Hejorama

Anecdotes from Tux Valley, Tyrol, Austria

Maeva — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:37:40 +0000

What can expect two French travelers – Ben and I – from spring ski holidays in Tux Valley (Tyrolean Zillertal region, Austrian Alps) when they already have a large choice of ski resorts in France?

Maybe, a pristine landscape cloaked in white, with great slopes (900 ha runway surface with 245 km of slopes in Tux -Finkenberg) that are not too much crowded. Also, cosy accomodations, low prices, very nice and welcoming people.

But above all, Ben and I enjoyed typical Austrian experiences, that we never experienced in France.

Here are our anecdotes from Tux Valley.

- Our favorite local menu -

Starter
Goulash / Stew of meat with paprika and onions

Main dish
Wiener Schnitzel with its potato salad / Very thin, breaded and deep fried Schnitzel from veal

Dessert
Kaisershmarnn served with apple compote / Caramelized pancake baked in butter, split into pieces while frying, shredded after preparation and sprinkled with powdered sugar

After-dinner liqueur
Schnaps / Local strong eau-de-vie

- Toboggan in the night -

Our last night in Tux, we had dinner in a typically tyrolean hut called Höllensteinhütte. After dinner, we went out by a little door, and there, wood vintage toboggans were waiting for us!

Ben (Hejorama) & Martina (Tux Finkerberg)

People from Tirol Tourism Board and Tux Finkenberg (we were invited) showed us the sloping white road, with all its curves. It was during night, we were able to see all the night lights from the Tux Valley.

They explained us how to brake with our feet and cord, and told us to follow the lights inside the trees :
- green light : you can go fast, everything is ok!
- yellow light : you have to slow down
- red light : be careful !

Wonderful and magical moment, one of our best memory from Tyrol.

- Family portraits -

Forelle hotel in Tux Finkerberg. Kirchler family

In the Tux Valley, a lot of places are owned by families, that manage the place from parents to children. They are very proud of that and like to hang their family portraits to their walls. We saw a lot of these portraits in après-ski bars, restaurants, hotel… Both kitsch and touching, it brought conviviality to our trip, and made us feel closer to the local people of the region.

- Tyrolean yodeling in an après-ski bar -

Ben and I discovered après-ski bars (you can read our article about that), and our favorite one was the Kaser Mandl. There, Dj-Mox sang typical Tyrolean songs (yodeling) in his mike, and played trumpet.

Yodeling, a form of singing that involves rapid and repeated changes of register, was developed a long time ago in the Alps. It’s a major feature of folk that can be heard in many contemporary folk songs, which are also featured on regular TV broadcasts. Imagine our joy to be there, listening this typical music! Especially when this guy – Dj Mox – seems to be quite famous in the region, with a lot of portraits, photos, instruments and awards hung in the bar!

(a big thanks to the Tirol Tourism Board,Tux-Finkenberg and Lea Hajner from Tripwolf!)

“Après-ski” in the Tyrolean Zillertal region

Maeva — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:16:24 +0000

Last March, Ben and I were invited for a blogtrip in Tyrol, and more especially in the Tux Valley. Four sunny days of relaxing time, on the white snowy slopes, with nice people from different regions of Europe. The atmosphere was relaxing, friendly, and also festive… In the après-ski bars!

Do you know the meaning of “après-ski”? In France – Ben and I are French – this word (litteraly meaning “after skiing”) represents the kind of boots we wear when we are not skiing, after skiing.

Moon Boot après-ski boots

We were surprised to rediscover this French word with another look. It’s funny to know that in the Austrian Alps (as in other countries in the world), it has another meaning that the one we have, in France.

Après-ski refers to going out, having drinks, dancing, and meeting new people (sometimes charming) after skiing. Skiers and snowboarders stop at bars before going to their accommodation (back from the slopes), still wearing all their ski/ snowboard clothes.

Après Ski, Quebec movie (1971)

That’s what we did, in the Tux Valley. And we discovered two different kinds of après-ski, with two very different atsmospheres.

Kaser Mandl

Hexenkessl

Hexenkessl après-ski: big place, a lot of students and young people, foreigners, old and modern musics, place of seduction.
http://www.hejorama.com/lieu-Hexenkessl-aprsski-bar-1214.html

Kaser Mandl après-ski: our favorite one! Smaller bar, young and old people, families, friendly and convivial. The owner is Dj-Mox, a fantastic Austrian man who plays music in his bar between 3pm and 6pm, with typical Austrian and Tyrolean songs, and who likes singing in his mike, talking to people, making people dancing or singing. Very funny and unforgettable moments guaranteed!
http://www.hejorama.com/lieu-Kaser-Mandl-aprsski-bar-1215.html

Après-Ski in Tyrol from Hejorama on Vimeo.

