Posts in Travel (12 found)
Manuel Moreale 2 weeks ago

11 down, 33 more to go. Plus a cave.

We had another lovely, sunny weekend last week, and that means I walked the second of the ten segments of the 44 votive churches loop. This time around, I didn’t have to mess with the route in order to hit all the churches in one go because there were no variants. And, like last time, I was not alone. I had a friend coming with me, which is always nice. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy walking solo, but I also enjoy walking in good company. The plan was the same: meeting at the arrive, leaving my car there, driving back to the starting point and take off from there. And that’s exactly what we did. The last time we parked some 600 meters away from the actual end—because there was no parking there—so the first chunk of today’s walk is the final part of segment number 1. Clearly visible on the left, up on the hills, is the small village of Antro where we’re headed. One of the six churches we’ll visit on this walk is waiting for us right there, and it’s a good one. But first, without even realising it, we’re already at the site of the church of San Luca Evangelista (7/44). I’ll be honest with you, this is quite an uninspiring one. It’s also not in a nice location, very close to the street. I’d have completely missed it if it weren’t for my watch. And this post is sponsored by Suunto… just kidding. It is quite handy to have the whole route planned on the watch though, because it vibrates when I’m near one of the churches since are stored as POIs. No pictures of the inside since the windows were boarded and the door was locked. All of them are locked, quite annoying if you ask me. But that’s modern society for you. The church was likely first built around the year 1250, but it was for sure consecrated in 1568 by the Bishop of Cattaro, also governor of the Patriarchate of Aqui leia . We leave the first church behind us, we turn left, we cross the Natisone, and we start climbing up, heading towards Antro. The first part of this walk is not super inspiring since it’s on paved roads, but it is what it is. One day, I might attempt to make a modified version where I only walk on asphalt when absolutely necessary. Could be fun. We pass through Biacis and next to the Antro Bank Slab , an old artefact symbol of the self-government of the Friulian Slavia, developed around the end of the XI century. The path takes us behind the stone and out of the village, and we’re headed in the direction of the church of San Giacomo Apostolo (8/44) next to the “castle” of Ahrensperg. I put it in quotes because it’s more like a nice cottage with a tower than an actual castle, but the whole place is lovely, I have to say. Dual bells, like most of these churches, and I had to resist the temptation to make them ring since the ropes were dangling right there, out in the open. I can be quite the mischief, but I also don’t like to bother people, so we didn’t touch anything. Also no way to take pictures of the inside, it was way too sunny. The church dates back to the mid-12th century, and the stone we saw earlier was kept under the outside portico. Church behind us, the trail is taking us around it and the castle and up through the woods. Two unexpected sights, one after the other, are awaiting us. The first is this concrete monstrosity, which I have absolutely no clue about what it actually is. It’s a very odd-looking structure, quite tall, I’d say 15 or 20 meters tall, with three tunnels going through underneath. It’s clearly something industrial, but I have never seen something similar in my life. Plus, it’s now covered in vegetation, which makes it even harder to get a sense of what it actually is. Reminded me of Horizon Zero Dawn, if you played that game, you know what I’m talking about. The next unexpected sight was a shrine. Very neglected, it’s quite literally falling apart, with a tarp on its roof put there just to prevent water from doing even more damage. As always, it’s dedicated to Mary, which is not unusual here since the iconography of Mary is way more presente than Jesus for some reason. There are Marys everywhere in the valleys if you start paying attention to them. Up the forest we go, and we have finally reached Antro. If you suffer from OCD, don’t look at its bell tower with the off-centre clock face. It’s driving me nuts. We have some time to wait here because we have booked a tour of the caves for 11 am, and we’re way too early. So we spend some time chilling in the shade of the trees with a nice view of the village. It’s all very relaxing, and there’s a small number of people who are also waiting to go see the church and the cave. It’s now time to go, so off the path we go to reach the ticket stand. The ticket to visit the church is 8€, and there’s an app you can download that serves as a guide. But to visit the cave, you need to book a visit with a guide for 10€. On the app, you’re asked to use headphones, and yet some people were obviously blasting it on their speakers. Again, that’s society in 2026 and the main reason why I want to go live into the woods. Up the 86 steps of the old stairs we go, and we have reached the very unique church of San Giovanni Battista (9/44) nested inside the cave. The current church got rebuilt in the mid 1500 after the quakes of the beginning of the century—like many of the 44 churches—and it’s quite unique. It’s also sometimes used as a venue for events. The most fun part is that right behind the altar, you can see the cave unfolding. And it’s right behind the altar that the guided tour starts. Sadly, only the first 300 or so meters of the cave is accessible to the public, and the rest is only accessible if you’re a speleologist. The whole cave is quite big, some 4 or 5kms and there are apparently rooms that are bigger than the opening one, where the church is located. I’d love to visit it, but I think I’m too tall for this type of stuff. One fun aspect of this cave is that apparently twenty-thousands years ago it was inhabited by the ursus spelaeus , the cave bear. One less cool aspect was all the writings on the walls of the cave. Why are people so fucking obsessed with writing on everything? Also, why can’t we have nice things? Anyway, the guided visit is done, it’s now time to get back on track since we have most of the walk still in front of us. So out the cave we go and down the stair, to then take a sharp right turn and walk below the entrance of the cave. There’s a nice view of the whole area from down here. Definitely worth visiting if you’re ever in this corner of the world for some random reason. We’re almost 3 hours into this walk (even though we have spent most of the time either waiting or inside the cave), and it’s now time to gain some elevation since most of it is spread on this next chunk that will take us pretty much to the highest point of the walk and also the next church. Unsurprisingly, after some twists and turns, what do we find? Another random Virgin Mary, this time in a shell. After some more walking inside the forest, we are back on paved road for a little while. We are high enough to have a nice view of Mount Matajur, the peak that dominates the area. That is also gonna be the target of the next hike since the third chunk of this walk goes from down the valley up to that mountain. Not to the very top, but come on, there’s no way I get all the way up there, and I also don’t reach the summit. So you’ll get to see it up close soon enough. We’re now almost at the site of the church of Santo Spirito (9/44), but before we walk up the final 50 or so meters, we need to cross path with guess what? You’re right, another Virgin Mary. We’re roughly 4 hours into this walk, and the location of the church of Santo Spirito is perfect to take a break and eat something. I mean, just look how relaxing this place feels: So far, this might be my favourite location, even though the church itself is probably the ugliest one. And also the youngest. The original one was built probably before the year 1000, but then everything got destroyed during bombardments in WW2 and the current building dates back to 1949. So it’s not even a century old, and it’s in rough shape already. It’s nice to take a break and relax for a bit. It’s a lovely day, perfect weather, and there’s no rush. Plus, we have company! Ok, lunch is done, shirt is dry, it’s mostly downhill from now on, so off we go through the forest again. After a little while, we pass next to the ruins of the old Church of San Nicolò, which, if it wasn’t for my watch vibrating, I’d have completely missed because this thing is barely visible even if you are paying attention. We also stumble across whatever—or whoever—this guy is. I had to take a picture and send it to my brother since that’s his name. Through the forest, across the fields, back into the forest again, out of the forest yet again we’re now almost at the point where we can see the new location of the church of San Nicolò Vescovo (10/44). I have to say, it’s a lot easier to spot compared to the old one, which is completely covered by vegetation and in total ruin. But it’s also quite big, and I don’t know, I guess I’m more of a fan of the tiny ones hidden inside the forest. This one feels like a normal church to me. Only one church is left, and then the final descent to the end of this hike. But first, I need to stop and take a picture of something, and by now you might have an idea of what it is. And here we are, we have reached the location of the final church of today’s hike, the church of San Donato, hidden inside the forest, with its missing bell and its lovely appearance. Now, fun fact: the door has a hole in it with a cover you can swipe aside. Is this a glory hole? We’ll never know. What we do know is what’s inside it because I did peek inside that hole. What a fun experience this was! The only thing left for us to do now is to walk down the forest, take a wrong turn because the GPS messed up, do some bushwhacking, find the correct trail again, walk some more, pass next to a bunch of other Marys—there are always more Marys—cross the Natisone once again and reach our final destination. And here we are, arrived at the park where we left my car, some 7 hours and 16kms later . This was a very relaxing walk, it can easily be done in probably 3 and a half hours. But why rush when you can spend some time outside and enjoy nature? I did update the iCloud album with the new pictures, so if you want to see more from this walk, click that link. You love the outdoors and RSS. You're one of the special ones.

writing Writing Travel shell Shell journalism Journalism
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Alex White's Blog 3 weeks ago

re: The commodification of travel

I relate a lot to Herman's recent post , in more ways then one. His thoughts on travel are very similar to mine, and the fact that he's writing from Kyoto is even better. You see, I spent a semester studying in Japan 14 years ago (good grief has it been that long?). I went to a business school in Tokyo (武蔵大学), despite being a computer science major. I honestly had never been interested in traveling until then. The only reason I found myself in Japan was having been lured into the International Studies office by a sign saying "Free Pizza (Learn About Exchange Programs)", and hey, my college town did have good pizza! While in Japan, I visited Kyoto during the freezing cold of November. I went with another American in my program, we stayed in a hostel, hit the 銭湯 (public bathhouse) every night and hopped around on bus to each destination. We had little plan outside of a small list of things we wanted to see. Most of what we ended up doing was the result of recommendations from our hostel host. And we had a blast . Kyoto was near empty at that time. For example, when we visited 伏見稲荷大社 (the fox shrine that consists of thousands of Torii Gates leading up a mountain), we hiked for hours and saw only a handful of people. To escape from the crisp air, we stepped into a tea house and had a wonderful conversation with the owner (who was just happy to have company). It's one of the most memorable times of my life. I absolutely love Japan. I've been twice, a second time in 2017. But now, like Herman, I don't know if I would return. At least not to Kyoto. To explain why, let's switch countries. The first time in Taiwan, my wife and I went to a famous museum. We went by city bus and a whole lotta walking. Most people arrived by chartered tour busses. As we browsed the isles at a leisurely pace, we were constantly interrupted. First would be a person wearing a speaker, holding a little flag and talking in a microphone. Then, the herd of tourists would follow, each cramming their bodies infront of whatever object so as to get a selfie. They'd stay just long enough at each object to grab a picture, then shuttle off to the next. Not a person read the plaques or admired the details. It ruined the experience, I remember leaving that museum very frustrated. Unfortunately, I've heard that's the state of Kyoto these days. For example, the Geisha district my friend and I randomly found ourselves walking through while looking for dinner was closed due to unruly tourists . People travel for the photo, the checkbox, the badge of honor. They don't dare do or eat as the locals, they instead are pin-balled between selfie spots, only to end the day at a buffet of their home cuisine. When they get home, they post their photos, rake in the likes and forget the whole experience. And look, I've been part of these groups before. My wife is Chinese, and this is the normal way Chinese travel. A big reason for this is visas, a lot of countries (Japan included) don't allow Chinese tourists that are not part of a tour group. The first time I saw the Great Wall was as part of a tour group, the same with the China/Mongolia border. They shuttled us from selfie spot to selfie spot. We had very little time to explore. Each meal was a buffet. Most of my memories are of the inside of the charter bus, not the attractions themselves. I hated it. People are surprised when I mention I'm a repeat visitor to a small set of countries. I've visited Taiwan twice, Japan twice, China twice and Mexico 5 times. I'll get comments of "you really should do X country instead of places you've already done". I fall in love with cultures. And food (same thing). The last time I was in Taiwan, I was there for a month living in an Airbnb working out of a cowork spot. I met so many amazing people. There was the guy who designed the paint for subway cars that took me to a local noodle shop. The American that asked to join me for a day of temple adventures. And the guy who's wife insisted he invite me to sit with them at the theater and share the beer they snuck in. The second time in Japan I stayed in the same suburb as my dorm from my student days. In Mexico, I worked remotely from cafes and explored the incredible food malls of Mérida. I'm not into tourist spots, I'm into finding out what stores are in the alley, discovering what small town is at the end of the Tobu Tojo line, going behind the scenes on a TV show set at the top of a skyscraper, or discovering where the random boat I found that accepts my transit card takes me (it was an island with a bar on the beach, awesome night). That's what travel should be. Stepping into the unknown, excited, and a little afraid. Discovering the local culture, food and people. Making connections and memories that last a lifetime, so when things get tough you can sit in the shower, remembering the water in the public bath house washing over you. 14 years ago I sat on a futon, resting my worn luggage against the wall. After 20+ hours of travel I had made it to my new home in Saitama, Japan (さいたま市). As I sat there, I had a panic attack. Where the fuck was I? What was I doing in a country I knew nothing about. Hell, I didn't even speak a single word of the language, how could I possibly survive on my own for the next semester? An hour or so later I calmed myself down and went on a walk to a department store with a few of the other exchange students. I marveled at how similar, but different, everything was. I also gawked at the insane price of fruit. Three hours later I unexpectedly found myself in a public bath. Talk about culture shock! The next day was the start of the best 4 months of my life. That's what travel is.

