Manhattan elsewhere
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.
Entries in category Travel
Minor earth major sky
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 big easy is not so easy anymore
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.
Epicenter: Paradise
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.
Terminal man
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.
Viva la Air France
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.
The streets of Paraguay
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.
Construction time again
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.
