Travel Blog: News and Briefs
The Best British Beaches
by Eva Holland | 08.26.09 | 4:52 PM ET
I know, I know: Most folks don’t head to the U.K. for their sand ‘n’ surf fix—but this list of 50 great British beaches just might leave you tempted. I can vouch for several of the picks in Cornwall and Northumberland.
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzLondon to Edinburgh in 2:16
by Eva Holland | 08.26.09 | 4:15 PM ET
That would be the journey time—down from 4.5 hours—if a new high-speed rail plan goes ahead in Britain. The possible line is just one of several high-speed rail proposals we’ve been keeping tabs on.
The Big Picture Goes Airborne
by Michael Yessis | 08.26.09 | 1:42 PM ET
Flying machines get the Big Picture treatment. Stellar presentation, as usual.
Meet the Micronations (Again)
by Eva Holland | 08.26.09 | 12:50 PM ET
It’s been three years since Lonely Planet released a guide to the world’s “micronations”—tiny, self-defined territories, often unrecognized by anyone but their own citizens. Now, Smithsonian takes another look at a few of the micronations and the reasons they’ve been created—which range from tourism gimmicks to political statements to plain old teenage boredom. It’s a fun read. (Via Boing Boing)
Chiapas: An Economist Correspondent’s Diary
by Michael Yessis | 08.26.09 | 11:36 AM ET
Its focus is Zapatistas and coffee. Mostly coffee.
Hands Off That Seatback Pocket
by Eva Holland | 08.26.09 | 10:47 AM ET
Here’s another twist in the increasingly weird air travel experience: The Federal Aviation Administration has apparently banned passengers from placing personal items in the seatback pockets—and most of the major airlines are just as confused as we are. Joe Sharkey has the story.
10 Great American Road Trip Books
by Eva Holland | 08.26.09 | 9:43 AM ET
When you’re through with Paul Theroux’s excellent Smithsonian essay about his first cross-country drive, be sure to check out the accompanying roundup of great American road trip reads. Several of our top 30 travel books make an appearance.
Beirut: It’s Hot Again!
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 4:16 PM ET
What do Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton and the members of Keane have in common? According to Global Post, they’re among the celebrities who’ve popped up in Beirut this summer, part of the city’s resurgence as “the party and cultural headquarters of the Middle East” after three years of violence and turmoil. And, happily for the Lebanese economy, the tourists are following in Snoop Dogg’s footsteps—in record numbers.
For the Love of the European ‘City Bike’
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 1:48 PM ET
Can’t get enough of the Dutch-style two-wheelers? You’re not alone. Slate’s Seth Stevenson confesses his love for the “primly rectilinear” bicycles he first encountered around Amsterdam, and reviews a few different models that are available from specialty shops here in North America.
Parkour in Kazakhstan
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 12:56 PM ET
Kottke posts a fantastic action shot.
Into Jamaica’s Maroon Country
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 10:59 AM ET
Matt Carroll recently ditched the resort and went looking for the descendants of the Maroons, the historic communities of escaped slaves that formed in the Jamaican interior and fought a running battle with the British for more than a century. His story is in the Guardian.
R.I.P. Orient Express
by Eva Holland | 08.25.09 | 10:09 AM ET
Don’t worry: The modern, private luxury line to Venice is still going strong. But, as we’ve noted before, the last true descendant of the original Orient Express was a line from Strasbourg to Vienna—and that service has just been cut. The Independent’s Simon Calder offers an obituary:
As an announcement of a momentous death foretold, it is remarkably economical. “Train 468/469,” reports the September edition of the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable “Strasbourg to Wien [Vienna] will finally be withdrawn.” Between those two phrases is the most momentous pair of words in European rail travel: Orient Express. Seventy-five years after the publication of Agatha Christie’s bestselling crime novel, Murder on the Orient Express, the train that epitomised trans-European travel for more than a century is finally being killed off.
The End-of-Summer Roadtrip Rehab
by Eva Holland | 08.24.09 | 4:33 PM ET
Yep, it’s getting to be that time of year again. Wired’s Brad Moon cleans out the family car after a summer of road tripping, and makes a list of banned substances for future treks. Among the contraband? “Those grabby pincer things they sell at all souvenir shops.”
Paul Theroux: ‘The Cross-Country Trip is the Supreme Example of the Journey as the Destination’
by Michael Yessis | 08.24.09 | 2:37 PM ET
Yet one of the most intrepid travel writers alive had never driven across the U.S. So when the Smithsonian asked him and five other travel writers to take on their dream assignments, he picked the cross-country trip. He delivered a beautiful story. He writes:
In my life, I had sought out other parts of the world—Patagonia, Assam, the Yangtze; I had not realized that the dramatic desert I had imagined Patagonia to be was visible on my way from Sedona to Santa Fe, that the rolling hills of West Virginia were reminiscent of Assam and that my sight of the Mississippi recalled other great rivers. I’m glad I saw the rest of the world before I drove across America. I have traveled so often in other countries and am so accustomed to other landscapes, I sometimes felt on my trip that I was seeing America, coast to coast, with the eyes of a foreigner, feeling overwhelmed, humbled and grateful.
The other five writers involved are Susan Orlean (Destination: Morocco), Francine Prose (Japan), Geoffrey C. Ward (India), Caroline Alexander (Jamaica) and Frances Mayes (Poland). Here’s Jan Morris’s introduction to the project.
Two Buskers Banned After Playing ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Faith’ Over and Over
by Michael Yessis | 08.24.09 | 12:25 PM ET
Apparently an 18-month-long aural assault featuring the massive hits by Oasis and George Michael was enough for the people of Moseley, Birmingham. Said one resident: “It would get to the point where I would be lying in bed and I would have Wonderwall stuck in my head all night. To be fair, they didn’t do a bad rendition of the songs—but after hearing them the first few times it does start to grate on you. Although its not surprising that they can play it well—with the amount of practice they’ve had.”
