Destination: Europe

St. Petersburg, Russia

St. Petersburg, Russia REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk

Visitors to the Hermitage Museum look at portraits of generals from Russia's 1812 campaign against Napoleon's army

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Odd Jobs: Interview with a Prison-Hotel Guard

Odd Jobs: Interview with a Prison-Hotel Guard Photo courtesy of Einars Meiris

David Farley meets a Latvian whose job literally includes abusing the guests

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An Aerogram From Berlin

An Aerogram From Berlin Photo by Evan Rail

Evan Rail laments the slow demise of ready-to-mail aerograms

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Travel Movie Watch: ‘Homage to Catalonia’

More than 70 years after its initial publication, George Orwell’s Spanish Civil War memoir is hitting the big screen.

Hugh Hudson, best known for “Chariots of Fire” and “I Dreamed of Africa,” will direct, while Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey have already signed on to star—the media coverage of the news doesn’t offer anything definite, but it looks as though Firth will play Orwell, and Spacey will take on the role of Georges Kopp, Orwell’s POUM commander.

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Paris, France

Paris, France REUTERS//Charles Platiau

A group of tourists pass by Les Invalides on a guided Segway tour of Paris

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Drink a Microbrew, Save the Planet, Taste the Culture

Drink a Microbrew, Save the Planet, Taste the Culture Photo by prince roy via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by prince roy via Flickr (Creative Commons)

I’ve said before that travelers who want to walk the talk of environmentally responsible living must also seek out sustainable food (i.e. no Chilean sea bass!) when on the road. I’m adding locally brewed beer to my list.

Making and transporting beer doesn’t produce nearly as many carbon emissions as boutique wines, which are often flown by overnight air, says Pablo Paster in his column for Treehugger. Still, Paster advises eco-imbibers to drink a local brew over that beloved German beer.

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Dhani Tackles Poetry: ‘Confused I Am’

Dhani Tackles Poetry: ‘Confused I Am’ Photo by Red Line Films
Photo by Red Line Films

NFL linebacker and Renaissance man Dhani Jones hosts the Travel Channel show, Dhani Tackles the Globe.

Like any good Renaissance man, he’s writing poems inspired by the travel experiences featured on each show.

The topic of tonight’s journey: Sambo in Russia.

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Manchester, England

Manchester, England REUTERS/Phil Noble

At the Manchester City Games, three-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt leads the way to the finish in the 150 metres sprint

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‘Angels & Demons’ has Arrived—and so Have the Travel Writers

‘Angels & Demons’ has Arrived—and so Have the Travel Writers Publicity still from "Angels & Demons" (via IGN)
Publicity still from “Angels & Demons” (via IGN)

If you’re not interested in Dan Brown or the film adaptation of his hit novel, “Angels & Demons,” you may want to avoid the travel pages for the next few days—I haven’t seen travel-movie-mania on this scale since last year’s Sex and the City movie transfixed shoe-loving travel writers everywhere.

If, however, you’re keen to explore “Dan Brown’s Rome,” read on for the best of the near-ubiquitous coverage.

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The Critics: ‘Up’

Pixar’s “Up,” an animated travel movie that we’ve been keeping an eye on, opened the Cannes Film Festival in 3D last night, making history in the process. Today, the reviews are rolling in—and, for the most part, they offer two thumbs, er, up.

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Interview with Rick Steves: ‘Travel as a Political Act’

Jim Benning asks the Europe travel guru about his new book -- and where Americans can go for a politically eye-opening experience

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Pogost, Belarus

Pogost, Belarus REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

People celebrate Yurya, a pagan harvest protector, in the village of Pogost, some 155 miles south of Minsk

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Video: Alison Stein Wellner: The Heat Seeker

Alison Stein Wellner traveled around the world to eat the hottest food she could handle, a quest she chronicled for World Hum

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The Heat Seeker: Eat, Sweat, Love

The Heat Seeker: Eat, Sweat, Love iStockphoto

Alison Stein Wellner likes her food hot and spicy. To find out how hot and spicy, she searched the world for heat. Part one of five: Currywurst in Frankfurt.

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My Worst Hotel Rooms

My Worst Hotel Rooms Photo by Pear Biter via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo by Pear Biter via Flickr (Creative Commons)

Lists are in the air lately, so I decided to get in on the action. Herewith, my four worst hotel rooms, lifetime. I won’t name names, because I’m a gentleman. And also, because the parties in question might hunt me down and throw tiny bottles of shampoo at me.

Singapore: I was at the edge of Singapore’s Chinatown, which, as it turns out, is also the edge of Singapore’s red light district. Not that I caught on—I thought all the scantily-clad women peering out from cracked front doors were zealous about saving the environment and keeping that AC indoors. My hotel room here was easily the darkest I’ve ever stayed in: a deep red and purple color scheme lit by one dirty window overlooking an airshaft. The only outlet was in the middle of the wall above the bed. 

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