Archive for the Travel Lowdown category
Love art-going but hate stuffy museums? Then here’s a rundown of the best open-air art exhibitions from around the world…
1. Fundacion NMAC, Vejer de la Frontera, Spain
Squeezed between the sierras and sea of Andalucia’s Costa de la Luz, Vejer de la Frontera is a traveler’s dream. A typical whitewashed Andalucian town, it’s just about as calm and authentic a place as you’re likely to encounter anywhere on your travels.
One of the world’s leading art exhibitions can also be found here. The collection at the Fundacion NMAC is simply awesome, including installations by established artists such as Susana Solano, Richard Nonas, Sol LeWitt and Roxy Paine. And, what’s more, like Paine’s giant metal tree (pictured above), it’s almost all outdoors.
The Fundacion is about showcasing contemporary art in natural landscapes, emphasizing ’specific projects which promote social dialogue and understanding through art’. The result is an enchanting and cerebral place that demands hours upon hours of happy wanderings (or should that be wonderings?).
2. Vigeland Sculpture Park, Oslo, Norway
Frogerparken in Oslo is a little bit special. The laid-back urban park is different from most in that, aside from the usual leafy expanses and picnicking couples, it includes an 80-acre sculpture park that features 212 large-scale pieces by Gustav Vigeland.
The sculptures sit along an axis that splits the park into five different segments, each carrying its own theme. At the top of this axis, you find the standout sculpture - a 12-foot high ‘Monolith’ of naked bodies climbing their way to heaven. It’s a magnificent jewel in the park’s already glittering crown.
3. Hakone Open-Air Museum, Hakone, Japan
This massive establishment, based in the expansive Fuji Hakone Izu National Park, was Japan’s first-ever outdoor museum. Opened in the 60s, it has built up a stunning collection over the years and today boasts Rodins, Miros, Renoirs, Picassos and Moores.
The sculptures by Henry Moore, in particular, find a happy home here - as the artist himself proclaimed, ‘Sculpture is an art of the open air’ and, gazing at the solid form of his sweeping pieces cut against the backdrop of Japan’s rolling mountains and infinite sky, you can see what he was getting at.
4. Victoria’s Way, Dublin, Ireland
Spread out across 22 acres of beautiful countryside, Victoria’s Way contains several massive sculptures of Ganesha, provoking the visitor into inner-contemplation and prodding them onto the road of ultimate happiness. Which is kind of surreal, really, since it’s in Catholic Ireland, only a half hour from Dublin.
The Park stands out for a number of reasons: partly because the sculptures are impressive, partly because you can chat to the mastermind behind it all (if you find his workshop next to the car park), and partly because it’s very much a hidden gem. Few tourist guide books cover Victoria’s Way, and fewer tourists still make it out here. Those that do are in for a veritable treat.
5. Frieze Art Fair, London, England
While the Frieze Art Fair isn’t a permanent exhibition (rather, it’s an annual three day event), it deserves a place on the list simply because it’s a mainstay in the calender of every mover and shaker in the contemporary art world.
Held in Regent’s Park, the Fair invariably exhibits the world’s most cutting-edge (and let’s be honest, downright expensive) ‘trendy’ art - although most of the visitors are there just to enjoy the view. Whether it’s the spectacle of the art, or the view of the bigwigs networking, well, who’s to say?
This year’s Fair has already passed but, rest assured, it will be back in 2009. In the meantime, you could always throw some paint at a canvas, hang it on the wall in your garden and then gaze at it intently, mumbling something about the nature of perception in posthumanist times and flicking at your mustache.
Or you could get a friend to do it while you watch and point.
While we’re on the subject of adventure travel, we’d like to share the whispers we’ve been hearing about an exciting new television show…
Basically, they’re trying to hunt down a female traveler and survival enthusiast to front an upcoming travel project.
The premise will be similar to that of hit British program ‘Born Survivor’ with Bear Grylls in which the explorer eats grubs, climbs up some very steep cliffs and generally proves his mettle in extreme situations. Only this time, they’re looking for a woman to take on the challenge.
