Travel Blog: News and Briefs
‘Terminal Man’ Hits the 50-Flight Mark
by Eva Holland | 10.01.09 | 4:15 PM ET
And he still has a week to go. Judging by his latest blog post over at Wired, the 30-day airport challenge is starting to wear him down. Hang in there, Brendan!
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Yahoo! BuzzHas the World’s First Novelty Restaurant Been Discovered?
by Michael Yessis | 10.01.09 | 3:08 PM ET
Looks like it. Archaeologists in Rome claim to have unearthed a circular rotating dining room used by Emperor Nero, proving, as Felicity Cloake writes in the Guardian, that “when it comes to naff eateries, anything we can do, the toga wearers did first.”
The AP has a proper news report on the discovery:
In Praise of ‘Hindoo Holiday’
by Michael Yessis | 10.01.09 | 1:56 PM ET
Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Dirda professes his love for J.R. Ackerley’s book about his five months in India, Hindoo Holiday—both for its content and his quest to find it.
“I first read Hindoo Holiday 25 years ago because of [Evelyn] Waugh’s atypical rave, which I came across in the massive, and massively enjoyable, volume of his collected essays and journalism,” Dirda writes. “In those pre-Internet days it took a while to turn up a copy of Ackerley’s onetime best seller, and I can still remember my glee in finally unearthing that worn Chatto and Windus edition in Heffer’s bookstore during a short visit to Cambridge, England.”
Congratulations, First Clown in Space!
by Eva Holland | 10.01.09 | 12:09 PM ET
Space tourist and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté blasted off for the international space station yesterday, red clown nose and all. Now that’s a milestone to remember.
Travel Warning Issued for Samoa, Tonga
by Eva Holland | 10.01.09 | 11:28 AM ET
The British Foreign Office is advising travelers to stay away from Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga as the islands struggle with the fall-out from Tuesday’s tsunami. Milder warnings have also been issued for Sumatra, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.
British Airways: Introducing the ‘Son of Concorde’
by Eva Holland | 09.30.09 | 4:42 PM ET
With BA’s luxury London-New York route launching this week—exactly forty years after the Concorde’s first flight—the Independent’s Simon Calder takes a closer look at the new service, and at the history of luxury and business class-only air travel.
Are Introverted Travelers More Skeptical of Strangers?
by Eva Holland | 09.30.09 | 2:25 PM ET
That’s the question posed by World Hum contributor Sophia Dembling, in her latest blog post over at The Introvert’s Corner. It’s an interesting one, and the logical follow-up—is introvert skepticism an obstacle preventing interaction with the locals, a useful safety device, or both?—is too. For more on introverts out in the big wide world, check out Sophia’s Confessions of an Introverted Traveler and Six Tips for Introverted Travelers.
Dan Brown Tourism Hits D.C.
by Eva Holland | 09.30.09 | 12:06 PM ET
That was quick. Two weeks after the release of his latest, “The Lost Symbol,” and the Dan Brown-themed travel stories about the city where it’s set—Washington, D.C.—are already piling up.
‘When Souvenirs go Bad’
by Michael Yessis | 09.30.09 | 10:47 AM ET
Fark’s photoshoppers have transformed some classic travel souvenirs into some crude and lewd tchotchkes. Yes, that is Snoopy giving you the finger.
From Buenos Aires to Koh Chang: The World’s Worst Pizzas
by Eva Holland | 09.30.09 | 9:57 AM ET
Pizza addict Tom Gates is nine months into a year-long RTW, and in that time he’s encountered some truly disgusting pies—think maraschino cherry and french fry toppings. Check out his round-up of the five worst, and be ready for some vivid language and appalling images.
Alaska and the Cruise Industry Go to Court
by Eva Holland | 09.29.09 | 2:12 PM ET
With several major cruise lines headed into the courtroom to challenge Alaska’s $50-per-cruise-passenger “head tax,” Rob Lovitt takes a broader look at the uneasy relationship between the cruise industry and the state. Here’s his take on a return visit to Skagway after a 20-year absence:
I was gobsmacked by the changes. Instead of one ship, there were three, each of which probably carried 2,000-2,500 passengers. With 6,000-plus cruisers unloading simultaneously, Broadway was more or less impassable, and while the Sweet Tooth and Red Onion were still there, they were joined by the likes of Del Sol, Tanzanite International and other absurdly out-of-place outposts of Caribbean kitsch.
And it’s not just Skagway. A recent editorial in the Juneau Empire bemoaned the “yuck factor” created by the dozens of jewelry stores and trinket shops along the city’s main tourist drag. Written, surprisingly enough, by a local economic development booster, the piece didn’t single out the cruise industry, but it doesn’t take an advanced degree in tourism management to realize that cruise ships and curio shops go together like buffet lines and bulging waistlines.
The World’s Most Carnivorous Countries
by Michael Yessis | 09.29.09 | 12:11 PM ET
Good posted a clever interactive graphic. The most carnivorous country per capita? Denmark.
Body Cavities and the TSA
by Eva Holland | 09.29.09 | 11:27 AM ET
Over at Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow has a colorful rant speculating about the TSA’s response to the attempted assassination of a Saudi prince last month—by a terrorist dubbed the ass bomber.
‘If Air Travel Worked Like Health Care’
by Eva Holland | 09.29.09 | 10:05 AM ET
Jonathan Rauch has an imaginary phone conversation with a customer service representative at Air Health Care. Funny stuff. (Via The Daily Dish)
Is it a ‘Golden Age’ for British Indie Bookstores?
by Eva Holland | 09.28.09 | 3:51 PM ET
Apparently, more than 60 new stores have opened in the U.K. in the past 15 months. That’s a nice counterweight to all the closures we’ve been covering. (Via The Book Bench)
