Prague’s Charles Bridge For Sale

by Iva Skoch on

As if Madonna is not causing enough stir with her European tour, she got herself wrapped up in another controversy.

Louis Vuitton invited her to perform at a party on the Charles Bridge before her September concert in Prague. She accepted. The controversy is not with Madonna this time, it is with the bridge. LV booked the 14th century Czech national treasure for a mere $54,000 from Sept. 6-10, just to throw a private VIP party.

It would require the city to close it to all traffic for those days. Starved for cash (and probably after a few bribes) the City of Prague actually said yes, until some historians and politicians raised a big stink about it.

In an article titled Material World, the Prague Post quoted a senator who said that the Charles Bridge is no “whore for sale” and compared renting the bridge to “holding an eating party inside St. Vitus Cathedral [the famous Gothic church inside the walls of Prague Castle].”

Enough people protested that the city actually had to call the party off, suggesting to LV that they can take the waterfront instead. Poor little VIPs. Must feel a lot like wanting a Louis Vuitton bag and settling for a Gap totebag instead.

The US’ Smartest Cities

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s one of those statistics that I both love and hate. Over at CNN.com, they post the results of a report determining our country’s smartest cities (never mind that they didn’t list the stupidest ones…to many feelings would get hurt, I suppose…hello, Detroit!? Just kidding!) Anyway, I love it because it gives some sweet intelli-props to my green homies back in Seattle.

This is no surprise.

Face it, it rains a lot in Seattle and so people spend a lot of time inside drinking coffee and reading. Seriously. Of course, you also have a high-tech thing going on there (Bill gates alone probably pushes out the average a few points) and, most of all, there are several really good schools around.

But then waaaay down the list at 19 comes New York. Now, it’s silly to generalize, but I think many of the smartest people I know live here…or maybe it’s that they work here. Either way, it is kind of sad to see NYC get a bit of a bitch slap on this report. And then, of course, conspicuously absent is good old La-La-Land. But we all knew those TV and movie people never really had much brain-power. If the report measured ego and image awareness, well now, that’s a different story.

Expat Guide

by Erik Olsen on

Living abroad is one of the great experiences in life. I’ve lived a couple of places around the globe, if just for a short time, including Bangkok, Thailand, Santiago, Chile and Madrid, Spain. Don’t know where I’ll go next, but one of these days I’ll hoof my way outta NYC and do a couple of years in another country.

That said, living abroad and fully taking advantage of the city you’re in are two different things. In Santiago, I regularly ran into people (that is, Americans) who hung out only with other Americans and who kind of kept to their own comfortable environs. This is NOT the way to live abroad.

I have two suggestions here for you if you are considering a move overseas. First, check out the helpful series of books by the folks at Avalon Publishing. They are expanding their series all the time, but for now have nice books on Japan, Ireland, France, Mexico, Italy and more. I’ve taken a look at a few of these books and believe anyone thinking of making the move would be well-served by taking a look at them. Another good book group is the Culture Shock series. You can find more about them, and more about being an expat at this site.

Which leads me to the whole how do I make the most of living abroad question. The telegraph UK has got a list of events put together for expats in various cities around the world. The links here tell you about nightlife and cultural events and also help you with nitty gritty details like consulate info and such.

Planning is key when you move abroad, so take a look at some of these resources if such a move is on your calendar and, well ,good luck to you. It will be one of the best moves you ever make.

Cape Verde

by Erik Olsen on

Cape Verde is a tiny West African archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean that is beginning to attract a lot of interest. An all-new international airport opened on the island of Santiago and hotels are being bult like mad. So what’s all the fuss? Well, the country is divided into two groups of islands: Northern Windward “Barlavento” (Boa Vista, Santo Antao, S. Vicente, Sao Nicolau and Santa Luiza) and Southern Leeward “Sotavento” (Brava, Fogo, Maio and Santiago). It is a remarkably diverse place, being, as is was, a crossroads for traders for several centuries. It attracted so many different cultural groups that the resulting mix of culture there can be quite baffling.

The official language is Portuguese, but Creole is spoken too. So is English. The food is so diverse there is said the be a specific Cape Verde cuisine. Sites to see include the volcanic Mt. Fogo, UNESCO Heritage town of Cidade Velha and the picturesque Mindelo. If you want to learn more, then listen to journalist Martin Corben’s dispatch from 2004. Also, be sure to check out the Wikipedia entry on the country because the photos are just fabulous.

Scream Returned Safely

by Neil Woodburn on

As if there are already not enough reasons to go to Norway, here’s one more: The Scream is back.

The famous Edvard Munch painting was stolen two years ago from Oslo’s Munch Museum by masked gunmen. Authorities feared the painting had been destroyed to hide the evidence and were losing hope they’d ever see it again.

Diligent police work eventually paid off, however, and Norwegian investigators were very happy to report the painting’s recent recovery. Convicted bank robber David Toska allegedly spilled the beans about the heist in exchange for a shorter sentence.

No word yet on when the masterpiece will be returned to its rightful place but when it does, you can bet there will be a massive increase in security.