Monday 13 August 2012
Finland
Seychelles
Canada
Canada is the second largest nation in the world, yet it only shares a land border with one other country– the U.S.A.– and it is a peaceful border. That means there is a great expanse to escape to, if need be. Furthermore, Canada has few world enemies, ranks consistently high on the Global Peace Index, and is relatively homogeneous.
Papua New Guinea
There are regions of Papua New Guinea that are still being discovered for the first time. The canopy covered, mountainous nation contains some of the most isolated places in the world. Tuck yourself away in a nook here and it may be one of the few places left where you can completely insulate yourself from the outside world.
Costa Rica
Switzerland
Switzerland’s long history of neutrality and its tucked away location among the valleys of the Alps still make it a safe bet, even despite having a high number of bordering nations. It helps that neighboring Austria is also considered a neutral nation.
Friday 3 August 2012
Dillon, Colorado
If crowds aren't your thing, discover this small town on the shores of the Lake Dillon Reservoir. Hike through White River National Forest and catch a glimpse of the wildflowers, or strap on a life vest and go white water rafting in the mountains. Be sure to pack your camera to make your own photographic memories; the best part of Dillon is the view.
Yellow Stone National Park, Wyoming
This is the grandmother of nature-loving vacation destinations. As such, expect to have to book months in advance to camp in the park and to share the great outdoors with lots of other enthusiasts, especially during the summer months. Still, planning and company are a small price to pay for the wonder of Old Faithful.
Santa Rosa County, Florida
What makes Santa Rosa such a treat for nature lovers is the variety of scenery available. You can spend a day lounging on the white beaches along the Gulf of Mexico, or head inland for canoeing and kayaking down the Blackwater River, one of the purest sand bottom rivers in the world.
Lake Mead, Nevada
The Lake Mead National Recreational Area is just a few miles outside of Boulder City, Nevada and backs up to the famous Hoover Dam. Bring your RV or a tent and enjoy fishing, boating, and hiking around the lake man made when they dammed the raging waters of the Colorado River. While you're in the neighborhood, take some time to explore Black Canyon on the other side of the dam.
Germany dos and don’ts
Do
Shake hands when you’re introduced to someone – it’s impolite not to.
Say Prost! (cheers!) before you sip your beer – and look your drinking buddy in the eye when you say it.
Feel free to have serious discussions in social settings – Germans like talking politics and philosophy. They don’t relish idle chit-chat or small talk.
Say your name at the beginning of a phone call, even if it’s followed by ‘do you speak English?’
Address people with the formal ‘you’ (Sie). If the familiar ‘you’ (Du) is cool, they’ll let you know.
Hit the ATM – cash rules in Germany and many restaurants don’t take credit cards.
Don’t
Be late – everyone else will be on time.
Send a German friend lilies – they’re for funerals. Carnations symbolise mourning, too.
Dig into that Sauerkraut before your host says ‘Guten Appetit’ (good appetite).
Stroll in the bike lane. You’ll get bruised or yelled at (or both). It’s marked red for a reason.
Jaywalk. Nobody else does, and you might get fined.
Drink yourself into a stumbling fool. We know the beer goes down easy, but public drunkenness is frowned upon.
Tuesday 31 July 2012
Shugborough inscription
Look from afar at the 18th-century Shepherd's Monument in Staffordshire, England, and you might take it as nothing more than a sculpted re-creation of Nicolas Poussin's famous painting, “Arcadian Shepherds.” Look closer, though, and you'll notice a curious sequence of letters: DOUOSVAVVM — a code that has eluded decipherment for over 250 years.
Though the identity of the code carver remains a mystery, some have speculated that the code could be a clue left behind by the Knights Templar about the whereabouts of the Holy Grail.
Many of the world's greatest minds have tried to crack the code and failed, including Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin.
Phaistos Disc
Some scholars believe that the hieroglyphs resemble symbols of Linear A and Linear B, scripts once used in ancient Crete. The only problem? Linear A also eludes decipherment.
Today the disc remains one of the most famous puzzles of archaeology.
Beale Ciphers
The Beale Ciphers are a set of three ciphertexts that supposedly reveal the location of one of the grandest buried treasures in U.S. history: thousands of pounds of gold, silver and jewels. The treasure was originally obtained by a mysterious man named Thomas Jefferson Beale in 1818 while prospecting in Colorado.
Of the three ciphertexts, only the second one has been cracked. Interestingly, the U.S. Declaration of Independence turned out to be the key — a curious fact given that Beale shares his name with the author of the Declaration of Independence.
The cracked text does reveal the county where the treasure was buried: Bedford County, Va., but its exact location is likely encrypted in one of the other uncracked ciphers. To this day, treasure hunters scour the Bedford County hillsides digging (often illegally) for the loot.
Kryptos
Kryptos is a mysterious encrypted sculpture designed by artist Jim Sanborn which sits right outside the headquarters of the CIA in Langley, Va. It's so mysterious, in fact, that not even the CIA has completely cracked the code.
The sculpture contains four inscriptions, and although three of them have been cracked, the fourth remains elusive (Read what the first three inscriptions say here). In 2006 Sanborn let slip that there are clues in the first inscriptions to the last one, and in 2010 he released another clue: the Letters 64-69 NYPVTT in part 4 encode the text BERLIN.
Think you have what it takes to solve it?
Voynich Manuscript
Named after the Polish-American antiquarian bookseller Wilfrid M. Voynich, who acquired it in 1912, the Voynich Manuscript is a detailed 240-page book written in a language or script that is completely unknown. Its pages are also filled with colorful drawings of strange diagrams, odd events and plants that do not seem to match any known species, adding to the intrigue of the document and the difficulty of deciphering it. The original author of the manuscript remains unknown, but carbon dating has revealed that its pages were made sometime between 1404 and 1438. It has been called "the world's most mysterious manuscript."
Theories abound about the origin and nature of the manuscript. Some believe it was meant to be a pharmacopoeia, to address topics in medieval or early modern medicine. Many of the pictures of herbs and plants hint that it many have been some kind of textbook for an alchemist. The fact that many diagrams appear to be of astronomical origin, combined with the unidentifiable biological drawings, has even led some fanciful theorists to propose that the book may have an alien origin.
