GAY LONDON CALLING!


Going to LONDON?  London is widely recognized as one of the gay capitals of the world. The city offers fabulous shopping, clubs and bars to suit all tastes, and cosmopolitan cuisine to make your mouth water. And don’t miss the fabulous EuroPride London parade and festival, which takes place every summer.

London boasts four World Heritage Sites and over 200 attractions are free to enter. There’s nowhere else like it! And if you want to get out of the hustle bustle of the city  ….

Wild London
Get close to wildlife at one of London’s nature reserves, aquariums or Butterfly Houses. Despite being in a city, you are not so far away from nature as you may think.

 

Restaurants – Sky high views, intimate dining rooms, original Picassos on the walls, Madonna at the next table or a traditional Caribbean snack when you’re on the go – whatever your palate, you’ll be catered for in London.

Clubs & Late Night

If you want nightlife, it’s here in London. There are plenty of venues guaranteed to keep you pumping on the dancefloor until dawn.   Discotec, The End, 18 West Central Street, WC1, Tel: +44 (0)20 7419 9199 – Nearest Tube station: Tottenham Court Road
Roll up, roll up – come and see the sideshow! Yes, this funky night is a gallery of the weird and the wonderful (not to mention the completely wasted!). So drag your most flamboyant outfit out of the wardrobe and get down!

Heaven, Under The Arches, Villiers Street, WC2, Tel: +44 (0)20 7930 2020
Nearest Tube station: Charing Cross – Young hearts run free at one of the world’s most famous gay clubs.

Whether your thing is tiaras or suits, you’ll find something to keep you amused. Not least the drag queens and go-go dancers.

 

London is the ultimate shopping destination and thousands of shops line the city’s streets. The stores are filled with everything from expertly sourced vintage fashion to the latest in contemporary furniture design. Keep one step ahead of the style trends and find out what shops have just hit the scene and which shopping events are just too good to miss. Every November, America’s premiere sample sale Billion Dollar Babes returns to London with designer discounts galore! The designers include Diane Von Furstenberg, Cacherel, Philip Treacy and True Religion Jeans. Also take advantage of Wella Professionals and Bloww’s Paul Merritt who will be offering top tips on the hottest hairstyles this winter.
When: 4 November  Where: Lindley Hall, Vincent Square, SW1

Even without a guidebook at their disposal, most gay visitors to London would soon find their way to the nearest gay bar. Call it gaydar if you must, but would those same visitors be as quick to locate the best venues for experimental gay theatre, or the nearest place for a night of camp comedy? Would they stumble across the gay-friendliest hotels and restaurants, and would they really make the most of all that gay London has to offer – or simply go on a gay pub crawl? Everyone I know that has ever went to London, loved it! Meet me at the red phone booth on the corner???

 

  ATHENS  MYKONOS   LESBOS    SANTORNINI 

Modern Greece has not followed the reputation of Ancient Greece for liberalism on matters of homosexuality. Whilst there have been some progress for example in 1987 the age of consent was equalised at 15 Greece retains much discriminatory law on homosexuality and is probably the least progressive country in the European Union. There is nonetheless a reasonable gay scene in the country focused in Athens as well as the islands of Mykanos and Lesbos which contine to draw gay and lesbian holiday makers seeking sun, sex and sand.

Whether its Athens or Mykonos you’re headed to, these 2 links contain all the info a gay traveler needs. 
Both are very popular. Here’s one big tip! EVERYTHING on Mykonos  island is either gay or gay friendly. Heavy cruising on the beaches (especially “Super Paradise”) and around “Panagia Paraportiani” church in the town, at night. Lots of bars and clubs, mostly gay. Mykonos town is so small that even if you hit a bar by chance, you can’t miss. Just follow the studs in GAY GREECE!



 For those in search of a sexually muffled pilgrimage, try a boat ferry to the monastic peninsula of all-male Mount Athos. Between these two different worlds is a Greek culture slowly changing to accommodate new concepts of Human Rights with Orthodox traditions.

