Category Archives: Europe

Icelanders are the Honey Badgers of Europe

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As I’ve already noted, Iceland is a conundrum.

It’s probably the only country on earth where people think it’s totally cool to leave their babies in their strollers outside of a cafe while they eat and drink inside, child-free.

It is called ICEland, but it is way more green than icy.

Every two feet is a different landscape … Iceland physically doesn’t make sense.

And, as I’ve reported before, people believe in elves. And trolls. And “hidden people.”

Related: Iceland, The Most Magical Layover Ever.

Icelanders: We’re Weird, We're Wacky and We’re Related to Thor

This Viking sees elves. And we love him for it. (Photo: Ricky Montalvo) 

As locals will tell you, there’s a lot more awesome weirdness that goes on.

And as we at Yahoo Travel always say: Know (the local customs) before you go. You will have a better time and make more friends — which, in a country like Iceland, is easy to do. Trust.

Watch this video, learn the country’s customs and revel in their oddness. They’re fascinating!

For more Iceland Awesomeness, check out Meet the Elf Whisperer of Iceland. Yes, She Sees Elves. Yes, She’s For Real:


Laid Over? In Iceland? Get Thee to the Blue Lagoon – STAT!

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Layovers are usually pretty rank. Most are only a few hours – too short to go see the city you’re laid over in, yet too long to not go a little bit crazy with boredom as you stare at countless airport monitors, hoping your flight won’t be delayed and you will be stuck even longer at the airport. By the time you get to your actual destination all you want to do is pass out.

WATCH: The Blue Lagoon, Iceland’s (Affordable) Geothermal Spa Paradise

The magical Blue Lagoon geothermal spa in Iceland is more than worth a little travel detour. (Photo: Chris Ford/Flickr)

Related: Floating Alive on the Dead Sea

But, if you took advantage of Icelandair’s free layover on your way to Europe, and are in Reykjavik, Iceland, you are in luck! Just twenty minutes from the airport is the Blue Lagoon – the world’s largest geo thermal spa… and a hell of a better option for wasting a few hours until your next flight than gobbling down McDonald’s and trying to fall asleep in a straight backed chair.

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Why spend your layover in the airport when you can spend it here? (Photo: Horst Ossinger/dpa/Corbis)

The Blue Lagoon was created in 1976 in the middle of a lava field. Man made, the lagoon fed by the water output of the nearby geothermal power plant Svartsengi and is renewed every two days. This promise of fresh water – along with Iceland’s strict hygiene code and the chance to relax before hopping on my flight to Greenland – got me out of the airport and into a bathing suit during a snowstorm. It even got me to enter a body of water with a swim up bar [Note: I have a deep-rooted fear of swim-up bars. Everyone starts drinking, and no one ever gets out to go to the bathroom. Especially during a snowstorm. You do the math].

Related: Iceland—The Most Magical Layover Ever

Regardless, I just wanted to get out of the airport and relax. So, off I went – and thank god I did. Despite a snowstorm, I jammed my winter fat into a swimsuit, took the obligatory shower and headed to the ice blue Lagoon.

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Getting my drink on in the Blue Lagoon. 

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Thanks to Dracula, Whitby Is the Creepiest Town in England (I Hearts It)

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Long a vacation spot for Brits, it has also historically given inspiration to writers like Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, and Bram Stoker — who based one of the most famous scenes from Dracula in the town.

I Want to Suck Your Blood (Cocktail) in Whitby, England

It’s creepy and romantic all at once. This is Whitby. (All photos: ABA team)

In the book, Dracula (the name itself taken from a name Stoker found in the Whitby public library) arrives in England on the ship Demeter, which crashes into the port. The captain is strapped to the wheel and no one else is alive. The cargo: coffins full of dirt (from Transylvania). After the crash, a large black dog is seen bounding from the ship and running up the cliff stairs to the ruins of Whitby Abbey — which is as creepy in real life as it is in the book [Editor’s note: Who the heck walks around a graveyard at night — it’s like asking to be bitten].

Related: How to Hunt for Buried Treasure in England

There’s been an Abbey on this cliff since 664, when it was established by the Celts, and it operated until 1583 when Henry the VIII closed all Roman Catholic places of worship. Alongside the old Roman Catholic ruins is a new(er) protestant abbey — complete with an ancient graveyard and mists that roll in a few times a day, adding to the creep factor.

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The town is actually adorable. 