So if you think you’ve got the know-how and the spirit to be cast as the first female survival star on the telly, please leave a comment saying why you’d love to be the female Bear Grylls (with your email address) and get ready for an adventure!
We’ve just come across an ad placed on the job section of hostelmanagement.com by the International Student Center in Manhattan, New York.
They’re looking for a full-time member of staff to man the front desk, deal with bookings, check people in and help with the various non-profit educational programs that the hostel runs (these include an Arts for PEACE gallery and an International Counselor Exchange Program).
Salary is to the tune of $300 per week, which is really pretty good when you consider the free accommodation that’s thrown into the deal. Seems like a good way to land on your feet in New York to us…
So the banking system has crashed, no one has any money left to speak of (just where has it all gone?), and we’re now all doomed to a life of eating cigarette butts picked off the road. Or something like that.
Alright… so we’re hardly experts on world finance, but it does seem that people are going to have a little less cash to splash in the coming months. Before you go hastily canceling your backpacking plans, however, it’s worth taking a mo to figure out a cheaper way of doing things. Of course, it goes without saying that you’ll be staying in a hostel, but how about saving on transport, too?
Hitchhiking has a bad rep. And it’s undeserved, since it’s quite simply one of the very best ways to travel the world: you meet new people, you see the great outdoors though the window (or, if you’re that way inclined, from outside the window, tongue lolling like an excitable dog…) and you spend practically nothing.
What better way, then, to negotiate the world during these supposedly troubled times than to get yourself on the road and start exercising that imploring thumb action? Here you have it, then, our Top 10 Tips for Hitchhiking…
1. Find Out about Local Hitching Customs
It’s not always easy to do, but when possible try to find out about the official and unofficial local laws of 
hitching. It can be helpful to know, for example, that while hitching isn’t exactly illegal in the US, there are major restrictions, and these can change from state to state. Similarly, knowing that hitchhikers are often expected to pay their way in parts of South America can help you avoid unexpected and unnecessary arguments.
2. Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd
Hitching in pairs can be a great way of cutting down on roadside-waiting time, especially if you’re a mixed pair or two women traveling together. While a lonesome figure thumbing a lift instantly calls to mind images of escaped convicts (well, for some at least), two friends looking for a ride appear comparatively amiable and less inherently dangerous. Avoid groups of three or more, however. That’s a gang (and it’s also logistically less plausible for small cars).
3. Scrub Up
Working on the fairly safe assumption that drivers are a little wary of picking up escaped convicts, try not to look like an escaped convict! The shabbier you appear, the less likely you are to get a lift. So hide those stripey rags, dress in something at least a little clean, and maybe even have a wash and shave, too. Trust us, it’ll help.
4. Look Happy
Even if you’re wearing your Sunday best, drivers aren’t likely to stop if your face screams ’suicidal junky without a fix’. Try to look alert and interesting.
5. Choose a Spot
This is a big one. Choosing a good spot is vital if you want to be picked up quickly. Common knowledge amongst hitchers has it that you need to find a spot where cars will see you for as long as possible, and where they have plenty of space to stop if they decide to help. So try to avoid corners and busy roads without run-off areas.
Your spot doesn’t have to be on a road - it could be outside a petrol garage, or at a motorway rest stop. Hitching from these places is more likely to land you a long-haul ride inside a truck, as it’s a lot of effort for truckers to stop their heaving juggernauts on the side of the road.
Finally, while hitcher theory differs on this one, we say choose a spot and stay there. It’s a bit like fishing… Or panning for gold… The grass is always greener, and it’s always easy to be tempted into thinking your spot isn’t good enough. But it’s all random really, and you’re on the road anyway, so where’s the rush?
6. Make Eye Contact
Assuming you’ve found a good spot where you can see cars from a long way off, try to make eye contact with drivers - that little flicker of human contact can make all the difference. Don’t, on any account, wear sunglasses. Escaped convicts wear sunglasses to hide from the law.