Athens must be the first port of call, if for no other reason than the Acropolis. You can read about it all your life, but when the Parthenon appears high on the Acropolis hill, both history and myth erupt into a sun-bright present tense of stunning marble architecture. The grace and massive grandeur of the temple is distinctly awe-inspiring and so deeply swathed in history and legend that it’s difficult not to be sentiently stirred at first encounter. The nobility of the edifice beautifully dominates the hill, the city, the country and indeed western civilization.






Santorini is simply unique. Created thousands of years ago by a volcano, the spectacular rim of the caldera will provide endless hours of contemplation and romance as you gaze at the view while either relaxing on your hotel veranda or strolling down alleyways between the brilliant white houses of the villages that teeter on the edge of the cliff. –  While the  island of Santorini may not offer the exciting night life or gay life of some of its neighboring islands, Santorini provides great beauty and romantic escape for anyone in search of sun, sand and relaxation.




These lots to do all over Greece – Instead of listing everything  here I included many links, that I found very useful. If you go, take some photos for me!

take me anywhere in Eastern Europe!  LOVE THE MEN THERE!
Poland, Hungary, Czech Rep., Romania, yum, yum, and yum!
I just found this new site GLOABL GAYZ which gives you great info about gay places all over the world!

Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is an old modern city of cobblestone streets and ubiquitous cafes serving coffee frappes and cappuccino–and pizza for breakfast. There are electric trolley cars, cute T-shirted guys, gypsy beggars, orthodox prelates, cell phone addicts and newspaper kiosks displaying dozens of girlie magazines—but not a single gay rag. It’s a city of grand baronial architecture and recent communist facades, stylish boutiques and ancient orthodox churches.

Homosexuals in Sofia, Bulgaria are not part of the accepted social order yet there are countless legions of them/us participating in the pulse of everyday life in the post communist order of things. Behind the nice clothes, calm talk and tasty food that evening, each of those gay and lesbian citizens had stories to tell that belie the calm of modern Sofia–stories of rejection, confusion, alienation, discrimination, hiding and fear.



 “Bulgaria’s capital city, Sofia, continues to attract people from the gay community, not only because it is the biggest city, offering anonymity and distance from relatives, but also because of the strong commercial gay scene (bars, clubs, discos, cruising areas). People are more ‘out of the closet’ and it is easier to find a partner.”

This description of gay Sofia is from the Bulgarian LGBT Gemini web site (http://www.bgogemini.org/bg/index.php). Not unlike any major metropolitan capital city LGBT citizens pervade the entire spectrum of the culture. From the velvet closets of wealthy elite families to the impoverished unemployed migrant worker family, queer men and women seek out contacts and mates using the sophistication of the Internet or the furtive shadows of a cruise park or the colorful late night discos.




Also, it’s an interesting cultural footnote that Sofia (population 900,000) has so many gay venues while Bucharest, the capital of Romania that we also visited on this trip, with a much larger population (2.2 million), only has one gay venue. One observer thought the Bulgarians were more daring and defiant of authority than the Romanians and willing to take more risks. There may be some truth to this as Romania was cowed by an evil and brutal dictator from 1965-1989. As well, the homophobic Romanian Orthodox church seems to have more influence over the people than the Bulgarian Greek Orthodox church.

Also noted, “there are around 10 gay bars in Sofia at the moment, a place with gay porno and dark rooms, and hopefully, within the next year or so Sofia can have its own gay sauna. The actual problems of opening such places in Bulgaria come from, first, the fact that you may have to deal with the mafia structures which control most of the entertainment business (and more) in Bulgaria.”

So – it might be a nice place to visit, but wouldn’t want to spend a whole lot of time there! But if any of you Bulgarian or Romania boys are coming to Chicago….look me up!

