Destination: Europe
Big Waves Roll Through Mavericks
by Jim Benning | 01.14.08 | 10:47 AM ET
Saturday was a good time to be in northern California. Pro surfers from around the globe and thousands of spectators converged on the legendary surf spot near Half Moon Bay for the sixth edition of the Mavericks big-wave contest. The wave breaks a good distance offshore, and spectators who didn’t want to peer through binoculars had an interesting option.
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzSurfing the Eisbach: California Culture in Bavaria
by Jim Benning | 01.14.08 | 10:33 AM ET
You don’t have to be near Mavericks, or even an ocean, to enjoy some wild surfing action. Surfers have been riding waves in rivers for years—the Amazon’s Pororoca in Brazil just might be the most dramatic example. But there are options in Europe, too. The Atlantic magazine recently covered surfing Munich’s Eisbach, a tributary of the Isar River where a standing wave has “created an enclave of borrowed California culture in the heart of Bavaria.”
Italian Politician on Naples: ‘It’s Worse Than Kabul’
by Eva Holland | 01.10.08 | 9:23 AM ET
Six months after the U.S. Embassy in Italy issued a travel advisory over mounting garbage in Naples, the Italian city is taking decisive action. Or at least, it’s taking action. According to Reuters, a new “trash tsar” has been appointed to clean up the streets—literally. But considering that the latest appointment is one in a series of tsar-ships that began in 1994, when Naples first declared a state of emergency that has never been lifted, you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t hold my breath.
Grounded 747? No, it’s a Hostel.
by Ben Keene | 01.08.08 | 3:31 PM ET
Sex, Drugs and Changing Times in Amsterdam
by Jim Benning | 01.07.08 | 12:37 PM ET
During my one visit to Amsterdam years ago, I strolled through the red-light district and into a couple of the city’s famous coffee houses, dutifully playing the part of the gawking tourist. Since then, I’ve always taken a little comfort in the fact that such a place can exist—that an extremely tolerant, live-and-let-live society can actually function, albeit with a certain number of associated problems. So it’s sad to read that, as the Los Angeles Times puts it, “it may be last call for drugs, sex and live-and-let-live in the Netherlands, one of the most famously broad-minded countries in the world.” The Times notes that a ban on hallucinogenic mushrooms taking effect this year is representative of a more conservative mood driving changes in Dutch laws and society.
2007: The Year of Mapping Dangerously
by Ben Keene | 01.04.08 | 5:03 PM ET
As an editor of the Oxford Atlas of the World, I spend a good chunk of my time following geographic changes around the globe. And the last year saw more than a few worth noting, from borders shifting—or even disappearing—to names changing and islands suddenly appearing. Herewith, my favorites from ‘07, starting with some good news.
Barricaded Hotel Workers Living on ‘Food Delivered in a Bucket Pulled up on a Piece of String’
by Michael Yessis | 01.04.08 | 10:22 AM ET
An Historic Day in Europe. Road Trip Time?
by Jim Benning | 12.21.07 | 11:46 AM ET
Photo of German autobahn by kwerfeldein via Flickr, (Creative Commons).,/div>
Nine additional European countries, most of them former Communist Warsaw Pact states in the east, joined the European Union’s passport-free Schengen zone today. What does that mean? This sentence from the Globe and Mail put it into perspective for me: “This morning, for the first time in history, you can drive from the Russian border in Estonia to the Atlantic beaches of Portugal, across 24 countries, without encountering a single border crossing or having to show your passport at any point.” That’s amazing. The fine print: Not everyone is happy.