If you plan to go skiing in the Tux Valley next winter, we strongly recommend you to wear your most beautiful and trendy “après-ski boots”, and to have drinks (schnapps!) in one of these two après-ski bars.

Hexenkessl
Vorderlanersbach 80 · A-6293 Tux · Zillertal
http://www.hexenkessl-tux.at/

Kaser Mandl
Vorderlanersbach 268 – A-6293 Tux – Zillertal
http://www.dj-mox.at/zillertaler_musikantenalm/zillertaler_musik.html

Tschüss!

Maéva

(a big thanks to the Tirol Tourism Board,Tux-Finkenberg and Lea Hajner from Tripwolf!)

NB: If you want to discover experiences from other people about ski in Tyrol, search #skitirol on Twitter.
And if you want share your own experience, you can also hashtag #skitirol on Twitter when you post your articles / chronicles / pictures / videos

Songkran in Thailand

Maeva — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:50:00 +0000

Last weekend in Thailand was celebrated the Songkran festival (more precisely from 13 to 15 April). This traditional New Year's Day, coinciding with the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia, is a national holiday since 1940, and the occasion to carry on several traditions.

Story Maeva

Soundtrack of the report
Unknown
Traditional Thai Songkran song

One year ago, I was lucky to experience these traditions with my Thai family (I am half-Thai) for the first time, with Ben (from Hejorama).

Rod Nam Dam Hua ceremony & Flower shirts

When we woke up at 7 o’clock in the morning to celebrate this first day of Songkran, we were surprised to find flower shirts on our beds, and a traditional Thai scarf from the North for Ben. This is one of the traditions for this New Year celebration in this country; a lot of Thai people are wearing colourful flower shirts. My family gave us these presents, and taught Ben how to fasten his scarf has a belt (in a very special way). We were ready to start the day, in a Thai style!

This is one of the traditions for this New Year celebration in this country; a lot of Thai people are wearing colourful flower shirts.

After a short breakfast, we joined all my family (my mother, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmother) to celebrate the Rod Nam Dam Huam ceremony at one hour from Bangkok. This ceremony – that usually takes place on the first day of the coming year – is very important in Thailand. Most Thai people go back to their hometown to visit elders (including family members, friends, monks), in order to apologize for all the bad deeds they have done to them, either intentionally or unintentionally, to show their gratitude and respect. In this way, Ben and I paid respect to my grandmother, and after having let flow water on statues of Buddha, we knelt in front of her, in silence, for a very intense and emotional moment. We had to put water on her hands, and to join hands for a prayer. She wished us the best for the next year, and a lot of travels.

Pickup trucks & Water

It was then time to party! My uncle took us in the back of his pickup. There already were big empty plastic trashcans, with plastic saucepans. We filled the cans with water, and decided to take the road, to participate to the most popular celebration of Songkran: throw water upon others.

Sabai dee pee mai
Happy New Year

There were so many people on the road, that my uncle has to drive very slowly. We started to throw water upon our “neighbours”, people in the other pickup and along the road. As a lot of people, we stopped at an “ice station”, to get huge ice blocks that we added in our trashcans filled by water. A way to refresh us but also people in the streets!

Sometimes, some people got on the rear of our pickup. They splashed us with their water guns, or softly put beige colored talc on our cheeks, as a blessing for the New Year. We also saw fire fighters with their fire engine, throwing huge water squirt with their fire hose.

The atmosphere, in this area (about an hour from Bangkok) was very friendly. People danced in the streets, laughed, talked with strangers. Everything under a warm heat, but also under refreshing water. This first day of Songkran is one of my best souvenirs from my last trip to Thailand.

Songkran, One hour from Bangkok, pickup water battles

Monks & Craziness of Bangkok

The second day of Songkran, we started the day visiting and paying respect to the monks in a “wat”, a Buddhist temple. This is an important tradition for Thai people, and my family wanted to share this moment with me.

We knelt in front of a monk (wearing Rayban sunglasses and drinking a kind of Starbucks ice coffee!) with several families, and my family asked him how would be my future, my life. After telling me, with a smile, that I seemed to be an obstinate girl, he finally told me that my future would be in “the North”, not in Thailand…

We knelt in front of a monk (wearing Rayban sunglasses and drinking a kind of Starbucks ice coffee!)

