1
TAUMATAWHAKATANGIHANGAKOAUAUOTAMATEATURIPUKAKAPIKIMAUNGAHORONUKUPOKAIWHENUAKITANATAHU
Have you been…um…there? No kidding, that is the longest place name in the world. It loosely translates to “The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one.” (A nose flute?) Eighty-five letters in case you were wondering. Any ideas on where it may be located? Or perhaps you’d like to take a guess at the second longest place name in the world: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. I literally could not make these up (the second one is in the UK by the way). If you enjoy these, check out Buzzfeed’s world’s longest place names ranked from long to very very long indeed: “Thailand’s capital Bangkok boasts the rather unwieldy official ceremonial name Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit. Long, but lots of words right?”
In another nod to long things, ever wonder what the longest walkable distance on Earth may be? Leave it up to Popular Mechanics.
2
THE VENICE OF PORTUGAL
I read about a lot, I mean, a lot of places. Not to mention, I work in a lot, I mean, a lot of places too. And, admittedly, it’s always nice to come across destinations you’ve never heard of before and for it to be called something like the Venice of Portugal – makes me so glad, I mean, so glad that there are still so many, I mean, so many places yet to be uncovered (and don’t worry, when I uncover them all, I’d start right over again). From Travel Awaits, learn more about Aveiro on Portugal’s Silver Coast: “Aveiro captivates many a visitor with its most distinctive feature: its canals. At the juncture of the freshwater Vouga and the Atlantic Ocean, Aveiro was founded during the reign of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. The Grand or Central Canal lends a romantic air to the city, and it is only enhanced by the barcos moliceiros, or traditional Portuguese riverboats that are reminiscent of the gondolas of Venice. The brightly painted boats were once used to harvest seaweed, but they now provide transportation through the Ria lagoon in the heart of Aveiro.” I didn’t even know Portugal had a Silver Coast – amazing! I mean, truly amazing.
3
I’M LOOKING FOR AL, AL BANIA
Also adding this one to my list of must visit places. I’m certainly familiar with the destination, but never really thought of visiting it…until now. That’s the good thing about these lists. In this particular one, they list 21 reasons to visit Albania before it becomes super popular. “#1: First of all, it’s relatively quiet.” Seriously? Did they need to say anything else? I mean, if you think about it, it shares the same coast as Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, and others, so you know it’s already going to be beautiful. And then, they hit me with “#8: Everything is very wallet-friendly” and “#11: Everything is a bit of an adventure.” Sold. From Buzzfeed: “Albania is one of those countries that a lot of tourists kinda forget exists. Located in southern Europe, just across the sea from Italy, it’s south of Croatia and north of Greece. And guys, it’s truly the best place you could ever go on holiday.” The photos are pretty darn nice too!
4
OLD ARTS
So, you want to live to grow old? Go to a museum, apparently. It’s true, it feels like I age whenever I spend those extra few minutes in a museum – you know the ones…the ones where you were thinking we should have left a few minutes ago – but my body is still the same. Just teasing. I do love some museums. And now, there’s another reason to go more often. Apparently, from CNN: “Researchers from University College London (UCL) found that people who engaged in the arts more frequently — every few months or more — had a 31% lower risk of dying early when compared to those who didn’t. Even going to the theater or museum once or twice a year was linked with a 14% lower risk. They looked at data given by more than 6,000 adults in England age 50 years and older, who were taking part in a wider study on aging. “While other health behaviors like smoking, alcohol and exercise are undoubtedly bigger predictors of mortality, these leisure and pleasure activities that people don’t think as a health related activity do support good health and longevity,” said Daisy Fancourt, an associate professor at UCL’s Research Department of Behavioural Science and Health, and an author of the study, published Wednesday in the BMJ journal.” I guess I can take up smoking now.
5
DA OB
As we come to the end of this year (I fear I will need to take a break from blogging until we meet again in 2020), I think it fitting to take a look down memory lane and find out how travel blogging originated. If you think about it, the internet as we more or less know it has already existing for more than 25 years. And, it was almost from that time that the original travel blog started. I found this intriguing article about its origins and thought you may enjoy it too. From BBC: “Twenty-five years ago, at the dawn of the internet era, I set off to travel around the world – from Oakland, California, to Oakland, California – without stepping on an airplane. Along the way, I accomplished a minor miracle: I uploaded the first travel blog posts ever published on the World Wide Web […] The internet was the Wild West; I could have bought “pizza.com” for $20. No-one had ever posted internet-based travel diaries before. Back in those days, you could count the number of sites on the Web (a roster that included The Exploratorium, Doctor Fun, and Chabad). But there was no such thing as a travel “blog” – the term “weblog” wouldn’t be coined for another four years.” And, here we are.
Thanks,
Joe Naaman
Managing Editor, Waywinds
Keep Exploring!