Seville is worldwide known by being the epicenter of the tapas. There is an entire culture  around these small dishes. “Ir de tapas”  ( to eat out tapas), as locals say,  implies a strong knowledge of places, types of tapas and routines. It´s a sophisticated custom. Of course, that culture has its own secrets. And secrets, as we all know, should not be revealed. Let´s make an exception.

There are few bars in Seville which are hidden behind groceries stores. They are usually named “abacerías”. They are public bars but you need to know where they are exactly to access them. Timetable also differ from regular bars, since they respect the schedule for shops.

Therefore, they don´t open during siesta or in the late night. Tapas there tend to be very simple but extremely qualitative. Fort instance, these places are perfect to taste the ultimate fresh tomatoes or spicy chorizos that they serve over rag paper.

What is great about these secret gems is that you soon become part of a group of conneiseurs. If you are there, that is because you are a discerning individual. There is a sense of secret in the air, a sense of folk private club.

These places are all around Seville downtown. Try to stop by Casa Moreno (Gamazo 7), which is said to be the oldest Sevilla grocery store.  La Tienda (Gravina Street ) and Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo (Teodosio, 53) also deserves a visit.

But please, don´t tell anyone.

Welcome to Adriii’s film and TV shooting locations tours! Now it’s time to travel to an Island with the show everyone is talking about these days: LOST. Enjoy!

Lost just premiered its sixth and last season just a few weeks ago so I thought the timing was perfect for a location tour of this show that has so many fans all over the planet. I’m sure you already know that Lost is filmed in Hawaii. Some people thing they get of the island to shoot some “flashback” scenes but they don’t. Everything is set in Hawaii so doing this tour is great not just because of the Lost stuff :P

First of all I have to warn you. If you haven’t watched every season of Lost including episode 4 of season 6, don’t keep reading if you care about being spoiled.

Let’s start on the beaches. The first beach to visit is the Plane crash beach. It was the one where the plane crashed and it’s also a famous surfing beach. But the plane’s tail crashed on a different part of the island. This was shot on Mokuleia Beach.

Eventually, the survivors begin to build a camp in the beach. This is shot in Papai’loa beach. Do you remember when we meet The Others for the first time in season 2? They used Waiale’e Beach for these shots and other beach moments on the series, like Jin fishing.

A very picturesque beach is the China walls coastline. Though it does not look like a beach, it is one… but there is rock instead of sand. We’ve seen this beach several times, usually when the losties are heading somewhere.

Moving inside the island, a recommendable place is the Kapena Falls. It’s a beautiful place in the forest where we’ve seen the losties several times in different episodes and seasons. Also in the woods we have the YMCA Erdman Camp, also known as “The Others Village”. Every scene involving the village, even some interiors, is shot here. There’s other recognizable place for the others and it’s the bunker and the cages where they locked Kate, Sawyer and Jack. This is shot in Paradise Park.

There is a ranch called Moli’i Gardens. This place has forest, great lawns and a lake so it’s been the set for several Lost scenes like Juliet’s arrival to the island or Jin’s father fishing pier. Talking about pier, I’m sure you remember second season finale, with the losties kidnapped by the others and Michael escaping with Walt. This was at Waikane Pier.

Let’s end with some houses and urban spaces. The first one that comes to my mind is the Byodo-inn Temple. This appeared in some Sun and Jin flashbacks and it’s a gorgeous place. You can also visit Yemi’s Church, Hurley’s mental institute and the building Locke fell down and cracked his spine or the Bishop Museum where Desmond and Penny took their famous picture.

There’re also some sixth (and last) season locations like the school where Locke meets Ben or the parking lot where he meets Hurley.

But, again, this is just some things I pointed out so you know what to expect, but you can check every spot at the actual guide. There are 35 different places (beaches, houses, forests, restaurants…) waiting for you!

Lost location tour

Have you ever wonder what the worlds top travel bloggers thought about their favorite places on Earth?
Well, iwannagothere is about to show you exactly what they think.

Spanning the planet, from Arizona and Kuala Lumpar, iwannagothere has chosen our top 5 travel bloggers to give you the insight to their favorite places.

Andy Jarosz from 501places, Janice Waugh from solotraveler, Karen Bryan from europealacarte, Keith Jenkins from velvetescape and Melvin from traveldudes show us their Top of the World places!

Download the ebook (PDF)

A huge cemetery in the center of the city, in the park with the same name. Here is where you can find the tomb of Evita Perón.

