Missing the Tour de France? Take your own European cycling trip

Now that the Tour de France has finished, with Italian Vincenzo Nibali donning the yellow jersey, many cycling fans may be left dreaming of their own two-wheeled tour of Europe.

If your love of cycling has been reignited and the Tour de France has left you wanting more, this may be the perfect time to consider your own cycling trip. Whether you like cities, hillsides, wining and dining or would rather just stay closer to home, there are plenty of fantastic tours you can make on your own two wheels. Here’s a selection of some of Europe’s most impressive cycling regions to whet your appetite.

For Tour de France fans: The Pyrenees

Image courtesy of kingArthur_aus

One of the key routes of the Tour de France, the Pyrenees offer challenging routes and winding pathways between the area’s many peaks. These hefty climbs reward cyclists with high speed descents and awe-inspiring views of mountains, forests and high altitude lakes.

Beginners could start with the Col des Ares climb, which offers gentle gradients of 310m in total, with winding turns throughout. Cycle 6.7km from la Moulette to the summit, where you’ll be able to celebrate your journey with a cooling beverage.

Another great climb, and one of the most popular, is Guardader d’Arres, which can be started on the Spanish side of the border. This winds through tall forests before offering jaw dropping views across the valley. Following the moderately steep, but steady climb, cyclists can enjoy a fun descent, speeding through the village of Arres, with plenty of hairpin bends to get the heart racing.

Silent Wednesday - Week 25

Energy-Packed Food For Fitness Fans

If you've been inspired by the marathon to take up exercising or a fitness regime, then it’s likely you’ll need to be making some changes to your diet. Athletes and fitness fans will be well aware that they need plenty of energy rich foods to maintain stamina and to help repair muscles following long hours of training. But which are the most effective performance boosters?

Kellie Anderson is a health educator, nutritionist, recipe developer and food writer. She’s keen to promote the benefits of seasonal produce and nutritious ingredients to improve vitality and health. We spoke to Kellie to find out her top recommendations for athletes who want to keep energy levels high and boost performances before, during and after a workout, without relying on protein bars and shakes.

The Grand Budapest Hotel guide to Eastern Europe

Director Wes Anderson’s highly anticipated latest creation, TheGrand Budapest Hotel, boasts an all-
star cast including Ralph Fiennes, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe and Jude Law. This 1930s caper is set in an imaginary Eastern European principality called Zubrowka, in the striking pink alpine hotel that lends its name to the title.

Whilst you may not be able to visit Zubrowka in real life, the movie presents a glimpse into the ambience of some of Eastern Europe’s most historic destinations and a sense of nostalgia for a time between the two world wars, when the region thrived and flourished. To learn more about the movie and its inspirations, here’s a look into some key destinations for The Grand Budapest Hotel tour of Eastern Europe.

Berlin, Germany

Berlin was not only the launch-pad of the movie, which opened at the city’s film festival, but it was also one of the key filming locations. Visitors to the city can enjoy their own tour to learn about the city’s colourful history.

 

Learn about the East/West split at the Berlin Wall by visiting Checkpoint Charlie, where many East Berliners tried to escape to the West. The monumental Brandenburg Gate has been a key site for a number of major historical events and is one of the city’s most impressive landmarks – it’s now seen as a symbol of Germany’s tumultuous past as well as European peace and unity.

Best of The Internet - Week 4

Amazing Illustrations By Patrick Brown

Patrick Brown is an amazing illustration artist, who takes popular characters from video games, movies and TV shows and adds his little personality twist to them all, while keeping them in character. They are all fantastic and I urge you to check them all out right here:

http://www.downgraf.com/inspiration/amazing-comic-illustrations-by-patrick-brown/
or visit his personal DeviatART page at:
http://patrickbrown.deviantart.com/

Yet A New iPhone

As usual, the stereotypes are true to the bone. The new phone is bigger,  but only slightly in size. The biggest difference is the screen. It's bigger and better.  Other than that...well...

Silent Wednesay - Week 12

Best Of The Internet - Week 3

Using Content Marketing to Build Brand Trust

For the people who are dealing with some SEO, this article will be in great use. This is probably one of the most successful methods to do SEO at the moment. With all the updates Google has introduced so far, you can forget that spam is a viable tactic to get long term results. Instead, content is the perfect solution to both bring the users value and get some of it for yourself as well. 

The full article here: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/using-content-marketing-build-brand-trust/

Silent Wednesday - Week 10

Best Of The Internet - Week 1

As we're working for the Internet (he's a person, don't even start to argue with me), me and Geoff find tons and tons of amazing content each week. And, while we can't write for you as much as we want (this blog being a personal side project for us), we decided we can at least compensate you with something. 

Like the Silent Wednesday post, which offers no words, but images and animations for you to interpret however you wish, we'll be adding a new weekly (scheduled) post on Fridays. 

We'll aggregate and collect the best of what we stumble upon throughout the Internet and on Fridays, present it to you, with a small description and commentary. 

I hope you guys enjoy it and I leave you with our first catch :)

Silent Wednesday - Week 1 - Funny Gifs

We decided to start a new tradition called Silent Wednesday. It is the same idea as Wordless Wednesday, but silent brings a more peaceful vibe. The point is to post pictures or gifs which we love, instead of flooding you with information. And we won't add captions, just plain pictures. You'll be the one commenting and saying what these images represent.