I started last year by planning a range of activities I dubbed "crazy" (Bracing for a crazy 2011). Those were my resolutions for the year to come: to dare myself to a few things I'd never tried before. 2011 was going to be a different year.
And it was. But only this much: for, by and large, I ended up repeating many things I had done already. Travel (Holiday addict) and foreign languages (A foreign language freak) are admittedly not new to this blog. 2011 might have featured a whole lot of new destinations (some more extreme than others) as well as foreign languages (please point me to someone else simultaneously perfecting Greek, Norwegian and Serbian – I'd like to have a wee word) – but different? That 2011 surely wasn't. My everyday life continued in a usual fashion: same job, same flat, same cycling trips to Greenwich – and, let's face it, same old romantic disappointments (Three less-than-perfect men).
In short, 2011 might have been “eventful” (2011 Newsletter) but brought with it nothing ground-breaking. And I won't lie: I have nothing revolutionary planned for the year to come, either. The good old travel-and-random-foreign-languages formula has served me well in the past and is worth sticking to in 2012, too.
HERE GOES THE PLAN
Here are just a few trips I have already planned for this year. Provided I soon get my act together and catch up on those long overdue posts from last year – on Canada, Oman and India, among others – all of the following destinations will be covered here in 2012.
(1) A long weekend in Bombay (March). That's right. I am going back to India! When I boarded my return flight in Delhi a few weeks ago, I already knew I was destined to return to India soon. And it is just too lucky that (a) the Indian High Commission in London gave me a multiple entry visa valid until May; (b) Avi, one of the nicest people I have ever met and a dear friend resides happily in Bombay and has been inviting me over for years; and (c) I was able to shuffle days around to free up some room for a repeat visit to India. Bingo!
As a side note, I wasn't actually able to free up that much. Which leaves only four full days for Bombay. I solemnly promise to use them to the full – you all know what that means.
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(2) Crossing the Green Line in Nicosia (March). Most of you will remember just how fascinated I am by controversial areas, for which pockets of land under territorial disputes most certainly qualify. Take Cyprus. A significant portion of the island is currently occupied by Turkish forces and proclaims itself an independent state. The partition zone between northern and southern Cyprus is controlled by the UN and commonly known as the Green Line. Crossings used to be heavily restricted; not now, however. An EU citizen like yours truly can cross from the Greek into the Turkish side and back, including in the city of Nicosia, the world's only capital to be divided by a border.
So there goes – I am flying to Cyprus for literally 36 hours to cross the notorious Green Line, take a wee peek at Nicosia's two ethnic groups, speak to locals (now THAT is where my semi-fluent Greek comes in handy for once) and add another magnet to my fridge. As you can see, all good reasons to fly.
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(3) A journey through Cuba (May). After flirting with the idea of visiting Cuba for years, I am finally being serious. One of the world’s few remaining communist leaders is soon approaching an age most respectable, and an egoist in me is rushing to visit the self-proclaimed territorio libre en America before its ideological guru saddens millions of hearts with his inevitable departure. I already missed a similar chance with North Korea and don't have any more time to waste.
What exactly will I be doing in Cuba? It remains to be decided. Let's just say that there will be lots of retro overnight trains involved. And that scores of vintage Havana cars will be mercilessly photographed. And that colourful local residents will likely see the same fate. And that a certain amateur photographer will have a time of her life. See you in Cuba, folks!
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(4) Take three at Greek island of Chios (June). Chios is a very special island. This is where my ex-boyfriend did his army service and where we were planning to explore together during my nonchalant residence in Greece a few years back. I got a job in London though, so our plans (and plane tickets) were sorrowfully cancelled. My later attempt to reschedule a visit (this time sans beau) bundled Izmir into the route and unluckily so: this time it was British Airways that ruined the sun feast, cancelling its flights out of Turkey's third largest city. And, while I found a decent weekend replacement – the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, logically – Chios remained unvisited.
