Sidenotes: Facts and Thoughts Beyond Travel

As every year since 2012, Toprural, a platform for booking rural vacation rentals launched in 2000 and now part of the HomeAway Network, has organized an online contest to select the seven rural wonders of Spain.

Royal Monastery of Santa María of Guadalupe – Photo Courtesy: Rpmayor @ Wikimedia Commons

The 2017 winner is Guadalupe, a village with just over 2,000 inhabitants located in Extremadura known for its beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Monastery, which is the second most important pilgrimage site in the country.

Looking back at the previous editions, Toprural’s users seem to really love this relatively poor area of western Iberian Peninsula. And you can’t blame them. Extremadura is also one of Europe’s least visited regions with only 71 yearly nights spent per square km. What better to enjoy ecotourism in Spain?

Scared of Rocket Man? It is known that North Korea is a mysterious and isolated country, but at least its capital Pyongyang does not look that different from any North American city. On the contrary, it is even more colorful. Aram Pan flew over it with a microlight aircraft to make an exclusive 360 video for NK News.

For those of you who are interested in knowing more about the country from the ground, we recommend two excellent movies: Under the Sun, presented at Austin’s South by Southwest film festival in 2016, and the recent Liberation Day, which records the first performance of a foreign band (Laibach) in North Korea.

Let’s face it, when it comes to searching for cheap flights even the smartest human on the planet can’t compete with the less advanced technology. That is why all major flight search companies talk about data science, AI, chatbots, apps, unique proprietary technologies, and so on in order to better sell their product.

But it’s not all like that. In this cold, rational world, the humanizing approach of Scott and his “mysterious techniques” is reassuring and has already convinced over half a million “cheap flight aficionados from around the world”. Tell him which area you are interested in monitoring and Scott will send you an email every time he finds a deal. Just like a good friend or a travel agent of the past.

And who knew that street artist Banksy opened a temporary hotel in Bethlehem? Same as any fashion designer does, uh? No. The Walled Off Hotel is located just feet from the barrier that separates the West Bank from Israel and does not aim to generate money but to raise awareness of the situation in that area.

Entrance to the Walled Off Hotel by Banksy in Bethlehem – Photo Courtesy: Addy Cameron-Huff @ Flickr

Prices range from $60 to $965 per night and bookings can only be made until February 1, 2018, but the museum and art gallery are also open to non-residents looking for selfies. From active to “activist tourism” then, just when Palestine is the world’s fastest-growing tourist destination, according to the UNWTO.

Update: bookings at the Walled Off Hotel have been extended to November 30, 2018.

There are so many awards that celebrate European cities that it is difficult to track them all. Bilbao, the capital of Biscay in northern Spain‘s Basque Country, has just been named European City of the Year by the Academy of Urbanism, a network of built environment experts from across Europe.

2018 Urbanism Awards: Bilbao is Europe’s Best City – Photo Courtesy: SnapwireSnaps @ Pixabay

A well-deserved prize, given that the city, famous for the Guggenheim Museum, has in fact much more to offer and, as the chair of the Academy said, “is a great example of the wholesale transformation of a former industrial city – not just physically, but socially, economically and culturally.”

Even more interesting, we think, is all the work they do to honor great towns, neighborhoods, streets, and places across the UK and Ireland. Actually, there is an award for each of them and this year’s winners are Corby, Byker (Newcastle), Humber Street Fruit Market (Hull), and the Brunswick Centre (London).

You may already be aware that Google keeps track of your location if GPS is enabled on your mobile device. Well, this becomes even more creepy if you decide to join the Local Guides program to contribute to Maps.

In addition to annoying push notifications that will make your phone ring whenever you go to the gym or to get food, every once in a while you will receive precise email instructions like these:

How to create photo tours in your favorite stores

Do you want to support small businesses? Take photos inside local stores and share them on Google Maps. Try to shoot them in daylight and help others discover new products to buy.

Your photo tour at the store:

– When you enter a store, take a panoramic photo to show what’s inside
– Publish photos of shelves full of products
– Add close-ups of your favorite items

Share your photos on social media with #LocalGuides and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Connect to find out where the global community is buying. Do you have a question? Something to share?

Actually, yes. Why are you trying to mock Foursquare with almost ten years of delay? Meanwhile, UGC has lost its charm and we all became more cynical. But above all, why don’t you use a small fraction of your tax-free profits to pay real photographers? You have much to gain both in terms of credibility and quality.