Friday Travel Photo: Loch Ness, Scotland

Today’s Friday Travel Photo takes you Loch Ness in Scotland’s Highlands. Loch Ness is 23 miles long and 755 feet deep at its deepest point – so deep, that all the water in England and Wales would still not be enough to fill it.

If you’re visiting Edinburgh, consider getting out of the city on a day tour to Loch Ness.

If you’d like your travel photo featured on Backpackingmatt, send it to me at matt [at] backpackingmatt [dot] com

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Friday Travel Photo: Edinburgh Sunset

Today’s Friday Travel Photo takes you to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Edinburgh is a fantastic city filled with cozy pubs, excellent gardens, and some great nightlife. If you’re visiting Edinburgh, don’t miss out on these three pubs – they’re excellent places to grab a pint or a plate of Scotland’s national dish: haggis.

If you have a bit of time, consider heading out of town on a day trip to Loch Ness.

Have a photo you’d like featured here? Email it to matt (at) backpackingmatt (dot) com and I’ll feature it with a link back to your blog.

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Experiencing the Seville Spring Fair – Feria de Abril

This post was written by Cat Gaa. Cat is a Chicago native who is currently living in Seville, Spain, where she teaches English. When Cat isn’t teaching or enjoying her Sevillian lifestyle, she is planning her next trip around Europe. Check out my interview with Cat about her experiences teaching English in Spain. And check out her blog here.

Jaime, in his usual fashion, slammed his English composition book onto the table and took in a long, deep, Spanish-widow-in-mourning sigh. “I have to write an essay about what I like best about Seville.”

Since his first essay had been a timeline of the life of Jesus Christ, I was relieved. After all, I could think of plenty of things I loved about my adopted city – drinking beers on outdoor terrazas, staying out late and chowing down on greasy churros as the day breaks, and sunny days accompanied by tinto de verano. But these topics wouldn’t be appropriate for a 13 year old’s school essay, so I had to come up with something fast.

“I know,” I said brightly, “You could write about the Feria!”

Jaime loves horses and anything expensive, so I knew Seville’s famous April Fair would be an easy topic for Jaime to get a good grade and me my 14 euros.

His thesis was something along the lines of: After a years worth of preparation, feriantes can enjoy a week-long celebration of all things Andalusian: sherry, horses, and flamenco.

I could just about smell the fried fish and sherry wafting from his paper.

I’m what you might call feriante – someone who tries on her flamenco dress once a month to make sure it’s still tight around all the right curves and buys accessories for it in October and dances sevillanas in her sleep. I look forward to the April Fair the way I looked forward to Halloween as a kid, but my sugar-high has since been replaced with buttery jamón serrano and potato omelettes.

After all the somber Holy Week processions have finished and the gold-laden floats have been safely returned to their churches, Sevillanos work overtime for two weeks to ensure the Real de la Feria, a 6-block stretch of barren land at the southern end of the city, is ready for the seven nights of the fair. Temporary tents, called casetas, are erected, lanterns strung and carnival rides towed in.

In its five-century history, the Feria de Sevilla has grown from a small animal market in a park to one of Spain’s most emblematic festivals where sherry flows through the streets, horses become more prevalent than cars and women spend a month’s salary on a traje de flamenco, a traditional gypsy dress usually associated with the Andalusian dance of the same name. What was once a public event has now become a game of “Where do I have encufe?” or, what friends of mine belong to casetas, whose membership costs thousands of euros annually, giving an air of aristocracy that distinguishes Seville from its poorer neighbors.

For fifty-one long weeks during the year, the Real sits empty, save for the cement foundations used during the fair for the marquees. In late Feburary, the city begins to construct a large central gate, known as the portada, and hired workers set up the marquees shortly after. The streets, named for bullfighters, come alive in red, greens and whites, and farolillas, a paper lantern usually bearing the name of a sherry distributor, are strung. Feria officially comes alive at midnight on the Monday two weeks after Easter Sunday during the alumbrado, the annual lighting of the main gate and subsequent illumination of the tens of thousands of lanterns. All at once, flamenco music starts spilling out of the casetas and the smell of fried fish is inescapable.

Seville’s spring festivals are so famous, the city has its own government entity devoted to them. But unlike Holy Week, the fair is restricted to the Real, and penitence has no place among the flamenco dress skirts and horse carriages. Feria differs from day to night – during the day, carriages clog the streets, hitched up to beautiful grey Jerezano horses. A cleaning truck follows close behind, insuring flamenco dresses aren’t traipsed through kakita, and those on horseback in riding suits sit atop smug looking horses sipping manzanilla out of teeny wine glasses.

