Archive for View From a Tall Dude
A not-so-traditional Oktoberfest ride
Posted by: | CommentsYes I went to Oktoberfest in Munich, and yes I could have taken a video of everyone singing “Ein Prosit” and clinking glasses together, but I went for the more juvenile route: I got drunk on five maßes and I went on a carnival ride, where I was granted a beautiful view of the massive Oktoberfest grounds.
Chillin’ with some Swiss cows
Posted by: | CommentsParagliding through the Swiss Alps
Posted by: | CommentsThe Swiss Alps, in addition to their natural beauty have become a sort of tourist haven for extreme sports over the last decade or so. While I didn’t have it in me to try skydiving, canyoning or rafting this time around, a leisurely parachute ride with Lucas seemed like a great way to experience a bit of extreme sport. Little did I know that paragliding wasn’t all slow-paced — Lucas threw in a few tricks in the middle to get my heart racing.
(Special thanks to Outdoor Interlaken for giving me a great deal on paragliding.)
Swimming on the Island of Capri
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a video I captured at my home for the a month, Italy’s island of Capri. Okay, it wasn’t really my home, but twice a week I led groups on a private boat tour around the island, pointing out the exquisite rock formations and dramatic cliffs that fell right into the sea. After we arrived, I sent my group out on their own and, “for their benefit,” I told them I’d be at the beach all day if they needed anything. I then spent the rest of the day chilling out at this beautiful beach; reading, listening to my iPod and napping. After about five hours, my group would come back to join me and we’d chill out and drink beers while we waited for the ferry to take us back to the mainland.
View From a Tall Dude: Florence’s Scoppio del Carro
Posted by: | CommentsWalking the streets of Florence, Italy already feels like going through a time machine. To get to the old town you cross the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge so beautiful Hitler expressly ordered it’s survival while Nazis where destroying all the other bridges in town. The city’s walls still stand, and signs of the Renaissance bleed through every building in the old town.
Imagine my surprise then, when I happened upon this full Renaissance parade marching through the streets on the morning of Easter Sunday. It was as if I’d been transported back in time several centuries.
I’d stumbled upon a 1000-year-old tradition, the Scoppio del Carro. Literally translated “explosion of the cart,” it’s an elaborate Easter ritual that start with two simultaneous parades processing through town, one led by two bulls carrying a wagon. The wagon is delivered to the square in front of Brunelleschi’s famous Duomo, where Easter mass is in session. Some pomp and circumstance ensues, then the church doors are swung open and a firework shaped like a dove rockets out from the nave, striking the fireworks cart and sending it into a blaze of glory. The daytime fireworks last about 15 minutes and are quite dramatic, encompassing red, purple and white smoke and reaching a crescendo as three Easter flags drop out form the top of the cart.
It started with three big smoke bombs that filled the square with thick red, then purple, then white smoke.
Next came fifteen minutes of loud, bright fireworks coming from every corner of this ornate cart.
Finally, the three tubes at the top, spinning in circles (propelled by fireworks), let off their own walloping booms and each of these three flags dropped out.
View From a Tall Dude: Biking the Champs Élysées
Posted by: | CommentsThe Arc de Triumphe is surrounded by the Place Charles de Gaulle roundabout, the busiest and most dangerous roundabout in the world. So dangerous is it that most insurance companies won’t insure you if you crash in the middle of the roundabout. Why is it so busy? Not only is it one of Paris’ main interchanges, it also leads to one of the most famous shopping districts in the world, the Champs Élysées. It’s a busy street that until a few years ago didn’t allow chain stores — but of course, now that chain stores have been allowed the beating heart of Paris is filled with Tommy Hilfigers, Hugo Bosses and the ubiquitous H&Ms. I figured there wasn’t better place to try biking on Paris’ excellent Velib bike program. Here I am, navigating the most dangerous roundabout in the world on a public bicycle in the city of lights.
View From a Tall Dude: A walk through Cardiff
Posted by: | CommentsI wanted to give you a tour of the city I’ve called my home for the last year, but in this internet age, I knew I needed to be as concise as possible. So in the video below, you’ll find a full tour of Cardiff’s city centre in under two minutes. Watch for its famed arcades, the national stadium of Wales, the hustle-and-bustle of St. Mary’s Street and the sleek new St. David’s Shopping Center.
The capital of Wales has been good to me. I’ll be sad to leave it in just twenty-one short days.
The Street Performers of Plaza Mayor
Posted by: | CommentsI love this one: Plaza Mayor is Madrid’s old town square, and when we walked through it on a Sunday afternoon, we could barely move because of call the circles that were formed around the various street performers. See a woman have knives shoved through her head, a dancing Spongebob Squarepants and a shirtless man who has no business being shirtless — after the break.
View From a Tall Dude: NYE Aftermath
Posted by: | CommentsJust a few hours after ringing in the New Year in Madrid’s Plaza del Sol, we returned, with a bit more tequila in our stomachs and fatigue in our feet. The resulting video is exactly what I was hoping for when I set out to make this web video series. See if you can spot all the vignettes: a couple kissing passionately, some rambunctious Spaniards running through the crowd with a flag, dancing, sanitation workers attempting to clean. It’s a smorgasbord of human interaction. Hopefully there will be a lot more where that came from as I continue my travels through Europe with camera in hand (or on head).
(Video after the jump.)
View From a Tall Dude: New Year’s in Madrid
Posted by: | CommentsTwo Passports presents: View From a Tall Dude — well, that’s the tentative title, until I think of a better one. (Got a better idea? Let me know in the comments.) I just got a GoPro Hero HD camera for Christmas, which means I’ll be able to take all sorts of videos on my travels through Europe this summer. I got started early this time with my trip to Spain for New Year’s Eve.
This one takes place at Plaza del Sol. Oriented at the exact center of not just Madrid but the entire country of Spain, Plaza del Sol plays host to the main New Year’s Eve celebration. In Madrid, citizens show up with a bag of twelve grapes to listen to the clock tower bells ring. Eating one grape for each chime means a year of good luck. It also is cause for some bizarre silence at the stroke of midnight, followed by exuberant cheering.
¡Feliz año!
