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Memphis long weekend 2024 North America USA

Long Layover – 10 Hours in Charlotte, NC

Coming back from my excellent long weekend in Memphis, I was going to have to change planes somewhere on my way back home to Vancouver. I could have gone for shorter layovers in any one of several cities that I have been to before, but I saw an opportunity for a 10 hour layover in is city that was new to me: Charlotte, North Carolina. It seemed like a great opportunity to check out a new place.

I’ve never given Charlotte, North Carolina a moment’s thought. I didn’t know anything about it, so this was a perfect opportunity to see something of it during a layover. I landed at about 10:00 in the morning and took a taxi from the airport into the city centre and asked the driver to drop me off somewhere in the middle.

Charlotte is the biggest city in North Carolina with a population of almost one million people. It’s named after the former queen of England who was married to King George the third (and not after The Cure song “Charlotte Sometimes”). It’s not really famous for much. It has a lot of banking and industry and sports teams.

The centre of Charlotte is a business district, and it was Monday morning so everything was busy. I went to a coffee shop and had a bite to eat before walking the streets of the central area and seeing what there was to see. It wasn’t much but it was nice for a walk. There were a few nice buildings and some public art, some green spaces and fountains.

I went to the Bechtler Museum of Art, which was also in the centre and just across the street from the Mint Museum. The Mint was closed that day but the Bechtler was open. It was a small museum but worth visiting and had some nice pieces.

I took a stroll down luminous lane, a public art project in which a back alley street was covered with and surrounded by colourful murals.

After that, I decided to take the light rail public transportation system out of the city centre and to the Optimist Hall. The train was easy to navigate. There is only one route going in two directions and affairs were very reasonable.

The Optimist Hall is a former industrial textile mill from the 1800s that has been converted into a building full of fancy food halls and some cute shops. It was nice train ride from downtown to the Parkwood Station, from where I walked to the Optimist Hall and had a delicious vegan lunch. (Lots of non-vegan foods there as well.)

Following that, I decided to go back downtown but to a different area, the South End. I got off at the East/West Station and walked around a bit, having a coffee at a cute little doughnut shop and exploring a little.

I felt like I had seen everything that I wanted to see, so I decided to spend my last hour or so at a local cigar lounge. There are a few in Charlotte, but the one that was most convenient to my location was call the Vintage Whiskey and Cigar Bar. It was a really nice space with friendly staff. I went in, bought two cigars, and sat there comfortably smoking until it was time to get an Uber back to the airport.

I can’t say that I would recommend going to Charlotte on a holiday, but having a layover with time to kill there was an enjoyable experience. I’m sure this would be true of just about everywhere; anywhere is interesting for a few hours.

And that was the end of my long weekend in Memphis. In a month I would be off to Laos via Vietnam.

Andorra-Lithuania trip 2024 Asia Switzerland

Zürich Layover

My flight from Barcelona to Vancouver had a layover in Zürich about five and a half hours. This time could be easily spent at the airport given that you need time for boarding and whatnot, but that’s not really my thing. Anytime I have an opportunity to leave an area and visit or revisit a city, I am going to take it. I think this is the fourth time that I was in Zürich. I had been to Zürich on a proper vacation before, and since then I have been into the city of Zürich once or twice on layovers, so this was something I was familiar with. Before I knew it I was on the train heading into the city.

Zürich is one of those places that is excellent for a short layover because, with Swiss efficiency, the trains are quick and on time and they deliver you right from the airport right into the centre of one of Europe’s most pleasant cities. Even if all you have time for is to go in and have a short walk, I think it is worth it. My layover was rather short, so I didn’t even stop to check my backpack into a left luggage office, I just trained into the city and walked into the centre and decided to have a stroll and a coffee.

It was quite early when I arrived, and many things weren’t open yet so I just walked through the quiet streets taking in the fresh air and morning sunlight playing off of the charming buildings and streets.

I walked down to the river and to a hotel: the Storchen Zürich. The Storchen is located on the Limmat River and is a short walk from the train station. I’ve never stayed at the hotel, but I’m familiar with it because it has a lovely cigar lounge inside. It was far too early for the cigar lounge to be open, but the cafe was. I went to the cafe and I sat on the patio one of the tables ordered a coffee and a croissant and lit up a breakfast cigar. Notwithstanding that I looked a bit haggard from my near red eye flight, and I was walking around with a big backpack, I received a polite greeting; and when the well-dressed and waiter saw that I had lit a cigar, he immediately brought out a proper cigar ashtray to swap for the cigarette ashtray that had been on the table. I felt very welcome. At the next table a man and woman sat having a breakfast and they made a point of telling me how nice my cigar smelled. I never expect people to say that sort of thing to me and I understand that many people do not like the smell of cigars, but it just made me feel happy (and this was a nice contract to the rude tobacconist in Stockholm a couple days prior). I felt like I had found the right place.

