Destination: Europe
The Agritourists and Locavores Will Love This
by Joanna Kakissis | 02.25.09 | 12:30 PM ET
Because it would be very satisfying to eat the vegetables you picked at that small and lovely pesticide-free farm during your vacation in, say, Crete or France or Spain and think that maybe you did a tiny little bit to save the planet from global warming.
Organic farms got a big eco-shout-out last week from the European Union’s commissioner for agriculture and rural development, Mariann Fischer Boel, who lauded them as “ammunition against the problem of climate change.” As The New York Times’ James Kanter noted, organic farming often produces fewer emissions than conventional agriculture because it uses fewer fertilizers and leaves soil more stable and better able to hold water.
I’m wondering if organic farms that double as eco-vacations spots may see an awesome branding opportunity here.
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Yahoo! BuzzMorning Links: Venice Cokes Up, an Epic (Paper) Plane Video and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.25.09 | 9:44 AM ET
Morning Links: A Hard-to-Find French Town, Photos of Carnival and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.24.09 | 8:55 AM ET
- Video: The Battle of the Oranges.
- A French town wants a new name that’s easier to find via search. It’s current name? Eu.
- Blog to watch: World Hum contributor Daisann McLane has launched a companion blog to her National Geographic Traveler column.
- Florida bans fish pedicures. What’s a fish pedicure? Here’s some video of McLane getting one in Malaysia.
- Photos: The Big Picture goes to Carnival.
- $28,067.31 for a “wireless session” on a cruise ship? Here’s the tale. (via Cruise Log)
- Some compelling photos of 19th- and 20th-century railway lines by Mark Ruwedel.
- Love this graphic: The most-used subway systems in the U.S and around the world.
- My obsession with travel typos continues: Here’s a look at NYC Transit’s Top Typos!
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A Very International Oscars
by Eva Holland | 02.23.09 | 2:38 PM ET
Last night’s Oscars ceremony is likely to be up for debate for some time—among the most contentious issues, for me, is the fact that the cast of “High School Musical” got more screen time than most nominees—but one thing is certain: it was the most international Oscars since 2004, when Charlize Theron thanked everyone in South Africa, and the winners from “Lord of the Rings” managed to name-drop just about everyone in New Zealand, too.
In the 2009 edition, there were acceptance speeches smattered with Spanish (Penelope Cruz, for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) and Tamil (A.R. Rahman, the composer for “Slumdog Millionaire”), there were shout-outs to Mumbai (from the assortment of “Slumdog” winners, who took home 8 awards between them), and there were two separate winners from Japan.
My favorite globally-flavored Oscar moments, after the jump:
Morning Links: Mexico Travel Alert, Mardi Gras Tips and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.23.09 | 9:46 AM ET
- A bomb exploded in Cairo’s Hussein Square, killing at least one tourist.
- China has closed Tibet to international travelers in preparation for the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s exile.
- The Washington Post says the latest State Department travel alert for Mexico “reads like the plot of a crime thriller.”
- USA Today/Gallup poll: 58 percent of Americans “will shrink their vacation spending this year—or just not go.”
- Here’s what not to do at Mardi Gras.
- Tom Haines follows the wind in North Dakota.
- World Hum contributor David Farley will be speaking tonight at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C.
- The Christian Science Monitor has more on Lucca’s ban of ethnic restaurants.
- Is a lost empire concealed in the Amazon?
- Has Atlantis been found by Google Ocean? Google says no.
- Two travel books made the pages of The New York Times Sunday Book Review: Magic Bus and The Way of Herodotus.
- Another day, another mix-up: A pass for Philly Beer Week features the skyline of New York City. Really, how could you mix ‘em up?
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What We Loved This Week: Walker Evans, Obama Fever and Blame Ringo
by World Hum | 02.20.09 | 5:16 PM ET
Pam Mandel
This is a super short radio documentary, but wow, I could almost smell the smoke. Rabbit Hunters—an audio snapshot in blazing sugar cane fields—is by Michael Ozug and it’s on Sound Portraits.
Sophia Dembling
I just knew Walker Evans and I had something in common. Postcards! I can’t wait to get back to New York to see Walker Evans and the Picture Postcard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art—especially the “bank of postcards that offer plunging views down the middle of scores of American Main Streets, an almost scary tribute to the country’s can-do spirit, can-doing again and again.” For now, I’ll make do with the slideshow.
2008 Travel Movie Awards
by Eva Holland | 02.20.09 | 4:27 PM ET
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist The Oscars are looming, and in keeping with the season I’m thrilled to announce my second annual Travel Movie Awards. As I noted last year, these picks rate high on the arbitrary scale and are not intended to be comprehensive: this is just a collection of movies (and movie moments) from the past year that got me thinking about travel, and about places new and familiar.