7. Talk to the Driver Before Getting in
Once a car’s stopped for you, walk up to the driver’s seat and ask the driver where they’re going. That way you have a little time to assess your potential ride, and decide whether it appeals or not. If there’s something not quite right, you’re not in the car, so you can simply walk away.
8. Talk to the Driver Once You’re in
Hitchhiking is all about the stories and the characters… so get chatting!
9. Carry a Phone if Possible
If you have a mobile phone, carry it with you in your pocket. The phone may come in handy if you get yourself into a situation you wouldn’t want to be in. In reality though, it’s more likely you’ll use it as something to write your new traveling buddy’s number into.
10. Do Unto Other (Hitchers) as You Would Have (Other Hitchers) Do to You
Compared with the heady days of the 40s and 50s when just about everyone was hitching all over the place, today hitchers are something of a dying breed. So if you meet a hitcher on the road, respect them as brethren - don’t steal their ride by standing 20 meters in front on the same road!
Unless they’re an escaped convict, that is, in which case stand behind a tree and call the police.
Over on the HostelBookers Facebook page, there’s been a competition to see who’s got the best adventure travel pictures.
What’s an adventure travel picture, we hear you ask? Well, it’s a photo you’ve taken of the most extreme, wild, and maybe even downright scary adventures you’ve encountered on your travels. Maybe it’s a pic of you careering down the Yungas Road (aka the Road of Death) in Bolivia, or a pic you’ve taken of a friend coming face-to-face with a killer whale in the San Juan Islands.
And the prize? A copy of Rough Guides’ Adventure Travel Guide, so you can work out what perilous situation to put yourself in next! Here’s a taster of some of the entries we’ve had so far…
Vannitha Balasingam goes Zorbing…
Victoria Amy Wilkins tries sandsurfing…
And finally, Alex Lichtenburg camps out in the Adirondack Mountains during -10 degree conditions. We felt this last one was so extreme that it stood, somewhat defiantly, in a category all of its own. Alex - you’re made of much, much sturdier stuff than HostelBloggers. A noble effort.
Wednesday, Oct 8th, 2008
Categories: Nightlife
The first thing that every backpacker in Spain knows is that tapas (delectable little portions of Spanish food) comes free when you order a drink in Granada. This, in fact, (along with the host of other great free things to do) is practically the main reason that most go to the city!
The city, it’s claimed (largely by proud Granadinos who don’t care that Seville says something very similar) has more tapas bars per capita than anywhere else in Spain. But it goes without saying that there’s tapas, and then there’s tapas.
As we mentioned in an earlier post, one of the HostelBloggers crew has spent quite a bit of time in the city. So while this list of five tapas bars in Granada isn’t a definitive list, by any means, it’s a personal list, and some of the places below are like old friends…
1. Chopp; Calle Abenamar
When it comes to going for tapas in Granada, there are few better places to start than Chopp. A stone’s throw from the tourist traps on Plaza Nueva, Chopp is a tiny broom cupboard of a place that specializes in little grilled sandwiches. Plonk yourself at the bar, order your drink, and before you know it you’ll be staring at a very tasting looking (and very free) little sandwich.
They’re not grand, and they’re not exactly haute cuisine, but they really hit the spot and make it well worth staying for a couple… Which is precisely what HostelBloggers did, chasing a pair of grilled tuna affairs down with a few ice cold beers.
2. Bodegas la Mancha; Calle Joaquin Costa
Just around the corner is a real institution of a Granada tapas bar: Bodegas la Mancha. Much more of a typically old-fashioned Spanish place than Chopp, the crowd is often on the ‘mature’ - and male - side. During the day, especially, you usually can’t move for old men bellowing at each other over a glass or two of vermouth.
