Archive: September 2010

Today we have excellent news to share with all of you: we are happy to present the Moleskine edition of Trourist (a special collaboration between two special brands). As many of you have observed on more than one occasion, at Trourist we’re big fans of Moleskine. Not just because they make cool and smart notepads, but because they embody a philosophy lived by people who go through life with an insatiable curiosity and a desire to discover and experiment new things. For two centuries, artists and intellectuals such as Hemingway and Matisse have travelled with these handy notepads as trustworthy companions. Today, Moleskine is a source of inspiration for travellers like us.

And now for something that you all are interested in … How can you get one of the notepads featured below which we are certain you will enjoy? At the moment, there are two ways you can win one of these miniature objects of inspiration:

- Sharing with Trourist your most special experiences from Summer 2010. The five best experiences shared with us before 27 October will be awarded a Moleskine edition of Trourist.

- Pay attention to the Trourist page in Facebook. Over the next few weeks, we will formulate questions related with travelling and will raffle several notepads among participants. So, if you’re not already a fan of Trourist on Facebook, do so soon in order to participate.

When you ask someone what they would do if they won the lottery and they say: party or go on a shopping spree, I kind of feel pity for them. Travelling is the ideal combination of having fun and learning. A form of learning that is both good for your personal as well as your professional life.

No one will argue that travelling helps you grow as an individual. When we visit foreign countries we get to know new cultures, new customs, but we also become aware of how much we have in common with them. Travelling always helps to eliminate stereotypes and foments tolerance. Ignorance and a lack of knowledge, in turn, are the ideal ingredients for a broth of fanaticism.

Travelling also offers multiple advantages for our professional lives. It enables us to develop different takes on things, from products not available in our countries to new advertising approaches. When we travel we become genuine trend hunters. In addition, we get to practice and improve our oral expression in other languages, make new contacts, break routines…

Which is why I think it’s super-cool that in some countries, especially those of Anglo-Saxon ilk, young people are encouraged to take a year off before beginning their university studies or right after completing them. It’s an investment guaranteed to pay off handsome dividends. People don’t think twice about spending 10.000 euros on a car, but they do hesitate to spend money on a trip that can change their lives for the better.

I often stop to wonder: what will taking a trip be like in the future? Perhaps influenced by sci-fi classics, I imagine space ships flying over buildings, tele-transportation machinery…Oops, I’m getting carried away here. I really want to talk about something a little closer to the present, so much closer that in some cases it already exists.

Without stepping away from the living room, seated opposite a giant plasma screen, it is possible “to be” on any part of the planet. We can navigate its streets, the inside of buildings or museums with an image quality that paradoxically is even better than the real thing. We’ll even have gadgets that enable us to duplicate climactic or atmospheric conditions that truly exist.

Those who dare to fly, will be able to use all kinds of intelligent objects such as phones, glasses, lenses, etc, which will offer an amplified virtualization of all that surrounds us. As we walk down a street or enter a building, we’ll have access to all kinds of information: what did my friends do when they visited this city, where are the biggest crowds right now… (someting similar to what’s shown in the following video).

In any case, regardless of whether you’re at home or at the destination, any point in the world will be transformed into a number of things if we use the time factor. That is, we can go back in time and relive moments from the past. Thus, those of you who travel just to see, could save yourselves a ton of money in transportation and just stay home.

But the real challenge will be living emotions and experiences. No matter how well we are able to interact from our house with a hologram shaped as a Japanese cook showing us how to prepare genuine sushi or a human-like robot who takes us to some paradise-on-earth location, the magic of travelling can never be replaced. New technologies help us know more, aid in our becoming more time-efficient, but will never substitute for an improvised conversation with a cook at a Tokyo sushi eatery or the laughter of that necklace vendor you encountered on a beach in Rio de Janeiro. Travelling will always be more than just seeing new things and places.

Though I’ve always fancied myself a champion of improvisation and doing things on the fly when travelling, as a Basque there are five things I recommend you AVOID doing round these here parts next time you visit (some of these I consider vital). These are personal opinions, offered as mere advice, and not universal truths:

Limit yourself to seeing only Bilbao and San Sebastian. Basque geography is as beautiful as it is small, so rent a car, hop on public transportation if you wish, and take in lovely Getaria, Hondarribia or Lekeitio. It’s just a short ride away. Besides, big cities tend to be more standardized than small villages. In a smaller setting, you’re more likely to appreciate the true differences between villages and cultures.