Recoleta´s Cemetry posted by chilipe

Footsteps Eco-Lodge was taken by Ethical Travel Portal in Gambia.

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Hey guys, we’ve already been in The Year of Tiger since the 4th of February 2010. So what’s your animal? What’s your forecast for the year of the tiger? And what can bring you good luck this year? Find the answers below. Full forecast by animal for the Year of the Tiger

Rat [1972, 1984, 1996, 2008] 2010 is a quite busy year for the Rats. This means that you will work hard and often travel to strange places just like George Clooney’s character in the movie “Up in the Air”. If you travel to the right east or the southeast of your home you will meet people who can lend you a hand and help you succeed. So maybe you can plan a trip to a country in Southeast Asia like Thailand or Singapore.

Ox [1973, 1985, 1997, 2009] For the Oxen, 2010 can be a great year in which you’ll make lots of progress in your job or make big deals in your business, but only if you can be patient. There are many lucky directions for the Oxen this year: the north, east, and southeast. So get yourself prepared to welcome the good luck.

Tiger [1962, 1974, 1986, 1998] As you may know, people always have bad luck in the year that corresponds to their own animal, so be sure to take good care of yourself this year, little Tigers. For example, the experts advise the Tigers to drive especially carefully whether in your daily life or on vacation because this year you could be hurt by a staff of metal. Apart from the negative trends there’s still good news for you. There’s a possibility of a promotion in your career, and you’ll have good luck if you go to the south, the east or the northwest. Just don’t be afraid and keep making strong efforts!

Rabbit [1963, 1975, 1987, 1999] Generally speaking, it’s a lucky year for the Rabbits especially in the second half of the year. If you are planning to study abroad, do it in the year of the tiger and you’ll get good grades easily. If you’re still single, you’ll find your soulmate soon. For you guys, the lucky directions are the north and the southeast. I think America sounds like a good place to go for the Rabbit students.

Dragon [1964, 1976, 1988, 2000] It will be a little hard for the dragons in the year of the tiger. You may have some problems in your career or with your relationship. But you’ll meet someone who can help you overcome all the difficulties. And the female Dragons will have pretty good luck finding love. So go to the south or the southwest where you will have an easier time with your job and meet someone who can bring you happiness.

Snake [1965, 1977, 1989, 2001] Wow, it’s going to be a magnificent year for the snakes! You’ll develop your career to a higher level and make a lot of money from the investment and meet someone bringing you good luck. So west and southeast are the lucky directions for the snakes. Just one thing to take care of, I mean the male Snakes, you guys just don’t get involved in quarrels this year.

Horse [1966, 1978, 1990, 2002] It’s a fast developing year for the Horses. You guys can get a promotion in your work, meet the one you’ve been waiting for all these years, make a fortune from investment or business, etc. The lucky direction for you is the southwest. So just put your heart into what you want to do!

Sheep [1967, 1979, 1991, 2003] Well, the Sheep is the luckiest one of the twelve zodiacs in the tiger year. To tell you the truth, you’re blessed in every field. You can start your business wherever, in the food industry or in tourism, just don’t miss the chance to get rich! So just relax, take a deep breath, and go wherever you want to, and do whatever you want to do.

Monkey [1968, 1980, 1992, 2004] Poor Monkeys, this year you have to maintain what you’ve got and keep a low a profile. Just be patient and calm when you have problem with your boss or your relationship. What you need is movement, which means you can jump to a new company or travel which can wipe the bad luck. The lucky directions for the Monkeys are the east and the south. And here is a tip for you: this year horses can bring you fortune, so you can put a horse staff in your home or office, then you’ll meet the one who can help you.

Rooster [1969, 1981, 1993, 2005] To the Roosters, this is a fortunate year which means you can make a lot of money by doing business or by winning the lottery. So it’s good for you to invest in something, maybe you can speculate in the stock market. You also can bring good luck to your friends. North and east are the lucky directions for the Roosters. So don’t rush, be patient, your wealth is on the way.

Dog [1970, 1982, 1994, 2006] 2010 to the Doggies is a good year too. Especially to the Dog beauties who have not married, this year you’ll find your prince and get married! And to those who already have a family, you’ll be so happy in the tiger year. What’s more, Dogs can meet people who can accelerate the development of your career. East, southeast and northeast are the lucky directions for you guys. So don’t worry, everything will be fine and just start to do what you want to do as soon as possible because the next year will be a hard year for you.