One thing most theorists agree on is that the book is unlikely to be a hoax, given the amount of time, money and detail that would have been required to make it.
Go figure
Few stories have the power to captivate us more than those that remain unresolved. Codes, puzzles and cryptic public art tease us with their intrigue: Why is their message coded? What great secrets might they hide? Despite the efforts of our most learned historians, cleverest cryptographers and most determined treasure hunters, history is replete with riddles that continue to confound us today. Fictional tales like those featured in “The Da Vinci Code” and the movie “National Treasure” have got nothing on these real-life puzzles. Here's our list of 10 of the world's most cryptic unsolved mysteries and codes.
Rongorongo
Rongorongo is a system of mysterious glyphs discovered written on various artifacts on Easter Island. Many believe they represent a lost system of writing or proto-writing and could be one of just three or four independent inventions of writing in human history.
The glyphs remain undecipherable, and their true messages — which some believe could offer hints about the perplexing collapse of the statue-building Easter Island civilization — may be lost forever
Georgia Guidestones
The Georgia Guidestones, sometimes referred to as the "American Stonehenge," is a granite monument erected in Elbert County, Ga., in 1979. The stones are engraved in eight languages — English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese and Russian — each relaying 10 "new" commandments for "an Age of Reason." The stones also line up with certain astronomical features.
Though the monument contains no encrypted messages, its purpose and origin remain shrouded in mystery. They were commissioned by a man who has yet to be properly identified, who went by the pseudonym of R.C. Christian.
Of the 10 commandments, the first one is perhaps the most controversial: "Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature." Many have taken it to be a license to cull the human population down to the specified number, and critics of the stones have called for them to be destroyed. Some conspiracy theorists even believe they may have been designed by a "Luciferian secret society" calling for a new world order.
Zodiac letters
The Zodiac letters are a series of four encrypted messages believed to have been written by the famous Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who terrorized residents of the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The letters were likely written as a way to taunt journalists and police, and though one of the messages has been deciphered, the three others remain uncracked.
The identity of the Zodiac Killer also remains a mystery, though no Zodiac murders have been identified since 1970.
world's biggest unsolved mysteries
The Wow! Signal
One summer night in 1977, Jerry Ehman, a volunteer for SETI, or the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, may have become the first man ever to receive an intentional message from an alien world. Ehman was scanning radio waves from deep space, hoping to randomly come across a signal that bore the hallmarks of one that might be sent by intelligent aliens, when he saw his measurements spike.
The signal lasted for 72 seconds, the longest period of time it could possibly be measured by the array that Ehman was using. It was loud and appeared to have been transmitted from a place no human has gone before: in the constellation Sagittarius near a star called Tau Sagittarii, 120 light-years away.
Ehman wrote the words "Wow!" on the original printout of the signal, thus its title as the "Wow! Signal."
All attempts to locate the signal again have failed, leading to much controversy and mystery about its origins and its meaning.
world's biggest unsolved mysteries
Tamam Shud case
Considered to be one of Australia's most profound mysteries, the Tamam Shud Case revolves around an unidentified man found dead in December 1948 on Somerton beach in Adelaide, Australia. Aside from the fact that the man could never be identified, the mystery deepened after a tiny piece of paper with the words "Tamam Shud" was found in a hidden pocket sewn within the dead man's trousers. (It is also referred to as "Taman Shud.")
The phrase translates as "ended" or "finished" and is a phrase used on the last page of a collection of poems called “The Rubaiyat” of Omar Khayyam. Adding to the mystery, a copy of Khayyam's collection was later found that contained a scribbled code in it believed to have been left by the dead man himself.
Due to the content of the Khayyam poem, many have come to believe that the message may represent a suicide note of sorts, but it remains uncracked, as does the case.
Epic driftwood: Monster tree washes ashore
Flooding, high tides and blasting winds worked together to land a massive drift log taller than a single-story house.
I think it was fitting that this photo was first posted on the Our Amazing Planet blog (via Reddit).
Check out the size of that thing!
We have driftwood where I live in Portland, Maine, but nothing like what washes ashore near Washington state's Olympic National Park, where this photo was taken. The tree most likely fell into a river after flooding and floated out to sea. High tides and strong wind then pushed it back on shore.
17 cultural reasons why this European never wants to live in America
1. Americans are way too sensitive
Sometimes I wonder if political correctness is in your constitution. I found out very quickly in my first visit that I had to bite my tongue pretty much all the time, and (more annoyingly) that nobody was ever straight with me.
It seems that speaking your mind to individuals is a major taboo. You can’t tell a friend straight when he has fucked up, nobody will ever tell you that you look fat (oversensitivity with not telling obese people to get their act together is a major contributor in my opinion to why there are so many of them in the states), and there’s way too much euphemism to avoid the hard truth.
To a certain extent, I can understand it – America generally does a great job of preventing people from singling out ethnic groups and toning down hate speech. But it waters it down far too much at the individual level.
A lot of Americans I met feel very lonely, and I feel this is a major reason. You may never find a boy/girlfriend if a friend who knows you well and supposedly cares about you, doesn’t tell you the hard facts of what makes you so damn annoying… so that you can change it! Being insulting for the sake of it is needless aggression. But constructive criticism is what friends are for.
The one time in my entire last three months that someone was straight with me was when my friend Karol Gajda gave me some tips to improve my presentation in future after I gave a TEDx talk, while everyone else was doing nothing but massaging my ego. It was really useful advice but it caught me off guard because I was used to months of…
2. Everything is “awesome”!
I really hate the word awesome. It used to mean “that which inspires awe”, but in the states it means nothing! It doesn’t even mean good - it’s just a word – a filler, like “um” or “y’know”.
This is the stereotypical American cheesy word, and I heard it until my ears started to bleed. Too many over-the-top positive adjectives like this get thrown around so much that they really mean nothing.
And when you ask someone “How are you?” the answer will inevitably be “great!” even if they are far from it.
When you start using excessive positivity it waters down the meaning, and those words become neutral. Then what do you do when you need to express true positivity? Of course, when someone says they are “OK, I guess” then you know things are pear shaped! I don’t think “bad” is in America’s vocabulary.
