Blogging Abroad

Zis train is for Olympia only
Yesterday I received the following email from Matt Jarvis
“Hi there, while travelling on the Olympia shuttle the other day I heard possibly the sexiest, most alluring voice ever on the Tube. A French female accent softly purred the destination before reminding us to “Mind ze doors“. I noticed she was also very petite and to be frank; cute, as we passed her cab on the way to the exhibition.
The following day, she was back on the same run, so we were treated to her announcements again. Sadly, the PA was very poor on this train and I could not get a good enough recording on my phone. If she ever reads this, I would like to thank her for brightening up my day. Top Girl!
Just a thought, how about a competition to record the sexiest (Male or Female) announcement on the tube? It appears LUL […]

Original post by Annie Mole and a wordpress plugin by Elliott

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Up until Super Bowl Sunday, my performances in the previous Tortoise & Hare races were much like Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman’s during the NFL season — erratic, inept, and underachieving. In two of the last three races I got lost, resulting in either getting disqualified or running extra mileage. Then in the third race I ran so slowly in zero degree temperatures that snails could have ambushed me had they not already frozen to death.
So in the latest T&H event — the Warren Park 5k — I was determined to run a good race. Never mind that the day before, I had run 14 miles (and hence my legs were a little sore) and then hung out with some friends in Old Town until 1:00 in the morning. Also never mind that when my alarm shook the house at 7:00am, I was a bit […]

Original post by Felix and software by Elliott

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Many people seem to be surprised by this but I am a pretty big football fan. That is, professional American football (to differentiate from the there’s-way-too-many-teams college football, eh?-does-anyone-care Canadian football, and international football, known to Americans as “soccer.”) Come January, I even turn on the TV once in awhile — something that almost never happens during the rest of the year — just to watch.
Now, before 2006 (when the Steelers made their incredible, improbable Super Bowl run), the teams I were rooting for never went all the way with the exception of the 49ers in 1989, 1989, and 1995 and the Broncos in 1998 and 1999. This year, the Steelers, Niners, Broncos, and Tennessee Titans (another one of my favorites) all did not make the playoffs, but so not to spoil the fun, every post-regular season week I picked teams to root for.
This was my […]

Original post by Felix and software by Elliott Back

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by ben curtis 
While they are busy building enough new flats around Madrid to house the remaining few young professionals that still haven’t fled to the city from the economically depressed provinces, there are a remarkable number of empty flats here in the centre of the city. Half the shutters in the 6 floor building opposite ours are permanently down - a sure sign of an empty home - and no-one has lived next to, or below us, for as long as we have been here. There are a vast number of unoccupied flats in the centre of Madrid, a problem that is reflected in large cities all over Spain.
The local Catalan Government had decided to do something about the problem, and intends to charge the owners of such premises 9 Euros for every day that their flat remains empty. The idea is to stimulate a completely stagnant rental market. I […]

Original post by Rhiannon Davies and software by Elliott

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tracy b.currently reports from Ischia 
As the cool has settled in and the summer’s sweaty nights are long gone, my affection for wine has left white and turned as red as the leaves on the vines. My cravings for fish having been well-satisfied with the abundance of the sea on the table here in Southern Italy, I now have "voglia di carne" (lit trans: I have want of meat).
This is a seasonal adaptation for me as I am loyal to all colors in the wine spectrum. My first consideration when choosing a wine is what is on my plate, and sometimes what is on my plate may be determined by whether I have mood for bianco or rosso.
But these winter months for me mean that my house is often filled the scent of a slow stew, and my bones need to be warmed by red wine. Being in Campania, I feel […]

Original post by Rhiannon Davies and a wordpress plugin by Elliott

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“There’s a sports car out there with its top down,” remarked a Fort Collinser to his kid standing behind me inside the diner I was having lunch at. “Someone’s thinking positive…”
Er, yes, that would be me. While I have enjoyed the unusual snowy weather the last few weeks, I’m looking forward to warmer days. In just a couple of days the high temperatures of Fort Collins will be in the mid-50s, which should feel absolutely scorching after weeks in the 20s and 30s. Never mind that when I drove out to lunch, the temperature was still 17 degrees and there’s still some snow on all grassy areas.
No matter; the sun was out, and to paraphrase a wise man, “it’s never too cold; you just aren’t wearing enough.” So after throwing on a fleece headband and donning my warmest car coat, I hopped in the […]

