Tag Archives: Heritage

Adventures of a 'Gypsea', East African Adventure, Videos

Hakuna Matata: Zanzibar

April 21, 2024 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

An early morning shuttle took us to the Airport where we hopped onto a larger prop plane, headed to Zanzibar. The seatback magazine recipe for a shrimp dish kept me entertained while my seat mate took photos from their window seat.

I had packed my camera and lenses in my day pack, nestled at my feet and was able to get a couple photos with the help of my seat mate, and looked out over mainland Africa one last time before the attendant gave me my mango juice and cashews. (Definitely felt like a step up from tomato juice and peanuts.)

Our arrival into Stonetown, my group descended the staircase and crossed the tarmac into the terminal. My bag came off the carousel when rounding the conveyor corner, landing with a loud THUD. I counted my lucky stars that I transfer my lenses to my small pack for flights.

Outside the airport we joined up with another GAdventures group that had just finished climbing Kilimanjaro, and bypassed the safari segment that the crew who continued with me had done. Our trip had departed a few good people, and gained a few more. By the end of the trip I counted up that I had made 20 new acquaintances from 7 countries, and from the US from 4 other states. Talking with my guides, they both said that one of the reasons they love their jobs is the very different people they get to meet from all over, and getting to show people their little corner of the world.

Our next guide for this portion of the trip, Kombi, loaded us up into a bus and headed into the city to our first nights accomodation: The Spice Palace. To get to our hotel, the bus cannot make it down any streets in the main city. The narrow streets being from long before car transportation was a consideration in building plans. We loaded all of our bags onto a wooden cart, making a towering mound of all the luggage. A smaller older gentleman who approached and loaded it began to pull it down the alleys. We follow, stopping at the stairs at the front of our hotel, each of us claiming our bag and beginning the check in process.

After dropping bags in our rooms, there our group gathered and made our way to lunch at a nice little place near the beach, The Silk Route. The first thing we noticed was how friendly the stray cats were to tourists. No doubt having their share of seafood from the tourists who take pity on the creatures. To that end, Its safe to say that Zanzibar probably doesn’t have a rodent problem.

After lunch we went to the historic slave market museum. Stonetown had been the major slave trade port for Arab controlled East Africa. on the historic grounds they had the ‘whipping tree’ which had been cut down, and over its place a church was built, a circle on the floor where the tree used to stand. The displays in the museum showing the evolution of the slave market, and the original holding cells for the slaves before they were loaded onto ships. It was a somber experience, but one I am glad gets visited and people learn this history.

We took a walking tour of the town after, learning about the ties of stone town to Queens’ Freddie Mercury, the town even hosting the Freddie Mercury Museum. A group of kids down at the sea wall were filming jumping into the bay with poster boards reading ” Welcome to Zanzibar!”, shouting ‘HAKUNA MATATA!’ and ‘WAKANDA FOREVER!’ We continued down the narrow ally ways, where doors are adorned with large spikes. The reason? People who moved into these areas were from India and would have spikes on the door to keep elephants from barging in. When they moved to this city, with streets far too narrow for elephants to ever pose a risk, the style of door came along anyway.

Back at the hotel, I joined the Canadians and the Aussies for a drink at the rooftop bar. The resident stray coming up when I notice he was underdeveloped and was missing an eye. My own cat at home being massive and named Sully after the Monsters Inc character, I felt it was only fitting to nickname this little guy Mike Wazowski.

That night we all ventured off for the night markets, which was a bustling scene of food vendors and people. Our guide recommended certain foods we could try if we were feeling adventurous, but warned against others as it’s ‘laid out’ a few westerners.

Finishing up at the Freddie Mercury Bar, we dined and drank and listened to some wonderful local live music before making our way back to our hotel.

Next Time: Visiting a Spice Plantation, given the royal treatment, and get to visit my first resort.

Adventures of a 'Gypsea', Mother-Daughter Adventure

Time Traveling in Denmark: Ribe

August 19, 2016 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

Ribe is a virtually untouched historical city that has maintained its character over the last century. Boasted as Denmark’s oldest town, Ribe (said as “Reeb”) has nightly Watchman tours that leave from the charming inn/restaurant, Weiss Stue.

The old town hall doubles as a small city museum, with information and artefacts from the towns colourful history. Across the street from the train station is a Viking museum which explains viking burials and culture that was an active part of Ribe’s early years. While the town doesn’t have much for museums, the town is steeped in antiquity, and walking down the cobbled streets installs the feeling that you have stepped into a postcard.