Dine or have a drink in some chain or franchise outlet. No, no, and no! In the Basque Country, there are hundreds of charming bars and restaurants. Do you really want to pass these up and go to the kind of place you could find anywhere? Maybe not.

Go dining before 9pm. Most restaurants open before and they have no problem feeding you, but honestly: Who wants to eat alone in a restaurant? Personally, I hate it. Besides, if you elect to dine early, you won’t be able to apply rule number 1 for choosing a new place: enter only to those places that appear crowded.

Pay admission to a discotheque. There are tons of places to hit where you don’t have to fork over 15-20 euros. In San Sebastian, try Le Bukowski or Be Bop.

And for those of you really into sampling the local nightlife … don’t drink patxaran like it’s cold beer. Patxaran is a liqueur found in the Basque Country, which goes down like a shot when cold, tastes great, but willl leave you on all fours and with a nasty hangover the following day. This last advisory is based on my witnessing what happens to friends who’ve come to visit me on my home turf.

Do any of you know or have you ever visited the Principality of Hutt-River, in the Copeman Empire and the Melziquedek Dominion? What?

Though we like to think that many of our readers are also avid travelers, if truth be told most of you probably haven’t heard of the above now, have you? Why? Well, cos we’re speaking about micro-nations, as in tiny and miniscule, the kinds of destinations that only show up on the oddest, outlandish maps.

These micro-nations are diminiutive entities which have proclaimed themselves independent, soveriegn states … unfortunately, they possess no legal foundation. Those who create micro-nations do so for different reasons, among which are: publicity stunts, artistic expressions, political protests … the list goes on. What really fascinates me though are those micro-nations which are created for the personal amusement of an eccentric personality who appoints himself king and metes out nobility titles and creates his own symbology. You’ll have to admit, it is kind of funny.

Two of the most well-known micro-nations are:

Principality of Hutt-River: in 1970, a farmer from western Australia fed up with his government back home took advantage of an obscure law dating back to the 15th century and declared himself “free” and became Prince Leonard I. He currently makes a living off tourists selling souvenirs.

Sealand: a naval platform built during World War II by the Royal Navy. Said platform was taken over on 2 September 1967 by Paddy Roy Bates who named himself “His Royal Highness Prince King of Sealand”. Despite its small size (550 square meters), Sealand is one of the best known micro-nations, thanks to ongoing disputes with Great Britain, which on several occasions tried to claim the platform on the grounds that it resided within its territorial waters.

If you’re fed up with your country and wish to emigrate to one of these far-out destinations, following is a list of micro-nations, sure to satisfy all tastes and persuasions. If, in turn, you wish to head up your own personal enclave, there’s also information available on how to do that. Whatever your decision, good luck! ; )

Today I’d like to talk about “pintxos”, one of the stellar attractions for visitors to the Basque Country, especially those visiting San Sebastián. For those of you who are novices, a “pintxo” is composed of a small slice of bread with a food delicacy piled on top. The variety of toppings is infinite, ranging from a basic potato omelette to a more elaborate cream of spider crab to red peppers. For first-timers, the sight of a bar counter covered with these miniature epicurean creations is truly mind-boggling.

As a local, I have to admit that I don’t usually go out bar-hopping on pintxo crawls. In fact, I only do so when I receive a friend who is not from San Sebastián and who specifically requests it. Thus, I must confess that when I have a visit, I indulge and do those “typical” things one only does when one has a visit. How’s that for a paradox? The main reason I don’t go on pintxo crawls is that bars charge you an arm and a leg, and the quality is not always commensurate with what you pay. I also think it’s a bit of a paradox that something so “typical” can be so overpriced (let’s define “typical” as something that locals enjoy on a regular basis).

So for me, at least, pintxos are not that typical, even if they can provide with you memorable moments if you go to the right place. A few great places for eating pintxos and their specialties: Alustiza (order the “Gavilla”); Zeruko (try the “Hoguera”); Goiz Argi (sample the “Brocheta de gambas”, a skewered prawn delight). Can you think of any special places that you’d like others to know about or would like to share through trourist?