The town has embraced the famous literature it has inspired. Twice a year there’s a huge annual goth fest called the Whitby Gothic Weekend, during which thousands of people arrive in their best corsets, fangs, and dark eyeliner to troll the streets.

Related: The Ultimate Guide to an Epic British Pub Crawl

But the real attraction is Whitby Abbey itself, which looms large over the town. Inside the attached museum you will find historical artifacts, stories, and remnants of the town’s past — before strolling through the Abbey ruins.

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I wasn’t sure where I was going to buy a sword for my buddy’s birthday. This gift shop had me covered. 

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Hunting for Buried “Treasure” in England

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Scarborough, England, is about 200 miles north of London and the perfect place to uncover buried treasure—if you know where to look.

This was where I discovered geocaching, an outdoor recreational activity that involves searching for secret caches (little treasures) hidden all over the world. Continue reading →

How To Piss Off The Brits (It’s Fun and Easy!)

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The No. 1 rule of travel is pretty simple: Don’t p*ss off the locals. Most people know this — or at least they think they do, and they usually give it the old college try when it comes to not stepping on the toes of the people around them in another city or country.

Related: How to P*ss Off the Locals in Mexico

But what if you don’t know? What if you have no idea what irks the heck out of the locals? No worries; Yahoo Travel is here to help. With our How to P*ss Off series, we help you navigate those crazy cultural differences that can get you in so much trouble. So instead of getting bad karma and dirty looks, you can make friends and have a great time.

WATCH: How to Really Irk the Locals in England

Grrr…don’t annoy the locals. (Getty Images)

This week we are in England — home of the queen, crumpets, and … apparently, a lot of people who want you to get out of their way. Think England is just like America but with a funny accent? Wrong. The English are all about their rules (Stand to the right! No stopping for photos! Get the street pronunciation right!), and they get really super cheesed off if you break them. So watch the video (above) and know before you go!

Bored? Go Bobsledding – It’ll Put the Hair Back on Your Chest

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I spent New Year’s Eve in St. Moritz — which is weird for me. I don’t like cold weather, I’m not an especially gifted skier (read: awkward-as-heck skier), and starting the new year off in a town full of famously wealthy people didn’t really do it for me. I had visions of that scene in Dumb and Dumberwhen Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels go to Aspen all kitted out… and fit right in. But, a bunch of my friends I’d met in Afghanistan the year before were all convening for a ski race in St. Moritz to benefit the Afghan Ski Challenge and I missed them. So I booked a ticket and thought, “Now what?”

Related: Avalanches, Death Threats and No Lifts. Welcome to the Most Dangerous Ski Race in the World

Cool Runnings in St. Moritz — the Most Fun You Can Have on Ice

With Florence, Henrietta, and Beatrice as the bobs run by. (Photo: Paula Froelich)

And then my pal Beatrice told me about bobsledding.

“The Swiss championships are on right now— let’s go!” Beatrice said.

“Absolutely,” I agreed.

“And then you can go for a ride,” she said. “It will be the best two-and-a-half minutes of your life — if you don’t die.”

“What?!”

“Don’t worry,” she assured me, it will probably be fine. Just try to keep your head up so you can see when you turn the bends and enter the horseshoe [the bend where you go full vertical]. It’s a bit difficult with the g-force.”

So we tramped over to the Olympia Bob Run — which has been in operation since 1904 and is the only natural ice run in the world, meaning every year the club hires people to carve the ice run, which must be done with precision as even the slightest fault means death as you hurtle 90 mph down the icy slope. Or at the very least, a lot of broken bones.

Related: Like Danger? Take the Anticarjacking Class at the Ultimate Driving School 

The manager of the Olympia Bob Run, Damian Gianola, was a good friend of Beatrice’s — which is fortunate, as guests can book rides, but they book out fast so, if you’re going to the area, call ahead. Damian got me a seat on the last run of the day and suited me up:

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Step One: Put on your face mask. Yes, it looks like I’m about to rob a store. No, I did not.

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Step Two: Pick a helmet.

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You Know What Would’ve Been Really Cool? If There’d Been a Miss Universe Contest Circa 1782

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Oh Heeeyyyyyyyyy….

Throughout history, women have always had things done to them to make them “beautiful.” Nowadays,  we pluck, wax, shave, inject, and silicon bag ourselves all so we can be pretty. But the saddest part is, due to globalisation, everyone kind of looks the same.