But nothing beats America’s over-positivity more than this:
3. Smiles mean NOTHING
When I meet Americans abroad, one of their biggest complaints are along the lines of “nobody smiles on Prague’s trams!” “That waitress was so rude to me! She didn’t even smile!”
Goddamnit America – I have the opposite complaint for you. You guys smile way too much. It’s fucking annoying! How can you tell when someone means it? And why the hell would a stranger doing a crossword puzzle on public transport want to look giddy?
When people smile in Europe it means something. For example, because Germans don’t go around looking like an American toothpaste commercial when I was with them and they smiled, it lit up the room – you know it’s genuine and you can’t help but smile back, because you are genuinely happy. You’ve shared a joke, or a funny story or you are in love etc.
But all the time? When you smile all the time in public it means nothing. Apparently a smile releases endorphins, but if your face is stuck that way I’m sure your dreams of a natural high will fade soon. I’d rather focus on trying to make my life better and have reasons to smile than lie to myself and the world.
Despite how surly I sound in this post, because complaining is the theme of the article, the fact that I vent when I mean it, means that when you see me happy you know I’m truly happy. And that is indeed a lot of the time But not all of it!
4. Tipping
While it’s a perk for most of you, for me it was terribly annoying to be in restaurants and having a waitress interrupt me every 3 minutes asking me if everything is OK. I’d have to feign a smile and thumbs up to make her go away since my mouth was always full. I really don’t see the point – if you’ve given me the wrong order or if I suddenly realise I’m dying from an allergic reaction to your food, you’ll know it long before those 3 minutes are up.
Eating out is always an annoying experience because of this. In the rest of the world we call the server over when we need something. If this was genuine interest, or if the person was trying to be friendly that would be cool, but that’s not what it’s about. In fact, it’s all down to “subtle” reminders that this person wants you to tip them.
This drove me crazy – I really think tipping as a means of waitresses and others earning the vast majority of their living is ridiculous. If I have to pay, say 15% anyway, then include it in the bill! It’s not a bloody tip if it’s mandatory!!!
Once again, one huge complaint I hear in other countries is how rude waitresses are, and Americans claim it’s because they aren’t tipped. Instead of getting tipped they earn a wage like everyone else, and do their job and if they do it bad enough they’ll get fired. But apparently not pestering you every minute and not smiling like you are in a Ms. World competition means you are “rude”.
I think the basic concept of tipping is nice – if someone does a top-notch job, sure, throw them an extra few cents or a dollar – but I just see it as a complex system of tax evasion for both restaurants and workers in the states. Some people ludicrously suggest that it makes it cheaper that the restaurant doesn’t have to charge more, but you’re paying the difference anyway. What it does contribute to is clear though:
5. False prices on everything
Tipping is just the peak of the iceberg.
It’s all one big marketing scam to make people feel like they are paying less. The price you see on a menu is nothing compared to what you’ll actually pay. Apart from tipping, you have to of course pay taxes.
Now taxes are things that you simply have to pay on items you purchase – it’s how governments work all around the world. So why hide it from us? It boggles my mind that places refuse to include the tax in prices. The price they state is pretty much useless. It’s just saying “this is how much we get from what you pay, but you’ll actually pay more”.
I don’t give a flying toss how much YOU get, I want to know how much I have to pay! How much money… do you want me… to hand to you? Do I really have to spell this out?
The most laughable of all of these is the “dollar store”. We have this thing in Ireland called the €2 shop. You can walk in with a single €2 coin and walk out with something. If you have a single dollar, you will be turned away from a “dollar” store though. It’s a dollar… that they earn not that you pay. Do you follow? The only thing that matters is the business’s perspective.
Airlines are the worst of all though. While in Europe some airlines are pretty bad with added fees, at least you’ll see them when it’s time to pay. The crazy thing for me flying in the states (since I have check-in luggage) was that I would pay… and then I’d pay again later.
It’s nothing but a large scale marketing scam. Make the price seem cheaper, which is lying to people. One great way to get people in more debt is to make them feel like they are spending less, but add the rest when it comes time to hand over the cash. This is one big part of….
6. Cheesy in-your-face marketing
I feel like scraping out my eyes with toothpicks when I’m forced to endure advertising in America. Make it stop.
Most Americans aren’t even aware of it – it’s on all the time so much that it becomes nothing more than background noise. And this means that advertisers have to be even louder to get through to people. It’s a vicious circle that drives any non-American not used to it bonkers.
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!
I decided to watch an episode of House one evening on TV. Up until then I had only really seen American shows online with advertising removed or back in Europe with European advertising inserted.
Holy shit.
Every few minutes you get torn out of the show and bombarded with irrelevant spam, and “awesome” images of people who practically experience orgasms as soon as they buy product X, that is (of course) on special offer just right now. And if it’s anything medical you get a super fast voice spur every kind of medical complaint you can imagine that his product will create as a side-effect. But at least the cheesy model is still happy, so it’s probably not so important.
Some of my American blogger friends apply this to the online world and cover their site with flashing or aggressive banners, and a writing style that is psychologically very effective to make a sale, but damn is it annoying. One online pet-peeve of mine is email pop-up sign-up forms, which you can justify with marketing stats, as long as you ignore how much you piss off people you don’t “convert”. I’d recommend you install Randy‘s Stoppity plugin for Firefox or Chrome to turn those off.
And here’s the thing: Americans are marketing geniuses. This can never be disputed. Every time I went to buy just a carton of milk, something about the supermarket that’s different to what I’m used to gravitated me towards some expensive garbage I didn’t need and I almost bought it, or did buy it, feeling very stupid as I walked out.
If you are in Las Vegas you’ll see how skilled they are at this manipulation by how they design the casinos. No windows, no clocks, impossible to find exits, no way to get where you want to go without walking through slot machines, the slot machines themselves have lots of shiny lights and bouncy music to entice you. You feel like you are being hypnotised. They know exactly what they are doing and have the billions of dollars to prove it.
