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Wonky

For hundreds of years, London has always had - more or less - the same skyline: only one or two skyscrapers.  The rest of the city stayed low to the ground. This was not a mistake.  The main reason that the height of building were restrained was because St Paul's Cathedral had to be easily…

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Warm and fuzzy?

Nuclear power - is there anything that is more confusing and even divisive than that?  On one hand, it has the promise to literally power our homes and factories, and with the possibility of doing it cleanly. But, on the other hand, despite decades of opposition by the people, the threat of nuclear arms still…

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Mind, blown

Some things are easier to comprehend.  But, when governments - especially those who may not agree with each other - make decisions, sometimes you just have to scratch your head and go back to bed. May we present two islands in two countries, two miles and twenty-one hours apart. Not much else to add here,…

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I’ve suffered for my art. Now it’s your turn

Art is a most wonderful thing, but it also is very subjective.  Obviously, there are masters of all strains of art, and there are some are that simply strain. Have you ever seen performance art and just wondered, “Why is this art?!” You’re not alone, and deciphering performance art is not as difficult or mysterious…

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Sleeping around Europe

Germany’s green party has proposed an ambitious network of night trains across Europe, which could connect the UK with destinations including Barcelona, Paris, Copenhagen and Stockholm. The proposed network would see some 40 sleeper services operating across the continent, with routes extending as far as Edinburgh, Glasgow and Birmingham as well as London. Read more here courtesy of…

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Cinque Terre choo choo

It will come as no surprise to anyone who frequents our site that we are HUGE proponents of rail travel, especially in countries where this mode of getting around is the norm.  Rail makes so much sense in so many ways. Climate change and the slow travel trend have rekindled people’s interest in train rides.…

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I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid you can’t write that

Machine-written literature might offend your tastes but until the dawn of Romanticism most writers were just as formulaic. Since its inception in 2015, the research laboratory OpenAI – an Elon Musk-backed initiative that seeks to build human-friendly artificial intelligence – has developed a series of powerful ‘language models’, the latest being GPT-3 (third-generation Generative Pre-trained…

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Tubular dwells

The tube houses of Hanoi  Narrow residential houses, known as ‘nha ong’ in Vietnamese or ‘tube houses’, found in an urban area of Hanoi. Tall, thin and brightly colored, Hanoi's "tube houses" dominate the city's streets as 9 million people compete for space in Vietnam's bustling capital. Although Vietnam saw a number of villas and…

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Perché Bucine?

Italy is lovely enough as it is.  But, when you find an opportunity to almost join the family, you should jump on it. Here, we present to you Villa Catola in Bucine, Italy.  Run by Fabio Catola and his family, from the minute you step out of the car, you will instantly feel like you've lived…

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Madrid nuevo

Spain is building an $8.7 billion USD new urban development in northern Madrid, called Madrid Nuevo Norte. Madrid is the heart of Spain. However, in its north, train tracks and the urban void surrounding them cut the city right in half, creating traffic and connectivity issues. To solve this issue, Spain is building a new…

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The Princess and the Pea

Almost everyone has heard of Hans Christian Andersen.  His most famous works include The Snow Queen, The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Princess and the Pea, The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina and so many more. Even Disney has created movies from his work: The Little Mermaid, The Emperor’s New Groove as well as Frozen 1 and…

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In my day, things weren’t like this

You think your job is tough?  Think the boss asks too much?   Well, suffer this poor guy, who works for Japanese Rail.  This almost looks like a joke at first.  But it's not.  They are deadly serious and that is something to reckon with. No wonder Japan is admired in so many ways.  But, don't mess up! See…

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Decisions: Little Island or Long Island?

We haven't been to NYC for a while.  So imagine our surprise when the B1M video (see below) about New York 's popped up for us on YouTube. Turns out that the project was not exactly the happiest of experiences, but - as they say - it is what it is.  Rising from the remnants of…

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Nothing up my sleeve, presto!

Your flight tickets will be $550.  Your suitcase will be another $212. Give this man, Bruno, a medal. Overpacked and no room in my carry on, this is the outcome of that predicament - the travel coat: a couple meters of nylon from the Flea Market in two perfect tones of forest green, 29 carefully…

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Ciao, Alitalia

Who doesn't love Italy?  We bet that only a few will raise their hands.  Italy, for tourists, seems to bring out all that's good in traveling. But, sadly, Italy's official airline, Alitalia has had its troubles in the past and up until now, and, as a result, will be shutting its doors for good. Happily,…

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Try not to drool

AirBnB, constant bad press notwithstanding, has created a wonderful new model on how to travel.  Almost everyone wins. VRBO, an Expedia company (and one of our valued affiliate friends,) have taken the model and successfully given AirBnB a run for their money:  in some recent months, they have marched past AirBnB in bookings. But, this…

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