Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Dubailand to Add Marvel Comics, Ferraris
by Elyse Franko | 06.24.08 | 3:50 PM ET
We’ve already noted plans for Dubailand, Dubai’s massive amusement park complex that’s been staked out by Universal Studios and Six Flags. According to the Wall Street Journal, recent deals will to the mix add a Marvel superhero-themed park and a Ferrari-themed park called (you guessed it) Ferrari-Land. Ah, Dubai: The place where kids can be kids and dads can indulge their midlife crises.
Related on World Hum:
*Theme Parks Bound for Mumbai and Dubai
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Yahoo! Buzz‘Area Father Fails To Forcibly Refold Map’
by Michael Yessis | 06.24.08 | 2:57 PM ET
It was a map of Iowa that “completely got the best of him,” according to Onion Radio News.
What’s a Ride on a Sleeper Train Without the Company of Strangers?
by Eva Holland | 06.24.08 | 11:32 AM ET
In the rail-riding classic The Great Railway Bazaar, it is Paul Theroux’s fellow passengers, rather than the places he visits, that provide the most memorable moments. I found myself thinking of that odd crew of bunkmates and dining car companions again the other day, when I learned that British rail company First Great Western will no longer allow strangers to share sleeper compartments on their trains.
The Truth About Food Smuggling
by Eva Holland | 06.24.08 | 10:55 AM ET
We’ve all done it: gotten hooked on a particular delicacy while traveling, and tried to sneak a morsel or two home in our luggage. For me, it was energy drinks from Malaysia, mango candies from India, and once, an entire carry-on backpack full of bottled ales, mulled wine, Jaffa cakes and mince pies from England, just before the holidays. But are the edible souvenirs that most travelers stash away really the contraband that sniffer dogs in airports are after? The Globe and Mail’s Judy Stoffman says no.
Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas: Three Great Films
by World Hum | 06.23.08 | 4:08 PM ET
Favelas in Rio de Janeiro are largely stateless, marginalized places mostly controlled by drug gangs. A number of filmmakers have explored the inequality and violence found there, and the result has made for powerful and, at times, controversial movies. Such is the case with the recent Brazilian film “Tropa De Elite” (“Elite Squad”). The award-winning film is told from the point of view of a fictional cop, Captain Nascimento, who is a member of Rio’s police special-forces unit. With a child on the way, Nascimento wants to survive his last mission: pacifying a favela before the Pope arrives. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been widely released, and it isn’t available with English subtitles on DVD, but here are three great films you can easily find:
Top 20 Public Intellectuals in the World
by Jim Benning | 06.23.08 | 3:54 PM ET
Foreign Policy has released the results of its poll. Coming in at number four: Turkish writer and Istanbul memoirist Orhan Pamuk.
Undiscovered Tribe in Brazil Not so Undiscovered After All
by Michael Yessis | 06.23.08 | 3:51 PM ET
Turns out the alleged never-been-contacted tribe in Brazil has been known to the world since 1910. According to the Guardian, the man behind the infamous image of the red-painted tribesmen says he “planned the publicity to protect them and other tribes in similar danger of losing the habitat in which they have flourished for hundreds of years.”
U.S. Train Ridership Up, But Satisfaction Remains Elusive
by Michael Yessis | 06.23.08 | 3:27 PM ET
May was a record month for Amtrak, which reached new highs in passengers carried and ticket revenue. How did a system recently criticized by a magazine called Good as “unspeakably awful” do it? Chalk it up to the high cost of fuel, which is driving many travelers to eschew cars and planes in favor of trains.
R.I.P. George Carlin
by Michael Yessis | 06.23.08 | 10:17 AM ET
If it hasn’t already, the late comedian‘s brilliant routine about stuff will surely change the way you think about packing for your travels. Video below.
Beware the Carry-On Baggage Bulge
by Elyse Franko | 06.23.08 | 10:11 AM ET
Some airlines’ recent decisions to charge for checked luggage will strain more than just customers’ wallets. The Wall Street Journal reports that airlines are gearing up for the battle against massive carry-on baggage, but there’s no question that the new baggage fees will exacerbate what’s already a difficult problem: “To make sure they can find room, some customers already push their way through boarding queues. Passengers struggle to stuff large bags into small bins, and flight attendants often find themselves taking bags off planes and checking them to their destinations once bins fill up.”
Related on World Hum:
* American Airlines Announces $15 Fee for Checking First Bag
World Hum’s Most Read: June 14-20
by World Hum | 06.20.08 | 2:54 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts this week:
1) Top Five Forbidden Vacations for Americans (pictured)
2) The Procession of Black Hats
3) ‘High’ Risk of Terrorist Attack in UAE
4) One Man’s Odyssey into ‘Eat, Pray, Love’
5) Oprah’s Ethicists Debate How Far You Should Recline in an Airline Seat
Photo by Zoom Zoom via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Travel Writers and the ‘City Movies’ They Love
by Eva Holland | 06.20.08 | 11:19 AM ET
I’ve always figured that, broadly speaking, there are two types of travel movies: road movies, where it’s all about the journey, and place movies, where the setting is so vital that it nearly becomes a character in the script. Road movies tend to get most of the attention in the travel writing world, but this week at FilmInFocus, five travel writers give the other kind some love.
Russians Express Their Fondness for Colon Cleansing
by Elyse Franko | 06.20.08 | 11:13 AM ET
A spa in southern Russia has unveiled a monument to enemas. Apparently based on Botticelli’s Venus and Mars, the bronze statue features three cherubs carrying an enema bulb. According to Svetlana Avakova, the sculpture’s artist, “An enema is an unpleasant procedure as many of us may know. But when cherubs do it, it’s all right.” Agreed, Ms. Avakova. Agreed.
Thomas Swick’s ‘All-Star Roster of International Street Foods’
by Eva Holland | 06.20.08 | 10:53 AM ET
In his latest column, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel travel editor reminisces about his most memorable street eats—from bratwurst in Germany to pho in Vietnam—and observes that roadside fare is “not only cheap and delicious, it’s almost always illuminating about the place.”
Photo by LWY via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Esquire Complains About Hotel Bar Names
by Michael Yessis | 06.20.08 | 9:51 AM ET
Joe Oestreich is right. They’re generally awful. “The greatest day in a bar owner’s life must be the day he names it,” he writes. “And yet so many hotel bars are called something we can’t in good conscience invite someone to.” Among the names that offend him: Fandangles, Whispers, Celebrities and Bowties. The namers might want to take some inspiration from these places.
