Bakary Cafe

Beautiful scenery.

Quiet. Peaceful. Not entirely remote but deserted.

Also had time to indulge in some sledging. Great fun.

Well… there’s a question.

I know what I would do with a few millions. We all do, don’t we? That question always comes up in the pub with friends, after a few drinks, or when you’re stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere with too much time to think: “what would I do if I won the lottery?”

Every now and then, the thought pops into my head… if I had £x millions I would…

But £41,658 is a very specific amount.

On Airbnb, you can currently rent the Magical Mariazell village in Austria for that amount of money. Last year, for £44,862, you could (allegedly) rent the whole of Liechtenstein! Yep.

The website has loads of very tempting and unusual places to rent - planes; boats; parking spaces (!); trains and… islands. Imagine… your very own island in Fiji… Oh my.

Back to earth, I see that they also have great flats and houses, most of them with a wow factor and a more appealing price tag.

Oh alright then.

It’s one of these silly things…

I cannot walk past this ‘Visit Finland’ advert in the DLR without smiling. I know. But what can I say? I smile and go ‘Oh alright. I shall. Soon.’

Not long to go now. My trip to Finland is on the horizon.

End of years always bring self-reviews. May be not consciously, but I know that these last few weeks, I’ve scanned 2011 for highlights and lowlights. The New Year always brings new hopes and promises. You hope to learn from the errors and the  mistakes made. You set yourself targets for the new year.

The New Year resolutions.

Traditionally, these are meant to bring you nothing but pain, anger and frustrations. Cut down on your drinking; eat less; exercise more. Diets are synonymous with January. Resolutions are kind of forced on you. Deep down, you will inevitably rebel against one or more resolutions and as you do, you will feel a sense of failure.

So here goes. I have learned from the past and resolutions are not worth making.

Yes I’d like to be fitter and yes I’d like to have a great year… but I don’t have to make myself miserable achieving these.

So no resolutions for me… but recommendations. Semantics I know. But I feel a lot more comfortable with recommendations:

• Continue to travel and explore.  Adventures are everywhere.
• More weekends away (that weekend break to Finland last August opened up so many possibilities!)
• Eat good food (and if the portions are smaller, that’s okay too) and try new recipes. Bake more.
• Walk up to my desk, don’t take the lift (and no, I’m not on the first floor!)
• Try new things each month - a new restaurant; a new pub; independent cinemas; sights; etc. (no matter how big or small)
• Make the most of London
• More free time to do nothing

So… the opportunities are there. Let’s go get them.

The hot destinations of 2012:

Lonely Planet’s best value destinations:

•  Northeastern USA
• Japan
• Tajikistan
• Porto (Portugal)
• Lesotho
• Iquitos (Peru)
• San Francisco (USA)
• Ohrid (Macedonia)
• Mekong Delta (Vietnam)
• Merida (Mexico)

The National Geographic Traveller published a month-by-month guide to this year’s must-see destinations:

• January: Burma
• February: Northern Lights
• March: Indochina
• April: Halifax; Vienna; Miami; Stockholm and Helsinki
• May: Croatia
• June: travel to ‘less-travelled corners of the British Isles
• July: escape the Olympics with an African safari
• August: Europe by rail
• September: Egypt
• October: China
• November: solar eclipse
• December: Ecuador

Wanderlust magazine also produced a monthly guide:

• January: Antarctica
• February: Northern Lights
• March: Petra
• April: Japan
• May: Ukraine
• June: rhino safari in South Africa
• July: European cities of culture - Maribor (Slovenia) and Guimaraes (Portugal)
• August: Mount Hagan (Papua New Guinea)
• September: Vietnam
• October: Burma
• November: Falkland Islands
• December: Chichen Itza (Mexico)

Hmmm… not much there matching my plans.

At this time of year, we usually see lists and lists of destinations for the new year ahead - the hot trends and the new discoveries.

And so not surprisingly, the BBC’s list of places to avoid in 2012 caught my attention.

The usual suspects are there - Afghanistan; Pakistan; Iran and the Gulf; Iraq; Yemen and Somalia. It probably makes sense to avoid the Middle East altogether the moment, following last year’s uprisings. Too early.

One of them caught my eye however: the Olympics. Well, that’s an interesting one. The Olympics are in London and London is where I spend a lot of time.

I have long debated whether to be in London for the Olympics or go off travelling. In the end, I decided to stay put. The overcrowded public transport unable to cope with the demand and the hordes of tourists are still a major put off… but the Olympics are in town and that’s not something that happens that often!

And my 2012 travel plans involve leaving London but in March, June and December!

I caught up with Sicily Unpacked last night.

The first episode sees art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon and brilliant Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli  showing  us the art and culinary delights of Palermo.

So… not surprisingly,  I now want to go to Sicily and I want Giorgio to cook for me as I travel around the country!

So… according to World66, I have now visited 23% of all countries.

Wow. Slowly creeping up.

If giant pandas doing somersaults in the snow is your thing… you’re in luck!

I looked out of the window yesterday afternoon and saw fog.

There was nothing out there. Which was kind of weird.

And so I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like to live somewhere where you don’t see daylight for weeks on end, like the residents of this far north Icelandic costal town. The sun went down on 16 November… and that’s it for 74 days!

They have 74 days of darkness ahead of them.