Well, the good news is that this summer I am giving Chios one last chance. Optional nearby destinations include the fellow Greek island of Samos and Çeşme in Turkey. All to be seen during the first week in June – so gracefully shortened for us courtesy of Her Majesty, whose Diamond Jubilee is celebrated this year with an extra UK bank holiday. Monarchy never had me more supportive.
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(5) Exploring the Greenland shores (July). My passion for the North is, well, legendary. Only in the last year did I visit each of Northern Norway, Svalbard, the Faroe Islands and Western Canada. And, while layers of Goretex are certainly wearing off their charm, I feel that a recent holiday in balmy Oman – and the upcoming ones in Cuba and Greece – will refuel my longing for the North in no time.
Enter Greenland – the world's largest island. Formally ruled by Denmark but enjoying substantial autonomy in all but foreign and financial affairs. Sandwiched between the Arctic and the Atlantic oceans. The least densely populated country (or dependency) in the world. With four weekly flights to Copenhagen and even fewer to Iceland, Greenland is decidedly not the easiest place to reach. Which, combined with its northerly location, makes up for a perfect destination. I plan to stick to the paved route (as paved as the wild Greenland can get, anyway) and explore the island's western side along the Arctic Circle. It might just end up being too great for words; but I’ll try to leave a written record here regardless. Stay tuned.
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(6) Sailing the Geiranger fjord, Norway (August). Few would accuse me of not dedicating enough blog space to Norway. In fact, the oil-rich Scandinavian country could almost qualify for a regular column in this blog, so frequently does its author travel there. As a brief snapshot: in the past year alone, I watched the Northern Lights in Tromsø twice (Tromsø: Land of the Northern Lights), explored the Arctic shores of Svalbard (Svalbard, an eerie Arctic land), hiked up the Preikestolen Rock (Wuthering heights: Ascending Norway’s Preikestolen Rock) and completed a marathon northward trip from Trondheim to Kirkenes via the Lofoten islands (Northern Norway: The land of the midnight sun in Part I and Part II). I spent a month's worth of time in Norway in the last 12 months, folks. No joke.
And yet, despite this hyper activity, I seem to have missed what is often regarded to be the jewel in Norway's crown. What else than Geiranger fjord, the country’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Nature category? Located in the vicinity of Norway's celebrated Art Nouveau capital, Ålesund, Geiranger fjord attracts countless visitors. And it looks like I will be finally joining their ranks! Check back next August when I will be boarding the Hurtigruten coastal steamer for a sea voyage on the Geiranger fjord, with visits to the cities of Ålesund and Molde. It will be well worth it, I promise.
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(7) Reliving mama's memories in Uzbekistan (October). It was about two years ago that I listed 20 countries (and remote dependent territories) I wanted to visit most. While that list deserves a separate blog post, the gradual elimination of Svalbard, Canada, Oman and India meant that a certain ex-Number 5 country has steadily progressed all the way to the top. Ladies and gentlemen, the winner is...
…Uzbekistan! Yes, currently ranked 1st in my travel bucket list, Uzbekistan is a natural candidate for an imminent visit. I haven’t booked any tickets yet – but, with my holiday allowance running out in September, the trip is likely to happen later in the autumn. What makes Uzbekistan personally interesting is it being the only country where my mother has been and I have not. Quite unbelievably, my mum doesn't care one bit for travel but LOVES looking through my pictures and has even started Google-translating this very blog. The photos I will be bringing back from Uzbekistan will no doubt make mum relive the distant memories from her only ever long-haul trip. Wait for this, mum – I'm on a mission here.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS
And beyond October? I have no idea what I will be doing yet, but it is almost a tradition that I forfeit travel during the last two months of the year and hang around London instead. Before the winter break, of course; come Christmas, and all I will want will be to board some long-haul flight in snow-bewildered Heathrow, stick in those flimsy inflight entertainment headphones and zoom off swiftly into the night. So long, world.
