Ghent by night is a magical place. I arrived from Brussels Airport by train at around 8pm, then took a tram which left me very near my B&B. Actually, the tram left me right in front of the Gravensteen, which is a medieval castle right at the heart of the tiny cobbled city. The Gravensteen, originally built in 1180, had served as the seat for the Counts of Flanders until the 14th century, and was brought to life again in 1885 by the City of Ghent, which renovated it.
The Gravensteen
Needless to say, the sight of those historic ramparts glimmering like a fairytale at 9.30pm, was a real sight for sore eyes, especially after a journey consisting of 2 hours waiting at the airport, a 3.5 hours flight, a 1 hour train, and the 10 minute tram (yes that last one bears mentioning too lol).
I was travelling with only my hand-luggage, since I was only staying for the weekend in Belgium, however I was so tired, that even the hand luggage actually seemed to weigh much more than it did. The beauty of Ghent by night almost forget my tiredness though.
At that point I was feeling kind of hungry plus I really needed to sit down. The trip hadn’t been exactly ‘relaxing’ either. As I walked slowly down the main cobbled streets around the Gravensteen, young people and tourists thronged the many small bars and cafes dotting the landscape. Most of these, I was overjoyed to note, sported windows full of a myriad of different types of beers and ciders! What can I say – I simply had to stop for a drink! Not to mention, take the opportunity to buy a cone of the famous Belgian chips, which, placed in (yes) a cone of rolled-up newspaper, seriously rivaled those of Britain… and the sauce! Omg!
Thirst and hunger appeased, I walked on towards my cozy bed and breakfast. As I rang the doorbell and waited in the nippy chill (it WAS around 11pm by this time), a sweet eccentric lady opened the glass door, while a black and white cat bumped jocosely around her feet. The Lady, I was to learn later, was a live-at-home artist whose Asian-inspired paintings belied the fact that she was a spiritualist and a Buddhist (she was Belgian, but had traveled extensively to Asia). Honestly, I wish I had had the time to strike up a real friendship with her, but I was there to explore Belgium and enjoy the weekend after all, not spend the time with my landlady hehe.
The b&b was simply charming. There were only two rooms to let. The room I had chosen was called ‘The Peacock Room’, and it was decorated in a vintage chick style. The color was, of course, peacock blue, and the walls had been painted with a couple of interesting murals by the landlady herself. The double canopy bed was adorned with Chinese lanterns and wind-chimes. There was also an ensuite bathroom and a tiny kitchenette with a well-stocked fridge, and complete with a small collection of quirky teapots!! Cute!
Being really exhausted at this point, I just took a quick shower and did some minor unpacking, before going to bed. The quick look I had managed to take at Ghent, not to mention the unique style of the room, had only whetted my appetite for more.
What can I say? Ghent – it was love at first sight! And this was only the beginning of my weekend in sweet Belgium…
As the ferry broke away from the mainland and onto the cold Atlantic, I clapped on my fluffy ear-muffs and took a deep breath of the freezing pure air. I was crossing the Atlantic Ocean from the seaside town of Oban, on the West Coast of Scotland, towards the Isle of Mull, one of the largest islands within the archipelago known as the Inner Hebrides.
The port of Oban
My camera clicked madly as the crossing took us through a large number of small islands, both habited and uninhibited, which form part of this archipelago. Random ruined castles, modern lighthouses, tiny hamlets, and small forests standing proudly amidst the roar of the surf, filled my vision.
The one-day trip to visit three of the most famous islands within the Inner Hebrides had not been a spur of the moment decision. We had in fact, booked and paid for it online weeks before actually setting foot on Scotland, in order to make sure that the date was solidly set beforehand. We were lucky in that we managed to visit during the last week of September, since passage for tourists to two out of the three islands we were visiting, is never possible during winter-time. Bookings were accepted up to the beginning of October, subject to weather conditions of course.
Oban – On the West coast of Scotland
Leaving our rented car parked
snugly at Oban, we collected our combo-tickets from the ticket office, and set
off towards the Ferry Terminal Railway Peer. There are a number of cruise
companies which offer combo tickets at not much more than £45 per person. Such
tickets usually include all the ferries to and from the specific islands one
wishes to visit, as well as any possible coaches or busses, and the relevant
guides. In our case, we opted to visit the Islands of Mull, Iona and Staffa.