The small shop fronts house everything from cellphone repair, to handmade waffle cones to hold the homemade ice-cream, to art galleries. But if you take 3 right turns you’re back in the town centre. The courtyard of which, belonging to the church, had been excavated during the church renovation to reveal graves older than 5 centuries.

Just outside of town, accessible by a foot and bike path, is an open air museum that focuses on viking recreation archaeology, with some showmanship thrown in for good fun.

You can buy jewellery that is handcrafted with traditional methods, watch a viking battle, or ask the people about their daily lives.

Adventures of a 'Gypsea', Mother-Daughter Adventure

Time Traveling in Denmark: Roskilde and Lejre

August 13, 2016 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

A 30 minute train from Copenhagen brings you to the quite town of Roskilde. It is easy enough to stay at your accommodation in the city and make the day trip, however we found that if we did the trip again, we would have stayed at the Danhostel in Roskide and taken a day trip to Copenhagen. The hostel, which was more of a hotel, is located about a hundred meters from the Viking Maritime Museum. The museum focuses on recreation archaeology, putting the theories about how the ancient mariners ‘did it’ to the test. for 100 danish Krona extra to the Museum ticket you can go for a sail around the fjord in a replica of one of the viking ships that they had discovered at the bottom of the fjord as a defence.

The 5 ships that were discovered had been purposely sunk, theoretically to block the deep and easy passages into the fjord, causing any ‘visitors’ (including attacking ships) to take a more risky route that would require the navigation of a local who knows the waters. The ships were brought up in the 1960’s as a large archaeological project, and were treated and now on display in the museum. (Free guided tours are available in English.) The manmade island where the viking ships sail from also hosts an open air style museum, with blacksmithing, rope making, and even the shipbuilding as in-situe recreation archaeology. In addition, if you want to get your hands dirty, you can chisel runes into a thors hammer pendant, or mint a coin in ‘ye olde’ way with a hammer and minting stamp. if you want to join the kids table, they even have a wooden shield and sword.

From Roskilde, taking a train to Lejre, and bus 233 from the station, you can visit ‘Land of Legends’, a open air museum dedicated to Denmarks’ history form the Stone age, through the Viking age, into the Iron and Middle Ages. The encourage getting your hands dirty and joining in the activities. learn to flake stones or make rope with the cave men, you can buy naturally died yarns from the weaver, or pots and mugs thrown by the potter. The park can be seen comfortably in 3-5 hours, longer if you participate in the settlements.

Adventures of a 'Gypsea', Mother-Daughter Adventure

Visby… Or ‘Breckenridge: the Island’

August 2, 2016 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

In the middle of the Baltic is the isle of Gotland. The largest town, Visby, has a rich history as a trade port that used to be as important as London or Paris back in ‘ye olde times’ when trade across the baltic was best done by boat as opposed to the newer methods of trains and planes.

From Stockholm, we took the bus connection to the ferry from Nynäshamn. The trip was fairly uneventful other than the doppelgänger of Rollo from Vikings, or Brock O’Hurn, across the isle from us. Oden bless the Scandinavians.

When we arrived, we had missed the bus to the resort, and decided to keep our gear as we wondered around the narrow, winding, cobbled streets of Visby. The whole island had an air of ‘vacation’ with tourists of Sweden and foreign vacationing the island. The old buildings had been repurposed, with a church ruin playing host to a cafe’s outdoor seating. Other ruins allowed you to walk up stairways and across catwalks, and into dark crevices of the historic structure.

The town, which is only about 20 minutes to walk across, provided plenty of sights for us to visit while lugging our bags around. Under advisement from the tourist information desk we cut through the botanic gardens and went up one of the lookout towers that remain on the old city wall that has been standing since the 13th century.

When we were done poking around the town, we caught the bus to the resort south of Visby, where we stayed the night. The resort hosts two theme parks (a water park and giant ‘playground’ with mini-putt, bumper cars, and go-charts), and Pippi Longstocking’s house.

The accommodation, which was cabin/camp style, was reasonable for the proximity it provided to the attractions. The tourist atmosphere felt like Breckenridge. A place that even the locals go to to vacation.

The busses don’t run as frequently to the resort, and don’t start till late morning, so if visiting overnight like we did, a taxi is an option.

Adventures of a 'Gypsea', Mother-Daughter Adventure

If it’s Thursday, this must be Stockholm

July 31, 2016 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

We spent 2 nights in Stockholm so that we could spend the day at 2 of the iconic museums in the city, the Vasa museum, and the Skansen Open Air Museum.