Feria is not right for you if you’re on a budget – a ration of jamón serrano can run you 13€, a jar of rebujito, a refreshing mix of a half litre of manzanilla sherry and two cans of 7-Up, ten. Then, add your membership to a caseta, the price of parking your horse right out front, your new outfit and possibly one of six bullfights in the sombra section of the Maestranza and, well, you’re likely to eat packaged tortilla and dry pasta until payday. Smart people eat at home.

Those in Seville are given the entire week off of work, but for those of us who work outside the city limits, Feria becomes a marathon of eating, drinking and lack of sleep (and just how far you can stretch your wallet!). The farolillo lanterns stay on until 4 a.m.

Tuesday is, by far, the Sevillano’s favorite day: everyone is fresh, there’s less crowds and you’ve still got enough money to not live off of finger-sized sandwiches. Brightly colored trajes are debuted, casetas rock with live bands and famous names pop up in the doors of the most popular tents.  The lights stay on a lot later on Tuesdays, and my feet start to give out at the same time that the sweet rebujito is hitting me.

I tend to go easy on Wednesday, just eating with coworkers in one of their marquees. We put in 10 euros por barba and gorge on creamy salmorejo, garlicky pork loins, ham and cheese and sherry. The front of the house is set up for dancing and eating at short, painted tables, while the back contains the bar and kitchen. The tents become temporary houses where groups of friends, political organizations and businesses eat, drink and dance. Sevillanas commence whenever there’s a space on the dance floor, and we laugh the next day as our students complain that their parents will only take them on the weekends.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday seem to always blur together. No work, crowds and a trance-like state from exhaustion make the last three days either drag or go by faster then you can order another drink. My arms ache from dancing, my feet from hoofing it home at 5 a.m. after a plate of doughy churros con chocolate. My dress is full of the dull-yellow dirt that covers the fairgrounds, I’ve stepped in horse poop more time than I’d like to remember and I’m ready to throw in the towel. But I love the way my dress hits me in all the right places, looked forward to shrieking while riding the cacharritos with my students and how I forget I’m foreign when I’m dancing.

I end the week on empty and find myself craving just one more day. I stoutly refuse to watch Sunday’s fireworks, signifying the end of the most Andalusian festival that exists and my return to la vida cotidiana – the everyday routine.

Jaime’s excitement for Feria, or maybe just enthusiasm for finishing his easy, was palpable. “This year, I’m bringing my horse. My mom says so,” he quipped. “And she’s having a painting done of my sister in her traje de flamenco.” Within a few weeks, I had another one myself and was charting the erection of the portada and the 1,000 tents. Progress has been slowed due to months of perpetual downpours, but we Sevillanos are resilient and aren’t going to let anything rain on our horse carriage parades and our proudest festival.

As for Jaime, he got an A+ on his essay, and in turn, I got an invitation to his family’s caseta. Good trade off for this feriante.

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Monday Escape: Sognefjord, Norway

Today’s Monday Escape takes you to the stunning Sognefjord in Western Norway. It’s the longest fjord in Norway and the second longest in the world.

Norway is not an ideal place to be as a backpacker as it’s one of the most expensive countries in Europe. Nonetheless, it’s a beautiful place – even in the dead of winter.

If you want to take in as much of Norway as you can with limited time, consider doing a segment of the six-day Norway in a Nutshell tour. From Oslo, you can experience part of the Oslo – Bergen Railway, the majestic Naeroyfjord, and the historic Flam Railway.

The Oslo – Bergen Railway stretches the length of Norway – some 471 kms through dramatic mountain terrain. The Naeroyfjord is one of the narrowest in the world. It’s an unbelievable feeling to be at the base of sheer mountain faces reaching 1800 meters from the icy water.

Lastly, the Flam Railway stretches 20 kms and takes you down deep ravines, through tunnels, past frozen waterfalls, and alongside snow-covered cliffs. It’s the steepest railway in the world.

Do you have a photo and a brief write-up you’d like featured on Backpackingmatt’s Monday Escape? Email me at matt (at) backpackingmatt (dot) com. I’ll gladly post your photo with a link back to your blog. Cheers!

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Monday Escape: Vejer de la Frontera, Spain

Not to be missed at the excellent beaches (and fresh seafood!) of Conil de la Frontera and Zahara de los Atunes, each a 20-minute ride in either direction.

Thanks to Catt Gaa from OlivaresBound for providing today’s Monday Escape. Cat is an expat who currently teaches English in Sevilla. Read Part 1 and Part 2 of my interviews with Cat about her experiences teaching English in Spain.

