Destination: Europe
New York’s JFK vs. Frankfurt Airport
by Jim Benning | 08.17.07 | 8:29 AM ET
Thomas Swick recently flew home from Europe, passing through Frankfurt airport and New York City’s John F. Kennedy International. According to Swick, they couldn’t have been more different. In Frankfurt’s airport, he encountered an inviting rustic tavern, walked among large windows looking out onto sun-lit planes and watched an international crowd of travelers passing Hermes, Boss and Swarovski and chatting in the Goethe Bar, near a statue of the writer. And it was only 7 a.m. “I had never seen such a wide-awake airport at such an early hour,” he writes. “It felt as if the world had left home.” And what of JFK, where Swick landed nine hours later?
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Yahoo! BuzzNew Travel Book: ‘In Europe’
by Michael Yessis | 08.16.07 | 3:29 PM ET
Full title: “In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century”
Author: Geert Mak, a Dutch journalist, historian and the author of “Jorwerd: The Death of the Village in Late Twentieth-Century Europe” and “Doomed to Vulnerability”
Released: Aug. 7, 2007 (English translation)
Travel genre: Modern history/column collection
Territory covered: Europe
Take a Vacation. It’s Presidential.
by Ben Keene | 08.16.07 | 10:19 AM ET
Love him or hate him, our commander-in-chief, George W. Bush, can teach Americans at least one lesson: how to vacation. With only a few weeks of summer remaining, President Bush, like many other world leaders, is trading the stress of executive office for some rest and relaxation. And he’s leaving the majority of U.S. citizens in his Texas dust. Actually, if a survey conducted by a global human resources firm is accurate, even the average Finn, Israeli or Lithuanian would have a hard time keeping up with his seven-year vacation-time total. Because whatever President Bush may lack in creativity—he’s taken 65 trips to Crawford, Texas since entering office—he more than makes up for in number. According to the Houston Chronicle, G.W.B. is well on his way to claiming the White House record for time off, rapidly closing in on the 436 days Reagan racked up during two terms.
‘EIMI: A Journey Through Soviet Russia’
by Frank Bures | 08.14.07 | 9:49 AM ET
E.E. Cummings's book chronicling a 36-day trip in 1931 has been reissued after almost 50 years out of print. Frank Bures says it's a tough read, but worthwhile.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Less Money, More Adventure
by Michael Yessis | 08.10.07 | 2:54 PM ET
Lisbon, Portugal (pictured) and the rest of Europe are top of mind this week—particularly Europe on the cheap. The Big Apple, the debut of Virgin America and the Island of Tiki round out the Zeitgiest. Have a look.
“Hot This Week” Destination
Yahoo! (this week)
Lisbon, Portugal
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
10 Ways to Keep Europe Within Reach
* We’ve unearthed some fine tips, too.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
10 Ways to Keep Europe Within Reach
Most Popular Travel Podcast
iTunes (current)
Beautiful Places with Tony Farley
* This week: North Dome
Most Read Feature
World Hum (posted this week)
James Teitelbaum: Escape to the Isle of Tiki
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph UK (current)
New York Shopping: The Best of the Big Apple
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (posted this week)
How I Scored a New U.S. Passport in One Day
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Virgin America Returns the Frills to Flying
Rick Steves: Reflections on Three Decades of World Travel
by Jim Benning | 08.10.07 | 11:12 AM ET
Photos courtesy of Rick Steves. Jim Benning asks the famed guidebook writer how Europe has changed, why he no longer writes about Asia and about places "so back door" he chooses not to cover them.
Three Travel Tips: Ways to Save Money in Europe
by Michael Yessis | 08.09.07 | 11:03 AM ET
Travel tips are easy to find on the Internet, but some are better than others. Each week, we’ll bring you World Hum-approved travel tips from around the Web.
1) Eat seasonally. “Germans go crazy for white asparagus. Italians lap up porcini mushrooms. And Spaniards gobble their snails (caracoles)—but only when waiters announce that they’re fresh today. You’ll get more taste for less money throughout Europe by ordering what’s in season.”—Rick Steves.
War Tourists Descend on Falkland Islands
by Michael Yessis | 08.07.07 | 12:17 PM ET
Twenty-five years after Argentina and the United Kingdom fought for their control, the Falkland Islands, or Las Malvinas as they’re known to Argentinians, are the latest destination to get a boost from war tourism. More than 900 people died in the 73-day war. According to the AP, most visitors are drawn to the sites of the fiercest fighting: Mount Longdon and Mount Tumbledown. Earlier this year, we noted El Salvador’s entry into the war tourism business.
