Lovely - loo view at Pieve Ligure

PIEVE LIGURE, GENOA, ITALY

Brilliant to see this photo. As well as the fabulous, relaxing, life-affirming view, it’s also exciting to be able to connect this loo, located in the town of Pieve Ligure, Genoa, Italy, to the first-floor ladies lav at Deeson’s British Restaurant, Canterbury, UK.  How? They both have views of Christian churches OF COURSE. Here, it’s the stunning Pieve St. Michael Archangel (from which the town gets its name) and in Canterbury it’s Canterbury Cathedral itself. A burgeoning sub-category of loo views is beginning to emerge.

Intrigued as to what ‘Pieve’ means (aren’t you?) I carried out some extensive research and typed ‘Pieve’ into Wikipedia. I learned that:

“In the Middle Ages, a pieve was a rural church with a baptistery [an area of a church or separate building used for baptisms] upon which other churches without baptisteries depended.”

Canterbury Cathedral from loo

I also learned that “Most pievi appeared [in Italy] in the 5th century, as Christianity expanded in the rural areas outside the main cities; in the 9th-10th centuries they also added bell towers.”

Somewhat dry information about the origin of ‘pieve’, granted. However, the wonderful photo (thanks to Laura for sending it) makes you feel as though you’re on holiday, when you have the time and inclination to learn such stuff. And if you’ve come this far, you might be interested to know that the Pieve St. Michael Archangel also houses a fabulous collection of processional crosses! Brilliant – let’s go see…

Located on a bend in the Nile River, this magical shower proudly attends to the washing needs of visitors to the Nile River Explorers Campsite in Jinja, Uganda.

Thanks very much to Kelsey Fraske-Bornyk from Canada for sending me the photo (left). Great stuff. And it seems that she isn’t the only person to have photographed this shower. The tremendous washing facility is also featured on Flickr, by Manogamo (see photo below). Given the shower head positioning in the photos, it would appear that there is more than one shower with a view at the campsite. So we could be talking about a pair of showers or perhaps even an entire row!

Using the shower(s) is particularly spectacular at sunset. Check out Steve Lorimer and Roxy Harvey‘s blog/travel journal OverAfrica to see what it’s like to shower next to the Nile in the glow of the setting sun. This experience is also captured beautifully here…

River Nile from shower

As well as showers, you’ll notice that their post also discusses white water rafting on the Nile, which is a popular activity at the campsite. Check out the YouTube video below to see some fun white water action…

NB: Jinja is located on the shores of Lake Victoria, east of Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Rising out of Lake Victoria, it is said that the source of the River Nile is located here.

Best loo view on the Great Ocean Walk

Great to see this photo from Megan Watson in Australia. It’s taken at the Devils Kitchen camping site on the Great Ocean Walk - a 104km walking trail on the south-west coast of Victoria. Megan reports that a number of the toilets on the trail have terrific views, but that Devils Kitchen is the best.

This beautifully shot video, presented by Ranger Will Cox,  the man in charge of managing the trail, reveals more about the Great Ocean Walk. It seems that it has a lot more to offer than just loo views! What?! Although it’s unspoken that using this loo would obviously be the highlight of any journey along the trail…

NB: Victoria is the smallest of the mainland Australian states, located in the south-east of the country. The state capital is Melbourne.

Planet Earth

During an interview on BBC Radio 4, British born NASA Astronaut Dr Nicholas Patrick has revealed details about the state-of-the-art lavatory on board the International Space Station.

He explained that it has recently been moved from the lab into the Node 3 ‘Tranquility’ area of the station. ‘Tranquility’ is fitted with a bay window, called the ‘Cupula’, and offers panoramic views of Planet Earth below.

So, could it be? A toilet with a view of the Earth from space? Sadly, Dr Patrick says that the loo door prevents what would surely be the ultimate loo with a view. Although he did reveal that the view is visible while using the ISS’s gymnasium.

(Photo courtesy of NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio).

What the view from a loo with a view on the ISS might look like

U & O - Unkai and Onsen from a urinal

Thanks to Sam in Japan for sending this photo to loos@looswithviews.com. It is taken on his mobile phone from a urinal (indoors in front of a window) at the Country Road Youth Hostel, Yufuin, Japan.

Yufuin is a spa town on the island of Kyushu (one of Japan’s four main islands) and is known for its natural hot spring baths or ‘onsen’.

Looking out, you can see the early morning mist – known as ‘unkai’ (‘sea of cloud’) – hovering over the town below. You can also see steam rising from a number of hot baths.

As well as a loo view, the Country Road Hostel offers other (absolutely tremendous) surprises. Sam told me that the couple who own the hostel SERENADE THEIR GUESTS as they check-out with a rendition of the John Denver classic Take me Home Country Roads (in harmony with guitar).

AMAZING – IT MAKES YOU WANT TO VISIT JUST SO YOU CAN LEAVE!

Thank goodness that this moment has been captured on video and uploaded to YouTube.

And if that wasn’t enough, once a year the hostel organises a race like no other – how far can you travel from the hostel in 24-hours on a one-speed ‘granny’ bike with basket (bike known in Japan as a ‘Mamachari’)? Last year the winner made it a whopping 200 km.

A loo with a view, Japanese onsens, awesome performing owners and arguably the best bike race on earth. What a hostel. What a town. What a country.