Destination: Europe
Message to Germans: You are Michael Shumacher. You are Katarina Witt. You are Depressed.
by Michael Yessis | 10.17.05 | 8:25 AM ET
Has Germany abandoned Angela Merkel and Gerhard Schroeder for Stuart Smalley? The country has launched a self-help public-service campaign to cheer up its citizens. Seriously. Germany has earmarked $35 million and enlisted its most famous men and women to appear in a series of commercials and magazine ads, relaying the Smalley-esque message that Germans are good and smart and they should like themselves.
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Yahoo! BuzzHow to Ride a Bike in Holland
by Terry Ward | 10.12.05 | 9:43 PM ET
Photos by Terry Ward The country was made for pedaling, but before you hit the road, you'll need a few tips. Terry Ward explains how to roll like a Dutchman.
Tracking Travel Inspired by Literature
by Michael Yessis | 10.12.05 | 12:58 PM ET
The Airbus A380: ‘The Mother Load’
by Jim Benning | 10.12.05 | 12:17 PM ET
Last April, the Airbus A380—the world’s largest airliner that can shuttle a whopping 550-plus passengers—took its maiden flight. P. J. O’Rourke, for one, was not happy with the public’s response. “What a poor, dull response to a miracle of engineering,” he writes in a feature about the new jet in the November issue of The Atlantic Monthly. “The A380 is a Lourdes apparition at the departure ramp. Consider just two of its marvels: Its takeoff weight is 1.235 million pounds. And it takes off…However, the only expressions of awe over the A380’s specifications that I’ve heard have been awful predictions of the crowding inside.” Those fears, he writes, “tend to be somewhat exaggerated.”
Developers Announce Plan for Sexual Theme Park
by Michael Yessis | 10.12.05 | 11:56 AM ET
Its home will be in London, near Piccadilly Circus. “Backers say the London Academy of Sex and Relationships, due to open next spring, will not be a sleazy sex museum, but an educational multimedia attraction that will teach visitors to become better lovers and provide valuable information about disease and sexual problems,” according to an AP report.
Half Italian
by Cara O'Flynn | 10.11.05 | 11:08 PM ET
Somewhere between the bucatini all'Amatriciana and the McRoyals with cheese, Cara O'Flynn made a true connection
Rick Steves on Radio and iTunes
by Jim Benning | 10.07.05 | 10:12 AM ET
I didn’t know Rick Steves had a new weekly radio show until I clicked onto iTunes. There, on the podcast page, complete podcasts of Steves’ hour-long shows are available for free downloading—26 in all. Topics range from the expected—travel in France, Italy and Ireland—to discussions about Argentina, Cuba and Ecuador. I listened to most of the show about Cuba, which featured an interview with author Christopher Baker, and was impressed.
My Boyfriend and I Are Planning to Travel in Europe. Could We Survive as Street Musicians?
by Rolf Potts | 10.03.05 | 12:59 PM ET
Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel
He Did Follow U2 in Europe
by Jim Benning | 10.03.05 | 9:00 AM ET
The Boston Globe’s Tom Haines, recently named travel journalist of the year by the Society of American Travel Writers, followed U2 on tour in Europe this summer from Vienna to Chorzow, Poland to Berlin. His unconventional story about the trip, Wide awake in Europe with U2, appeared in Sunday’s paper.
The History of “Tourism” in Two Sentences
by Jim Benning | 10.03.05 | 9:00 AM ET
From the October issue of AeroMexico’s in-flight magazine, Escala: The word “tourism” didn’t originate from some English travelers’ journey through Tours, France, as some claim. “The truth of the matter is,” the magazine reports, “its origin goes back to the ancient French word torneier, meaning ‘to go around’ which, in turn, came from the Latin tornare, to make something go around on a lathe. As for the city [Tours], its name is derived from another, older one, Toronum or Toronus.”
Innuendo and the City
by Michael Yessis | 09.27.05 | 4:42 AM ET
Sunday’s New York Times arrived with another travel edition of T Style Magazine inside, and it’s mostly what you’d expect from a style/travel magazine: it’s full of stories by and about celebrities and celebrated writers. I haven’t had a chance to read much of it yet, but I did notice a secondary theme: sex. Or maybe it’s just travel writing that would really entertain a teenage boy.
The World’s Best Driving Roads
by Michael Yessis | 09.20.05 | 4:05 AM ET
Germany Bans Smiling in Passport Photos
by Michael Yessis | 09.16.05 | 12:22 AM ET
It’s a security thing, according to the Associated Press story about German Interior Minister Otto Schily’s announcement: “Facial recognition systems match key features on the holder’s face and work best when the face has a neutral expression with the mouth closed.” Boing Boing reports that Canada and Britain have already made the same ban.
Touring “Paris, Paris”
by Jim Benning | 09.12.05 | 4:14 AM ET
Travel writer David Downie is touring the U.S. in support of his new book, Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light. The book features a collection of Downie’s stories about the city. He couldn’t have asked for a better review: Jan Morris called it, “Perhaps the most evocative American book about Paris since ‘A Movable Feast.’” Downie will appear in Portland, Oregon on Tuesday and in Seattle on Friday and Saturday. Information about other dates is available here.
Update: The San Francisco Chronicle features a story by Downie about Paris’ Marais district in Sunday’s paper.
Investigating International Sex Trafficking, Part 2
by Michael Yessis | 08.29.05 | 2:45 PM ET
The second part of Sean Flynn’s three-part investigation of the international sex trade is out in the September 2005 issue of GQ. This piece focuses on Moldova, a top-10 “exporter” of exploited women. Part two, like the first part, is unavailable online. If you missed part one, which focused on sex tourism in Southeast Asia, Gridskipper has a critique.