I sat there along the river looking out at rowers gliding through the water and listening to the church bells ringing out and I thought, what a wonderful city; so beautiful and calm and polite. How fortunate to be able to just zip in for a few hours and enjoy a bit of this lovely atmosphere before heading back to the airplane. But I did have to head back to the airplane because my flight home was drawing near, and I hate to be rushed.

It was a perfect end to a wonderful trip that took me through Barcelona, Andorra, Lithuania, Latvia, Stockholm, and finally a little snippet of Zürich. I was exhausted but satisfied.

My next trip would be to Memphis, Tennessee.

Andorra-Lithuania trip 2024 Asia Latvia

Return to Riga

I had arrived in Riga by land coming from Vilnius, Lithuania. I think it was about 3:00pm when I arrived and I checked into my hotel. I had booked a bed at a hostel but something got screwed up with my reservation so at the last minute I ended up booking a room at a hotel in the centre. This was my second time in Riga, and I would only be there a short time, leaving very early the next morning. But I was delighted to have a bit of time to revisit the city.

It had been exactly two years since I was there last when I came for a four day long weekend in May. It was just as lovely as I remembered. I don’t really have much to say about Riga this time, because I said most of my impressions when I arrived the first time, so if you’re interested in going to Riga or knowing what it’s like, go back and read the two posts that I made in 2022. This time I’ll just say that it is terrific city. I think it’s one of my favourite cities in Europe. It’s very pretty and pleasant, with wonderful architecture, an interesting history, and a nice vibe.

I already had a sense of my way around, so I walked around the historic centre and took in some of the lovely streets and buildings that I had seen before, before going to a cigar lounge (The Oak Lounge) to sit and have a cigar of course. I wandered over to Albert(a) Street past the famous art nouveau buildings, which truly are exquisite.

I grabbed a bite to eat somewhere unremarkable. And I made plans to meet up with a friend. When I had been to Riga in 2022 I had booked a private historical walking tour of the city with a fellow and we got along quite well. At the end of the tour we went for drinks with some of his friends and it was the highlight of my trip. So I let him know that I was coming to town and we met up exactly two years later at exactly the same bar with a couple of the same friends and a couple of new ones. Again, it was my favourite thing about the trip. It’s just a good group of guys at a cool neighbourhood bar that I would have never found on my own. I like the bar so much that I’m not even going to say what it’s called or where it is because I don’t want to encourage too many people to go there and ruin its authentic feel. (But I will post a couple of pictures and if you can figure it out, good for you.) They have a little leafy courtyard where people drank and nobody minded if you smoked. I spent a couple of hours there, leaving after dark and walking back to my hotel.

*bar door on arrival; bar courtyard; bar door on departure, a few drinks later*

That was it. Like I said, it was a short visit. My flight the next morning was at 8:20 AM heading to Stockholm. The flight was part of the reason that I decided to go back to Riga in the first place, because the flight from Riga to Stockholm was ridiculously cheap and while I had been to Sweden I had never been to Stockholm and it seemed like a great opportunity. The day of my flight to Stockholm was the 8th day of my trip and I must admit that all of these crazy early morning flights, days constantly on the go, and late nights out was starting to catch up with me a little bit but I was still excited to see what lay ahead. Read on for Stockholm…

Africa Algeria Algiers-Nice-Athens 2024

Alighting in Algiers

I wanted to visit Algeria. The largest country in Africa, sitting on the north coast between Morocco and Tunisia, stretching from the Sea to the Sahel. It seems to have it all: stunning desert vistas, a vibrant capital, rich cultural traditions, ancient ruins…I was smitten. I particularly wanted to visit the south, with its isolated, ancient desert cities. I’ll tell you now that I did not get to the south. I still plan to visit, but it didn’t happen this time.

Logistics

Algeria is one of those countries that has been very difficult to visit. Visas required with invitation letters and mandatory tours, consulates that don’t respond, and expensive fees. This have been getting better in the past few years, but when I went it was still not super easy. To go, I needed a visa, which required sending my passport to Ottawa with an application, fees, my bank account statement, a letter from my employer, an itinerary, and an invitation from a tour company. I’ve never done a multi day tour and wasn’t interested in it, but I had heard that it might be possible to travel independently after I took a tour. I understand this is now possible; then it was not – or so I was told. There were a lot of competing stories at the time. The tour company said I could only get a visa for the length of my tour. I did ask how much a tour would be if it included a few days in the south, but it was prohibitively expensive. So I reached a compromise: I would only visit Algiers (this time) and worked out a short visit (so it wasn’t too costly) that gave me some time on my own as well as with a guide.