Travel culture Culture
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Chris Coyier 1 months ago

Hawai’i

I’m just back from the United States 50th state, a staggering 2,500 miles from the mainland. For the next week or two, I’ll pronounce it Ha-Vie-ee, like how it’s pronounced in the native Hawaiian language. A language, by the way, that only a few thousand people speak natively, no doubt due to the 91 years (1896-1987) where there was “strict physical punishment” for speaking it in schools. We humans are pretty damn uncool to each other sometimes. Ruby and I travelled there ( again! ) with some wonderful family friends, Matt, Becky, and their kids, Monroe and Zoey. A nice reminder of how rare and lovely it is to have a situation where the kids are friends, and the adults are friends, and everyone travels together well. We stayed in a villa at the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui. I’ve been to Hawaii before, but this was my first time on Maui. It was a beautiful place to stay. A beautiful property and buildings right on the beach. The villa had two spacious rooms, a full kitchen, and a living room with a pull-out couch, on which all the kids slept together. I’ve stayed at fancy resorts before where the staff uses special greetings with guests. But in Hawaii, naturally, it’s “Aloha.” Probably because, ya know, a real word, and basically the whole brand of Hawaii. But I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s kinda cheesy. Like, do Hawaii long-timers say Aloha to each other? Like it’s 5:21 am and a local is getting a coffee at the gas station in a local neighborhood, do they say Aloha to the cashier? Do they get an Aloha back? I kept meaning to ask this of locals, but kept forgetting. Or not having the exact 1.5 beers in me it takes to reach that perfect level of fun and charm to ask strangers semi-intimate questions. If I were forced to guess, I’d guess Aloha is more of a thing they have to do at work with the tourists. Like your boss side-eyes you if you just say “Hello, good morning” instead. I never said it back, which felt weird. My goal was kind of a winkwink, it’s cool , you don’t have to do the cheesy tourist thing with me, I very promise I don’t care. The first night, we got checked in and b-lined it to Monkeypod . We’d all been there before (at a different location) and have talked about it endlessly. It’s a micro-chain with 4 locations across two islands. It’s just: great. They make a Mai Tai with Honey Liliko‘i Foam on the top which I have fond memories, and it was every bit as good as I remembered. I had wings and mahi-mahi tacos. 10/10. I never get the fish. I don’t like fish. I like specific little bits of seafood once in a while, but rarely cooked slabs of fish. So on that very first night, I decided I’d get fish every night on this trip. Maybe if I try enough of it, I’ll come around. It didn’t work. I struck out more times than I hit. But no big regrets. I tried. Timing-wise, it wasn’t the absolute perfect time to be in Hawaii. But it was spring break for our school district, so C’est la Vie. Unprecedented rain with some flooding. A rather ironic situation after the horrible fires just a few years back. We were watching the weather and reading the news weeks in advance, but things didn’t seem dire enough to cancel the trip. Honestly, some overcast weather isn’t the worst. None of us left with sunburns. It allows you to hang out outside all day, which you just can’t do on full-sun days, as it exhausts you. The first full day turned out to be one of the rainiest, and we spent most of it at the pool anyway. I got us a cabana that turned out to be awfully useful. Being in the pool in the rain is no big deal, but lying out in chairs in the rain is annoying. And you certainly can’t crack open the laptop or read a paperback. I did both that day and was loving it. We were trying to book an ATV tour for ourselves, and that was the one thing we just couldn’t get done. The rainstorms just weren’t letting it happen. Apparently, there was too much debris and whatnot on the trails; the places that offered these tours didn’t reopen until after we left. We started most mornings at the breakfast buffet, included in our fancy villa booking. It was pretty crowded as they couldn’t seat people outside in the wet. Then we’d hit the water without fail. A few days we did the ocean, but came to understand it really wasn’t a good time for that. Storms wash landcrap out to sea, making the water look muddy. Apparently, that’s worse than just looking ugly; it can harbor dangerous bacteria. The guy at 808 clothing told me that you’d have to be a real idiot to go out in it and that real Hawaiians would never. Last year, some lady had to have her legs sliced open to flush out the bacteria (or something? The guy was pretty weird). Also, later, our zip-line guide told us she loves to surf and wouldn’t go out because the “muddy” water is extra-attractive to sharks, since the low visibility helps them more than it helps their prey. Also later, we went to a surfing beach absolutely full of obviously local surfers. Turns out people don’t exactly speak for all people. We did some knee-deep ocean stuff because it’s hard to resist. One day we drove up to Paia, a northern coastal city with extreme charm. Unfortunately we got there when it was pouring pretty good, so we spent most of it hustling between store overhangs. You could really see how close to flooding everything can get, quickly. We mostly just did a little shopping, walking around, and snacking in Paia, and I didn’t take many photos there. It was super cute though, highly recommended. I sorta regret not buying a Ukulele bass from the music shop there as I’ve been eyeing one up like forever, ever since going on a trip with Brad Frost where he brought his. Which reminds me: we had the kids to Uke lessons at the Fairmont and it was kind of a mess. Probably skip that. The hostess at the bar we stopped at told us how to get down to the turtle beach nearby (Ho’okipa). It was really pouring when we got there, so we just parked for a while and watched the surfers. Really amazing to watch. Huge waves. The turtle beach didn’t disappoint! Hitting the pool was a daily event. The kids are old enough that we could shoo them out the door to the pool and not worry about it too much. Two of the kids had trackable wrist watches that could make calls, so that was extra convenient. There was a swim-up bar that I appreciated existing despite never getting around to using it. I did us the walk-up bar once, and the Zach Bryan impersonator bartended made me a cocktail despite it being almost an hour after it was supposed to close. He was being fawned over by two woman who wanted to make sure he had their number for later. I enjoyed that, naturally. Ruby’s favorite experience, and perhaps mine too, was the zip lining we did. We chose Haleakalā Zipline Tours as, well, it was open, and it’s location high up mid-island looked cool. It was. The two charming guides helped make it fun, showering us with bird-facts and about their conservation efforts. Ruby had to get over some fears of zip lining at all, which she did and of course now loves it. I left thinking of other zip lining we could to back home and hoping to see a ʻAlalā (Hawaiian crow). We hit Black Rock Pizza on the way home, my only non-fish dinner. The very last day, our friends moved on to another island, while we were hitting the redeye flight home. We had most of the day to kill, so we wandered around the property a bit, wandered some stores, then went to the local cinema to catch Project Hail Mary (fun!) and then off to the airport. Only a 5-hour flight back to Seattle compared to the 7-hour flight from Salt Lake City on the way there. We both slept a little and it went easy breezy.

