by Sarah Blinco | Jun 28, 2012 | Europe, Travel blogger destinations, Travel Live Learn in the media
When in Rome
“Rome, it’s as beautiful as everybody says it is; to me it’s not the big things they tell you about – the sculptures, the imposing squares and monuments, though they are amazing. It’s the little things; the tiny details, the improbable awesomeness of every little damn thing.” −Anthony Bourdain.
Last night we were watching Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel. He was experiencing his first visit to Rome, Italy, and one of his initial descriptions really hit home with me, because it wasn’t all the massive ‘stereotypically Rome’ monuments that got to me either … it was the little streets, lamps, fountains, statues. Beautiful, intricate details that to me are now ‘classically Roman’.
Simply amazing Rome, hope to see you again one day x
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by Sarah Blinco | Jun 19, 2012 | Asia-Pacific, Travel blogger destinations
Things to do in Cairns Queensland
The weather has been so perfect here that I decided to take the chopper out for a spin …
Oh wait, that’s not mine – I get so easily confused these days. Alas, I was on foot on Friday, headed firstly towards Canopy Arts Space on Grafton Street to find out all about Inkfest initiatives (awesome!) + Inkmasters as part of Festival Cairns.
Inkfest is an innovative addition to Cairns Festival showcasing the fascinating and diverse artform of printmaking 17 August – 2 September, 2012. The Inkfest program includes a number of inter-related printmaking activities, for indigenous and non-indigenous artists, emerging and experienced professional artists, and community engagement. It includes two exhibitions, at the Tanks Arts Centre and Canopy Artspace (pictured below), where some of the best local print media artists will be showing works alongside Australia’s most celebrated printmakers.
Visitors are welcome to drop by the gallery on Grafton Street – it’s huge, interesting and informative. Well worth it!
Next on Friday’s adventure …
It’s not as scary as it looks. A bunch of travel journalists and I visited James Cook University’s Cairns campus to explore some uniquely ‘Tropical North Queensland’ areas of education.
Baby Nemo! :-)
We went behind the scenes of a marine research centre that is used to film nature docos including the BBC’s The Great Barrier Reef that aired internationally earlier this year. And we discovered impressive research into the Eliminate Dengue project.
It was actually really interesting to hear about this research, and we did learn that mozzies are attracted to those of us who have ‘hotter body temperatures’ or people wearing dark clothes – so be warned.
The aim of the experiment is to breed the dengue gene out of the mozzies that have it, then all these new mozzies are released into the ‘wild’ to hopefully breed with the other evil mozzies. Such amazing stuff – but we don’t envy the poor guys at JCU who are continually getting bitten!
All this talk of mosquitoes made me thirsty, so we decided to nip out for a quiet Friday afternoon drink at The Pier Bar. A few champers later and it was time to dance, so we visited one of my fave clubs in town, The Attic. Even discovered an awesome new mix of Super Bass mixed by Liam Keegan (love it).
Attic DJ you *rock* for sharing Liam’s details with us! Cheers to you :-)
YUM.
OMG… empty much?
Panic over… thank you kind lady. BTW these fab cocktails (think Appletinis, Cosmos, Martinis) are all just $6 at The Attic on Friday nights – they have a new menu and are testing it out. Bargain!
We’re looking to reno our bathroom soon (too much The Block for us, methinks) so paid a visit to Status Plus‘ fabulous showroom in Cairns on Saturday morning. Good timing too – they were hosting an outdoor broadcast with Zinc FM, there were cook-offs, demonstrations and much more. Big thanks to Shar’ron for all her knowledge and help during the morning. One such delight we discovered was this magic tap – the stream is blue when it’s cold, and red when … you guessed it, hot.
Beer o’clock (actually, we were waiting for Cooper’s mum who got lost among the Cairns shops – as you do), so we decided to take a quick pit stop at The Courthouse, sipping on $4 Coronas under the winter sunshine. .
On Sunday, after a little morning clean up and walk with the dog, we took a drive to stunning Paradise Palms Resort & Country Club for a catch-up with some friends and family. Nice day for it too.
There’s a beautiful under cover dining area, and Sunday was blissful here. We ate, drank and were merry.
Then? Time for a nap!