I had heard so many horror stories from people who sent their passport into the Algerian consulate in Ottawa and never got the visa, or that it took months; I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I mailed in my application on a Monday and had my passport back, with the visa, by Friday of the same week.

The arrangement I had was with the Fancy Yellow tour company. They arranged to pick me up at the airport and drive me back to the airport and I had a half day tour on my second day.

Overnight in Paris

I flew from Vancouver to Paris, where I spent the night; arriving late and leaving early. I stayed at the hotel Libertel Gare Du Nord Suede, which was cheap and serviceable, and went for a late night was around the area, just to stretch my legs and soak up something of being in Paris. I got a sandwich and had a small cigar in the chilly February air before going to sleep.

Arrival

The next morning, I flew to Algiers. No hassles at the airport. I had my visa. It was about 12:45. I met my driver, changed some money, and drove to the ABC Hotel. What it lacked in charm or character it made up for in being in a central location and being clean and functional with a nice free breakfast and helpful staff.

I immediately went out to explore.

Algiers

I walked all around the central part of Algiers, taking in the streets and walking past landmarks and impressive buildings. Algiers is lovely. Like a cleaner Paris in some areas. Gleaming white buildings with decorative balconies, flower sellers, tree-lined streets, statues, and squares. It was lovely and felt safe and, while I was dressed quite modestly anyway (all in black with a loose knee-length dress, sweater, blazer, scarf, tights, and combat boots), I didn’t feel like that was strictly necessary. Certainly there was no need to cover my head or wear an abaya.

Post Office

I took photos of the stunning mosques (they didn’t seem to be open for interior visits). I got a Mhajeb, also known as Mahdjoub (a delicious flatbread/crepe-like thing stuffed with, in this case, different greens) being sold from a window. A few men on the streets played the Algerian mandole for donations.

Most people in Algiers spoke Arabic, with some French, and Berber, with the written language of Tifinagh, a written form of Berber appearing on many signs. Tifinagh is a very intriguing looking language; almost like a language that would be engraved on some alien artifact.

Language barriers notwithstanding, it seemed like an easy place to visit. But I hadn’t been to the Casbah yet. The Casbah was the most appealing part of Algiers. An historic quarter of the city, rising up a hill, with the buildings mostly dating back to the 17^th and 18^th centuries. It is a UNESCO heritage site, but due to years of conflict, colonization, and neglect, parts of it are in very poor repair. Readings about the Casbah, most reports say it is dangerous; that tourists should not visit it without a guide. I didn’t let that stop me, and had no issues wandering the narrow, crooked alleys. I was a bit shy about taking pictures that day, not wanting to attract any hostility. (I made up for it the next day.)

Had this been my only visit to the Casbah, I would have been quite happy, but I admit that I had a better visit the next day with my guide, as there was so much history I didn’t know and areas I had missed.

But it was a perfect wander, and I finished it off with a coffee and a cigar on the excellent patio of Le Tantonville Grande Café d’Alger. Dating back to 1883, it has history and a perfect patio for people watching as you sip your coffee. It was, apparently popular with French bohemians, artists, writers, and philosophers, including Camus and Sartre. I felt rather sophisticated.

I went back to my room just after dark. It had been a long journey. I thoroughly enjoyed my first day in Algiers, but I will say that the city felt a bit quiet. It wasn’t busy or bustling, and just felt subdued. There is nothing wring with that, but I felt like it lacked excitement, but it made up for it in history and looks.

The next day I would have a guided tour and see much more of the city.

Europe United Kingdom Zimbabwe-Zambia 2023

London Layover: Notting Hill

At the end of my trip to Zimbabwe and Zambia, I flew home to Vancouver from Lusaka via London. I had about an 8-hour layover and, as is my preference, there was no way I was going to spend that time at the airport.

I’ve written a lot of posts about my layovers in London. I’ve even gone into the city with as little as a 5-hour layover and it’s always been worth my time. I’ll say what I’ve said before, which is to make the most of a layover in London a few things are really helpful: if you’re a carry-on luggage person like I am, quickly stash your bag at the left luggage office at the airport. I always take the Heathrow Express into London – with a short layover, there’s no time to be messing around with any other form of transportation. I pre-buy my tickets for the Heathrow Express so I don’t have to stop and buy them on arrival; I just have the ticket on my phone and scan it and get right onto the train.

I usually have some kind of an idea about what I want to do. Sometimes I just go and smoke cigars on Saint James Street, other times I’ll pick a specific museum, or an area that I want wander around in. This time, I decided to visit Notting Hill. Upon arrival at Paddington Station, I took the tube to Notting Hill Gate. (I could have walked, but I didn’t have an abundance of time.)