culture Culture Travel java Java ruby Ruby
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Tara's Website 2 months ago

Flying solo

Flying Solo One of the things I like most when I fly solo is having all the space to myself. The back seats are usually filled with my backpack and jacket, while the right seat holds my iPad, navigation charts, kneeboard, a bottle of water, and occasionally some snacks for longer (and sometimes boring?) flights. Not much different from how I travel by car. After handling take-off procedures and settling into cruise, I love relaxing and watching the landscape in comfortable silence, just the engine’s hum and the soft background chatter of the radio.

Travel Personal Aviation
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fLaMEd fury 3 months ago

The Summer Took Hold

What’s going on, Internet? I was going to have this post as the December wrap up post but the summer took hold of me and here we are at the end of January and a week into Feb, lol. December kicked off with a Tuesday night gig, Lewis Capaldi At The Spark Arena , a fantastic show. I finished off a post about what music ownership means to me , I was happy to get that one out of drafts and published. Then we were straight into finishing up work for the year and I took some time to reflect on the beers I drunk , the books I read , and the music I enjoyed throughout the year. Christmas was an exciting time. With a four year old and a two year old we were in full hype mode. I also got into the hype and had a blast. We had a pre-Christmas lunch at my brother’s place with his family and my parents, two days of work and then straight into Christmas Eve prep which we had at my parent-in-law’s place with the kids, their aunties and all their grandparents. They actually managed to go to sleep and woke up super excited and we got to do it all over again on Christmas Day. I braved the mall on Boxing Day and managed to pick up the last copy of the 2025 Indie Store exclusive re-issue of Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ pressed on red vinyl. The mall itself wasn’t too bad, but the traffic into the mall was horrific. Worth it though. With Christmas out of the way we had a couple days down time before we started our road trip down south. This was so much fun. Our end destination was the Marlborough Sounds, and we broke the trip up into stages so we could explore some of the country and also make sure that the kids weren’t stuck in a car non-stop for days on end. On day one we headed to the Hawke’s Bay via Orakei Korako Cave & Geothermal Park . We stayed one night in Havelock North and visited the national aquarium in Napier before continuing on to Martinborough where we spent two nights. The kids got some grandparent time and my wife and I managed to head over the hill to Wellington to catch up with some friends. On New Year’s Eve we packed up the car again and made our way with the kids to the ferry terminal in Wellington to cross the Cook Strait and make the drive to a remote part of the Marlborough Sounds . After four nights down there enjoying the remote tranquility of the top of the South Island, we headed back to the ferry terminal in Picton to catch the boat back to Wellington and drove straight back to Martinborough for a week of working remote rather than cutting the road trip short. We then packed the car up for a final time and made our way back up north, back to Havelock North again for one more night. Before heading north again the next morning we took the kids to Splash Planet and had a fun time in the water and playing mini golf. We stopped off in Hastings for some ice cream before heading back to Taupō where we stopped off at the Hooker Falls and Cobb & Co for dinner. My wife and I have great memories of family dinners and birthday parties at the Cobb and were hoping the kids would have a blast, but I think they were over it and were just tired. Luckily it was only three more hours back to Tāmaki Makaurau so I made the drive home while the family slept. Then it was back home to unpack and get back to the reality of the weekly grind of school and work. What an epic road trip though. I look forward to more of them, and they’ll only get better as the kids get older. I’ve been watching a lot of great shows recently, old and new. I saw Tulsa King on Cory’s website, gave it a go and ended up watching the entirety of season one over a couple days. I’m going to get right onto season two as soon as I can. The second season of The Vince Staples Show was like a fever dream. Short episodes, easy to watch. My favourite universe, the Power Universe had season three of Power Book IV: Force on the screen and I loved it. It’s so over the top and the premise is wild. Great end to the series and looking forward to Power Book Legacy! I watched all four episodes of Sean Combs: The Reckoning - it really shows what a psycho that guy is. The fourth season of Industry has started and I’m watching my way through that, I have no idea if I actually like this show anymore - it’s kinda fever dream like itself, but I’ll keep watching it. Shrinking is back for its third season. And finally A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms started, I loved the books and I’m loving this show. Set a hundred years before the events of A Song Of Ice And Fire, it’s a bit more lighthearted and funny than Game Of Thrones was. Been a good run of movie watching over here recently. Partly due to Mr 4 taking more of an interest in them. He’d been coming home from preschool talking about KPop Demon Hunters , and we’d