Destination: Europe
Norway Debuts Automated Customs Machines
by Michael Yessis | 04.02.07 | 7:19 AM ET
It’s a first, according to Norwegian officials, and no doubt more user-friendly than this country’s process.
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Yahoo! BuzzU.S. Sees Drop in Travelers from Germany, Japan, France and United Kingdom
by Michael Yessis | 03.27.07 | 6:30 AM ET
Commerce Department figures reveal a five-percent drop from those four countries in 2006, which has alarmed an already concerned U.S. tourism industry. Germany, Japan, France and the United Kingdom “typically supply almost half of all the foreign tourists visiting the USA,” writes USA Today’s Barbara De Lollis, and it’s the first decline in any of those core countries since 2003. Some say it’s because the U.S. has become one of the least friendly countries for travelers.
Chinese Traveler Spends Record 23,000 Euros in Duty-Free Spree
by Michael Yessis | 03.22.07 | 7:08 AM ET
His haul in Paris included a bottle of 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, a Cotes de Rhone Hermitage la Chapelle 1978 and “a bottle of 1806 cognac that might have slipped through the fingers of Emperor Napoleon,” according to Reuters. Aeroports de Paris Shops, where the unnamed Chinese traveler made his purchases, says it has started to carry luxury items to cater to rich travelers from China, Japan and Russia. I’m sure the traveler had the good sense to avoid this mess in Miami on his way back to Beijing.
A Very Long Way to the Hong Kong Cafe
by Daisann McLane | 03.21.07 | 6:52 AM ET
In Ilulissat, Greenland, Daisann McLane found one righteously good Singapore curry chau mihn. More surprising, though, was the man who emerged from the kitchen when she shouted, "Hai go douh yauh mouh jung gwok yan a?"
The Authentic Irish Pub vs. the ‘Irish Pub Concept’
by Michael Yessis | 03.17.07 | 10:44 AM ET
Remember: Wherever you are in the world—from Kazakhstan to the Canary Islands to Dubai—a faux Irish pub awaits. And if you’re lucky enough to be in Ireland, here’s how to be a first-class punter. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all.
Loch Morar, Scotland
by Ben Keene | 03.16.07 | 12:22 PM ET
Coordinates: 56 57 N 5 40 W
Depth: 1,017 feet (310 m)
Sure, Loch Ness and the rumors of its mythical resident monster tend to grab all of the attention, but Scotland actually contains dozens of the glacially formed bodies of water. Loch Morar, not far from the Isle of Skye in the Northern Highlands, serves as a particularly good example, given that it’s the deepest freshwater body in Great Britain and Ireland. Not to mention that Morar’s 12-mile length has also produced numerous eyewitness accounts of another strange serpentine creature, known locally as Morag. Visitors should know that the lake can be kayaked or canoed, but take note: The lightly populated, steep-sided shoreline doesn’t offer an easy escape route should Morag suddenly appear and prove to be more fact than fable.
—.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) is the editor of the Oxford Atlas of the World.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Moonwalkers, Stardust and the End of the Earth
by Michael Yessis | 03.16.07 | 8:02 AM ET
We’ve done the math: This week, travelers have professed their interest in the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, India, Venice, Antarctica and hotels with a certain “je ne sais quoi de geek.” Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Best Geek Hotels in the World
* Yes, that’s an equation-covered bed cover at Boston’s Hotel @ MIT.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Hey, Sin City Top This: Grand Canyon West’s New Skywalk
* Moonwalker Buzz Aldren will take the ceremonial first walk Monday. We still ask: What Would Edward Abbey Think?
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph (current)
Getting It Om In India
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Stardust Blown to Dust
* Of course there’s video.
Most Blogged Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Making a Pilgrimage to Cathedrals of Commerce
* It’s all about the 19th-century shopping arcades of Paris.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Miss Manners’ Venice: In a Word, Civilized
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
Antarctica: The Crystal Desert
* More on Antarctica: A Brief and Awkward Tour of the End of the Earth
Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
Most Read Story
World Hum (this week)
Stephanie Elizondo Griest: ‘100 Places Every Woman Should Go’
I Don’t Want to Travel with a Guidebook. What Do You Think About Traveling With an Atlas?
by Rolf Potts | 03.15.07 | 7:39 AM ET
Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel
Anne Frank’s Beloved Chestnut Tree to Fall
by Jim Benning | 03.13.07 | 1:06 PM ET
Photo by Ned Raggett, via flickr (Creative Commons).
In the Diary of Anne Frank, young Anne rhapsodized about looking out of the house where she was in hiding and seeing “the blue sky and the chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine.” It’s a tribute to the power of her writing that newspapers around the world are carrying news that the 150-year-old tree has been attacked by a fungus and will be felled. AnneFrank.org has posted a short video of the view of the tree from the house. Last year, actress Emma Thompson helped launch AnneFrankTree.com, billed as an “interactive monument.” The Anne Frank Museum plans to plant a sapling from the original in its place.
Internet Phone Service: Convenient, But at What Cost?
by Jim Benning | 03.12.07 | 1:36 PM ET
Photo by ling883 via flickr (Creative Commons).