The comfortable ferry, which sported a wine-bar and cafeteria, made port at Craignure on Mull, the second largest island in the Inner Hebrides after the Isle of Skye. We were greeted by our coach-driver and guide, who was herself a native of Mull, and who proceeded to drive us around the picturesque island for around an hour, recounting anecdotes about the various ruins, legends, and even personages who had lived there. I must admit that without her lilting cheerful voice narrating so many colourful stories, I might have started to feel a little cramped at this point. This was because we had no time to stop anywhere or to walk around and visit Mull properly, since we had to travel directly to Fionnphort on the other side of the island, in order to catch yet another ferry to the Isle of Iona. The day was cloudy, windy and quite cold, and the gentle Scottish rain pattered on the windows of the coach, making it impossible for us to take any photos along the way. We could still admire the isle itself though. A lush picturesque symphony of moorland, mountain scenery and coastal views, dotted with small cottages and many many sheep. Our guide informed us that on Mull there were in fact three sheep for every human being.
The Isle of Iona
The ferry we boarded at Fionnphort was markedly smaller than the first one. There was a middle space reserved for one or two small cars, and some railings for pedestrians to perch on at the sides. The presence of the wind was much more pronounced on such a small craft. A couple of dogs yapped steadily as we bobbed up and down towards the smaller, yet more well-known island of Iona. Renowned for its natural beauty, Iona is famous for its Abbey, which is the one of the most elaborate and best-preserved ecclesiastical building surviving from the Middle Ages. The Abbey is of particular historical and cultural interest in that it was here that Saint Columba, who brought Christianity to Scotland from Ireland, settled and built his first monastery. It is also the place of origin of the wondrous Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript which is today kept at Trinity College in Dublin.
Iona Abbey
Personally, I am not much of a religious pilgrim, yet history, art and architecture fascinate me, which is why the Benedictine Abbey of Iona attracted me so much. The medieval arches, romantic columns, and amazingly crafted stained glass windows were the perfect complement for the natural landscape of the Hebrides. Shaggy highland cows with long horns and a peaceful expression looked at me quizzically while I breathed in the salty air and strolled along the rugged beach directly behind the Abbey. The chill actually got to me at this point and I was very happy to purchase a pair of white cotton ear-muffs from the Abbey’s souvenir shop itself. I must have been quite a sight. Perhaps that’s why the cows were staring at me.
After eating some lunch at one of the handful of small pubs on Iona, we prepared for the highlight of the day – the trip to the mythological tiny island of Staffa, and the visit to the legendary Fingal’s Cave. Being part of a Nature Reserve, and managed by the National Trust for Scotland, Fingal’s Cave is a unique natural monument formed entirely of hexagonally jointed basalt columns, similar to the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, which I had visited a couple of years back.
We boarded an even SMALLER boat (our third one), with a capacity of not more than 25 people. The wind had really picked up at this point, and I started to get a tiny bit worried. What’s more, before starting the craft, the captain said that he had to inform us that the crossing would not be an easy one, and that in fact some people from an earlier cruise had been pretty sick. Going to the Isle of Staffa and back was going to take us approximately an hour and a half of sailing. He asked us if there was anyone who preferred to remain on land and be reimbursed the trip, since he would not be taking responsibility for any accidents. Five people got off the boat. I was scared to death. My boyfriend was looking at me breathlessly, excited by the prospect of such an adventure. I gritted my teeth and sat down. How bad could it get? Right?
All went well at first. The wind was behind us, so the boat crested the waves blithely and I got used to the rock and roll motion of the deck. It was fun actually. The waves sprayed all over us as we tried to keep steady enough to use our cameras. There was so much to take in! The Inner Hebrides are comprised of 35 inhabited islands and 44 uninhabited ones, and Staffa is one of the latter. As we drank in the blueness of the sea and sky around us, caught between them like flies in amber, our captain told us of the facts and legends surrounding Fingal’s Cave. The 72 feet tall and 270 feet deep cave itself was known to to the ancient Irish and Scottish Celtic people as Uamh-Binn, meaning ‘the Cave of Melody’, due to the eerie sounds which emanate from its arching cathedral-like features when the wind and the echo of the waves sound just-so. Legend has it that the Irish warrior and leader Fionn mac Cumhaill, who was as big as a giant, built a bridge here between the Isle of Staffa and the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, in order for him to reach his nemesis and rival Benandonner. The legend which connects the two structures is geologically correct in fact, as both of them were created by the same ancient lava flow, which may have, at one time, formed a ‘bridge’. We are talking of around 60 million years ago here, so there were no human beings around to see it at the time.
