Travel Blog
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.
Email to friend
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Ma.gnolia
Mixx
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! BuzzTake 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!
The Ugliest Buildings in the World?
by Eva Holland | 11.26.08 | 9:37 AM ET
I’m guessing the folks at VirtualTourist.com had a lot of fun putting together this list of the world’s ugliest buildings and monuments. For my part, I enjoyed reading a “Worst of” list for a change, complete with acerbic commentary, instead of the glowing superlatives of the usual “Best of” lists. Here’s their take on New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal: “Those who pass by this iron monstrosity might be tempted to ask about a completion date, but alas, this is the finished product.”
As for the ugliest building I’ve encountered on my travels? The hands-down winner is Dunelm House, the students’ union building at Britain’s Durham University. It’s a prime example of Brutalist architecture, and its ugliness is only emphasized by its location: smack in the middle of an otherwise lovely medieval town.
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.
Happy 100th Birthday, Claude Levi-Strauss
by Jim Benning | 11.25.08 | 2:01 PM ET
The great structural anthropologist celebrates the big 1-0-0 on Friday in Paris. Travel lit readers know him in part from his 1955 travel memoir of sorts, Tristes Tropiques, which begins with the memorable line, “I hate travelling and explorers.” More importantly, as NPR points out, Levi-Strauss “changed the world’s perception of so-called ‘primitive’ tribes in Asia, Africa and America.”
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.
Museums: 850 Million. Sports: 140 Million.
by Michael Yessis | 11.25.08 | 10:37 AM ET
That’s how many people visit museums in the U.S. annually vs. the number who attend major league sporting events. The stats come from NPR’s eye-opening new series on museums in the 21st century. Bob Mondello reports: “Despite any bad rap for being boring or undervalued, there are still 850 million people coming through the nation’s museums each year, Why? As Philippe de Montebello, former Metropolitan Museum of Art director, says simply, ‘A museum is the memory of mankind.’”
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.”
What do Afghanistan, Cuba, Liberia and Sudan All Have in Common?
by Eva Holland | 11.25.08 | 8:27 AM ET
They’re the four countries deemed so dangerous that they’re excluded from the holiday coverage offered by a major UK insurer, Direct Travel. As Simon Calder notes in this sarcasm-laden response, the news that Cuba is as risky as Kandahar or Darfur may come as a surprise to the 2 million tourists who visited the island this year.
‘My Life is ‘The Terminal 2’
by Valerie Conners | 11.24.08 | 2:34 PM ET
So says Hiroshi Nohara, a Japanese citizen who “for reasons he cannot explain,” has been calling Mexico City’s international airport home for the past three months.
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art Endangered
by Jim Benning | 11.24.08 | 1:06 PM ET
The museum has fallen on hard times, but L.A. philanthropist Eli Broad just offered up $30 million to help.
Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Chinese Democracy’
by Jim Benning | 11.24.08 | 12:20 PM ET
Joining the ranks of Western rock albums whose titles evoke Asia—Holiday in Cambodia and Cheap Trick at Budokan come to mind —is the long-awaited Chinese Democracy, from reclusive rock star and esteemed China-watcher Axl Rose. It’s not clear to me, from a cursory look at the title song’s lyrics, whether Rose has anything particularly deep to say about Chinese democracy, or lack thereof, except that change is coming to China. Nevertheless, rumor has it the album has been banned in the Middle Kingdom.
Update: Great trivia. Guns N’ Roses is known as Qiang Hua in China.
‘Street Food Doesn’t Have to Mean Rat on a Stick’
by Eva Holland | 11.24.08 | 11:56 AM ET
So says the Times of London. We’re inclined to agree.
Ry Cooder’s El Mirage and Los Angeles
by Jim Benning | 11.24.08 | 11:46 AM ET
This is one of the coolest travel stories I’ve read in a while. The New York Times joined Ry Cooder in exploring El Mirage Dry Lake in California’s Mojave Desert, as well as parts of Los Angeles, both areas Cooder has evoked in concept albums. Writes Lawrence Downes:
When Ry Cooder and I got to El Mirage Dry Lake, it was 110 degrees and heading to 117, hot enough to cook your head inside your hat. The Mojave Desert in daylight will cut the gizzard right out of you, Tom Joad once said, which is why the Okies crossed it at night.
The accompanying slideshow, featuring one of Cooder’s songs, shows just how powerful a good audio slideshow can be.
Honoring the Tamale Calls of Mexico City
by Jim Benning | 11.24.08 | 10:28 AM ET
It’s not quite a call to prayer. It’s more like a call to chow down. The Los Angeles Times pays homage to the sounds of the city’s neighborhood food vendors with this fine little video. Writes Ken Ellingwood: “You hear it from a block away: an amplified, singsong call with an uncanny power to slice through the urban din. The tone is cheap and tinny—as kitschy as a sound can be. And it’s my favorite in Mexico City.”
