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Category / Off-Beat & Little Known

Drink and Dive into Europe’s Underwater Wine cellars

Nearly a decade ago, south of the Aland archipelago, between Sweden and Finland, a 200 year-old shipwreck was discovered to be holding 168 sealed bottles of Veuve Cliquot produced between 1839 and 1841 at the bottom of the sea. Divers had the first taste, and found that the wine was not only drinkable, but good; dare…

5 Off-Beat Reasons to do a Weekend in Belgium

MessyNessyChic and the team (of two) took a winter weekend break from Paris and hit the road for Belgium, visiting Bruges, followed by Antwerp. And since we had such an awesome time, we thought we might share a few travel notes from our off-beat finds… 1. ‘Secret Bruges’ Bruges had me fooled. I was waiting…

5 Places to Fake an Endless Summer in Paris

Summer is over. The angry clouds over Nôtre Dame make it look too sinister, Sunday strolls in Montmartre are more melancholy in dreary weather and the rain-soaked gravel in the Tuileries does no favours for your shoes. It’s not exactly the makings of a picture perfect Paris. But if like me, you’re a little stubborn (a little in denial) and…

Volunteering for Life on Mars, or Something Like it

Somewhere out in the Utah desert right now, there are a bunch of folks pretending to live on Mars. The simulated Martian habitat, known as the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), is the closest you can get to the red planet here on earth, where science projects are created for space, and tasks that astronauts…

The Book NYC has been Missing: Don’t be a Tourist in New York

I remember the moment I knew we had to write this book. I was fumbling around in the dark for a light switch in the attic of a salvage depot in Harlem. I was completely alone up there when those lights flickered on to reveal a room full of cobwebbed forgotten treasures, and in that…

The Forgotten Giant Arrows that Guide you Across America

If you’re ever really lost on a road trip across America, and I’m talking really lost (let’s say the battery on your smartphone just died along with that compass application you downloaded for situations just like this), perhaps you might be lucky enough to find yourself next to one of the giant 70 foot concrete…

The Mysterious Magic of Waterfalls

Waterfalls – nothing more, nothing less. This is a brief compendium of gelatin silver and antique postcards found in various archives, dedicated to one of nature’s most beautiful gifts. Maybe one of them can inspire your next adventure, or at the very least, just give your mind a cool break in the heat of summer.…

The Sheer Excess of the Green Vault: Europe’s Overlooked Jewel Box

They call it the Green Vault, said to be the world’s first public museum (disputed by the Vatican), holding a veritable treasure chest of toys and amusements for Saxon royalty since the 18th century. Some 3,000 chef d’ouvres are exhibited in nine spectacular rooms inside Dresden’s Royal Palace, including bedazzled goblets fashioned from gilded ostrich eggs, the…

Buried under a Bridge in Paris: The Misfit Mausoleums of Montmartre

At the foot of Montmartre under a heavy wrought-iron bridge that skims the tips of blackened mausoleums, forgotten souls are spending their after lives in perpetual darkness– not exactly what they might have had in mind when they reserved the best plots in the house for their final curtain call… Cemeteries are usually curious places to begin…

My Secret Paris Toy Shop

Strolling through the 11th arrondissement, wandering in and out of boutiques on the Rue de Charonne, I noticed an open cobblestone passageway calling my name. I crossed the street to take a closer peek down the scruffy dark corridor leading to something a little bit special… Waiting for me at the end of the rabbit hole is…

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