Fingal’s Cave on the Isle of Staffa
The fractured columns on the Isle of Staffa
As we got closer and closer to the islet and to the cave itself, anything seemed possible. The cave has a large arched entrance and is filled by the ocean. When I had booked our cruise, we had been promised that we could actually land on the island and walk the short distance to the cave, where a row of fractured columns form a walkway just above water level, permitting exploration on foot. Unfortunately, the captain at this point informed us that the sea was becoming too rough, and that landing was dangerous. So, we had to be content with looking closely at the island from the sea. We didn’t even enter the mouth of the cave. I admit that I was, and still am, bitterly disappointed about this. Scottish weather is fickle and changeable however, especially at sea, so there was nothing to be done. It was after all, the end of September. I would strongly recommend anyone who would like to visit the Hebrides to go during high summer, when the weather is calmer.
Seeing Fingal’s
Cave, even from afar, was a great experience. No wonder the famed composer
Felix Mendelssohn was inspired to create ‘The Hebrides Overture’, also known as
‘Fingal’s Cave’, after visiting in 1829! Famous landscape painter J.M.W Turner
painted it, William Wordsworth, John Keats, Lord Tennyson and Queen Victoria
all expressed amazement after visiting it, and Pink Floyd even named one of
their earliest unreleased songs after the cave.
Coming back, all the feelings of awe and amazement totally fled. The sea had gotten even rougher, and this time, the boat was going against the wind. I don’t usually suffer from sea-sickness, but that trip was truly a nightmare. I sat down in a corner, held on for dear life, and ended up hugging a fire hydrant in an effort not to fall or roll off, as the now huge waves crashed against the tiny boat and all the other passengers gasped in terror, trying not to cry out. I admit, those were the longest 45 minutes of my life. Cutting a long story short, after our arrival at the Isle of Mull, we still had to suffer through an hour-long trip in the coach, and another 45 minutes on the ferry from Fionnphort back to Oban where we had left the car.
It wasn’t an easy journey to say the least, but the enchantment of Fingal’s Cave, the charm of the Inner Hebrides, and the depth of emotion I felt there, will be truly remembered forever. As will, unfortunately, the hellish boat-ride amidst the stormy Atlantic Ocean!
When your target is to see and experience as much as you can within a particular period of time, you generally try to save time by planning as much as you can beforehand, in order to be able to sight-see as much as possible, in the few days (or if you are lucky, weeks) you have abroad. Sometimes, it may even feel as though you are running against the clock. The trick is to get all the planning and research done before you are actually on your holiday, and not after you have arrived at your destination per se.
Here are some tips which could help you prepare for your much-awaited adventure:
1. Set your dates and buy your flight: Make sure that you are free of work / school / any other appointments and as soon as you are sure, book those flights IMMEDIATELY! Flight prices tend to go up closer to the date, so the first thing to do is to get that out of the way, especially if you are on a budget!
2. Budget: See how much you can really spend, taking into account accommodation, travelling expenses, food, museum / castle / events tickets, not to mention shopping!
3. Decide which part of the country you are going to use as your base: If you are staying at the city center, then obviously your accommodation should be situated there. If, on the other hand, you are exploring a remote part of the country, or going on a road-trip, you might even decide to stay at two or three different locations, in order to be able to continue with your journey as you go along, instead of having to always return to the same bed.
4. Decide on a mode of transportation: How will you get from the airport to your accommodation? Are you renting a car? Will you be using public transport throughout your stay? Are you visiting a friend who will drive you around wherever you wish to go? All this must first be taken into account before actually starting to work on the ‘meaty’ part of the holiday.
5. Once all that is settled and decided, what I usually do is draft a small table or list, starting with the day and time I will be arriving at my destination, and the time I will be leaving. All the space in between is a blank canvas, to be filled in depending on one’s personal agenda and where you wish to go. Take out your map (or better still, go on Google Maps) and start tracing an imaginary line around it and have fun filling in that gap!
6. If you know you are visiting a certain place on a certain day for sure, and you find that you can buy the ticket to the place / event online, do so! In most cases, the price will be cheaper if you buy it online, not to mention the most important fact that you will be saving time in which you could be doing something else instead of waiting around in queues!
7. If you have a GPS or a map, mark down the locations where you are certain you would like to go. This will help you find the place more easily when you are actually there. Getting lost is a big NO-NO when it comes to saving time.