Would you like to see your pictures featured on Backpackingmatt’s Monday Escape? Email me at matt (at) backpackingmatt (dot) com

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Monday Escape: Amsterdam

On my interrail trip across Europe in 2008, I decided to begin my journey across the continent in Amsterdam. Amsterdam was a ‘must see’ for me and should be for any backpacker.

Considering its location, Amsterdam is a logical place to start your interrail trip. You can head south to France via Belgium, or you can head east to Germany. Whichever path you decide to take, Amsterdam is beautiful city and well worth a couple days of your time.

Amsterdam is often referred to as the ‘Venice of the North.’ It’s full of picturesque canals, 17th Century cobblestone streets, beautiful parks, famed coffeeshops, and terrific museums. And, well, prostitutes. With decriminalized drugs and legalized prostitution, Amsterdam undoubtedly has quite the reputation among backpackers. But if you visit Amsterdam and walk away only knowing the Red Light District and a couple of coffee shops, you’ve missed out.

Don’t miss …

• The Van Gogh Museum – though it’s a trek from the city center, this museum can’t be missed. It houses the lagest Van Gogh collection in the world and is an amazing place to spend a day.
• The Houseboat Museum – on many of Amsterdam’s canals, you’ll come across houseboats which serve as homes for many of Amsterdam’s permanent residents. This small museum (or houseboat) gives you a taste of what life living in a boat would be like. Well worth your four Euros.
• The narrowest house - Amsterdam’s (and perhaps the world’s) narrowest house is found at Singel 7. It’s only three feet wide and is certainly a site to see.

Find more more Amsterdam pictures here.

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Day Tripping from Edinburgh

Today’s guest post was submitted by Nicole Graham. Nicole has a passion for Scotland that is probably unsurpassed by few.

Nicole has also written a great post about her hometown and favorite city in the world, Edinburgh – read about her perspective of Scotland’s capital here.

Many people often come to Scotland for a city break, whether it’s Glasgow, Inverness, Edinburgh, or Aberdeen. Some seem to forget about the rest of Scotland, and to me the most beautiful parts of this country are found by escaping the cities and heading out to the wilderness of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Steeped in history dating back more than a thousand years, Scotland’s past is filled with stories of freedom fighters, clans and their lands, Kings, Queens, and bloody battles against the English.

If you are planning a trip to Edinburgh and you’re short on time, think about taking a day trip out of the city and up into the most stunning scenery this country has to offer.

Haggis Adventure Tours offer one day round trip tours to Loch Ness, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands.  The tour, the Loch Ness Hunter, heads north out of Edinburgh towards Stirling Castle, the Trossachs National Park, Rannoch Moor and the infamous Glencoe. It continues north through Fort William, home of Scotland’s highest peak Ben Nevis. You then follow the Great Glen and stop for lunch in the highland village of Fort Augustus on the banks of bonny Loch Ness. Here you have the option to take a boat trip out onto the Loch to perhaps do some monster spotting.

Loch Ness is definitely a must see sight in Scotland. Its mysterious, murky black water stretches over 24 miles up the Great Glen fault line and is 924m deep. All the water from England and Wales is still not enough to fill this monster of a Loch. Loch Ness is of course not just famous for its size and depth, it’s what’s lurking beneath that makes it probably one of the most famous bodies of water in the world – Nessie.

After a couple of hours its back on the road again this time heading South down through ‘Monarch of the Glen’ country, Perthshire and a quick visit to the historic town of Dunkeld before heading back towards Edinburgh over the famous Forth Road Bridge.

This tour gives visitors a chance to see some of the most beautiful scenery Scotland has to offer in a day. It’s great for backpackers with a time schedule and a budget. Haggis Adventure Tours ensure that you learn something too – their informative guides will tell you stories of legends past and present, of Kings and Queens, and of bloody battles. They have an incredible passion for Scotland, its history, and its landscape, and they’ll leave you wanting to know and see more of this truly fascinating country.

If you are thinking of taking a day trip with Haggis Adventure Tours, here is some info to get you started:

Price: The one day tour will cost you GBP32 and includes a free packed lunch. Not bad considering it’s a full day.

Times: Tours run daily. They depart Edinburgh’s Royal Mile at 8am and return at 8pm.

If you have any additional questions about the tour, send them to matt@backpackingmatt.com and I’ll send it on to Nicole.

If you’re thinking of taxing a tour with Haggis Adventures (or their parent company, Radical Travel), do me a favor and book your trip with this link. I’ll earn a small but appreciated commission on your purchase. Cheers!