Situated on a natural harbor, prosperous, cosmopolitan Dubai is a former fishing
and pearling port founded in 1833. While it has always drawn expatriates, the
discovery of oil in 1966 brought frenetic development and influxes of foreign workers
and tourists. English is now Dubai’s third most frequently spoken language, after
Arabic and Farsi. The shopping capital of the Middle East has profusions of vast hotels,
even vaster malls and, for the foreseeable future, vast construction sites.

In the last couple years, it resembles Las Vegas on crack! There is so much
building going on there and so many celebrities making a getting away there,
it has become the place to see and been seen at. It has an amazing skyline
and some breathtaking architecture and opulence. Currently the tallest building
in the world is being constructed, to be finished in 2008.



Lured by the shopping, beaches and desert safaris, more and more gay and lesbian
travelers are discovering Dubai — despite the United Arab Emirates’ harsh official
anti-gay stance — including GIs on leave from Iraq, wealthy sheiks, Europeans and
world travelers on stopovers. Homosexuality is illegal in the UAE. Recently, police
arrested 22 UAE men, one Indian, and three Arabs from neighbouring countries at a
hotel in Ghantut in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. It’s very hit and miss but discretion is advised.
Just remember that this is an Islamic country – and a pretty liberal one as far as Islam goes.
Much of the Gay community uses Internet to stay in touch in the emirates. See Article.

  

                                     

The Desert City is said to have two climates — hot and very hot — but January
days average an enjoyable 75 degrees. Stunning bodies line Dubai’s beaches, the most
popular of which are Jumeira and Jabal Ali. Most parks and beaches have days strictly
reserved for women and children, so men should check with their hotel before heading
down to Jumeira on Saturdays or al-Mamzar on Wednesdays. Women will be relieved
to know that swimwear, including bikinis, is perfectly acceptable pool or beachside.

You can ski indoors here or sandboard! Take your pick. But shopping is the favorite
pastime! With a flurry of Chanel & Gucci stores, mega-malls, streets of gold and old
spice markets, Dubai is a shopoholic’s mecca. So when the entire city ups its efforts
and marks down its prices for the fabulous annual Dubai Shopping Festival
(Jan. 4-Feb. 4, www.mydsf.com ), it’s time to grab several empty suitcases and
head for the Venice of the Gulf.

Dubai dos and don’ts

Although Dubai is in many ways strikingly modern, please note some important
caveats: There are venues where gays can meet, but as homosexuality is punishable
by up to 14 years’ imprisonment, overt cruising and public displays of affection are not
recommended. Again, the internet is best – unless you know someone there. But caution
is always advised.

 Don’t consume alcohol in public, and don’t eat, drink or smoke in public during the holy
month of Ramadan (www.holidays.net/ramadan), which in 2006 runs Sept. 23-Oct. 22.
Don’t photograph Muslim women, and don’t sit in such a way that the soles of your feet
point at anyone.

Resembling a billowing sail, the outstanding all-suite Burj-al-Arab 
www.burj-al-arab.com ; ($1,100-$3,700 a night) is considered the world’s best hotel
(7 stars! with prices to match). Dubai InterContinental (www.dubai.intercontinental.com
 is a little more affordable ($122-$477) by Dubai Harbor has a gay-popular bar next to its
coffee shop and a 24-hour InterFitness center, complete with pool, floodlit tennis court,
two championship squash courts and state-of-the-art gym.

Dubai offers more than 450 restaurants, with flavors ranging from Thai to Cajun. Shabestan
(at the InterContinental, see above) offers fabulous Persian flavors and sounds. The stunning
al-Mahara (Burj-al-Arab’ +9714/301-7648) excels at tantalizing seafood dishes. Nightlife is
limited to hotels and private clubs, where the consumption of alcohol is permitted.

Recently I was told, Gay-frequented bars and clubs change often and are subject to
occasional homophobic police raids. Jules (Le Meridien, Airport Road; +9714/331-3555; www.dubai.lemeridien.com ), in the chic Meridien, is a current venue of choice, where
visiting hotties mingle over Mexican snacks.