Jeffrey Taylor in Morocco

by Erik Olsen on

The travel/current events writer Jeffrey Tayler has got an excellent piece in this month’s Atlantic Magazine
(sadly…subscription required). After the New Yorker, the Atlantic is the best magazine in the country, and this fine
travelogue that takes you up the coast of North Africa in Morocco is filled with the kind of writing that makes you
want to book your ticket to Marrakesh and hang out for while.

Actually, Tayler spends more time on the
coast, visiting towns like Rabat and Casablanca, though no word on whether he dropped in at Rick’s. I have been to a
couple of the places he writes about, and very much enjoyed his recollections of some of these places. But he goes much
further afield than I did, visiting places like Azemmour and Doukkala, while I confined myself to the coast near Rabat.
Now, that said I had one advantage during my trip, in that I got the royal treatment. I was there visiting a father of
a friend, a well-connected former government minister, and so rode arouund the city in a limo and had several of the
finest meals I’ve ever had.

North Africa fascinates me, and it is too bad that it currently has a
reputation for Muslim extremism. The country is beautiful, and with the exception of a very strange, near-violent
encounter in Tangier (a wretched hive of scum and villainy) I found the people of Morocco to be amazingly friendly and
generous. No doubt, Tayler would agree.

GADLING'S TAKE FIVE: Week of February 21

by Erik Olsen on

It’s that time again, time to highlight some of the more
interesting Gadling posts from this last week. And it was a rather rich week, I’d say, especially when you consider
that we put up another podcast for your ear budding pleasure. But let me start at the beginning with this week’s
list:

5. Blimp Travel: This was a post I
found over at Popular Science and it really fired me up. I’ve long been puzzled why we haven’t been able to ply the
skies slowly in a dirigible. I mean, the technology has been around for a while, and yet, no blimp rides. Did the
tragedy of the Hindenburg ruin blimp travel? Well, perhaps not. Looks like someone may be building blimps for us after
all.

4. Tiki Mania: To be honest, I had only
heard of this whole Tiki business through Neil, whose post on Tiki Mania made it clear that the current Tiki revival
(revival? When was the last great Tiki boom, again? Oh, the 60s) is something to pay attention to, at the very least
for the promise of delicious fruity drinks.  But seriously, little did I know that the Tiki craze has its own magazine, blog, and, a band called Ape.

3. Calypso:
Adrienne, you might have read, is spending some fine time in Trinidad, and are we jealous! Well, she’s somehow found a
nice connection down there and is sending some excellent dispatches on life in a place most of us have never been. They
are really superb, and we are grateful. I’d like, in fact, to direct you to this wonderful post on Calypso and Soca
music. I read it last night, and then the daylight come and me wanna go home.

2. Tunisian Star Wars Locations: Sorry, I’m,
about a big a Star Wars geek as they get. I’ll not get into the details, but trust me, I’m out there in a galaxy far far
away. And so that is why I enjoyed Neil’s post on Tunisian Star Wars locations. What can I say? I’d go there just to
stand in the sand and say: These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.

1. Gadling Podcast: Joshua Davis: I really
enjoyed chatting with author Josh Davis about his new book Underdog: How I survived the World’s Most Outlandish
Competitions (not to mention the forthcoming film on his sumo exploits). The podcast here is our first since we spoke
with Fabien Cousteau about his shark submarine, and I think you’ll really enjoy it. Josh is a great guy, and his story
will make you shake you head in wonder. 

Red Corner: Baltic Spas

by Neil Woodburn on

I’m not sure how I got on the theme of bathhouses and saunas this week, but the fact is that such methods of relaxation have a long history in the former communist lands and today remain extraordinarily popular throughout this part of the world.

The sanatorium (more commonly referred to as a spa today) was a favorite during communist times. Unions and factories often sent their workers here on paid holidays to relax and reenergize. The sick and infirm also came to rid their bodies of everything from digestive problems to insomnia-thanks to the area’s abundant supply of mineral-rich, natural hot springs famed for their miraculous curative powers.

One of the more popular regions in which to spa are the Baltics. With a long and rich tradition of aristocratic sanatorium dating back to the 1800s, (Tchaikovsky regularly visited spas in Haapsalu, Estonia) the Baltics are an attractive draw for those seeking the miracle waters.

Check out the following article for a nice history of the Baltic spa tradition, as well as an extensive list of the more popular ones still operating today. Those of you who are doctors can chuckle over the long list of ailments which can supposedly be treated at the facilities.

Other National Parks

by Erik Olsen on

A while ago, we did a post about some
of the National Parks you may have never heard of. Not the familiar ones like Glacier or Yellowstone, or even Yosemite. But the ones we think you ought to consider for your next trip are parks
like Nez Perce National Historical Park, a park with some 38 major sites in
Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana, and that is chock full of both history and natural beauty. Another is Great Basin National Park in Baker, Nev., with only 85,000 visitors a year that
features some lovely caves like the Lehman Caverns. Another wonderful park where I was recently is the Channel Islands National Park which you can find just off the Coast of California
and provides some of the finest sea kayaking around. All good stuff and worth investigating. Keep your eyes open here
for more on the parks, cause we love em.

Bowermaster's Slow Boat

by Erik Olsen on

I
posted about this DVD a while back, but wanted to call your attention to it again because I just recently re-watched
it. Jon Bowermaster is one of our great living adventurers, at least one of the greatest paddling adventurers. He has
really elevated the touring kayak trip to a new level with his series of travel called Oceans 8.

His DVD called Slow Boat to Somewhere is one of Bowermaster’s early films. The films puts Bowermaster and his small
crew  aboard a cargo vessel in the vast blue waters of Polynesia. The team, which includes adventure photographer
Peter McBride, ply the yawning ocean, delivering goods to some of the globe’s most isolated coral atolls. Sure, that
may not seem like the recipe for a solid film, but it works. The film drags a bit at moments, but some of the scenes
are fascinating, like the one where Bowermaster watches a man struggles to keep his girlfriend from leaving a desolate
atoll. The boyfriend is obviously intoxicated, and he bodily seizes the woman to prevent her from escaping. It’s an
intense moment that reveals how some of the places we consider tropical paradises, might not quite live up to their
reputation.