walki-talki.com Travel Blog

This week Walki-Talki unveils its latest audio tour, a self-guided walk through the Swiss paradise of Geneva.  The city is a living postcard full of history and one of the most diverse in Europe.   The city is home to the United Nations. the International Red Cross and many other international bodies – a history of tolerance that dates back to the 17^thcentury when Geneva was a refuge for persecuted Protestants from throughout Europe.

This comprehensive tour encompasses fourteen major sites and follows the Geneva waterfront into the heart the Old Town.  Along the way, you’ll learn how the teachings of John Calvin and John Knox led to Geneva becoming known as the “Protestant Rome”;  find out how the city was once saved by a flying tea kettle; and learn just how the Swiss knife got to be so darn useful.  The tour is capped off with a visit to Geneva’s oldest Cathedral, and it ends in Geneva’s most beautiful park.  This tour is a beautiful walk with plenty of history, characters and interesting facts to keep you entertained from start to finish.

So head for the crossroads of Europe and head to Geneva, Pearl of Switzerland. You have a fabulous guided tour to get you started.

“What’s your favorite city in Europe?”

We get that question a lot.

For some the debate might take hours: Do you go with an obvious jewel like London or Paris? Or perhaps a more discrete gem in the European crown like Heidelberg in Germany or Sintra in Portugal? What about a modern phoenix like Berlin or Barcelona? Not to mention Prague. And don’t even get me started on Italy.

Fortunately for me, however, the answer is simple: The best city in Europe is Edinburgh…in August.

August is Edinburgh is the time when the artistic universe aligns in the form of the Edinburgh Arts Festival. The festival is the largest in the world and is actually comprised of seven different festivals related to music, books, theater and the arts. For four weeks, the entire city is transformed into one giant arts venue where even the back of a taxi cab is liable to be the set of a roving one man show. The creative energy is contagious and you are guaranteed to see something amazing as Edinburgh attracts literally thousands of debuts acts from around the world. It is here the first stones are cast that will cause ripples throughout the art world for the rest of the year.

And the parties aren’t bad either.

Of course what makes the Arts Festival truly special is the setting itself. Edinburgh is a living museum that oozes with medieval architecture where the ghosts of Robert the Bruce, Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and countless others (not all named Robert) seem to roam at every wynd and cranny. The city is built along what’s called a crag and tail volcanic formation with a castle crowning the top of the rock. The main road leading up to the castle, known as the Royal Mile, is home to some of the earliest “high rise” residential buildings, built in the early 1500’s. After the castle and the Royal Mile, many first time visitors head to the area known as the grassmarket. This was once a large outdoor cattle market as well as the place where hangings, beheadings and all other manner of executions were carried out to the public’s satisfaction. Today the area is filled with pubs and restaurants.

Once you’ve had enough of the festival or are just looking for a break near the city, head to The Meadows, a large park near Edinburgh University and home to the worlds first golf course. Also near the city is the hill known as Arthur’s seat. This mini-mountain provides breathtaking views of the city and the Scottish coast.

For information about the main festival visit http://www.eif.co.uk/. For more alternative fare go to http://www.edfringe.com/ for info about the Fringe Festival, now the largest component of the seven-headed beast known as the Edinburgh Arts Festival.

Of course while you’re there, there’s no better way to get to know the city than by walking the walk with Walki-Talki’s Essential Edinburgh Walking Tour: http://walki-talki.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=33

Och-aye! See you there.

Traveling around Europe, I often get the feeling of traveling backwards through time. Everything is so much older here compared to the United States where a mall dating back as far as the 1980’s might be considered ‘ancient.’

But while old Europe’s well preserved cities are of course quaint, fascinating and eminently historic, I can’t help but think sometimes that everything around me was built by dead guys (A thought that first occurred to me after visiting the Catacombs in Paris).

Perhaps that’s why my favorite monument in all of Europe is the Segrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona. It’s not old. In fact, it’s still growing.

The Temple of the Sacred Family was started way back in 1883. The intent was to built a Cathedral that would represent Christendom, as well as show off Barcelona’s newfound prosperity from the Industrial Revolution. The original architect on the project was fired after a year and replaced by Antoni Gaudi who was just 31 at the time. Despite being color blind and suffering from cripple rhumetism, Gaudi had already become one of Barcelona’s most well known architects. He was the leader of the art movement known as Moderniste, a Spanish offshoot of art Nouveau. Gaudi worked on the Cathedral of the Segrada Familia for 40 years and dedicated the last 16 years of his life soley to the Cathedral. By the end, he even lived inside temple year round to help speed construction and was called “God’s architect” by the Barcelona people. When asked once about the length of construction on the project , Gaudi responded by saying: “It doesn’t matter how long the project takes… My client, is not in a hurry, “

It’s a good thing. Because almost 100 years later, work is still going, funded entirely by private donations. Work is now continued under the direction of Etsruo Sotoo of Japan, with Gaudi no doubt keeping an eye on things buried beneath the central crypt.

Nowhere else can you watch history unfold brick by brick as its spires twist and stretch to the sky like a forest of giant beanstalks (The central tower will eventually reach 170 meters - by far the tallest in the world). Part of the fun is that there is always something going on. The building literally changes before your eyes. The constant movement of cranes, scaffolds and sculptors at work makes the Cathedral feel alive. If you decide to visit, you can also be happy knowing that your admission price goes toward helping to complete the Cathedral - that some day you too can be a dead guy who helped build something great.

I know I feel better.

As an American, I find one of the best perks about living in Europe is that owning a car is almost totally unnecessary. The cities are, in general, older and more compact and can easily be conquered by foot or public transportation. Perhaps the best option, however, is the one that has been employed by the Dutch for almost 200 years: The bicycle.

At least 30% of all Dutch people in the Netherlands commute to work by bike. The entire country is connected by bike paths and all of the cities have special lanes for bikers. Some cities, like Amsterdam, have even begun programs to discourage driving in the city by reducing the amount of parking spaces and limiting the number of entry points into the city.

The benefits are obvious: Less stress, less polution, less money spent on gas, insurance and the like; and of course, a healthy workout along the way.

The Dutch habit does however take some getting used to for first timers. Especially in summer, riding a bike can mean slaloming between tourists - oblivious to the delineations of the “fietspad”, or playing chicken with a mother on her mobile phone as she bikes her three children to school in pedal-powered wheel barrel. Bike theft is also common and the Dutch weather is not exactly conducive to year-round riding.

That said, there is nothing quite like the experience of riding along the Amsterdam canals with the wind in your hair and a song in your heart, or seeing Dutch wonders like a four-story parking garage dedicated only to bikes.

Some would say it even beats walking.

But you didn’t hear that from me.