After this touching morning, we went to Bangkok, direction Silom Road. There, hundreds – even thousands – locals and foreigners celebrated the New Year in a crazy way, with water pistols, hoses, foam, and plenty of buckets of water. The atmosphere were totally different, people were more excited. We bought a Spongebob water gun (you can find hundreds different kinds of water pistols in the streets of Bangkok), and joined the crowd. The first hours were crazy, but I have to admit that at the end, I was very tired.

It’s very difficult to escape this craziness with so many people around you. And with hands that get lost (girls, be careful), talc in your eyes because of young people who like to give you a slap instead of softly put talc on your cheeks… I think that people are less respectful in Bangkok than in the countryside.

Video found on youtube, by Manimulator. It's pretty much like that :)

Chiang Mai

We didn’t have the chance to enjoy Songkran festival in Chiang Mai, but this is one of the most famous Songkran celebrations. We arrived a day later, and saw colourful flags around the temples.

Indeed, in northern Thailand, people may carry handfuls of sand to their neighborhood monastery in order to recompense the dirt that they have carried away on their feet during the rest of the year. The sand is then sculpted into stupa-shaped piles and decorated with colorful flags.

If you have more stories to tell us about Songkran in Chiang Mai, don’t hesitate to share them in the comments below!

The Monday Map: Wendy Gold

Alex — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:02:27 +0000

We recently discovered the fantastic work of American artist Wendy Gold and loved how she mixed beautiful illustrations with vintage maps and globes.

We also loved the fact that each of her globes is made by hand and therefore unique. Different sizes are available and you can even ask the artist for a specific color palette or request a custom commission. That would make the perfect gift for a travel loving friend or a nice addition to your personal map collection.

Head to Wendy Gold’s website to see more of her work and find the perfect one to “add some color and spirit to your world” as the artist puts it.

Alex

[GALLERY]

Love In The Time of Easy Travel

Tiffany — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 08:17:55 +0000

A fun trip ends with photos of dreamed about monuments, silly moments with strangers on the streets of exotic places, short term flings and other lovely things, but there is one thing that happens all too often that can elevate a trip from fun to life changing. Timelessly inspiring generations of romantics, this one transformative event is the incomparable feeling of falling in love.

Story Tiffany

Soundtrack of the report
Love Kills
Freddie Mercury & Giorgio Moroder

The lucky ones know right away that they are compatible and will work on ways of being together from the start. This may include plans for one part of the couple to move or for both to move to a brand new location together. The unlucky ones know they are in love, but aren’t quite sure, well, of many different things. They need time to figure out whether or not there is a future, if there is compatibility outside of the euphoria of falling in love, how to transition careers and lifestyles to fit in another person, etc…

Words of love and longing echo over Skype

As a girl who admits to ending a date after hearing the phrase, “I wish I could travel,” it is no surprise that my relationships tend to go the route of international romance. As much as I hate to be in long distance relationships and vow “never again”, I find myself again and again in that exact situation. Words of love and longing echo over Skype, emails instead of phone calls, and imagining the other person’s day to day lifestyle without you becomes the norm.

Unlike same city relationships where two people have the luxury to grow together and one day realize their lives are too intertwined to want to be without each other, international long distance relationships go through their own timeline and inevitabilities. Plans will be made on trips to visit each other’s home turfs, weeks spent showing the other person every detail of one’s life in a hyper rushed timeframe rather than letting each aspect of life slowly unfold and be discovered in their typical pace. Discussions about what would happen if one or the other left behind their life to start over again together, only to have the reality of visa regulations impede having a career and the longevity of the stay.

This leads to the “make or break” moment

Eventually there comes a day when the time between trips to visit each other become longer and longer and the realization that your two lives are growing apart rather than together. This leads to the “make or break” moment when a decision needs to be made, someone has to move or the relationship ends. Talks of marriage may enter the picture, but even in these situations, marriage is not a decision to be made lightly and so the decision becomes stalled.

Like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book, the decision you make takes you down different routes. One or both of you move to start a life together, like those lucky ones who knew from the start. Your relationship takes on the joys and challenges of normal relationships and time is spent getting to know each other in a different way. Or you break up and vow “never again”, only to realize it will happen again and again, because once you’ve had a taste for an international relationship, you can’t go back to dating someone who doesn’t travel.

Tiffany

The Globe Theatre of Shakespeare in Paris!