Original post by Felix and software by Elliott

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by jared bibler
I met with NPR’s Eric Weiner again last week after work, for a follow-up interview on happiness in the Land. He’s not doing a radio bit on this, but he is coming out with a book on the happiest countries (and he wants you to buy it!).
The second conversation I had with him was much better as he seemed to have settled in to the laid-back ways of Reykjavík after some more days here. (If you missed it, take a look back at our first conversation.)
The Friday-after-work meeting was in sharp contrast to one I had the night before with an instructor I had helped bring in to teach an investment-related class here. Like many Americans I meet here (mostly hot-tub tourists) he asked why I liked it here but then as soon as I began to answer, he cut in and tried to refute my […]

Original post by Rhiannon Davies and software by Elliott Back

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Peter Egan — Editor-At-Large of both Road & Track and Cycle World magazines for the last few decades — not only is one of my all-time favorite writers but is most responsible for developing my automotive tastes even before I could drive. In addition, he has engaged in numerous adventures around the globe in a variety of motorized (and non-motorized) vehicles and I consider him something of an expert on the best places in the world to do a driving tour.
So when I received the March 2007 edition of Road & Track and saw that Peter had written an article entitled “Drive the High Country,” my eyes lit up. The article, it turns out, was about driving in Colorado and about a motoring event for pre-1961 cars called the Colorado Grand.
Unfortunately Road & Track neglected to post an online version of this article on their website (email […]

Original post by Felix and a wordpress plugin by Elliott

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Do you ever think back on your travels and have one place that was the ultimate destination? One peak traveling experience that keeps you wanting more and more? I do, it was a hill trek in the northern jungles of Thailand. The place was nice and the food was amazing, but what really made this trip extra ordinary was the people.

We were all in the same situation, backpackers who had been drinking cheap SangSom Thai whiskey in Bangkok, now up in the remote north. The rain poured the first day, and the thin dirt paths we followed transformed in to heavy orange mud with veins of water flowing in the opposite direction we were headed.

After a grueling first day, the first day of any strenuous exercise many of us eight backpackers had done in months, we arrived at a small camp with two huts, a fireplace, a table and a small river that was flowing about 15 paces away. That night after a freezing dip in the river we sat down, feeling accomplished and deserving of our grub. We talked around a candle for a few hours, but headed to bed early, both because we needed the sleep to recharge after today and we would need our rest for tomorrow.

The next morning we woke up and began the trek in single file following our knowledgeable leader Mr. Sack. The sun was out and the air was fresh. We followed him a much further distance this day, taking few breaks. The fauna was lusher as we were deeper in the jungle, or maybe everything just seemed more vibrant and green because of the rain the day before, and the bright sun that was out. We followed Mr. Sack to a small hill tribe village in the middle of the jungle. The village was situated in a valley; green rice paddocks grew in the distance at the base of the bordering hill. The village roads were orange dirt, and the dwellings simple huts rose above the ground.

Before we could rest, a group of local young men approached our group of trekkers and said to meet them over there, as they pointed towards a hill. We were not sure what to expect, but Mr. Sack urged us to join them and bring water. So we replenished our water and began walking through tiny dirt alleys and between houses with a few village dogs now following us. We had walked about 200 meters when we saw what the local young men were talking about. It was a soccer pitch on the outskirts of the village. An orange dirt pitch, it was flat and bordered by makeshift seating on one side and a rice paddock on the other. The villagers were kicking around the ball and urged us to join them. We played a game, the trekkers vs. the villagers. We got killed 11-1, but I blame that on being tired from the trek, and them having home field advantage.

Playing in this soccer game was the best experience I have ever had traveling.

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A Romantic night of Shafting
Ah February only two weeks to the 14th. If you’re looking for an unusual Valentine’s night a two stop journey on the Tube at Wapping might not be what you had in mind.
However on Valentine’s Day, The Brunel Museum is organising guided journeys of the Thames Tunnel, by Tube, for lovers. By kind permission of a pandering London Underground, couples may see the smooth Doric columns, the deep recesses, the pilasters and porticos of the tunnelling Frenchman, Marc Brunel, Isambard’s Dad. Here, before the trains came, were sixty shops with garters, silk handkerchiefs and lovers’ tokens in the World’s First Underwater Shopping Arcade. Here also at the Thames Tunnel Fancy Fair were novelty acts, sword swallowers and female acrobats, and dark places where lovers might talk until morning.
According to Robert Hulse curator of the Musuem and tour leader of this innuendo ridden trip […]

Original post by Annie Mole and plugin by Elliott Back

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