Neil Bennion's Blog, page 3

Secret Gigs in People’s Homes – the Sofar Sounds Experience [VIDEO]

My friend Adrian invited me to a gig recently in Warsaw, Poland, but I was having a few problems finding the thing.

I was wandering round thinking ‘this street is way too residential – why would someone put a music club here?’ Clanging sounded in some dark recess of my memory.Wait– wasn’t agig in someone’s home?

Yes, that was it.

I eventually found the place. And yes, it was just someone’s flat. A very nice, open-plan flat, but definitely not a stadium-scale venue.

In fact, the event waspart...

10 Annoying Travel Quotes – And What They Really Mean

Travel is amazing. It broadens the mind, gives you a sense of perspective and is the ultimate expression of freedom. Hooray for travel, and for more people being able to do it.But those inspirationaltravel quotes that people share can be really freaking annoying.

I understand the need to share these sentiments. Travel IS amazing (if you’ll excuse the platitude). And a lot of people want to share the joy and thrill of travel with others. Me too – I’ve personally spent over a decade pestering...

Alternative Easter – Colombia’s Donkey Festival

There are many celebrations around the world during Holy Week, but the ones in the sleepy town of San Antero, Colombia, must rank among the more unusual.

Whilst just up the road, in nearby Tolú, people carry symbolic floats around town, the key attractions in San Antero are somewhat more self-propelled.Because every year this sleepy town a few kilometres inland from the coast holds its annual Donkey Festival, or Festival del Burro.

Here’s that more traditional celebration in Tolú, just as a b...

Mini Habits or Become a Champion Dalek-Wrestler with This One Simple Trick

We all need habits. Whether you’re trying to become a champion Dalek-wrestler, or merely a prolific writer, you’re going to have to do the same thing again and again to get where you want.

But there’s a problem here – you’re really crap at making new habits, aren’t you?

Me too. It’s just one of those things.

I’m talking specifically about good habits, of course. I bet you’re fantastically good at making bad habits. When it comes to staying up too late, eating rubbish and browsing the internet...

Pszczyna – Getting Drenched in a Town I Can Barely Pronounce [Video]

I went to the town of Pszczyna recently, a place which, when I first came to Poland, I wouldn’t have been able to pronounceproperly. Even now it still takes me a few goes, and perhaps a number of short meetings between my brain and my vocal equipment.

Set in southern Poland, in the voivodeship (kind of like a department) of Silesia, the town of Pszczynahas a number of things to offer a passing visitor like me: Bison, a palace/castle (let’s call it a pastle), an open-air museum, and – at least...

Why I’m Addicted to Writing with Multiple Monitors

I’ve heard it said that working with two screen looks a bit ridiculous, like you fancy yourself as some kind of ultra-efficient badass.A bit like this guy in The Onion.

But I’ve been working this way for about two years now, and for me there’s no going back. This is partly because I really do fancy myself as some kind of ultra-efficient badass, but it’s also because I just find it really fricking useful.

I only really went this way because I was using a 10” netbook, and the screen real estate...

The 10 Things You Need to Hostel Like a Pro

I’ve stayed in a lot of hostels in my life. In fact, I’m kind of all hostelled out to behonest. But before I park hostelsin the space marked ‘stuff that I did when sleep wasn’t important to me’, I’m going to share what I’ve learnt.

Specifically, I want to tell you what stuff you should take with you to make hostel life – and specifically dorm life – just that much better. Or at least more bearable.

On a side note, I love the way you can tell if someone has backpacked or not by the way they re...

Watch This: The World at War (1973)

I’m currently writing a book about Poland. Despite the fact that it’s going to be one of those jaunty, idiot-bumbling-around kind of travelogues, I realised that I was still going to need some basic understanding of the events that have shaped the country.

At which point it struck mejust how how patchy my knowledge of the Second World War was.

The Second World What?

Beyond the more obvious things, my own knowledge of WWII was just a disjointed agglomeration of places, people and events. The G...

Spa-Francorchamps – The Little Community on the Hillside

“Why are you doing this?” my brain asked me as I attempted to wrench my face from the pillow at 5:30am.

We’d been planning it for weeks, nay months, but it took all my strength and resolve just to stand up when every sinew in my body was in favour of saying “Bollocks to it”, turning over and going back to sleep.

But just a few hours later I’d be so damn happy I’d done it, and I’d be wondering what all the fuss (and internal dialogue) had been all about.

Why?

My sister and I were in the Ardenn...

Go to Rzeszów – It’s Really Rather Nice

People are always going on about how a certain town, city or villageis amazing. But not everywhere can be amazing, and sometimes amazingalso means amazingly full of tourists. And hence amazingly annoying.

Some places, however, are just pretty cool. And that’s still good enough. And in some ways even better.

Rzeszów is such a place.

Where?

It’s in the southeastern corner of Poland, in the Subcarpathian province (Podkarpackie Voivodship), not far from the Bieszczady mountains.

Despite being wel...