After spending time in Swiss cities such as Zürich and Bern, the town of Luzern surprisingly turns out to be the prettiest of them all. It feels more like a town in northern Italy than a Swiss one. Surrounded by snow-clad alps, Luzern features towers, medieval walls, wooden bridges and waterfront promenades.
So what’s up in Liechtenstein these days? Not much, it seems. With a population of 35000, this country is one of the smallest there is. Today I’ve been strolling through the capital Vaduz, a small town along the Rhine with 5000 inhabitants.
I’m currently in Munich, the heart of Bavaria. While it’s the most popular city in Germany to live with high living standards and a bustling economy, unfortunately many associate the name with the tragic events of 1972. During the Olympic Games 17 people were killed in a terrorist incident.
After recently spending time in Ukraine and Moldova, it felt odd to enter the polished streets of Bucharest with its sprawling boulevards and Arch of Triumph. It is a strange mix of western architecture and communist style buildings.
We’ve just arrived in Chisinau after a fuming bus journey from Odessa in Ukraine. We took extra care to avoid the territory of Transnistria, which covers most of the Ukrainian border. It seems to be locked in some sort of post-Soviet conflict with Moldova and we were advised not to receive any passport stamps there, despite the soothing soundtrack of “Moldavia” by Front 242.
The soundtrack of the day was Radioactivity by Kraftwerk, as we rolled into Chernobyl this morning. I felt a slight chill at the sight of the empty streets of Pripyat. The silence. The abandoned Ferris wheel. The grass where children will never play again. Soviet rural life locked in time.
Welcome to part 2 of my quest for finding movie locations around the world! Left images are from the actual films and to the right are my visits to the spots.
Much has happened since the Roman fort of Mamucium was established in 79 AD. After becoming the world’s first industrialised city, Manchester went on to become one of the most famous music cities of the world.
I recently went for a roadtrip through the presumably alien-infested territory of the American Southwest. First quest of the day: Area 51. In order to get to Area 51 you will have to drive through the Nevada desert along Route 375, also known as the Extraterrestrial Highway!
After driving over 3800 miles across five states and two time zones, it feels good to be home. It had been almost a decade since last time I drove a car along the busy streets of Los Angeles, but it was just as chaotic as I remembered.
