The title, as I’m sure my incredibly well-read and sophisticated readers know, is from Shakespeare (come on - its says “Hamlet”). These punny words were spoken to the prince by his mother-cum-aunt regarding his penchant for dark clothing. Having re-read the tale before our journey to Denmark - I assume know you all know Hamlet was a Dane - I remembered this line and thought it appropriate since the rain and chilly weather relegated me to donning “my inky cloak.” Not that a little rain was going to bother us… Continue reading →

As my faithful readership knows as much as this is an online repository for my words, Flickr is the Internet home to my photos. The more I play with Flickr, the more I like it - there are so many cool little tools for editing, uploading, printing, sharing. Its really getting ridiculous (unfortunately they haven’t come up with anything to help me take better pictures but I figure they’re working on it). So as I was uploading pictures from my latest trip (which can be viewed here) I noticed a little “Blog This” button above the photograph. It was just nestled in there amongst all the other little helpful options. Hhmmm I thought…”I have a blog…I like adding pictures to my blog…nah, this will never work. I’m not even the admin for my Wordpress blog here so I probably can’t install the right files…” Basically I was making excuses for it not to work before I even got started…realizing the absurdity of this self-defeatism, I went for it. And oh boy does it work.

I thought other people, especially bloggers here on TravelPunk might want to experiment with this so I whipped up some instructions (after the jump). Enjoy! Continue reading →

So yes I’ve been lax in my blogging upon my return from Scandimonium. But it hasn’t all been 4th of July celebrations and actual career-related work. While typing out some drafts of blog entries I kept going back to edit my photos. Turns out I went back often enough that I finished that and got them all uploaded to Flickr (with regrets to the TravelPunk Photo Gallery - sorry Tony!). Now, I’m not a good photographer but I’m trying to get a littler better. I invite you all to check them out. As always, comments are welcome, I’d love to know what you think.

Scandimonium 2008 Flickr Photostream 

So day two of Amsterdam started off with a big of a disappointment. After renting bikes we took off towards the Heineken Brewery. I know, visiting bid-budget breweries isn’t the most authentic experience but we heard the so-called “Heineken Experience” is a worthwhile exhibition. Plus its right down the street from the Rijksmuseum, Museumplein, and the Van Gogh Museum. Unfortunately for us (the other 12 people who showed up in the few minutes we were outside) there was scads of scaffolding and a small sign informing us that the place was closed so that the “Heineken Experience” could be renovated. Immediately into my head popped the scene from that American classic, “National Lampoon’s Vacation” when Clark W. Griswold loads up the family and takes them cross-country to get to Wally World only to find it closed for repairs when they finally arrive. Check out YouTube if you need to see it for yourself…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEbz6kvnQDA

Fortunately the rest of day was wonderful. We rode over to Museumplein to take the obligatory photos at the giant “iamsterdam” sculpture before grabbing a little take away lunch. After that we decided to hit up the Rijksmuseum because it contains more original Dutch masters than the Van Gogh (yes I know that might be counterintuitive). Continue reading →

Remember those old drug commercials from the 80s? This is your brain - this is your brain on drugs…Well Amsterdam is Bruges on drugs. First HGH because its obviously a lot bigger than Bruges. Secondly blow or meth because the pace is a lot faster. And then weed because…well you know.

But other than that, whats great about A-dam is whats great about Bruges (a little city in Belgium I’ve had the good fortune to visit twice). Small canals framed by even smaller streets. The opportunity to be run down by cyclists at every turn. Cobblestone streets, an abundance of great beer, and a chill vibe.

I really enjoyed the two days we spent in Amsterdam, using it as our launch pad into Scandinavia. I had always wanted to visit - I figured it was the last of the classical Europeans capitals I had yet to visit (okay maybe also Madrid). It couldn’t have been easier to get from the airport to the Central Station and then a short walk into town. My wife smartly identified a postal worker and he gave us perfect directions to our hostel, The Bulldog Hotel. We’re not even smokers (no seriously) and while this place had a heavy dope influence, it was also extremely clean, has a great location (yes in the red light district) and totally safe. Our private room was ready for check-in at 11am which was nice so we changed undies and t-shirts and went out for some coffee and to strategerize a plan for taking the city by storm. Continue reading →

In rabib anticipation of this trip I’ve been Googling pubs all over Europe. Estonia being the country I know the least amount, it seemed logical to start there.

At the top of almost every list I see is the “Hell Hunt”, a bar that, according to which guidebook you believe, is either full of locals or a tourist trap. Seeing as its in all the guidebooks I’ve been reading, I’m voting for the later. Then again, they do serve beers in both of my favorite colors: light and dark. Actually, for most of my research I’ve been using a website I found entitled “The European Beer Guide” and its pretty helpful. Now its hard to tell how up-to-date the information they provide is, but it does offer links to the main pubs in Tallinn, where hopefully the information (and by information, I mean beer prices) are more current. (more after the jump…) Continue reading →

Once again the time to post my Week in Review came and went without me getting to it. I’m really not that good at this game. Oh well, its up now, so go ahead, follow my wonderful links. They may not change your life but they’ll burn 15 minutes off your work day.