8. Try and calculate how much time you will need to travel between one destination and another. For example, if you need to take the train from London to Kent, where you have to attend a specific event or visit a particular place before closing time, check how much time you require for travelling.
9. Check whether the places you wish to visit have opening hours and what they are. It would be pointless to go somewhere and then realize that they have just closed or that they do not open on certain specific days and you end up being there on one of them! I bless the internet on these occasions as almost all the information required can be found online.
10. Pack up your maps, your tickets, your receipts, lists, tables and what-have-you in a sturdy file or folder. This may seem trivial but believe me, you don’t want to lose anything or end up with rain or mud splattered on your tickets, and not be able to enter your chosen location because the person at reception just does not believe you have already paid.
Too much trouble you think? Well personally, I think it’s more than worth it, as once you are at your destination, you end up just enjoying yourself and living in the moment, instead of having to worry about all this stuff.
Following the Dutch shooting which took place on a tram in Utrecht three days ago (read all about it here), I can’t help but remember the beautiful day I spent in Utrecht when I visited in December 2017.
It was a clear crisp winter day. The sun was shining, white snow lay everywhere from the previous night, the air was refreshing, and the cobbled streets of the medieval city center bustled with joyous students on bikes, excited tourists and busy locals. The scent of freshly baked bread was in the air, and colorful flowers adorned many shop-fronts.
The canals were so pretty in the early morning light! It is such a romantic city.
My first stop was gothic Saint Martin’s Cathedral. Although the current cathedral was built in the 13th century, it rests on a much older church which had been damaged in a fire. The church itself had been built on the ruins of a Roman fortress.
The cathedral’s vaulted interiors, stained glass and beautiful sculptures are really a sight to behold, and I was truly enchanted by the atmosphere of mystery and historical meaning attached to it.
Apart from the Cathedral, another amazing stop in Utrecht is the Dom Tower, which is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands. The tower was built in the 14th century to showcase the power of the city, and with its 14 enormous bells and incredible height, it surely does that!
Unfortunately I was suffering from severe back problems caused by a slipped disc at the time, so I wasn’t able to climb up the 465 steps to the top of the Dom Tower (there is no lift). Instead, I walked around the city, enjoying its flavor.
Needless be said, I somehow gravitated towards the local bookstore (for those who haven’t taken a peek at the ‘About Me‘ section yet, I’m a total bookworm and book-hoarder) and I took the opportunity to purchase Isabel Allende’s ‘Eva Luna’, which I had been hankering after for some time.
After walking around some more, I stopped at a pretty little bar for my lunch, and even tried out one of the local beers.
There are many other attractions to be found in the city, such as the Central Museum, the Railway Museum, the underground archaeological ruins, Utrecht Botanic Garden and the Grand Canal, among others.
Later on in the day, after having enjoyed roaming around the city to my heart’s content, I visited the Castle De Haar, which is to be found around half an hour away (by car) from the city itself. This fairytale location however deserves a blogpost of its own,… more later 🙂
Whenever I’m conversing with someone about travel and holidays, it’s surprising how many people seem to find land transport to be one of the most difficult issues to navigate through (pun intended).
Travel, in my opinion, is all about adventure and exploration. I’m not one to spend hundreds of euros to travel to a beach to relax somewhere, which I can very well do in Malta or Gozo (my home-country) anyways. Instead, I prefer to see as much of the country I’m visiting as much as I possibly can.
So, when people ask me how I managed to see so many different attractions and places in such a short space of time, it’s mainly because most of them seem to have difficulty with sightseeing when the locations they want to reach are not conveniently placed in a capital city, or in a major urban area. Well, guess what? Aside from taxis (which are too expensive and inconvenient most of the time), there are actually many other easy and economical ways of travelling on land when you are in a foreign country. All it takes to be aware of them is some online research – and for this, I’m eternally grateful to the founders of google.com, Larry Paige and Sergey Brin.
Here are some ideas to help you out with regards to land travel when abroad:
The Tube/Underground/Metro
Granted, this mode of transport is not to be found everywhere, however the network is much vaster than one might believe. Although the London Underground is the most well-known and the oldest system of its kind, there’s actually a vast list of countries which make use of it. These include Algeria, Austria, China, Germany, Belgium, Russia, Japan, Italy, USA, Switzerland, Spain, and many others. The underground is usually my preferred mode of transport to and from the airport, since it’s not only economical, but also very convenient as most airports sport an underground station directly next to, if not beneath them.
