The travel vloggers I follow most closely are Zac and Ine.
Their YouTube channel is called World Wide Hearts.
I really do need to spend more time in Jasper.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Category: travel
Farewell Antwerp
I was in Antwerp, Belgium for the World Gymnastics Championships. An elegant city.
I like Antwerp best at night.
The Gymnastics competition was the highlight, however.
Canadian women qualified to the Paris Olympics 3rd in world in 2022. And the men qualified 4th in the world in 2023. Our best Olympic quadrennial ever.
Here’s where I spent about 50 hours of my life. 😀
I have a media credential.
Wade Davis – The Wayfinders
I’ve been a fan of Wade Davis for decades.
An academic and adventurer. He crossed the Darién Gap at age-20, for example.
This book is a summary of his Massey Lectures:
The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World (The CBC Massey Lectures 2009)
Very good. Smart and succinct.
Davis compares cultures quickly and easily, looking for lessons for us who haven’t lived with Amazon tribes for years.
Of the thousand key point, one really struck me. His discussion of how the British — on arrival — could not understand the Australian aborigines.
These are and were a people with no notion of linear time.
Theirs was one of the great experiments in human thought. The notion that the world existed as a perfect whole, and that the singular duty of humanity was to maintain through ritual activity the land precisely as it existed when the Rainbow Serpent embarked on the journey of creation.
… But in life there is only the Dreaming, in which every thought, every plant and animal, are inextricably linked as a single impulse, the inspiration of the first dawning.
Had humanity followed this track, it is true that we would have never placed a man on the moon.
But we would most certainly not be speaking of our capacity to compromise the life support of the planet. I have never in all of my travels been so moved by a vision of another possibility, born literally 55,000 years ago.
TED Blog
Edmund Wade Davis CM (born December 14, 1953) is a Canadian cultural anthropologist, ethnobotanist, author, and photographer.
Davis came to prominence with his 1985 best-selling book The Serpent and the Rainbow about the zombies of Haiti. He is professor of anthropology and the BC Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia.
Justin Bieber in Iceland 🎶
Every time he shoots a new music video in Iceland, the locations become tourist attractions.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Visiting Venice, Italy
Surprisingly, I loved Venice.
After 9pm it could be 50 years ago. Elegant decay.
I flew to Venice mainly because Tam & Les were there for a conference.
Fully expected to be disappointed — as I was by Florence in high season 2023. Too. Many. Tourists.
Happily, Venice is still GREAT.
Narrow streets and bridges are near deserted at night.
Here’s a painting of Venice in 1607. At places it looks the same today.
The winged lion is the symbol of the city.
IF taking a gondola, I’d recommend you hire a musician to tag along.
I was there for 3 days. Here are some of my random photos.
The far end of Venice is Lido, the beach.
There is a surprising amount of green space. You can even cycle in Venice.
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Enjoying Pasta in Italy
Venice & Bologna
Bigoli (Venetian: bìgołi) is an extruded pasta in the form of a long and thick strand.
Good for me were pasta to go places in Venice.
Choose bigoi. Choose your topping. Take it away in a box.
This one is a kind of Carbonara.
This one is Amatriciana: Tomato and Bacon.
I can then sit on the canal to enjoy with my Diet Coke bottle of cheap wine. 😀
Overall, the Carbonara variations are my favourites. Eggs, hard cheese, cured pork, and lots of black pepper.
I tried a super popular local restaurant near a train station. AMERICAN portions.
Tastiest of all — however — was a small portion of lasagna I had with Les and Tam at a random tourist restaurant in Venice. I couldn’t recall better.
Bologna
Outside Italy, the phrase “Bolognese sauce” is often used to refer to a tomato-based sauce to which minced meat has been added. As kids in Canada we ate spaghetti and meatballs — thinking it a kind of spaghetti bolognese.
The mayor of Bologna pointed out that “Spaghetti bolognese doesn’t actually exist, yet it’s famous the world over …”
Ragù alla Bolognese is what it’s called here.
Tagliatelle al ragù alla bolognese is much preferred over spaghetti. Often served with grated Parmesan on top.
This is grocery store Tagliatelle bolognese. I added the parmesan and pepper.
Sadly, it was the worst pasta I had in Italy.
Tuscany
I’m the kind of gourmand who’s quite happy with spaghetti and ragù sauce out of a jar. 😀
BUT for this trip to Tuscany, I decided to learn something about real pasta.
Hostel homemade Tagliatelle has a nice texture. Long, flat ribbons that hold a lot of sauce.
Northern Italy
In the north, cuisine is influenced by Germany and Austria. But I stuck with pasta in Trento.