The food served is a selection of old Spanish favorites, from jamon serrano (as evidenced by the swinging pigs’ legs in the photo above) to manchego cheese. Elbowing our way to the bar, HostelBloggers, incidentally, ordered a large portion of morcilla (black pudding), before sidling on to the next place on our itinerary…
3. Bodegas Castañeda; Calle Almericeros
There’s no two ways about it: Bodegas Castañeda is a classic. Not to be confused with its sister restaurant 
on Calle Elvira (which isn’t terribly good), it’s noisy and crowded, the floor’s filled with crumpled up napkins, the wine’s excellent and the atmosphere’s unique… In short, it’s everything that’s so great about tapas in Granada! At this point in proceedings, HostelBloggers switched from beer to calicasas (a potent house specialty that’s made up of vermouth and a couple of other local wines); then we wolfed down a couple of free tapas, before ordering a small tabla (board) of smoked fish and cheeses.
On this note: it’s a common mistake to think that all tapas in Granada is free. When you order a drink, it’s the custom to be given a small dish of food to go with it. This can be anything from ham, cheese or olives up to a full plate of stew, but it is (usually) quite small. As such, it’s often necessary to supplement what you’re given for free with some actual - shock horror! - paid for dishes.
4. Casa de Vinos; Calle Monjas del Carmen
Over on the other side of Plaza Nueva (tucked away into Calle Monjas del Carmen), Casa de Vinos is not exactly a tapas bar in the strictest sense of the word. It sells food - very nice food, in fact - but it is (as the name suggests) a wine bar, and the focus is firmly upon the wine. It’s also, incidentally, HostelBloggers’ favorite bar in Granada.
How to describe Casa de Vinos? A cozy, wood-paneled nook of a place; the sort of place where whole evenings can slip by without you noticing, in a haze of wine and conversation. The wines, by the way, are absolutely fantastic, and for the most part, pretty affordable.
After the calicasas in Castañeda, we were feeling a little bit too well lubricated for such an early point in the evening(!); so we sat at the back, (carefully) sipping a couple of glasses of rioja and munching some more cheese and paté.
5. Loop Bar; Calle San Matias
Having stayed a little too long at Casa de Vinos, we wound our way down to Calle San Matias. Now beginning to feel a little worse for wear (as given away by the blurry image), we bundled into a place we’d never been to before: the Loop Bar.
Totally different from the other places on the list, Loop is a seriously cool spot that doubles up as a record shop during the day. HostelBloggers gobbled down some delicious free tortilla (if memory serves…) and got stuck into a few beers.
So far, so good. The night had started in typical Granada tapas tour-style and we’d blazed a trail of eating and drinking through some great bars. But for now, it was about midnight, the music was cool, the bar was rammed and a long night lay in store… It was good to be back in Granada.
Shopping in Granada is a mixed bag: there are the pleasingly bogus Moroccan tables, throws and ashtrays on Calle Caldereria; then there are the big name high street stores and the shoe shops with their dazzlingly colorful wares that line the streets around Plaza Bib-Rambla.
But it’s also a big university town, and the presence of so many students explains the cluster of excellent vintage and second-hand clothes shops in Granada. These can be found, pretty much as you’d expect, over to the west of the city center in the student neighborhood, around the Plaza de la Universidad.
The first, M’Enkanta, is on the Plaza de la Universidad itself, and specializes in the sort of trademark Granada ethno/hippy wear - baggy trousers, long floaty skirts, bangles… that kind of thing. (But a lot better than some of the tacky stores you find elsewhere in the city.) Just next door is La Buhardilla, which sells an assortment of t-shirts, jeans and dresses amongst its selection of excellent vintage clothing.
Round the corner on Calle Escuelas, meanwhile, there are a couple more Granada shopping gems in the form of Ropero (No. 12) and its spill-over store a couple of doors down. Here you can pick up practically anything - from vintage t-shirts, cool trainers and leather jackets, to antique-looking golf clubs and even used sleeping bags! The music’s often pretty cool, too, and it’s hard to avoid losing yourself in rail after rail of tempting threads.