• Gadling This is a great little site that I bookmarked awhile back then mostly forgot about. Doing a little late spring cleaning I came back across it. Its really a glorified blog dedicated to airline travel but they have galleries and stories covering the wider realm of traveling.  Good reads for anyone familiar with air travel.
• The Grain Bill Going for the local tilt here. The Grain Bill is a nice little website I recently discovered covering beer-related going-ons in my area. Of course with my luck I found out about it the day after there was a (basically) free sampling of one of my favorite drinks, Wolaver’s Organic Oatmeal Stout down the street from my house. Looks like I need to pay better attention to this blog myself!
• Flickr Not only do I want to highlight Flickr, but I thought I’d link directly to my Photostream. I have some decent shots of my trip to Europe last year, plus some other little goodies for anyone with the time to waste browse.

Okay, we’re 16 days out so I figured I’d post a suggested packing list.

-1 pair of jeans
-1 pair of other long pants (maybe an old pair of khakis I can ditch over there)
-1 pair of cargo shorts
-mesh shorts to sleep in
–maybe a bathing suit for a sauna or the jacuzzi or pool on the ferry…then again maybe not.

-5 t-shirts. 1 long sleeve one. mostly I just bring solid-colored ones. The more English words on them, the more you’ll stick out as a tourist if that kinda thing bothers you. I just let everyone see my fanny pack and make their own assumptions.

-2 short-sleeve collared shirts. 1 (or maybe 2) long sleeve colored shirts.

-Sneakers
-Flipflops
–Maybe my brown shoes for going out to nicer places

-5 pairs of socks
-10 pairs of underwear. old ones that i’ll be throwing out or auctioning off along the way.
-Sweater and/or sweatshirt. I’m thinking of buying a zip-up hoodie from wal-mart or something actually.
-light jacket, good for windy rainy days.

-Toiletries (toothpaste, deodorant, gel, razor, whatever)

-sunglasses
-Digital camera, memory card, batteries, charger
-euro converter/adapter
-Paperback book
-Journal (yes I try to keep a journal when I travel - its good for capturing funny quotes and outlining potential Philadelphia Inquirer articles).
-Important documents (air/train/ferry tickets)
-PASSPORT

That sounds like a lot right now. I’m going to have to fold this all up and put it together to see how much it actually is. I need that many shirts because I’m a bit of a, ahem, sweater (as in one who sweats, I’m not a wool piece of clothing) and I think we’ll be moving too quickly to waste use time doing laundry. Can you think of anything I’m forgetting?

It seems like I just posted a Week in Review! These 4 days weeks are great but they totally throw off my schedule. To further confuse me, I was on the road all week. Consequently I didn’t have much time in front of a computer. Of course I also spent all weekend drinking down at the Shore (that’s the New Jersey beach for anyone outside of the greater Philadelphia/New Jersey area) with my friends. Despite all this, we here at Need Beer, Will Travel are dedicated to our work so we came up with a few good links to share. Without further ado…

• Shipyard Ale As I said I was working on the road all week and found myself up in the New England area. I had the opportunity to sample a few of the locals brews and one that I found particularily good was Shipyard’s Summer Ale. I had it on draught at a nice littlel pub and it was a great compliment to my fish and chips. This beer isn’t trying to be too fancy, just a nice summe wheat-ale. I’d definitely recommend it and look forward to trying more selections from Shipyard.
• Euro Championships 2008 Since this is first and foremost a travel blog, and my travels this summer will take me to Europe, I thought I’d post a link to the 2008 Euro Championships. I’ve been in Europe before during the World Cup and while not as big, I’m sure this will incite some real passion. Few things are more fun than going to a pub, cafe, or even a town square to watch Europeans cheer on their teams.
• TripIt is a great site for people who travel a lot and like to have their information consolidated in one nice place. Basically you open a free account and then CC your reservations to plans@tripit.com. Thats when the real magic begins and a legion of trained monkeys somehow types all the data into your account. That last part might not be totally true, but the site does work pretty well regardless of how they get it done.

I’d love to hear some feedback if you found any of my links helpful or feel free to pass along a suggestion of your own. If I include it in a future Week in Review…well, actually you won’t get anything. Maybe a thank you. And the self-knowledget that you helped me out.

With apologies to both the Wired Danger Room’s “Five for Fighting” and the now defunct Gridskipper’s review, I’ve decided to start my own weekly compilation of items of interest. Blog posts, YouTube videos, Digg’ed links, Slate articles, NYTimes panderations, whatever. Look forward to it weekly…follow the jump for details on each link…

• NYTimes’ Frugal Traveler does Europe Matt Gross traverses the Continent for 12 weeks - on US$13,000 - you can sense the outrage at the “frugal” tag from the onset…
• DIY WiFi Signal Extender YouTube video that explains how to create a (basically) free wireless internet signal extender. With a glue stick and some aluminum foil I’m now posting from my sun-drenched deck. Get the sunblock, I got 8 dBs of margin bitches.
• Paging Mr. Morrow Family members of a friend who are were doing 6 months around the globe. From their latest updates they’ve extended the trek another 6 weeks, heading back to SE Asia. Good photos, great reading. A real treat for anyone contemplating a similar trip or just stuck in their cubicle dreaming of adventure.
• BeerMapping.com A great site that I’ve been following for years now. Its a Google Maps mashup that lists breweries, beer bars, and brew pubs in a graphically clean manner. Its really expanded and even has overseas listings now. I consult it everytime I’m visiting a new place.
• Currency Conversion Yeah, now that I have the Apple laptop I usually just go to my widget but every once in a while I’ll find myself at another computer and have the need for some quick (and now usually depressing) calculations. Always useful.

Man, first week and I’m already late a day getting it out the door…I’ll blame the Memorial Day Weekend hotdog hangover…