GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of September 3

by Adrienne Wilson on

Time for our weekly fav’s. Want to hear em’, here they go:

5. Passport Rules Changing:
This one was just posted today, but let’s just go over it once more – know the passport rules before getting to the airport. There are some small changes like needing a passport to get into Canada and others. With the changing times there are changing passport rules. Don’t be fooled my friends.

4. Salmon Festival:
Having just discovered all the amazing wonders found in a nice succulent piece of salmon over the last two years I was reeled into this Salmon Fest piece. If you’re heading northwest this year place this on your itinerary, radar or whatever. The event takes places September 28-October 1. Be sure to send some my way.

3. Museum Day:
Free admission into museums is blog worthy. So what if it only costs you $6-$10 dollars for entrance in the first place. A savvy traveler knows the wonders on saving an extra buck or two. On September 30 save some of that dinero when some 500 museums across America will waive admission fees.

2. Sagrada Familia: Construction Update:
These are the kinds of updates you may never find in your nice little guidebooks. Thanks to Iva and her watchful eye we discover that the never ending construction on Spain’s Sagrada Familia is still going on. Has that kept it from being one of Spain’s top visited attractions? Of course not, but the updates are always welcome!

1. Lifelist: Inca Trail:
Looks like Erik is reviving the Lifelist feature and I’m more than glad. To kick it off he goes into the How, When, Where, What and Why’s of visiting the Inca Trail and why (if it already isn’t) you might want to jot it onto your own Lifelist.

Kung Pao Chicken with Olives?

by Iva Skoch on

One of the great joys of traveling is undoubtedly the food one gets to sample. That applies not only to the local specialties. When traveling, I always like to taste how different cultures handle cuisines that are exotic to them. For example, how often do you see mayonaise on those fries that came with your burger? That’s how you’ll normally get them in Europe.

Chinese or Thai cuisines are my favorite ‘culture barometers,’ since they taste completely different everywhere: each culture injects a bit of their own taste into it. In Prague, for example, you will be hard-pressed to find a Chinese restaurant that does not automatically serve their dishes with parsley, cucumber and tomato (the two Czech staple vegetables) on the side. In the US, on the other hand, you almost always get the convenient ¨soup, eggroll or salad¨ choice with your Chinese meals. I certainly did not see that anywhere in China.

Today on the Costa Brava in Spain, I actually saw Kung-Pao chicken garnished with lettuce and olives. Part of the Spanish-Chinese diet, I imagine?

Sagrada Familia: Construction Update

by Iva Skoch on

Who says people can´t build grand cathedrals nowadays? OK, so maybe they take a little longer to build it now, since forced labor is generally frowned upon. But, you can´t accuse them of not trying.

Barcelona has been attempting to build a cathedral-like building since 1882 and I am here in Barcelona to report today that it is still not finished. Actually, I was here last in 1993 and I really can´t see any major progress has been made since then. The new estimated date of completion of Sagrada Familia–which roughly translates as `Our Lady of Perpetual Construction,` or something like that–is 2022. That does not prevent it from being the most visited site in Spain today.

It is an impressive building and when the 170-meter central dome is finished, it should be a masterpiece.

Rip the Head Off a Goose

by Erik Olsen on

Forgive me for any culturally-insensitive indiscretion, but I just came across this photo and thought to myself, “Now that’s rather sick” (but also kind of fun in a sickish way).

What am I talking about? Well, the photo shown here comes from the Seattle Times and depicts a man leaping through the air, his body contorted in a sort of half flip as he reaches out and attempts to tear the head off a dead goose. The photo is from a Basque festival called San Antolín. I tried to Wikipedia the festival to learn more, but couldn’t find anything. I did, however, find this piece that discusses the festival, also known as Goose Day. Anyone know anything more?

Catalonia – Too Cool For Spain

by Iva Skoch on

Blogging from Blanes, Catalonia: A sun-drenched, beautiful, Mediterranean coastal area of Spain, Catalonia still thinks it is too cool for Spain. A friend who has lived here for 8 years says that the Catalans consider themselves the hard-working ones, whereas the Southerners are supposed to be the slackers. (Californians – sounds familiar?) He says they are all equally relaxed about getting anything done.

An area of 6.5 million (16% of Spain as a whole), rich in its own history and a language distinct from Spanish, Catalonia now pines for independence from the rest of Spain (in part because they are angry they send more in tax revenue than they get back), apparently willing to forgo the substantial (150B+ Euros) monetary support from the EU, even though its GDP is less than the support the country gets. A recent vote showed this willingness to secede. And, not too surprisingly, this wouldn´t be the first time.

Maybe it is the food. Catalonia boasts one of the world´s most heart-healthy diets. Rich in fish, bountiful vegetables and the freshest fruit sold daily at bustling local markets, it sets the standard for the “Mediterranean diet,” whose birthplace, arguably, is the famous La Boqueria market in Barcelona.

Yet, it´s also home to a sometimes strangely liberal lifestyle, as evidenced by the fact that it´s one of the few places in the world where cannabis-derived drugs are available over the counter at the many farmacia. It´s also bucking age-old Spanish tradition, by moving to banish bull-fighting. Better get here fast.