Posts from ‘Brian's Lists’
Human limbs for dinner anyone?
Friday, July 16th, 2010
I’m involved in a project at the moment that’s all about weird restaurants around the world. It’s been a lot of fun (and a little scary) researching them and, if all goes well, it will be a lot of fun (and a little scary) going to them in person. And boy, there are some wacky folk out there not only opening these wacky restaurants but actually dining at them. My favourite so far is Hospitalis restaurant in Riga, Latvia where they serve hearty Latvian dishes and cake topped with realistic-looking body parts such as fingers, noses and tongues. The food is served (or hand fed if you’re in a straight jacket) by scantily clad nurses on gurneys and operating tables. The restaurant provides diners with cutlery such as syringes, tweezers and scalpels to devour their meals and guests are treated to disturbing dinner entertainment including… (read more)
Five ways to shit your pants.
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
On my recent blog about my loop-de-loop flight on a Tiger Moth biplane one of my readers (thanks Adrian) said that he would have shat his pants if he’d done it. He also suggested that I do a blog about the scariest encounters in my travels. I have been scared a few times in my travels (restaurant bills in Europe scare the hell out of me for a start), but thankfully nothing too bad has happened to me – oh, beside getting a gun put to me head and almost dying in West Africa. Anyway, here is my Top 5 Scariest Encounters (in no particularly scary order):
Gun to the head – Trans Mongolian train, Russia
The train was trundling along through the middle of Siberia when I was confronted by two scarily drunk Russians on my way back from the dining car. One asked a me a question in Russian and… (read more)
The Best Beaches in the World (possibly).
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
I’ve just got home from a lovely week in sunny Hervey Bay, Queensland where I did lots of swimming, eating, swimming, drinking and also some swimming. My favourite place was Pelican Beach, which was one of the most beautiful, untouched beaches that I’ve ever been to. In fact, it would easily make my top 10 beaches that I’ve been to. Which then means I should have a Top 10 list to put it in. There are so many other wonderful beaches in the world that I’m yet to go to, but… (read more)
Travel highlights of 2009.
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
Another year has flown by (they really do fly the older you get) and it’s been another great year of travelling for me. I feel so blessed to have these wonderful opportunities to travel like I do and there were many ‘highlights’ in my travels this year. And often the highlights are not necessarily about a place as such, but about the people you are with, the food you ate, discovering something so new or simply a beautiful moment. So, I thought I’d put together a list of my Top Ten Travel Highlights from 2009 (in no particular order)… (read more)
World’s Best Hotel (minus the stained sheets)
Monday, December 21st, 2009
A survey released this week by travel website Travel+Leisure ranked Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve in South Africa as the world’s best hotel in 2009. The survey ranks the tops 500 places to stay across the globe, and was compiled based on the opinions of the website’s ‘experts’ and thousands of readers. A night at Bushmans Kloof (about 3 hours away from Cape Town) will set you back US$715 (A$803). Second place went to the Oberoi Vanyavilas in Rajasthan… (read more)
The world’s top 10 party towns.
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
In today’s Age newspaper there was a piece on the world’s top 10 party towns – which came from Lonely Planet’s list in it’s new guide ‘1000 Ultimate experiences’. Here’s the list:
1. Belgrade, Serbia
2. Montreal, Canada
3. Buenos Aires, Argentina
On ya bike.
Friday, November 13th, 2009
Yesterday I went for a two hour bike ride on the bike track around Port Phillip Bay. It was a beautiful hot spring day (the 6th day in a row over 30 degrees) and it really is quite a lovely bike track that weaves through bush, past cafes and grand beachside homes and, best of all, along the beach (as in right next to the sand and lots of girls in bikinis). The Port Phillip Bay bike track even made it into the top 10 bike rides of the world according to the Guardian newspaper a couple of years back (read it here). It’s the only one I’ve actually done on their list, too. There was also a list… (read more)
World’s worst airport?
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
I’ve spent a lot of time in departure lounges this year and it’s actually nice to be ‘grounded’ for a little while (although I did pilot a 737 last week!). In the past 10 months I’ve had 38 flights and passed through 24 different airports (and around 200 airport shops that I wandered aimlessly around in with no intent on buying anything). In one of my long flights this year I wrote down all the airports I have been to in my travels over the years (and yes I was bored – I’d seen all the movies and read the inflight magazine twice). I have passed through 142 airports… (read more)
Vegemite and Ox Penis.
Monday, July 27th, 2009
I stumbled upon a website that listed the most disgusting foods in the world (by country) and amongst the camel’s feet, tiger’s testicles, pork uterus, ox penis, cow urine and maggot-cheese was Vegemite. Come on. Vegemite is not disgusting. Yes, it doesn’t look the most appetising, but it fair dinkum tastes good on ya toast in the morning. Also under the ‘Australia’ list were witchety grubs and beetroot! The ‘American’ list of disgusting foods was just as strange (as in strange that they made the list)…