I don’t think I had been to Notting Hill since I lived in London many years ago (and well before that movie was out). It was a delightful place to spend some time walking around. I was there too early to enjoy the market, but I walked the streets and enjoyed the colourful buildings and stopped and had several coffees, which were necessary after my red eye flight from Lusaka. London is truly one of my favourite places in the world and I will never miss an opportunity to visit it. It was a perfect end to my trip.

North America USA Zimbabwe-Zambia 2023

In Heaven at the TWA Flight Centre

I booked a trip to Zimbabwe. Not just Zimbabwe also Zambia and Botswana, but that’s not really the point. The point is I flew to Harare, Zimbabwe. A long flight: Vancouver to New York; New York to Nairobi; Nairobi to Harare. It was nearly two days of travel and none of the layovers were long enough where I could leave the airport and go visit the cities, so I had braced myself for gruelling days of travel. My layover in New York was only about six hours so I looked for things to do within the airport, apart from the lounges. And that’s where I discovered the TWA terminal at JFK airport.

The TWA terminal, AKA the TWA Flight Center, AKA the Trans World Flight Center was built between 1959-1962 to be the terminal for Trans World Airlines. It was designed by architect and designer Eero Saarinen in the 1950s. By the time it was completed, it was virtually obsolete. Traffic had increased to JFK so much that the terminal wasn’t really functional anymore. But the terminal was preserved and in 2019 a hotel was opened in it. The terminal itself is otherwise preserved just as it was, in all of its glory.

I didn’t know what to expect. I just read that there was a hotel and a cafe or restaurant in this 1950s sixties designed airport terminal. And that was enough for me. I took the elevator up to the appropriate floor and when the door opened I think I actually gasped audibly staring ahead of you is this long tunnel with white round walls and bright red carpeting that leads you into the terminal immediately you look like you’re in some sort of 1960s vision of the future. It’s incredible.

*entering the past’s version of the future*

The terminal’s design is neo futurism. Minimal and clean. Everything is white or red. All the chairs are the gracefully simple Saarinen tulip chairs. Everything has round edges. It’s cool. It is both futuristic and retro at the same time. It’s the encapsulation of everything that the height of glamorous air travel represented.

I was in heaven. The decor was impeccable and they were playing the best music: Frank Sinatra and the like. I wandered around and took in the decor and took a few photos of displays they had of random, period-appropriate things like a hair salon and a twister room. There was a display of all the uniforms of TWA stewardesses over the years (fascinating). And there was both a cafe and restaurant. I settled into the restaurant and had a cup of black coffee and a slice of avocado toast. The only thing missing was an ashtray.

There is also a TWA shop in the terminal where you can buy TWA branded merchandise. Mercifully the store was closed when I was there at my early hour, which is good, because gazing through the window, I wanted basically everything inside. Just outside the store is a free photo booth where you can take fun photos and have them printed. Did I do it? Of course I did.

*don’t judge my appearance. I hadn’t slept or showered in over 24 hours*

I do have a predilection for this era of time: the design, the clothing, the music, the unrepentant smoking…so it was guaranteed that I was going to enjoy the TWA Flight Centre; However, even if you don’t love these things, it’s worth a visit. There is a lot of space with seating, views outside, and little nooks tucked away where one could sit and have a nap or just while away some time in between flights, even without spending any money. It is maybe my favourite airport feature I’ve experienced.

It was an excellent way to kill some time during my layover. I find myself now wanting to have another layover there just so that I can visit the terminal again. Next time, I might stay at the hotel, or if it’s in the evening, I would visit the bar. Oh, didn’t I mention? There is a 1958 Lockheed Constellation airplane parked outside that you access through another tunnel and the plane has been turned into a cocktail bar – The Connie Cocktail Lounge. It looks incredible. Next time: martinis. This time, it was a morning visit and on to Harare, Zimbabwe.

Balkans Trip 2023 Europe Germany

But first, Frankfurt

The trip to come

I had a pocket of un-visited countries in the Balkans region that I wanted to see them: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro. I decided to do a hop through the capitals, with a few side trips. I would skip the cost altogether. I have no doubt that the coast is lovely, but it wasn’t what I wanted to see, so I booked a flight from Vancouver to Ljubljana, Slovenia and would head south from there.

But first, and unplanned layover.

Surprise layover in Frankfurt

I was to change planes in Frankfurt, but with only a short layover; however, in the days before my flight, something changes, and I would have about seven hours in Frankfurt. It shortened my time in Slovenia a bit, but there was nothing to be done about it. I landed in Frankfurt, left my backpack at the airport, and and made the quick and familiar train journey to the city centre.

It was early September, and the weather was perfect – no, maybe a bit too warm, but it was sunny and nice.

