Brussels: This is not a street

Ceci n’est pas une rue.
Brussels honours artist René Magritte with a new street name.

"If you could name a street in your hometown, what would you choose? Belgian citizens had the opportunity to mull just that question as part of an initiative to name 28 streets, squares, and walkways in the Belgian capital’s Tour & Taxis district*. The city crowdsourced the names as part of an ongoing regeneration project in the Tour & Taxis district—a formerly industrial area now set to become one of the city’s cultural and residential meccas. After receiving nearly 1,400 suggestions from the public, the final list was chosen by a jury of city officials, historians, and the site’s property developer, Extena...""[read more on Quartz].

*The district is named after the famous Thurn and Taxis, a German noble family that was a key player in European postal services until the fall of the Holy Roman Empire.

Street name signs in Brussels are in Flemish and French.
There have been more going up lately.

"Once a railway station and inland port, the district was a maze of warehouses, customs buildings and post and telegraph offices. By the early 1990s the area had fallen on hard times: lorry transport had rendered rail freight lines obsolete, while the introduction of a European customs union and harmonisation of standards drastically reduced incoming goods..." [read more on The Guardian].

"Did you know that the site once served as the largest freight station of Europe? The historic buildings were years ahead of the rest of Europe. The architects and engineers combined beautiful Belgian architecture with the most innovative technologies of the time. The result? Buildings that still have all modern facilities with an attractive, historic flavour..."read more on the official website].

"The eclectic mix of new names chosen by Brussels residents range from Passage de la Kriek, named after a famous Belgian cherry beer, to Ceci n’est pas une rue (This is not a street), inspired by the art of Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte. “To give a street a name, it gives it a certain identity,” Kris Verhellen, CEO of the Extensa development group which owns the former transport hub in the north of the city..." [read more on Reuters].

The new Brussels street names - and what they mean

• Allée des Douanes: Customs Alley
• Ceci n’est pas une rue: This is not a street (honouring Belgian artist René Magritte)
• Chemin du Bonheur: Path to Happiness
• Chemin d’Un Monde Meilleur: Path to a Better World
• Drève des Rêves: Drive of Dreams
• Drève du Parc: Park Drive
• Drève Maritime: Maritime Drive
• Drève von Thurn und Tassis: Tour and Taxis Drive
• Mer des Pavés: Sea of Cobblestones
• Passage de la Caricole: Passage of the Caricole
• Passage de la Frite: Passage of the fries
• Passage de la Praline: Passage of the Praline
• Passage de la Kriek: Passage of the Kriek (Belgian beer)
• Passage du Chicon: Passage of Chicon (a Belgian cheese and endive dish)
• Passage du Cuberdon: Passage of Cuberdon (a Belgian candy)
• Passage du Speculoos: Passage of the Speculoos (a Belgian spiced cookie)
• Passage du Stoemp: Passage of the Stoemp (a Belgian vegetable dish)
• Place de la Musique: Place of Music
• Place des Choukes: Place of Choukes (a Belgian term of endearment)
• Place des Grands Hommes Place of Great People
• Quai des Brumes: Quay of the Mists
• Rue Chantal Akerman: Chantal Akerman Street (a famous Belgian feminist and avant-garde filmmaker)
• Rue des Entrepôts: Warehouse Street
• Rue du Méandre: Meander Street
• Rue Isala Van Diest: Isala Van Diest Street (Belguim's first female medical doctor)
• Voie 1: Way 1
• Voie 2: Way 2

The Brussels city flag

To learn more
Tour & Taxis District - official website
Belgians chose “This is not a street” as one of 28 new Brussels street names - Quartz
Beer, chips and historic women inspire new Brussels street names
New names of the Tour & Taxis streets - Brussels city website
Ceci n’est pas une rue: Brussels to adopt whimsical new street names - The Guardian
Brussels Honors René Magritte & Other Painters With Bizarre Street Names - The Travel


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Fetlar, Shetland Islands

Fetlar is one of the North Isles of Shetland, Scotland.

Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands, is a subarctic archipelago that lies northeast of the island of Great Britain and forms part of Scotland in the United Kingdom.

