Travel Blog: News and Briefs
‘Unfordable River Town’ and Other True Place Names
by Eva Holland | 12.14.09 | 12:09 PM ET
The Telegraph has a fantastic slideshow from the Atlas of True Names, a collection of maps that displays alternate place names taken from the literal meanings and early origins of the official nomenclature. The result? Familiar places become “Ferry on the Bank of the Mighty River,” “Market by the Yawning Estuary,” and “Unfordable River Town”—otherwise known as London.
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzWhat We Loved This Week: Paprika, San Telmo and Jason Reitman’s Pie Chart
by World Hum | 12.11.09 | 5:33 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland Cory Eldridge
I loved the smell of paprika my sister sent from Gyula, Hungary, cooked with olive oil and onions, filling my apartment. Sweet, spicy, smoky, sublime. Make shashuka, an easy tomato and egg dish, and experience the glory.
Great Global Thinkers and Top Travel Books
by Eva Holland | 12.11.09 | 11:07 AM ET
Foreign Policy recently named its top 100 global thinkers of 2009—and then followed up by asking those thinkers to name their favorite books. The number one pick on our list of the top 30 travel books—Wilfred Thesiger’s “Arabian Sands”—made the FP list, as did books by travel writers Ryszard Kapuściński and William Dalrymple. Great minds, huh? (Via The Book Bench)
Canada Makes the Next Move in Northwest Passage Dispute
by Eva Holland | 12.09.09 | 2:13 PM ET
Time for another round of diplomatic maneuvering as the ice recedes around the long-sought northern shipping route. The latest move? Canada has announced plans to create a formal marine conservation area in Lancaster Sound, in waters which the American and Russian governments claim are international. The change would allow shipping but make waste dumping, mining and oil and gas development in the area illegal under Canadian law.
Photos: The World’s Most Architecturally Interesting Subway Stations
by Michael Yessis | 12.09.09 | 11:02 AM ET
As compiled by designboom. The gallery includes shots from Stockholm, Bilbao, Shanghai and Munich (pictured), among others. (Via Coudal)
McSweeney’s: Dispatches From an Indian Casino
by Eva Holland | 12.08.09 | 3:34 PM ET
The ongoing series looks at the Indian casino from an employee’s perspective. Slate also explored the visitor’s casino experience in a five-day series earlier this year.
Malaria in post-Civil War America, Mapped
by Eva Holland | 12.08.09 | 1:08 PM ET
We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?
‘Flying Machines are Impossible’ and Other Failed Predictions
by Eva Holland | 12.08.09 | 11:35 AM ET
Oddee has a round-up of 15 failed predictions about the future, and nearly half of them are travel-related. My favorite comes from a 19th century doctor: “Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.” (Via Kottke)
NPR Delves Into the World of Marmite
by Eva Holland | 12.07.09 | 5:33 PM ET
And uses the word “sludge” twice in the first two minutes. I may be a defender of British food, but I have to confess I could never get into the dark yeasty stuff. (Via The Book Bench)
Milking the Mint for Frequent Flier Miles
by Eva Holland | 12.07.09 | 2:33 PM ET
The things some people will do for miles. The Wall Street Journal has the convoluted story of how some die-hard points collectors bought up more than $1 million in dollar coins from the U.S. Mint, taking advantage of a free shipping program in order to rack up miles on their credit cards. Said a government spokesman: “Is this illegal? No. Is it the right thing to do? No, it’s not what the program is intended to do.”
Gawker’s Guide to Staying Out of Foreign Prisons
by Eva Holland | 12.07.09 | 12:39 PM ET
In the wake of American exchange student Amanda Knox’s murder conviction in Italy this weekend, Gawker offers a “Foxy Knoxy-inspired guide” to avoiding arrest while traveling overseas. Among the tips? Never underestimate the outside world’s prudishness, and the always-cogent “Don’t start shit.”
What We Loved This Week: El Ataneo Grand Splendid, Iraqi Kurdistan, Moose and More
by World Hum | 12.04.09 | 10:25 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland Michael Yessis
I loved this slideshow about Iraqi Kurdistan, which Jeff Pflueger linked to in his latest World Hum column on travel photography. It illustrates Pfueger’s point—that shooting a lot of pictures is key to great travel photography—and shows off some terrific images.
Should Billy Carter’s Service Station Become a National Historic Site?
by Eva Holland | 12.04.09 | 3:40 PM ET
The Plains, Georgia gas station once run by the former First Brother could become part of a proposed Jimmy Carter National Historic Site—and, predictably, not everyone thinks that’s an appropriate use of taxpayer funds.
‘The Cuban Revolution Explained to Taxi Drivers’
by Michael Yessis | 12.04.09 | 11:55 AM ET
José Manuel Prieto is “eternally amazed by the tremendous popularity of the Cuban Revolution among the taxi drivers of the world.” He explores what that means in an essay in the Nation. (via Arts & Letters Daily)
At El Bulli, the Customer Comes Second
by Eva Holland | 12.03.09 | 5:04 PM ET
A Harvard Business School professor takes a look at “the best restaurant in the world” and why its chef, Ferran Adria, refuses to function according to business and marketing norms. (Via Kottke)