When somebody dials Clifford J. Levy’s telephone number in Brooklyn, the call is immediately forwarded to St. Petersburg, Russia. For Levy, who now resides in St. Petersburg, that’s generally a good thing. For a modest monthly fee, he can dial up his family back home, and when his daughter gets lonely in Russia, she can call friends in New York, too—all thanks to an Internet phone service. But as much as he loves the convenience of it, Levy wonders about the drawbacks, and not just when the telemarketers call in the middle of the night, which happens to be dinner time in New York. “In the past, cut off from your old life, you may have tried harder to immerse yourself in your new one,” he writes in the New York Times. “That was part of the allure of being an expatriate: learning a new language, overcoming isolation by trying to cultivate friends among the locals, making daily discoveries about another part of the world.” Now, he adds, that’s just more difficult to do.
‘Desert Louvre’ Plans Cause Uproar in France
by Michael Yessis | 03.12.07 | 7:41 AM ET
What can $1.3 billion buy? For Abu Dhabi, it’s the rights “to borrow the Louvre’s name and hundreds of its artworks, as well as treasures from the Picasso Museum, Pompidou Center, Chateau de Versailles and other French museums,” according to the Washington Post. It’s also a way for Abu Dhabi to compete with neighboring Dubai for tourists. For France, however, the transaction has brought on a heated national discussion about how to handle its renowned cultural assets.
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: Seville, Switzerland and The Strip
by Michael Yessis | 03.09.07 | 9:00 AM ET
Travelers this week looked to Las Vegas, Seville, the Grand Canyon, Tallinn, Riga and Charleson, S.C., and wondered whether to avoid Oslo (too expensive) and Atlanta (too busy). Here’s the Zeitgeist:
Most Read Weblog Category
World Hum (this week)
Las Vegas
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Las Vegas: A Winner’s Guide to Blackjack
World’s Busiest Airport
Airports Council International (2006)
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
* Chicago’s O’Hare and London’s Heathrow finished second and third respectively.
Most Viewed Travel Story
Telegraph (current)
Seville’s the City for Piety Animals
* This also gets another of our groan-inducing headline of the week awards.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
36 Hours in Charleston, S.C.
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Switzerland Invades Liechtenstein
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Another Wonder for Grand Canyon?
* As we like to say, what would Edward Abbey think?
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
Wi-Fi Bus Crosses the Border
* It’s “likely the first international cross-border Wi-Fi-enabled bus line.” It connects Tallinn, Estonia and Riga, Latvia.
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Schmap
Most Read Story
World Hum (this week)
Stephanie Elizondo Griest: ‘100 Places Every Woman Should Go’
Chuck Klosterman: ‘I Believe Germans Are Nice Because They Were Nice To Me’
by Michael Yessis | 03.06.07 | 9:25 AM ET
Cultural stereotypes. We hate them and we love them. And in the case of Chuck Klosterman, they make an excellent topic for another half-brilliant, half-baked piece of cultural criticism. Writing in Esquire, the author of Fargo Rock City, Killing Yourself to Live and other books writes about a trip to Germany, where experiences including watching American football in a bar and visiting an art exhibit called “I Like America and America Likes Me” lead him to several insights about the folly of cultural stereotypes.
Switzerland Invades Liechtenstein
by Michael Yessis | 03.05.07 | 7:57 AM ET
And chaos, well, didn’t ensue. Apparently this wasn’t the first time the Swiss army has accidentally crossed into Liechtenstein during a training mission. “It has happened before,” Liechtenstein government spokeswoman Gerlinde Manz-Christ told ABC News. “Nobody really realized it.” The Guardian notes the 170 or so Swiss soldiers were carrying rifles with no ammunition on their mission last Thursday, though they did have their “obligatory Swiss army knives.”
The World Hum Travel Zeitgeist: The Traveler Beware Edition
by Michael Yessis | 03.02.07 | 8:01 AM ET
They’re turning people back at the Canadian border, shrinking the payout for blackjack in Las Vegas and seeing through your clothes in Phoenix. Those stories—plus journeys to Alaska, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Sweden and Mulholland Drive—are intriguing travelers this week. Here’s the Zeitgeist.
Most Popular Travel Story
Netscape (this week)
Going to Canada? Check Your Past
Most Viewed Travel Story
Los Angeles Times (current)
Las Vegas: A Winner’s Guide to Blackjack
* Casino are starting to pay only 6-5 for blackjack. What’s next? No doubling down?
Most Read Weblog Post
World Hum (this week)
Full-Body X-Ray Security Scanner Debuts
* The first passengers asked to submit to a full-body X-ray, apparently, “didn’t bat an eyelash.”
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
USA Today (current)
Escapes Under $500: Go to Puerto Rico’s Second City
* That would be Ponce.
Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
The Cold Show in Fairbanks, Alaska
Most Read Travel Story
World Hum (this week)
Stephanie Elizondo Griest: ‘100 Places Every Woman Should Go’
Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (recent)
Wayfaring
Best Waterfront City
Project for Public Spaces
Stockholm
Travel Story of the Year
Solas Awards (2007)
Fishing With Larry by Tom Joseph
* Here are all the prize winners.
Most Competitive Country
World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitive Index
Switzerland
* What is this? “The index is not a ‘beauty contest’, or a statement about the attractiveness of a country. On the contrary, the index measures the factors that make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism industry of individual countries,” said Jennifer Blanke, Senior Economist of the World Economic Forum.