Category Archives: Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet: Sports In Unlikely Places

Lonely Planet, Sports, Unlikely Places
a group of people playing rugby
Rugby in NZ

In the spirit of the Olympics I thought that a sports related article from Lonely Planet was worth sharing. 

I am a big sports fan, especially baseball. (Let’s Go Mets!) I also enjoy checking out sports in foreign countries. 
Some sporting matches that I have attended are:
  • Football (soccer) in Scotland and Latvia
  • Aussie Rules Football in Australia
  • Rugby in New Zealand
  • Muay Thai Boxing in Thailand
In December 2011 LP had an article online called “Sports In Unlikely Places”.
The sports and places mentioned were:
  • Ice hockey in Turkey
  • Curling in Arizona
  • Skiing in Iran
  • Baseball in Uganda
  • Dog sledding in Jamaica
a sign on the front of a building

The article reminded me of a time that I experienced a sport in an unlikely place. I never had the opportunity to go skiing as a kid. As I got older I had pretty much lost interest. However, when I heard that you could go skiing in Dubai I had to give it a try. (I am not sure most people would really call the tiny slope skiing). The ski slope is inside a massive mall and you can actually see the odd shape of the slope from the outside. 

On that note, check out the full Lonely Planet article HERE

Lonely Planet: Seven Startling Sites of Eastern Europe

Europe, Lonely Planet, Oddities
a blue and white logo
I recently read an e-mail from Lonely Planet that had a list of Seven Startling Sites of Eastern Europe that I found to be pretty interesting. I’ve been to Eastern Europe a couple of times and haven’t made it to any of these sites.
Here is the List:
  1. Raclawice Panorama- Wroclaw, Poland: A painting 114m around the walls of a rotunda depicting the Battle of Raclawice in 1794. The article says the “Raclawice Panorama takes you so close to the battlefield you can almost smell gunpowder”.
  2. Hill of Witches- Lithuania: Lots of woodcarvings in a forested sand dune in the Curonian Spit “teeming with folkloric wooden carvings”.
  3. Sea Organ- Zadar, Croatia: Hear the ocean sing as the tide pushes water into the organ’s pipes creating all different kinds of music.
  4. Ghost Town- Prypiat, Ukraine: Visit a town left abandoned due to the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. The area is too radioactive to farm or inhabit but organized tours can get you in for a visit.
  5. Hotel Viru- Tallinn, Estonia: Visit a hotel (now a museum) that where every move you made during the Cold War was taped by the KGB from the secret 23rd floor.
  6. Capuchin Crypt- Brno, Czech Republic: Check out this monastery who’s airflow preserved the monk’s bodies still clothed in their robes when they were laid to rest here.
  7. Kuntskamera- St Petersburg, Russia: The first museum in Russia created by Peter the Great which has many natural and human oddities.
I’ve been wanting to visit Prypiat (Chernobyl) for a while now after seeing it covered on various TV shows and the Kuntskamera sounds like it might have many oddities similar to what I saw at the Mutter Museum. I’ve visited a bones church and other crypts in Europe and would love to visit the Capuchin Crypt in Brno.
What sites would you like to visit from this list? Have you visited other odd sites around the world not listed here?
Read the full Lonely Planet article which has more details about each site HERE

An Interesting Sculpture- Tallinn, Estonia

Estonia, Lonely Planet, Sculpture, Tallinn
a group of stone statues in a park
While preparing for a trip to the Baltics, I came across an image of a really creative sculpture in Tallinn, Estonia. It was of a stone body (in 3 pieces) relaxing/ laying down in the park. 
I saw the image in the Lonely Planet guide I was using to help plan the trip. 
It was something that I wanted to see in person but was not a top priority for the visit.
a stone with text on it
We really loved walking around Tallinn. There are lots of great things to see while exploring the medieval old town. On the last day of our visit I still had not had a chance to find the sculpture that had caught my eye.
While taking the bus back from a day trip we were getting close to the bus station. I was looking out the windows as we were passing by Toompark. All of a sudden I caught a glimpse of the sculpture!

a man lying on grass next to a statue
After getting off the bus, Kim and I walked a short while back around the park to visit the sculpture.

The sculpture is called “Puhkaja” which means holidaymaker in Estonian. I was thrilled to have had a chance to see the sculpture and decided to take a moment to relax and attempt to copy the pose of this holidaymaker before heading back to our hostel.

