The year is about to get wrapped up, so me and Emelie are on our way to Mrs Macquarie’s Point in the Botanic Gardens. It is the best view in the city, where the Opera House is seen in front of the massive fireworks in the harbor area, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the old “coathanger” Harbour Bridge.
During the weekend, we revisited Madrid to say hello to a friend and have some tapas. That was the good part. The bad part was the flight home. Me and Emelie got up at 4 AM and catched a cab outside the Atocha station. That trip presented no problem and we arrived at Barajas two hours before the flight departure.
For all of you who share my love for both Manhattan and digital maps, I want direct your attention to Jason Kottke’s latest project: Manhattan Elsewhere.
Even though nature is beautiful, few things inspire me more than large cities, sprawling with buildings in all directions. I love to walk along the streets, sync my heartbeat with the city’s unique pulse and feel its energy while immersed by the creative chaos of mankind.
The hurricane Katrina has finally arrived at the mainland of Louisiana and hit Mississippi like a ton of bricks. Many streets in New Orleans are flooded by two meters with reports of sharks, alligators and snakes swimming around. Debris everywhere, boats are floating up the streets and about ten thousand people have sought refuge inside the Superdome. The still water will likely bring diseases, and I suspect that a lot of insects will soon be attracted to the area. It’s a war zone down there.
I remember a morning couple of years back when I sat on Patong beach in Thailand, sipping a soft drink while my toes were the only thing that obstructed the view of the Andaman sea, reaching into the Indian ocean. Even though the main activities for foreigners felt like humanity at it’s very worst, the beach and surroundings are nothing short of spectacular.
I was recently sitting in Terminal 2 at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, reading Terminal man, the tale about Merhan Karimi Nasseri who has been living in Terminal 1 of CDG for 16 years. That’s right. Terminal 1, the horrible concrete saucer.
This would be a night to remember. We arrived at Guarulhos, the international airport of Sao Paulo, in the afternoon. To our surprise the aircraft had already left. The Air France office was already closed at 5 pm so we had a look at the Air France web site, that referred us to a 24/7 telephone number. That led us in turn to an answering machine, saying that the service was closed and any questions were referred to the web site.
I used to place Egypt quite high on the paradox list, as they have a lot of signs reading “Egypt – the land of peace” while a guard carrying an automatic weapon stands firmly posing in front of the very sign. However, there’s a new kid on the block. In Paraguay, I learned recently, there are people guarding the car tire shops in full Kevlar armor, holding a sawed-off shotgun with a finger on the trigger.
As the large tunnel project Götatunneln is taking form in Gothenburg, there are discussions on what to do with the large space along the water which will be rid of heavy traffic.
