BlogtrotterBlogtrotterPictures and memories from more than 30 years trotting around. Views on countries and cities in Europe, Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. From Lisbon to Auckland, Buenos Aires to Beijing or Capetown to New York, it's not such a small world! 
Articles
MOOREA - THE YELLOW LIZARD
2007-03-17 20:51:00 LAST STOP - SEPTEMBER 2004"MOOREA MAP, borrowed from The Tahiti Traveller website.I love Moorea, one of the Society Islands, a bit more than 130 square kilometres and 17 km far from Tahiti, to the north-west! After Bora Bora and its lagoon, it's my favourite Tahiti island; and in some aspects (less touristy, calmer and quiter) is even better than Bora. Seen from the sky, its shape looks like a fork or a trident, with its two almost symmetrical bays on the north side: Opunohu Bay and Cook's (or Paopao) Bay. The island is of volcanic origin, and it is said that both bays were formerly river basins that filled during the searise. Some, however, would claim that the bays are the result of the work of the tail of a giant yellow lizard, the meaning of moorea in Tahitian language...""SUNRISE""GETTING CLOSER - Early morning, after capturing the rising sun, we were sailing towards Moorea""ENTERING Opunohu Bay""EAST""WEST""ANCHORED - The Tahitian Princess dropped anchor at Opunohu Bay - the... More About: Music , Cruises , South Pacific , French Polynesia
MAGICAL TOUR
2007-03-15 00:47:00 STILL BORA BORA - SEPTEMBER 2004Bora Bora is actually magical, and the memories are even more striking than the myth. The colours of the lagoon are simply fantastic, and the water is terrific..."WAKE UP - Early morning view at the cabin balcony of the Tahitian Princess""PEARL BEACH RESORT - Bora Bora has probably one of the highest concentrations of luxury resorts in the world...""MOTU - There are many motu in the lagoon, and some of them are quite beautiful""BEACHCOMBER INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL""BLUES - Enjoying life""SOFITEL HOTEL""MATIRA BEACH - I love this one...""PATROL & YACHT - P689 «La Railleuse» is an offshore patrol boat designed to accomplish police operations in the French Exclusive Economic Zone. Yachts are always sailing the lagoon...""MOUNT OTEMANU was finally uncovered""GOODBYE BORA BORA""SAILING - Enjoying the sunshine before sunset...""SUNSET" More About: Music , Cruises , Sunset , Tour , Intercontinental Hotel
BORA BORA SUNSET CRUISE
2007-03-11 11:29:00 IMAGINE! - SEPTEMBER 2004"THE TAHITIAN PRINCESS was anchored at Povale Bay while we travelled around the lagoon""CATAMARAN - It was a bit windy at the catamaran and we even caught some drops of rain during the cruise...""A SISTER catamaran was also cruising the lagoon""SAILING - Enjoying the sun and the sea...""SHOW-TIME""BORA BORA NUI RESORT, set in on the largest motu at the south western tip of the Bora Bora Lagoon, has one of the best fine white sandy beaches in the island""OVERWATER BUNGALLOWS""PAREO TRYING""ONE MAN SHOW - One of the crew - guitar player, singer, joke teller, boat driver, champagne waiter, etc. - was preparing to open the coconut with his bare hands... or was it with his head?""SUNSET""CHAMPAGNE - It was not Dom Perignon, but anyhow it was quite decent...""OVER!" More About: Cruises , Sunset , South Pacific , Tahitian Princess , French Polynesia
BORA BORA!
2007-03-07 10:23:00 THE MYTHICAL DESTINATION - SEPTEMBER 2004Bora Bora, an island in the Leeward group of the Society Islands located some 250 km north-west of Papeete, was discovered in 1722. It is surrounded, like almost all other islands in Tahiti , by a lagoon and a fringing reef, and has two peaks in its centre: Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu (the highest at 727 meters).Bora Bora, the «First Born», is one of the most beautiful islands in the world, and probably the most famous, due to books, movies, and its stunning beauty. The fact that, following the Pearl Harbour attack by Japan, the United States choose Bora Bora as a South Pacific military base, surely contributed also to the myth. Actually, it is said that, though the base was officially closed on June 2, 1946, some American personnel refused to leave, and had to be forcibly removed..."SWIMMING POOL - The next destination of the Tahitian Princess was Bora Bora and its proximity excited everybody. The result was that at 9:00 a.m., while the shi... More About: Cruises , French Polynesia
POLYNESIAN PARTY!