But it’s still manipulation, and to those of us not used to the loudness it’s plain cheesy. Every corner of America is plastered with some kind of advertising or sponsorship, and I feel so at peace now that I’ve left. No more random phonecalls on any landline (including hotels I was paying for) with a recorded voice to try to pitch me something and no more spam promotional brochures taking over my physical mailbox.
7. Wasteful consumerism
Some of the consumerism is difficult to avoid when you are flooded with advertising, but some of it really is entirely the person’s own fault for being so wasteful.
The best example I can think of by far is Apple fanboyism. So many Americans waste so much cash to have the latest iteration of Apple’s iPhone, iPad, or Macbook. When you buy one that’s fine – I personally don’t like Apple products (I find the operating system too restrictive), but there are many good arguments for why it could be better. I also like to have a good smartphone and laptop for example, and I’m as much a consumer as you if you happen to have an Apple equivalent.
The problem is when you replace your iPhone 4 with an iPhone 4S, and do it along with an army of millions of other sheep for no good reason. It’s pointless and wasteful consumerism at its best.
I actually took advantage of this when I was in Austin this year. I waited until the day the iPad 2 was announced and as I predicted there were 20 new ads per minute on Craigslist in that city alone from desperate fanboys trying to sell their iPad 1. Since my laptop is so big (I consider it a portable desktop), it was worth my while to invest in a tablet and I convinced one idiot to sell me his with a bluetooth keyboard case for $250. (I’ve written a few blog posts on it in cafés so it was worth my investment) He was so desperate to have the latest version that was ever so slightly thinner and faster, and with a camera that makes you look like an idiot when you point your iPad at something, but otherwise basically exactly the same.
Personally I only replace my smartphone when I break the other one from travel stress or dropping it in an ocean etc. I’m also a consumer though, and will occasionally buy stuff that I don’t need, but replacing something I have for something marginally better for a large price is something I can never understand.
What makes it worse is that these people sometimes claim to not have much money and Apple products are added to their “necessities” list. The gobshite I bought my iPad from sighed when I told him what I do, and he said that he wished he had the money to travel. I wish he had the common sense to realise that if he stopped wasting his money he’d have plenty left over.
8. Idiotic American stereotypes of other countries
Many of us have seen videos online of Americans arsing up basic questions of international geography. I went out of my way to avoid people that stupid – my beef is with the supposedly educated ones.
Luckily, Americans you meet abroad tend to be much cleverer, but meeting those who haven’t travelled made my head hurt with the amount of facepalms I’d have to do.
Now, I know there are 300 million of you, but I have had this exact same conversation on both the east and west coast, and in the mid-west and south:
“Hi, I’m Benny”
“Awesome! I’m X. Where are you from?”
“Ireland”
“Wow! You guys certainly know how to drink!”
“Actually, I don’t drink”
“Oh, you’re not really Irish then, are you!”
Again, and again and again… and again. The same idiotic script – I knew it was coming every time. They demanded to see my passport, said that I’m the only Irish guy they’ve ever met who doesn’t drink (and very stupidly then admitted that I was the ONLY Irish guy they ever met!!) or had visited Ireland and spent all their time in Temple Bar (not even leaving Dublin), confirming that all Irish people are drunkards.
This is just one of the many idiotic things they would say, which of course annoyed me the most.
A few others I’ve gotten include:
How was the boat ride over here? [Surprised that we have airports in Ireland - I must have arrived in rags in New York harbour of course]
Too many people insisting that Ireland was part of the UK. They actually argued it with me!!
Did I have to check my car for IRA bombs when I was growing up? (there were so many things wrong with this)
Surprised that I knew more about technology than they did. Aren’t we all potato farmers in Ireland?
Whenever someone said anything about Ireland I’d always try to change the subject immediately or they’d quickly find out how blunt I can be.
Edit: If you think this is hypocritical, I’d argue that this post is NOT filled with stereotypes because it’s based on my actual experience in hanging out with thousands of you. Americans who stereotype us Irish (and other nationalities) have generally never been there, or at best “seen” (not spent time with) a couple of tourists. Stereotyping is based on hearsay and misinformation, and almost always from total lack of contact, or only superficial contact with the people you stereotype.
I’m not talking about Americans being all loud and war mongers and only eating at McDonald’s and all being stupid etc. (typical American stereotypes), because these just aren’t true for many people. I’m talking about what I’ve actually experienced from normal people in every day situations after an entire year of living and working in America.
9. Heritage
Every American you meet is not actually American. They are a fourth Polish, 3/17 Italian, ten other random countries, and then of course half Irish. Since Ireland is more homogenous, it’s hard for me to appreciate this, so honestly I don’t really care if your great grandfather’s dog walker’s best friend’s roommate was Irish. I really don’t.
The amount of “Oh my gaaawwwd, me too!!” retorts I heard when I said I was Irish is quite silly. I use country adjectives more restrictively than Americans do, so this was quite the pet peeve of mine. I finally learned that “I’m from Ireland” means what I wanted to say to them better than “I’m Irish” does.
I don’t want to say I don’t respect people’s rich heritage (a nice mixture makes a country more interesting; the melting pot of cultures and skin colours is one reason why Brazil is my favourite country for example), but when people start talking about it as if it were genetics and their Italian part makes them more passionate and their Irish part makes them good drinkers I really do have to roll my eyes.
Edit: Commenters keep pointing out that it’s a language difference, so “Irish” actually means “Irish American” as I’d understand it. That’s fine, but I’m trying to convey that foreigners find this annoying. There is no right or wrong, but it’s important to realise that rephrasing it or saying “I have Irish/Italian heritage” may be more appropriate if you are talking to someone from that country. This is especially true if speaking other languages.
10. ID checks & stupid drinking laws
Seriously, I promise I’m not 12. Please let me into the nightclub!
I’ve even seen 60 year olds get IDed. Nowhere else in the world do they ID me now that I’m clearly in my late 20s. A few times I haven’t had my passport (the most important document I own that I really don’t want to get beer spilled over) in my jeans pocket and have simply been refused entry.
I find it incredible that drinking age is 21, but you give 16 year olds licenses to drive cars and you can buy a rifle at age 18. And you can’t walk around outside with an open drink in most states (but apparently putting it in a brown bag while you drink it makes it OK). I don’t even drink, and I find these laws nonsensical.
