Destination: Europe
UNESCO Adds Three Sites to Danger List, Names Next World Book Capital
by Michael Yessis | 07.10.07 | 11:14 AM ET
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has had a busy few weeks. Not only was it busy issuing a press release claiming no affiliation with the new seven wonders, during meetings in Christchurch, New Zealand, the group added the Galapagos and their surrounding marine reserve; Samarra, Iraq; and Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park to its list of endangered World Heritage sites. Two more sites—the Royal Palaces of Abomey, Benin and Kathmandu Valley, Nepal—were removed from the Danger List.
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Yahoo! BuzzCrying Uncle in Italy
by Todd Pitock | 07.09.07 | 11:10 AM ET
Todd Pitock planned to play a little golf and see a few works of art. He didn't factor in the wrong turns and ramblings of a man named Joe.
New Seven Wonders of the World Named
by Michael Yessis | 07.09.07 | 7:51 AM ET
China to Become World’s Top Tourism Destination by 2014
by Michael Yessis | 07.06.07 | 9:15 AM ET
So says the World Tourism Organization, according to an Agence France-Presse story. That’s six years earlier than the organization predicted earlier this year. At this point, I’m not most interested in when China will gain the top spot. I’m intrigued by the country’s amazing growth.
Sledgehammer-Wielding Spaniards Destroy Hotel Rooms
by Jim Benning | 07.03.07 | 1:26 PM ET
The few dozen Spaniards weren’t revolting against high-priced rooms at the Madrid hotel. They were the winners of a contest sponsored by NH Hotels, which is planning to renovate the property. About 200 people entered the contest and psychologists selected the winners—if you can call them that. Apparently they were particularly in need of stress relief. Reports the BBC: “The winners included top executives and a working mother who said she simply wanted to hit something.” So how was it? Ignacio, a demolisher worked up about the high cost of living, told El Pais: “Ha sido una experiencia muy buena.”
Lou Reed’s ‘Berlin’: Do His Songs Still Resonate in the City That Inspired Them?
by Michael Yessis | 07.03.07 | 10:22 AM ET
In 1973 Lou Reed recorded Berlin, an album inspired by the German city that Rolling Stone called “one of the gloomiest records ever made—slow, druggy and heavily orchestrated.” At the time, the Wall cut through Berlin and the city struggled with a heroin epidemic among teens. “In other words, it was not a happy place, although it was certainly an interesting one—Berlin, in that era, had become a mecca for some of the most creative heads in rock music,” Time’s Stephanie Kirchner writes in an intriguing “Postcard from Berlin” on the magazine’s Web site.
Hong Kong Marks 10th Anniversary of Return to China
by Michael Yessis | 07.02.07 | 10:43 AM ET
The streets of Hong Kong filled with revelers and protesters yesterday, the 10th anniversary of the date Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule. It was either a great occasion for students to meet and “have a fun day,” according to China’s People’s Daily Online, or, according to Western media reports, a day for pro-democracy advocates to once-again rally for more freedoms. World Hum contributor Daisann McLane put the situation into context in a recent story for Slate.
The Best in ‘Geek’ Travel: From Tokyo to Tatooine
by Michael Yessis | 06.29.07 | 11:43 AM ET
Where does someone who’s, say, willing to spend days in line waiting in line for an iPhone go on his or her travels? Apparently, where there’s a lot of technology and, in one case, nuclear fallout. Among the “geek vacation” spots recommended by Christopher Null in Wired’s July issue: New Zealand (for “The Lord of the Rings” movie locations); the South Pole (“Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station will warm any geek’s heart”); Tokyo’s Akihabara district (the “ultimate red-light district for gadget fetishists”); and Prypyat, Ukraine. Prypyat is “a town whose 47,000 inhabitants had to split within 36 hours of the meltdown” of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Sounds better suited for Dark Travelers.
Greenland: The ‘World’s Largest and Loneliest Island’
by Michael Yessis | 06.28.07 | 9:14 AM ET
Not for much longer, perhaps. Air Greenland recently launched its first commercial flight from the U.S. to the self-governing Danish territory, which lures most of its relatively minuscule amount of visitors—55,000 last year—from Denmark. One of the few non-Danes to visit this year: USA Today’s Laura Bly, whose terrific story reveals a beautiful—take a look at her slideshow—and heartbreaking place, a land where climate change and social change are moving at a rapid pace.