I hadn’t planned to be there, so I had no plans. I just walked around the historic part of the city. Everyone else had the same idea. It was crowded, with almost a festival atmosphere. Sometimes I might find that annoying, but I was just so happy to be traveling and to be in Europe. I hadn’t been away in over a month, when I was in Brazil.

I soaked up the sun and the sights before settling in on a patio on a small square and had a snack, a coffee, and a cigar. A man was playing the trumpet. It was lovely.

After about three or four hours I headed back to the airport. It was Labour Day weekend, and I was worried about airport crowds.

I am always happy to sneak in a layover visit to a city. Poor Frankfurt, though; I’ve only ever seen it on layovers. It may have more to offer than I know. Another time.

Onward to Slovenia.

Brazil South America

São Paulo Surprise

My plan was to leave Salvador and fly to Asunción, Paraguay; the flight and it took me through Sao Paulo, where I would have a short layover. I was interested in visiting São Paulo but I have to make choices and I had decided that I would use an extra couple of days to visit the capital city Paraguay rather than visiting a third city in Brazil. Things did not go as planned.

The problems started when my flight out of Salvador was delayed, and it became quickly apparent that I was not going to make my connecting flight out of São Paulo. The airline Azul) was remarkable; they told me, before I even had the chance to complain, that they had put me on a new flight (on a different airline) out of São Paulo to Asunción and that I would now have a 12 hour layover in São Paulo and for that reason they gave me meal vouchers and snack box, they put me into a hotel for the day, and gave me taxi vouchers to get me to and from the hotel. I was a little disappointed that my short trip to Paraguay would be delayed, but it gave me the opportunity to see São Paulo. I think the best way to enjoy travel without getting frustrated over the little things is to be flexible.

I arrived in São Paulo and I had to go to a desk to get my vouchers and hotel confirmation. Since I was at the airport, I thought well I may as well pick up my boarding pass for my flight later that evening to Asunción so I went over to the other airline to pick it up. My flight from Salvador to São Paulo was on Azul airlines but my flight from São Paulo to Asunción would be on LATAM Air. When I went to pick up the boarding pass, the man asked to see my yellow fever vaccination card. It was the first time I had been asked for the card on this trip and I had kind of forgotten about it. Let me say right now: I should have had it with me. Canadians do not need their yellow fever cards to visit Paraguay – unless they are entering from certain airport in Brazil. Oops. I think that with the repeal of the COVID travel regulations, I became a little bit lax about having my vaccination papers with me, however, no problem, I had a digital version of it. So I pulled up my phone and I showed him the digital version and he said I had to have the original. I said “I have the original but it’s at home in Canada.” And what followed was a short and polite negotiation on my part to try to see if there was any way that he would let me board. I asked him if he would accept a legally notarized digital copy of the original, which I could have gotten in short order, or if there was some way that I could get a new vaccination card in São Paulo, but he said that none of that would be sufficient and the only way that he was going to let me board the flight was with my original yellow fever vaccination card. At that point I realized I was not going to Asunción.

(The only alternative he suggested was that I fly to Lima and then to Asunción because the no proof of vaccination would be required, but I was only going for 2.5 days, so that seemed like too much extra hassle and expense.)

I was pleased with myself for not being a jerk to the guy at the counter, because obviously it’s not his fault (it’s my fault…and maybe the fault of the government of Paraguay), but as I walked away I felt upset that I wasn’t going to go to Paraguay. I’d lost out on my flight cost, my hotel cost, and now I didn’t know what to do. I went and sat down and moped for a minute or two and I thought, “OK I was supposed to be flying home in about two and a half days anyway, I guess now I’ll spend that time in São Paulo.” The thing was, I didn’t know anything about São Paulo. To the Internet!

I quickly pulled up some blog posts about Sao Paulo. It’s a city of about 20 million people. Massive. I didn’t really know what there was to see, so relying on other people’s blog posts (Thank you bloggers!) I figured out an area of the city to stay in (central), did a quick read about the subway system, and decided on some things that I might like to see. I booked myself into a hotel and I got into a taxi and went into the city, I at a budget hotel, which was a good price and in a good location very close to the subway and walking distance to many things that I wanted to see, the hotel lacked any charm and character but it was brand new and it suited my needs in a pinch.

I went up to my room, unpacked a little bit, called the airline to change my flights back home (I was supposed to fly back to Vancouver from Asunción to Rio to New York to Vancouver, but since I was not in Asunción, I couldn’t catch my flight to Rio, which meant I missed out on my final day in Rio, but I got it all rebooked from São Paulo and it only cost me $14. Canadian.

