No skeletons on the New Delhi metro, please

by Sean McLachlan on


A friend of mine, freelance photographer Jane Shepherdson, was recently in New Delhi and rode on the city’s metro (subway system). She captured this odd sign about what’s prohibited for passengers to carry.

Some of it is predictable, such as explosives, guns, and radioactive materials. You also can’t carry “manure of any kind” (including your own, one would suppose) or rags. That includes oily rags in case you’re wondering.

What really caught her eye was the prohibition against passengers carrying “Human skeleton, ashes, and part of Human body”.

Makes sense to me. When I’m on public transport I only want to share it with the living. What’s scary, though, is that they wouldn’t have put this sign up unless someone had actually carried body parts on the metro. So if you’re going to New Delhi, please, leave the body parts in your hotel room.

Istria and the Unintentional Search of the Next Tuscany

by David Farley on
In a way it’s no surprise that Istria, a heart-shaped peninsula in northwestern Croatia, is regularly called “the Next Tuscany.”

Long under the rule of the Venetian Republic and, more recently, occupied by Mussolini’s Italy, the Adriatic’s largest peninsula has a decidedly Italian feel. In addition to the 11% Italian minority, nearly all Istrians-especially along the coast-are fluent Italian speakers. New York chef/restaurateur and Italian cuisine promoter, Lidia Bastianich, hails form just outside of Pula, a town on the southern tip of the peninsula.

In the last decade, though, there’s been an invasion of foreign homebuyers as well as journalists focusing on the region’s many foodie signifiers: the white truffles! The wild seasonal ingredients! Hence “the next Tuscany.” But is it? Or is this label just a lazy travel writing cliché? Maybe now that Croatia has recently been invited to join the European Union, travelers will start disassociate it with that over-romanticized region in central Italy. I set out to find the answer.

Well, not really. I actually made an impromptu trip to Istria for one specific reason. I wanted to eat at one of the best restaurants in Croatia, an eatery that is way overlooked by the traveling food-loving community. Valsabbion. The restaurant isn’t unknown, but given the high quality modernist cuisine coming from this spot and the fact that you’ll pay less than half you would have at elBulli in Spain, Valsabbion deserves more recognition. The drive from Venice would take me through Istria and at last, I thought, I can see what all the truffle-scented fuss was all about. It would be an unintentional search for the next Tuscany.

Besides, I was in Venice and had a rental car for the day and wanted to go on a drive. I pulled out of Venice, hungry and excited, and followed the signs to Trieste. When I crossed the border from Italy into diminutive Slovenia a few conspicuous changes took place: prices drop by a third and vowels vanished from words (signs in my rearview mirror for Trieste, the Italian border town, for example, became “Trst”). The coast of Slovenia, a short drive from the border (and about three hours driving from Venice), is only 30 miles long, but it packs a cultural and aesthetically pleasing punch. Tightly clenched Koper and Izola, perched out on city block-long peninsulas, are pretty enough, but I kept driving. The same with Piran, a compact seaside town.


The 75-mile drive to Rovinj took me across the Slovenian-Croatian border. The guards insisted on speaking Croatian to me, asking repeatedly in Croatian where I was from. When he finally asked in English, I answered and then he began laughing. “Is this the next Tuscany? I asked. The guard stopped laughing and pointed back toward Italy. “Tuscany, that way,” he said.

It’s impossible to not be dazzled by Rovinj (pictured), the best preserved town on the peninsula. Rovinj is a hilly and tightly packed cluster of Gothic structures and smooth cobbled pedestrian streets that was, a century and a half ago, an island (today a long narrow peninsula connects it to the mainland).

But, with my stomach rumbling and the sun setting, I drove on toward Pula, Istria’s largest town (with a population of 65,000). When I got there, I briefly stopped to gawk at the almost perfectly preserved Roman amphitheater that’s plopped in the middle of the city, the sixth largest in the world (Rome’s Coliseum is the first), an arena that could once accommodate 20,000 blood-thirsty spectators. I took a few glances around the Old Town, where there’s a curious combination of architectural styles (imagine: Gothic meets Fascist- and Socialist-era structures).

And then finally, at last, I made my way to Valsabbion. And how was the dinner? Was it unforgettable? The only thing I won’t forget was the sign on the door informing me the restaurant was closed for the month (it was February). I lost out on eating at one of Europe’s great underrated restaurants. At the same time I missed seeing the coastal towns of Istria. Travel fail, indeed.

Oh, but at a gourmet food shop in Pula a woman convinced me to buy some of those truffles that always get mentioned in travel articles about Istria. “Istrian truffles,” she kept saying. “Is this the next Tuscany?” I asked.

She stared back at me for a long second and said: “This is Istria. No Tuscany. Never.”

That’s probably as satisfying an answer as I’ll ever get.

Mastering the culinary experience on Benelux trains

by Tom Johansmeyer on


Hitting the rails around Europe can be a blast, and I particularly enjoyed it in the so-called “Benelux” countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg). The scenery in the Netherlands was a bit thin, but the Belgian towns were incredibly cute, and it was fun to watch the Dutch signs yield to French as we approached the Luxembourg border.

And let’s face it: any alternative to air travel is a welcome one.

While the trains were a bit slow, they did offer plenty of space, and the ride was comfortable. The only downside was dining: some had a cart that was pushed around periodically, but that was the best available. In other cases, there was nothing at all.

So, if you’re going to hop the train to places like Amsterdam, Bruges, Brussels and Luxembourg, you’re going to want to pack your own grub. You can always pick something up at the train station, but packaged sandwiches and snacks pale in comparison to what you can accomplish with a little planning.

You can do better!

