Karl Krause - Co-Founder, Editor in Chief

USA: On our road trip along the Pacific Highway number one from San Francisco to Los Angeles, we made a one night stop at Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort Spa in Avila Beach.

Review of the Legendary Trunks Exhibition Amsterdam – The name Louis Vuitton stands for luxury and design and is known as one of the world’s most valuable luxury brands. Nevertheless, everything started with high-quality travel equipment and luggage. Those wooden framed travel trunks were the beginning of the well-known LV – brand dating back to the 1850s. It took a Swedish collector many years to collect a beautiful array of these special handmade massive trunks and now they are on the show.

Sleeping in a Slumber Wine Barrel Taufsteinhütte Central Germany – We have to admit, it was a very special experience to sleep in a wine barrel in the middle of a winter wonderland in the German state Hessen. During our Winter Road Trip from Frankfurt am Main to Nature Park Hoher Vogelsberg we spent a night in the gay-friendly hotel “Slumber Wine Barrel” village at Taufsteinhhütte in the middle of the forest. The view over the Hoherodskopf with its huge with its huge radio tower covered in ice and snow was stunning. Inside the wine barrel, we felt like two hobbits in love sitting in their cozy burrow warmed up by a heater system. The newly built sauna barrel as part of the 10 wine barrel village was perfect for the weather conditions. Just make your reservation for a private session and you will be warmed up after a day in cold nature on the chute with an additional unique view over the forest of the Vogelsberg. A delicious traditional dinner and a substantial breakfast the next morning completed our extraordinary accommodation experience. Enjoy our review about gay-friendly “Slumber Wine Barrel”!

Our Gay Couple Travel Year 2017 – Happy New Year’s celebrations everyone. May the year 2018 become a great year for you and your beloved ones full of love, peace, opportunities! We would like to take the chance to thank you for your support, love, and loyalty during our past travel year 2017 and, of course, for all your tips, advice, and for all the time we spent together all around the world.

ICELAND: No-Man’s-Land of Skaftafell National Park: Eternal Glacier Ice, wonderful hikes to unique waterfalls and over thousands of years old icebergs in the glacier lagoon.

Love Story of three Gay Couples: “Love Beyond Borders” – An extraordinary love between two human beings needs an extraordinary love story. And some really good storytellers, of course. But before we start to tell you a story of three couples, imagine the following scenario: you and the person you love are separated by several time zones, thousands of kilometers, a couple of countries and oceans, permanently. The only thing how you two can be in contact is to chat via apps, Skype, and, of course, to travel. But despite the distance between you and your love, the only thing that really matters to you is that you are in love.

ICELAND: Ever heard of the Black Beaches of South Iceland or the small South Icelandic municipality Vík or the national birds of Iceland, the Puffins?

Same-Sex Marriage Austria – For many of you, and even for us, this great news coming from Austria feel like an early Christmas present, especially for the LGBTQ+ community of the European country Austria. The Constitutional Court of Austria decided today that by the beginning of 2019 same-sex couples will be allowed to marry in the alpine country. After Germany this summer, the next European country will get marriage equality, although some time and patience is still needed.

Amsterdam Light Festival Highlights 2015-2014 – Wintertime in Western Europe is quite a difficult time: almost no snow combined with a lot of wind and rain. Additional to shorter days and the lack of light the Dutch capital Amsterdam initiated 4 years ago the annually Amsterdam Light Festival. Artist working on alight project were given the opportunity to dive Amsterdam into light. Do it like the gay couple is doing it and discover the beauty of the city in the dark! Turn the lights on for Amsterdam Light Festival Highlights of 2015 & 2014!

Great News from Downunder: Australians say YES to Same-Sex Marriage! – Australia is about to be the next country joining the list of the 24 countries already allowing same-sex marriage by law. After Germany this summer, Australia could become the 25th country legalizing marriage between two people of the same gender. By taking the decision to hold an exceptional public opinion poll as a postal vote on same-sex marriage, the Australians had been free to vote for or against marriage equality. Although the final decision has still to be made in the Australian parliament, the Australian LGBTQ+ community took a huge step forward today, November 15th, 2017.