Maeva — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:24:14 +0000

A few days ago, I enjoyed a wonderful and magic experience in the heart of Paris at the “Cité internationale des Arts”. The “Tour Vagabonde” (vagabond tower) has been built along the Seine, in front of the “Ile Saint-Louis”. It’s an itinerant reproduction of the Globe Theatre of Shakespeare (1599), built more than fifteen years ago in Switzerland, that has traveled across Europe these last years, with “Shakespearian” performances, but also other ones like “Cyrano de Bergerac” of Edmond Rostand, or baroque classical concerts.

In Paris, and until the 14th of July, you can discover or re-discover “Rome & Juliet”, interpreted by French comedians, musicians and singers from the “Compagnie Les Milles Chandelles”, in a both classical and modern way. With only 250 persons in this theatre, a proximity with the artists, the wood that creaks, the lanterns… You’ll have the feeling to be in another world. An enchanted time travel.

I strongly recommend this show to you!

Maéva

- Book your tickets here –

LA TOUR VAGABONDE – CITE INTERN. DES ARTS
18 rue de l’hotel de ville 75004 PARIS – FRANCE
Tickets: 36,30€ / 20,80€ (-26)

At the end of the show (or during the entracte) you can eat French raclette and drink mulled wine in a lovely hut, and speak with the comedians or the other spectators. Yum!

New York Nights by James T. & Karka L. Murray

Maeva — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 17:38:02 +0000

New York Nights is a photographic book by the New-York based couple of photographers: James and Karla Murray. This creative team who also made the Store Front — The Disappearing Face of New York, has launched this new book that explores many of the New York businesses that are alive and kicking during nighttime hours.

And in addition to the histories of each establishments, the book includes interviews with the business owners and interesting historical stories. An interesting way to discover the city!

“No other city in the world stages dusk to dawn like New York City. In this book one can experience New York on foot, the ultimate reward for the nocturnal explorer.”
James T. & Karla L. Murray

You can order the book on Amazon right here.

via Design Work Life

Star Wars and Indiana Jones Original Trilogy Maps

Lauren K. — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 08:51:20 +0000

Two of the greatest movie series in cinematic history have to be Star Wars and Indiana Jones. We’re talking about the original trilogies, of course, and we’ll make no mention of any less-than-awesome additions to either franchise in recent years.

What is awesome, though, are these trilogy maps by Philadelphia-based artist Andrew DeGraff. He illustrated one map for each of the original Star Wars films: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. The illustrations chart the setting and progress of each character throughout the film, which are represented by a different colored line.

“Paths of Hope” Map (A New Hope) by Andrew DeGraff

“Paths of Empire” Map (Empire Strikes Back) by Andrew DeGraff

“Paths of Return” Map (Return of the Jedi) by Andrew DeGraff

Along with his Star Wars maps, DeGraff created a similar series for the original Indiana Jones films: Indian Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

“Paths of Raiders” Map (Indian Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc) by Andrew DeGraff

“Paths of Doom” Map (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) by Andrew DeGraff

“Paths of Crusade” Map (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade by Andrew DeGraff

Both series of maps were created for DeGraff’s recent exhibit at Gallery1988 in Los Angeles. His maps are also available for purchase. Images via Gallery1988.

The Monday Map: Map Works by Matthew Cusick

Alex — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 09:44:38 +0000

Matthew Cusick is an American artist who has made a name for himself thanks to his impressive collages. In his series Map Works he uses cartographic material coming from Atlases, maps, textbooks and any sources he can find to create beautiful portraits and landscapes. The details, the colours and the use of the contour lines from the maps is simply amazing.

Discover below some of his work that we liked the most and see the rest on his official website.

[GALLERY]

In-Flight Meals: Silk Air

Team Hejorama — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:56:16 +0000

Briefing/photos Jac
Top image Fox2Mike

I flew via Silkair from Singapore to Manado, Indonesia and back again. Lunch was served both ways.

On the leg up, the choice was the standard chicken or fish, of which I picked the former.

Lunch

The chicken was decent, and I liked that it came with mushrooms and some shrimp. The mashed potato was a tad dry though. The Jacob's crackers didn't come with any butter or cheese so I didn't eat them in the end. I spilled some of the water on myself because I clutched the plastic cup a little too hard when pulling the top cover open.

On the way back from Manado to Singapore, the choice was between pasta+chicken and fish+rice - I chose the pasta+chicken...

Lunch

I honestly thought that they had given me the fish+rice by mistake, but no, those are the smallest pasta pieces I've ever seen, and it did feel like I was eating rice! Pasta doesn't taste right when it's cut up so small… The chicken, which also did look like fish, was decent if a little chewy.

The meal was topped off with fruits - watermelon and a really sweet pineapple which would have been awesome if it had been chilled!

Jac
Follow her adventures on Twitter and her blog