Lonely Planet: Ten Unusual Honeymoon Hotspots

Honeymoon, Lonely Planet, Unusual
a blue and white logo
For our honeymoon, my wife and I did not look into the typical Caribbean or Hawaiian getaway. Our choices were narrowed down to Australia and Thailand. Australia was always our top choice and where we ended up going. While in Australia, many of the locals were a bit surprised that we would choose their country for our honeymoon. Our honeymoon in Australia was an incredible and unforgettable trip and I’d love to visit again in the future.
I just read an interesting article on Lonely Planet- Ten Unusual Honeymoon Hotspots.
The places selected are definitely not typical honeymoon destinations. I’ve been to a couple of places from the list and would never think of trekking to see mountain gorillas or visiting Namibia as places to go on a honeymoon but then again, why not!
Here is the Lonely Planet List:
  1. Snuggle in a beach basket built for two on Hiddensee Island, Germany
  2. Sleep on a lakeside farm in Shelburne, Vermont
  3. Enjoy a private beach on remote Pamalican Island, Philippines 
  4. Unwind on a gorilla safari in Bwindi Forest National Park, Uganda  
  5. Taste wine amid copper-coloured canyons in Cafayate, Argentina
  6. Smooching in Bettmeralp, Switzerland
  7. Embark on a sunset ride in Khan Khentii, Mongolia
  8. Cruise Alaska’s coast on an intimate small ship
  9. Take a vintage train journey in Namibia
  10. Enjoy the simple pleasures on Ambergris Caye, Belize 
Find out more about each place on the list HERE

Lonely Planet- The World’s Best Booze

Beer, Beverages, Booze, Bratislava, Germany, Local, Lonely Planet
a close up of drinks
While traveling, I love to seek out food and drinks that are local to the area or country that I am visiting. It’s especially fun to try out alcoholic drinks native to the area.

Lonely Planet put out a list of The World’s Best Booze. They say that a great way to warm the hearts of locals is by drinking the local beverage.

Drinking is a really great way to get to interact with locals. I’ve had many memorable experiences at the local watering holes!

While visiting breweries and brew halls around Munich & Cologne Germany, my brother and I met many friendly Germans at pretty much every stop. They were happy to tell us about their favorite  brew and explain the different types of beers.
My wife and I had a similar experience at a bar in Bratislava, Slovakia. We stopped into a local place and were immediately offered a shot of the local beverage. (I can’t remember the name of it at this point) We ended up hanging out with the group and eventually moved on to another bar with them. This made our experience so much more interesting and we got to learn a bit about them. We found out that Bratislavans love Chuck Norris and liked NYC’s “chief” at the time Rudy Giuliani. (When they first told us they liked our chief, we thought they were referring to a famous chef!)

Here is the list of World’s Best Booze by Lonely Planet:

  1. Sake, Japan
  2. Guinness, Ireland
  3. Beer, Belgium
  4. Absinther, Czech Republic
  5. Burgundy wine, France
  6. Caipiroska, Brazil
  7. Becherovka, Czech Republic
  8. George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey, USA
  9. Tequila, Mexico
  10. Vodka, Poland

To read about each beverage on the list, read the full Lonely Planet article here.



Win The Ultimate Travel Library from Lonely Planet & Get a Free Digital Chapter

Contest, Library, Lonely Planet, Travel

a stack of books on a green leaf

Sign up fo Lonely Planet’s weekly newsletter for a chance to win a great prize.
By signing up, you will be entered for a chance to win the ultimate travel library & receive a free digital chapter of your choice!

Lonely Planet guides are my first choice when I am looking for a guidebook so I’d love to win this prize.
The Ultimate Travel Library is made up of over 55 books.
  • A dozen Pictoral & Gift Titles
  • Any 5 country guides
  • Any 5 city guides
  • Any 10 Encounters guides
  • Any 10 phrasebooks
  • All of the LP Shoestring Travel guides
Enter by March 31 2012
You must remain subscribed to the newsletter until April 2, 2012
Sign up for the Lonely Planet newsletter and enter the contest here

Lonely Planet- Facebook Contest: Win A Morocco Adventure

Adventure, Intrepid Travel, Lonely Planet, Morocco
a group of people riding camels in the desert

Enter for a chance to win a 15 day trip of a Lifetime to Morocco from Lonely Planet

The trip is being given away to celebrate LP’s Adventure theme pages on Facebook. The trip is with Intrepid Travel.

To enter all you need to do is fill out a form on Facebook and write about your boldest adventure travel tale in 50 words or less.

A little about the prize:

  • 15 day trip for 2 people on Intrepid Travel’s “Morocoo Adventure” tour (trip code XMKP) Check out the trip itinerary here
  • 2 return economy airfares
  • Enter by 2/29/12

To enter the contest click here

Lonely Planet: The World’s Finest Freebies

Free, Lonely Planet, World

Lonely Planet has a list of the top things in the world to do for free. I am sure the list is missing quite a few freebies but it is made up of some interesting activities and experiences.

Here is the list:

  1. The Staten Island Ferry- New York City, USA
  2. City Bikes- Copenhagen, Denmark
  3. Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront- Hong Kong
  4. Walking Tour- Reykjavik, Iceland
  5. Tea @ Grand Bazaar- Istanbul, Turkey
  6. Te Papa Tongarewa- Wellington, New Zealand
  7. Reichstag- Berlin, Germany
  8. Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building- Japan
  9. Royal Opera House Lunchtime Concerts- London, England
  10. Louvre- Paris, France

Out of this list, I’ve done #s 1,2,3,5 & 10. I was thinking of free sites that were missing from this list and the first thing that came to mind was the Smithsonian Museums in Washington D.C.

To read the Lonely Planet article click here.