Prague Latest Magnet for Misbehaving Brits
by Julia Ross | 08.06.07 | 12:30 PM ET
Is Eastern Europe under siege by badly behaving Brits? We’ve heard about kilt-wearing, buttocks-baring Scots in Poland and sex tourists in Latvia. Now Prague is attracting attention for out-of-control “stag and hen parties” thrown by UK weekenders. A report released last week by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office says the Czech Republic sees a higher proportion of traveling Brits requiring consular assistance than any other country, citing stag night revellers for much of the mischief.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: From Cinque Terre to the Great Barrier Reef
by Michael Yessis | 08.03.07 | 2:05 PM ET
Iconic destinations in Italy, Australia, California and the Pacific Ocean are at the top of travelers’ minds this week, as well as a topic that’s more controversial than Hillary Clinton. Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
36 Hours in the Cinque Terre, Italy
Most Read Feature
World Hum (posted this week)
The Lost World of Nigeria
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Through the Roof: A Tour of the Country’s Priciest Hotel Suite
* The cost to stay in the Ty Warner Penthouse at the Four Seasons New York? $30,000 a night.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph UK (current)
Exploring the Great Barrier Reef
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (posted this week)
Voluntourism: ‘Overpriced Guilt Trips’ or a ‘Real Chance to Save the World’?
“Hot This Week” Destination
Yahoo! (this week)
Hawaii
Most Viewed Travel Post
BlogHer (current)
The W Hotel: Form over Function?
Where in the World Are You, Tom Haines?
by Jim Benning | 08.03.07 | 1:00 PM ET
The subject of our latest nearly up-to-the-minute interview with a traveler somewhere in the world: Tom Haines, travel writer at the Boston Globe. His response landed in our inbox this morning.
World Hum: Where in the world are you?
Russia to Plant Flag on North Pole Sea Bed
by Michael Yessis | 08.02.07 | 11:40 AM ET
It’s provocative actions like this that we had in mind when we selected the Northwest Passage as one of our Seven Wonders of the Shrinking Planet. According to the AP and other media reports, Russia’s Rossiya icebreaker has reached the North Pole, clearing way for scientists “to dive in two mini-submarines beneath the pole to a depth of more than 13,200 feet, and drop a metal capsule containing the Russian flag on the sea bed.” The goal of the expedition: to solidify a claim to the enormous oil and gas reserves that are believed to be stored beneath the floor of the Arctic Sea. Russia, however, isn’t the only country with interest in controlling the area.
Turin: Discovering the Supernatural in ‘the Detroit of Italy’
by Michael Yessis | 08.01.07 | 1:50 PM ET
Despite its bona fides as the home of Primo Levi and the headquarters of the Slow Food movement—not to mention the 2006 Winter Olympics—that appellation helped keep David Farley away from Turin during his many travels through Italy. Farley, a World Hum contributor, finally made it there recently, and as he recounts in a fine story for the Washington Post, Turin has an “intriguing supernatural side.” He writes: “I quickly learned (from about every local I spoke to) that Turin lies on the axis of white magic (along with Lyon, France, and Prague) and the axis of black magic (which it shares with London and San Francisco), making it one powerful place, if you believe in that stuff.”
Related on World Hum:
* David Farley and Jessie Sholl: A Passion for Prague
* Ben’s Place: Turin, Italy
Related on TravelChannel.com
* Samantha Brown’s Guide to Turin
Photo of Turin, Italy during the 2006 Winter Olympics by bluviolin, via Flickr (Creative Commons).
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: From the Fringe of Edinburgh
by Michael Yessis | 07.27.07 | 2:58 PM ET
The Scottish capital made a move toward the top of travelers’ minds this week—the famed Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival begin soon—along with China, the Sierra Nevada and some purveyors of hotel porn. Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph UK (current)
Edinburgh Travel Guide
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Not the Hamptons. Yet.
* 36 Hours in Edinburgh also makes the most e-mailed list, currently at No. 3.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Got a Free Weekend? Escape to the Sierra Nevada
Most Read Feature
World Hum (posted this week)
Ask Rolf: I’m in my Mid-40s. Am I Too Old to Stay in Hostels?
* It’s all about spirit, says Rolf.
Most Read Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Marriott Blasted for Hotel Porn
* Morality in Media is making a stir, and Kitty Bean Yancey’s Hotel Hotsheet blog has a raucous discussion going on.
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (posted this week)
‘Into the Wild’: Sean Penn Adapts Jon Krakauer’s Book for the Big Screen
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
Beautiful Chinese Travel and Vacation
Smoker’s International Airways: From Germany to Japan in a Carcinogenic Haze
by Michael Yessis | 07.26.07 | 11:47 AM ET
Sounds like hell to me. Or an Onion story. However, German entrepreneur Alexander W. Schoppmann (pictured) says he’s bringing glamour back to air travel with Smoker’s International Airways, aka Smintair, a start-up airline that plans to cater to smokers.