seth from somewhere


Camino: Etapa 7 – Meakur to Bilbao
November 25, 2009, 6:00 am
Filed under: Camino | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,


View Larger Map

Etapa 7:  Meakur to Bilbao
Distance: 20.25 km
Wednesday, April 16, 2009
Weather: Party cloudy, mild to warm temperatures
Photos: 5
Notables: Road walking, steep descent down Monte Avril into Bilbao proper

Etapa description continued after the break. Follow the flecha . . .

(more…)



Food & Drink Friday: Pisco Sour
November 20, 2009, 5:00 am
Filed under: Food & Drink | Tags: , , , , , ,

Today’s cocktail has a summer vibe yet it’s winter in the Midwest.  However, summer is arriving in South America, the place of origin of the Pisco Sour. Pisco is a brandy distilled from grapes and also the name of a Peruvian port town. The genesis of the liquor resulted from a ban on wine by the king of Spain in the 17th Century. Industrious and thirsty South American locals devised a way around the ban by distilling the grape in the form of pisco.

(more…)



Connections: Bolivia
November 18, 2009, 5:00 am
Filed under: Connections | Tags: , , , , , , ,


Camino: Etapa 6 – Gernika to Meakur
November 16, 2009, 5:00 am
Filed under: Camino | Tags: , , , , , , , ,


View Larger Map
*click Google Map link above to explore this etapa in detail

Etapa 6: Gernika to Meakur
Distance: 15 km
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Weather: Some rain, cloudy & cool
Photos: 40 total
Notables: Oak of Gernika, Biscay Assembly House, stained-glass ceiling, Picasso’s Guernica, finding Meakur in the rain

Etapa description continued after the break. Follow the flecha . . .

(more…)



Camino: Etapa 5 – Zenarruza to Gernika
September 2, 2009, 6:00 am
Filed under: Camino | Tags: , , , , , , , ,


View Larger Map
*click Google Map link above to explore this etapa in detail

Etapa 5: Zenarruza to Gernika
Distance: 16.4 km
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Weather: Cloudy & cool
Photos: 31 total (17 in this set)
Notables: Muddy!, Walking through a herd of cattle, Gernika

Etapa description continued after the break. Follow the flecha . . .

(more…)



Camino: Etapa 4 – Deba to Zenarruza
August 26, 2009, 6:00 am
Filed under: Camino | Tags: , , , , , , ,


View Larger Map

*click Google Map link above to explore this etapa in detail

Etapa 4: Deba to Zenarruza
Distance: 28.9 km
Monday, April 13, 2009
Weather: Sunny & warm
Photos:  46 total (15 in this set)
Notables: Morning clouds rising from valley; Basque etxeas; Bolibar; Zenarruza monastery.



Connections: Catalan hipsters & Bolivian blowback

Blowing the dust off the cover . . . here are some travel-related items from around the Internet that caught my attention.

—-

Brad Scriber, an editorial researcher for National Geographic magazine, showed off his iPod playlist from a recent trip to Barcelona.  Scriber says that he likes his travel soundtracks to include “a few puns, allusions, or inside jokes.”  Well, the joke is on Brad.  The Decemberists, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and Paul McCartney?  Toad and the Wet Sprocket?  Not exactly the first music that comes to mind regarding the Catalan capital.

It seems all Scriber did, and he admits as much, is type words related words into iTunes, such as Barcelona and Spain.  Its a lazy way to make a mix tape, which Brad claims to be intimately familiar with as a child of the ’80s.  The only natives on his list are a Swedish group who’ve adopted the city as its home.  It is akin to listening to Jimmy Buffett’s “Jamaica Mistaica” instead of Bob Marley and The Wailer’s “Trenchtown Rock” while hiking in the Blue Mountains.

Rather than purchasing pedestrian indie rock from iTunes or Rhapsody, Scriber would’ve been better suited to research actual Catalan music to enrich his trip to Barcelona.  Furthermore, rock catalá could have satisfied his musical tastes, turned him on to another genre, and supported local artists.  There’s an ingenious concept – supporting the local economy where you are traveling.

Scriber even rubbed salt in the wound, promoting an artist on the Nat Geo Music label who is a native of Madrid, Barcelona’s eternal rival.  That shouldn’t go over too well with Barça and the blaugranes.

—-

Brave New Traveler has an article that will please every traveler’s mother, profiling cocaine bars in Bolivia.  I was shocked to read the author state “drug bars could be the thing Bolivia needs to jump-start tourism.”

Yes, just what Bolivia needs right now.  It’s almost a reverse of Bush’s “better to fight them over there than here at home.”  American and European demand for cocaine has a brutal legacy in South America.  The last thing the continent needs are inconsiderate backpackers flooding the country to get high.  There is so much more Bolivia has to offer tourists it is a shame Brave New Traveler went so far as to suggest drug tourism could be beneficial to the nation’s economy.  The sad part is there seemed to be no remorse for implicitly promoting such tourism.  The author chastises “tactless tourists” who might blow the cover on the Route 36 drug bars rather than give warnings on the negative effects of drug use, tourism, and trafficking.

If you want to know how a local would react to gringos arriving in their town looking for the “blow bar,” read the comment from a Colombian in the article’s comments section.



Camino in Color
August 18, 2009, 9:37 pm
Filed under: Camino | Tags: , , , , ,

Here is another awesome illustration done by Mike Sgier.  It is hard to pick a favorite but I think this illustration takes the cake amongst the three Mike did for me.  Check out his site and follow his comic!

seth from the camino de santiago



Listmania!

Rob, top five musical crimes perpetuated by Stevie Wonder in the ’80s and ’90s. Go. Sub-question: is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter day sins, is it better to burn out or fade away?

Everybody loves lists.  I can name my top five albums during my undergrad years on command (Yoshimi, Alien Lanes, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, My Aim is True, Washing Machine).  They can expose a person’s film snobbery or simply summarize things to do for a weekend.  Best yet, lists generate passionate debate on topics of great interest.  Historians have compiled numerous lists of the best American presidents.  Best soccer rivalries in the world?  Good luck sorting that out, hooligans.

Perhaps one of the most famous lists was compiled by Philo of Byzantium, the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  Only the Pyramids still remain but the list continues to fascinate, so much so that an organization conducted “the largest poll on record” to compile a new list of seven wonders.  The New7Wonders Foundation undertook a project that ultimately lead to over 100 million votes from over 220 countries, resulting in the New 7 Wonders of the World.

With such success, the New7Wonders Foundation has embarked on a quest to compile another list, the New7Wonders of Nature.  Over 400 natural wonders were pared down to 77 nominees.  A panel of experts recommended 28 as finalists based on unique beauty, diversity and distribution, ecological significance, historical significance, and geo-location (equal worldwide representation).  The final New7Wonders of Nature will be announced in 2011.

seth from iguazu falls

Any list, by its very nature, overestimates some and slights countless others.  Here is my list of notable exclusions from the 28 finalists.

(more…)



Camino: Etapa 3 – Zarautz to Deba
July 21, 2009, 10:56 pm
Filed under: Camino | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,


View Larger Map

*click on Google Map to explore this etapa in detail

Etapa 3: Zarautz to Deba
Distance: 23.2 km
Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009
Weather: Morning rain, partly cloudy and cool afternoon
Photos: 115 (24 selected for Google Map)
Notables: Getaria Txakoli vineyards; Ikurriñas in Zumaia; lonely gravel country road traversing the hills; wild flower field.

Etapa description continued after the break. Follow the flecha . . .

(more…)