When Tourism Meets Nationalism
by Joanna Kakissis | 12.20.07 | 2:49 PM ET
It has in a big way in Yan’an, the prefecture in northwestern China that was the center of the Chinese communist revolution from 1935 to 1948. Mao Zedong and other communist leaders lived in caves and pagodas carved into the hillside, and Chinese communists celebrate it as the birthplace of the revolution. And as China has grown into a world power, its leaders are trying to boost national pride through “red tourism” that celebrates communist touchstones such as Yan’an, according to NPR. Of course, Mao’s pagodas are an obvious choice to muscle up nationalism: Today Chinese visitors from other regions visit Yan’an so they can dress up as revolutionaries and sing the communist ditty “The East is Red” with performers wearing traditional peasant clothes.
David Farley on Calcata, Italy and the Search for the Holy Foreskin
by Jim Benning | 12.17.07 | 11:10 AM ET
World Hum contributor David Farley—travel writer turned foreskin detective—tells the Toronto Star all about his unlikely book project, and why he gets responses from church officials like this: “What? The Holy Foreskin? You want me to hook you up with someone at the Vatican to talk about the Holy Foreskin? No way! That’s ridiculous.”
Related on World Hum:
* Where in the World Are You, David Farley?
Photo: What You Don’t Want to See at a Border Crossing
by Jim Benning | 12.13.07 | 11:55 AM ET
At least not if you’re trying to cross said border. This shot was taken this week at the Italy-France border at Ventimiglia. Thousands of striking Italian truck drivers have been blocking major ports, border-crossings and motorways for days around Italy, causing a good bit of chaos, including fuel and food shortages. The good news: They’ve agreed to end the blockade, at least for now.
Photo: AP.
Man Downs Liter of Vodka to Avoid Giving it up at Airport Security Checkpoint
by Michael Yessis | 12.13.07 | 11:03 AM ET
A 64-year-old man was given two choices by security at the Nuremberg, Germany airport: Dump his liter of vodka or pay to have it checked as luggage. He went with a third option: Chug it like a Sig Ep pledge. “The passenger was unable to stand or function and a doctor was called to the scene,” according to Spiegel Online. The not-too-surprising diagnosis: alcohol poisoning. The unnamed passenger was admitted to a Nuremberg hospital and is expected to be home in time for Christmas. I think I know what gift he’d like to find under his tree this year.
Related on World Hum:
* Airport Security to Lourdes Pilgrim: Your Holy Water is a Security Threat
* Russia: ‘Cold, Dark, Drowning in Vodka, and Ruled by the KGB’
Photo by inda.ca via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
‘Junior Fear Abroad’ in Italy: The Reaction
by Michael Yessis | 12.11.07 | 11:12 AM ET
The story of American exchange student Sophie Egan’s experience in Italy in the wake of a murder—Julia wrote about it yesterday—has stimulated some heated reaction in letters to the New York Times.
Junior Year in Italy: ‘Not At All What I Expected’
by Julia Ross | 12.10.07 | 9:41 AM ET
Stanford student Sophie Egan’s year abroad in Bologna, Italy, has taken an unexpected turn. Because one of the suspects in a grisly murder case in another Italian city, Perugia, happens to be an American woman Egan’s age and from the same hometown—Seattle—Egan finds herself fending off wary inquiries. Despite the unfortunate similarities, Egan hasn’t given up on her quest for cultural immersion. “Sure, answering the question ‘Where are you from?’ is a bit more awkward,” she writes in a New York Times op-ed, “but it certainly gets the conversations going.”
Dining With NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli at Le Train Bleu in Paris
by Joanna Kakissis | 12.04.07 | 5:21 PM ET
For months now, NPR’s correspondents have been tempting devoted foodies like me with delicious reviews of noteworthy restaurants, bistros and cafes around the world. Among other things, they’ve sampled creamy orange hot chocolate in Berlin, camel’s milk desserts in Nairobi and blue corn quesadillas with zucchini flowers in Mexico City. The latest dispatch comes from senior European correspondent Sylvia Poggioli, who sampled pan-fried shrimp with red onions and fresh coriander, spiced pumpkin soup with mushrooms and a dessert of oranges, yellow and black carrots and yuzu sorbet at Le Train Bleu in Paris.