11. Religious Americans
Look – I grew up in a religious town in Ireland, went to an all boys Catholic school, and some of my friends in Europe are religious. Even if I’m not religious myself, it’s up to everyone to decide what they believe in. I find religious people in Europe to be NORMAL – it’s a spiritual thing, or something they tend to keep to themselves, and are very modern people with a great balance of religion and modernism.
But I can’t stand certain Christian affiliations of religious Americans. It’s Jesus this and Jesus that all the bloody time. You really can’t have a normal conversation with them. It’s in your face religion, and they replace hard science with scripture in the classroom. They really need to tone it down.
12. Corporations win all the time, not small businesses
While there are many arguments against everything working towards there simply being a bunch of large corporations competing with one another, my biggest problem is in terms of availability.
When you get your food from Walmart or Wholefoods, and nowhere else, these places grow and will be separated by a reasonable driving distance for greatest scope. But between them? It’s a wasteland.
I was in downtown Chicago one day and wanted to simply get a bite to eat, but after walking around for an hour the only affordable option I could find was Dunkin Donuts. There are plenty of excellent cheap places to eat in Chicago, but you need to drive to them, or be in a specific part of the city with lots of restaurants. There’s too much competition between the big guys for a large number of little guys to sprinkle themselves conveniently throughout cities.
If you plonk me in any major city in Europe, I’ll find food in minutes. If you do the same in America, even downtown and presuming it isn’t a specific restaurant district, and don’t give me a cell phone or a car, I could starve to death.
And this is a major contributor to what I feel is one of the biggest problems in America:
13. A country designed for cars, not humans
One of my biggest issues in the states has been how terrible a place it is for pedestrians. It’s the worst place in the entire world to live in if you don’t own a car.
On previous trips to the states I’ve had it rough – relying on sub-par public transport (which is at least workable in certain major cities, but almost never first world standard in my opinion), or relying on a friend the entire time. You can’t do anything without a car in most cases. With rare exceptions (like San Francisco), all shops, affordable restaurants, supermarkets, electronics etc. are miles away. You rarely have corner shops (and if you do they are way more expensive than supermarkets).
I find it laughable that Austin is rated as among the most “walkable” cities in the states. Living just outside the centre, but within walking distance, meant that I had a stretch of my path with no pavement, and a little further out I had to walk on grass to get to a bus stop.
What struck me as the most eerie thing of all is that I felt very much alone when walking in any American city. In many cases I’d be the only pedestrian in the entire block, even if it was in the middle of the week downtown! The country is really designed to get in your car, drive to your destination and get out there. No walk-abouts.
Going for a walk to find food serendipitously (as I would in any European city) was a terrible idea every time without checking Yelp.com in advance.
For this last trip, I did actually rent a car for most of my stay (I didn’t even have a driving license before this trip, which most Americans find hard to grasp), and everything was so much more convenient, but I really did feel like I was only ever using my feet to work the gas pedal, and I will not miss it at all.
14. Always in a hurry
So many things in America are rushed far too much my liking. Fast food is something we have all around the world now (thanks America…) but even in a posh sit-down restaurant your food will usually come out in less than five minutes after ordering! There are also obsessions with get-rich-quick and lose-fat-quick schemes, pills that solve all your problems after a single swallow, people cutting to the chase in casual conversations far too quickly (after the customary empty “How are you? Great!”)
People don’t seem to have the patience to invest time to slowly improve things, unless it involves some kind of monetary investment.
Americans are also very punctual, because of course time is money. So many of them could do with stopping to smell the roses, and arriving late because they took their time.
Despite all the false positivity, I find Americans to be generally the most stressed out and unhappiest people on the planet. Despite all the resources, and all the money they have, they are sadder than people I know who can barely make ends meet in other countries, but still know how to live in the moment.
This rush to the finish line, to have your book published, or to have a million dollars in your bank account or to get that promotion, and to have that consume your life is something I find really sad.
15. Obsession with money
I met far too many people who were more interested in their bank balance than their quality of life. People richer than I can possibly imagine, who are depressed. More money seems to be the only way they understand of solving problems. They don’t travel because they think they need tens of thousands of dollars, and they don’t enjoy their day because they may miss out on a business opportunity.
16. Unhealthy portions
Apart from people not being frank with those who are overweight, the biggest problem is that portions in restaurants are grossly overgenerous. Any time I ordered even a small portion I’d be totally full. Small means something completely different to me than it does to Americans. If you sit down in most places and order anything but an appetiser or a salad, you will eat more than you should.
I was brought up being reminded of starving children in Africa, so I feel guilty if I don’t clear my plate. This has been disastrous over the last few months and I’ve put on weight because of it! I should have asked for a “doggy bag” nearly all the time.
I’ve learned to stop ordering a soda entirely, because when places give you free refills, I feel like I should drink more… it’s free after all! Ugh.
17. Thinking America is the best
Finally, one thing I find annoying is the warped view of America’s situation in the world.
Americans ask me all the time if I’m scared to be travelling in South America. I found it way scarier to walk around certain parts of downtown San Francisco or Chicago at night than I did even in downtown Recife (apparently one of the most dangerous cities in South America) – because at least there are people there. And I find it pretty scary to be in a country where pretty much anyone can legally buy a revolver.
I also keep hearing about America being the land of the free – it certainly was… 200 years ago. Most of western Europe is as free or more free, with opportunities for people at all levels. America is indeed a better place with a higher standard of living than most of the world, but free speech and tolerance for all is the norm in the western world as a rule, not just in America.
There is no best country. But those who go on about how America is number one, tend to be those who have never travelled or lightly travelled.
How about saying America is great or “awesome”? I think patriotism is an excellent quality to have, and we should all be proud of where we were born. But nationalism (believing other countries are inferior) is a terrible quality.
What I love about Americans
Since this post has been a bit of a downer, I will balance it out a bit by saying what I love about Americans
It’s been a frustrating three months, but I will indeed happily go back to America to visit for a few weeks next year. There are many reasons for this, including:
So well connected; social networking and apps are so well integrated into America compared to other places I’ve been. Meetup.com is super active, and there is free wifi and apps made for your city nearly all the time. I love how much America has embraced the Internet to so many levels, and I hope we catch up in other countries.
