Travel Blog: News and Briefs
Alaska Airlines Copes With Mount Redoubt and Tweets, Too
by Rob Verger | 03.31.09 | 9:16 AM ET
Alaska Airlines announced Monday afternoon that flights to and from Anchorage were operating “on a limited schedule” due to the eruption of Mount Redoubt, and that the status is being re-evaluated every hour. Clearly, it’s a fluid situation. For information, visit the the carrier’s website or follow its snappy updates on Twitter.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory is also Tweeting about the mountain’s status, as previously mentioned.
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Yahoo! BuzzMorning Links: ‘Tintin in Thailand,’ Hotelicopter Hoax and More
by Michael Yessis | 03.31.09 | 8:03 AM ET
- How is Prince William dealing with the economic downturn? He’s flying coach.
- Travel Hoax of the Week: The Hotelicopter.
- How do smartphones affect serendipitous wandering? Andrew Sullivan and his readers weigh in.
- A passenger was arrested after trying to open the door of plane stuck on a JFK taxiway.
- Anonymous writes about auditioning for a Las Vegas “dream job”: Working at a hotel pool. (via Kottke)
- Judges are set to rule whether Florida’s Airstream Ranch is art or nuisance. (via Groffoto
- Tintin in the red-light district in Thailand? The Rumpus calls it “remix culture at its finest.”
- Slideshow: A “controversial zoo in Argentina allows tourists to have extremely close encounters” with the animals.
- NPR’s latest “You Must Read This”: Beryl Markham’s West with the Night.
- Finally, some travelish humor—from a 5-year old.
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‘Survivor’: Coming to a Theme Park Near You
by Eva Holland | 03.30.09 | 12:20 PM ET
Move over, American Idol: “Survivor” is the latest reality TV phenomenon to get the theme-park treatment—and no, sadly, I don’t mean that the next season will force young parents to survive 40 days in the Magic Kingdom. (Now that, I would watch.)
Instead, CBS has created “Survivor: Live,” a free stage show that will visit three U.S. theme parks this summer, with plans for an expanded touring schedule next summer. Variety reports: “The half-hour ‘Survivor: Live’ will use clips from the TV series—as well as actors portraying previous contestants—and divide the audience into four ‘tribes.’ Volunteers from the crowd will go through a series of four challenges, leading eventually to a sole winner.” Weight loss from The Survivor Diet not included. (Via The Remote Island)
Kenyan Eco-Tourism Camp Draws on the ‘Obama Magic’
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.30.09 | 11:20 AM ET
In 2006, then-Senator Barack Obama stayed in a room at Basecamp Explorer, which is set on 40 acres at the edge of the Masai Mara National Game Reserve. Now that he’s President Obama, the room where he stayed is already popular with visitors, camp general manager Annette Bulman told Business Daily Africa.
The so-called “Obama room” is spare, with a bed, two African stools and a table with a framed photo of Obama and some Basecamp employees. Its wooden porch has a hammock and overlooks the Talek River. Basecamp Explorer is already one of the top eco-tourism facilities in Kenya. Could the “Obama room” also make it one of the most popular in Africa?
Morning Links: China, Tibet, What Matt Harding Believes and More
by Michael Yessis | 03.30.09 | 9:24 AM ET
- Matt Harding believes “globalization is forcing our brains to evolve.” He explains in a “This I Believe” essay for NPR.
- World Hum contributor Leigh Ann Henion walks in the footsteps of toreros and Hemingway.
- Travel + Leisure Australia divulges 20 travel secrets you need to know.
- Elle profiles “Eat, Pray, Love” author Elizabeth Gilbert.
- The Washington Post chronicles the love fest for Gilbert and “Eat, Pray, Love” at the National Cathedral.
- China says it will allow foreign tourists back to Tibet on April 5.
- The Washington Post plays its story about “a potentially historic bill to lift the travel ban” to Cuba on the front page of its print edition.
- Fernanda D’Arienzo wants to save you from Rome’s predatory restaurant owners.
- Pittsburgh to conventioneers: Come visit, we’re glamorless.
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What We Loved This Week: Atlantic City, Franz Kafka International Airport and More
by Michael Yessis | 03.27.09 | 4:06 PM ET
Photo by Rob Verger Terry Ward
Continental‘s new daily nonstop service from Newark to Shanghai that debuted Wednesday. The introductory rates are crazy low (I saw round trips departing next week for less than $700), and finding myself suddenly in Shanghai is, well, a serious high.
Pam Mandel
The trailer for “Where the Wild Things Are.” I hit play with great trepidation, but from what I’ve seen so far, I can hardly wait to see the big screen version of Sendak’s perfect and compact adventure. Cranky and disenchanted, off goes Max to become king of the wild things, later happy to return to his dinner, still hot, and his own bed? What a perfect travel story. Via lots of places, but I like this Intelligent Travel post.
Looking Back at the Bed-In
by Eva Holland | 03.27.09 | 2:29 PM ET
This week marks the 40th anniversary of John and Yoko’s first bed-in, at the Amsterdam Hilton. The couple spent their honeymoon, from March 26 to 31, 1969, inviting the press to visit them in their hotel room, where they sat in bed and talked peace. (A second, more famous bed-in took place in Montreal in May of ’69 and resulted in the recording of “Give Peace a Chance.”)