When traveling and visiting historical sites or archaeological digs, you quickly start to realize that that chick to the left in the  Santa suit would’ve been passed over by pretty much every guy on the planet a few hundred years ago. Back in the day, before airplanes and all that, beauty was pretty subjective and every region had it’s own idea of what was hot. Most of which we’d find pretty hideously fascinating today.

Take for example the Mayans. Now they used to think women with flat foreheads, crossed eyes and razor sharp, piranha like teeth were the shizznit. So, according to my guide in Chichicastenanga (Guatemala), when Mayan girls were very young, boards would be tied to their heads with a bead hanging from it (so the eyes would be trained to cross) and their teeth were filed to sharp points to look like Jaws. Don’t even get me started on what their talent would be… I have no clue. But the imagination boggles – biting through trees? Severing chicken heads? Pillaging neighboring Incan villages?

Hello, gorgeous…

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More Fun Facts I Learned While Traversing The World (Part 2)

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Proof that I really am a unicorn as, let's be honest, only unicorns have rainbows emanating from their asses. (Truth number 1: It is really hard to get proof of unicornness. It can really only be done in Iguazu Falls, Brazil).

Proof that I really am a unicorn, as, let’s be honest, only unicorns have rainbows emanating from their asses. (Truth number 1: It is really hard to get proof of unicornness. It can really only be done in Iguazu Falls, Brazil).

More Truths From Around The World, courtesy of yours truly. The Unicorn of Truth Tellers. Heh.

  • In Mali, a muslim country, a woman can bathe by the side of the road in the river topless, but will NEVER show her legs above the ankle. It’s just not done.
  • Communists have a seriously underdeveloped sense of humor. At least in public.
  • For women: If you are looking for a hunky, manly man the place to go is BIAP (Baghdad International Airport), which is full of horny, female-starved Western contractors in the best physical condition of their life. And they will buy coffee.
  • Do NOT go to Africa if you are an albino. You will be sacrificed and possibly eaten.
  • The only times I’ve ever had food poisoning in a third world country was when I ate at five star hotels. Street meat = A ok in my book.
  • Be Careful of the chili in Cincinnati, Ohio. Your stomach may not be able to handle it.
  • What happens when you out-karaoke a North Korean?  I did it once – not pretty! It’s best not to do it Especially if you are in North Korea.
  • Communist regimes – or any dictatorial regime feeling threatened – do not like Facebook or Twitter. So much so, it is almost impossible to log in to those, or any other widely used social site, while in the confines of their borders. Just in case, you know, someone wants to start a revolution.
  • The Mandarin word for “shoe” is the same for “vagina” – so be careful when you say you want to go shoe shopping.
  •  In India, if two dudes are walking down the street holding hands, it means they’re friends NOT lovers.
  • In Japan, women let men get in the elevator first. I KNOW! SO ANNOYING!
  • Despite immense dental care advances throughout the world, the English still have really bad teeth, hence the “British Book Of Smiles”.
  • In England, a “fag” is a cigarette, not a nasty term for a homosexual.
  • Despite any and all stereotypes, most people in every country I have ever been to are really, really lovely. If just give them the chance.
  • NEVER shake hands with your left hand, pretty much anywhere. Especially in India. If someone offers to shake your hand with their left, they are insulting you.

What are some truths you’ve learned? I’d love to add them to my list… and put them in a large soon to be downloadable Book Of Truths (with illustrations!)

My 2014 Bucket List

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Lake in MongoliaNo, I haven’t been everywhere… and some places I don’t go to because I’m a conscientious objector (Zimbabwe and Uganda, anyone?)… but I can still dream. And plan. Because dictators, xenophobia, and me being broke wont last forever! Besides – what better way to spend a slow, freezing Saturday than to dream about unending travel possibilities? That, and I think there’s something really good about writing down your dreams. It makes them come true faster. I swear.  And so, I present to you my dream list of places to go (and why).

1. Mongolia (above): there is just something so poetically lonely in this landscape… It sounds lame to say, but it calls to me. And I’ve always wanted to see the famous wild horse races…

2. The Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo: Ok, fine – Tokyo too. And Kyoto. But, as I’ve mentioned before, I cant scuba dive… and I have a thing for fish markets. And this one is supposed to be the best in the world. Besides, who doesn’t love Toro right out of the ocean at 3 am?

yummy

yummy

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