What We Loved This Week: Bequia, Bon Iver, ‘Ask the Dust’ and More

Travel Blog • World Hum • 05.22.09 | 1:02 PM ET

Photo by Rob Verger

Our contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Rob Verger
I loved seeing penguins, sea turtles, and oodles of fish and jellyfish at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Mass.

Terry Ward
Hearing Justin Vernon’s Wisconsin accent in Hamburg. I caught Bon Iver live at Grosse Freiheit 36, one of the city’s best live music venues, located on the same street (Grosse Freiheit) where the Beatles played their first gig in 1960. There’s already some YouTube coverage up from Wednesday night’s show, but I like this intimate footage shot in a Paris apartment even better.

Pam Mandel
I had a passionate afternoon tryst with my hometown this week—I took the water taxi to downtown Seattle, swooning over the views of Mt. Rainier. I sat in a coffee shop discussing public transit with hispters. I headed up the Harbor Steps stair climb and lunched at the Four Seasons on their Copper River salmon menu. Sated, I returned to the waterfront to ferry back to my neighborhood in the sparkling afternoon light, watching the snow-capped Olympics and all kinds of harbor traffic from the upper deck of the boat. Seattle, after nearly 15 years together, we still have it going on.

Jenna Schnuer
After finishing an errand in Astoria, NY (and grabbing a coffee at one of my favorite bakeries, Artopolis), I walked through Astoria and LIC. Along the way I saw a sure sign that the long gray winter was gone: workers setting up rides for a spring carnival at a Greek church. Also, the mango vendors are back in Jackson Heights—and one of the main shopping strips, 74th Street, is sweeter for it.

Michael Yessis
A funny Talk of the Town item by George Meyer about the priority system for boarding planes. You know there’s going to be no overhead space remaining when you’re boarding the plane after members of, among other groups, the Platinum Club, Superba/FasTTraKK, Wanderlu$t, MeFirst Deluxe Rewards, e-Go Trip and Canadians of Distinction.

Jim Benning
Ask the Dust, John Fante’s classic 1939 novel about a young writer in Los Angeles. It really captures old downtown L.A., where, as Fante writes, “the big street cars chewed your ears with their noise, and the smell of gasoline made the sight of the palm trees seem sad, and the black pavement still wet from the fog of the night before.” And on an unrelated note, I loved hearing World Hum featured on Voice of America.

Eva Holland
Being back in Bequia, an island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. I fell hard for Bequia last April when I visited for the first time, and I was glad to find, when I returned this year, that the thrill isn’t gone. It might be the single most relaxing place I’ve ever been—I know, I know: cue the cliches about a peaceful, unspoiled gem. I hope I’ll be able to keep coming back in years to come.