Diego’s day on the Naruto train

A couple of weeks ago, after a day trip to Tsuyama for a spot of hanami – more on that in this post on my travel blog – I headed for the station to catch the first available rapid service back to Okayama.

Imagine my surprise when the sight of this train greeted me on the platform.

Deus, qui hodiérna die . . .

. . . per Unigénitum tuum æternitátis nobis áditum, devícta morte, reserásti: vota nostra, quæ præveniéndo aspíras, étiam adiuvándo proséquere. Per eúndem Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia saecula sæculórum. Amen.

- Collect of the Mass of Easter Sunday

Diego wishes you, your family, and all your loved ones a very happy Easter.

Chasing after cherries

Flowering cherries, that is.

Whilst a decent figurative title under other circumstances, it now reflects the literal truth for many a prospective traveller to Japan this spring (myself included). Unseasonably warm temperatures sweeping across large parts of the country have triggered a much earlier start to 2013′s hanami season than originally anticipated, with places such as Tokyo seeing their trees break out into clouds of white and pink as early as mid-March. This will likely scupper the travel plans of quite a few visitors who have planned and booked their holidays around older forecasts, sending them – yes, as titled – chasing after wherever the blooming might still be in progress within striking distance of their original destinations.

新年明けましておめでとうございます

As we kick the doors of 2013 wide open, Diego happily wishes you all the best in the year ahead.

12/12/12

Two years ago, and the year before that, and another year before, I said I didn’t believe in luck. (And I would have said the same last year, were it not for the fact that I was out of the country on the relevant date.)

I still don’t.

But I still like the way the numbers line up.

Let’s savour the moment, chaps, as this’ll probably be the last opportunity to do so in most of our lifetimes.

Cheerio.

Diego’s day at St Paul’s Outside the Walls

As I still can’t drum up the energy to type out a decent blog entry, let’s make do with posting a few more pictures from my Italian holiday last year.

Today, let’s have a look round one of Rome’s greatest ancient basilicas, the church of St Paul’s Outside the Walls.

Diego’s day in Castello, Venice

I’ve always had the intention of blogging actively about my travels. As to why that noble intention hasn’t translated into a regular series of travel posts . . . well, I can name any number of excuses: work, acedia, bubonic plague, global warming, etc. (All right, scratch the third one, and I profess a contrarian’s views when it comes to the fourth. But we’ll let the first two stand.)

I haven’t given up entirely on the whole enterprise though, so let’s have another crack at it – this time with a brief account of my November 2011 walk through the back streets of Castello in Venice.