I haven't yet decided where I will be holidaying next winter, either. I might stick to the master plan and travel halfway round the world to the distant shores of New Zealand. Or head the opposite direction to this steaming place called Argentina. Or even give in to my new passion – India – and direct my steps to its southern state of Kerala. Time will only tell. I rarely commit to New Year plans before March, anyway.
One thing for sure though: 2012 will not be special in any ground-breaking kind of way. And you know what? It may not be such a bad thing.
2011 is almost through. It seems I wrote my last year’s newsletter decades ago. So much has happened during 2011 that I simply don’t know where to begin.
Continuing on the tradition to tag every departing year with an appropriate adjective, I admittedly struggled this time. 2009 went off as the “quickest”, but, with approximately 1,569.5 activities to choose from, 2011 decidedly didn’t seem quick. It could easily qualify as “exciting” – but I had hastily assigned that very title to 2010 already. My thinking process continued until, this morning, I opened our corporate intranet page – the page carrying a thick “An eventful year” on top. The half-dormant bell at the back of my head rang out in joy. Eventful. Yes, 2011 has certainly been EVENTFUL.
Speaking of events, my friends positively impressed me with the number of weddings held and children born this year. Congratulations to all! Some have taken it to the next level with the second offspring while one or two unfortunately went through a divorce. I guess I am officially of that critical age (28, to be precise) when most start taking it easy with the travelling and focus on the family matters instead.
In which case I have most certainly disappointed them that created the rule. Even versus its predecessors, 2011 in the life of anjči has been marked by some unprecedented globetrotting. It seems like I barely set my foot in London, and rightly so: at the close of the year next week, I will have spent 128 days outside the UK in altogether 25 different countries – of which seven were first-timers. Now it’s just lucky I am not applying for British citizenship yet. Or indeed, for any other.
I rush to admit a certain degree of cheating on the country count: for the purposes of this post, Svalbard, Faroe Islands and Scotland are each counted separately and not within their respective kingdoms. This has partly to do with the remote setting of the former two (thus making them destinations in their own right), partly with the likely eventual independence of the latter (I just hope they get to keep the oil) – and ultimately with the author’s attempt to beautify the statistics. It is MY blog, after all.
Enough of this banter though – let’s proceed straight to the chronological recap of this year’s events.
2011 IN REVIEW: WINTER
My New Year “celebrations” a year ago would not win any prizes for creativity: the changing of the clock found me sound asleep on a moving Vietnamese train, crouched on the top berth of a 6-berth compartment where every other berth had at least two locals sharing. After 19 hours aboard, I was understandably thrilled to arrive in Danang at 4am on New Year’s Day. The check-in at my hotel and the shower that ensued – after 48 hours of bath-free tripping – closely compete to make my top 2011 highlight.
The first nine days of 2011 saw me continue that epic rail journey through Vietnam. Touristy Hoi An, windy Nha Trang, bustling Saigon and stretching Mekong delta all rushed in front of my eyes, leaving a distant memory of a myriad smells, faces and images. Vietnam was exactly what I had expected and more: the further south my journey took me, the more pronounced the contrast between the country’s communist and western influences became. Possibly thanks to the socialist mindset of the locals, I left Vietnam thinking I had never seen happier people anywhere else – putting to shame my own, sometimes excessive, desires in life.
The return to London brought some good and bad news. The good news was that I was given the first promotion of my career, discovering that, bar interns, I was no longer the most junior member of the team. The bad news – the complete failure of my beloved washing machine – seriously dampened my ardour though. I went on to use my friends’ laundry facilities for a full month before Her Majesty the Landlady finally emerged from the opposite end of the world and gracefully agreed to sort me out with a replacement. Apologies to all friends and neighbours for all the inconvenience caused in the meantime.
