Europe offers a wealth of stunning locations, vistas, cultural treasures and everything in-between. Whatever you’re looking for in a holiday, be it time away with the kids or time away from them, you can almost always find what you’re looking for nestled away somewhere in the EU. We’ve taken a look at some of the best places in Europe and believe it or not, the list of things to bring with is almost always the same no matter which destination you … [Read more...]
Visit Prague: the City of a Hundred Spires
Sometimes described as the City of a Hundred Spires, Prague has to be one of the most beautiful and fascinating destinations in Europe. Since the Middle Ages, it has attracted visitors from near and far. Easily the equal of Paris in terms of its history and architecture, the city has roots dating back as far as the Iron Age. Since then, this settlement on the bend of the Vltava has been home to Habsburg colonists, German militants, Soviets and … [Read more...]
Terezin
Old cemetery in Prague's Jewish Quarter[/caption]Its my junior year of college, and while my peers are headed to party in Amsterdam, or find their soul-mates in some handsome young Italian, I find myself bound for Prague. Curiosity got the best of me, so there I was off to explore in the land of Kafka, Dvorak, and Pilsner beer. Designed to give students a broad cultural, political and historical view of Czechoslovakia, the gem in this course … [Read more...]
Bohemian Rhapsody
John M. Edwards takes the waters in the Czech Republic’s so-called West Bohemian Spa Triangle in order to spy out the local talent and bathe in the buff. . . . “Give me a place to stand on, and I will have the earth.” --Archimedes In the “West Bohemian Spa Triangle,” consisting of the old spa towns Carlsbad, Marienbad, and Franzenbad, now all hiding behind Czech names, I thought to myself that it doesn’t get any better than this! In … [Read more...]
Vulgar Wheat: A Trace of Thrace Bugaria
John M. Edwards chows down on subpar "Vulgarian" grub and survives a dangerous dispute over a restaurant bill in the Balkans. Oh well, there is always the region's lip-smacking yogurt. . . . Bulgaria has by far the best yogurt in the world, partly because they invented it. They also are (supposedly) responsible for the regional cuisine shared by many of its neighbors: Bulgar wheat, stuffed grape leaves, baklava, kebabs, goat cheese, and … [Read more...]
Best way to travel to Prague: Win online poker tournament at 888poker, get a trip to Prague and Fly on Fighter JET!
Prague and Poker, this has a nice ring to it, right?! 888 Poker recently reached out to me to help promote a trip to Prague, Czech Republic they are giving away with a win of an online poker tournament at 888 Poker. Launched in 1997 in Europe, 888 Poker is currently one of the largest poker networks in the world with good presence in the USA, Australia and in Europe. With more that 10 million registered members world wide - there are always … [Read more...]
Beirut in the Baltics
John M. Edwards is drawn into the Wild Wild East of “Europe Minor.” After the collapse of communism in the USSR, inflation in the freshly minted Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia rolled up the ruble into the cheapest toilet paper around, so I decided to go East and stock up. I needed a cheap place to wipe my ass because I was then unemployed, and an Orwellian year of freelancing in Paris had left me as restless … [Read more...]
The New Alchemists of Prague
Prague Spring Break: Bohemian Rhapsody or Bozo Nightmare? The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Time Traveler in Prague In a possessed city Kafka called “a mother with claws,” John M. Edwards discovers the unbearable lightness of being a tourist in overcrowded Prague. Here a cost comparison of Communist and Capitalist Prague reveals a long history of alchemy and occupation, sorcery and intrigue, apparatchik chic and uneasy redemption. Welcome … [Read more...]
A Trace of Thrace: Balkan Adventure
In Plovdiv, Bulgaria, John M. Edwards snitches on the mystery-shrouded Balkans’ best-kept secret: an ancient (and enduring) heresy I was on the way slow train from Budapest through the Balkans, on my way to Bulgaria, chainsmoking and guzzling Egri Bikavier (Bull’s Blood) wine, when the train came to a juddering halt and was boarded by heavily armed Serbian soldiers. A Serb with an impressive handlebar moustache and an assault rifle demanded … [Read more...]
Waltzing through the Kaffehaus Kultura Vienna
“The [Café] Central is a place for people who have to kill time, so as not to be killed by it. . . .” --Alfred Polgar “I AM SIGMUND SPIELBERG!!!” The obviously unemployable flaneur with umlaut eyes landed at my marble-topped table without a proper invite, brusquely pushing aside a Thonet wooden chair. Brandishing a copy of Der Spiegel on a wooden rolling pin in his left hand, and reeking from an unfortunate cologne resembling turning … [Read more...]