It's Cold Out There!

Pascal Parrot/Getty Images
Marseille, France: Pink flamingos rest at the Vaccares pond

As the cold sweeps south, Spain is seeing some of the coldest temperatures it has seen in 30 years. Temperatures dipped down to around -4 here in Caceres the other night and some say that it was even colder. I do hope the bougainvilleas make it.

Big news for travelers is that they had to even shut Madrid's Barajas Airport down for a few hours yesterday due to heavy snow. Word is that there was a skier reported in Madrid's El Retiro park. (more pics here)

While it contrasts with the image that most of the world has of "Sunny Spain", those of us who live here and have spent winters here know that a winter in Spain can be cold indeed...especially if you spent all your money on an Air Conditioner! I'm thinking of buying a coal brazier!

Friday Foto 2

Keeping in mind the article I published at the beginning of the month in the Toronto Star, I thought I would continue highlighting some of the sites of my adopted city. A fine view of the Palacio de Moctezuma here in Caceres at sunset.

Istanbul by Istanbullus

I was lucky enough to have traveled through Istanbul this summer on my way to Syria and absolutely loved the city! It is truly one of the 'world's cities' that vibrates as soon as you step into its streets.

To add to our luck we were hosted by 2 excellent Couchsurfers, some of the most welcoming that we have ever stayed with. Both lived in distinct neighbourhoods (Beyoglu and Taksim, Orkatoy), which really gave us a sense of what Istanbul really is...an enormous net of neighbourhoods. My guidebook, Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul related this, but getting to see the city from these perspectives only made it more real.

If you want to get under its skin, start with the book mentioned above and then check out the Guardian's latest link to Istanbullus blogging about their city.

Looks like the city that bridges two continents is going to be the next "in" spot, but no worries, the city is plenty big enough to get lost in the crowd, as long as you try.

Los 3 Reyes Magos

photo from Wikipedia
The Christmas season continues here in Spain. While other countries are packing up their Christmas trees, today is traditionally the big celebration for the niños here on the Iberian peninsula. The Feast of Epiphany (January 6th) is the day where the 3 wise men or the 3 kings of the orient, bring gifts to children.

Each one of the Magi is supposed to represent a different continent, Europe (Caspar), Asia (Melchior) and Africa (Balthasar) and on January 5th every city in Spain has a parade (Cabalgata de Reyes) where they go through the streets throwing out sweets and taking letters from children. Then on that night the kiddies leave out food for the kings and the camels (sound familiar?) and awake to the presents. Some families shine their shoes and leave them out in hopes of receiving something more than a lump of coal.

Some Spanish tradition holds that actually 2 of the 3 wise men came from Yemen and one year I spent Christmas Eve camped out on a deserted beach called Bir Ali just below the ruins of the ancient city Cana. There are few better ways to celebrate Christmas than swimming in the beautiful Gulf of Arabia with wild dolphins that happen by. Just you, your driver and of course the Army guy there to 'protect' you.

On the way down the coast to Aden, we also stopped at another of the legendary homes of one of the wise men, Azan. A small village of beautiful adobe homes that is definitely worth the slight detour enroute to Aden.

Two extremely different countries tied together by legend.

Crowding in with Cars Sailing from Fushiki, Japan to Vladivostok

Ride the rails to the end of the line to a place that feels like a Japanese island invaded by Russians. For the Russians indeed are coming...to buy cars. Twice a week, thousands of cars are ferried across the sea of Japan over to Vladivostok from this sleepy port city to sate the growing eastern Russian demand. Ride upstairs in high class or book below but don't expect to take a dip in the ferry's pool, as it will be filled to the brim with used cars. Not only the pool, but seemingly every available inch is used for cars, giving you the sensation of crossing the seas on a floating parking garage. 2 days later, stuffed to the brim with the included onboard meals and with an inevitable vodka hangover, you disembark in Vladivostok ready for the Trans-Siberian.

Also published on the Trazzler site

Incredible Photos

Photograph: Olaf Kraak/EPA

I was browsing the Guardian's usually stunning 24 hours in pictures section the other day and they had a 'best of 2008' series (actually there are several) and they highlighted an amazing photographer named Uriel Sinai. Definitely not your average travel shots, but that's the beauty of it.

New Piece in the Toronto Star

I recently published a piece on my adopted hometown in the Saturday edition of the Toronto Star. If you are thinking about visiting Spain, click over to the article and make sure to include Caceres in your itinerary.

No, Not Far...

Before the millennium turned, when the Year 2000 virus was going to be the end as we knew it, I was hiking in Zimbabwe far enough away I had thought from the clutches of the Windows breakdown. I was simply wandering, looking for some petroglyphs that I had heard were in the area but had no idea where I was really going.

It was winter in Zim, the sky was a clear blue and the grass was tall. The temperature was neither cold nor hot but the sun was warm on my face and arms and my legs felt light. Zimbabwe wasn't the hell it is now. Rumblings of the forthcoming disaster we now see were being heard in the beer halls across the country, but at the time they were only rumblings, like a terrible storm or story in the distance.

Wandering through the savannah I came across some locals on the path and they asked me where I was going. I mentioned the petroglyphs and they told me to follow them as they were on their way and said that I was a little silly walking out there.

"Why," I asked.

"Because there are lions in this area," was their matter of fact answer.

Suddenly every Acacia tree became the perfect shading spot for a group of lions to rest and I realized just how long the grass was.

Now a bit nervous I asked, "How far are the petroglyphs?"

"No, not far," was their response as they went on talking about life.

As we walked they explained to me more about the rumblings I had heard in the beer halls. About how people who weren't from Mugabe's tribe were being sent to fight in the neighbouring Congo, essentially with a one-way ticket.

Still we walked and still the acacia trees looked like perfect places for an ambush.

Not wanting to be a pain, I asked them if they had been walking long.

"No, not far," was again their response.

We continued through the savannah and while the acacia trees never stopped looking dangerous, my impromptu guides pointed out animals hidden in the long grass that I would have never seen. After what seemed like a few hours we arrived to the clutch of huge boulders where the petroglyphs were. A quick goodbye and my new found friends, who had invited me for drinks in their village later, were about to leave when I asked them if I would have to walk to get there.

"No, not far," they smiled and walked off.

I thought about it for a second and realized, really did it matter? When traveling it is often the journey that is more interesting than the destination.

Friday Foto

I'm going to try and start a new series on this blog where every Friday a new picture from around the world goes up.

In honour of my recent publication on my adopted hometown here in Caceres, here's my favourite tower. The torre de hierba...10th century Almohad construction that changes colours as the sun goes down.

Verge Winter issue is Out

Part 2 in my four part teaching abroad series with Verge Travel Magazine is out and in the stands. This time we move on to some of the practicalities of teaching English in Europe to stretch your time abroad. However, the easy life doesn't always come so easy, TEFL has its drawbacks. Check out the mag to learn more. If you can't find it in your local stands, try here.

Verge Fall issue is Out

A new issue of the travel magazine Verge is out and I've got a few pieces in the current issue. Check out the sidebar on some of the Do's and Don'ts when traveling in Laos and the first installment of a 4 part series on teaching English abroad. The first piece is aptly named, "Secret Agent Present Continuous" after a particularly interesting entry into Libya once upon a time. If you can't find the magazine in your local shops, try here.