Travel Blog
On the Perils of Luxury Hotel Rooms
by Eva Holland | 09.25.08 | 10:13 AM ET
In his latest column, San Francisco Chronicle travel editor John Flinn dares to ask: What is the point of those deluxe shower nozzles, high-end lighting systems and cutting-edge entertainment consoles, if you can never get them to work right? “The luxury hotel room you pay $400 and up to rent for 19 hours is marketed as an oasis of comfort and relaxation,” he writes. “But far too many of them turn out to be, for me anyway, chambers of annoyance and irritation.”
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Yahoo! BuzzKid From Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ Cover: ‘I Wanna Travel’
by Michael Yessis | 09.24.08 | 5:13 PM ET
Spencer Elden, who is now 17, is “so over” high school he’s ready to hit the road. You go, Spencer. Oh, and happy birthday, Nevermind.
The album was released 17 years ago today. To celebrate, a Nirvana performance in France of “Drain You”:
FAA Suspended Go!‘s ‘Sleeping Pilots’
by Michael Yessis | 09.24.08 | 4:22 PM ET
And with this news, we put to rest our coverage of the incident that led Anderson Cooper to admit his fear of exclamation points.
Update, 10:24 a.m. ET: They’re back.
Related on World Hum:
* ‘Sleeping Pilots’ Air Traffic Control Tapes Aired
* Go! Airlines Fires ‘Sleeping Pilots’
Restless Legs Meets Litquake
by Michael Yessis | 09.24.08 | 4:06 PM ET
The latest installment of Restless Legs—David Farley’s “reading series for the wanderlust stricken”—takes place 6 p.m. Saturday at New York City’s Lolita Bar. Mary Morris and Ayun Halliday are the featured speakers for the event, which is also part of the first-ever New York City Litquake. Details of an upcoming World Hum-themed Restless Legs event coming soon.
Related on World Hum:
* Q&A with David Farley: The Restless Legs Reading Series
Une Baguette, S’il Vous Plaît: Cash-Strapped French Forgo Multicourse Lunches
by Valerie Conners | 09.24.08 | 12:01 PM ET
Gone are the days of languorous French lunches. As France’s economic crisis worsens, more French diners are opting for quick, cheap meals. The Guardian reports that restaurant-goers are “skipping the traditional aperitif, avoiding starters, drinking tap water, passing on wine and coffee and—at most—sharing a pudding.”
Don’t Mess with Bavarian Heritage: Cheap, Imported Lederhosen Dubbed ‘Yuppie Outfits’
by Valerie Conners | 09.24.08 | 11:23 AM ET
Better check your lederhosen and dirndls before heading to the Oktoberfest beer tents: If you’re not sporting a German-made getup you’ll likely fuel the ire of Bavarian purists.
Telegraph Names the 50 Greatest Villains in Literature
by Eva Holland | 09.24.08 | 11:10 AM ET
Traveling bad guys Mr. Kurtz and Long John Silver make the grade, but the whole list is worth remembering next time you figure you’ve been stuck with the worst possible seatmate of all time.
Related on World Hum:
* 10 Greatest Fictional Travelers
The Anti-Bucket List: 10 Books NOT To Read Before You Die
by Eva Holland | 09.24.08 | 10:30 AM ET
What’s the only thing worse than a list of places to go before you die? For author Richard Wilson, it’s a list of books to read before you die. “Lists of physical achievements or magical holiday destinations or wonderful restaurants or fabulous hotels make you feel like your life has been wasted,” he writes in this caustic piece in the Times of London; a list of must-read books, on the other hand, “makes you feel like your brain has been wasted.”
‘Tintin’ Movie: A Victim of the Credit Crunch?
by Eva Holland | 09.24.08 | 10:20 AM ET
Forget about concerns over who’ll be directing: Before anyone can get behind the camera, the “Tintin” movie needs someone to foot the bill.
Billy Bragg’s Big Busk: Singing About London
by Michael Yessis | 09.23.08 | 12:21 PM ET
The singer will be leading a come one, come all sing- and strum-along this Saturday at the Southbank Centre in London. The crowd will be singing Bragg’s favorite London songs. He’s got a lot of great ones to choose from, as evidenced by this Wikipedia page of London songs and Time Out’s 50 best London songs.
If I could make it, I’d like “Waterloo Sunset” by the Kinks to make the cut:
An ‘Unscheduled Landing’ Blogged, Twittered
by Michael Yessis | 09.23.08 | 12:01 PM ET
World Hum contributor Pam Mandel’s flight from Seattle to New York was diverted to Chicago O’Hare yesterday after experiencing an “electrical failure.” Her tweets and from-the-scene blog post, complete with photo, offer a fascinating snapshot of what it’s like to go through a landing where “two tires blew and we skidded onto some grass.” She adds: “[N]o big deal, right? Yeah, right.”
‘The Golden Quadrilateral’: India’s New Superhighway
by Michael Yessis | 09.23.08 | 11:33 AM ET
It connects Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, and it’s “part crushed rock and asphalt, part yellow brick road,” writes Don Belt in National Geographic. The mag also has some terrific video and photos.
Related on World Hum:
* In Kolkata, the ‘Last Days of the Rickshaw’?
Bedbug Infestations Hit Planes, Trains, Route to Santiago de Compostela
by Michael Yessis | 09.23.08 | 11:31 AM ET
The Guardian reports that an “enormous increase in international travel as a result of rising western living standards and low-cost flying is seen as a major factor behind the revival.”
On the ‘New’ Orient Express, it’s the Fantasy That Counts
by Eva Holland | 09.23.08 | 10:15 AM ET
The Independent’s Kate Simon recently took a ride on the Orient Express to celebrate the venerable route’s 125th birthday—but, as she points out in an essay about the trip, the current luxury trains that bear the name are not the true descendants of the original. That honor goes instead to a TGV line out of Strasbourg.
Forbes Traveler on ‘Dumb Travel Trends’
by Eva Holland | 09.23.08 | 10:13 AM ET
Good news: It looks as though our feelings are spreading.