Most Adorable/Unusual Tale of Indie Love in New York
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
There is never any shortage of romantic comedies set in the Big Apple, but most directors opt to focus on the entanglements of young professionals (bewildered new-to-the-city female journalists, more often than not), and to set the action in or near Central Park. “Nick and Norah,” in contrast, follows a pair of suburban, straight-edge teenagers through the live music venues of lower Manhattan—and captures my heart in the process.
Slate’s Dana Stevens said it better than I can: “Some people really were made for each other ... and New York does look beautiful by night. You got a problem with that?”
R.I.P. Sigurdur Helgason
by Rob Verger | 02.19.09 | 12:41 PM ET
Sigurdur Helgason, who died Feb. 8 at the age of 87, is credited with growing the airline that became known as the “hippie airline.”
“Mr. Helgason built up the United States market, carrying tens of thousands of budget travelers to Europe on what is known today as Icelandair,” his obituary reports.
The article quotes his daughter, Edda, as saying, “He opened up the opportunity for people in America to appreciate the value of Europe, and Europe of America, and there was Iceland, perfectly located, in between.”
R.I.P. Conchita Cintron, Woman Matador
by Jim Benning | 02.19.09 | 11:38 AM ET
The Peruvian matador’s debut performance dates back to 1937. She died in Lisbon at the age of 86.
Morning Links: Haka, ‘Travel as Rehabilitation,’ Taxi Gourmet and More
by Jim Benning | 02.19.09 | 11:20 AM ET
- The Washington Post profiles Layne Mosler, the food pilgrim at taxigourmet.com.
- Oh, no he didn’t: An angry pilot at a London airport security checkpoint dropped his pants and asked, Do you want to search this?
- Can’t get enough morning links? BootsnAll has launched BootsnAll Today.
- The Christian Science Monitor profiles the creator of www.accessible.travel, the “first online booking engine for disabled travelers.” Says its founder, “I truly believe that travel is rehabilitation.”
- Coastal Living explains how to go from 0 to 200—degrees—with sauna-loving Finns at Thunder Bay, Ontario.
- The Millions on a topic we love: literature as tour guide.
- Finally, why the sour face? Oh, must be because it’s time for the haka championships.
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Leave Home Without It
by Tom Swick | 02.19.09 | 10:07 AM ET
Contemplating and celebrating the world of travel
No One Will Ever Find Me in This Camouflaged Treehouse Hotel
by Joanna Kakissis | 02.18.09 | 1:32 PM ET
Not sure if this idea is crazy or brilliant, but I’m not surprised that it came from eco-chic Scandinavia. The Swedish architecture firm Tham & Videgard Hansson have designed a lightweight treehouse hotel with a mirrored exterior that reflects the forest around it. The mirrored cube is supposed to be invisible, but with a full set of living quarters inside, including a bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette and even a roof terrace. (But a warning to the dainty eco-poseurs: scaling up here via rope ladder or rope bridge is not for the matched luggage set; pack a backpack instead.)
Ryanair Joins the Cruise Game
by Eva Holland | 02.18.09 | 11:09 AM ET
The king of low-cost carriers has joined forces with Costa Cruises and will now be offering discounted bookings with the Italian company through the Ryanair website, the Telegraph reports. “Ryanair and Costa Cruises will reduce the cost of traditionally expensive cruise holidays and bring greater choice to those looking to beat the recession and take advantage of these great value cruise holiday packages,” said a representative for the Irish airline.
There’s no word on whether Costa will start nickel-and-diming passengers as a condition of the deal. Charges for the lounge chairs on deck? Pay-by-weight at the buffet? A steadfast refusal to offer assistance, compensation or even a refund of the measly 15 pounds you paid for your ticket after a last-minute cancellation by the airline? (Not that I’m bitter.)
‘Flying Thief’ Flies No More
by Rob Verger | 02.18.09 | 10:17 AM ET
Reuters reports that Kosztor Sandorne, a Hungarian thief also called “Flying Gizi,” was arrested while in the process of breaking into a house in Hungary. Sandorne “earned her nickname because she liked to flee her crime scenes by taking commercial flights” the article reports.
But here’s the thing. She’s 83 years old. She’s been on the police’s radar since the 1950s. These days, she takes the train instead of flying, “since train travel is free for pensioners in Hungary.”
Robert Plant: From Wales to Timbuktu
by Eva Holland | 02.17.09 | 2:39 PM ET
In the wake of Plant’s five Grammy wins last week, the bloggers at Rock’s Backpages have dug up this 2003 story about a one-day tour of Snowdonia, in Wales—with the former Led Zeppelin frontman playing tour guide. In it, Plant reminisces about the ways a visit to Timbuktu influenced his subsequent solo efforts, and takes the writer to Bron-Yr-Aur, the rural Welsh cottage where he and Jimmy Page wrote much of “Led Zeppelin III.” “Bron-Yr-Aur gave Jimmy and me so much energy,” Plant says. “Because we were really close to something. We believed. It was absolutely wonderful, and my heart was so light and happy.”