The worst?

Buffalo in winter - 20 below zero -
horrible, miserable place,
lousy food and full of drunken yobbos.

Best place - Paris in the 1980s in August Sept. and October.
Always something to do and perfect weather.

Muriel wrote on Jul 16^th, 2026 at 10:18pm:



The food is too expensive in Paris and they don't give you much -
you could eat 2 main courses.   

A steak is only 100 grams.

When Dubai was attacked with Iranian missiles and the loser influencers and the wealthy fled, it put a smile on my face.

Muriel wrote on Jul 16^th, 2026 at 10:18pm:


I like that description flâneur 
And I loved Paris. I honestly would love to go back to be amidst all the amazing pastries!
I had to have one and it was heaven!
Hard to describe but so light fluffy yet chewable and yum!
I’ve got a tech book I bought on patisserie and I’m going to try it soon while it’s mid cold winter.

Funny France being mentioned as last night I did a big delve for hours on the net looking at all the different ways foods are made in the different regions of France.
My dad spent time working in the coal mines and his style of cooking all my years of growing up (which I thought was just normal) was French. He cooked with wines and I remember his fondness for French snails.
I wish I paid more attention to his cooking but I do recall some things and it helps checking out the region he spent more time in.
Wish I asked more questions about his travels too but when young we just don’t.

Yes, France I would love to go see again but with plenty time to really let it soak in.

This I saw on news a couple days ago.

Qantas is preparing for a record-breaking 22-hour, 10,560-mile test flight from Toulouse, France, to Melbourne Airport using a custom Airbus A350-1000ULR. The ultra-long-haul aircraft is set to land in Melbourne around 11:00 AM on Friday, July 24, as part of the airline's 'Project Sunrise' range-testing phase

Zurich is an example of what a city would be like if the Nazis had won the war (for Frank, that would be a good thing).

I just remembered…was watching Tippung Point tonight when a Fiji holiday was included in the temptation offer.

25 years ago went to Fiji.
The humidity was unbearable! Photos of me with my inability to tame my hair from frizzing 
I was beginning to look more like a native of Fiji the more I spent time there!
Photos of my curling fringe stuck to my perspiring forehead!
Dodging palm trees because apparently falling coconuts killed more people there 
And because of their high electricity tariffs during the day, we couldn’t put air conditioner on until 6 pm!
Then the huge mozzies came to visit!
I stuck a towel where the door didn’t meet the floor to block them.
Kept light on while awake to see if any were sharing my room as unpaid guests!
Once it looked all in the clear, then I shut the light and went to sleep.

But all that aside, Suva….how I disliked it! Heckled constantly as to which shop we should go in. Idiots coming up with some piece of wood asking our name to write on said wood to sell to us.
I already was pre warned so said nothing!

If we went to wrong end of township … oooh boy the beggars and cripples! I felt like I walked into a movie set of zombie’s apocalypse!

We were saved by this big Fijian guy, 6 ft 8 inch and built like Terminator Arni.
He came around with us ladies and we were left alone by all the peddlers.
He even held our shopping. We rewarded him with fresh food we bought from the markets.

This was at a time after curfews because of shootings there.

What I found interesting was diaries written by many that passed through.
One lot had locked down for a week with no power and bathtub filled with water. And other precautions to take cover as cyclones went through. It sounded terrifying.

And how we went on a bamboo raft paddling up the river! No life jackets!
I swear I heard distant past drums echoing from past cannibals “Here comes dinner!”

And when it was time to be picked up for the 2 hour drive to airport, our lot were forgotten. We had police from NZ holidaying too. And after half hour I was worried because I wanted to get the F outta there! So I made the fuss to find out why pick up was late.
Turns out after a few phone calls and waking up office staff…that the driver forgot to come into our holiday place! And his phone was turned off.
So what happens next?
They get some guy with an old station wagon where the springs in the seat assaults your bum every bump in their crappy bumpy road!
We all sit cramped together and on the edge of the seat so Mr. Unsprung Spring doesn’t keep reminding us of how bumpy the road was!

At this point I’m wondering if I will ever get back home again!
I was saying I never want to come back to Fiji again!
And I didn’t.