The Vasa Museum houses the best preserved historic shipwreck, the Vasa, which sank not far from birth on its maiden voyage. The harbour, being low in salinity, doesn’t provide the habitat for wood eating creatures that would normally destroy the ships structure. The lack of organisms means that after 333 years the ship is so well preserved, the bones of the crew, fabric of their clothes, and items in their chests and barrels, were very well preserved. The museum displays these alongside the ship, including the recoverable skeletons laid out in a display with facial recreations to humanise them. The sculptures, still with detail adorn the ship, and the ship is 98% original from the 15th century ship.

When entering the museum, there is an information rack with guidelines to download a free audio guide for the museum. English tours are every 30 minutes on the hour and half hour, and last 25 minutes. The exhibits are informative for adults, and interactive for the kids (or the kids within the adults.) The museum has 7 levels, with 3 housing exhibitions, 3 as galleries, and the main lobby/exit. I recommend planning 3-5 hours to looking around.

The Skansen Open Air Museum is a living museum, where buildings have been donated and kept running. Part living heritage, and part zoo, the museum covers how Swedes have lived since the Viking age, animals native to Scandinavia, and a slew of activities for all ages. In the center of the park, by a large red tower, is a restaurant/café with potato pancakes with a seafood salad (cream cheese with salmon and lobster,) I highly recommend it! It would be easy to spend a whole day wondering the park.

Both of these museums are about a 20 minute walk from the STF skepsholmen and af Chapman, an older square rig ship that has been converted into a hostel. There are rooms available on the shore, and the bar on the deck of the Chapman is open to the public. (Check the board for specials and deals!)

Adventures of a 'Gypsea', Mother-Daughter Adventure

Rome Day 2: wasn’t built in a day and we couldn’t see it all in a day.

July 27, 2016 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

Our second day of exploring in Rome started with a trip to the Vatican, which we splurged on a tour so that we could go into the special ‘tour only’ areas. I held my breath as I walked in, didn’t burst into flames, considered myself safe, and continued on.

The Vatican City could be covered in a day on its own. The statues and art throughout were, literally, marvellous.

The Map room

We ran through, doing what justice we could with the tour guide, warned multiple times that the Sistine Chapel is a sacred place, and they require modest dress, silence, and no pictures. Once in the chapel there was a loud hum of the hundred plus people discussing the art around the walls, and mainly the pinnicle, Michaelangelos famous painting of God creating Adam on the cealing. The guards had to announce ‘Silence!’ At least 3 times just while we were in the room, and there were countless cameras going off. I’m sure by now they are sick of tourists.

Mum in front of the Vatican. Really we were looking out for Ewan McGregor.

The tour gave us the ability to exit the Sistine chapel and visit the sarcofogi of the previous popes, exiting the tombs into Saint Peters Basilica.

We stopped by the gift store and I picked up a Saint Christopher charm to accompany my Maori Koru, Viking compass charm, and other cultural “protector of travellers” pendants. Better safe than sorry, right?

The next stop was the Pantheon. The ancient exterior contrasts from the renisaunce-style basilica interior. Once again, Epic architecture.

The Pantheon

From the Pantheon, we went to the Trevi Fountain. It’s about a 7 minute walk. The fountain is beautiful. Neptune on his shell in the middle, with winged horses on either side representing the rough and calm waters of the ocean. Three words: wide angle lens. It’s much bigger than I thought it would be. We stayed for a couple minutes then continued on our marathon of Rome.

The Trevi Fountain

About another 15 minute walk (7 minutes beyond the pantheon in the other direction,) is the Piaza Navona with 3 fountains along a long courtyard.

Piaza Navona

We finished our journey at Pizza Florida, a recommendation by a friend which I’m glad we took. The pizza has ruined me for life, and I will never be able to go back to frozen pizzas… At least not without a slight quiver.

12 hour itineraries, Adventures of a 'Gypsea', Mother-Daughter Adventure, Uncategorized

12 Hour Pompeii (from Rome)

July 26, 2016 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

We made our way to the train station and grabbed our 2 round trip tickets to Naples from Rome Termini station (be warned this is the expensive part, though prices vary by the train line, times, and location on the train.) With over an hour till the next train, we grabbed some breakfast and socked up at the small grocery that is in the station. (I recommend grabbing snacks, since Pompeii does have a restaurant but its really expensive. Don’t take sandwiches because they get super soggy. Fruit and Focaccia bread pizzas are prime.) The Bullet train got us there in an hour direct where we had to change trains to the Circumvasuvio line (which is down a floor from where the log distance trains stop.Follow the signs to get to the ticket office, where for only 2.90 Euro each way you can get a round trip ticket that is valid for any time.)

