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aimeebynight

tales of travel, inspiration and adventure

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beauty

Oh, Vienna

Today we are up before it’s light, only slightly marred by the effects of last night’s wine consumption, to head to the airport and jet off to Vienna.

Austria’s capital is our chosen destination for celebrating the baby bro’s 30th birthday, and as none of us have even been before, we are all pretty excited (despite the hangovers).

It’s a short two hour flight and we take off as dawn is breaking and land mid-morning – the whole day still ahead of us. The airport is in the industrial outskirts of the city and so we hop a cab to our hotel which is central.

Once we leave the smoky chimneys behind we are greeted by strange trees whose leaves grow in little blobs, reminding me of a child’s painting, and apartment blocks in varying shades of cream and yellow, their windows framed by ornate stucco trims. keeping us company on our ride is the great Danube river, not so blue today, but rather a murky green.   Continue reading “Oh, Vienna”

The Lonely Islands

It’s our last day here in Venice and with most of the key attractions covered we decide to venture a little further afield and visit some of the lagoon’s other islands.

Murano and Burano are a must for any traveller with a keen eye for photography. Known respectively for glass blowing and lace making, both islands are also famous for their brightly coloured houses. Gracing the pages of Pinterest and Instagram alike, i’ve already seen hundreds of beautiful images of the homes on my computer screen but am keen to see them for real. Continue reading “The Lonely Islands”

Black Beauty

Today it’s time to head out to wine country. Luckily for us, Alba is not only home to amazing food, but also happens to be located in the Piedmont region, whose hilly area, the Langhe, is a major wine production province. Yesterday we dipped our toe in the water with Barolo, which left me slightly underwhelmed, and so I am pinning all of my hopes on today to be completely wowed by what Italy has to offer when it comes to wine. Continue reading “Black Beauty”

Wheel of fortune

I adore fairy stories. The Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, even Disney. They’ve all been a staple part of my reading diet circa ‘a long, long time ago’. Hence how I find myself here this evening, at a concert about a fairy tale. When my friend invited me to join her for this Hallé orchestra event, she knew I’d say ‘yes!’ straight away given our current mutual obsession with ‘Once Upon a Time’ a TV show featuring all your favourite characters as they battle evil, cross realms, and fire off copious amounts of magic spells. Continue reading “Wheel of fortune”

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

April came to a close as if it were deepest darkest winter, the weather changing from a subtle spring sunshine, to a ferocious biting cold; bringing with it snow, hail and a dense milky fog.

My morning commutes to work offered a glimpse of the moors above me, their usually colourful and tree-lined foresty hilltops out of sight, masked by this uncustomary meteorological shift.  Continue reading “Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes”

There is a light that never goes out.

As I wait on the platform for the train this morning, which is invariably running late, I look out across the still-inky sky to the rolling purple hills beyond me. I watch Wordsworth’s clouds wandering lonely across them, weaving between the dark spindling trees, casting shadows, and I think about how sometimes we all fail to attend to the beauty that is right in front of us. Continue reading “There is a light that never goes out.”

The One

Today I’m leaving Santa Barbara and I start my day strong as my host has made me blueberry pancakes, strawberries and eggs all smothered in butter and syrup-yum. Continue reading “The One”

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