Our Gay Travel Guide Gaudi Architecture Casa Mila La Pedrera – A landmark of pure Modernism. Barcelona is without any doubt the city of Antoni Gaudí, a Spanish Catalan architect of Catalan Modernism. Next to the UNESCO World Heritage Sagrada Familia, one of his most famous creations of Gaudí it the apartment complex Casa Milà. Also known as La Pedrera (the quarry), this civil building was Antonio Gaudi’s last work before dedicating his full energy to built the world famous, Sagrada Familia (estimated finish in 2026). The Casa Milà is one of our favorite buildings in Barcelona and definitely worth the queuing time. Get your ticket and start your discovery with an elevator trip to the roof top of the Gaudí’s building, we enjoyed an amazing view over the city. On our way down we explored fully, originally equipped apartments and learned about the difference of creating this huge piece of architectural art in the middle of Barcelona. Enjoy our photos and the Casa Milà through a couple of men’s eyes.

The 9th edition of the Goldelsen-Cup Berlin Gay Lesbian Volleyball Tournament 2017 – It is time to kick-off our Gay Sports articles on our blog with this year’s Goldelsen Cup in Berlin! The 9th edition of the annual International Gay and Lesbian Volleyball Tournament in Berlin is considered to be one of the biggest European LGBTQ+ Sports Tournaments taking place at the end of November in the German capital. As chance would have it, Karl is a passionate Volleyball player who started his Volleyball career at the age of 12. After he came out of the closet, Karl decided to join the International Gay-Lesbian Volleyball League playing in tournaments all around the world with his Teams from SSL Vorspiel Berlin and SLS “Der Bogenschütze” Dresden e.V..

THE CRUISE: The weather could not have been better when the first high heels entered the dancefloor. Blue sky and warm summer sun were promising making the Lady Party a total success, again!

CRUISE: Right after being back from ashore, we slipped into our golden wrestling outfits, put on our disco wigs and golden sunglasses to join the party crowd on the pool deck to “Boogie Oogie Oogie” into the night.

Where are you from Party The Cruise 2017: As a permanent costume party feature, The Cruise by La Demence organizes the getting-to-know event as one of the first parties of the annual cruise week. There are more than two thousand gay men on board the cruise ship Monarch but we actually have no idea where every single man actually comes from! And there were lot men to take into account! In total 86 different nationalities from all over the world gathered together for one big colorful, peaceful gaycation celebration on board the gay cruise ship!

ICELAND: Lucky us, we had a little extra time during our 21-day Road Trip around Iceland to try a second whale watching tour, this time in Dalvík in North Iceland.

GERMANY: Same-Sex Marriage holds a majority within all parties except the right-wing party AfD (Alternative for Germany) and members of the Christian Democratic Union. We will have Same-Sex Marriage in Germany!

Gay Couple Travel Blogger Benidorm Pride Spain 2017 – Summer is over! No, wait it is not! The Spanish holiday destination Benidorm is inviting the LGBTQ+ community from Europe and the whole world to celebrate one of the last Gay Pride of the Pride season 2017 in the city at the Mediterranean Sea. It will be a whole week full of events, parties, and the rainbow colored gay pride parade in the summer sun of the popular Costa Blanca coast in Spain. For the 7th time, the gay pride will take place in Benidorm expecting more than 15.000 people, especially coming from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. We as gay travel bloggers will arrive September 6th in Alicante traveling further to our final destination Benidorm at the Hotel Meliá Villaitana. Besides the incredible and unique skyline of Benidorm, the Spanish city has a remarkable old town, too. Our plans are to do an E-Bike tour along Benidorm’s coast visiting small coves and beaches and might even go snorkeling! Furthermore, we will make sure to have enough time to test Benidorm’s Mediterranean cuisine, the water park Aqualandia and the theme park Terra Mítica. But our main focus, of course, will be Benidorm Pride 2017 with its three “F”: Fun Friendly Flirty. Join us in Benidorm and on our Blog, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Twitter and experience the Spanish LGBTQ+ Festival in Benidorm through a couple of men‘s eyes!

A stay at ROCKET ROOMS Velden am Wörthersee gay-friendly – Summer time is Pink Lake time! This year for the first time, we attended the 10th edition of the popular Pink Lake Festival in Southern Austria. Therefore, we stayed at the gay-friendly Hotel ROCKET ROOMS right in the city center of Velden am Wörthersee. Our double room with balcony, a rich breakfast, friendly staff and the central location provided us everything we needed for our time in Carinthia. The market town Velden am Wörthersee, well-known for the Renaissance castle Schloss Velden, is located at the Western lake side of Lake Wörth. It is one of the most famous holiday resorts of Austria. Especially in summer time, the warm and turquoise blue water of the lake together with several public and private bathing beaches are creating a wonderfully relaxed holiday atmosphere. When you are looking for a stay in a modern, stylish and hip place in Velden, ROCKET ROOMS Velden are the right choice. Enjoy our hotel review of the LGBTQ+ friendly accommodation in Velden am Wörthersee and see the ROCKET ROOMS through a couple of men‘s eyes.

