Travel Blog
Second Deadly Shark Attack Off Mexican Beach
by Jim Benning | 05.27.08 | 12:24 PM ET
For the second time in a month, a shark has killed a surfer near the Mexican beach resort town of Zihuatanejo. Saturday’s fatal attack of a Mexican surfer occurred at a beach called Pantla, Reuters reports. Less than a month earlier, an American surfer was killed by a shark at Troncones beach. They’re the first fatal shark attacks in Mexico in 30 years, according to experts.
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Yahoo! BuzzTen Things to Eat Before They Disappear
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.27.08 | 11:39 AM ET
Because it might not be around much longer, Imraguen mullet bottarga—a kind of Mauretanian caviar—was one of the “endangered foods” from around the world that was featured at a unique feast in Newcastle, England, The World reports. The “Ten Things to Eat Before They Die” menu also included Saxon village berry preserves from Translyvania, Herat raisins from Afghanistan, golden lentils from France and Huehuetenango highland coffee from Guatemala. Globalization and mass marketing have increasingly homogenized the world’s menus, often suffocating the strange, delightful ingredients in traditional foods cultivated or made by a handful of producers.
Houston, Was That a Model Rocket Shooting Past my Plane?
by Jim Benning | 05.27.08 | 10:54 AM ET
We hope that was the object with the flaming tail that a Continental Airlines pilot reported seeing fly past a Boeing 737 just after takeoff. The FBI is investigating.
In Sicily, Bypassing the Mafia Through ‘Pizzo-Free’ Travel
by Eva Holland | 05.27.08 | 10:43 AM ET
The Guardian’s Stephanie Rafanelli recently took a “pizzo-free” tour of Palermo—that is, she frequented only those businesses that refuse to pay protection money to the powerful local mafia. It’s a growing movement in Sicily, driven by young people who are tired of violence, intimidation and extortion. From Rafanelli’s compelling story: “Addiopizzo, literally Goodbye Pizzo, is an association that fights the mafia through ethical consumerism asking locals—and tourists—to support businesses that refuse to pay.” The group now has more than 300 members throughout Palermo, including restaurants and bars, B&Bs, markets and shops.
World Hum’s Most Read: May 17-23
by World Hum | 05.23.08 | 1:35 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts this week:
1) Hard Rock Park Opens to ‘Awesome’ Reviews
2) How To: Use a Squat Toilet
3) Ask Rolf: How Do You Stay Fit When You’re Traveling?
4) Overanalyzing America’s Top 25 Tourist Sites (pictured)
5) How Bad is the Violence in Mexico?
Photo by The Jacobin via Flick (Creative Commons)
What We Loved This Week: Bjork, Makloubeh and Chupacabras Pale Ale
by World Hum | 05.23.08 | 1:17 PM ET
World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Ben Keene
When my old band used to tour clubs and colleges in the spring, we would listen to Bjork late at night as we made our way to the couch or motel bed that would offer us a few hours of rest before the next day’s drive. Since then, I’ve been inspired to pick up and go just about every time I hear one of her songs. At the moment, “Wanderlust” from her last album has me itching to travel. As she sings “Wanderlust, relentlessly craving!” against a backdrop of surging electronic beats, the faint sound of waves crashing, and a pulsing tone that sounds like Morse code, the pull of the road feels stronger to me.
Peter Hessler’s Former Students and the China Earthquake
by Jim Benning | 05.23.08 | 1:09 PM ET
A quick note before we head off for the three-day weekend that the New Yorker has posted correspondence from former students of Peter Hessler about their experience in the deadly Sichuan earthquake. “I am sorry to say my parents’ house collapsed,” one wrote. Hessler chronicled his Peace Corps teaching experience in Sichuan Province in the (now classic) travel book River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze.
Dr. Beach Unveils Top 10 Beaches of 2008
by Michael Yessis | 05.23.08 | 11:57 AM ET
His ranking of U.S. beaches—annual pre-summer fodder for U.S. media—is out, and Caladesi Island State Park in Dunedin, Florida takes the top spot. Dr. Beach, aka Florida International University professor Stephen P. Leatherman, rates the beaches by 50 criteria. The rest of the Top 10 are:
Vandals Chip Away at Stonehenge
by Michael Yessis | 05.23.08 | 11:54 AM ET
The at-large suspects used a hammer and a screwdriver to remove a coin-sized piece of the 5,000-year-old monument. The BBC notes that in the 19th century, such an act wouldn’t be uncommon. From its story: “At one time, chisels would be handed to people visiting Stonehenge, so they could chip away at the ancient monument to get their own souvenirs.”
Related on World Hum:
* The Great Wall, Siem Reap, Stonehenge Getting Too Much Love
Getting Hitched in Las Vegas?
by Jim Benning | 05.23.08 | 11:38 AM ET
Why, that’s an altarcation.
Do They Serve Polygamy Porter at the Merry Wives Cafe?
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.23.08 | 11:11 AM ET
The Merry Wives Cafe in Hilldale, Utah is the only sit-down restaurant on the 55-mile stretch of highway between Fredonia, Arizona, and Hurricane, Utah. And, yes, it’s run by polygamists. The Work of Jesus Christ of Centennial Park opened the cafe last year in part to sweeten polygamy’s really, really bad image. The Centennial Park group broke off decades ago from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints—whose chapter in Texas has been the focus of damning media reports about child sexual abuse—and says it condemns underage marriage and child labor.
Gridskipper Goes to the Hamptons
by Jim Benning | 05.23.08 | 10:54 AM ET
Big changes at the travel blog. “Formerly focused on the urban travel experiences,” it declares, “the new Gridskipper knows travel as an exercise in escape and leisure.” We’re a long way from April Fool’s Day, so we’ll take them at their word.
RVs: Recession Victims?
by Eva Holland | 05.23.08 | 10:47 AM ET
With the dollar playing scrappy underdog to the euro, the airline industry in disarray and some Americans staying close to home for their vacations this year, you might think that your local recreational vehicle dealer would be in better shape than many of his colleagues in the travel business. After all, as Slate’s Daniel Gross writes, “RVs are cheaper than a vacation home, help travelers save on hotels, and appeal to those who prefer leisure and economy over speed and glitz.”
A ‘Redneck Taco’ in the Deep-Fried United States
by Joanna Kakissis | 05.23.08 | 10:33 AM ET
Martin’s Barbecue Joint in Nolensville, Tennessee, makes a good one, at least according to Southern food guru John T. Edge. Martin’s “redneck taco” is pork-shoulder barbecue on hoecakes, which Edge calls “a cross between a cornpone and a blini.” Visitors might cackle over the name, especially if they’re dainty eaters, but ignore this beautiful open-faced sandwich at your own peril. Barbecue should be anointed the eighth wonder of the world, and hoecakes should be worshiped at least as much as hush puppies. Edge sampled hoecakes across Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky for a recent Gourmet story.
Related on World Hum:
* Barbecue Goes Global
Spanish-Language TV News Just Might be Good For You
by Jim Benning | 05.22.08 | 4:34 PM ET
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has stressed that Latino immigrants in the U.S. have “got to turn off the Spanish language television” if they want to understand English and local news. Many others agree. But “Schwarzenegger is wrong, and so is this new consensus,” argues former Los Angeles Times reporter Joe Mathews in an op-ed in the Washington Post.