been listening to the music and so we sat down and watched the movie together one afternoon. I really enjoyed it. He did too. He’s also been into Paw Patrol recently so as a treat he’s been able to watch some of the Paw Patrol movies starting with PAW Patrol: The Movie , which I also ended up really enjoying. Surprising at the big names doing the voices. Totally different to the budget voices on the Tonies 🤣 So yeah, the movie was really good, although he got quite upset when Chase lost his confidence. It was cute. Christmas was also a bigger than usual thing in our household this year and so on Christmas Eve we all sat down together and watched Home Alone with him. A fun movie which he enjoyed, and maybe laughed a bit too hard at parts. When the kids did eventually go to bed I enjoyed the annual screening of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special . During the roadtrip we stayed at a motel on the way down south and we took advantage of the yearly screening of Grease - one of my all time favourite movies. After the kids sleeping for hours in the car we knew they weren’t going to bed easily so we had a family movie night. Grease isn’t a kids movie, but it’s also quite tame compared to movies today. I enjoyed it, they enjoyed it and we all had a good time, and they eventually went to sleep. The other movies I enjoyed were Woodstock 99 which dove into the absolute state of the 99 Woodstock festival and how it eventually turned into what it was. What a shit time that would have been. On the lighter side I enjoyed Good Fortune and then Shithouse , which has a shit name, but explored the isolating side of social interaction. Eleven records added to the collection across December and January. A lot of anniversary editions and special pressings landed on the shelf. Here’s all the posts I enjoyed recently. You can check out more over on the Bookmarks archive. Shellsharks is back and publishing Scrolls again so go check that out. Hyde is still publishing his Over/Under series and has just published issue #50 with Bobby Hiltz . I really love the way Hyde personalises each Over/Under interview with his guest - it makes for an interesting read and shows that he does go out of his way to read their websites. xandra has also just dropped the Autumn/Winter 2026 issue of Good Internet magazine. I can’t wait to get stuck in and read all the new articles while I wait for my physical edition to arrive. Plenty of hacking on the website over the break. I’ve been messing with the homepage layout. I’m still not entirely happy with the bento, but it’s fine for now. I’ve added a “Stuck In My Head” section that highlights the six most played songs from last.fm . I’ve also moved the webrings into the bento and revived my buttons collection - I’ve got more to add here later. I’ve started adding garden indicators for living posts that I intend to keep working on over time. I will eventually create a /garden/ page to list these pages for easy browsing. I guess that tag page serves that purpose at the moment. Along with that I think I’ve improved the post metadata on each post that helps tell the story better with category, tags, and dates. Let me know what you think. I spent some (a lot) of time unifying the look and feel across Beer Fridge , Recordshelf , Bookshelf , and Comics pages with cleaned up CSS and introducing a common layout for the stat cards. That damn comics page needs a lot of work. This update was brought to you by Girl in Stilettos by Annah Mac Hey, thanks for reading this post in your feed reader! Want to chat? Reply by email or add me on XMPP , or send a webmention . Check out the posts archive on the website. App selection criteria - Cory Dransfeldt on his criteria for choosing apps. Delete Spotify? Sure, But Don’t Just Replace it With Another Subscription - Stephanie Vee on thinking beyond just swapping one subscription for another. Why RSS matters - Ben Werdmuller on why RSS still matters. What happened to the comment section? - The History of the Web looks at what happened to comment sections. Three Predictions For The Web - Three predictions for the future of the web. IndieWeb Carnival December 2025 – The IndieWeb in 2030 - The Frugal Gamer hosts the December 2025 IndieWeb Carnival. Static sites killed the blog comment star - Did static sites kill blog comments, and can old tech bring them back? An Island in the Net in 2030? - Khürt Williams imagines the IndieWeb in 2030. Drinking The Largest Beer At The Airport Makes Everything Better - A celebration of the airport beer. Backing up Spotify - How to back up your Spotify library. 30 Years of br Tags - A look back at 30 years of the humble tag. Looking beyond collective blogging - V.H. Belvadi looks at what comes after collective blogging. Readers, writers and blogging ethics - On saying what you mean and being damned. How and Why Do I Blog? - Reflections on the how and why of blogging. Building an IndieWeb house (I): introduction - Starting the journey of building an IndieWeb house. The IndieWeb Doesn’t Need to ‘Take Off’ - Susam Pal on why the IndieWeb doesn’t need mass adoption. Experiences with social medias - Reflections on experiences with social media. Writing Hyperlinks: Salient, Descriptive, Start with Keyword - Nielsen Norman Group on writing better hyperlinks. Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix - Why 90s movies hit different. You should start a blog today - A nudge to start blogging. Self-hosting versus lots of small indieweb providers - The trade-offs between self-hosting and using small IndieWeb providers.

