Gustible - under the rubric of [$_SELF]

The year is six months old, and this Year of their Lord has seen me visit Latvia, Poland, France, China, India, Argentina, America, Italy and Hungary. Some more than once.

The year started with a trip to the lonelier reaches of the Karoo – Sutherland, Merweville, and the big nothing in between.

Cape Town’s beautiful January was interrupted by a visit to Eastern Europe and the Baltics during one of the coldest winters in years. The temperature dropped more than 40 degrees for me from the time I stepped into the flying metal tube, to leaving it. Walking on frozen rivers, slipping on iced cobblestones. Afraid to have more than one glass of Karstvin lest I cannot find the hotel, and am found a frozen sculpture in a snow covered alley in the morning. Warsaw’s frozen cemetery was particularly appealing under a blanket of snow.

February took me to the United States, to attend Singularity University’s Executive Program – an eye opener, mind bender, and real networking opportunity. Shortly after leaving the states we headed for the south of France – and spend a week Sophia Antibes, experiencing one of the worst snowstorms in the last few decades…

Lindy and I were fortunate enough to both be invited to a corporate event in Budapest, Hungary. A beautiful and elegant city. The food is heavy, typical for the whole region. But with the addition of ridiculously cheap foie gras (yes, I know). Reminders of the cold war, small scars, still persist in places such as the Museum of Terror – a whole wall bedecked with the faces of the missing, fronted by a Soviet Tank standing in a bath of oil. Steel, industry, machines – with little space left for humans.

We left Budapest for Rome, and a week of holiday. Rome – chaotic, dirty, sublime, cheap, expensive. In a week one can only do so much – we ate, walked, admired, wondered, saw, shopped, relaxed. Personally, I was astounded by the ostentation and wealth of the Christian churches. Saddened by how much of ancient Rome has been destroyed in the name of the true religion, but at the same time gladdened to see so much preserved. I would love to visit again.

After Rome, I went on a whirlwind trip to China – hitting Shanghai’s World Expo and Shenzhen. Directly from China it was off to New Delhi, and thence to The Maximum City – Mumbai. In Mumbai I took a tour of the Dharavi slum, courtesy of the excellent Reality Tours.

And finally – taking me to mid-June, a trip to wintry and rainy Buenos Aires to round it off. I got a chance to pay another visit to Recoleta (my all-time favourite cemetery), and of course to savour two proudly Argentinian products: Malbec and Beef.

There was a little bit of time to spend at home, in between it all.

Hints and tips ? Sure.

Finally – most of this travel was for work. There are better ways to do it – I suggest you do it in a better way if you can. And so I keep traveling – tomorrow I leave for Germany.

These and more photos can be found in the gallery at gallery.gustible.com.

You can find a list of cities mapped out on ShareMyMap.