Monograno Felicetti is like spaghetti. And was served to me al dente.
The carbonara was tasty. Cured pork and black pepper the main takeaways.
In Italy, I listened to sections of a good book:
Pasta, Pane, Vino: Deep Travels Through Italy’s Food Culture
Author Matt Goulding was inspired by Anthony Bourdain.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
South Coast Iceland Tour
One of the most popular tours for tourists visiting Iceland is called South Shore Adventure. 11 hours hitting as many of the most popular spots as possible.
Eyjafjallajökull Glacier was quite clear the day we were there.
The Eyjafjallajökull volcano is the one that erupted 14 April 2010, shutting down flights in Europe for days.
Skogar ➙ Skógafoss
As I was there with a tour bus, middle of the day, it was too CROWDED to get isolated Instagram ego pics. Also … NO drones allowed at Skógafoss. 😀
IF I had hiked to here — as originally planned — I could have had the waterfall to myself very early or late in the day. Like this …
This is the best I could do.
Vik
Inspired by this edited photo, I climbed up above the church for lunch.
Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
Seljalandsfoss is the one you can walk behind. Fun.
Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach
The stop I enjoyed the most was Reynisfjara black sand beach.
The beach is standard black sand. Nothing special. But the columnar basalt geology is interesting. As is the coastal bird life.
Also, the “Troll Toes” offshore.
Visiting Reykjavik, Iceland
I’ve been to Reykjavik a number of times now. Always enjoy the small, arctic city.
First thing to know ➙ Reykjavik is expensive. In 2023 I found it much more expensive than Norway, for example.
Sleeping in a hostel dorm bed is the easiest way to reduce cost.
By coincidence, Laura and John from Victoria, Canada were there on holiday. We had a fun day and a good meal — at their expense. Thanks!
The highlight was Perlan — Pearl — a natural history museum. Ticket price over U.S. $35 — but well worth the cost. In fact, we agreed that this should be the first stop for first time visitors to Iceland: Wonders of Iceland, Flight over Iceland video, Volcano video, Water in Icelandic Nature, a planetarium show called Áróra … John and I may have dozed through some of that one. 😀
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Situated on the top of a hill, the turning rooftop restaurant provides great views in every direction.
We also climbed iconic Hallgrímskirkja.
This Lutheran church is a symbol of national identity since its completion in 1986.
The statue is explorer Leif Erikson (c.970 – c.1020).
This time to Reykjavik, I visited two of the local geothermal swimming complexes. Laugardalslaug has several small pools, each at a different temperature. Hottest was 44℃ the night I was there.
The word I use most often to describe Iceland is weird.
Weird landscapes, in particular.
But it’s a place of contrasts. It ain’t easy living on a remote island that might blow up at any time. The most recent volcanic eruption was only 30km from Reykjavik.
It ain’t easy living on an arctic island with this harsh climate.
Wandering the streets we stumbled on to this scene.
More random pics.
Until next time, Reykjavik.
I’m considering returning in 2024 with my touring bike.
Using the Komoot app
For my Norway cycling tour I hired a consultant to put together a 3000km route for me.
He used Komoot.
I used it for Norway, Italy, and Germany. Not bad. I have it on an iPhone attached to the handle bars with voice navigation enabled.
The interface is a bit clunky, but it does seem to work a little better than Google Maps.
Click PLAY or see how it works on YouTube.
Danke Schoen – Munich
Ich bin ein Münchner
… And you may find yourself in another part of the world …
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house …
And you may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?”
A Canadian College / Gymnastics friend has lived in Munich for decades. He runs his own health Club called AJs Fitness.
While I was fading on my Norway cycling adventure, AJ offered to have me house sit while he and his husband were gone for vacation. I jumped at the chance.
Great location close to the edge of the city. Hot tub. Fancy coffee machine.
Paradise. 🙏
House sitting was a terrific break from weeks cycling Norway. And I then used Munich as a base for cycling and hiking trips.
I had the Deutschlandticket — 49-Euro / Month for all regional and municipal transportation. Brilliant.
Munich is a fantastic tourist city, of course. I cycled all over town.
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At the start, Claudia was my tour guide.
Munich has a lot of green space.
Nymphenburg Palace Park, for example.
Sadly, no bicycles allowed in the park.
My favourite destination for cycling was the Isar river. Especially where it flows through English Garden (Englischer Garten).
The 1972 Olympic venue is terrific, as well.
I’ll be back. AJ and Darin are storing my bike and gear until my return summer 2024.
Thanks guys!
I’m already looking forward to my return to Munich.
Click PLAY or watch Rick Steves on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 