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Herman's blog 6 months ago

Attending MicroConf Europe 2025

Now that I've been home for about a month and have all my ducks back in a row, it's time I wrote about my trip to Istanbul for MicroConf Europe . MicroConf is a conference for bootstrapped (non-VC-tracked) founders. And while I don't necessarily view Bear as a business, MicroConf is the closest there is to an Industry Event for someone like me. First a note on Istanbul: I arrived a week early to explore the city and see the sights. I'm a bit of a history nerd, so being at the crossroads of where it all happened in Europe—going back thousands of years—was quite spectacular. I get up early, and wandering the empty streets of the old city before the tour groups flooded in was quite special. Also, the mosques dotting the skyline as viewed from the Bosporus are like nothing I've ever seen. It's amazing to see human effort geared towards creating beautiful buildings. I know it's not economically viable, but imagine if cities were built with beauty and a cohesive aesthetic in mind. There were, however, a few negative characteristics of the city that grated at me, the main one being the hard separation of what is the tourist area and what isn't. Inside the old city all of the restaurants were clones, serving the same authentic Turkish food at 5x the reasonable price. And scams were rife. I remember after a mediocre lunch at a mediocre restaurant, looking at the hand-written bill, the per-person cost came to about 2000TRY (roughly $50 at the time). The staff didn't speak English, and I wasn't going to throw all of my toys out of the cot via Google Translate, so I begrudgingly paid the bill and vowed never to eat there again. Similarly with taxis: it was impossible to take one as a foreigner without an attempted scam, to the extent the conference coordinator put out a PSA to use a specific transport company for rides instead of using the local taxis. It's unfortunate when a city is unwelcoming in this manner, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Putting all of that aside, I still had a spectacular time. The main reason I came to this conference was to learn, get inspired, and soak up the vibes from other interesting people building interesting things. And I got exactly what I came for. The talks and workshops were good, but what made the event shine was the in-between times spent with other attendees. The meals and walks, the hammam and sauna sessions. I found myself engaged from sunrise to sunset, notebook not far away, transcribing those notes during my downtime. One of the attendees, Jesse Schoberg , runs a blogging platform as well, which focusses on embeddable blogs for organisations. It's called DropInBlog and is a really neat solution and platform. We chatted about what it's like running this kind of service, from bots to discoverability, and enjoyed the sunset on the terrace overlooking the Sea of Marmara. I can't think of a better place to talk shop. I can't list all of the great conversations I had over those 3 days, but one standout to me was dinner with the ConversionFactory lads: Zach, Nick, and Cory. Not only were they one of the event sponsors, but were just great people to hang out with—and obviously incredibly proficient at their craft. After dinner on the last evening of the conference we crowded into the steam room to take advantage of the hotel's amenities that I'd paid way too much for. I got too hot, and mistaking the basin in the middle of the room for cooling off, managed to splash strong, menthol-infused water on my face. I immediately regretted it. My face, eyes, and nose started burning intensely with the icy-cold blaze of menthol and I was temporarily blinded. I had one of them hose off my face since I couldn't do anything in that state. Product idea: Mace, but menthol. One of my friends, Rob Hope , just arrived back from giving a talk at a conference in the US. When I met up with him for dumplings and dinner last week, it came up that, coincidentally, he had also just met the ConversionFactory lads on his most recent trip. I guess they get around. Will I come back to MicroConf? Without a doubt. This has been inspiring, educational, and also quite validating. People were impressed with my projects, and surprised that I don't track visitors, conversions, and other important metrics . Bear is healthy, paying me a good salary while being aligned with my values, ethos, and lifestyle. I guess I'm running on vibes, and the vibes are good.

Travel culture Culture business Business
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Kix Panganiban 7 months ago

NAIA T3 is the world's worst airport

Here I am with my family, waiting to board a flight to Sydney -- and I’m reminded of just how bad NAIA T3 really is. The whole place is packed to the brim with travelers, and it’s hellishly hot. Not just the annoying kind of hot, but the ridiculous, humid, and sticky kind of hot. It feels like being a sardine in a sauna. I honestly thought this would be one of the first things SMC’s takeover would fix. The Seating (or Lack Thereof) There are barely any seats unless you’re cool with rubbing elbows with sweaty strangers. Sure, there are paid lounges -- but with the tiny real estate allocated for them -- they’re almost always full. If you’re traveling solo, you might luck out and snag a spot, but no dice if you’re with a group like us. The Food Choices There’s also barely any decent food options to make the wait bearable. Most stalls in T3 are pasalubong shops -- and yeah, some sell short orders and snacks, but if you’re craving a real meal or a solid cup of coffee, you’re out of luck. Even worse, the few spots with okay seating are just as packed as everywhere else. A Glimmer of Hope? After sweating it out for hours, I couldn’t help but compare this mess to our last international trip from Clark International Airport earlier this year. But before I get into that, I’ll admit one small win for NAIA T3: the check-in process seems smoother than the last time I was here, especially if you arrive early. The number of bag drop desks scaled pretty well with demand from what we’ve seen (checking into Qantas), and the immigration and security check queues were decent and well-managed. Still, these tiny improvements don’t make up for the overall hassle. In Comparison to Clark International Airport It’s no contest -- Clark wins hands down. For starters, Clark is more recently built and feels a lot more modern. The place is spacious, well laid out, and the air conditioning is what you’d expect in a hot, humid country. The food and dining options there aren’t exactly world-class for an international terminal, but with plenty of seating around, that’s just a minor gripe. Honestly, being there with my family felt like a breeze compared to this chaos at T3. Tips from a Frustrated Traveler After dragging ourselves through this sauna of an airport, I’ve picked up a few tricks to make the wait a bit more bearable for me and my family. Hope these help if you’re stuck here too: Look for Fly Cafe at the far end of airside. We stumbled on it after hours of misery, and its air conditioning is solid. They’ve got decent beverages like coffee and matcha. Plus, if you’re traveling with a kid like I am, they have soft-serve and a small play area out front that was a lifesaver. The farther you are from the security check, the better the ambiance tends to be -- less crowd, less heat. The restrooms will actually be (and smell) better too, which was a relief after the chaos near the gates. The terminal Wi-Fi is trash. Don’t even bother -- use mobile data if you can.

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Max Bernstein 10 months ago

Travel notes: PLDI Seoul

I went to PLDI in Seoul, South Korea. I had a nice time. Here are some unstructured thoughts. It was great to see old familiar faces, meet new people, and unexpected (though not unwelcome) to have multiple people approach and say they read my blog. Hello, dear readers! Vegetarian food is tricky, but if you look for a “temple meal” or restaurants specifically called out as vegetarian friendly (or even full vegan), you will be okay. A lot of food that otherwise looks vegetarian probably contains fish products. If you are okay with a bit of a grey area, the Myeong-dong night market has a good fried potato cheese stick thing and a cream cheese garlic bread. Go to a chicken and beer place with friends. We spent a good deal of time looking for a cute bar vibe (and did find one secret bar!) but the best bang for buck is definitely fries and 4000 Won Cass beer. I had a nice time walking the Cheonggyecheon river (creek?). It’s separated from traffic, has fish and birds, and many people enjoy sitting alongside it. Don’t go on rainy day because it is also where rainwater flows to, but on an overcast or sunny day it’s great. Not many people online suggest the city wall walk—in fact, I did not see it mentioned on any website I looked at—but I stumbled across it coming out of the Cheonggyecheon walk and in search of a 7-Eleven. It’s a nice 15 mile circular tour of old Seoul. I didn’t do the whole thing because it was already so late in the day but I will next time. It’s a lovely way to escape the huge buildings and constant traffic and see the small homes where people actually live. Bring a cold beverage (corn silk tea is nice). It’s hilly. On the city wall walk by Naksan there is a cute cafe called cafe cogito . I had ice cream there and looked out over the city. It’s a lovely place to sit and cool off. The neighbors have a cat that goes adventuring around. After dinner, I stumbled across yet another thing that I had somehow not seen mentioned anywhere: Jongno! I accidentally wandered into the Ikseon-dong Hanok village at night, where there are restaurants and shops in a reconstructed stone-and-timber village. As I departed for the train, I also wandered into the night market on Donhwamun-ro 11-gil, which was packed and also looked excellent. It had tables and seating, giving it a very different feel than Myeong-dong. Pity I had already eaten… this looked like the place to be. Getting to and from the airport (ICN) is irritating. You can do one straight shot from ICN to Seoul Station on the AREX train (which I recommend if it’s in budget for you and/or your employer; the slower train is fine too), but you if you need to transfer anywhere, it’s up, down, and around in circles in the train station. There is a lot of transfer friction. Until next time, South Korea!