GERMANY: Election in Germany 2017: Vote and stand up for your freedom! Travesty for Germany Drag Election Posters calling for a Change (in Politics).

Our Photos Videos (Gay) Pride Week Amsterdam 2017 – The team of this year’s Gay Pride Week of the Dutch capital had a difficult task to solve. Why? Well, since 2016 was the year of the Euro Pride in Amsterdam with a whole month full of activities, events, and more than 560.000 guests from all over the world, the expectations to organize an impressive LGBTQ+ Pride Event were set high. You wanna know how we rate the (Gay) Pride Amsterdam 2017 in our home city? We loved it. And we are talking not only about the world famous Amsterdam Canal Parade.

Gay Couple Biking Tour Fort Island Pampus – Amsterdam during summer time is the best time of the year to explore the city but also the beautiful natural surroundings. But how are the Dutch people doing it? Of course, by bike! This weekend we decided to bike back in the past to learn more about Dutch history and the defense systems around Amsterdam, which have been declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site. We started our tour in Amsterdam center.

Our Strong Photos Gay Euro Pride Amsterdam 2016 – Amsterdam during the first weekend in August is like a festival of colors, rainbows and a lot of love. It is the time of the annually Gay Pride with a worldwide unique canal parade of colorful boats along the historic Prinsengracht. This year over 560.000 LGBT people from all over the world celebrated their pride in the Dutch capital, one of the most open-minded, gay-friendly and equality providing cities in the world. The gay couple Karl and Daan enjoyed this warm summer weekend in their hometown, sharing their 33 Strong Photos Gay Euro Pride Amsterdam 2016. Happy Pride 2016 from Amsterdam!

FINLAND: Kept as a secret, the citizens of Helsinki are more than proud to live in their wonderful nature connected city.

Gay Couple Baltic Pride 2017 Tallinn Estonia – We are happy to announce that we will attend this year’s Baltic Pride 2017! The LGBTQ+ event that aims to “increase the visibility of LGBTQ+ people” joins forces with Tallinn Pride. The rainbow colored Gay Pride Festival will take place from July 6th to July 9th. Therefore, the Estonian capital is planning to organize a long list of events throughout the pride week starting with art exhibitions, LGBTQ+ film screenings to the colorful gay pride parade through the capital of Estonia. Together with supporters from the Baltic States, across Europe and from all over the world, we will celebrate the 9th edition of Baltic Pride, that rotates between the three Baltic capitals Vilnius, Tallinn, and Riga. This year, it is Tallinn’s turn to host the gay pride week. But we will have more to explore in the beautiful city of Tallinn. As one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we cannot wait to spend the first week in July in Estonia. Join us on our gay travels to Estonia and see the Baltic Pride 2017 in Tallinn with this year’s festival theme “United” through a couple of men’s eyes.

The First Utrecht Canal Gay Pride 2017 The Netherlands – It is time. Time for the LGBTQ+ community of Utrecht to celebrate the annually Gay Pride Event with their first own, unique and rainbow colored Canal Pride Parade. “The heart of the Netherlands” will turn pink when for the first ever dressed up Grachten boats will ride the old canals of the fourth biggest city of the Netherlands accompanied by proud gay, lesbian, bi, trans and friends from all over the world. Starting at Ledig Erf, the Utrecht Gay Pride Parade on the canals will end at the Zandbrug, just around the corner of the well-known gay bars “Bodytalk” and “Café Kalff”.

CANADA: Visiting a Dinosaur museum was not the first thing that came to our mind when thinking of traveling the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta. But it was a great unexpected adventure.