February came, bringing with it the fulfilment of a long-term dream: seeing the Northern Lights, for which I travelled all the way to Tromsø, Norway’s largest city inside the Arctic Circle. The unearthly sight will stay in my memory forever. Most fortunately, Tromsø also happened to host the Nordic Championship in reindeer ski-joring as part of the Saami National Day festivities that same weekend. It is not every day that one gets to watch numerous reindeer rush along Tromsø’s main street; my first visit to the Norwegian Arctic was overall a huge success.
Quick visits to Copenhagen, Madrid, Riga and Dubrovnik followed before spring – the highlight decidedly being wading 500 meters inside a half-flooded cave near Dubrovnik. I will not go into long explanations how the activity was related to my banking work; you’ll just have to take for granted that it was!
2011 IN REVIEW: SPRING
Come late March, and the first wedding of the year was on. My friends Fernanda and Federico were tying the knot in Rio de Janeiro, and most guests had planned their holidays in Brazil around the event. Not yours truly, though: since I couldn’t leave work for too long, the choice was really between (a) missing the wedding altogether or (b) coming to Rio – a 13-hour flight from London – for a long weekend.
Granted that most of you know me well, I will go no further. Let’s just say that the three days I spent in Rio turned out perfect – the wedding venue overlooked Rio’s much celebrated sights and the city itself deserved the most enthusiastic of accolades. Just to contrast it all, I managed a tour of Favela la Rocinha in the company of one of its residents. It was as fascinating as it was educational, and I can’t wait to discover more of Brazil.
After a weekend in Venice – my first visit to Italy’s much trumpeted city – I sat down to rethink Easter plans. In light of the political developments in the Middle East, the 10-day trip to Syria I had sketched did not exactly seem like a good idea anymore. That said, the alternative pastime on offer – sharing London with throngs of royal wedding tourists, to be precise – looked infinitely scarier in comparison. After some hesitation, I took off for Syria – having said all due goodbyes, cancelled all hotel reservations and prepared to flee the country in a flash should the riots escalate.
Amid the tense political situation, my visit to Syria wasn’t entirely worry-free. Increasingly terrifying news reports eventually led me to exit to Lebanon. While certainly not uninteresting, Lebanon reminded me of several places already visited – and Beirut’s reputation as a party capital did little to compensate for its mad traffic and widespread construction works. I can’t say I will be rushing back.
Back in London to my friends’ well rehearsed “Oh, you’re alive?” I was already longing to return to Syria. Be it for the locals’ hospitality, the country’s rich historic heritage, or the fascinating combination of its desert crossed by the stream of life – the mighty Euphrates River – Syria rooted deeply into my heart. I wish it every bit of strength in its struggle and hope to return to a different Syria one day. Inshallah.
Meanwhile, Japan was shaken by the nuclear crisis at Fukushima. Reminded of (admittedly very different) events at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant 25 years ago, I was quick to blow all my hard-earned business air miles on a weekend trip to Kyiv and on to the Chernobyl disaster site. Perhaps the most moving experience was seeing children’s books scattered on the floor of a local kindergarten in Pripyat – the very books that accompanied me through my own childhood. I was three when the Chernobyl disaster happened; the town exactly preserved the mid-80's Soviet feel, as if the time there had not moved at all since.
After celebrating Azerbaijan’s Eurovision victory and Finland's reclaimed Ice Hockey World Champion's title (Santa heard me!), I embarked on my last springtime trip. Ironically, it had little to do with spring proper and took me to the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard – an eerily remote destination set about halfway between the northern tip of Norway and the North Pole. Despite its extreme location, the main town Longyearbyen had a distinct Norwegian feel to it, while more Soviet memorabilia (excellently preserved Lenin busts included) awaited me in the Russian settlements of Barentsburg and Pyramiden. Other activities covered dog-sledding with a gun (in case a polar bear is around) and sailing through icebergs (past a walrus with a seal in its mouth). Visiting Svalbard was an unforgettable experience which I hope to repeat in the near future.
