This is the 320th post of 2008 at Following the Equator, and we decided to commemorate our blog's first full calendar year with a top-10 list of favorite posts.
We had a lot of stories, videos, photos, interviews, tips and perspectives about educational travel. We launched some regular weekly features, including our Tip of the Week and Photo of the Week. We debuted Life on Tour, introduced EF on YouTube and EF on Facebook and promoted the EF Tours group on Flickr (above). And, along the way, we encountered a lot of inspiring travelers.
Following the Equator also was nominated for a Blogger's Choice Award and finished fifth out of 1,177 blogs for Best Travel Blog. Thank you to everyone who supported our blog in 2008 by voting, reading, sharing, commenting and subscribing. We're looking forward to an even more successful 2009.
Six strangers brought together on one educational tour through Switzerland, France and Italy. That's Life on Tour. EF's reality web series produced countless memorable moments, as the student travelers made it up Mount Pilatus, up the Eiffel Tower and up to their elbows making pizza in Rome.
Now that the first season is complete, I watched all 10 episodes again and compiled my list of the most memorable moments of Life on Tour.
Let us know what you think of the list and post your own comments (or even your own list) below. And be sure to cast your vote for your favorite moment in our Life on Tour Poll.
A few weeks back, I wrote triumphantly about my 9-foot Christmas tree. I didn't get into the guilt I felt over the fact that the tree was artificial—i.e., not authentic ("That's another post," I thought at the time—voilà). The Europeans I lived among in my time abroad would have taken one look at that plastic monstrosity and been mortified. In fact, a visiting European friend had just that reaction.
Europe specializes in authentic, as I discovered during my eight years there. Household coffee is made in old-fashioned stove-top Bialetti contraptions; no plugs to plug in or clocks to set. A Coca-Cola ordered at a table comes in a glass bottle, not in a plastic bottle, or from a syrup/water mix sprayed into a paper cup. Shoppers crowd outdoor streets lined with centuries-old storefronts, rather than admittedly spectacular but inescapably faux enclosed shopping malls. Building materials used on homes are still primarily stone, brick and mortar, wood and slate; vinyl siding has thankfully yet to become popular.
The student travelers on Life on Tour have already visited a trio of Europe's most amazing cities in Switzerland, France and Italy. Where would you most want to travel?
In anyone's house or apartment, there's usually one window, door or balcony that offers the most picturesque view of the world outside the four walls.
My four most recent houses (OK, three apartments and now finally a house) have each been in a different country. In each home, I made a point of identifying the best view and taking a picture of it.
The railway includes a maximum gradient of 48 percent up to its station that sits near the summit nearly 7,000 feet above sea level. It takes about 30 minutes to ascend the mountain and about 40 minutes to descend.
Mount Pilatus, which looms over Lake Lucerne, gets its name from a popular legend that says Pontius Pilate was buried there.
Life on Tour—EF's new reality web series—premiered today. Every Thursday, we will pose a new Life on Tour Poll question. Watch Episode 1 and Episode 2 now and then weigh in on Colter's romance:
What do you think about Episode 2 of Life on Tour—EF's new reality web series? Post your comments on EF's Facebook fan page, and ask the cast members questions about their experience tonight on Facebook from 8 to 10 p.m. EST.
As I settle back into life in the United States after eight years abroad, I find myself struggling to reprogram my mind to the new Sunday landscape: all stores open, all day.
You see, I've spent the past eight years learning to live the European Sunday, where the only things that are universally open are churches and the "Sunday date" trio of cafés, restaurants and movie theaters. That said, the Euro-Sunday formula varies somewhat by country.
Through twisted branches and across the Reuss River sits the centuries-old Baroque Jesuit Church in Lucerne, Switzerland.
We love this photo for its depth and composition—not just because it's from one of EF's very own, Beth Deveney. Beth shot this photo during filming this summer for EF's reality web series, Life on Tour, which will be premiering soon.
The photo also is part of the EF Tours pool on Flickr. Our Flickr group now has more than 140 photos from 35 members. Submit your own travel photos, and we might select one for Photo of the Week.
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