2007-03-03 15:16:00 SHOW TIME ON BOARD - SEPTEMBER 2004"THE NIGHT IS YOURS - Every night on a cruise there is usually a live theatre production. When in Raiatea, local artists came on board and we had a Polynesian show, first at the ship's theatre, and then outside...""CARVING - There are always some artists on board the ship; at the Tahitian, we had a Philippine cook who was a carving specialist. The ice Horse-head is not easy to see, but it was perfect!""DANCERS - Preparing to enter the informal stage...""POLYNESIAN SHOW""PASSENGERS' SHOW""GLASS PYRAMID - Though we were in French Polynesia, the Champagne was far from being acceptable. Some Portuguese sparkling wine is much better than what we were offered...""AS TIME GOES BY - It's definitely not the best photo to illustrate the theme, and the singers were not playing this tune. But there was «moonlight and love songs - never out of date)». Anyhow, a recent post from Cris (on a quite different subject, but using the same motto - actually on old ho... More About: Music , Party , Cruises , South Pacific , Tahitian Princess
RAIATEA - THE SACRED ISLAND
2007-03-01 02:26:00 STILL CRUISING - SEPTEMBER 2004Our next destination was Raiatea. The island, shaped like an isosceles triangle with a base of 14 kms and a height of 20 kms, has an area of 238 square kilometres and a population of about eleven thousand persons. That makes it the fourth largest in French Polynesia , and the second largest in the Society Island s in terms of area. Raiatea is located in the southern part of the Leeward Islands and is situated approximately 120 miles northwest of Tahiti , directly between Tahiti and Bora Bora. The island, with its tallest point - Mt. Tefatoaiti - at an altitude of 1,017 meters, is an old former volcanic mass, the last lava having flowed some 2.5 million years ago. It has six bays favourable for populations to settle, and its main village is Uturoa. Raiatea and Tahiti are the only islands that have a port allowing large cruise ships to dock.Raiatea has the reputation of being the cradle of Polynesian civilizations. In ancient times, the island was known as ... More About: Cruises , South Pacific
A FULL DAY AT SEA
2007-02-24 18:59:00 TAHITIAN PRINCESS - SEPTEMBER 2004A full day at sea (two or three for cruises lasting from seven to fourteen days) is an interesting experience, as it allows you to fully enjoy the ship: your cabin, in particular if you have a balcony (we had one in Deck Seven), the spas, and the pools, jacuzzis, golf practices, jogging tracks, shops, lounges, theatres, bars or, if you like it, the casinos... This time, further to all this, we could also enjoy the Library and Card Room as well as the Internet satellite connection provided for by the Tahitian Princess !"TAHITIAN PRINCESS is described at the Princess website as «our pearl of the Pacific. Smaller in size yet rich in amenities this beautiful vessel features an array of onboard activities. Relax on deck by the pool or get a massage at the Lotus Spa. At night, fine fare abounds in refined dining rooms and specialty restaurants, with live entertainment rivalling anything on shore. And this ship offers more than 200 balcony staterooms so you... More About: Cruises , South Pacific , French Polynesia , Full
RAROTONGA - COOK ISLANDS
2007-02-21 02:47:00 CRUISING IN PARADISE - SEPTEMBER 2004After departing from Huahine, we had a full day at sea to get to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands . The Cook Islands are located at the heart of South Pacific : they lie in the centre of the Polynesian Triangle, flanked to the west by The Kingdom of Tonga and the Samoas and to the east by Tahiti and the islands of French Polynesia. Cook Islands consist of 15 islands, scattered over an area the size of India with a total population of approximately 18000 souls, no bigger than a small New Zealand country town... Rarotonga, whose name stems from «raro» meaning «down» and «tonga» meaning «south», is the youngest island in the Cook Islands southern group, and stands 4500 meters above the ocean floor. The volcano has a diameter of roughly 50km, at a depth of 4000 meters, and its highest peak is 658 meters above sea level. The island is surrounded by a lagoon, protected by a reef distant some hundred meters, which then slopes steeply to deep water. Rarotonga... More About: Cruises , Tahitian Princess
HUAHINE - THE GARDEN ISLAND
2007-02-18 01:35:00 CRUISING, DAY THREE - SEPTEMBER 2004After a first night docked at the Autonomous Port of Papeete and a second night travelling to Huahine - 170km northwest of Papeete, the first of the Leeward Island s you meet when coming from Tahiti -, we passed the fringing reef, entered the lagoon pass and, by 6:30 a.m., dropped anchor at Maroe Bay. Everything looked beautiful, but even close to Paradise sad news do reach you: a fax sent by satellite to the ship gave notice that a very good Colleague and Friend had unexpectedly passed away. That was the only shadow and blow during this fantastic trip!Huahine (The «Garden Island», «Secret Island» or «Rebel Island») is composed of two islands - Huahine-Nui (Big Huahine) and Huahine-Iti (Little Huahine) - formerly joined only by a sandpit at low tide, and now connected by a small bridge over the narrow isthmus in the lagoon. It is, geographically speaking, one of the more diverse of the Society Group, with hills that descend steeply to the blue lapi... More About: Cruises , South Pacific , Tahitian Princess
