Home Suite Home

by Brett Atkinson on

Maybe this story reconciles two perpetual challenges? How do you afford the home you want, and how do you keep that “on vacation” feeling when you get back from a trip?

English couple David and Jean Davidson have spent 10 years living in a room at the Gonerby Moor Travelodge in Lincolnshire. They actually own their own flat in Sheffield, but prefer the convenience, safety and affordability of staying at the Travelodge. Every two weeks they make the trip back to their flat to pick up mail, but otherwise are perfectly happy at Gonerby Park. For meals they visit nearby restaurants or pop across the road to dine at a motorway service stop.

They’ve actually been staying at the Travelodge chain for 22 years, and on a recent trip to the United States spent every night in Travelodges even though Stateside ones are owned by a different company.

Back in Lincolnshire, Travelodge has honoured their intense brand loyalty by naming their regular room, The Davidsons’ Suite.

Via Guardian Unlimited and thanks to Travelodge for the pic of Gonerby Moor.

Greetings from Crete: Santorini Is Therapy for the Photographically-Challenged

by Iva Skoch on

Seriously. If you want to boost your picture-taking self-esteem, head over to the Greek island of Santorini. I am convinced it is not possible to shoot a bad photo of this place, which is essentially a rim of a volcano. Even I was able to score a few good ones and I am a really impatient photographer.

The white buildings against the deep blue sea, the shocking cliffs, colorful fishing boats, wrinkled men on donkeys, broken pottery randomly placed on ancient staircases, old women in black gossiping on benches… It is almost as if they staged everything perfectly in place just for your picture-taking pleasure. (Which, they probably do just before the cruise ships dock there each morning.)

As beautiful as the island is, I can’t honestly see spending more than a day or two there. And that’s not just because my new favorite coffee drink–frappe–costs $5-6. Ouch. It’s so damn picturesque, it’s kitschy. There is only so much beauty one take take before longing for the comfort of ugly chaos if you ask me. Still, the fast ferry from Crete today took only about 90 minutes and cost about 30 Euro, which made it a great day trip.

Greetings from Crete: 4000-Year-Old Flush Toilet No Longer Flushing

by Iva Skoch on

If you can handle waiting in line for tickets for more than an hour, you shall be rewarded: the largest and most famous Minoan palace, Knossos (just south of the city of Iraklion, on Crete) is well worth the trip. It’s a Bronze-age palace excavated only in the last century, and holds many interesting features that still tell us relatively little about the Minoan culture or lives. It does reveal one hugely important fact: they knew the value of plumbing.

It turns out that they may have the oldest flush toilet in the world, dating from between 2500 and 1500 BC. According to the tour guide, they had three plumbing systems in the castle, one to collect rain water, one to provide drinking water, and the third to eliminate the results.

And the terracotta water pipes, looking almost exactly like today’s pipes, are intact and can be seen on a visit.

It appears to scientists that they used a wooden toilet seat, even. We’re just not sure if the furry seat cover originated then, or later.

Greetings from Crete: Driving a Fiat Like It’s a Ferrari

by Iva Skoch on

Coming back to the hotel last night, we passed by a major traffic accident: a head-on collision involving several small cars. One was flipped over and crushed, and at least one other was completely destroyed. All in all, we counted six involved cars.

I’ve found that there are exactly three rules of the road to driving in Crete:

1) Ignore the speed limit

2) Ignore the double center line and pass at will

3) Drive off the side off the road, to allow faster (much faster) traffic to pass. Everyone straddles the right-side line or drives on the shoulder to let others pass.

Undoubtedly, the accident we came upon was caused by any combination of these three rules.

I’m reminded of a recent article saying that the deaths of most tourists were caused by traffic accidents, not heart attacks, shark bites, sucking leeches, crime, or malaria. In fact, the WHO estimates that over 1.2 million tourists are killed in traffic accidents every year, with 20-50 million injured.

You know how they say that the majority of car accidents happen within two miles of home?

Three-Day Wait to Score Shrooms in Amsterdam? Maybe

by Justin Glow on

Looking to score ‘shrooms in Amsterdam? You may have to wait three days.

The Netherlands’ policy on drugs distinguishes different substances as hard or soft. Hard drugs, like heroin and cocaine, are illegal, and possession — even for personal use — is a crime that’s fully enforced. Soft drugs, like marijuana and mushrooms, while still technically illegal, are tolerated.

Job Cohen, Amsterdam’s mayor, is looking to make it a bit tougher to score by enacting a three-day waiting period for the purchase of psilocybin mushrooms — just like Wal-Mart does with guns. The effort stems (haha, stems… get it?) from the death of a 17-year-old French girl who jumped off a bridge while totally whacked out on shrooms, man. Buzzkill.

“Under the proposal, potential mushroom buyers would have to show identity papers when visiting one of the ‘smart shops’ where they are sold in the famously tolerant city. They would then be given a card with the date listed on it, as well as fliers with information on the mushrooms,” according to the AFP. ” Three days later, the mushrooms could be collected.”

Not a bad idea, I guess.