Long Way Round

I have just finished watching, courtesy of Netflix, the British TV miniseries called Long Way Round. It is the documentary of Ewan McGregor (surprise, surprise why I queued it up) and his friend Charley's motorcycle trip from London to New York via countries like Germany, Ukraine, Russia and Mongolia. It is fabulous! If you like motorcycles (which I do) and you like Scottish men who tell it like it is (which I do) and you like seeing Discovery-channel style views into other cultures, this is the show for you.

My favorite scene (spoiler alert!) is in the Ukraine where a friend has told them to stop in a certain city to get a massage at a swank spa. Ewan is narrating his and Charley's excitement at finally getting some relaxation after 1000+ miles on a bike, and then the next scene is the two men naked on a tiled bathouse floor with sumo-style fat men in speedos straddling them, essentially pummelling their naked backs and buttocks with their fists and Ewan's voice over, "this was literally the most painful experience of my entire life."

Ewan also proves that my family is not the only Scottish group of people who believe that the Scots invented civilization. At one point in Mongolia he talks about how he can't believe how much of the landscape looks like Scotland, which confirms his belief that Scotsmen created the world in their own image as a gift to the world's people. There is a senior citizen living in Del Boca Vista who quite emphatically agrees...

Short story long, you should see this series. It's a fantastic window into cultures such as the Ukrainian mafia, Russian customs and Mongolian food (such as sheep and cow testicle soup), not to mention being a fantastic buddy movie and BMW motorcycle fan club.

It's good times. Trust me. Even the animal ball soup.