The islands lie some 80 km (50 mi) to the northeast of Orkney, and 280 km (170 mi) southeast of the Faroe Islands. The Shetland Islands form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean (to the west) and the North Sea (to the east). 15 of the 100+ islands are inhabited.

Fetlar Interpretive Centre and Leagarth House

Fetlar is the fourth largest island of Shetland and has an area of just over 4,000 hectares (15 sq mi), and is home to 61 residents (2011 census).

Human settlements on Fetlar can be traced back to the Stone Age. The Vikings colonized Fetlar 1,200 years ago, with Gruting rumoured to be the site of the first Norse landing in the Shetlands.

One of the strange features of Fetlar is a huge wall that goes across the island... [continue reading on the cruisetravelbug blog].



If you would like to explore travel here or elsewhere, please contact me.

Port Frejus: seaside Roman ruins in France

A largely European invention, 3-4 week 'long stays' escapes in France, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain, are popular with budget-minded travellers. It was as I was searching long stays apartments in the French Riviera for a client that I stumbled across Fort Frejus. Its seaside location and Roman ruins caught my eye, and I was called to learn more.

Fréjus (Occitan: Frejús, French pronunciation: ​[fʁe.ʒys]) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, effectively forming one town.

The many ruins around Frejus make one curious about how the town came to be.

The origins of Frejus probably lie with the Celto-Ligurian people who settled around the natural harbour of Aegytna. The remains of a defensive wall are still visible on Mont Auriasque and Cap Capelin.

The Phocaeans of Marseille later established an outpost on the site.

Julius Caesar founded the city as 'Forum Julii' meaning... [read more on my cruisetravelbug blog].



If you would like to explore a long stay here or elsewhere, please contact me.

Imagine yourself at the Tour de France?

If you're like me, you're bleary eyed and wondering what to do with yourself first thing in the morning. What, no Tour de France to watch at 5am? It's been a great 3 weeks in the couch peleton.

Moi at the TDF in 2009 (story)

If your thoughts include dreams of witnessing a Tour de France stage in person, I can only say JUST DO IT! There is nothing like being part of the crowd (even though I stood for hours in the rain when le tour went through Barcelona).

It's easy enough to coordinate your travel plans to be in the start city or Paris ~ or just to be in France in July ~ and it costs you nothing extra to stake out a piece of the sidewalk. Start and finish dates are available now, and the full race route is released in October.

If you want a more packaged affair, with hotels, grandstand seating, VIP access, transfers, breakfasts, bike storage and daily bike rides, there are a range of options available from the official VIP access provider. This is the full meal deal.

Grand Depart Brussels 2019 weekend packages (in Eddy Merckx's hometown!) include:
• Thursday, July 4, 2019: Team presentation in Brussels
• Friday, July 5, 2019: Team training day in Brussels
• Saturday, July 6, 2019: Stage 1, Brussels
• Sunday, July 7, 2019: Stage 2, Brussels - Team Time Trial
• Monday, July 8, 2019: Stage 3, Brussels to TBA

Weekend packages for the Tour de France's conclusion on the Champs Elysees in Paris on Sunday, July 29, 2019, range from basic to full Tour de France Triomphe Packages with VIP access, grandstand seating and, yes, champagne.

Tempted? Please contact me if you'd like more information on official Tour de France travel packages, or assistance in making your own independent plans.

Death by Selfie: is social media worth it?

Shannon Falls, British Columbia

The tragic death of three young people at Shannon Falls, near Vancouver, BC, Canada, while out for a day fun with friends, has saddened many.

The group of friends were hiking near the falls, when one, a young woman, fell in. Two young men, one her boyfriend, fell or jumped in while attempting to rescue her. All three died.

News of the positive yet daring adventures of one of the deceased - a vlogger* - made me think of this death-by-selfie piece I wrote a few years ago. For me, the connection is the drive to share life experiences in social media. I'm not suggesting the friends were doing anything foolish when the accident happened; it just seems timely to share.

*Vlogging is a form of blogging based on videos (the vlog category is popular on YouTube).

DEATH BY SELFIE

- by Roberta Westwood

Think that selfie is fun? Harmless?