SOUTH PACIFIC CRUISE
2007-02-15 00:00:00 DEPARTING PAPEETE - SEPTEMBER 2004"PAPEETE PORT - The departure to the South Pacific cruise took place from the Autonomous Port of Papeete. The quality of the site of the Papeete harbour, connected to the ocean by a pass of 110 meters wide and 10.9 meters deep, was a major factor for the development of the port as early as the second half of the nineteenth century. But it was in the twentieth century, mainly from 1962 through 1966, that the port facilities improved significantly. The facilities include more than 2,500 meters of quays, including two berths for cruise ships, and several others for inter-island coasters, freighters, ferries to Moorea, catamarans and yachts""TAHITIAN PRINCESS - There were mainly two cruise possibilities for visiting French Polynesia . We opted for the Tahiti an Princess - a six hundred and seventy passenger ship - because it was a ten day cruise and visited also Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands""WELCOME ABOARD""POOL AND JACUZZI - It was probably the only ti... More About: Cruises , South Pacific
TAHITI BEACHCOMBER INTERCONTINENTAL
2007-02-07 02:32:00 BACK TO A NICE HOTEL - SEPTEMBER 2004In 1992, we stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Papeete. We started by staying at a very nice fare over the water and had some amazing experiences.The first: one of the days - I think I've already mentioned this somewhere - the TV was on, though we were not paying too much attention... Then, suddenly, we noticed that a play somewhere in Africa was being released. Curiously, it sounded familiar as, aside from the interventions of the French reporter, characters were speaking Portuguese. It was the incredible Tchiloli - The Tragedy of the Marquis of Mantua - played in Sao Tome and Principe. Hearing Portuguese from Sao Tome and Principe on a French TV Channel at an over water suite in Tahiti was at least bizarre...The second: one night, it was raining dogs and cats; pouring as only in the tropics... The sea was a bit rough, but the coral reef was supposed to stop the huge waves. Anyhow, wavelets were reaching our fare. The problem was that the ... More About: Music , South Pacific , French Polynesia
SWISS BALLOON!
2006-10-15 03:39:00 VAUD - JANUARY 2004In January 2004, I used the accompanying person statute and flew once again to Geneva , Switzerland . Short, but interesting and highly instructive trip..."HENRI DUNANT - There are lots of references to Henri Dunant in Geneva. No wonder, he created the International Committee of the Red Cross, and got the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901!""LAKE LEMAN - Birds enjoy life around the lake, as do the owners of the palaces on the shores. However, most of the villas we see on photo are public buildings...""NOGA HILTON - Not only birds and villa owners love Leman. It seems that some sheiks also enjoy coming to Geneva and stay at the Noga, occupying a full floor during at least a month. It's an economic disaster, when they decide to stay at home, and not only to the hotels...""JET D'EAU - In 1886, a company located at the end of the lake used to pump and distribute water under pressure to provide the craftsmen?s machines. In 1891, the City of Geneva decided to install the W... More About: Balloon , Swiss , Loon
ITALIA BELISSIMA!
2006-07-29 21:26:00 FROM VENETO TO LIGURIA - AUGUST 2003***VERONA"ARENA - The Roman amphitheatre completed around 30 AD - 139 meters long and 110 meters wide - is the third largest in Italy , after Rome's Coliseum and the arena at Capua. The Aida was great, but unfortunately the temperature at night was probably around 40º Celsius inside the Arena. When we got back to the Hotel, at 1:30 a.m., the thermometer at the pharmacy in front reached 31º Celsius. Ugh...""PIAZZA DELLE ERBE - During Roman times, this was the place of the Forum, centre of city life. It has continued to fill the same role for centuries: home to the city's administration, market and meeting place""JULIET'S BALCONY - Shakespeare's «The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet» concerns two noble families of Verona: the Capulets and the Montagues. The balcony may be only fiction, but Juliet is real...""IL DUOMO - The Cathedral was begun in 1187, but was not finished until many centuries later. It is dedicated to S. ... More About: Italia
SEATTLE
2006-05-15 02:34:00 MUCH MORE THAN BOEING, JIMMY HENDRIX, MICROSOFT, AND STARBUCKS... - AUGUST 2002"CRUISING - There is no better way to see Seattle than from the water. One of the possibilities is to take the cruise that connects Puget Sound with Lake Union via the Hiram Chittenden Locks. the return is made by coach""FREMONT - Sometimes referred to as "The People's Republic of Fremont," and at one time a center of the counterculture, Fremont was renowned as Seattle?s most artistically eccentric community. It is the home to a statue of Lenin salvaged from Slovakia by a local art lover, to the Fremont Troll, an 18-foot tall concrete sculpture of a troll crushing a Volkswagen Beetle in its right hand, as well as to signs proclaiming conflicting messages such as «Set your watch ahead five minutes», «Set your watch back five minutes» and «Throw your watch away»! Since the late 90s, residents refer to Fremont as «The Center of the Universe!»""SPACE NEEDLE TOWER - Built for the 1962 World's Fair, the tower... More About: United States , Music , Cruises
HAPPY NEW YEAR 4074 - ????