Villa of the Mysteries

The train, which was 15 minutes late, was preceded by three other equally late trains, which meant many of the fellow tourists that waited to be Pompeii bound with us jumped onto trains that we are still unsure where they went. Once we figured out the board, we realised that the times being posted with the train destination were the times that the train was supposed to arrive (which is how we knew it was 15 mins late). We realised this and explained it to a family that was waiting on the platform with us and had tried getting on one of the previous trains before being told it didn’t go to Pompeii.

Once on the train, the half hour ride was crowded, but offered some amazing scenery of Vesuvius and the Island of Capri before dropping you off nearly at the gate for the site of Pompeii (which is marked Pompei Scavi, you would need to keep an eye open for it, since the stops are not announced.) For us it was pretty easy to find because that is where the entire train emptied in a flood of tourists onto the platform.

Courtyard in residence near city centre

Getting off there train, ticket offices and shops are just to the right as you get off the platform. Right away we were asked if we would want to join a group, and we thought we would just want to do an Audio guide to go at our own place and hit the places we would find most important. We bought our tickets to the site and the museum for 15 Euro, and went to look for the audio guide. In the building behind the ticket office, up a flight of stairs, is the audio guide office. The guy at the counter informed us that the audio guides were only in Finnish, and we would have to join an English speaking tour. As I turned around, I saw guidebooks. I highly recommend getting one.

The guide book, which is offered in many languages, comes with a pullout map labeled with the different attractions, which have a short paragraph that tells you about them. For 10 Euro in the guide office, this is also a wonderful souvenir.

Original door in the Villa of the Mysteries

Pompeii is big. Once you’re in the site, its almost a lot to take in. Its best to have a list of about 5 things you really would like to see, and then spend the rest of the time wandering. We had little idea where to start, but I have made a list of some key places of interest

Villa of the Mysteries, with a great preservation of the art on the walls and a couple bodies in the lobby.
Temple of Apollo, The statues and the view. You really feel like you’re in the heart of Pompeii.
Garden of the Fugitives, An example of how devastating the site was. (We were rained out in the late afternoon, and didn’t make it.)
The Brothel, which has some raunchy pictures on the wall. (When we were there they were excavating that area, and it was blocked off.)

We left early because a thunderstorm rolled in, but that turned out to be a good thing.

Tip: The train to Pompeii, and the train back to Naples from Pompeii, is usually late. If you have a return ticket, it is a good idea to look at the time table, find the train that gets you to Naples before your train to Rome, and leave a train earlier.

The site is massive. We could easily have made a weekend out of it. Wear good walking shoes, bring a water bottle, and plenty of sun screen. (Mum brought the umbrella, and she recommends it.) Also, with the enormity of the structures, I recommend a wide angle lens for photography.

A person praying

12 hour itineraries, Adventures of a 'Gypsea', Mother-Daughter Adventure

When in Rome, do as much as possible.

July 24, 2016 TravelGypSea 3 Comments

For an ancient city, Rome offers plenty to see and do, no matter what you want out of traveling. The key is to have a good plan before jumping in.

As we left baggage claim at the airport, a Mobile Sim card company snagged us for a sim that will work in almost all of the countries that we will be visiting along this trip. The card, which we got with both internet and phone minutes, has already helped as we wondered the back alleys around our hostel looking for our street. And if you’re carrying a internet enabled phone, Google Translate (which you can download for offline use of typed text translations) can use your phones camera to translate signs on-the-go.

We stayed at Orsa Maggiore (for women only), which is centrally located in Rome, though got in early enough to drop our bags at the hostel and go wonder at the ancient wonders near by. The Colosseum and Roman Forum, stooping for Gelato on the way.

When approaching the Colosseum, we were stopped by numerous tour guides with the same plug trying to get us to join their tours for an additional 18 euro.

My recommendation: Get a Roma Pass (the price varies by how much time you would like to keep it active for. There is a special line for both the Colosseum and Roman Forum for pass holders. While the guides were trying to convince us it would take nearly 2 hours to get through with the pass, it was really only 10-15 minutes. We also get free transportation with it, and makes the pass a worthy addition to our planning. If a tour sounds like a good idea to you, they offer audio tour devices just inside the gates into the Colosseum.