Conferences and conventions; while we do have some in Europe, we cannot dream of competing with the states in terms of sheer numbers of people with very specific niche interests gathering together. It’s been fantastic for me to attend blogging and travel conferences, and even a Star Trek convention! You have such specific conversations there with large numbers of people that you can’t normally do.
American girls: While I find American girls to be a bit less feminine than they are in most countries, I do enjoy the male-female dynamic, and it’s even nicer for me since they have a thing for Irish accents…
Many friends: What will always make sure that I keep coming back is that I’ve made some lifelong friends with so many people that I never would have been able to elsewhere in the world.
Countryside diversity and so much to do: As well as some great people, there are some incredible sites – and you can get a whole world of climates within America. To this day, the Grand Canyon remains one of the most impressive sites I’ve ever seen. It’s also so much fun to visit any city – if you know the right people or even use websites like those I mention above, you’ll always have plenty to keep you busy!
Open mindedness and diversity: Despite what I’ve said in this post, America is a very special country with so much going for it! I thoroughly enjoy my conversations with people there, and it’s one of the few places that I could write a post like this and still be welcome to come back later And I will!
[Edit: from a comment reply:
Some of my best friends in the world are Americans. I will come back - but when I share my thoughts I do it VERY frankly. You have to appreciate this. The cultural issue is that if an American complains about something they presumably hate it, but I'm just sharing my thoughts. Since my style is terribly blunt, you can indeed get the wrong impression that I "hate" Americans from this if you treat it as an American style complaint letter.
The honesty issue is such a cultural difference. My German friends tell me without hesitation if I smell bad after dancing for a few hours, if I'm being too loud, tell me when something I've created is crap or that I have terrible taste in music etc. - they don't hold back. From an American perspective they are being assholes, but in fact they are showing how much they love me. It's constructive criticism. This post is actually because I care about Americans enough to be straight with them.]
I hope despite the frankness that you’ll welcome me when I do come back to visit, even if we both know I won’t be there to stay! Of course there are many many other reasons I love America, but as you can see this post is long enough as it is! I can do much better by having some of you retrospectively look at your culture from a foreign perspective than I can by inflating your egos
May the sea of comments, rants, retorts and insults… commence!
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This article was written by Benny Lewis
Comments: If you liked this post or have anything to say, please leave a comment! I love reading them You don’t even have to write in English! I will reply to all comments in any language listed on the right with the flags.
Just keep in mind that I’ll delete any comments that:
1. Are unnecessarily nasty and mean to me or any other commenter or otherwise totally inappropriate.
2. Are irrelevant to the particular post they follow, or leave a link to a site that is totally irrelevant or are clearly spam. If you have a general language learning question, please ask it in the forums.
3. Use a commenter name of a business or brand instead of a human being or a spammy temporary disposable e-mail service, or a clearly fake address.
But that’s not you, so don’t worry! Can’t wait to see what you have to write… don’t be shy!!
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Friday 27 July 2012
Behind a Frozen Waterfall
A simply fabulous shot from the bottom of the ice waterfall looking up. Just look how the ice has built up from the spray on surrounding twigs. That's what you call natural beauty.
Sistema Sac Actun, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Sistema Sac Actun is the largest underwater cave system in the world. It is one of the most beautiful and decorated caves systems as well and is popular with divers.
Sistema Sac Actun (from Spanish and Yucatec Maya meaning "White Cave System") is an underwater cave system situated along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula with passages to the north and west of the village of Tulum. Exploration started from Gran Cenote (20°14′47″N 87°27′51″W) 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) west of Tulum. The whole of the presently explored cave system lies within the Municipality of Tulum (state of Quintana Roo).
In early 2007, the underwater cave Sistema Nohoch Nah Chich was connected into and subsumed into Sac Actun making it the longest surveyed underwater cave system in the world[3] for some months. Sac Actun currently measures 215.4 kilometers (133.8 mi) (after connecting Sistema Aktun Hu with 34 kilometers (21 mi) in January 2011) and is presently second surpassed by Sistema Ox Bel Ha at 232.8 kilometers (144.7 mi).[1] These two cave systems since early 2007 have been frequently exchanging the title as the longest underwater cave system in the world.[4] Including two connected dry caves (Sistema Yax Muul and Sistema Pierre′s East) makes Sistema Sac Actun with 218.0 kilometers (135.5 mi) the second longest cave in Mexico[2] and the sixth longest worldwide.[5]
Lucca, Tuscany, Italy.
Lucca is one of those Tuscan towns you should visit on your vacation in Italy. You might choose to stay there or nearby to use it as a base for exploring the region but, even if you don't, you can still visit it on a day trip. Lucca is famous for its Renaissance-era city walls that have remained intact while so many other Tuscan towns saw theirs destroyed in past centuries. Lucca is located on a plain at the foot of the Apuan Alps and is less than half an hour from the Tuscan coast. Since it isn't a hilltop village, it is ideal for anyone with mobility issues as well as for anyone wishing to take a break from climbing ;).
Lucca is very easy to reach both by car as well as train from both Pisa and Florence, making it perfect for anyone getting around solely on public transportation. The train station is right outside the southern walls, with an entrance below the balcony of San Colombano that brings you right behind Lucca's cathedral and into the heart of the small walled town.
Mount Roraima - Venezuela.
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| Mount Roraima - Venezuela. |
The majestic Mount Roraima is the highest mountain in the Pacaraima Mountains. Roraima lies on the three borders of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana. The mountain is part of Venezuela’s Canaima National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Angel Falls is also part of this beautiful park. Mount Roraima’s highest point is Maverick Rock at 2,810 meters (9,219 feet), and the whole of Mount Roraima’s fairly flat top surface area is surrounded by 400+ meter (1,312+ feet) high sheer cliffs. Mount Roraima can be climbed, though all routes besides the Paraitepui route require technical climbing gear. Visitors can get a stunning view of Mount Roraima and the greater Canaima National Park from a memorable helicopter ride.