Technorati Tags: Backpacking, Budget Travel, day trip, edinburgh, Scotland

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A Look Back … 40 Years of Friendship in Turkey

Below is an edited post which originally appeared on my first blog, ‘a year abroad.’ This blog allowed me to document my thoughts and stories from my travels around Ireland, Scotland, and mainland Europe. You’ll find these posts in their original format on this blog – also, I’ve decided to occasionally edit and repost some of these stories for any new readers which may be stopping by backpackingmatt. Enjoy!

My experience thus far in Turkey has at times left me speechless. The history and beauty of the country aside, Turkey is full of brilliant people. I have read so much about the kindness of the Turkish people. It has been amazing to finally experience the kind, hospitable, and outgoing culture first hand.

Unlike Western European countries who sometimes seem to have grown tired and sometimes bitter of the tourists which flock to their cities, Turkey embraces the tourist. Everywhere I’ve traveled, I’ve encountered a society which embraces tourists and goes out of their way to ensure you (as a traveler) have the best possible experience in their country.

Since arriving in Turkey, I’ve drank more tea and played more backgammon than I ever imagined was possible. Turkey is famous the world around for its coffee – brewed in its own, unique way. Turkish coffee is brewed in a special pot called a cezve; the pot is heated three times and each time taken away from the heat when the foam reaches the neck of the cezve. Prepared with sugar, Turkish coffee is thick and strong. To be honest, it’s not really to my liking. I’ve grown far more fond of the black tea which many of the Turkish drink.

Brian, Peter, and I have spent a good deal of time in the traditional, Turkish Kahveane – an area where men congregate to drink tea, play the national game of tavla (backgamon), and socialize. Each time we walk into one of these Kahveanes, we are immediately recognized as tourists. The men in the Kahveanes

will always come to us, welcome us to Turkey, and do their best to speak with us – regardless of how good or bad their English is.

This isn’t unique to the Kahveanes. Wherever I’ve been, I’ve been almost overwhelmed with the number of people who go out of their way to speak with me. Even if their English is limited to, “Where are you from?” they do everything they can to make you feel welcome in their country. It’s very refreshing.

Two nights ago, Brian, Peter, and I were wandering the streets of Selcuk awaiting a pick up from our hostel. As we were walking, I was fiddling with my Turkish beads I had picked up at the bazaar in Izmir.

A man approached me on the street and let me know I was doing it all wrong … he took them from me, and began to spin them as the Turkish do. As he was doing this, the string on which the beads were attached broke. You could instantly see the embarrassment in his eyes. He insisted on taking me to his shop and fixing the beads for me.

The three of us followed him to his nearby shop. As he was working on my beads, he offered us tea. Wrongly, we first tried to object to his offer. The Turkish often are offended by the refusal of gifts or refreshments. After he continued to insist on the tea, we all accepted his offer. As we were talking, one of his mates came in and started talking with us as well. After the beads were fixed, we were invited to Ali’s Turkish carpet shop where we spent the next couple hours talking, playing tavla, learning about Turkish carpets, and drinking tea.

“You should never deny the offer for a cup of tea,” he told us. “In Turkey, we say that one cup of tea will lead to 40 years of friendship.”

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Monday Escape: Charles Bridge

Today’s Monday Escape brings you to the capital of the Czech Republic: Prague. Prague is a fascinating city steeped in history and filled with Gothic architecture. With Prague’s Stare Mesto (Old Town), the Prague Castle (the largest in the world), and the Astronomical Clock – there is plenty to keep you busy.

One of Prague’s most picturesque sights is the Charles Bridge.

Charles Bridge was constructed in 1357 over the Vlatava river. It connects Prague’s Old Town with the Lesser Quarter. During the day you’ll find hundreds of toursits attempting to make their way across viewing its 30 statues – an evening stroll will afford you a much better experience.

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Monday Escape: Chios, Greece

Today’s Monday Escape takes you to Chios, Greece, found just off the coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea.

Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek Islands and is home to just under 50,000 people.

As it’s very often overlooked by tourist companies operating from Athens, it’s a terrific island to visit if you want to get a taste of traditional Greek culture. Chios is a relatively small island (50km x 30km) and is very accessible by hiring a car. A number of companies offer cheap rentals from Chios town to backpackers.

Consider stopping in Chios for a couple days if you’re traveling to Turkey from Greece. Ferries leave daily for Cesme, which is a short bus ride away from Izmir. Read about my time on Chios and see more pictures here.

Technorati Tags: Beaches, greece, monday escape, travel tip

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