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W. Jason Gilmore 1 years ago

Two Day Rome Itinerary

Many years ago I put together this two day itinerary for friends traveling to one of my favorite cities on earth. Today I finally got around to publishing it online. The following items are arranged in order of proximity to one another. If you start at the Colosseum you can methodically walk to the Fori, then to the Vittorio Emanuele monument, and so on. You'll end at Via dei Condotti where some shopping will probably occur, at which point you can just jump on the subway at the end of the street (to the left of the Spanish Steps) and return to your hotel. The Vatican Museum is one of the most extraordinary museums on the planet, and regardless of your religious proclivities is a required stop on the two day tour. The Vatican itself and museum are situated next to one another so I recommend visiting the former first and then going to the museum: If you're feet aren't hurting by day 3, check out the Musei Capitolini and Museo Nazionale Romano, both of which house some pretty amazing Roman artifacts. The Colosseum. Consider taking the tour, it's pretty neat. There is a subway stop named Colosseo which drops you off literally right in front of the Colosseum. Fori Imperiali (within it you can also see the prison where the Romans held Peter and Paul - really amazing). Keep your eyes peeled for the stone maps mounted on the wall, they were placed there by Mussolini as a tribute to the Roman Empire. Monumento di Vittorio Emanuele. Also known as the "birthday cake", it is derided by Italians as being Rome's ugliest monument. It's worth going to the top as the view is pretty nice. The piazza in front of the monument (Piazza Venezia) is somewhat infamous in recent history as both Hitler and Mussolini gave speeches on the monument steps facing this piazza. Trevi fountain The Pantheon. Keep your eyes peeled for Raffaele's tomb. Piazza Navona. I spent New Year's Eve here once! The Fountain of Four Rivers statue was carved by none other than Bernini himself. Chiesa San Luigi dei Francesi (a little known church near Piazza Navona, it is stupendous and a can't miss in my opinion) Museo Doria Pamphili (amazing art museum with Botticelli sculptures among others) Via dei Condotti (probably the most famous shopping street in the world) Spanish steps (oddity: nearby you can visit the largest McDonalds in Italy, it seats 1,200). Walk up to the very top of the steps and you'll see the home where John Keats lived. Vatican / St Peter's Square (you will spend around 90 minutes here). Be sure to visit the catacombs under the basilica. You cannot wear short shorts nor expose shoulders/midriff; they will not let you in. Vatican Museum (you will spend at least 3 hours in here) Use the subway when traveling any considerable distance across the city (for instance from Termini to the Vatican). The subway can get pretty hot depending on the time of year, but is generally easy to get around unless there is a strike. Italians drive on the same side of the street as Americans, however the similarities pretty much end there. I do not recommend driving unless you have an Indiana Jones-like thirst for adventure. You could take the train to various stops along the water, and although the train isn't without its own problems it is going to be far more relaxing than driving in the south. If you ignore this advice and plan on driving in Naples, addio. English is spoken by most shop / restaurant workers within central Rome, your luck will vary if you venture outside of the city. English proficiency will drop as you travel further south.

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Nicolas Bustamante 1 years ago