Aside of the downsides of "missing" the experience of where you are, because you're so busy capturing your selfie, you may be surprised to to learn that taking selfies is actually dangerous.

What starts as playful fun can cross the line when selfies become an obsession, in which you become less aware of your surroundings and take ever-increasing risks.

Especially for men. The truth is that while women take more selfies than men, 75% of selfie death victims are MEN.

Selfie deaths?!? Really? You bet.

Selfie-takers have been killed by:

• Falling off cliffs while taking selfies (many)
• Falling over viewpoint barriers
• Falling over a cliff when leaning on a gate that gave way
• Sitting on boulders forming a safety barrier over a gorge, which gave way
• Falling into a volcano crater
• Falling down stairs
• Falling down stairs while taking a selfie at the Taj Majal
• Falling off bridges (many)
• Falling off dams (several)
• Falling into a pond
• Falling into a spring
• Falling in irrigation canals
• Falling into water reservoirs
• Falling into a quarry filled with rainwater
• Falling into a well, while leaning over it to take a selfie showing the depth
• Taking selfies in a melt hole (cave) at the front edge of a receding glacier, when the roof gave way
• Taking selfies with waterfalls (several)
• Standing in rivers while taking selfies
• Waves, when standing on the beach (several)
• Waves, while standing in the surf, in a storm, taking selfies
• Taking selfies with trains (several)
• Falling off moving trains while taking selfies
• Climbing on top of moving trains
• Climbing on top of stationary trains mistakenly believed not in service (many by electrocution)
• Crashing cars while taking selfies or uploading selfies while driving
• Being hit by cars
• Being hit by a car while taking selfies with airplanes
• Standing in a boat to take selfies (drownings)
• Climbing on a fountain to take selfies
• Climbing onto a glass dome to take selfies, and falling through
• Climbing on girders in a construction site to take selfies
• Preparing to take a selfie by hanging from a rope from a high-rise
• Leaping to take a "flying selfie" (at Machu Picchu)
• Falling into a geyser while taking a selfie
• Posing with guns (many!)
• Posing with grenades
• Posing with a rattlesnake
• Posing with tigers at the zoo (several)
• Taking selfies with a walrus at the zoo
• Posing with a bison in a national park (gored)
• Posing with an elephant near their tent on a safari
• Getting out of a vehicle to take selfies with a herd of elephants blocking a road

Places where selfies have banned, due to deaths:

• In Pamplona, Spain, during the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona
• At New York State zoos (tigers)
• Anywhere in Mumbai (India has very high selfie deaths)
• In Japan, selfies and selfie-sticks on train station platforms are banned

Places where selfie bans have been proposed, due to high selfie deaths:

• In Paris, at the Eiffel Tower
• In Rome, at Trevi Fountain
• In Rome, on the Spanish Steps

Do you believe me now?

Even if you are not killed, just imagine the extent of serious injuries any of the above could cause.

Seriously, have fun out there, but don't let it cost you your life (or limbs!)


Related resources
List of selfie-related injuries and deaths - Wikipedia
40% Selfie Deaths from India, Selfie Obsession kills over 60 people Worldwide - Phone Radar
Mumbai sets no-selfie zones as deaths linked to selfies rise - Associated Press
No Selfies Allowed: Social Media Bans at Landmarks - Conde Nast Traveler
Selfie deaths: six people who died while taking a selfie - The Week
In Goa, red flags go up on beaches after tourist deaths: Selfies can be dangerous - The Indian Express
Selfies can be deadly - and India leads the way - Economic Times
Two young women struck by lightning while taking selfies - Economic Times
Death by Selfie - Martin Parr

Venice: Murano on a shoestring

Perhaps you have heard that Venice is expensive. It is... and it isn't... More on that in another post, but here's a good example of what you can do on the cheap in Venice and still have an amazing experience: a self-guided Murano glassmaking tour.

