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It’s time to end a year of adventures in which flights were canceled, attractions closed unexpectedly and I made decisions that turned out to be either wrong or costly – usually both.
But travel can also produce small miracles that add to the experience. As fate would have it, miracles have been coming at a regular rate of one per month. Some of these revelations were unexpected events, others are open to all.
January: Melbourne’s Miracle
there was nothing miraculous about it British Airways A Singapore-bound Airbus A380 flight was canceled at the gate due to a technical problem. BA staff rebooked me on Singapore Airlines, which got me to the city state in time for my onward journey to Melbourne. However, once again, jetstar The flight was canceled at the gate – this time due to pilot illness.
Emirates’ business class flight to take me to a big travel event I was attending was a disappointing “distress buy”, not least because it arrived late. But getting from inside the plane to Melbourne Airport in a taxi in nine minutes was a miracle, and I reached the venue just in time for the speeches.
February: Miracle of Reggio Calabria
Here’s a miracle you can experience for yourself. take a plane or train to regio calabria At the bottom of Italy: a beautiful, last-line town looking wobbly over rooftops towards the Mediterranean Sea. Visit the National Archaeological Museum, spend three minutes in a dehumidification airlock and head out to meet “A” and “B,” as these two life-size statues of naked men are prosaically named. These rias are bronze: made by the Greeks 2,500 years ago and found in the seabed near the Calabrian coast by a fisherman in 1972. They are the most powerful figures from the past I have ever seen.
March: Miracle of Lisbon
Sometimes you guess right about a hotel, but on this visit to the Portuguese capital the room was characterless and uncomfortable. But I met a British couple who said, “We’ve just checked out of a beautiful apartment – here’s the owner’s card.” It was an urban dream: colourful, elegant and welcoming.
April: Miracle of Croatia
When I booked my first Sail Croatia departure of the season from Split, I had no idea that the large boat with 40 berths would become a private yacht experience. The nine illustrious party numbered just over 11 guests; I and one American were outnumbered by nine Australians, which proved to be the best possible company.
May: Miracle of Long Island
Hitchhiking around the Hamptons (the most posh on Long Island) is better than you might expect. A delightful Russian-American couple picked me up from the Gilded Age mansion of Planting Fields and took me to the train station. “Go to Coney Island,” he recommended. I did so, and felt back on the Black Sea.
June: Miracle of Warsaw
In a corner of the Polish capital between the Old Town and the river is the Warsaw University Library. It is decorated not with a roof garden but with an entire elevated park, surrounded by windows casting light on the learned world below: an urban oasis in midsummer or midwinter.
July: Miracle of Le Marche
My friends Charlotte and Julian invited me to stay in a beautiful villa in the middle of Italy. More specifically, location is the definition of middle of nowhere. A plane to Perugia, a bus to Assisi, two trains, a bus and a sequence of lifts got me there at the appointed time, 6 pm.
August: Miracle of the Red Rocks
I thought it was quite miraculous to find a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Denver, Colorado and back in peak season for £620 return. The Red Rocks Amphitheater was the crowning glory: where the Rockies and humanity meet.
September: Miracle of Ostrava
There is a lot of interesting industrial archeology in Katowice in southern Poland. But I had heard rumors of more dramatic city landscapes south of the Czech border. A FlixBus took me to the eastern Czech city of Ostrava, where the structures of the Dolni Vitkovice Ironworks have been renovated as a giant adventure playground.
October: Miracle of Tire
foreign Office Israel recommends against traveling to Tyre, Lebanon’s gorgeous port city just 12 miles north of the border. I didn’t immediately ignore the warning. The highly professional travel company with which I had booked a week-long adventure assured me that it would be safe – despite repeated Israeli incursions. After exploring the spectacular Roman ruins with no other tourists in sight, our small group enjoyed a refreshing and delicious lunch on the coast. For that brief period, everything seemed right with the world.
November: Miracle of Heilbronn
I’ve written about how the small town of Heilbronn in southwestern Germany offers inviting self-service tours: allowing you to literally unlock the town’s historic sights. The Hafenmarkturm (Hafenmark Tower) towers over the Old Town, a study made of red sandstone to match the deepening afternoon. I had the keys and could explore at will. I salute a city that allows visitors to climb its monuments unaccompanied.
It was quite miraculous, but it was only possible because of a series of events, including that my Ryanair flight from Stansted to Baden-Baden arrived 20 minutes early; Border officials are fast and helpful; The two cabin crew who were allowing me to share the only taxi to the city of Rastatt; And, when I swiftly reached the platform three minutes after the train, which I should not have been able to catch, was about to depart, there was a slight delay and a kind conductor allowed me to board the train.
December: Miracle of Chandigarh
Making plans as you go is a reasonable strategy, but sometimes it means you miss out on strictly scheduled activities. In the northwest Indian city of Chandigarh, the big draw is the architecture of Le Corbusier, who brought his vision of the city of the future to the foothills of the Himalayas.
At the Le Corbusier Centre, the manager mentioned that a guided tour of the government buildings that form such an identity was about to begin. Unfortunately, it was right on the other side of town. Calling up his friend, the tour leader, and a super-fast rickshaw driver, he finds his place on an amazing journey that wanders from the entrails to the rooftops of modernist marvels.