Pig [1971, 1983, 1995, 2007] This is a perfect year for the Pigs! You can get a promotion and you can become rich in this year. In a twelve-year cycle, the tiger year is the best one for the pigs. So you’d better take a chance and do your best to complete your goals. You’re lucky directions are: north, northeast, northwest and southwest. So it sounds like you can go to many places easily.

What should you do if you only have 24 hours to spend in a city? Where should you go?
How can you find the best spots to discover the soul of a place in 24 hours?
Follow us to Sintra! We only have 24 hours there! :)

Sintra is not that big to require more than a whole day to be visited but it certainly has some very recommendable places that you’d enjoy. You can get there easily and cheaply taking a train at Lisbon. Get up early and choose a sunny day for your trip to Sintra.

10:00am

Outside Sintra train station there’s a bus stop. I’ll cost you 4€ to get a bus ticket for the whole day. It’s totally worth it. There’re several ways to organize when you visit what so I’d tell you how I did it.

10:10 am.

Get off the bus on the first stop: Downtown Sintra. There you’ll find a couple of museums, a church, great view of the mountains and some places to eat. However, the main attraction there is Sintra National Palace. This 16^th century palace has a mix of architectonic styles (Gothic, medieval, renaissance…) . It’s not the most interesting palace of Sintra but the ticket’s price is fair and it’s worth the visit.

11:15 am.

Time for one of my favorites. I’ll take you 10 minutes walking to get to Quinta Da Regaleira. This is a huge royal garden with lots of little places and corners to visit. Don’t miss the little sanctuary and The Well. There are several towers you can climb to get amazing views of the area. Also don’t forget to use the underground passages, it is spooky fun.  This Royal beautiful place has its own Palace. The whole place has a mystical aura and you’ll appreciate inside the Palace too: Masonic groups used to perform alchemist practices there.

12:45 pm.

You’ll be tired of climbing towers and walking caves at this point so it’s time to relax and have something to eat. Back in downtown Sintra, you’ll find several places but I recommend you Tulhas Restaurant. They  have variety of Portuguese traditional food and, also, they have the menu of the day: two plates, drink, dessert and coffee for just 9,50€. And it’s pretty good food!

14:30 pm.

It’s time to go on with the visit. Go back to the bus stop and get to Palacio da Pena. It’s the most gorgeous thing to visit at Sintra: beautiful on the outside and so much interesting in the inside. Take your time to visit this palace. The gardens don’t worth it that much so go straight to the grand door. First go to every spot on the outside: the towers, the surveillance walls, the decoration, the views… everything.  Then it’s time to enjoy the inside, they have every room decorated as it was back when royalty live there in the 19^th century.

18:30 pm.

You’ll be pretty tired at this point so it’s up to you if you have some energy left to visit the rest of the palaces on Sintra. The most important ones left are the Castelo dos mouros, a Castle on ruins and the Sesteais Palace, an old palace turned into a very expensive hotel. Another pretty good option is the Queluz Palace, the so-called Portuguese Versalles.  The touristic bus will take you to all those places.

20:30 pm.

There’s not much of a night life on Sintra so get back to train station, in 30 minutes you’ll be back in Lisbon, where there’re a lot of places to sit down, have some drinks and talk about how beautiful was Sintra ;)

Have you been to Sintra… Where would you go in 24 hours that we didn’t mention?

Located in San Francisco’s Japantown, Super 7 is a Japanese toy shop that also has art and counter culture books and t-shirts.

If you’re a toy collector you probably already know them; they also publish a magazine. If not it’s a great place to go to see some freaky toys.

Super 7 posted by goose

Blau Blau Blau was taken by happylinchen in Rostock.

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Record Store Route in New York is a customized guide by goose

Record stores in New York and beyond.  All places have used vinyl and all the descriptions include their timetable or phone number.

Gimme gimme records
One of those places where genres be damned, they’ve got a little bit of everything, or maybe I should say you never know what you’ll find.

Hospital productions record store
If you like your metal with corpse paint this shop is the place to go. Hospital specializes in black metal and extreme noise records, but they’ve also got anything that tends towards the rough and tumble excesses of punk, hardcore, and rock. You can check out their website to get an idea of what they carry.

Academy records annex
Academy Records owns three different record shops in New York, this one, in Williamsburgh, is the best bet for vinyl of absolutely any genre.

The friendly folks there challenge both the record store employee and new yorker stereotypes by being pretty damn helpful.

Mercer st books & records
Used book shop with a large selection of out of print and hard to find books that also has some vinyl records. They also have new books.

Record Store Route in New York is a customized guide by goose