Uncornered Market Travel Blog - Travel Wide, Live Deep

The Lesson of the Great Bavarian Wine Harvest

by Daniel Noll

Has anyone ever told you how lucky you are regarding something for which you've worked so hard? Even when they're trying to pay you a compliment, it stings a bit, doesn’t it?

After a visit to a family winery in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia this past October, I imagine that’s how winemakers sometimes feel.

During a weekend crush event at Bickel-Stumpf winery, we helped pick the season’s Cabernet Sauvignon. We enjoyed the blazing autumn sun, we ate heartily, and we tasted far too many wines. And like any roundly fulfilling experience, one of life’s lessons was reinforced along the way: the best in life is often less about glamour and more about hard work, mettle, and passion.

Every Döner Tells a Story, Don’t It? It does in Berlin.

by Audrey Scott

Istanbul is like Kreuzberg, but less Turkish.

— A Berlin cabbie puts the city's Turkish neighborhood in perspective.

Take a walk down any street in Kreuzberg, Berlin and you'll find scads of döner shops offering shaved, spiced meat (usually lamb) served inside rolled flatbread or in a bread pocket. At a distance, all döner shops look similar – meat sears away on a giant spindle, colorful salads await, and a few guys of Turkish origin zip around putting it all together.

Becoming Wanderers in Residence with G Adventures

by Audrey Scott

Over the weekend, we alluded to the fact that we had been selected as inaugural members of the G Adventures Wanderers in Residence program. We were introduced on stage, we called it out on Facebook and Twitter, people congratulated us.

Then the phones started ringing. The back channels lit up. So did the front channels. Everyone was asking: “Sounds cool. Now what does this mean again?”

Travel: A Means or an End?

by Daniel Noll

We are excited to announce that we have been selected by G Adventures for their Wanderers in Residence program. In preparation for the official announcement today, we answered a few questions about our journey, including the age-old travel writing and travel blogging query, “Why do you travel?“

In doing so, we ticked off a list, gazed at our navels and stumbled onto a stickier query: Is travel merely an instrument to achieve a set of objectives or is travel an aim in itself?

Tuscany in Autumn: From Hilltowns to Harvest

by Audrey Scott

As autumn advances, the sunflowers fall, the golden soil is turned for the winter. Grapes, too, are ready for harvest. People celebrate.

Tuscany's poetry is packed in the fields, the hills, the history, the food, and the people who make it all possible.

Tuscan Food: Eat Your Heart Out with these Dishes and Wines

by Daniel Noll

When we think of Italy, we think of vineyard orchards populated by wild boars, happy cows and people who talk with their hands and sound like they're yelling at each other all the time even though they are really just talking about how great the tagliatelle is.

Berlin on a Bicycle: The World in an Afternoon Interlude

by Daniel Noll

Berlin, cut clouds moving quickly. Crisp autumn air. Wide streets. Unfathomable history.

We set out on borrowed bicycles. They give me pause: Audrey’s back tire has a leak and my handlebars wobble like something out of the Wizard of Oz.

I begin to move. My apprehension fades, those handlebars steadier than I imagined.

“It's like riding a bicycle,” I laugh to myself.

Life Lessons from A Tuscan Wedding

by Daniel Noll

Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me.

–- Carl Sandburg

“Are you visiting Tuscany for your honeymoon?” Lorenza, our wine tasting hostess at Avignonesi winery, asked over a swirl of 2007 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

“No,” I laughed. “We're actually here for our 10th anniversary. We were married just down the road in Pienza in 2000.“

Even as the words came out, I thought: Ten years? Really?

Panorama of the Week: The World’s Loneliest UNESCO Site

by Audrey Scott

Have you ever wondered which UNESCO World Heritage site is the least visited?

When we heard a rumor calling out the Jesuit ruins in the towns of Trinidad and Jesus in Paraguay as the least appreciated UNESCO World Heritage site, we figured they were worth a visit.

Ten Favorite Experiences in Southern India

by Daniel Noll

We recently reminisced about the time we spent in southern India in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. We share below the images and experiences – some from a guidebook, others from grace – that we turned over in our memories from this very special part of the world.