Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Washington D.C. To World: During Inauguration Weekend, We’re Keeping our Bars Open Late For You
by Michael Yessis | 12.03.08 | 11:58 AM ET
The D.C. Council voted to allow bars, nightclubs and restaurants to pour booze until 5 a.m., and to serve food 24 hours a day, from January 17-20. That’s the long weekend before Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. So you may not be able to find a place to sleep, but you’ll always be able to find a place for a Yuengling and a crab cake.
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Yahoo! Buzz‘You Could Literally Smell the Tourists Coming Into the Capitol’
by Michael Yessis | 12.03.08 | 11:52 AM ET
Senator Harry Reid’s staff told him not to say that, but, yeah, he said that. During the opening of the new Capitol Visitors Center, he said, “In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it’s true.” His not-so-populist statement and the opening of the $621 million facility has proved good fodder for writers. My favorite take: Dana Milbank’s column in the Washington Post. He nails Reid, as well as House Minority Leader John Boehner.
He writes:
But where Reid saw toilets and trinkets, Boehner saw history. Recalling the British burning of the unfinished Capitol in 1814, he concluded: “It took 38 years and two wars to truly gain our independence, and it took several generations and a bloody Civil War to end slavery and win freedom for millions of African Americans. And today, we mark the opening of the Capitol Visitors Center.”
So, children, those are the great moments in American history: the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War and the opening of the Capitol Visitor Center.
Bangkok’s Airport ‘Creaks Back to Life’
by Valerie Conners | 12.03.08 | 10:19 AM ET
The international airport here has slowly started the process of reopening, after anti-government protesters who had camped there for a week called off their demonstration following a court’s decision to ban the prime minister from politics and dissolve the governing party. Flights have begun to arrive at the airport, though authorities still estimate it will take days before some 230,000 stranded visitors will be able to leave the country.
Venice ‘Paralyzed’ by Worst Flooding in 20 Years
by Michael Yessis | 12.02.08 | 5:20 PM ET
The Times of London reports that 95 percent of the city is underwater. Travelers are being warned to stay away, though some who are already in Venice are reportedly making the best of the situation.
The Critics: ‘Australia’
by Eva Holland | 12.02.08 | 5:15 PM ET
Well, “Australia” may yet be the next big travel movie, but the cross-country-cattle-drive/war/romance epic certainly isn’t the next big hit with the critics.
California’s Proposition 8 Fallout: Boycott Utah?
by Jim Benning | 12.01.08 | 1:18 PM ET
Supporters of gay marriage—angered by reports that members of the Mormon Church donated millions of dollars to back Proposition 8 on California’s November ballot—are calling for a boycott of travel to Utah, including the Sundance Film Festival.
The Onion: ‘American Airlines Now Charging Fees to Non-Passengers’
by Jim Benning | 12.01.08 | 1:11 PM ET
“Tough times unfortunately mean tough measures,” the airline’s president told America’s finest news source.
Happy Thanksgiving
by Michael Yessis | 11.26.08 | 2:10 PM ET
We’re renewing a World Hum Thanksgiving tradition this year by taking off the next four days. We’ll be back on Monday. Safe travels to all. While you’re out there, may you avoid the holiday traditions shown in this video:
What Food Writers Really Think of Thanksgiving
by Eva Holland | 11.26.08 | 2:09 PM ET
Turns out, they can’t stand the annual turkey fest—at least according to Slate’s Regina Schrambling, who offers a hilarious rant on the subject, just in time for the holidays. “What makes me totally crazy,” she writes, “is the persistent pressure to reinvent a wheel that has been going around quite nicely for more than 200 years. Every fall, writers and editors have to knock themselves out to come up with a gimmick—fast turkey, slow turkey, brined turkey, unbrined turkey—when the meal essentially has to stay the same.”
‘Rude Recliners, Armrest Hogs, Shoulder Surfers’: Are You an Annoying Traveler?
by Valerie Conners | 11.26.08 | 11:10 AM ET
A recent poll of travelers’ most irritating behavior by TripAdvisor.com indicates that the number one annoyance is having children kick the back of your seat. Also making the list: people eating stinky meals, loud cellphone talkers and folks taking too long to load their overhead luggage (you know who you are!). And yet there may be help for the irritating traveler.
Hitting the Road This Holiday?
by Valerie Conners | 11.26.08 | 10:44 AM ET
While you’re far from alone, the AP reports that despite falling gas prices and last minute vacation deals, fewer people are traveling this Thanksgiving eve, typically one of the busiest travel days of the year.
Take a Peek Inside ‘World’s First Zero-Star Hotel’
by Elyse Franko | 11.26.08 | 10:18 AM ET
Last month, we reported on the Null Stern Hotel, Switzerland’s fallout shelter-turned-budget hotel that’s set to open early in 2009. The Wall Street Journal recently joined some volunteer guests for the hotel’s test run, and a slideshow features the sneak peek inside the former bunker: Gourmet cuisine? Nope. Private showers? Nope. Protection from nuclear fallout? But of course!
Bangkok Airport Closed by Protests*
by Eva Holland | 11.25.08 | 4:36 PM ET
Thai authorities have canceled all flights at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport as riot police face down protesters inside the terminal, the New York Times reports. More than a few travelers are affected: Suvarnabhumi is the 18th busiest airport in the world.
* Update, 9:45 PT: According to Reuters, reports from various Bangkok media have been “confusing” but indicate as many as several bombs have exploded outside the airport, injuring up to a dozen people.
Rental Car Comedy: 10 Memorable Movie Scenes
by Michael Yessis | 11.25.08 | 11:47 AM ET
USA Today’s Barbara De Lollis runs down the list, which is topped, of course, with Steve Martin’s pre-Thanksgiving tirade in “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” World Hum movie clubber Eli Ellison Eva Holland called it a hissy fit for the history books.
Africa: It’s ‘A Rorschach Test in Which We See the Worst of Humanity’
by Michael Yessis | 11.25.08 | 10:32 AM ET
Why do so many of the world’s high-intensity conflicts take place in Africa? “[T]here are factors. There are trends. There are grievances. There are motives,” writes World Hum contributor Frank Bures in a piece for World Ark. “It is a confusing mix, but I was going to Uganda to try to sort through some of these questions as best I could and, if not find answers, at least find the questions.”
