What We Loved This Week: Stockholm, ‘District 9’ and Bernstorffstraßenfest in Hamburg

Eva Holland
Stockholm. I was in town for an absurdly brief weekend visit—my first to Scandinavia—and I spent all the hours I could spare just wandering from island to island. Here’s one of my favorite shots:

Terry Ward
Hamburg always feels like a city of villages to me, especially during one of summer’s many street festivals (virtually every quarter has its event). Last weekend’s block party was the Bernstorffstraßenfest. Neighbors spilled onto the street selling everything from used Xbox games to bratwursts sizzling on grills pulled onto the sidewalk in what felt like a giant garage sale-turned-cookout. What an awesome way to meet your neighbors while enjoying a perfect summer day.

Michael Yessis
The faux-travel related best sellers in the hilarious How I Became a Famous Novelist. The first:

“Empanadas in Worcester” by James Wirzbicki
Traveling from Khartoum to Madras to Rhode Island, a commentator for CNN suggests globalization means a stranger but friendlier world in the 21st century.

 
And the second:

“A Whiff of Gingham and Pecorino” by Jennifer Austin-Meyers
On a hilltop villa in Sicily, an American divorcee finds new love with a local cheesemaker involved in a blood feud.

Jim Benning
I loved seeing author and poet Jim Harrison hanging with Anthony Bourdain on the Montana “No Reservations” show this week—and I’m not just saying that because I work for Travel Channel. It’s good to see writers talking about places they love on TV. It shouldn’t be such a rarity.

Adam Karlin
I loved District 9. Travel related? Well, sort of. I got back from Johannesburg about a month ago, and the movie, sci-fi thriller notwithstanding, really reminded me of the cordoned off atmosphere you get in that city. Yet at the same time when people get out of their gated homes, they can be incredibly friendly (South Africans as a rule are are ridiculously hospitable), and I thought the movie really captured this when it depicted the casual ambiance of a multiracial South African company.

That may sound weird, as D9 is largely a movie about prejudices. But that’s the other thing I like—the movie’s aliens, who come off as strange, even revolting, represent our fear of the Other. And when we travel, often the Other—roasted dog, pissing in the street, women in burqas—is strange and revolting. Building up empathy for the Other—letting them into our monkeysphere, as it were—is what the best travel does.

Also, the bit where the lightning gun makes the one guy’s head explode? Sweet.

Kevin Fay
Vermont. I loved crossing another U.S. state off my list when I went to Vermont for a wedding last weekend (there are 16 I still haven’t seen—for shame!). You’d be hard-pressed to find rolling hills more verdant and lush than those of the Green Mountain State. They blew me away; I can’t wait to go back.

Alicia Imbody
I loved watching the new documentary Which Way Home, which follows several kids (as young as eight years old) traveling from Central America through Mexico to try to cross into the United States. I was inspired by the insane amount of bravery it must have taken to stow away unaccompanied on a cargo train dauntingly referred to as “La Bestia,” or The Beast, and by the simultaneous innocence of these children who were willing to risk their lives to find work to help support their families, or hoping to be adopted. I think the filmmakers did an excellent job highlighting the personal experiences, the fear, and the excitement that follows such an incredible journey, without it feeling preachy or overtly political. It premiered this week on HBO and you can watch the trailer here.

 

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