velvet | flying experience

Plane views: the fields of Mallorca

Mallorca (or Majorca) is part of the Balearic islands, a Spanish archipelago in the north-western corner of the Mediterranean Sea. The island is a popular destination for package holidays; many people visit the island for its glorious sunny weather and beautiful beaches but its hinterland is absolutely fascinating and definitely worth exploring. My flight from [...]

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Plane views: Amstel River, Amsterdam

The name Amsterdam originates from the earliest settlement along the Amstel River where a dam was built. Amstel + dam = Amstellerdam, which eventually became Amsterdam. Nowadays, the river is lined by stately mansions, parks and leafy neighbourhoods. On a recent flight back to Amsterdam, I was treated to views of the Amstel River and [...]

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Millau-viaduct-photo

Velvet moments: travel photo of the week – Millau viaduct, France

The Millau Viaduct, located in the south of France, is the highest bridge in the world. It’s an impressive sight, even from 33,000 feet! Read the accompanying post: ‘Plane Views – Millau‘ See other Velvet moments: Masaai Mara, Kenya Valle de la Luna, Chile Positano, Italy Seminyak, Indonesia Lang Tengah island, Malaysia Perito Moreno Glacier, [...]

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Plane views: Valencia

My trip to Valencia in Spain has been an excellent source of Plane Views posts: there was Paris from the air and a study of the European patchwork of fields. On my flight back to Amsterdam, I chose a window seat on the left side of the plane (row ‘A’) and got very lucky! Row [...]

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An aerial experience of Europe

One of the great joys of living in Europe is being in such close proximity to a great diversity of people, cultures, history and landscapes, all within a relatively small land area. I recently had a unique opportunity to see Europe’s amazing topographical diversity from the air on a flight from Amsterdam to Valencia in [...]

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Plane views: Paris

Seeing Paris from the air is always a treat. Not only is it easy to recognise some of the city’s most famous landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre, it’s also a great way to truly appreciate the beauty of Baron Haussmann‘s stunning design of the city’s wide boulevards, epicentres [...]

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Plane views: Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Queensland. It’s a beautiful city that straddles the meandering Brisbane River and has a wonderful laid-back, tropical feel. With its mild sub-tropical climate, proximity to the seemingly endless beaches of the Pacific coast and its cosmopolitan population, Brisbane is a magnet for both [...]

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Plane views: the beauty of a window seat

It was an excerpt from a book by E.M. Forster that inspired me to create the Plane Views series: “Those mountains to the right – let me show you them.’ She pushed back a metal blind. The main chain of the Himalayas was revealed. ‘They were once called the Roof of the World, those mountains.” [...]

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Plane views: Mt. Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain between the Himalayas and the Snow Mountains of Papua. This granite massif rises majestically to a height of 4,092m or 13,435ft in the Malaysian state of Sabah, at the northern tip of the island of Borneo. Mt. Kinabalu is a local icon and revered by the indigenous people who [...]

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atacama-desert-canyon-mountains-photo

Plane views: Atacama desert

The Atacama desert in northern Chile is the driest desert in the world – it’s so dry, even bacteria find it hard to survive here (the place is virtually sterile). I flew over the desert on a flight from Santiago to Calama, a mining town close to the Atacama desert. The views throughout the 1.5 [...]

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