I went out into the city. São Paulo is known for being dangerous and I didn’t really have enough time to research whether that reputation was deserved, so I felt a little bit on guard as I walked around the city centre. São Paulo feels kind of rough. My take on it after having visited Rio is that Rio reminds me of Miami and São Paulo reminds me a bit of New York, but New York from a Charles Bronson movie. It feels a little gritty and a little rough around the edges. Fortunately, I like cities that are a little bit rough around the edges and I love Charles Bronson movies, so São Paulo suited me just fine.

Leaving my hotel, I walked a short distance to the Mercado Municipal Paulistano, the biggest indoor market in the city. It is in a pretty, butter yellow building from 1933 with stained glass windows and inside is a vast array of food items and places to eat.

I think this is a ‘must do’ in São Paulo – Especially if you eat meat. There was meat of varying types everywhere. I think it’s a carnivore’s dream. I am not a carnivore and I found it a little bit challenging to find a sit-down place to eat at.

Market Memories

Finally, I went up to one of the restaurants and explained that I was a vegetarian and they brought me some delicious appetizer and then some sort of pastry filled with cheese, The pastry filled with cheese was amazing, but the super spicy pickle sauce that they brought me on the side was delicious and made my face sweat it was so spicy. I washed it down with fresh watermelon juice. Delicious.

Lunch

It was already late afternoon, and I didn’t really want to be out much after dark, so I walked around the city centre, took in some murals in that area and some views over the city, and visited a church.

Mosterio São Bento

I then hopped on the subway at Luz station and went to Oscar Freire station, which was in a different area, in order to visit a cigar lounge/bar (Café Esch). The subway was very easy to navigate and was inexpensive though it was very crowded. From the subway I walked to the cigar lounge through an affluent neighbourhood.

I settled into the lounge and bought a couple of cigars and had a cocktail. It was such a heavenly environment after the day I had of delays and disappointments and changed plans. It was nice just to sit back and relax, even if while I sat there, I ended up doing a bunch of work remotely.

I’ll have to save Paraguay for a future trip, but I was loving my spontaneous visit to São Paulo. The next day would be a full one with museums and murals. (Next post here.)

Belarus/Dubai trip 2023 Europe United Kingdom

My Perfect London Layover

The Layover

I was flying home to Vancouver from Minsk via Dubai and I had an 11 hour layover in London. I had 8 hour layover in London on the way to Minsk and it was great (it had been Coronation Day). In fact, every long layover I’ve had in London is great, but somehow this managed to top them all. Every time I have a layover in London I try to pick a new area that I want to visit; a place that seems lovely to wander for a few hours (of course sometimes I just make my way over to Saint James Street and hole up in a cigar lounge). This time, it was a Sunday morning and I decided head to East London.

Breakfast in Hoxton

I started by taking the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station and then switching to the Tube where I made my way over to Old Street station in Hoxton with a plan to walk to Shoreditch. I hadn’t been over that part of east London and many many years, not since I lived in London, but I heard that it was kind of the cool neighborhood to check out so I thought I would.

The neighborhood was great. Most things were closed (it was early) but it already felt cool. The buildings were old, the parks were nice, there was there was public art of the mural and sculpture variety, and I was impressed.

quiet morning street art

I was more impressed when I found a restaurant that was open. The Breakfast Club. I would definitely go back. It was exactly what I wanted. Great music, comfy booths, vegan options, and mugfuls of strong, black coffee. I think the people in there thought I was crazy because I kept telling them how excited I was to find them open and with vegan breakfast.

The Breakfast Club

My stomach full of coffee and tofu, I carried on walking towards the Columbia Road flower market. On the way I stopped for an espresso.

more coffee!

Flower Market

I had never even heard of the Columbia Road flower market. I just started Googling things to do on a Sunday morning in London and I discovered it and it’s now one of the loveliest things that I’ve ever found to do on a Sunday morning. It’s just a stretch of street where every Sunday flower merchants come out to sell their flowers.

It sounds like something that might just be made-up for Instagram, but there are legitimately people there buying plants and flowers and then carting them away. Flower merchants are calling out in delightful accents the price and variety of their flowers. It is so charming – even better, many people there have cute dogs with them, and that’s great.

“The flower that smiles to-day, to-morrow dies…“

The thing that made it extra lovely is that while one side of the street is all flower merchants, the other side of the street are delightful shops painted in pretty colours and it reminded me a little bit of Victoria street in Edinburgh (except without the slope). There are antique shops, coffee shops, trinket shops, bakeries, a tea room, and a perfumer… it’s so charming. I browsed in all the shops, bought myself a little bit of perfume, ate a tiny treat, and carried on my way. It was absolutely perfect.

charming shopfronts

Spitalfields

From there I walked down to Spitalfields to the Old Spitalfields Market – like I hadn’t had enough to eat already, but I wanted it as a destination. It was a grand walk. The skies were blue it was warming up. I browsed around the Spitalfields market, a place I don’t know if I’d ever been to before.