2011 IN REVIEW: SUMMER
It was on the way to Svalbard that I lost my luggage for the first time this year, arriving in subzero temperatures in merely a t-shirt. The first day of June brought a new embarrassment: I was heading to Serbia on business when my suitcase – including carefully ironed business attire – went missing somewhere en-route, forcing me to play it casual. At a meeting with the top management of the country’s second largest enterprise. Gulp.
The luggage mishap continued as I went on to visit Macedonia’s lakeside city of Ohrid. This time a regional airline simply couldn’t fit all luggage onto an ancient Dash plane (“autobus sa krilima”, as one passenger insightfully noted) and abandoned half of it in Belgrade. On my third luggage claim form in less than 10 days, I was dangerously close to missing the humorous side of things – when my fate finally reversed. At Ohrid airport, I made friends with a Macedonian family that practically adopted me for the weekend. The taste of their home-made ajvar is something I will be taking to grave with me! Oh, and the luggage was delivered the next day, too.
Following a short visit to Stockholm – worth every minute of flight time for one perfect photo I took there – my big holiday to Northern Norway came knocking on the door. Starting in the royal-inspired city of Trondheim, I crossed the Arctic Circle towards the wonderfully craggy Lofoten islands, later moving on to industrial Narvik, summery Tromsø, reindeer frequented Hammerfest and Nordkapp, Europe’s alleged “northernmost” point. While the latter soon proved a fake – set on an island, Nordkapp cannot be considered part of the continent to begin with – the views from the 300-meter cliff over the midnight sun lit ocean were indisputably spectacular.
July went on. Those who remember my last year’s trip to the Faroe Islands will know how much I looked forward to returning there for the Ólavsøka festival commemorating the archipelago’s patron saint. I was impressed by the traditional midnight singing and chain dancing on the streets of Tórshavn – even more so given how perfectly inebriated most of the locals were at that stage. The after-party was still going strong when I visited the Faroes’ southernmost and westernmost islands – Suðuroy and Mykines, respectively. Surrounded by more stunning Atlantic views, I vouched to return to the Faroes for the third time one day – and encourage you all to visit, too!
August was marked by two major reunions, as I travelled to Finland and Germany – two places where I used to live and still know many people. Rainer and Heidrun’s wedding in Frankfurt was wonderfully moving. Many thanks to everyone who found time to see me there as well as in Helsinki and Berlin – I am so lucky to know you all.
2011 IN REVIEW: AUTUMN
Starting September with another visit to Norway – with the total of six trips and almost a month’s worth of stay, 2011 was a Year of Norway, no less – I hiked to the top of Preikestolen, Norway’s best known free standing rock. From the heights of over 600 meters, the views over the surrounding Lysefjord would silence even the most sceptical. As well as dizzy out the most balanced characters – with some people swaying casually on the edge of the cliff, I could barely manage a single glance down in a prostrate position.
Following an unusually warm September – my other trips including Istanbul, Ankara, Copenhagen and Riga – I figured autumn was not rushing to Europe anytime soon and embarked on a mission to Western Canada. A reunion with old friends in sleepy Vancouver gave way to a memorable train journey through several of Canada’s national parks on to Jasper, and later to Banff. I found Canadian nature quite breathtakingly beautiful: the snow-covered peaks of the Rocky Mountains, the eerily cold Columbia Icefield, the multicolour forests reflected in turquoise blue waters of the glacial lakes – all came together to form a truly unforgettable sight. I look forward to visiting other parts of the wild, fascinating country that is Canada.
The rest of the month offered short trips to Oslo – my first visit to the Norwegian capital following the attacks of the 22nd July – as well as Edinburgh, where, despite a couple of cold showers and lack of central heating at my friends’ place, I generally had a blast in their company. Many thanks to everyone else who found time to meet me.
