The Art Of Travel | Viator Travel Blog

Guide to Public Holiday Travels

9. September 2009

It was a Monday. That much was clear. I’d decided at some point that on this particular Monday I was going to make a fresh start, get up early, shake off whatever kinda hangover it was that cursed my morning that day, and get out and get some work done. To be Frank – which, y’know, [...]

3 Days in Vienna

22. August 2009

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Maybe you already know Vienna for it's culture, architecture and pastries. Now come with me and discover some unlikely features of this charming city. The 'mobile generation' can log into "Vienna Unlike" for GPS locations to all the hippest bars, clubs, shops and 'wellness' haunts, and experience the creative energy of the city, living like a local in the Viennese 21st-century avant garde.

A Quantum of Sunshine

31. July 2009

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After three days rest and reparations in my hideaway sanctuary in Spreewald just outside of Berlin - contemplating sunshine and catching up on my colleagues most recent exploits in Casino Royale – a sudden message had me call my accountant, who in turn called my travel agent, who in turn called my mother (as it is with such things Italian) and all was approved: we were to go to Milan immediately, post haste, and the trail was to remain hot.

San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge: Musings on Beauty & Death

30. July 2009

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San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge: Musings on Beauty & Death

When I was a kid I owned a book called This is San Francisco. It was essentially a child's large-format guidebook to the city, with illustrations of cable cars, sea lions, dungeness crabs, Chinatown, Willie Mays, and other highlights that, to most children and out-of-towners at least, sum up the city. My awareness of the Golden Gate Bridge, its international orange towers disappearing into the oblivion of a July fog, began with this book. From that point on, even after I was grown and had my own apartment in the city, I tended to view San Francisco through vermilion orange–tinted glasses.

Lost in Transit

19. June 2009

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You’ve probably been getting the idea lately that I’ve been all over the place like some kind of bad euro-rash – y’know: everywhere at once and no matter what you do you can’t seem to get rid of it. I’ve had more than my share of disorder and, dare I say it in a public arena, distress in my days in the Northern Territory. And to tell you the truth I’m not even sure what I’m doing in Europe anyway.

Rome Photo Tour: Advice from Pro Photographers

17. June 2009

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Rome Photo Tour: Advice from Pro Photographers

If you are at all like me you have a pretty cool camera and you just love taking pictures. But none of them look like they would make it into National Geographic, and you really can't put your finger on exactly why. It's not that you don't go to interesting places, or take enough shots, or try hard enough. There's just something missing. That's how I feel most of the time when I look at my travel photos. Lately I've been feeling better though, and it's because I took one of our photography walking tours in Rome.

Project Easter Island: Seattle

16. June 2009

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I had three homes in Seattle recently. Number one: a performance studio in heart of Capitol Hill called Studio-Current. Two: just down the block, a new restaurant/café called Oddfellows. Three: A fabulous old home in the Madison Park neighborhood. I'd driven up from Portland for a brief artist residency and performance/art gathering for the Easter Island Project's Participation Tour.

What’s Happn.in!

1. June 2009

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We’ve been keeping an eye on new Twitter travel tools, and here’s one we really like. It’s a new site called happn.in. The idea here is simple: the site creates ‘local’ trend watchers for top cities around the world (Amsterdam to San Francisco, Sydney to London, a few dozen more so far) and displays the [...]

Cruising through Germany on the Danube & Rhine

19. May 2009

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Cruising through Germany on the Danube & Rhine

The small town of Regensburg in southern Germany was a revelation. We docked there at sunset, next to a butcher selling the region's famous wurst, then strolled through the winding narrow streets to the magnificent cathedral, which is apparently the prime example of Gothic architecture in southern Germany. We could only admire the exterior, as we stopped for a late-afternoon ice cream across the square, and watched as the last visitors straggled out and the door slammed shut.

Travel by Eurovision

15. May 2009

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It’s that time of year again, my favourite time: the Eurovision Song Contest. This year from Moscow, in Russia. And the flavour of the year: string instruments, women in white, men in suits. And love songs, but I think that's true of every year. As always, I will take this year's 2009 national offerings as my travel guide for where to go and who to avoid. And I also want to award a few prizes of my own – in advance on Saturday's final.