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Landing in Sunny Monty P
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Almond milk included for scaleWhat a Large Cat
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It appears to be Party Time already 🎉Goodness Would You Look at the Time
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Badly translated, the sign reads: 'You can be a dogmaster in the Space Army'Do Tell Me More…
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BYOG: Bring Your Own GrinderLesson Learned After 8 Months of Lugging Coffee Beans Around Central America
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A Very Scenic Trip to the Local Spar
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No prizes for guessing what would happen the moment I turned my backWatching and Waiting…
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The mayor made all public transport in the city free to residents at the start of the year, and in doing so removed most, if not all, of the ticket machines. The only option is to buy tickets on a mobile app, but the side effect is that nobody shows anything to the drivers and they don't ask to see anything 👀Commuting on the Cheap
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My new job is with a startup that makes software for volunteer management for festivals, marathons, etc. They usually get some free tickets to the events to dish out, and so I've just put myself down for a 10k in April. I hate running.Getting Into the Spirit of Things
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Turns Out the 9A bus takes me to work, the 9B bus does not
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The upside of getting the wrong bus was that I walked past a bakery that makes these gorgeous thingsFougasse ❤️
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Also, comically needyThe Fluffiest Thing I Have Ever Touched
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I'm booked onto a walking tour of the city centre today, should help me get my bearingsTime for Tourism
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I lost the group in the busy square at the beginning, and despite traipsing from one aide of the centre to the other never ran into them again. So that was a €12 bust, and I've learnt the lesson never to do a walking tour unless you pay at the end.Tour Update
But whilst I was stumbling around I did run into the bizarre spectacle of the city hall being simultaneously protested on two different sides by two different groups (Gaza ceasefire on one side, and a large motorcycle club that seemed to be against GMOs from what I could gather from their signs on the other)
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The road outside my flat's been shut for a few days for some sort of film shoot. From all the resources here I don't imagine it's a small indie flick.Lights, Camera, Action
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What Clean-Looking Pigeons They Have Here
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A Challenger Appears
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Couldn't find garam masala so bought some random spices; now I'm stuck with a disconcertingly festive chickpea soup because it turns out I got a Christmas spice blendFirst Time Cooking in France
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What is up with all this shrapnel? You're going down the official Ben Currency Rankings, Euros!I've Only Been Here for a Week
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I now regret choosing a career that requires functional arms every dayClimb Time
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In Latin America people say hello to everyone on the (mini)bus when they get on.International Bus Politeness Power Rankings
In France you thank the driver and say goodbye, shouting from the exit door at the back of the bus all the way to the front.
In the UK you thank the driver whilst passing them.
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Would you believe I've somehow not had any wine since I got hereShopping Trip
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Olives, anchovies and caramalised onions on a flatbread. It smells incredible(y strong), and the name looks like 'piss salad': what's not to love?Pissaladière
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Sleepy Li'l Skin Bundle
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My roomie works Mon–Thu so we celebrate with drinks, then I remember I still have work on Fri. Working from home, though, so I can roll out of bed whenever.Big Friday Energy
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The nutella-filled tube in the background was for breakfast-dessert. I swear I'll go back to being veggie/vegan just as soon as I've tried every single pastry in France.I've Found a Place That Does Even Greasier (and Therefore More Delicious) Fougasses
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I Think I Broke Him
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Lunchtime Run 'n' Sun
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Soon, my pretties…I See Mountains…
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Delicious Luminous Poke
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Bridge Over the River Lez
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TGIM
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This must be what it was like applying for credit cards before 2008Positively Swimming in Plastic
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One of my several ongoing schemes to make moving to the EU post-Brexit way less annoying was to claim German citizenship (thanks to one Oma and one 2021 amendment to their nationality law), but I don't think that's gonna happen any time soon…It'll Be Worth the Wait
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Just look at its little carrying box 😍Tarte aux Framboises
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Thank god for the laundromat machine that lets me pay for my €5.80 wash in 20c incrementsSlowly Taming the Coin Pile
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Pair Programming
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Today's the Day I Peak as an Artist
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Next stop: ever-pungent Paris!Setting Off on a Whistlestop Birthday Tour of the Capitals of Europe
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How Parisian
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…completely uncapturable on my potato of a phone camera. Just trust me that the Alps looked lovely.That Was a Very Scenic Train Ride…
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Met Up with One of My Nicaraguan Tourguiding Buddies for Lunch
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(That's a fully-stocked bar at the top)My Kind of Office Lobby
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I could get used to rent-free living in Paris, here in the bizarre office basement hostelNot a Bad Gaff
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Definitely a far cry from the tech industry crunch time standard 'sleeping bag under your desk' setupNice Than Some Actual Hostels I've Stayed In
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100-ish of us all trying to do a big escape room type thing simulteneouslyTeam Building Evening
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Last time I was in Paris, I went to a house party and missed my coach to Amsterdam the following morning. This time around, there was an post-escape room afterparty in the office with a free bar, and I had another coach to Amsterdam to catch this morning.Dodged the Paris Curse 💪
I managed to get up on time, but realised as I set off that I left my passport in Montpellier. I thought for sure I was scuppered, but they let me on with my driving license.
So, in sum, I'm Amsterdam-bound babyyyyyyy 🎉 And slightly hungover. -
Christ, the North of France is boringThe First Interesting Thing I've Seen for Hours
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I always enjoy when something in Dutch looks just similar enough to English to look sillyWerk beter. Werk flexibel.
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Made it to the Place I'm Staying with 2% Battery left on My Phone 💪
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Amsterdam: Still My #1 Capital City
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Call Me the Cat Whisperer
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Between the Monkey Run and my third Europespedition, I think Michael now has the dubious honour of being featured in the greatest number of trips tracked on this siteMonkey Runner Meetup
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I'm watching Dune: Part 2 and Poor Things, because Zone of Interest was only available in German with Dutch subtitles.The Flat is Out of Action Tonight, So I'm Settling in for a Nice 5-hour Stint at the Local Cinema
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…I was walking down a side road and ran into one giving a bunch of kids a go on his motorcycle, seemingly just for shits and giggles, and it was very cute. They were as stoked to play with the siren as I would be (now, not even as a kid).I'm Sure Dutch Cops Suck in Some Others Ways, But…
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Face Like Thunder
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https://track.bengoldsworthy.net/47xj8go928ql9mq3r20p?from=2653&to=2668Zagreb Throwback
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Just Dutch Looking Silly Again
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Don't Mind Me, Just Mastering My Fourth Public Transport System of the Week 💅
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Catching Up with My Fave Italian
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'InOui' in French sounds like 'ennui', the word for 'boredom'.I Don't Get SNCF's Branding
That said, as someone from the UK, the thought of a boring, predictable, reliable rail network would be quite a selling point
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Vwoosh goes the train boy; choo choo 🚂TGV Mode: Activate
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Also GPS barely seems to work here… this wasn't a problem in the middle of Darién of all places!Northern France: All the Charm of Chernobyl
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Quite a weekend: three cities across three countries, right up western Europe and back, meeting up with a half-dozen pals and making a couple new ones. Consider me thoroughly birthdayed out.Monty Sweet Monty
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Neoclassical architecture is very silly but still quite coolJust An Unreasonably Large Archway
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I'm heading back to the UK today (for my sins), so I'll be pausing the tracker until I come back to Monty P, probably in May.‘Mr Monty P’ Will Return After These Messages