CANADA: Thinking about Calgary, a public art scene would not be necessarily the first thing that comes to your mind, especially not in Downtown Calgary with all its huge skyscrapers and financial offices. We have been disabused. A variety of sculptures, gigantic graffitis, outdoor paintings and sunny parks with public art are scattered all around the heart of the Canadian city in the province of Alberta. Additional to the outdoor art installations, a multiplicity of public art in most of the foyers and backyards of the modern buildings showcase art pieces from all over the world. During our stay in Calgary right before our road trip through the Canadian Rocky Mountains of Alberta, we became gay city explorers.

FINLAND: Being one of the most powerful but grounded Gay Pride Parades in Finland, Europe and worldwide we attended so far, we could capture our favorite moments of love, diversity, and beauty.

ICELAND: Asking travel guides, books, blogs, and official websites was not really satisfactory concerning the length of our trip, choice of our rental car, the planning of our gay-friendly accommodations and assembling our camping equipment.

The Telus Spark Calgary Star Trek Academy Experience – There is always time for a Star Trek Day, at least for us Trekkies. And so we made sure to visit the Science Museum Telus Spark in Calgary for its Star Trek The Starfleet Academy Experience and day full of fun with Mister Spock, Captain Kirk, Captain Picard and Kathryn Janeway. Entering a perfectly themed world, we completed a phaser training, improved our Klingon knowledge with language lessons and tried to pass the Kobayashi Maru test. But there was more to see! The museum complex just 5 minutes by car north of Calgary Zoo opened in 2011 and is since then a place for interactive exhibits, multimedia presentations and educational demonstrations in Calgary, Alberta, and Canada. Right before our 2-week Road Trip through the Canadian Rocky Mountains of Alberta, we spend some adventurous days exploring Canada’s third-largest municipality and the surroundings sights. The exhibition around the Federation of Planets at Telus Spark is still open until May 4th. Enjoy our photos and story of our Star Trek experience and see the Canadian Science Museum Telus Spark through a couple of men’s eyes!

CANADA: Exploring the Canadian Rocky Mountains around Banff and Lake Louise: Visit and stay at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, the “Castle in the Rockies” at Banff National Park.

Our stay at the Calgary Airport Marriott Terminal Hotel Gay-friendly – After our wonderful road trip through Alberta and the Canadian Rocky Mountains all the way up to Jasper for Jasper Pride Festival, we returned to Calgary the head full of impressions and pictures of stunning nature. Before we started our trip back from Canada to Europe early in the morning, we stayed in the brand new Calgary Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel with a unique view over the International Airport YYC, Downtown Calgary, and the snowy tops of the Canadian Rockies. Luxurious interior, access to the M Club Lounge, and the super short way from the Hotel check-out to the Airport check-in made our gay travel In-Terminal hotel experience a great final adventure in Canada in the year of its 150th anniversary 2017. But why booking an In-Terminal Hotel? And did we sleep well although facing the runway of the airport? Enjoy our gay-friendly hotel review with our best photos, info, and tips for your stay in a gay-friendly hotel in Calgary and see the Calgary Airport Marriott Terminal Hotel through a couple of men’s eyes.

Our Fat Tire Biking Calgary Nomad Gear Rentals adventure during our Gay Couple City Weekend Calgary, even in winter time! How is that possible? With a new trend “winter sports” called fat tire biking with spikes for the ice parts on the street. The city of Calgary as gay- and bike-friendly metropole in Alberta, Canada offers quiet some kilometers of well-prepared and safe bikeways throughout Downtown Calgary but also along relaxing scenic attraction along the Bow and Elbow River. Although the temperature on the thermometer dropped down to minus 20 degrees Celsius, we decided to take the opportunity of clear fresh winter air and sun shine to bike around Calgary.

The historic Fairmont Palliser Hotel Downtown Calgary Canada – With over 100 hundred years of luxurious hospitality tradition in one building right in the center of Calgary in Alberta, the Fairmont Palliser Hotel is an institution to experience the glamor of recent decades of Canadian Railway Hotel businesses. Opened in 1914, the remarkable building was designed by Architect Lawrence Gotch of E. and W.S. Maxwell of Montreal. Fans of Edwardian architecture will love the Fairmont building in Chicago School Look, especially from the outside since it was the highest building in Calgary town, at least until 1958. But also from the inside, the Palliser Hotel did not lose a piece of its majestic presence due to several renovation and investments in the past couple of years. The very central location right next to the Calgary tower and in Downtown Calgary at Palliser Square made our stay very comfortable. The gay-friendly staff, the luxurious pool and spa area in the basement, the comprehensive breakfast, and very well equipped rooms made our long gay couple city weekend Calgary right before our Winter Road Trip through the Rocky Mountains to Jasper extra convenient. Enjoy our review of our gay-friendly hotel stay Calgary with photos, stories, and info about the historic Fairmont Palliser Hotel Calgary and see the legendary Canadian over one hundred years old luxury Calgary City Hotel through a couple of men’s eyes.

