"Matt, Take Me To Europe!"

You can afford to go to Europe. As a matter of fact, you can't afford not to.

the “horse well” of Salzburg

6 July 2015, 9:58 am: The Pferdeschwemme was a bath for horses in the early 18th century.
You’d only associate it with horses nowadays because of the equine frescoes surrounding it and the big horse statue at the center.

Locals know it mostly as a fancy concrete pond into which kids like to throw coins. SOUND OF MUSIC obsessives
know it as one of the fountains around which Maria and the younguns caterwaul.

Yeah, a Nazi prick in training shows up here, too. Liesl deserves so much better.
He is cocky going on a**hole. (That’s funnier if you sing it.)

The bath sits against the face of the Monchsberg mountain on Herbert von Karajan Square, named for the Berlin Philharmonic’s principal conductor of 35 years, a Salzburg native who is arguably the top-selling classical music recording artist of all time.

The horse pond and its colorful murals were designed in 1693, around
the time the archbishop erected new royal stables next to the square.

Matt January 2, 2016 Movie & TV Locations, Salzburg No Comments

Lay Your Hands on Me

2 July 2015, 9:10 pm: Laying hands on the Tyn Church soothes me. It centers me.

You know how, when you fill up a gas can at the petrol station, you’re supposed to keep the pump’s nozzle in contact with the container at all times to reduce static electricity that might spark a fire? Or how they tell you near lightning to wear shoes with rubber soles or sit in a car with its rubber tires so you won’t get struck?

Placing my palm on a wall of the Tyn Church is my soul’s fire prevention. It’s the rubber in my heart’s shoes.

I walk past that magnificent structure at least four times a day on every day that I’m in Prague. Without fail, I touch it the first chance I get on day one of each new Prague visit. I touch it again on my way out to the train station or airport.

It’s a hug hello and a hug goodbye.

Matt January 2, 2016 Prague No Comments

Sheffield peeks through the British winter fog.

If you’ve met me for drinks anytime in the past few months, you know I’ve been repeatedly passing a fuzzy gaze across England, squinting to discern which British cities warrant a Matt visit this spring.

Early this morning, before my janitor Ezekiel had even swept the confetti off the studio floor from last night’s New Year’s Eve festivities, I received from a UK hotel franchise PR manager an email that snapped Sheffield right into focus.

Through January 10, rooms at one of the five highest-rated hotels in Sheffield are available to me and my clients for half-price.

The Stranglers are performing in numerous English towns in March; we can take our pick of shows and explore the corresponding cities. Sheffield has been on my short list of most likely destinations since this concert tour was announced. Offering a favorably reviewed hotel at 50% off definitely shortens that list even further.

I’ll need to lock up a room for myself within nine days in order to snag the half-price deal. Tell me you’re in for our March adventure before January 10 and I’ll snare you a 50% discount on a room of your own. I’ll be talking with the PR manager to be sure, but I think the half-price offer is good on any size room or occupancy. So whether it’s just you in a single room or you and your love muffin in a suite, the price will be half off of that room’s regular rate.

Our March excursion begins in London and then moves through two or three smaller UK towns. If we accept this grin-inducing half-off hotel deal, Sheffield is definitely one of them.

Matt January 2, 2016 England, Upcoming Trips No Comments