Today, many of the young people of Turkey have turned their backs on rural life and headed to cities like Istanbul and Ankara to find work and fun. Outside the major centres, local businesses are geared towards making a buck from tourism, but modern-day cowboys Ekram and Irfan have taken a different path and are keeping the horse-breeding traditions of Cappadocia alive.
When you meet travel agents in this part of the world, they’re usually quick to mention the name Cappadocia means the Land of Beautiful Horses before ushering you on to a balloon ride that flies above the fairy chimneys and rock formations. Ekram, however, doesn’t approve of the hot-air balloons that dot the dawn sky every morning. He lives in one of the region’s famous caves near his ranch and is known as the Horse Whisperer of Cappadocia.
Irfan lives in the next valley and often travels with Ekram to the mountains where they catch wild horses and return home with them. There they train the animals, using traditional methods and others learned from watching YouTube videos. The duo is keeping alive the horse-breeding heritage of Anatolia, which stretches back hundreds of years.
These are the best of the best. Each year, the Red Bull Illume competition finds the greatest action and adventure sports photography captured during the previous 12 months. In 2016, 34,624 images were submitted by 5645 photographers from 120 countries around the globe, and the results were astonishing. The overall winner was German snapper Lorenz Holder’s shot of professional BMX athlete Senad Grosic taken in Gablenz, Germany. “In my photos,
I like to show the viewers the beauty of the environment where athletes perform,” says Holder.
“I think a great location is one of the key elements for a great action picture.” Now, we may not have the skills of Grosic (or Holder), but these photographs make us want to go out and explore the world. Like yesterday.
If you identify as an extreme introvert, then boy, is this the spot for you!
There’s a house on Elliðaey island (no we don’t know how to pronounce that, either) which is an island seemingly in the middle of nowhere – the most northeastern island in an archipelago near Iceland. It looks completely vulnerable to the elements and if it’s near Iceland, we’re assuming it’s pretty cold as well.
You can visit there but it’s a treacherous trip…as YouTuber Ryan Trahan recently found out.
Check out the 48 hours Trahan spent in the World’s Loneliest House above.
Sitting above a typically rocky, typically stunning section of Cycladic coast, classic Greek island architecture meets chic furnishings and bohemian atmosphere at Soho Roc House.
You need to be a member of the Soho House Group to enjoy this slice of paradise.
In return, you receive access to one of the islands’ hottest spots. There is an outdoor gym, a pool and veranda, bespoke lounge areas, a restaurant that serves organic, home-style Mediterranean food, and as much as anything else, a place to connect with like-minded members.
Next door is Scorpios, a creative space that ‘transcends genres, borders, and stereotypes’ where you can expect a mixture of live music performances, including DJ sets, as well as mind and body rituals and performance.
Svalbard, the archipelago between Norway and the North Pole, is the world’s northernmost a-lot-of-things. The world’s northernmost food and drink festival, Taste Svalbard, is one of these.
That description goes only some way to describing the uniqueness of this festival, held in Longyearbyen every year. With its location, Svalbard was always going to do their own thing when it came to cuisine.
Fresh and sustainably sourced fish, arctic cheese and beers from local breweries are all on the menu, and there’s also traditional local meals like reindeer soup and moose burger, both of which this writer will be reserving judgement on for now. There’s workshops, stalls, lectures and tastings as well.
While the food from this part of the world has a reputation for being delicious, there surely isn’t a food or drink festival set in more extraordinary surrounds. And as it’s held in October each year, on the cusp of winter, you can expect the Northern Lights to be doing their thing.
Spanning 1.5 kilometres, the longest treetop walk in the world has opened in Switzerland. Connecting the two alpine villages of Laax Murschetg and Laax Dorf, the Senda dil Dragun weaves through lush forest, immersing you in the epic mountain scenery.
Viewing platforms allow you to stop and take in the sights, while information boards share facts about the local flora and fauna. At its highest point the elevated boardwalk is 28 metres above the ground (that’s roughly the height of four double decker buses), and it’s made entirely from regionally sourced wood so that it blends seamlessly in with the surrounding landscape.
But the coolest part would have to be the 73-metre long slide, which offers an alternative route back down to the ground. It’s great fun for the kids, or any adults who don’t want to take the stairs or lift.
There are pubs, and then there are London pubs. They number in their thousands in this historical city, and the euphoria one gets from an afternoon of sipping a brown ale on a cobblestoned corner is unmatched.
And there is no pub more iconic than The Churchill Arms, where a love of the great wartime prime minister is as colourful as the flowers dripping from its eye-catching facade. Originally built in 1750, and located just a few streets from Kensington Palace, its walls are covered in Churchill memorabilia – and although Sir Winston never made his wartime broadcasts from the pub (as the legend goes), his grandparents did drink here regularly in the 1800s, which is cool enough for us.
The Churchill Arms was also the very first pub in London to serve Thai food, and the annual flower bill is believed to be more than AU$45,000.
The Stag’s Head is a Dublin landmark with a mood to suit every personality. The main bar is a tribute to tradition: polished mahogany, walnut and ebony, leather chairs, stained glass windows, chandeliers, and dark oak whiskey casks sunk into the walls – from where the eponymous stuffed beast keeps watch.
Barristers, journalists and brokers lunch in the old smoking lounge. While upstairs, students and assorted blow-ins turn it bookish, rowdy and random. This bolthole was the first pub in Ireland with electricity and featured in Educating Rita.
James Joyce, Michael Collins and Quentin Tarantino have all frequented. The latter was turned away for trying to score a sneaky after-hours tipple, but did return the next day for soup.
The iconic Parisian nightclub and bar, Silencio has just this month opened a chic, impressive and very inviting waterfront beach house in Europe’s party capital of Ibiza.
Its new partner club, El Silencio is nestled in a serene and dreamy cove in the east of the island, set against the backdrop of the famous Cala Moli.
Featuring four main spaces including a main restaurant by the company ToShare (managed by Pharrell Williams and Jean Imbert) is set to be the hottest new day club this year as the Spanish party island starts to welcome back visitors after a dismal 2020.
Complete with movie screenings, music festivals and private parties, El Silencio will no doubt follow in the footsteps of it’s much sought-after and popular Parisian cousin.
Now please pass us an icy cocktail, all this European party talk is making us thirsty.
We’re not sure there hasn’t been a week since the COVID-19 pandemic began, when we haven’t thought about a holiday in a private villa, etched into a Santorini cliff face.
Mystique is a set of secret villas in the ancient Cycladic town of Oia, all overlooking the turquoise Aegean waters surrounding the famous Greek island.
These private luxury suites are an exclusive, barefoot luxury hideaway all complete with generous indoor living spaces, private pools and spas.
Santorini has evolved over the years into an Instagram paradise, but there are still some hidden secrets here like Mystique’s villas which remind us why it became so popular in the first place. And why we love a private villa on the Greek Islands.
Need another reason to get here quickly? The villas also have unfettered access to a 150-year-old secret wine cave, where guests are treated to unique wine-tasting experiences and private dinners deep in the Caldera Cliffs of Oia in Santorini.
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