Showing posts with label cabbie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cabbie. Show all posts

Monday, 13 February 2017

Taxi to Petra: a love story

Inside Mac's deluxe ride to Petra
Images copyright Halfway Anywhere
Somewhat tongue in cheek, for Valentine's Day we bring you a taxi love story. We loved this story when we found it, and have been waiting for the right occasion to share it. This is the day.

Taxi to Petra: a love story

It isn’t every day that one finds (or makes) love in a taxi, but fortunately for myself and one lucky cabbie, that day was about to arrive for the both of us. Our story begins one night in the city of Eilat, Israel. I was determined to see the ancient city of Petra (in Jordan) and had elected to do so on my own, forgoing the popular guided tour route. It was around 19:00 and knowing that the border closed at 20:00 I found myself a taxi to the crossing... [read the rest of this love story].

Qadir, Mac's trusted taxi driver
Originally published in 2013, we are happy to give Mac's story a bit of a revival. He has a great blog, be sure to check it out.

Halfway Anywhere - Mac's blog
@HalfwayAnywhere - follow Mac on Twitter

Related resources
They fell in love on a layover
Looking for love on a layover
What I learned from my taxi driver
Famous fares: Nimoy drives JFK
The elusive Kabul taxi

Friday, 22 April 2016

What I learned from my taxi driver

The Perfect Ride
"The Perfect Ride: a Jewish, Republican Taxi Driver in NYC, from Russia and Israel
with a daughter who lives at Ocean 4 in Miami, Oh...and he Loves Fox News!"
creative commons image clender on Flickr
We love a good story. Especially a good taxi story. Building on our recent Famous fares: Nimoy drives JFK post, here are a few stories of everyday people and lessons learned from inside a taxi.

The Case of the Israeli Taxi Driver - Joel M. Hoffman

"I'll tell you what,” I said to the taxi driver in Haifa who was trying to cheat me. “It’s Shabbat. Whatever price you tell me — that’s what I’ll pay.” It was Friday night, and I was on my way to services at Leo Baeck. As a graduate student at the Technion, I hadn’t yet purchased a car, so I had to rely on public transportation — busses, usually, but taxis Friday evenings and on other occasions when I wanted to treat myself... [read about Joel's experience].

Two lessons I learned from a Taxi driver in Istanbul - Ralf Haberich

Istanbul is a crazy place. Officially this city takes care of 15 Million people, but insiders and locals say this figure easily adds up to 21-22 million if you consider all legally and illegally present inhabitants. If you have never been there you still should be able to imagine the traffic situation. Roughly 12.000 taxis (or as Turkish language says: Taksi) in narrow, hilly, uncoordinated streets blowing their horn for different reasons: warning, information, respect or simply to reach out to an attractive lady walking by. In between fast scooter drivers and now & then luxury Bentleys making their way through the crowded streets... [read Ralf's lessons].

How one Boston taxi driver changed my talk - Collaborative Gain

Yesterday, I had a great and humbling conversation with my taxi driver on my way to my last “Customers Included” book talk of the week in Boston – and it changed what I had to say when I got on stage. Stuart – my driver – was very friendly from the start.... After we put my bags in the trunk and Stuart started us on the trek, I asked him how long he’d been driving. He said he liked his job and had been with this taxi company about a year. When i asked what he did before this taxi company, he started – tentatively at first – to share his life story... [read the lesson].


Related resources
Three Lessons I Learned from a Taxi Driver on How to Get Clients - Nathalie Lussier
Famous fare: Nimoy drives JFK
Dealing with taxi drivers
Do we really hate taxis?
The 420 from PDX

Saturday, 31 May 2014

14 Great Cities Where You Can Eat Like a Cabbie

You are visiting a new city, loving it, yet... you loathe tourist traps. Where does the curious and adventuresome traveler go to eat like the locals?

LLoviendo Cafe
LLoviendo Cafe, Jorge Fernández-Trevejo Rivas
via creativecommons
Think about it. Who in the city, is watching their pennies, and has an appetite that needs ongoing love and attention?

Why the city's cabbies, of course!

It's a trick of the well-traveled: pick your cabbie's brain for the best cheap spots for good food in town.

How you ask the question makes a difference though: "Where do the locals go for breakfast around here?" or "Where do you and all the cabbies go for good, cheap food?", works better than "We're hungry. Where can we go for dinner?" (the latter runs the risk of being whisked off to his uncle's restaurant, or some diner where the driver gets a cut).

Leaving town before you find the best driver? Ask away and take notes; you never know when you'll be back. Bonus points if your driver mentions a spot you managed to find on your own!

AthensRestaurants in Athens (see mentions of George the famous taxi driver of Greece)
BerlinBerlin Food Adventures *
Buenos AiresBuenos Aires Food Adventures *
ChicagoEating like a cab driver
DubaiWhere taxi drivers dine: We visit the restaurants that fuel the city's cab drivers
Ho Chi Minh CityEating by taxi in Ho Chi Minh City
Hong KongTaxi Tales: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers
IstanbulEating & Drinking in Istanbul: 3 Taxi Driver Tips
LondonHail London's new TV star: Cabbie who knows where to find the capital's best food
Nosh and Knowledge: The lore, language and robust diets of  London's "black cab" drivers
New YorkLooking for a culinary trip? Follow that cab.
Famous Fat Dave: the Hungry Cabbie *
New York Food Adventures *
RomeWhere to eat in Rome - by the city's cabbies *
SingaporeWhat Singapore Taxi Drivers Eat For Lunch or “Uncle, 载我去吃饭!”
Top 8 hawker food centres taxi drivers patronise
TorontoThe top 10 restaurants for taxi drivers in Toronto
Washington DCWhere cabbies eat like kings
Created with the HTML Table Generator
*dated but likely still valuable tips

Just a sampling, of course. But rest assured, that if there is a city, and there are taxis, there are cabbies that know where the best eats are.

Berlin-Curry 36
The famous Curry 36 in Berlin
Google is your friend - but so is Layne Mosler (@taxigourmet) of Taxi Gourmet, who is turning her website dedicated to her pursuit of the cabbie's lunch trail into a new book. Driving Hungry, with croudsourced funding by Kickstarter, will be out in 2014.

Curious? Read this interview with Layne by @epicurious.


Related resources:
In case you missed it... here's the answer to the burning question: Do we really hate taxis?