I had an excellent coffee, and I really enjoyed the public art that they had there – the cute elephant statues (Our Herd of Hope) and the sculpture of Rabbitwoman and Dogman riding a motorbike with side car whilst drinking coffee (telling the tale of “two opposites coming together to become best friends and soul mates”).

Elephants, rabbit, and dog, oh my!

Walking south I found myself wandering through a blocks’ long thrift market.

Bypassing The Tower

I walked towards the Tower of London, not because I wanted to go to the Tower of London; it just seemed like a destination. The closer I got to the Tower of London, the livelier things got: the crowds of tourists picked up, church bells were ringing, more shops were open.

I got glimpses of the London skyline along the way. It was perfect. I wound my way past the tourists queuing up for the Tower of London and headed for London Bridge.

Borough Market & The Tate

Tower Bridge, the Thames, and the Shard

Crossing London Bridge, I got some lovely views and once on the other side, I was just steps from Borough Market (London’s best food market, dating back hundreds of years).

Approaching Borough Market

I walked through Borough Market, unfortunately at this point, having eaten the tofu and a couple of treats from the Columbia Street flower market, I couldn’t possibly eat any more, but I did get a lovely fresh carrot and ginger juice and another espresso and walked around the market, just ogling all of the treats. (Note to self: I must make a plan to come back when I am hungry.)

Exiting Borough Market, I then found myself near the Tate Modern gallery.

While some of the special exhibits are paid, to walk into the Tate and look at the regular collections is free, so I did that. I walked around, looked at some art (splendid), and then I left. I realized that I really ought to be moving on because I had a lunch date.

Lunch & Leaving London

I have a friend who lives in London, someone that I met in 2009 in the Ecuadorian rainforest and, while we sort of keep in touch, we haven’t really seen each other in years, so we made plans to have lunch. We met near Paddington Station, in Little Venice where we had an excellent lunch at a Lebanese restaurant and swapped travel stories.

Seriously, was this the perfect day? Throw a cigar and a visit to the theatre and I think it might have been. It’s amazing what you can do in a layover. I can’t believe some people just stay at the airport.

I flew back to Vancouver, and this concluded my trip to Minsk, which parenthetically also included two days in London and two days in Dubai. It was just an excellent trip maybe the best that I had in 2023 to date.

I would have a short hiatus from travel of a couple of months to enjoy the summer in Vancouver, and then I would be off to Brazil.

Asia Belarus/Dubai trip 2023 United Arab Emirates

Dubai Layover Part 2: Giving Dubai Another Try

I was flying back to Vancouver from Minsk and, due to the war in Ukraine and the sanctions that other countries had against Belarus, I couldn’t fly home through Europe, so my flight was taking me from Minsk to Dubai then to London and on to Vancouver. I was happy about this because it gave me an opportunity to visit Dubai, which I had never seen prior to this trip. On the way to Minsk, I had spent a shorter layover in Dubai and I had gotten out to see the city and I was largely underwhelmed. This time, I had a longer layover, and I was going to give it another shot.

I took the train from the airport into Dubai (again, super easy), but unlike last time I didn’t have to leave my bag at the airport because I had booked myself a hotel room. In truth, the layover wasn’t long enough that I was actually going to spend the night in Dubai; I was arriving early in the morning and I was leaving late at night, so it was really one long day layover, but I wanted to have a hotel room so that I could have a shower and a nap, if need be, before I went back to the airport. Fortunately, there are affordable accommodations in Dubai and the place that I stayed at, the Arabian Courtyard Hotel, was a great bargain and within walking distance to all the sites in the old Dubai historic centre. Also, it was nice; old, but atmospheric, and they upgraded my room (how could I say no?) and it was impressive.

Arabian Courtyard Hotel: My room and view

So, I started my trip there. I walked through the old Dubai historic area past some of the places that I had seen before; past the souq, which was just opening up, and along the river.

Old Dubai flowers

the Souq

I went to a café that was incredibly charming, right on the water, and had a wonderful healthy breakfast watching the boats go back and forth to the other side.

café along the river

And that’s what I did after breakfast: I hopped on one of the boats called abras and took it to the other side of the river it cost 1 Dirham (maybe 30c US) and see they seem to run constantly back and forth. It was all locals on the boat save for me. It seems to be the easiest and most practical way of getting across. On the other side there’s sort of a fancy souq and I wandered around there looking at the spices and textiles and whatnot.

crossing the river

river views

I did actually end up buying myself a black abaya with little black sparkles on it because it’s something that I had been wanting for future trips. I had a chat with the boy who was selling it (and I say boy because he said he was 16); he was a refugee from Afghanistan. A lovely kid and such a good salesman. I couldn’t help but think about what it would be like to be a refugee, but also to be refugee as a child in a foreign country and working to support yourself. Heartbreaking. (Of course, maybe it was all just a scam so that I would buy from him. I guess I’ll never know. And it really doesn’t matter because there are lots of kids who are in that situation.)