If all the rummaging gets a bit too much, the solution is simple: just nip back round to the Plaza de la Universidad, grab a chair outside one of the bars there…
…order a drink and admire the view!
Moving on from El Palmar, for some of us at least, it was off to Granada. And at this point, we should probably lay our cards on the table: here at HostelBloggers, we love Granada. Not just love, but adore… One of our number went to university in the city, and it’ll always hold a special place in our traveling hearts.
But you really don’t have to have spent long in the city to figure out that the Alhambra is pretty hard to miss. It seems that no matter where you are in the city it jumps out at you; streets seem to wind towards it, and squares open up onto it.
There’s one view of the Alhambra, though, that beats them all: the view from the Mirador de San Nicolas.
High up in the Albayzin, gazing out over the Alhambra (’mirador’ means viewpoint) and to the Sierra Nevada mountain range beyond, it offers one of the most majestic views of any city in Europe. It’s also one of the most crowded spots in the whole city, though, and at sunset particularly people flock to get their photo opportunity with the palace.
Having taken in the view, the best thing to do is leave the crowds behind, and slink off into the Albayzin to explore. (After all, you’ve climbed all the way up there!)
The first thing that strikes you about the Albayzin - a tangled web of narrow streets, alleyways and gorgeous whitewashed houses - is that it’s pretty hard to find your away around. It has a funny way of twisting, turning and leading you - seemingly at will - into a state of total disorientation. But getting lost is ultimately half the fun.
Should you manage to find it, the Plaza Aliatar (up in the high Albayzin, to the north) is a great place to stop for refreshments. As well as being a lively local spot, it’s home to another of the best tapas bars in Granada: Bar Aliatar - Los Caracoles. Their specialty, however, is probably not for everyone, as a steaming plate of snails (caracoles) generally comes with the first drink.
After a stroll and a bite to eat, HostelBloggers have always found that when you come back to the Mirador, under cover of darkness, the scene is a different one altogether.
It sounds like some sort of awful travel cliche - or, worse still, the fabrication of a travel writer - but by about midnight on a warm autumn evening, there are usually a few gypsies strumming a guitar, singing, clapping and having a good time.
It’s invariably raucous and rough, there’s not a frilly skirt or clacking castanet in sight, and it’s for no one’s benefit but their own. Sitting on a bench and looking out over the Alhambra, radiant in the gloom, though, it’s worth a dozen touristy flamenco ’shows’.
Stand on the northernmost tip of Cadiz’s Playa Victoria and look south - it looks as though the beach just goes on into the sky. Having been tipped off about Andalucia’s coastline before leaving London, it was now time to find out for ourselves how far the magical sand stretches…
Day Seven. We head straight for Cadiz’s bus station (right next to the port) and board a bus heading to Los Canos de Meca. The ticket only costs about €5, and the bus grunts straight along the coastline. We pass a medium-sized white village called Conil, and then trundle into El Palmar - a tiny settlement, right on the edge of the sea, about 6km from Canos de Meca.
El Palmar looks almost deserted, and the call of the sea is just too much; we hastily decamp from the bus, reasoning that we can walk to Canos later that day, and are soon happily installed on the empty beach. We swim, read, and (quite amazingly) go for a jog - the beach stays just as devoid of people as the hours tick by. Predictably, night soon falls, and we haven’t got anywhere near Canos.
Luckily, this is Andalucia, and sleeping outside really isn’t a problem. We trudge a couple of km to the nearest shop, stock up on red wine (in case things get chilly, of course), and then head back to our same, wonderfully deserted spot. We spend the night watching shooting stars blaze across the shimmering firmament, before falling happily asleep beneath our blanket.
Day Eight. Waking with the sun, we agree almost instantly to spend another day in El Palmar; Canos is just the other side of a lighthouse we can see in the distance, but we came looking for chilled Andalucian beaches, and that’s exactly what we’ve found. There seems little point in rejecting it now it’s here.