In Rome, It’s Tourists Gone Wild
by Julia Ross | 06.26.07 | 12:48 PM ET
There are places in the world that conjure images of late-night tequila shots and Girls Gone Wild exhibitionism. Vegas. New Orleans. The beaches of Thailand. But Rome’s medieval piazzas? Apparently we can add them to the list. A New York Times story by Peter Kiefer says residents of several historic Roman neighborhoods have had it with the increasing rowdiness of their city’s nightlife, and they’re pointing the finger squarely at tourists. “The foreigners come here because they know that they can do whatever they want,” said one unhappy Roman. “Nobody says anything.”
Latvia to Fight ‘Baltic Bangkok’ Image
by Michael Yessis | 06.26.07 | 10:30 AM ET
Cheap flights and men on “stag nights” have threatened to turn Riga, Latvia into a destination most noted for pubs, clubs, strip bars and a growing sex industry—a “Baltic Bangkok,” if you will. It’s easy shorthand and perhaps too simple of a way to characterize Riga—or Bangkok, or any city for that matter—but some people in Latvia fear the name and image will stick. Hence, the current “Stop Sex Terrorism” campaign, which, according to Reuters, aims to steer local women away from one-night stands and to educate them about the dangers of interacting with tourists.
Is Your Kilt Up to Code?
by Jim Benning | 06.25.07 | 3:31 PM ET
When I first heard about a new law related to kilts, I naturally assumed it had something to do with the hordes of kilt-wearing, buttocks-baring Scots now invading Poland. But it turns out the new law has nothing to do with protecting the poor, terrorized Polish men and women who have suffered the indignity of witnessing one too many bare Scottish buttocks. In fact, the law has everything to do with protecting the poor, terrorized, protected species—otters and badgers, to name just two—whose fur has traditionally been used to make sporrans, the little purses often worn with kilts. Kilt wearers, it seems, may now have to get a license for their sporrans. Well that’s great for the otters and badgers. But what about the good people of Poland? Who’s protecting them?
‘Glacier Girl’ Set to Complete Flight Begun 65 Years Ago
by Michael Yessis | 06.22.07 | 12:23 PM ET
This afternoon, a restored P-38 airplane that made an emergency landing in Greenland in 1942, and became buried under ice for 50 years, will take off from New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport in an attempt to complete its mission—to fly to England. “Glacier Girl” was part of an eight-plane team flying from the U.S. to England to help with allied defenses during World War II when rough weather over Greenland forced all the planes onto the ice. In the early ‘90s, The Lost Squadron was located and “Glacier Girl” was excavated from under more than 200 feet of ice.
Stonehenge Welcomes ‘Druids, Drummers, Pagans and Partygoers’
by Michael Yessis | 06.21.07 | 3:23 PM ET
They partied like it was 3,000 B.C. at Stonehenge today. It’s the summer solstice, and according to the AP, more than 20,000 people made the pilgrimage to the mysterious prehistoric monument on the Salisbury Plain. They’re giving it love, but we hope not too much.
Leg Room Requirements Under Consideration for European Flights
by Michael Yessis | 06.20.07 | 12:07 PM ET
On behalf of all airline passengers who fly with their knees in their teeth, I say, “Hooray!” And: “What’s taking so long?” The European Aviation Safety Agency is considering imposing a minimum leg-room requirement on all planes registered in Europe. Acccording to an Agence France-Presse report, no distances between seats have been proposed, but one can hope it will become reality. The lack of space between seats, known in airline parlance as “pitch,” has become ridiculous, particularly when, like me, you’re six-foot-four and on a long-haul flight. The impetus for possible change, however, isn’t comfort. It’s safety. The EASA is worried about cases of deep vein thrombosis and the ability to evacuate planes within the mandated 90 seconds. (Via Elliot.org).
Related on World Hum:
* Dick Cheney, Long Flights and the Dangers of Deep Vein Thrombosis
* Flight Attendants’ Rep: ‘We’re Back to Pre-9/11 Passenger Attitudes’