2006-01-28 14:15:00 LET'S MEET IN HONG-KONG - JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2002KUNG HEI FAT CHOI - GONG XI FA CAI"NEW YEAR 4699 - Welcome to the year of the Horse.The first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar (February 12, 2002) is the day of the second new moon after the day on which the winter solstice occurs""ABERDEEN - a fishing village, which some 200 years ago was a haven for pirates. Though some commercial towers have been built in recent years, Aberdeen still keeps the nature of a traditional fishing village""ABERDEEN - Home to the Tanka boat people, there are boat-dwellers and sampan along the Aberdeen Bay""FERRY BOAT - Enjoy a free-of-charge travel to Jumbo""JUMBO - The largest floating restaurant in the world: seafood lunch""REPULSE BAY, whose Chinese name means «Shallow Water Bay», owes its English name to the fact that the British army had chased off some pirates here in the past. It's now the most famous beach in Hong Kong""REPULSE BAY - At one end of the beach there is a colorful Temple... More About: New Year , Happy , Chinese New Year , Happy New Year , Year
MOSCOW STROLL
2005-11-27 16:20:00 BACK IN USS... RUSSIA - OCTOBER 2001Take your books (Dostoyevsky, Gogol, Tolstoy, Pushkin, Chekhov, Mayakovsky and some other Russia n writers will do), and prepare to visit or re-visit Russia. You may compare some of the photos here with those taken during the first visit to Moscow and posted at "Blogtrotter Revival - The 70's" Let's start again with the LOMONOSOV UNIVERSITY."MOSCOW UNIVERSITY - The building is still impressive, and the star on its top weighs 12 tons!""LUZHNIKI - Panoramic view over the Luzhniki district of the city, including the new Luzhniki sports stadium and the beautiful Novodevichy Convent"The NOVODEVICHY CONVENT or "New Maidens Convent" was founded by Vasily III in 1524 to commemorate the recapture of Smolensk from the Lithuanians in 1514. As most of all other Moscow's monasteries, was built not merely as a religious center but as a fortified structure with the express purpose of defending the city from Tatar and Pole attacks."NOVODEVICHY, situated a short... More About: Basil , Troll
HIGH IN THE SKY
2005-11-08 23:06:00 KUALA LUMPUR - MAY 2001"Mandarin Oriental - Treat yourself""Stroll in the park, with water""Still Life, with buildings""Still Life - TV Tower""Petronas Towers""That was high, before Shanghai""Tomorrow never dies""Bond? Did you say Bond? No, Quijote... de la Mancha!" More About: Malaysia , Kuala Lumpur , High
TOUJOURS PROVENCE
2005-09-28 11:05:00 La Prove nce ? C'est mythique et magnifique! Il semble qu?elle était déjà comme ça au temps des romains. Les paysages, la gastronomie, les gens, les monuments, l'histoire, les pierres, le pastis, le foie gras, les vins, le Châteauneuf du Pape, le Luberon...This post pays tribute to Peter Mayle, an enthusiast for Proven ce, whose books ? One Year in Provence, Encore Provence and Toujours Provence -, I read after coming back home, and recommend to anyone intending to visit the region. You?ll find there many good reasons to make the trip!"Les Baux de Provence - Do I need to say something?""Avignon, Palais des Papes - Quality of life, wouldn't you agree?""Gordes, oh Gordes!""Oppède le Vieux - Up the hill to the old chapel" More About: Rove , Oven
WHAT ABOUT A SNOW STORM IN ISTANBUL?
More articles from this author:2005-09-25 12:31:00 IT SEEMS IT DOESN'T HAPPEN VERY OFTEN. LUCKY YOU"They say it's fabulous the sunset view from Galata Tower. Imagine""White «Blue» Mosquee""Hot inside" More About: Storm , Istanbul , Snow 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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