Aside from the beach and shop, El Palmar offers about four restaurants, and a couple of cervecerias (bars that sell ice-cold beer). We frequent them all throughout the day, intermittently heading to the beach for a swim or a read (we’re immersed in On The Road, although Kerouac’s travels are admittedly a little different from ours). Again, night falls, and we sleep - this time somewhat sun-blushed - under the stars of El Palmar.
Day Nine. Today we leave sleepy El Palmar. For one of us, a flight back to Blighty calls (though not before spending one more night in Seville - this time staying at the brilliant Oasis Backpackers). For the others, well, it’s time to head onwards - the tapas and Moorish treasures of Granada beckon…
The train from Seville to Cadiz takes almost two hours. Outside the window, dusty villages and barely-farmable scrubland fly by, although we somehow get too interested in the train’s chairs (which can be switched depending on whether you want to sit forward or backward) to really appreciate it.
Widely considered the oldest city in Europe - it dates back to Phoenician Times - Cadiz’s staying power is probably testament to its singular geography. The whole city perches atop an island on the very south of the Spanish coast, which has made it both easy to defend, and easy to supply via trade, throughout its 3000 year history.
The train winds in across one of two busy bridges, and as it does so, we get a view of the imposing city that must have deterred so many would-be invaders in years gone by. We’re not here to invade, however, only to enjoy…
Day Five. Having negotiated the short trip from the train station, we arrive at our Cadiz hostel, Casa Caracol. A real surfers’ hangout, the hostel is probably not for everyone, but we’d been tipped off before leaving that it’d be right up our street, and so it proves to be. Friendly and fairly seriously chilled, there’s a familiar smell in the air here, and we like it…
We spend the rest of the day walking round Cadiz’s largely empty streets (it’s a Sunday), watching the sunset from the Playa de la Caleta on the southern tip of the city, and then dining in the beautiful setting of a quiet plaza, where tables have been haphazardly set between houses and hanging baskets.
We’ve frankly no idea as to the name and location of the restaurant - we were lost when we found it, and then we were lost again once we left. Suffice to say there are loads of such joints in Cadiz, and they’re all pretty affordable too. (Quick tip: Stick to the seafood - it’s excellent, and try washing it down with a glass of fino, or dry white sherry).
Day Six. We wake smelling bad again, although this time since we’re outside, in one of Casa Caracol’s rooftop hammocks, it doesn’t seem to matter too much. And besides, we’ve only one intention for the day - to go surfing.
We head south from Caracol to Cadiz’s imposing Catedral Nueva, and then east along the shoreline, to the Playa Santa Maria del Mar. This short stretch of sand is empty save for the odd figure fighting into a wetsuit. Out on the ocean, tens of small black dots bob around before one suddenly bursts from the sea and surfs serenely along for thirty, forty meters, before falling back into the water below.
Finding a small shop (Hopupu) just a block away from the shore, we rent board and suit for €20, and head out to join the black dots in the sea. We’re clearly rank surfing amateurs, and as we leave the shop the likable fellow who runs it can be heard having a quiet chuckle as we manage to drop the boards three times before we’ve even reached the end of the road.
The surf here is good - fairly calm yet strong enough to ride, it’s perfect for the beginner. Or so we’re told. Following four hours of attempted surfing, HostelBloggers’ opinions are split. For one of our number, surfing is a joyous expression of riding with nature in tow. For another, it’s equivalent to some dastardly form of Chinese water torture.
We squelch out of our suits, and head back to the hostel for food, chat and drink (though not necessarily in that order). Later that evening, having cooled off and dried up, we decide Cadiz is just about the most relaxed and relaxing city (especially for a port!) we’ve ever encountered.
As for tomorrow? The wilderness calls…
This massive establishment, based in the expansive Fuji Hakone Izu National Park, was Japan’s first-ever outdoor museum. Opened in the 60s, it has built up a stunning collection over the years and today boasts Rodins, Miros, Renoirs, Picassos and Moores.