Below, you’ll find tips for giving yourself a better dining experience when you ride through Benelux:

%Gallery-129425%The Netherlands: let’s focus on Amsterdam; after all, it is the country’s major destination. You might be tempted to pick up a “spacecake” while they’re still available to tourists (the fun, for those who indulge, comes to a close at the end of the year), but that only appeals to one type of audience. Instead, head into town and pick up some of the local cheese – one of the few areas where Amsterdam truly excels in food and dining. You’ll wind up spending $10 to $15, but you’ll walk away with enough cheese to feed a village on a three-hour train ride. To make it a bit better, add some spicy mustard to your order (it complements the cheese nicely).

Plan ahead: the cheese and mustard will stay edible for a while, so spend the extra cash to get enough for several long train rides. You’ll be happy you did.

Belgium: in Bruges, there’s a great farmers market in the main market square. Visit it. While the vegetables look delicious, they do have a fairly short shelf life (unless you happen to travel with a refrigerator strapped to your back). So, you’re better off heading to the sausage stand. Pick up a few sausages, and make it interesting by selecting from a variety of animals. You’ll be able to dine on pig, bull and ass, among others. Bring some variety into your on-train meal, and you’ll have a better experience.

Remember the cheese you picked up in Amsterdam? And the mustard? If you bought enough, you can add some awesome sausages to the experience. The meal builds on itself! Again, plan for future train rides, and buy some extra sausage.

Luxembourg: you have cheese and mustard from Amsterdam. You just picked up sausages in Bruges. And, you’re Benelux trip will likely end with a trek from Luxembourg to Brussels or Amsterdam to catch your flight home. What’s missing from your meal on what could be the longest leg of your Benelux train experience?

Wine!

Luxembourg’s local white wines are nothing short of delicious. Skip the Alsacian, French and German options in favor of what the locals produce. If the imbibing experience matters to you, spring for a few cheap wine glasses that you’re fine with tossing at the airport (or losing to breakage in your bags). Otherwise, a few plastic cups will do the job just fine. As you ride back to your final stop before leaving Benelux, you’ll wash down your accumulated sausage, cheese and mustard with something crisp, tasty and unlikely to be on the shelves of your local liquor store.

Riding the rails in Wales: a steam train into the Welsh hills

by Sean McLachlan on


If you like old trains, you’re going to love Wales. The region has several narrow-gauge steam locomotives. The website Great Little Trains of Wales tells you about ten of them traveling various routes around the country. Most are clustered in the north and west, which most travelers say has the best scenery.

Having never been on a steam train and knowing it would be a guaranteed hit with our five-year-old son, we took the Vale of Rheidol Railway from Aberystwyth up into the Welsh hills to Devil’s Bridge. Our train, the Prince of Wales, dates to the 1920s and has been lovingly restored. It makes the 12-mile run in about an hour.

We set off to much chugging and hooting, which was taken up by all the children on board. As we cleared the station we saw that strangest of British animals, a trainspotter, filming our departure. Leaving Aberystwyth and the trainspotter behind, we picked up speed and soon started to ascend into the hills. Parts of the route are very steep and winding, which is why a narrow-gauge is used, and goes along the southern side of the Vale (Valley) of Rheidol. To our north the valley opened up to view, a gleaming strip of river winding far below, and here and there a farm. Only a few farms and houses stood near the rails and most of the time we were in countryside. A Red Kite flew by looking for prey. The engineer said that buzzards are a common sight too.

%Gallery-129371%One thing that was very noticeable was just how loud steam trains are. Our forefathers did not get a quiet, relaxing ride!

We continued to climb up the side of the valley past a few farms, thick woodland, and fields covered in wildflowers until we made it to Devil’s Bridge, where the trainspotter from Aberystwyth was waiting to film our arrival. There’s a beautiful waterfall tumbling through thick greenery here, and three bridges passing over it. The lowest bridge is said to have been built by the Devil in an attempt to get an old woman’s soul. The woman was too clever for him, though. You can read the story here. Two trails offer views of the falls.

There’s also a Robber’s Cave that local folklore says was used by three thieves–two brothers and their sister. The cave was a great hideout and they managed to live a life of crime for many years until they accidentally killed one of their victims. The locals came out with dogs and traced them to this cave. The men were hung and the woman burnt at the stake.

If you’ve never been on a steam train before, it’s a fun novelty and a great way to see the countryside. Our son loved it, of course, and all the other kids seemed to be entertained too!

London Olympics 2012: One year to go celebrated today

by Chris Owen on

The 12-month countdown to the greatest sporting show on earth is under way this week as London reaches the one year to go mark for the 2012 summer Olympics. Today, Olympic athletes from across Europe come together at a star-studded day marking the occasion along with fans invited to Eurostar’s London 2012 Olympic celebrations.

Over the last few months, thousands of Olympic fans have entered competitions to win the chance to be part of Eurostar’s ‘One year to go’ celebrations. Arriving from countries including France, and Belgium, competition winners and athletes will be joined by winners from the UK to be greeted by double world champion and Olympic silver medalist Colin Jackson and others then join them in having their foot prints cast in clay as they symbolically mark the first steps on the way to the 2012 Games

“This is such a wonderful opportunity for members of the public to experience the London 2012 Olympic Games firsthand” Jackson told the Hillingdon Times.

.Following a welcome speeches from dignitaries, winners will then be transported to a celebration lunch held at an London restaurant with stunning views over the Olympic Park where Jackson will be their host for the remainder of their unique experience.

As the Official International Rail Services Provider to London 2012, Eurostar will bring hundreds of thousands of sports fans from the continent to London.

Flickr photo by spcbrass

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