Come mid-November, and I needed another break from the mounting amount of work. My final pre-Christmas adventure of the year was a short but highly effective getaway to Oman. The frequently overlooked country grew on me instantly, not least for its fascinating history, well maintained traditions, excellent infrastructure and warm-hearted locals. Five days in Oman felt much longer than that – such refreshing contrast to my everyday surroundings the little Gulf state made.
A TRULY EVENTFUL YEAR
To cut a long story short, 2011 has been a great year in every aspect. With the promotion et al, work has been beautifully rewarding. Some of my photos have gone on sale with Getty Images and will hopefully start contributing towards my travel fares – which are decidedly not unsubstantial. This blog is seeing more popularity than ever before, having been referenced profusely by travel industry professionals and regular readers alike. My language skills are improving – slowly but surely – as I continue to attend Norwegian and Greek lessons, as well as practise Serbian with friends. The social side of life could not be better – many close friends have now moved or are intending to move to London, and the shrinking global scale means that the rest are easily reachable, too.
Not to mention that travel isn’t quite over for 2011: India will become my last adventure of the year when I arrive there this very Sunday. And, as far as the rest of 2012 is concerned, I am unlikely to get bored, either: visits to Cuba, Greek island of Chios, Geiranger fjord of Norway, Greenland, Uzbekistan and possibly New Zealand are all on the list. The life of anjči continues to be wonderful! Stay tuned for the recap of those and other trips in this blog and on Flickr.
I would like to thank every one of you for continued support, care and company this year – all the essential ingredients of your wonderful friendship. I am incredibly lucky to have seen so many of you in 2011. I hope that we can continue to meet regularly – or at least keep in touch – in the New Year.
Thanks a bunch. Have a good one!
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View my 2011: Year in Pictures post and Best of 2011 album on Flickr
2011 is soon coming to an end. Without exaggeration, it has been the most active travel year in the life of anjči yet. From Vietnam to Brazil, from Syria to Canada, from Svalbard to Faroe Islands, from Macedonia to Oman – it's been one exciting roller-coaster ride; one incredible year.
It has of course not all been about travel. I will always remember 2011 as the year of my first ever promotion at work; the year Getty Images noticed some of my humble Flickr photos; the year this blog got its more or less regular audience. Not even to mention the year in which I saw more of you, my much missed friends, than ever before in a single year – even if this meant travelling a little more than usual.
Ahead of my 2011 newsletter (coming out later this week), I hope you will enjoy this quick photographic journey through my travel highlights of 2011.
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1 January: I welcome 2011 on an old school Vietnamese train, squeezed into a top berth in a compartment carrying about twice its envisaged passenger capacity. The first day of 2011 doesn't feel particularly festive at all – Vietnam celebrates its New Year in February, as dictated by the Lunar calendar (Hoi An, Vietnam)
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6 January: The last stop of my Vietnamese adventure, Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City) overwhelms me with insane traffic, communist memorabilia and the hugely contrasting Western influence (Saigon, Vietnam)
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6 February: A long-term dream of mine is fulfilled as I catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights in Arctic Norway. Rather conveniently, the Saami celebrate their national day with some reindeer races in town that same weekend (Tromsø, Norway)
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19 March: Beating all my travel records, I fly to Rio de Janeiro for a long weekend to celebrate Fernanda and Federico's wedding. The occasion is a huge success, and I even squeeze in a favela visit and a quick tour of Rio's iconic sights (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
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9 April: Venice proves to be a perfect city to get lost in. I spend two days roaming its narrow streets on a mission to avoid the crowds – only really succeeding before 7am (Venice, Italy)
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22 April: Disregarding everyone's words of warning, I fly to Syria to find the country steadily progressing towards a revolution. While the Western news reports make the visit somewhat nerve-wrecking, I am infinitely grateful to make it to Syria before the political situation makes it a non-tourist destination (Damascus / Aleppo / Deir ez-Zor, Syria)
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29 April: Finally succumbing to my friends' concerns, I exit Syria for the arguably safer Lebanon. Perhaps it is because I expect so much from Beirut that the built-up, traffic overridden city actually disappoints (Beirut, Lebanon)
