Stadio Olimpico, Rome. This modern day Colosseum, where the gladiators are substituted by football mercenaries; where the battle for life and death is swapped for a fight to kick the ball behind enemy lines; and where the reward for victory is no longer your precious life, but fame, glory, and obscene amounts of Euro. This day AS Roma is hosting Siena. A small group of dedicated opponent fans occupy a small section of the stadium. An equal or larger amount of policemen are surrounding them. Seemingly a waste of resources, as no one appears to pay any attention to this little [View Full Entry]

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Mention the Basque country in northern Spain, and many will think of ETA, maybe bombs, liberation movements, and strange language. Fewer will think of the beautiful scenery, the great food, and the extremely friendly and hospitable people. A shame. But it’s not without reason the area is associated with violence. For years and decades, groups from this region have fought for independence from Spain. Many times using violence. In the highly unlikely event I’ll ever start writing politics, I might cover this interesting topic of who are the righteous and who are the villains here [View Full Entry]

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In the quaint and cozy city of Lille in northern France, there is a small square with a restaurant. This particular day it’s warm and sunny, there is lots of people on the streets, so we’re happy to get a table in what seems to be a central location. Maybe we should have gotten the hint from the table next to us. A poor English fellow and the woman he’s trying to impress are ready to leave, but have been charged €2 too much. When the Garçon - the waiter - is made aware of this in a brave attempt from [View Full Entry]

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A bum. A beggar. Lives on the street. Not any street though, but Princes Street in Edinburgh. Sits outside a store in rags, with some text on a piece of cardboard, telling his story in a few lines. Basically, the reason why we should give him money. He’s in his 20’s. No visible signs of physical or mental defects. A cell phone rings. In today’s day and age everyone has a cell phone. The bum answers his. I don’t stick around to listen to the conversation, but the tone in his voice indicated more of a friendly than a professional call. [View Full Entry]

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Most people know the movie Trainspotting. Sort of a cult movie. Not a great one in my opinion, but one to have and share opinions about. And it’s one of the more famous movies set in Scotland. The setting is Edinburgh to be more specific, where I spend my weekend. Since it’s far from my favorite flick, I think nothing of it until the topic of movies comes up. There are quite a few large media stores in the city, each with a wide selection of DVD’s. My friend isn’t familiar with the movie, so I figure I should just be [View Full Entry]

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Rugby is a rather fascinating sport. A number of big guys without padding trying to beat the shit out of each other with the excuse of transporting a ball past the opponent’s goal line. Sometimes running, sometimes passing, sometimes kicking the ball. But more often stuck in a huddle that is moving with the speed of ketchup. Sometimes the huddle breaks up, only to re-form a few meters away the next minute. For a rugby lover, Edinburgh is the ideal city to visit. Not because the teams from the city are extraordinarily good, or because the Scottish are outstanding. It’s because [View Full Entry]

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Swedish Midsummer tradition suggests that anyone in the search for romance and true love performs a certain ritual on the Midsummer night. The ritual consists in jumping over seven fences/walls, pick seven different kinds of flowers, then put the flowers under the pillow, and you will dream about the person you will marry. Apparently this tradition is also known in Iceland. Randomly meeting a group of young girls after a night out on Midsummer, me and my travel companion half-heartedly pick up on the tradition. We jump two walls, but don’t bother to pick any flowers. The next night - [View Full Entry]

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All my life I’ve been fascinated by whales. Not sure what is the attraction of these majestic mammals, but I suspect my interest begun way back in the days at the Natural History Museum, in their Blue Zone gallery. For a 6-year old, a room full of natural-sized whale models can be quite exciting. Now, when people have realized that whale safaris are a rather lucrative business, luckily they are worth as much alive as they are dead, killed by modern whalers. One great spot for watching whales is Iceland. Their cold waters inhabit a large number of various species of [View Full Entry]

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Midsummer. The longest day of the year. Not widely celebrated, except for in the Nordic countries. What turned out to be a great way to celebrate it was in northern Iceland. Starting with a bath in the hot springs near Myvatn, followed by a short sauna session. Thereafter a trip to one of the mightiest waterfalls on the island - Detifoss. A not so well known dirt road with a landscape that might as well have been the moon (and indeed, the astronauts did actually train for their missions to the moon here) leads up to this impressive waterfall. The roar [View Full Entry]

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How about a last-minute Elton John concert? Usually going to a concert requires some planning, not the least in the aspect of acquiring tickets. A bit surprisingly though, the concert is not sold out, so we get tickets only a couple of hours before the concert. An artist in this league, the highest of them all, should guarantee a great show, but due to the short notice I haven’t had the time to build up any expectations. Turns out that was for the best. Elton starts the concert with a number of to me unknown songs. If I was in charge [View Full Entry]

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