San Francisco Life: Insider Tips ♥️

I moved to San Francisco in August 2021, and it quickly became my favorite city. I love it so much that even when I go on vacation, I’m always excited to come back—sometimes I wish I didn’t have to leave at all. There’s so much to adore about this place: the perfect, temperate weather, the proximity to both beaches and stunning natural spots, the walkable and bike-friendly streets, the charming neighborhoods filled with colorful homes, the incredible food scene, and of course, being surrounded by some of the smartest people on the planet. The green zone is hands down the best part of San Francisco. It’s walkable, quiet, beautiful, and conveniently close to everything—grocery stores, restaurants, you name it. The blue zone is great too, though it has a more upscale feel and is a bit less walkable due to the hills. Still, it has its charm, just with a different vibe. The yellow zone is more affordable, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re an avid surfer—it’s foggy for about half the year. As for the red zone, I’d advise staying away, as it’s at the heart of the city’s drug crisis. Other neighborhoods are fine, a bit more suburban and not quite as close to the action, but they offer a good balance of affordability and quality living. Where to eat French : Ardoise , Routier Pasta : Bella Trattoria , The Italian Homemade Company Pizza : Tony’s Steak House : House of Prime Ribs German : Suppenküche Mediterranean : Beit Rima (Cole Valley), Kokkari Brunch : Le Marais Bakery , Wooden Spoon American Breakfast : Pork Store Cafe , Devil's Teeth Baking Company Crêpes : La Sarrasine , Croissants : Arsicault (the one on Arguello and go during the week to avoid an hour long line), Tartine (good but less than Arsicault) Burrito : Underdogs , La Taqueria Ramen : Taishoken , Marufuku Sushi : Ebisu Ice cream : Salt and Straw , The Ice Cream Bar , Philmore Creamer y, Bi-Rite Creamery Coffee shop : Cafe Reveille , Sightglass , The Mill Hot Chocolate : Dandelion Bread : The Mill , Jane Baker y, Thorough Bread Start at the Baker Beach Sea Cliff Access (12 25th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94121) or park here if you have a car. Walk Baker Beach and then climb the Sand Ladder . You will then turn left and start the Batteries to Bluffs Trail till the beautiful Bridge view on Battery Boutelle. The trail is amazing. Be ready to climb a lot of stairs! I’ve hiked there more than I can count and I still love it. Lands end Trail I recommend starting here and to walk to the Lands End Labyrinth . The views are absolutely stunning and it’s hard to think that you are still in a major city! Most of the trail is kid friendly and it works if you have stroller. My favorite beaches Baker Beach Baker Beach is where I like to fish, to picnic and to play Spikeball with friends on a sunny afternoon. I love the incredible view of the bridge and the fact that’s less windy than Ocean Beach. China Beach It’s a cozier and smaller version than Baker Beach. It’s slightly less accessible since you have to go down a hill but there is a parking at the top. I like it even if I prefer Baker because the bridge feels closer. I think what bothers me a bit with China Beach is the abandoned old lifeguard station - so much wasted potential! Ocean Beach Definitely my number one beach to watch the sunset and enjoy a good bone fire! My favorite is to bike and stop at Fulton/Great Highway . I’ve been there so many times and it never disappoints. Please check fog.today first to verify that there is no fog at the beach. Favorite Bike Rides Hawk Hill By far my favorite, I sometimes bike there twice a week. Unless you are an experience biker you will need an electric bike. I like to rent them from SF Wheels or Unlimited Biking for $80 for the whole day. Climbing Hawk Hill offers the best view of the bridge. The best part? Once you reached the top, the downhill is one of the most stunning ride in California. Surfing I’m a beginner Wing Foiler and one of the best spot in the U.S is Crissy Field. I recommend parking at Crissy Field South Beach . If you are more into regular surfing, Ocean beach is a great spot for confirmed surfer. If you are new to surfing, just drive to Pacifica which is an easier spot! Self driving car : Waymo Bike around neighborhood : Castro, Duboce Triangle, Hayes Valley, Cole Valley up to Ocean beach via the Golden Gate Park City hikes : Mount Sutro to Twin Peak , Baker Beach Costal Trail , Lands End Trail Cable Car : map Sunrise : go to Corona Heights or Tank Hill Alcatraz Island : book a night tour Museums : Academy of Science (Thursday night nocture, they have cocktails and DJ) Sunset : verify on fog.today that it’s not foggy and go to Baker Beach or Ocean Beach. Parks : Dolores , bike through the immense Golden Gate Park , walk in Crissy Field Bouldering : Mission Cliff , Movement Surfing : take a lesson in Pacifica or go to Ocean Beach if you are confirmed Tennis : there are free tennis courts all over the city like in Buena Vista or you can book a court in the Golden Gate Park Jiu-jitsu : Ralph Gracie

Travel culture Culture ai AI
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Karan Sharma 2 years ago

A Random Act of Kindness

Last month, I did a wonderful trip travelling through the scenic landscapes of Switzerland. My wife and I were in Lucerne and had scheduled a day trip to Mt. Titlis for the next day but were wondering what to do that evening. After strolling along the Chapel Bridge and enjoying an amazing lunch by the waterfront, my wife and I collectively decided to book a Lake Lucerne cruise for the evening. It seemed like the perfect setup for a romantic date night, or so I thought! We got the tickets from the information booth for the evening and went back to our hotel to freshen up and relax for a bit. We arrived exactly at 6:45 PM, as mentioned on our tickets, and started to wait. Except, there were only the two of us waiting. We waited for probably half an hour, until 7:15 PM, which was the departure time. Knowing how precise the Swiss transport system usually is, I sensed something fishy. Luckily, I spotted Martin, a staff member of the cruise company, and asked him about it. He looked puzzled by my question and informed me that there was no cruise scheduled for today. Yep, not today, not tomorrow, and not for the rest of the weekend. It was Easter time, and all the cruise trips were cancelled. In fact, he was quite as puzzled as I was as to how the lady at the ticket counter even gave us the tickets for today. However, he told me that he couldn’t do much and suggested writing an email for a refund. I was a bit sad as this dashed our evening plans, but I thought, fine… Shit happens. It’s not the end of the world! And then, out of nowhere, by pure serendipity, my wife spotted another member of the cruise—this time, in fact, the captain! She began to tell the captain about our ordeal. The captain, a very warm and kind lady, listened to my wife patiently and understood our plight! She apologized on behalf of her company and immediately offered a refund in cash for the tickets that we had purchased. We were quite happy, as following up on emails, etc., was something that I was not particularly excited about looking forward to during the other half of my trip. So we said yes, except she needed to go to the ATM to draw cash. We waited for her and chatted with Martin about random stuff! He told us some really fun stories about how Toblerone’s iconic packaging no longer features the Matterhorn mountain . He also shared practical advice on how to safeguard oneself against pickpockets in Italy(we were gonna visit it soon), and reminisced about his life in Zermatt before relocating to Lucerne. Anyway, the wait stretched longer than usual, and I found myself wondering about her whereabouts. And then finally, we saw her approaching us. She told us that she hadn’t found a working ATM nearby, and had to go a bit far. But she didn’t come back empty-handed; she also brought us macaroons as a token of her apologies, a gesture that was incredibly thoughtful. She handed us 200 CHF in cash, covering more than the 180 CHF we had paid for our tickets. When we attempted to return the excess 20 CHF, she firmly refused to take it back. Despite our insistence on returning the excess 20 CHF, she remained steadfast, refusing to accept it. She encouraged us to use the extra money to enjoy a few drinks, suggesting it as a consolation for our evening plans being spoiled by the canceled cruise. I am glad the cruise didn’t happen. Life has its own ways of revealing that kindness exists in every corner of the world, and serendipity can lead to the most memorable encounters! For most, it may not be a huge thing, but for me, it was a profoundly touching and generous act from a stranger who simply chose to be kind without any ulterior motives. The lesson: Be kind to others, do no harm, and always pay it forward. :)

Travel programming Programming Customer Service
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