If you happen to be in Amsterdam this weekend, check out a few ongoing commemorative events there, or—for a virtual commemoration—head over to Yoko Ono’s ImaginePeace.com for photos, video and reminiscences. You can also follow Yoko on Twitter; she’s had the anniversary on her mind. Yesterday she wrote: “I never liked ringing the service bell because it often made me realize that there was nobody at the other end.”
The Thrill of Gel and Other Disappearing Edible Delights!
by David Farley | 03.27.09 | 1:30 PM ET
Grant Achatz, the avant-garde Chicago chef, went to Madrid to attend Madrid Fusion, a congress of 50 of the world’s best chef, and all he got was a crappy food-stained T-shirt. Moreover, in this article he penned for the Atlantic, Achatz bemoans on a grander scale by wondering if molecular gastronomy is dead. Most of the world’s population didn’t even know that it had been born. But Achatz sat there during the meeting as chef after chef took the mic and felt pangs of emptiness:
“Where were the culinary fireworks? The introduction to the next ingredient that was going to enable us to turn oil into powder, serve a gelled liquid hot, or thicken an infusion by simply blending in a magical white substance? Where were the explanations of new techniques? Like the ones used to create raviolis with skins made from themselves, making pasta from stock, and aerating food to produce sponge-like textures?”
Raviolis with skins made from themselves? Aerating food to produce sponge-like textures? Sheesh. And he wonders why people may be losing interest in it.
Where I’ve Been: Tracking It
by Jenna Schnuer | 03.27.09 | 11:31 AM ET
Photo courtesy of Amy Ruppel. Since I (semi-permanently) dismissed the idea of getting a tattooed map of the U.S. on my person in order to mark off, one tattoo pin at a time, where I’ve traveled, I’ve been on the hunt for a new way to detail where I’ve been. (Please don’t recommend a scrapbook. I’m not that girl.) I think Facebook “where I’ve been” maps are annoying and show-offy. And a traditional pinned map still appeals but ... I just haven’t found a U.S. map I want to stare down at all the time. But, today, I found my new I’ve-been-there collection idea: prints of artist Amy Ruppel’s state birds pieces. As my bank account allows it, I’m going to build the collection, bird by bird. I guess I’d better clear some wall space.
How do you mark your territory?
A Little Bit of Botswana Comes to HBO
by Eva Holland | 03.27.09 | 10:29 AM ET
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, a television adaptation of the popular Alexander McCall Smith novels, premieres on HBO this weekend. The series follows the adventures of Botswana’s only female detective, Precious Ramotswe, played by Jill Scott; Anthony Minghella cowrote and directed the two-hour pilot before his death, and he and Sydney Pollack (also since deceased) were both producers on the project.
Morning Links: Australia vs. New Zealand, TSA vs. SLC and More
by Michael Yessis | 03.27.09 | 8:27 AM ET
- The crown of the Statue of Liberty may reopen on the 4th of July. (via NewYorkology)
- L.A.‘s Great Signage Debate: Can billboards and supergraphics add life and spirit to the cityscape?
- Pico Iyer on China and Tibet: “A Hell on Earth.”
- There’s a Wallace and Gromit exhibit at London’s Science Museum.
- TSA vs. SLC: The battle over “Simpli-fly.”
- Australia vs. New Zealand: A blogger stirs things up.
- Want to visit the Zapatistas? They’re welcoming travelers and tour groups.
- The Costa Maya welcomes you, too.
- How China sees the world: Love this spin on a classic New Yorker cover.
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Tradition, Change and the Fate of the Irish Pub
by David Farley | 03.26.09 | 4:16 PM ET
Mixing Birding and Business Where Others Don’t Care to Go
by Sophia Dembling | 03.26.09 | 3:01 PM ET
Photo by Sophia Dembling I love the idea of bird-watching.
I love birds, I love being out in nature, I love having something to do while I’m out in nature. Too bad I’m really bad at bird-watching. I can spot only the most obvious birds, I can identify only the most easily identifiable. Subtleties escape me. (What color are their feet? Are you kidding me?) If I’m with real bird-watchers and they do the spotting and identifying, I am capable of watching. That’s about it.
I love it anyway.
In Europe, Straighter Flight Paths Could Cut Costs and CO2
by Joanna Kakissis | 03.26.09 | 12:47 PM ET
About 3 percent of Europe’s CO2 output comes from airlines, which use up tons of fuel by zig-zagging between the national airspaces of the 27 member-states, Reuters reports. This week, EU lawmakers in Strasbourg agreed to the Single European Sky II plan that would save billions of euros in costs by modernizing air traffic management, straightening flight paths and streamlining the 27 airplaces to nine by June 2012.
The move could help the EU cut CO2 emissions to a fifth below 1990 levels by 2020. Could it also making flying the European skies faster and more pleasant?
Free-Range Squirrel and Other Appalachian Delights
by David Farley | 03.26.09 | 11:33 AM ET
Ever wonder what Appalachian cuisine is? I haven’t either, but Eat Me Daily is running a four-part series on it. Part two, in which the intrepid journalist (in this case, Kathleen Wilcox) goes on the hunt for fried squirrel, is a great read. And before you wrinkle your nose, think about this: that squirrel is not only natural, it’s free range.
