Travel Blog
Airlines Cut 3,000 Thanksgiving Flights
by Eva Holland | 10.23.08 | 10:37 AM ET
The cuts, spread out over the final 10 days of November, represent an 11 percent decline in flights offered from last year. USA Today has the details. It remains to be seen whether the reduced volume will have any impact on that time-honored Thanksgiving tradition of sitting around at the airport.
Related on World Hum:
* Three Travel Tips: Surviving Thanksgiving Air Travel
Photo by joiseyshowaa via Flickr (Creative Commons)
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Yahoo! BuzzPoll Claims to Uncover Europe’s Smartest, Sexiest Travelers
by Valerie Conners | 10.23.08 | 10:00 AM ET
Fear not, that all those Brits behaving badly are forgoing culture for pints. A recent poll of European travelers from lastminute.com shows that Britons actually beat their foreign counterparts in a test of world cities, flags, landmarks and cultural icons. As one lastminute.com employee noted, “Britain’s heritage is steeped with great explorers, pioneering journeys and the spirit of adventure.” And, let’s not forget:
The Problem With ‘Iconic’ Buildings
by Michael Yessis | 10.22.08 | 4:21 PM ET
Or, as the headline on Jay Merrick’s piece in the Independent reads, “eye-con architecture.” Merrick writes about today’s obsession with new buildings such as the China Central Television building (pictured) and Kazakhstan’s Peace Pyramid: “Too much of the apparent concern about architecture actually reveals a profound lack of interest in any discussion that might suggest that architecture, and our relationship with it, is not only complex but is in a crucially debatable condition.”
Site to Watch: Table Matters
by Michael Yessis | 10.22.08 | 4:07 PM ET
Table Matters is “about the intersection of food, drink, and culture from people who dream about lunch during breakfast, dinner during lunch, cocktails during work, dessert during dinner, and breakfast before bedtime.”
David Sedaris Explains Undecided Voters With Airline Food Analogy
by Michael Yessis | 10.22.08 | 3:32 PM ET
From Shouts & Murmurs in the latest New Yorker: “To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat,” Sedaris writes.
Caesar Salad: Born in Tijuana, but Avoided by Tourists
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.22.08 | 3:03 PM ET
In 1924, an Italian immigrant running a restaurant in Tijuana threw together a last-minute salad for some friends. Caesar Cardini’s creation—the ingredients included lettuce, garlic and bread chunks—went international, gracing the menus of restaurants around the world. But tourists who fear digestive distress caused by Mexican water won’t order the iconic salad at Caesar’s restaurant, which Julia Child loved and is still open today.
From Rogue’s Gallery to Foodie Haven
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.22.08 | 12:05 PM ET
Hardwick, Vermont used to be one of those forgotten small towns where you were far more likely to find cheap beer and bar fights than artisan cheeses. But since the mid-1970s, Vermont has nurtured its sustainable food culture into one of the most enviable in the country, Gourmet reports. Hardwick is a capital, of sorts.
Paris and Amsterdam Airports Sign Alliance Deal
by Valerie Conners | 10.22.08 | 11:55 AM ET
What will that mean for travelers? By operating as dual-hub airports, they can now offer passengers more flights to more destinations. Of course, Aeroports de Paris—owners of Charles de Gaulle and Orly—and the Schiphol Group made the deal primarily to combat their own financial struggles.
Photo of Charles de Gaulle airport terminal by andrewcparnell via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Strike Paralyzes Greece’s Airports, Transportation
by Valerie Conners | 10.22.08 | 11:37 AM ET
A nationwide Greek strike to protest pension cuts has left air traffic, urban transport and public services frozen. Nearly all domestic and international flights, trains and ferries have been canceled. Certainly not the best time to be in Athens; one official described the country as having “effectively come to a halt.”
Is Scranton the New Peoria?
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.22.08 | 10:50 AM ET
At the very least, Peoria’s got to be a little jealous, since Scranton is the locale for the wildly popular series The Office and perhaps the most visible campaign stop in the most exciting presidential race in recent memory. Joe Biden grew up in this working-class town, but all the candidates have wooed the city, which, the the Wall Street Journal reports, one local described as “the poster-boy for small-town, blue-collar America.”
Move Over Bookmobile: Make Way for the Biblioburro
by Valerie Conners | 10.22.08 | 10:04 AM ET
The New York Times profiled Luis Soriano, Colombia’s one-man Biblioburro, who—along with his two donkeys, Alfa and Beto—brings books to some of his nation’s most remote and impoverished villages. “This began as a necessity; then it became an obligation; and after that a custom,” Soriano said. “Now it is an institution.”
‘People and Politics’: Riding the Heartland Flyer
by Eva Holland | 10.21.08 | 3:00 PM ET
The Independent’s Simon Calder takes a ride on the Heartland Flyer, Amtrak’s little-used train from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City, and reflects on why the obscure route is still operating, despite heavy losses. The answer?
Mapped: The Arctic Becomes an ‘Oceanic Crossroads’
by Michael Yessis | 10.21.08 | 1:33 PM ET
The beautifully redesigned Atlantic features a map of the Arctic, which marks the paths of the now-viable Northwest Passage and outlines the global significance of the shrinking polar ice cap. “The opening of a new waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans is akin in historic significance to the opening of the Suez Canal, in 1869, or its Panamanian cousin, in 1914.” writes Scott Borgerson. “With this sea change will come the rise and fall of international seaports, newfound access to nearly a quarter of the world’s remaining undiscovered oil and gas reserves, and a recalibration of geo-strategic power.”
Trains Roll Into Kashmir
by Eva Holland | 10.21.08 | 12:07 PM ET
Jeremy Page writes: “Thousands of engineers worked on the project ... braving the constant threat of attack by militants as well as appalling conditions during Kashmir’s long, harsh winters.”
U.S. Business Travelers Abroad Facing ‘Blunt Questions,’ ‘Heated Discussions’
by Michael Yessis | 10.21.08 | 9:58 AM ET
It’s because of the worldwide interest in the U.S. election. Says one traveler: “I have been doing this for almost 20 years, and never before have so many people from so many different cultures been so interested in our government and asked my opinion of who I think will win the election.”
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