Setting out to Murano is as easy as jumping on the vaparetto - and if you are in Venice for a few days then you probably already have a vaparetto pass; if not, tickets are cheap and you'll be using a few everyday anyways. So I consider the transportation segment "free".
Once on the island, you can find a glassmaking demonstration for as little as 5E. As I was getting off my vaparetto (at the first stop on Murano), there was a guy pointing the way to demos, less than 5 minutes walk away - I listened and paid attention to the details so that I could come back after lunch. But to the experience itself. I walked in, paid my 5E, they waited a few minutes longer for others to arrive and then the demonstration started. Exciting to be there, right in the workshop, next to the truly red hot furnace. There were only two other people there so I was able to get very close. Here are the glassmakers getting started...

Just before they got started, they noticed that one of the stones in their oven broken. The solution? Weld it together with a blob of hot glass!

Now, here is our blob of hot glass...

I had my camera on the glass-end of the process, but they guy would have been blowing down the tube you see while he rolled the rod around and the blog began to change shape...

He would put the glass back in the oven every few minutes before continuing on. At this point, there was another guy with another blob of glass in a different colour holding his stick next to the main guy. Here you see the main guy using tools to manipulate the second piece of liquid glass as it was twisted around the original piece...

Shaping the glass with scissors, hard to tell what is happening, but very interesting... They did have an audio recording playing during the demo, in English, explaining the overall process, the heat of the ovens, etc.

I literally gasped out loud as I recognized the horse that he was making...

Creating the legs...

And the finished product!!! Took all of 5-10 minutes to create. We had a quick minute to take pictures then this horsie was heading to a cool-down furnace for 24 hours.

They shepard you into the glass shop after the demo - with incredible stuff costing hundreds and even thousands of dollars - but all I bought was 2 little pieces of glass (a paper weight and a butter knife) for 10E each.. They didn't make their millions on me, obviously! Walking back to the vaparetto I spotted this gate at another glassmaking establishment and snapped a couple pics...

Another closeup of the gate....

Now, for a few other pics from my time on Murano... This is one of the glass places:

And another... this sign was made out of little chips of coloured glass:

This canal was the other way from the glassmaking demo and it's where I went first for a bit to eat and to soak in the ambience....

Oh, on the way to Murano, the first stop you come to is this one. Don't get off here, unless you have a hankering for seeing some crypts and graves...

These were some pilons that had seen better days that I spotted on the journey... I think they were just for directional purposes (once you get out on the water to/from Murano you can clearly see that they have "lanes" for the waterways)...

While I was at lunch, I observed this activity taking place on the canal across from me. The boat had a big winch (from which the operator made a point to look cool and grin once he spotted me taking pics, lol) and they were lifting heavy stuff out... Once they get these materials out of the boat, they will put them on top of that rickety old wheel barrow and all they guys would help push it along to a nearby building. It was rather hilarious as I was wondering if they wheel barrow would survive...

My pizza and beer. Pretty cheap, for Venice, totalling 21E for a whole pizza and two beers. And veeery good!

Found this guy fishing for lunch near the glassmaking demo place...

So, that was my budget tour. You don't need a tour company for this little jaunt. It was easy to do, very pleasant and for 5E who can complain?

This story was originally published on my personal blog while travelling.

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Campiglia Marittim (near Livorno)

If you are fortunate enough to return to Livorno, Italy on a cruise port call, and have already visited Florence, the surrounding countryside, and Livorno itself, you may find a daytrip to a nearby historical town is a relaxing alternative. Here is a little town I discovered when a client asked me this exact question.

Piazza della Repubblica

Campiglia Marittima is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Livorno in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 90 kilometres (56 mi) southwest of Florence and about 60 kilometres (37 mi) southeast of Livorno.

Situated in a hill overlooking the sea and the surrounding countryside, the town has medieval origins but traces of Etruscan and Roman civilizations can be found as well.

Apritiborgo Festival scene
Creative Commons image, tanran2 on Flickr

If you visit in August, you may be in for a treat. This is when the town hosts Apritiborgo Festival, a street art festival that has been held annually since 2005. It usually takes place in mid-August, from around the 11th to 15th (be sure to check the actual dates for the year you visit).

Campiglia Marittima's past is linked to metal-working activities, This is evidenced by the Val Fucinaia furnaces and the remains of mining and metallurgical works in the Archaeological-Mineral Park of San Silvestro.

Rocca de San Silvestro

Archaeological-Mineral Park of San Silvestro

All other images: Wiki Commons