The Jasper Ice Pride Maligne Canyon Ice Walk Tour with Sundog Tours. – Spectacular and an experience we would not want to have missed! Hiking the frozen Maligne river through the Maligne Canyon in Jasper National Park Alberta Canada was without any doubts one of our gay travel highlights during our Winter Road Trip from Calgary to Jasper. The Canadian Rocky Mountains with their thousand waters, spectacular snow topped mountain ranges, and the hidden secrets of the pure nordic nature life have been a great adventure, especially with high snow and chilly minus 20 degrees in March! Just 10 minutes by shuttle from Jasper Town, Alberta a icy winter wonderland waits to be discovered. Together with our mountain guide from gay-friendly Sundog Tours we hiked to the bottom of Maligne Canyon, the deepest accessible canyon of Jasper National Park where we explored deeply frozen waterfalls, stunning ice caves, hidden ice crystals, and a great place for ice climbing. The 3.5 kilometers long hike has it all. At the end we were able to enjoy a spectacular view from the mountain top of Maligne Canyon. Ask everything you wanna know about wildlife, the nature reserves, and if you will encounter bears during the tour. The rangers and tour guides know what they are talking about. But now enjoy our Ice Pride Walk during Jasper Pride Festival 2017 through a couple of men’s eyes with all info you need to know for your special ice experience!

The Coco’s Café Jasper Best gay-friendly Food Place – We know it, you know it, finding the best breakfast place in town, especially when you are vegan or vegetarian is not always the easiest task to start your day with. Especially, when you are about to start a day full of nature explorations around Jasper National Park and beautiful Rocky Mountains. But if you are looking for a gay-friendly restaurant of café with locally sourced organic ingredients in Jasper Town, we found the right place for you!

ICELAND: Looking back on the fantastic things we experienced during our 21-day camping road trip, it was just the perfect adventure trip in Northern Europe.

Our Gay Couple Biking Trips Amsterdam Forest brings us this time to the green lounge of the Dutch capital, to the Amsterdamse Bos or the Forest of Amsterdam. Located in the South-West of the city of Amsterdam, the man-made nature preserve is home to hundreds of different bigger and smaller animals, beautiful gardens, waterways and of course, wood. All year around the Forest of Amsterdam offers its visitors space to breath fresh air and relax from busy everyday life in a peaceful green environment just 30 minutes by bike from the city center of Amsterdam.

NETHERLANDS: Scar Tissue, a Dutch gay short movie, written and directed by Nish Gara, produced by Martijn Krediet, shows how a casual hook-up between a Syrian refugee and a Dutch man, can end up being more difficult than you would think.

Our Best Lesbian Movies Roze Filmdagen Amsterdam 2017 – In celebration of its 20th edition in 22 years the LGBTQ Film Festival in Amsterdam is welcoming film and movie enthusiasts from all over the world to see, feel, experience over 120 short movies, documentaries, and motion pictures in Amsterdam. The topics differ from gay, lesbian, transsexual, intersexual, bisexual to all variations in between. But since it is the 20th anniversary of the biggest Film Festival in the Netherlands, the LGBTQ Film Festival will show some great Dutch movies, too. You will be amazed what cultural LGBTQ Life Amsterdam has to offer besides the wonderful Gay Canal Pride Parade every year.

Our best Gay Movies Roze Filmdagen Amsterdam 2017 – This year the LGBTQ Film Festival in Amsterdam is celebrating its 20th edition with more than 120 short movies, documentaries and motion pictures. Additional to the premier of SCAR TISSUE, the gay migration movie with our Daan as one of the main actors, the Amsterdam Queer Film Festival is featuring movies with Gay Men, Lesbian, Transsexual and Intersexual topics from all over the world but of course, with a Dutch focus as it is the 20th edition of the LGBTQ Film Festival in 2017. Thus, for a selection of the Top 10 Lesbian and Mix movies during the Festival, click on our Blog article “Best 10 Lesbian & Mix Movies of the Roze Filmdagen”!