The gay scene in Quito is a lot of fun with a handful of gay bars and discos. But compared to other cities across Latin America like Buenos Aires and Montevideo, we noticed the crowd was largely quite young in comparison. No bear culture here for example…where do all the over 40s hang out?
Ecuador has this weird extreme mix of the very conservative older generation versus the more forward thinking, confident and liberal minded millennials.
It makes sense when you look at the dramatic change in LGBT legislation over the last 20 years. Until 1997, gay life in Ecuador was tough: it was an extremely conservative country, on par with places like Sri Lanka, India or Indonesia where just being caught in a gay bar could get you in trouble with the police.
In 1997, the constitution was changed introducing some of the most progressive gay friendly legislation in the world. For example, full anti-discrimination laws on grounds of sexual orientation were introduced. In the UK we had to wait until 2003 when the equivalent law was passed and in the USA, there is still no federal law outlawing discrimination nationwide.
By Stefan Arestis – Full Story at the Nomadic Boys
]]>
Snowshoeing through frozen landscapes. Dogsledding through stunning National Parks. Skiing, snowmobiling and igloo building in a winter wonderland. Truly, the 
Tower Bridge is not The London Bridge We Learned in Nursery School.
Remember that nursery rhyme we used to sing when we were young – London Bridge is Falling Down? Well, I thought that the bridge the song is talking about is the one below – the Tower Bridge. Why? Because it’s the most iconic bridge in London and I couldn’t imagine any other bridge to be worthy of the famed nursery song. 😀
Obviously, I was so naive to believe that for ages. You see, if I hadn’t gone to this marvellous city, I wouldn’t have known that. And no one have corrected me. I blame my British friends.
And yes, there’s a London Bridge but it’s not grand in scale and style. It looks just like any other bridge in the world.
Yes we are at the start of the cold season in the Northern Hemisphere, and it is so freezing that a getaway to the warm countries is in order soon… where should we go?
To welcome 2017 in the way it deserves, I prepared a selection of my favorite hot spots to visit this long gay winter season: 5 places around 3 continents. Plenty of options for everybody!
Here are the Scruffy suggestions for the best holidays in this very happy new Gay Year!
Gay Winter Holidays: Gran Canaria
There is only one place in Europe, very convenient and affordable, where is Summer all year around: it is Gran Canaria!
You know I love Maspalomas Beach very much: the perfect place for a dip in the Ocean any time of the year. The Yumbo Center oganizes a great New Year’s Party, and in general all winter is packed with people escaping the cold season from Northern Europe.
If you are looking for a bit of gay winter action Gran Canaria is definitely the best option. Between February and March the island of Gran Canaria is the stage of a few big events: The Carnival of the city capital of the island, 
Most of us spend quite some time reading about our next destination. We have to read through tons of articles before we find the right information. Then you finally discover some great tips and exciting suggestions, only to end up totally blanking out when you reach your destination. Don’t you wish you had your favorite articles or blog posts along? You can, of course, bookmark them, but what if you can’t find even the faintest bar of wifi anywhere in range? What if your mobile connection comes with a pocket draining data plan or, worse yet, you have no roaming at all? Sometimes you can afford to spend hours or days doing your homework, printing out your articles or blog posts and maps. When you finally get there, you realize finding your way is still too hard and time-consuming. Don’t you wish there were a simple solution to your problem? Well, there is one! It’s called GPSmyCity.
What is GPSmyCity, you ask? It is a travel encyclopedia app that offers not just a huge amount of travel information, but also GPS navigation. The travel articles available through the GPSmyCity app have been transformed to include the coordinates of the attractions mentioned by the authors, offline digital maps, and GPS navigation. So, if you want to visit a hidden gem mentioned in a travel article, by simply tapping a button, you get the detailed travel route from where you are to the destination plotted on an offline map.
The Millennium Bridge is right in front of Tate Modern. Yes, it’s a just bridge. But if you’re into photographing gorgeous places in London at night, don’t skip this. Millennium Bridge is a photogenic place to be – even if you only have a point and shoot camera. It’s all about the right angle to capture the bridge in all its perfect moment and light.
I’d suggest to go there after 8 in the evening. If you go there before that, there’ll be a lot people passing by and your shots won’t be as dramatic as mine below.
For the locals, the Millennium Bridge is also known as the “Wobbly Bridge” because pedestrians felt the swaying motion.
Another museum we took in was the house for the movie, A CHRISTMAS STORY movie, 
The delightful Hampton Court Palace gardens are a must-see to explore. This place is huge and it might take a day to wander around the palace and the gardens. The kids would love the maze garden and the adults would love the plants and flowers surrounding the palace. The gardens are lovely and photogenic on a beautiful blue sky day.
The only disadvantage is that – in some gardens there are no shades at all. Be prepared when visiting here because summer in London can be really scorching hot. Don’t forget to bring your bottled water or your sun lotion.
The delightful Hampton Court Palace Gardens are worth a trip to the south of London. Perhaps, of all the gardens here, the Pond Gardens are the most beautiful.
]]>