Benteng Chittorgarh, India
Chittorgarh (Hindi: चित्तौड़गढ़) pronunciation (help·info)} (also Chittor, Chittaur, or Chittaurgarh) is a city and a municipality in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgharh District and a former capital of the Sisodia clans of Rajputs of Mewar. The city of Chittaurgarh is located on the banks of river Gambhiri and Berach. The district was bifurcated and a new district namely Pratap Garh was created with certain portion taken from Udaipur district in the newly created district of Pratap Garh.
Fiercely independent, the fort of Chittor was under siege thrice and each time they fought bravely and thrice Jauhar was committed by the ladies and children, first led by Rani Padmini, and later by Rani Karnavati. The famous warriers Gora and Badal, in the war against Allaudin Khalji (1303 AD), have become legendary. The sacrifice of Jaimal and Phata in the war against the Mughals (1568 AD) was so great that the Mughal Empror Akbar installed their statues in the fort of Agra. It has also been land of worship for Meera.[1] Chittorgarh is home to the Chittorgarh Fort, the largest fort in Asia.
Chittorgarh is a city and a municipality in Rajasthan state of western India. The city is located on the banks of river Gambhiri and Berach.
Verdon, Provence, France
The Verdon Gorge (in French: Gorges du Verdon or Grand canyon du Verdon), in south-eastern France (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), is a river canyon that is often considered to be one of Europe's most beautiful. It is about 25 kilometres long and up to 700 metres deep. It was formed by the Verdon River, which is named after its startling turquoise-green colour, one of the canyon's most distinguishing characteristics. The most impressive part lies between the towns of Castellane and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, where the river has cut a ravine up to 700 metres down through the limestone mass. At the end of the canyon, the Verdon river flows into the artificial lake of Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon (in French: Lac de Sainte-Croix).
Because of its proximity to the French Riviera, the canyon is very popular with tourists, who can drive around its rim, rent kayaks or hike. The limestone walls, which are several hundreds of metres high, attract many rock climbers. It is considered an outstanding destination for multi-pitch climbing. There are routes encompassing cracks, pillars and seemingly endless walls. The climbing is generally of a technical nature, and there are over 1,500 routes, ranging from 20m to over 400m.
Seljalandsfoss Waterfall on the South Coast of Iceland
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Seljalandsfoss is located between Selfoss and Skogafoss on the Southern Ring Road down to Vik. This picturesque waterfall plummets two hundred feet to a deep pool below. Visitors can hike around the pool to the back of the falls.
Multnomah Fall
A waterfall as magnificent and memorable as any in the country is located just a 30- minute drive outside of Portland. Visiting Multnomah Falls, a 611-foot-tall roaring, awe-inspiring cascade of icy water, lets you experience the power and beauty of nature up close and with ease. From the parking area off of I-84, a 5-minute walk is all that separates you from the exhilarating spray at the base of the falls.
According to Native American lore, Multnomah Falls was created to win the heart of a young princess who wanted a hidden place to bathe. Although you can see the top portion of the falls from the highway, to view both tiers you have to walk to the viewing area located in a carved-out opening in the rock face. Tilting your head up in the narrow rocky confines of the steep cliffs, you get a mind-boggling perspective on the sheer magnitude of the falls.
For an even closer view, walk another several hundred feet up the paved trail to reach Benson Bridge, which spans the falls at the first tier's misty base. Standing on the bridge you have a perfect view of the top tier's full 542-foot height and a knee-wobbling vantage point over the second tier's 69-foot drop! The bridge is named for Simon Benson, a prominent Portland businessman who owned the falls in the early part of the 1900s. Before his death, Benson gave Multnomah Falls to the City of Portland, which later transferred ownership to the USDA Forest Service.
To make the outing complete, visit the Multnomah Falls Lodge which was built in 1925 to serve throngs of tourists who came to view the spectacular sights of the Columbia Gorge. Today, the historic structure (made of every type of rock found in the gorge) houses a gift shop with plenty of postcards, a restaurant with Northwest Cuisine and unbeatable views of the falls, and a US Forest Service Information Center where you can find trail maps. During the summer months vendors offer ice cream, coffee, sodas and other quick snacks from booths and carts in front of the lodge.
Ice canyon Greenland
Ice canyon Greenland
Grand ice canyon in Greenland is one of the coolest and most freezing places you could ever visit, with water flowing deep through big ice bergs presents an immense eye catching and marvelous scenes.
The canyon is usually 30 to 40 meters deep and is one of the most photographed places of Greenland, no doubt for ice lovers Greenland is not much then paradise. You love snow, skating and mountain climbing then you should be in Greenland.
The best time to visit this country is said to be between May and July when snow and freezing is not so immense. Greenland is famous for it's sports, recreation, beaches, mountains, glaciers and none of the least The great ice canyon, but still Greenland manages to attract very few tourists in a year.
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Thursday 26 July 2012
Cape of Good Hope in South Africa
This panorama can be opened in several different resolutions. High resolution panorama with the best quality is about 7 Mb large and it is suitable for fast internet connections and modern computers. For slower internet and old weak computers we created the smaller low resolution panorama. Some small details have been sacrificed but the size of low resolution panorama is nomore than 2 Mb.
The discovery of Cape of Good Hope - a geographic location with one of the most romantic names in the world - is due to Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias. At the end of the 15th century Portugal was literally obsessed with discovering the seaway to India sending one expedition after another. In 1487 this task was entrusted to Dias.
His voyage, as well as his predecessors', was filled with adventures, shooting incidents with local tribes, and threats of mutiny from his crew. Dias ended up sailing only around Africa thinking that if one continues to sail forward, he would arrive to India sooner or later. After coming to this logical conclusion he turned around, and on his way home in May of 1488 he landed at what he thought was the southernmost point of Africa.
