Explores destinations that turn convention on its head.
If you imagine you’ve seen it all, maybe it’s time to shake up your travelling life with a hearty dose of the unexpected. OK, you’ve enjoyed the carnival in Rio, attended the Melbourne Cup and been to the beaches of the Mediterranean. But have you partied in a Swiss city, enjoyed horseracing in the snow, or basked on the sands of downtown Berlin, cocktail in hand as reggae music plays?
And now for something completely different, as the Monty Python catchphrase goes. The world remains an unpredictable place if only you go looking. That doesn’t mean you have to be outrageous: no need to skewer your cheeks at a Hindu festival, bog snorkel in England or enter wifecarrying contests in Finland.
You can stick to ordinary activities available to even the most timid traveller, yet do them in unusual places for an added twist of surprise and quirkiness. Ignore the Mona Lisa and enjoy outstanding Islamic art at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Hit the ski slopes (or at least slope) in Dubai, or lounge by a tropical lagoon in central Germany, housed in a gargantuan greenhouse that also contains the world’s largest indoor rainforest. If such activities were just gimmicks then they’d be pointless, even if fun. But there are often good reasons to do normal things in apparently abnormal places.
Here are 13 experiences that provide tales of the unexpected around the world.
Archaeological work in Spain Expected:
Static museum displays and roped-off ancient sites. Surprising: Not all archaeological sites are off limits to the uninitiated. Volunteers with ArchaeoSpain contribute hands-on excavation and laboratory work at an ancient Roman fortress and learn archaeological methods, legalities and protocols. You can also join seminars on Roman ceramics, culture and architecture.
Instead of admiring museum artefacts, you have the thrill of finding them, and you’ll also understand more about the whole process that lets us understand ancient civilisations. Tourists get static versions of history: as an archaeological volunteer, you contribute to it.
Roman Fortress Pulpon Field School (running August 2-22 this year) costs US$1750 (NZ$2360) including full room and board, training, excursions and medical insurance. There are various other archaeological digs across Spain. See archaeospain.com.
Why here? Be original: Winter horseracing in Switzerland
Expected: Skiing and snowboarding. Surprising: The highlight of February’s social calendar in the posh ski resort of St Moritz is White Turf, when beautiful people congregate in art-hung tents around the town’s frozen lake to enjoy horseracing in the snow as they nibble on oysters and caviar. Even more thrilling is skijoring, when skiers are pulled behind galloping horses in a grand show of mad courage.
Join celebrities and billionaires – well, almost – by bagging a ticket in the grandstands for ordinary folk, and enjoy the unusual sight of snow flicked up by horses’ hooves on a racecourse backed by ice-encrusted mountains.
Why here? Be original:
White Turf takes place over three days each February in St Moritz. Entry from $26 (standing) and $52 (seated). See whiteturf.ch.
Japanese community in Sao Paulo
Expected: More samba than sushi. Surprising: This Brazilian megacity is home to more Japanese (600,000) than any other city outside Japan. Many congregate in the Liberdade district, joined by Indonesians, Koreans and Chinese to make up a distinctive ‘‘Asiatown’’ marked by a giant red torii gate and hosting a big Sunday Asian food and crafts fair.
Sao Paulo has one of the world’s few large Japanese immigrant communities in a refreshing change from Chinatowns. The Museum of Japanese Immigration provides interesting historical and cultural insights into an ethnic group established since the 1910s.
Though misleadingly often referred to as Chinatown, the Japanese community concentrates around Rua Galvao Bueno in Liberdade, on a metro station of the same name. See saopaulo.sp.gov.br.
Why here? Be original: Jazz bars in Copenhagen Expected:
Little mermaids and chilly vodka bars.
This cool Scandinavian city resounds with jazz sounds from buskers in city squares, artists in clubs and musical celebrities in concert halls. There’s a huge variety of jazz venues, including eclectic Jazzhouse (jazzhouse.dk), cafe and record store Jazzcup (jazzklubben.dk), jazz restaurant The Standard (thestandardcph.dk) and the famous
Surprising: