Miami, USA, 2. September 2017

Dear Frank,

whenever I travel, I have to think of you. Or, to be precise, of this song of yours - "Jet Lag". Actually, just about these 2 or  3 lines from it.

"Airports make me sad. Sure they shouldn't all look the same. They're just landing paths. Boring tourist shopping chains...."

Airports really are the most unnatural, sterile, hyper-man made environments I can imagine. Whenever I walk these long corridors, queue at security checks, endure the cold light, the constant announcements, the luxury shops, I long for a forest, a mountain landscape, a waterfall or....some place serene, real, humid, filled of fresh air. My, our real habitat as humans.

Music, once again. After 18, or perhaps 20 hours of sleepless travelling, sitting in a food court in Miami Airport, and the radio plays pop songs that are slightly dated. Like this one - "Where are you going". A very familiar tune, like an old friend, not heard for long, not spoken for long. Where are you going? Starting to lose track, this is a long journey with many stop-overs, which one is next? Another city, another hostile airport, and eventually, a final destination.

Frank Turner - Jet Lag

Dave Matthews Band - Where Are You Going

St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada; August 2016

Newfoundland is a rough place. I visit in August, the height of summer. Granted, there is 1 sunny day, when temperatures soar to 25° C. For the rest of the week though, it is rainy, chilly and unpleasant. Hard to imagine winter here.
By the way. It is not "NewFOUNDland", but "NEWfunlan". People from here are "Newfies", and the native alcohol is called Screech. If you want to become a true local, you should get yourself "screeched in": say a poem in incomprehensible Newfie dialect ("Say something from here"); eat a piece of SPAM ("Eat something from here"); have a shot of Screech ("Drink something from here"), and, the best part, kiss a frozen cod ("Kiss something from here"). Did I do it? This will stay my secret for eternity...

Some more impressions:

Jetlag-induced early rise: Sunrise over Memorial University, St. John's

 

Newfoundland, home of the puffin, the cutest thing since birds came sliced

I settled in quite quickly, and soon ran a local business.

Downtown St. John's

Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky-tacky...

Man and the sea, an old story

Humpback whale right next to the boat

 

...and gone

Puffins, this time for real

See you later!

This unassuming piece of land is Cape Spear, North America's most easternmost point.

Whales, seabirds and fishermen all feeding on the same, finger-long little fish, which congregates here in summer by the millions to spawn

Oh, the colors!

 

Some more little boxes

Why hello there! Blast from the past.

Last sunlight on the campus and Signal Hill, where the first transatlantic radio signal was received. So long...