Eurovision: a positively craptastic tradition

Before I dive into honeymoon hotel reviews this week, I must spend some time on an entertaining TV show we stumbled upon while in Greece.

Long before there was "American Idol", there was the Eurovision Song Contest. I've been to Europe many times, but never in May - so until now I didn't have the pleasure of catching one of the premier European television events. The Eurovision Song Contest was created by the European Broadcasting Union and has broadcasted every year since 1956. The purpose was to create unity in post-war Europe, and to test out some new technology to see if it would be possible to simultaneously broadcast in multiple countries. ABBA won back in 1974 with "Waterloo", and according to the Eurovision site, they've been the most successful winner to date. This year Russia beat out 42 other participating countries, with Dima Bilan's little ditty, "Believe". Similar to "American Idol", each performance is assigned a phone number for fans to call and vote for their favorite.

Based on the few songs I watched performed live, many countries take this competition very seriously and it is a source of national pride. Others, not so much. Take Ireland, for example. The so-called performer was "Dustin the Turkey" - a puppet so ugly it would make Jim Henson roll over in his grave. Dustin was accompanied by several drag queens (or ladies dressed to resemble drag queens) wearing Turkey feathers and bopping around the stage to "Irelande Douze Pointe".

Another entry getting some press on the international news channels was Rodolfo Chikilicuatre for his song, "Baila El Chiki Chiki" (wait about 40 seconds for the intro to finish). I forget if it was CNN or BBC, but an interviewer spoke to a Spanish government official to get his take on his country's entry. The official essentially said, "yes, it's a national embarrassment, but really, it could worse." Oh, how I wish I spoke Spanish - I can only imagine what he's singing about as he plays his toy guitar....

On a related note, I am super-psyched that David Cook won American Idol! Can't wait to hear his first real, non-Idol song.

Where to Travel to Next?

With so many places to travel to how do you pick where you want to go? If you're traveling for work you have to go where you get sent but if your travel is for pleasure the options are almost limitless. The Traveler's Century Club designates 314 countries in the world so how do you choose?

I could live quite happily out of my suitcase for the rest of my life traveling from place to place around the world. So where to travel to next has always been a very serious consideration. My childhood goal was to travel to all seven continents but now that I have accomplished that goal my next is to join the Traveler's Century Club for which you have to have visited 100 countries. 100 countries opens up the possibilities immensely. I want to see Morocco, Egypt, India, Japan, Thailand, Norway, Italy, Croatia, Australia, Chile, the North Pole, to name a few. And I want to go on a multi -country tour of Europe and a multi-country safari along the western side of Africa. No big deal huh?

Whether you want to travel in luxury or you're more comfortable with just your backpack you can start finding the next place to travel to by asking yourself these questions...

1. When do you want to go? (Antarctica can only be visited in it's summer for instance)
2. What is your budget for the trip?
3. How long can you go for?
4. How are you going to travel? Car, plane, boat, train? Space shuttle?
5. Hot or cold?
6. City or country?
7. Large resort or small private location?
8. What do you want to see? What do you want to do?
9. Relaxation or adventure?

I really like to just bring out the map and start picking places but the questions above should help you start to narrow it down a little. And remember that these questions can lead you to some fabulous places right here in the good old USA as well, you don't have to have a passport to have a great vacation!

"The Bachelor" is a bloke!

First real post: Only loosely related to travel. I am off to a great start, huh?

I am a sucker for trashy tv. While I haven't watched every single season of "The Bachelor", I've seen most of them. Including the "Where are they now?" episode that's on at this very moment. The main lure of this new bachelor is that he's British. In fact, in the promo he actually uses the phrase "You make me horny," sounding like a slightly more authentic Austin Powers. As with most past bachelors, he's successful. As with most past bachelors, he's also not that good-looking. But, oh! The accent! Now, when I was 21 and living in England for a semester, I, too, was a sucker for an English accent right off the bat. Most of us American ladies are. My male British friends were quite surprised when I opened my mouth and didn't talk like Cher from "Clueless".

Bottom line: Accents may be sexy at first, but this bachelor is likely just as much of a cad as all of his predecessors. Get past the lilt, and see if there's anything to back it up!