an unusual colonial history, leading to a special mix of culture and architecture. Examples of this on the blog are the former German colony of Qingdao in China or Portuguese traces in Dili / East Timor. Italy never had many colonies. You could say...

Must be the police elite

Receiving Complaints Unit

Seen in Giza at the pyramids… I wonder whether it is an honor to be promoted to the Receiving Complaints Unit. I hope they do get their fair share of complaints about the handling of camels and horses near the pyramids.

Pyramid of Khafre

Cairo – Mother of the Earth

Cairo. Around 20m people. One world’s largest cities and the largest in the Middle East. I’ve been wanting to visit this unique city for its rich history and finally managed to plan a trip. The political situation has been fragile and tourists numbers have dwindled, only to recently pick up...

Alexandria Corniche

Alexandria – Mediterranean Egypt

After spontaneously changing my travel plans from Turkmenistan to Egypt, I found myself, around 12 hours after booking the flight, arriving at Alexandria’s swanky new Borg El Arab International Airport shortly before midnight. The very first impression was: lots (and I mean LOTS) of men in white uniforms. I was...

Flame Towers seen from the Maiden Tower

Baku – Azerbaijan

Ever since my trip to the “Stans” three years ago, I’ve been wanting to go back to that part of the world. Back then I did not get a visa in time for a visit to Turkmenistan, so that has remained on the bucket list. The chance presented itself head...

Oganzaki

Last Stop: Ishigaki

We visited Japan in March when it was still cold and grey back in Europe. Weather in Japan could have been better, could have been worse but I knew I wanted to play it safe an include a stop with guaranteed shorts and t-shirt weather. While looking for possible destinations,...

Near the Imperial Palace

Tokyo

Hardly any first time (or second or third) time visitor skips Tokyo in their Japan itinerary. Not only because it is the main gateway to the county, the capital and a fascinating city of some 14 million people. But also because the city is so rich in history, culture and...

This is what we came for!

Mount Fuji

I guess no guide book to Japan is complete without a photo of Mount Fuji somewhere. The 3’776m high dormant volcano (last eruption was in the early 18th century) is often used as a symbol for Japan. Reason for us to add a stop to our itinerary. Not primarily for...