Briefly, please could you tell us a bit about yourselves?

I am of Indian ethnicity but lived in America most of my life.  Currently I live in Stockholm, Sweden where I blog about the culture and dating rituals of the Swedes at Lost in Stockholm. I love traveling (duh), reading (OMG, Harry Potter!), and taking photos, available at www.flickr.com/photos/blacksapphire.

How long did you live in Berkeley?

Spent 8 years in the city everyone lovingly calls Berzerkly. First, attending university there and then putzing around and working for a few more years.

What did you like most about living in Berkeley?

Berkeley is 180 degrees off from the East Coast (where I was raised).  It’s crazy, wild, colorful, full of protests and pot.  I loved walking around the city and people watching.  There is every type of person and style trying to make their way in Berkeley.

Why should travelers visit Berkeley?

As a city that holds one of the nation’s greatest universities, Berkeley has a history that is well, different.  From the 1960s famous demonstrations to world leading research departments to the ecocenter of the food revolution via Alice Waters, there is something for everyone in Berkeley.  There’s a special spirit in the city you just don’t find in other places.

What do you wish travellers would do or stop doing when they visit Berkeley?

Tourists really need to stop gawking at the locals.  Yes, there is the crazy guy in his undies standing on a podium and yes, the hat lady does not sell hats, but come to enjoy the idiosyncrasies of the town.

What are your top 3 insider tips for visitors to Berkeley?

Take a tour of UC Berkeley, a huge campus that offers a great view to San Francisco.  Go to the top of Campanile Bell Tower or to Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, which is high up in the Berkeley hills.

Also visit Berkeley Bowl, one of the best grocery stores. Fresh produce and vegetable galore.  Plus get a super burrito from them, tasty stuff!

CheeseBoard Pizza on Shattuck Ave is a coop owned pizza place.  There’s only one type of pizza served everyday and it’s vegetarian, but it is superb.  A definite local spot and a must for any visitor.

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Our View of a Local series consists of interviews with local people in various towns and cities in different countries.

For more information about how you can take part in our View of a Local series, please go to our View of a Local page >>

Home, released today, 5 June 2009, on World Environment Day is a compelling, call-for-change film illustrating what we are doing to our planet, animals, ourselves and fellow human beings. It shows breathtaking scenes, all aerial shots, from more than 50 countries.

Director Yann Arthus-Bertrand says: “The film has a very clear message. We have a greater impact on the Earth than it can bear. We over-consume and are depleting the Earth’s resources. From the air, it’s easy to see the Earth’s wounds. So, Home simply sets out our current situation, while saying that a solution exists.”

Home is 1 hour and 33 minutes long, but every second is worth the attention of even the busiest woman or man on this planet.

See for yourself:

If you have problems viewing the above film, you can watch it on YouTube.

If you happen to be in Paris today, you can also watch the movie at a free, digital screening beneath the Eiffel Tower at 22:00.

You can read all about the Home film on its web site, discuss the movie on GoodPlanet.org and see more of Yann Arthus-Bertrand amazing images on his web site.

Suspected cases have already been reported from various corners of the world, so for travellers it is not just a matter of staying away from a particular country or area.

Thankfully, the World Health Organization (WHO) has produced a Swine Influenza Frequently Asked Questions document, which covers questions regarding:

• Vaccine and drugs
• how to protect yourself from getting swine influenza
• what to do if you think, you may have swine influenza

According to their latest statement of 26 April 2009, WHO is not currently recommending any travel restrictions. This of course can change at any stage, and I would highly recommend all travellers to keep themselves informed via WHO’s Disease Outbreak News page and WHO’s Swine Influenza page.

I’ll be going on a little road trip through a number of European countries in May, and while I don’t see any reason to change my plans at the moment, I’ll most definitely be keeping an eye on the situation via WHO’s web site and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s travel advice.

External links

• WHO’s Swine Influenza Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
• WHO’s Disease Outbreak News page
• WHO’s Swine Influenza page
• The Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s travel advice

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As promissed last week, I have now put together a South Downs Way photo series.

The series is made from photos we took when we walked the South Downs Way a few years back.

As you’ll know from our South Downs Way articles, we divided the 159 km trail into 9 walks. For each photo in the series I’ve provided a brief description, which lists on which of the 9 walks the photo was taken. The description also provides a link to the article related to that particular walk.

Naturally the photos were taken as we were walking the trail, so some of them are not of the best quality. Nevertheless I hope you’ll enjoy the series and perhaps even get inspired to walk the trail too.

View the South Downs Way photo series >>

Read our articles about walking the South Downs Way >>

Note

You will need the Macromedia Flash Player to view the photo presentations published on this blog.

The copyright to all content in this photo presentation belongs to Anni Poulsen and Dawn Ahukanna, unless otherwise marked. Any kind of reproduction, scraping or storing of any part of the design, text, images or other content in this presentation is not allowed. You may not restrict or inhibit the use or enjoyment of this presentation by anyone else.

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