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7 May: On my third visit to Istanbul, I discover how little the city has changed in one year. Same fishermen are still fetching their daily catch from same bridges, and same tourists are still invading in great numbers – only to be further outnumbered by the locals (Istanbul, Turkey)
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21 May: In a rather quirky pursuit, I use up my air miles to fly to Kiev for a weekend and head straight to the Chernobyl disaster site – where time seems to have stood still ever since 1986 (Chernobyl, Ukraine)
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26 May: After years of planning, I finally make it to the eerily remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard (78 degrees North). At the risk of having me freeze to death, my luggage follows a day later (Longyearbyen, Svalbard)
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3 June: Luggage drama continues as I lose my possessions for the third time in 10 days en-route Macedonia's celebrated city of Ohrid. A spontaneous friendship is made at the airport where a local family practically adopts me. Oh, and the bag is delivered the next day (Ohrid, Macedonia)
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18 June: My fate is reversed as torrential rain spares some clear skies in Stockholm. I capture my dream shot in the Gröna Lund tivoli – which later goes on to score a front image on my employer’s Christmas card (Stockholm, Sweden)
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2 July: The highlight trip of the year unfolds as I reach the Norwegian Lofoten islands. Five days of brilliant blue skies, ceaseless midnight sun, breath-taking natural beauty – all that way into the Arctic Circle, too – are still proving difficult to forget (Lofoten, Norway)
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10 July: The northernmost tip of Europe turns out to be a fake. Why hasn't anyone told me Nordkapp is located on an island and therefore cannot actually hold the title? I still love the views, though (Nordkapp, Norway)
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29 July: Everything around seems to have molded together into a swaying mass of singing folk. It is my second visit to the Faroe Islands, and I have timed it with the archipelago's national festival, the Ólavsøka. More splendid windswept views await, too (Faroe Islands)
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27 August: At Rainer and Heidrun’s wedding in Frankfurt, I am once again reminded that finding the right person may take a long time – but is well worth waiting for. Spending two days with my wonderful Frankfurt friends makes me wonder why it has taken me so long to return (Frankfurt, Germany)
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3 September: My tolerance to heights is put to test atop Preikestolen – Norway's most famous free standing rock. Some people are nonchalant enough to attempt balancing off the edge at the height of over 600 meters. I do no better than crawling over on my stomach (Preikestolen, Norway)
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8 September: Back in Istanbul on my arguably coolest business trip of the year, I admire the city's eclectic skyline from the hotel room. Life has never seemed better! (Istanbul, Turkey)
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2 October: The discovery of the northern hemisphere brings me to Western Canada. The Rocky Mountains take my breath away, and seeing the long-missed friends in Vancouver is certainly worth every mile flown (British Columbia / Alberta, Canada)
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15 October: It is my first visit to Oslo since the 22 July attacks. On an unusually warm autumn day, the sun shines over the city that will never be the same again (Oslo, Norway)
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11 November: Poppies flood the green lawns around Scott Monument in Edinburgh. The nation remembers (Edinburgh, Scotland)
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16 November: As the year-end rush at work simply gets too much, I leave it all behind for the mysterious charm of Oman. An overnight flight later, I am transferred to a culture so wonderfully new that five days seem like to last a month (Muscat / Nizwa / Sur, Oman)
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10 December: Have I really seen much of London this year? As the year draws to a close, I get up early to photograph the sun rising over the Thames. The view from Tower Bridge accompanies me on the way to work every morning, but I never really find time to stop (London, England)
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25 December: My last stop of the year is in Rajasthan, one of India's most fascinating regions. The locals' love for the camera never fails to amaze me; needless to say that I am never heard complaining (Rajasthan, India)
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Thanks for scrolling through. Stay tuned for the 2011 Newsletter!
And Happy New Year to you all!
