Take yourself on a journey to new places; explore other cultures; food; places, people - Find out what's gay - and what's not! Uncover the articles, video and photos on this blog by Ryan C Haynes
This map was compiled in May 2013, before Russia decided to mount it's gay hate campaign, so while it stands here at 7%, we can probably drop that to below 1%!
It does surprise me that the UK stands in the lead, as this certainly hasn't always been the case. There were times when Spain, France, Sweden, Belgium and Netherlands were far ahead of the Britain.
It's interesting to see how the traffic light colours go from left to Right. And it's with hope that in the next few years many of these countries can reach at least 50%. But in my travel experience, some of these destinations are not as bad as the colour represents. You can still travel safely and enjoy the gay scene.
The second weekend of every December Lyon is lit up in tremendous displays of light. The second city in France, near the Alps while usually bitterly cold, the city's key buildings and monuments are draped with incredible projections for Le Fete Des Lumieres.
Visit the old theatre and see a live light ping pong machine, you can even queue up to join in the fun.
Visit the grand square and experience a 360 degree light theatre
spectacle. The Town Hall and surrounding buildings showed a montage of
lighting techniques - the buildings shook, horses galloped across the
open space and dancing ladies were projected across the plaza in this
10-minute presentation.
Head to the churches to witness light displays to music, these can last between a few minutes and 10 minutes and keep the entire audience in awe.
Walk around the rest of the inner city, enjoy warm wine, crepes or waffles - walk across the River Rhone and River Saone to watch displays across the rivers and light projections from Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière.
The city is packed when the lights are switched on at 6pm until they finish at 1am during the four day spectacle.
When you arrive in the city, you're advised to buy a travel pass for the metro - it only costs €2.50 but except for using it to get to your hotel, it is unlikely you will need it at all during your stay as Lyon is very walkable.
A weekend trip to the city is perfect, it's easy to walk around and it
is steeped in history. Plus being famous for its Gastonomie you can
enjoy the amazing French cuisine.
I knew my summer holiday was going to be different the moment I made the decision not to follow my partner for a 10 day jungle break in Venezuela but to spend a week with friends in the South of France. It was time to learn french, delve into the language, culture and people - exploring the country in another language.
I headed to Draigignon, flying London City Airport - Toulons - friends picked me up for the one-hour journey to the 1,000 year old historic town in the countryside just in from the coast of Frejus and Saint Rapheal. Arriving on the Sunday afternoon we headed for a beach picnic with several other accomplishes.
The sun set; the sea a warm 26 degrees and the sand still emitting the heat of the day's 37 degree sun rays. Volley ball, swimming with beer, salad and cheese was like being in paradise.
The Monday was the start of my french. My teacher Anne persuaded me to start early, 9am and I had to be ready and raring to go. It was time to put 18 months of basic learning to the test and take this ability one step further - question and sentence forming. Throwing in various verb conjugations, vocabulary caused peculiar sounds to come from my lips creating a somewhat furrowed brow on Anne's fore-head.
I was speaking Franglais! The 90-minute lesson vanished and I was soon back at the flat bashing new words around my head. My hosts, two wonderful ladies, took me shopping and to the beach - it was time to tune into the sound of french. We basked in the sun before heading home for a workout (where I nearly killed them) followed by dinner.
Tuesday - I was more determined. Learning another language is hard especially when being me - I love to talk and discuss. It was the day to start digesting vocabulary and using sentence formations; new challenges of past and future started fooling my brain.
10.30am - and I headed to catch the bus to Frejus to bask in the sun again. I ordered a salad, asked for change and listened to my Learn French by podcast - words were starting to emerge from the noises and I was actually beginning to 'get' what they were saying.
That evening was pizza and french film night. So we indulged in light-comedy washing it down with some local wine.
Wednesday's class was pretty similar to the day before, yet that evening I was taken to some friends for a BBQ, there I was at a dinner table with 12 non-English speaking french. All fine, I can do this! Suddenly words were sprawling from my mouth, maybe slow and considered and well slightly off-key but a new confidence welled inside me.
Thursday I left the class grasping sheets and sheets of new vocabulary. It was as though my personal trainer was trying to beat that extra scoop of ice cream from my body - giving those brain cells a bit more muscle. That day I spent in town and decided to do some shopping; I bought some vegetables from the market, chatted to the manager of the shoe shop and negotiated a deal with the man in the sunglasses shop. That evening, we took Anne for dinner in the Port of Frejus before calling the extensive day's learning to an end.
I was learning a lot about life in a town in the warmth of the South french countryside. This was not London and certainly not England. Friday I challenged myself to ask for a haircut, and 15 minutes later I was left with the barnet of my choice! (Though it could have gone horribly wrong).
Saturday I headed to Paris to meet Francois and head to Evron in the West of France. Deep in the countryside this little farming town is a place I have visited three other times. Introduced to 40th birthday celebrations with 150 french all in exuberent moods - well I struggled, further the accent is somewhat different...hmmmm - challenge number 2!
We danced til daylight before collapsing back at the farm in a deep sleep.
Easter - time to spend it with the French side of the family. We packed up our 1996 Ford Fiesta and took to the British motorways - heading south. First stop - My parents, Poole.
Next stop Saint Michel - Ferry to Cherbourg then a gentle cruise to the beautiful historic island. After spending an afternoon exploring the small town we headed into the countryside for Evron. The weekend we spent with family and friends while assisting on the farm. Enjoy our video
South America is my favourite part of the world; a mix of climates from the ice and snow in the south, the sheer phenomenon that is the rainforest together with the excitement of the Latin culture and superb food.
We chose Argentina due to Iguaçu Falls; Cuba had the year before showed us an interesting Spanish culture but we wanted more nature; Brazil had given us a taste for the countryside and the food. The time; Christmas and New Year – a 16-day vacation with our bags on our backs and the freedom of our feet to roam the country as we wished.
Argentina however is much larger than we initially thought; it’s not straightforward, you need to limit yourself to truly enjoy it (unless you have months on your hands and even then our friends who have visited you need 3 months minimum). Even for us 7 cities in 16 days was too much and we only discovered the North-East; we still need to go back for Mendoza wine country and experience the spirit of Patagonia in the south.
However, I hope our journey, the experiences and my imagination provide you with a little insight to this beautiful country and wonderful people. Read on:
THE ARGENTINE NE SERIES
Escaping Home: Argentina - Snowy London, Paris to Buenos Aires
As though transported 3,000 miles from a Caribbean beach and lifted 2,500 metres onto the Alps, untouched snow glistened in the sun with greater ferocity than a cloud-bare sky at night. Surely the stars felt slightly threatened by this temporary frozen wonder.
The sun shone in full spirit as if challenging itself to remove the white carpet from its stage below – yet this complex structure defied its rays reflecting all energy back – defiant to win this fight til dusk when mist filled the valleys reminiscent of a Swedish steam room. By nightfall Les Deux Alpes is drowned by cloud – creating a haze that formed a ghostly awe to the mountain village.
