Porto

Yes, I know I've been back a month but I have literally been running since I returned. Deadlines have been coming so thick and fast, my brain is literally leaking out of my ear.

But here is visual evidence that I was indeed in Portugal's second city last month and cruising along the Duoro (and not, as some wag on Instagram suggested, at home in Welly wearing sweatpants, eating takeout and posting travel images ripped from the web).

I'm still writing the stories from this leg of the media trip but in the meantime, here are some visuals of this gorgeous city which is now my BFF.

 

Home

Thirty something hours ago, I was being driven through rush-hour traffic in Rome (when is it not rush-hour there?) by a mad-man who drove as though  someone had spilled a pint of acid in his lap.

A tangle of flights, airline lounges (grazie mille, Emirates!) and more calories than I would eat in a week later, and I arrived in Wellington to a gloriously sunny day.

It was so good to see my two boys and (middle age alert) my gorgeous white roses which were tiny buds when I left two weeks ago.

As much as I adore Italy, it is lovely to be home.

Pompeii - and the end

The last day of our Insight Vacations media famil was spent driving from Sorrento to Pompeii and then onto Rome for our last night.

Tomorrow night, I fly from Rome to Dubai, spend five hours in the lovely Emirates lounge, and then do the 16 and a bit hour schlep to Auckland (it's an hour or so less going that way). And then two hours and another short hop to Welly.

Before that there will be a last few hours spent in the glorious city of Rome, soaking up the late autumn sun and attempting to off-load the last few Euro.

See you on the other side...

The world's longest flight

A few months back I wrote about taking the 17.5  hour direct flight from Auckland to Dubai, currently the world's longest air route. Tomorrow, I'm doing it again.

Before that there will be lunch in Auckland with my old mate Lil and some work in the lovely Emirates lounge before being herded onto the plane for what seems like forever. This time, sadly, the Travel Gods were off having a long lunch and I wasn't able to get into business class. But at least I scored some lounge passes so I can have a shower in Dubai before the next 6.5 hour schlep to Rome.

I shall miss my two boys, especially given the aftershocks that are still rumbling through the region. Poor Bristol is so freaked out he'd rather sit in the garden, even in the rain, than come inside. It breaks my heart. Here's hoping the quakes stop soon.
 
See you on the other side....

Italian feast

My foodie story on Bologna from last year's Emirates media famil is published in the August/September issue of Food Magazine (click here to read). 

The world's longest flight

My story about flying Business Class for 17 hours on the Emirates flight from Auckland to Dubai, the longest in the world, is published in the Flight Centre blog today (click here to read).

(Pic Credit: Emirates)

Need for Speed in Bologna

My story on my visit to the Ferrari and Ducati HQs during the Emirates media trip to Bologna is published in today's Dominion Post (and Monday's Christchurch Press). Click here to read.

Another Bologna story

From November's Emirates media famil, this time published in the Flight Centre blog (click here to read).  

Bravo Bologna

The first cab off the Bologna rank is published in this week's NZ Woman's Weekly (click here to read).

Dubai's art hotel

Last year, I was lucky enough to visit Dubai twice on Emirates media trips. The first time, I stayed at the fantabulous Jumeriah Creekside hotel, an 'art hotel' where surfaces are slathered thickly with every conceivable type of art.

My piece on the visual delights that greeted me everytime I left my room, plus the art tour I did, was published in the Urbis Magazine blog last month (click here to read).

Eating Dubai

Happy New Year. We are just back from two weeks at the beach house and I am missing the sea already. I can't believe how much our simple wooden bach has become my happy place.

In the meantime, another of my stories about a Dubai food walking tour is published in the Flight Centre blog (click here to read).