AT#958 - Travel to Turkmenistan

The Amateur Traveler talks to Geoff Smith about his boyhood home of Nashville that he recently moved back to. What would bring a musician back to Nashville after he has lived all of the world? Geoff talks about the things that tourists come to see: the Grand Ole Opry, Honky Tonk Row (including his own piano bar the Big Bang Bar), the Country Music Hall of Fame, The Musicians Hall of Fame, The Opryland Hotel. Then Geoff tells us what he really loves about Nashville. Nashville is a place where creative and artistic people can live among the beautiful rolling hills of Tennessee in one of the USA’s big three music cities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Feb 200929min

The Amateur Traveler talks to Friedel from TravellingTwo.com about their continuing bike tour around the world. Friedel was on previously talking about travel to Iran and has come back to talk about the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. This region of the world offers adventure travelers deserts, tea houses, camels, wild horses, yurts, tea houses, spectacular mountains, friendly locals and fermented mares milk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Feb 200936min

The Amateur Traveler talks to Jessica from Williamsburg Virgina who traveled last Summer to the Ukraine with an ethnomusicologist from Villiage Harmony to learn how to sing Ukrainian folk music. Jessica travelled both to larger cities like the capital Kiev and Ivano-Frankivsk and small country villages. She also journeyed into the Carpathian mountains on the Romanian border. Jessica relates some of the stories about the people she met, the food they ate and scary public bathrooms. Learn why you should not whistle indoors or give someone a dozen roses in the Ukraine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31 Jan 200933min

The Amateur Traveler talks to Sam about his recent trip to Cuba with his brother. Sam visited Havana and Trinadad. He reveled in the local music, the warmth of the people, the beautiful and enigmatic scenery and tolerated the food. Sam who is one eighth Cuban also met family that he had not known about until recently. Sam’s highlights include walking with tourists and locals alike along the malecon on the shore of Havana. As a photographer he came back with over a thousand pictures of the people, the colonial architecture and the classic cars of Cuba. A small sample of Sam’s work can be seen in the iTunes enhanced version of the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 Jan 200936min

The Amateur Traveler talks to David Dougherty about his recent trip to the small country of Armenia. David talks about view of Mount Ararat (just over the border in Turkey), monasteries and churches, riding the packed minivan buses (marshrutkas), meeting locals with a shared interest, the food, the legends and some of the history (the Armenian genocide). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 Jan 200937min

The Amateur Traveler talks to Casey Wohl the author of the Girls Getaway Guide to Key West about Key West Florida. We will talk about how the area has changed in the last 20 years from Jimmy Buffet’s famous Margaritaville to an area with numerous nice restaurants, art galleries and hotels. We will also talk about beaches, Ernest Hemmingway and other sland characters and how to catch a spiny lobster with your tickle stick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Jan 200926min

The Amateur Traveler talks to Douglas Duckett about his travels to Israel and his popular travel guide to Israel. Douglas has fallen in love not just with the "holy land" but with the modern nation of Israel. We address the issue of "is it safe to travel to Israel" at this time when Israel is at war with the Palestinians in Gaza. He takes us on a virtual trip from the beaches and night life of Tel Aviv, through the working city of Haifa with the beautiful Baha'i gardens and the informative museum about the modern jewish immigration. We stop at Lake Kinneret (also known as The Sea of Galilee, also Sea of Genneseret, or Lake Tiberias) at the town of Tiberius. We make a detour to the historic site of Gamla the "Masada of the North" before turning our face toward Jerusalem. On the way to Jerusalem we stop at Megiddo (Armageddon in the bible) and the roman ruins at Beit-Shean. In Jerusalem we talk about the overwhelming religious and historic significance of the city and how some people come down with " Jerusalem syndrome". We suggest a walking tour of the city, a tour of the Mount of Olives, the holocaust memorial and the Israel museum. We also talk about the work the Jerusalem YMCA is doing to promote peace with their peace preschool that teaches Jewish and Palestinian children together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Jan 200942min

The Amateur Traveler talks to Eden (an ambassador for Macallan Whiskey) about his home country of Scotland. Eden lays out a tour for Amateur Traveler listeners that starts in Edinburgh with its castle, royal mile and pubs and continues up to Saint Andrews (the home of golf) and the castles of Perthshire. We make sure to stop on the Whiskey trail of Speyside before continuing to the rugged countryside of the highlands. We also talk about special events, famous scotsmen and hagis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Dec 200834min