The first recorded train station started to be active in 1803. Nowadays, efficiency and easy access to tickets have soared, in that not only can you purchase tickets from automated machines within stations themselves, but also online, which can be done days, if not weeks in advance, foregoing long queues. Railway tracks pass through mountains and valleys, operating cross-border through different countries and states. Most airports are found within at least one or two railway routes, as are a large number of remote countryside towns and even villages, aiding one in travelling across the length and breadth of most countries around the world in a relatively easy manner.
This is a service provided by a number of companies worldwide. Coaches are usually available from a number of focal points, such as airports or key points within the city centre, or even in front of specific hotels. All the traveler has to do is book their passage online at the time and place desired, and they’ll be automatically pooled in with a number of other passengers. Coach routes can vary, ranging from one-hour to twelve-hour journeys or more, and they’re usually furnished with bathrooms, luggage compartments, nightlights, and even beverage-machines. Most coach services are advertised in airport websites themselves, so that’s a good place to start choosing one.
Although these operate mostly in and around cities, towns and suburbs, it’s still worth checking out the relevant timetables before making plans for sightseeing routes, in order to already have the times and distance between different attractions already in mind when you start out. Also make a note on night bus routes, which may be different from the day ones. Bus tickets can usually be purchased as block tickets; instead of buying a ticket each time, you can buy a 3-day ticket or a weekly ticket, depending on how many times you think you’ll be making use of the service. This could save time as well as money.
If you’re travelling in a group, or even as a couple or on your own, and if, of course, there’s at least one driver in your group who doesn’t mind driving abroad, this is perfectly ideal. Nowadays, there are a large number of reliable Sat-Navs (GPS) on the market, which are much more efficient than the old map-and-directions routine. Of course, it’s always advisable to look up the locations you’re visiting beforehand, and get the lay of the land. I would also recommend using Google Earth and zoom in on street view, in order to virtually acquaint yourself with the surroundings you’re about to travel through. Be especially careful if you’re going to visit a country where people drive on the other side of the road, as this may take some getting used to.
The idea of creating a second blog, one targeting solely my travel writing , has been on my mind for quiet a while. My original blog – Darkly Dreaming Moonsong – was created by yours truly a whopping 8 YEARS AGO. It is very dear to me… and yet, I lately realized that over the years it has developed into such a sprawling monster, tackling so many diverse issues, that things were becoming a bit crowded.
Another thing to take into account is that since I’m a freelance writer, I tend to have so many different articles and blogposts published on different publications and website domains, that I very often forget about them over time, which is a shame. This second blog is an attempt to at least try to collect most of my travel writing in one place, showcasing a travel portfolio not to mention a ‘go-to’ page for those who need certain suggestions and tips. Some of the blog-posts and articles featured here might have been previously published on other media platforms, in which case I will of course quote said publication or website.
I am NOT an IT person, so bear with me if there are certain hiccups. In fact I would truly appreciate it if you could let me know should there be menus, categories, or widgets which do not work as they should. I have been fiddling around trying to build this blog for days. First, I tried to use different domains, however none seemed to work for me. After banging my head against the screen a couple of times, I just decided to keep things simple and stick to what I already knew – meaning, WordPress. Again, things were still not easy, mainly because I am so inept at technical IT stuff. My forte are languages and artsy subjects after all. Scientific, analytical and technological thinking have never been my thing. And so, again, I found myself stumped. Trying out template after template and getting nowhere.
Until EUREKA finally I came across THIS template for beginners which must surely be the most simple one in existence since even I could understand it and work with it. A great big ‘Arigato’ to whoever designed it with dumb-IT people like me in mind lol.
It will take some time and even more work for me to shift past blog posts from my original blog to this one, and since I have so much stuff going on in my life at the moment, it will probably take even longer than I think. I will not be able to delete the ‘Travel’ section of my old blog until I shift all the articles here, so it will exist in tandem with this website for a while. When things are done, the two blogs will be two totally different babies. ‘Meandering M’ will deal solely with my travel experiences and know-how, while ‘DD-Moonsong’ will still host all my daily thoughts and struggles, not to mention book and movie reviews, observations about my own country, Malta, and will basically serve as a sort of diary.
Vagabonding: The act of leaving behind the orderly world to travel independently for an extended period of time and a deliberate way of living that makes freedom to travel possible.
Meandering Moonsong 