“Before God was God and boulders were boulders, Basques were already Basques.” --Basque proverb A merry little trip to the Basque Country, an autonomous utopia containing a bit of both France and Spain is like trying to find the original site of the Garden of Eden, which Basques claim might be hidden in their unrecognized “country”: Euskadi! Inching along in your rented Renault time machine on the high mountain passes through the … [Read more...]
How to Brave the Budapest Baths
Spa guy John M. Edwards feels frigging fantastic! If you're in Magyarorstag (Hungary), do as the Daubians do: Say goodbye to "bliss" and splash around au Naturale in the "eau de vie" of a real thermal spa, with a Red Bull in Hand... When you first arrive in Budapest for both (clandestine) “business and pleasure”-- feeling like a dumb foreign doppelganger soaking with sweat and stinking of brimstone--say no to the Four Seasons Hotel showers and … [Read more...]
Experience Midsummer Like a Local in Five Baltic Sea Cities
In Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Riga, Warsaw and Hamburg alike, Residents Enjoy Their Summers to the Fullest, Inviting Visitors to Join Celebrations and Laid-back Summer Activities. Los Angeles, April 29, 2014 – Connected by the Baltic Sea, shared history and cultural traditions, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Riga, Warsaw and Hamburg have, above all, one thing in common: Locals worship their summer with warm winds and short nights when the sun barely … [Read more...]
A Guide to Booking Your First European Adventure Holiday
If you’re used to relaxing vacations sat upon peaceful white sands, making the decision to take an adventure holiday can be daunting – but it should be well worth the leap (quite literally). Read on for a guide on booking your first thrill seeking break in Europe. Choosing an activity and finding the perfect location Are you ready to embrace your wild side and discover the great outdoors? Europe is home to many brilliant adventure holiday … [Read more...]
Spain: Help, Help me Ronda!
John M. Edwards gets vertigo and yells help in a lofty Andalusian precipice town where Walt Disney’s family supposedly originally came from. . . . Away from the ugly urbanization of Spain’s Costa del Sol, along scenic Highway 44, I arriveD in my leased “Europe by Car” vehicle via Marbella to Ronda, one of the most beautiful villas blancos (“white villages”) in the Andalusian countryside. Perched, this improbably fantastic nest persists on … [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...]
A Stay at the Silky Oaks Eco-Lodge, Daintree Rainforest Queensland
After traveling for probably a great distance as most of the guests have endured prior to arriving here - you walk into your cool room, with soft music playing to match the mood of the setting, and you realize you have arrived somewhere special. Your heart beat immediately drops a few octaves, you can feel your mood change instantaneously to a peaceful state and you wonder why you can't capture this feeling and take it with you after you leave. … [Read more...]
How to Barter for Paradise
How to Barter for Paradise by Michael Wigge Michael Wigge, the man from Germany who pushes the boundaries when he travels is back at it again! This time he's bartering his way around the world with the hopes of securing a home in Hawaii. Owning a home in Hawaii has long been one of his dreams - ever since he was a child when he hung up a poster in his room with images of the Hawaiian Islands. He gives himself 200 days to complete this … [Read more...]
Stork Storm over Santiago de Compostela
Airmail from Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain) An American backpacker travels the 500-mile Christian pilgrimage route of “El Camino de Santiago de Compostela” (St. James Way)—only to end up surviving an aggro divebombing storm of storks! “Oh, look, the birds are so fonny!” said an olive-eyed senorita, a groovy Gallego art student with an auburn cloak from a nearby university. I didn’t agree. After all, birds are descended from the … [Read more...]
Dispatch: The Berlin Stories Check-in at Checkpoint Charlie
Separated from his student tour group in East Berlin, a much younger John M. Edwards gets seriously lost and says, “Ich bin ein Berliner!” (I am a doughnut!), but, er, for exactly how long? It’s a race against time to find “Chuck” and bust through the border crossing before the “Iron Curtain” closes. . . . For numerology fans, both the first Mayflower landing at Plymouth Rock and the dramatic fall of the Berlin Wall fell on my birthday: … [Read more...]
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