Getting beyond the souq, there’s an area full of local shops and apartments and mosques. It feels nothing like the modern part of Dubai with its shiny skyscrapers; it’s just regular buildings, regular streets, regular cafés, and regular people going about their business. It wasn’t beautiful, but I liked it so much more than shiny new Dubai.

It also it’s very multicultural. Walking around, there are stores and restaurants from places all over Africa and the Middle East and Asia. Things like Ethiopian coffee shops and Yemeni restaurants and Indian stores.

I stopped and had a simple lunch of chana dahl and chai before I carried on walking. It was very hot outside, but beautiful.

I eventually made my way back down to the river and took the boat back across. I had some shisha and juice. From there, I decided it was time to give shiny new Dubai a second try.

I got back on the metro and took and took it to the Dubai Mall stop. The Dubai Mall had bested me on my first layover. I walked in, and I got irritated and confused, and I turned around and left. But this time, I would be successful. I walked down the stupid habitrail that goes on forever from the subway stop and into the Dubai Mall and, from there, I followed the signs to the “Dubai Foutain”. It was a nightmare; I don’t like malls and this was a big bloated mall with nothing terribly remarkable in its shops wise. “Hey, look! It’s all the stores that you hate in your country, but all collected under one roof!”

The only interesting thing was, yes, there was an aquarium and, no, I didn’t pay money to go into it, but I could I did walk by, and I saw sharks and manta rays and that was kind of cool. And the Dubai Waterfall with the multiple statues of men diving (or committing suicide?) is really quite attractive.

Finally, I made my way outside, walking past a Tim Horton’s (seriously) and some other disgusting fast food chains, I emerged from the Mall. I rubbed my eyes, and there it was, glimmering and tall, the Burj Khalifa.

The Burj Khalifa is (for now, and since 2009) the world’s tallest building. It is 829.8 m (2,722 feet) tall. You can pay money to go up into it and see the view from the observation deck and do various activities, but I decided I wasn’t interested in that; I just wanted to see it. And now I have, and you know what? It’s impressive. It’s tall and pointy like an ice pick and it glitters silver. It’s something to see, but maybe not something to behold for very long.

What was more of a spectacle was all of the people crowded around taking pictures. It was really busy. I got into a small altercation with some guy when I did not take him up on his offer to take my photo when I was trying to take a selfie. Seriously, if was nice of him to offer, but I said “No, thanks.” That should have been the end of it. And that was when I was called a “bitch” in Dubai. Ah, memories.

Crowds

And the whole area is, well, a little strange. It’s very impressive. All the buildings are new and fancy and there’s a lagoon and fountains and bridges and restaurants, and there’s this delicate sort of Arabian music playing subtly in the background. It feels like you’ve stepped into some sort of modern Arabian Disneyland. I felt the same way a little bit when I was in Doha. It also could have been in South Florida, like if South Florida had built some Arabian themed subdivision and mall, it would probably look like this.

*Shiny, New Dubai around the Dubai Fountains*

But it was nice enough, so I found myself a table on a restaurant patio on the water but just out of view of the Burj Khalifa (because honestly it’s nice but I don’t need to sit and stare at it) and I sat down to have lunch and shisha. It was lovely. The shisha and food were excellent, and I got to carry on and hear and see some the buzz of the neighborhood. The buzz intensified when the fountains started in the pool just in front of the Burj Khalifa. It’s one of those dancing fountain things where music plays and fountains go on and fan around in different ways. I’ve seen this in Vegas and in Shanghai and I don’t really understand the fascination.

It was a pleasant place to spend some time. When I was finished, I walked back through the Mall. I stopped at Sephora to replace my eyeliner that had been drying out (ok maybe malls aren’t all bad) and then I took the train back to my hotel.

I had a shower and a bit of a nap at which point it was dark and I walked around Old Dubai for a little bit, doing nothing in particular before I went back to the airport and caught my flight to London.

I enjoyed this layover much more than my first one in Dubai, although I have to say my impression is: Dubai is not really my thing. Old Dubai is fine, but it’s not as lovely or interesting as the old city centres and souqs that I’ve been to in other ‘Middle Eastern’ cities, and new Dubai just isn’t my thing at all; it’s too car-centric, too sterile…it’s just not for me. But I’m glad that I saw it. That’s the great thing about the long layover: you can have a taste of a place and decide whether or not you want to come back and see more. In this case, I’m satisfied.

I was onward to London where I would have another long layover in my favourite city before returning home to Vancouver.

Wandering North

Tag: layover