When walking all over the forum, there are a couple things you will want with you. A camera, a hat/sunscreen, A water bottle (which can be refilled at one of the many water fountains in the city,) and a map/guidebook (we have the DK eyewitness Italy book, which explains a bit more about what were looking at.)

12 hour itineraries, Adventures of a 'Gypsea', Gap Year Ideas

12 hour Tokyo

March 1, 2015 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

Tokyo, where the future comes from. If it is cartoonish or technological, obscure modern fashion or traditional culture, you can find it in Tokyo. But what if your time to explore Tokyo is limited? what can you see/do that will result in the full Tokyo experience?

1. Tokyo tower

The red Eiffel-tower-looking structure in the heart of the city is a must, day or night. During the daylight hours you can take an elevator to the primary viewing platform which can see out over all of Tokyo (and on a good day, see Mt. Fuji). for an extra 700 yen (adult price) you can go up to the highest viewing platform.

Im not sure if you can take the elevator down, (im sure you can if you have a disability,) but I decided to put my young legs to work. Did you know that there are 600 stairs to come down from the main viewing platform. You need to go through the two layers of the 3 story platform, which house cafes and souvenir shops, and down a zigzagging red tunnel of stairs.

In the daytime, the tower is noticed soaring 333 meters (1,092 ft) above the surrounding buildings, and when coming from the JR train station or Dimon subway station, it can be seen accenting an old temple and gate that welcome you to the tower park area. At night, the tower is lit up like a constant firework, seen throughout most of the city.

2. The Hie Shrine

This underrated shrine doesn’t make it to a lot of guide books, and even many of my Japanese teachers hadn’t heard of it. about a thirty minute walk from Tokyo tower, the Hie shrine sits atop a hill in the middle of the city. The main gate and temple, which are ornately decorated and worth a visit themselves, block from view a photographers dream. The shrine, which cosists of many consecutive shrines that turn a stairway into a tunnel, was surprisingly not crowded. It is hard to that that “perfect picture” though, as many people do stick their head in on the opposite side of the tunnel to get a photo themselves. communication here is pretty universal, with waving to the other person then stepping out of the line of sight, and taking turns.

3. Tokyo Sky Tree

So you were impressed with Tokyo tower, but feel that you werent high enough? well then, there is the Tokyo Sky tree, which is 634 meters (2080 ft) tall and towers over even the tallest office buildings in Tokyo. To go to the viewing platform is 2,000 yen (~20 usd).

4 . Asakusa Temple/Senso-ji

Fairly close to the sky tree is the Asakusa temple, or Senso-ji, which is the temple for the Buddhist goddess of mercy.

5. Capsule Hotel

You’re in Tokyo for 12 hours. Maybe you are spending the night, maybe you want some place to crash between flights. Try out the futuristic Capsule hotels. Sorry ladies, there are very few that cater to women, since the idea started as a cheap accommodation for businessmen traveling into Tokyo. With it being the 21st centery and all, but the number that have sections for women are growing.

6. The owl restaurant

This I haven’t been to personally, but was made aware of by a friend who had traveled in to Tokyo for a weekend of fun and exploration. The owl restaurant requires that you sign up ahead of time for a one hour time ut where you get to hang out with an owl. It opens at 10 and spots fill up fast.

Adventures of a 'Gypsea', Gap Year Ideas, Videos

Episode MMXV: Return of the Gypsy

January 25, 2015 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

With a month left before I journey back to the land down under, my busy schedule hasn’t allowed for much video editing. So here it is: TravelGypsea’s Japan, Episode 2. Im doing this one a bit different with an article to narrate, and instead of photos, a video to accompany.

At the end of last year my Japanese class that I have been taking arranged a small Christmas party and had a Christmas lunch of Mexican food for me on Christmas morning. At the Christmas party, many more students who attend the Thursday night class came. The girls from Singapore serenaded us with carols, and some of the ladies dawned their Hawaiian dresses for a hula which then taught to us. (Yes, I did ware a big poofy-skirt and lei. It was wonderful.)

About a week later, I had the opportunity to go to Nagano for a couple days to ski and see the snow monkeys. (I wrote a previous blog on the adventure.)

Last week my Japanese sensei’s surprised me again with arranging for a tea ceremony master/teacher to come in and perform a tea ceremony for us. Not only did I learn how the ceremony is conducted, but she taught me how to do it!

My adventures have continued with a wonderful photographic tour with a good friend and her little brother who both speak English. We went to two temples around the Takasaki area, and a wonderful lake. The recent snow that had detoured people from the outdoor sights created some breathtaking views and a magical photographers playground.