The debarkation was not easy - the storm almost wrecked their ship on the cliffs. As a result, Dias named this place "Cape of Storms" and returned to Portugal with peace of mind. But the King Juan the Second thought that the name was too shortsighted: who would want to discover India through such obstacles? So he changed the name to the Cape of Good Hope envisioning that the sea route to India would be well travelled one day. The expedition, led by famous Vasco da Gama, became a success. By the way, he owes his fame to this voyage as it made him the first European who sailed to India. On July 8th, year 1497 the expedition made a grand exit out of the Port of Lisbon and by November of the same year sailed around the Cape of Storms, or to be precise, the Cape of Good Hope. Needless to say that the storms continuing for days and days made it very difficult and caused a damage beyond repair to one of the vessels...
However, the heroic deeds of the explorers were not in vain, as now humanity possesses not only the sea route from Europe to India but also an outstanding tourist "attraction". Who wouldn't want to boast about standing on the most southern point of the African continent gazing at the vastness of the ocean and knowing that the only closest land is Antarctica? Who would not like to tell his audience about the Indian and Atlantic oceans' water colliding by the Cape of Good Hope? And if one looks closer he would see water of different shades...what a beauty!
Centuries later, with the development of cartography, it became clear that "the southernmost point in the continent of Africa" was not the Cape of Good Hope but the Cape Agulhas located 155 km southeast. However, by that time, tourists already made their way to the "imposter" discovered by Bartolomeu Dias so the government decided to simply change the plate to read "The Most South-Western Point of The African Continent" :)
Even this change didn't go without a trick! After arriving to Cape of Good Hope by bus tourists first ride the cable cars, then take a long walk to a high, beautiful, long stretching outbound cape with a panoramic view of the mirror-like ocean, where they take classic photos in "Me and The Most South-Western Point of Africa" style. However this cape, named Cape Point, is not really the most southwestern one.
The real most southwestern point of the African continent is actually situated several kilometers away - it's an unremarkable place by the water, with a small parking lot nearby and an official plate that reads "The Most South-Western Point of The African Continent" (see photo below). This location is hardly known and is visited by less than 10% of all tourists that come to the Cape of Good Hope :)
The Grand Canyon in Arizona
Vast, magnificent and inarguably beautiful, the Grand Canyon is easily Arizona’s most distinguishable landmark – and a natural wonder that you simply have to see to believe. Stretching 277 miles from end to end, steep, rocky walls descend more than a mile to the canyon’s floor, where the wild Colorado River traces a swift course southwest.
You can reach Grand Canyon National Park from main entrances on the South Rim – including the South Rim’s eastern entrance – and the North Rim. The Canyon's western edge, home to beautiful Havasupai Falls and the town of Supai, is also accessible via roads on the Hualapai Indian Reservation.
A powerful and inspiring landscape, Grand Canyon overwhelms our senses through its immense size.
Unique combinations of geologic color and erosional forms decorate a canyon that is 277 river miles (446km) long, up to 18 miles (29km) wide, and a mile (1.6km) deep.
Mont St Michel in France
A dramatic island off the coast of Normandy, Mont-St-Michel is home to an abbey that dates back to the 11th century and now boasts impressive illuminations at night. The island, with its fast and fickle tides, was a notorious prison during the French Revolution of 1789. The isle, which celebrated its 1300th anniversary in 2008, has several good restaurants and a nightclub. Only a narrow causeway built in1880 links the island to the mainland, although a bridge is due to be completed in 2012.
Mont-St-Michel (also written Mont Saint Michel) is a small rocky island about 1 km from the north coast of France at the mouth of the Couesnon River in Normandy.
The mount is best known for the medieval Benedictine Abbey and steepled church that occupies most of the 1km-diameter clump of rocks jutting out of the waters of the English Channel.
Le Mont-St-Michel was used in the 6th and 7th centuries as a stronghold of Romano-British culture and power until it was sacked by the Franks; thus ending the trans-channel culture that had stood since the departure of the Romans in 459 AD.
Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, the island was called Mont Tombe. According to legend, the archangel Michael appeared to St. Aubert, bishop of Avranches, in 708 and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet.
But Aubert repeatedly ignored the angel's instruction until Michael burned a hole in the bishop's skull with his finger. That did the trick. The dedication to St Michael occurred on October 16, 708.
The mount gained strategic significance in 933 when the Normans annexed the Cotentin Peninsula, thereby placing the mount on the new frontier with Brittany. It is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, which commemorates the 1066 Norman conquest of England. Ducal and royal patronage financed the spectacular Norman architecture of the abbey in subsequent centuries.
Bran Castle in Romania
Dracula's Castle is situated between Bucegi and Piatra Craiului Mountains, right where you enter Rucar-Bran Pass. It is the same with Bran Castle.
The first documentary attestation of Bran Castle is the letter written in 1377 by the Hungarian Ludovic I D'Anjou, giving the inhabitants of Brasov some privileges.
At the end of the 14th century, king Sigismund gave up the leadership of Bran Fortress in favor of Mircea cel Batran. The royal domain had been given to the Hungarian aristocracy, while the fortress passed under the rule of Mircea's faithful boyars. Few years later, the Hungarian king got back the fortress. Bran Fortress was subordinated to the authority of Szeklers Committee.
The Fortress had an essential role in protecting the Hungarian king from the Ottomans and Tartars' invasion, coming from Wallachia through Rucar Pass. That's the reason why the inhabitants of Brasov built the Castle on their own work and expenses.
Iancu de Hunedoara fortified Transylvania's borders and also the towers of the Bran Castle. He made sure the rights of the peasants were respected by the boyars who ruled the fortress. However, there were frequent fights between merchants and boyars.
In 1498 the fortress passed under the merchant's possession and it was used mainly for treading. You should also know that it was a time when in charge of the leadership was a judge called "Judele Brasovului". Responsible for the defense of the castle was the permanent garrison: 2 guards and 10 - 20 archers and ballisters.
The boyars. had the right to collect fees from visitors and peasants. The fortress had an extra income from: selling cheese, milk and muttons and from manufacturing wood. The peasants fought against the aristocracy for several times. In 1514 they refused to take action against Gheorghe Doja.
In the 18th century the fortress was the house of the Austrians frontier guards. In 1836 Bran became the official border and the defense role of the fortress was no longer a priority. In 1920, the Brasov Town council donated Bran Castle to Queen Maria of Great Romania, who lived there with the royal family till 1947. Since 1947 the Castle is opened as a museum.
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