Travel Blog
Tourists Descend on Wall Street: ‘Everyone Wants to See What’s Going On’
by Michael Yessis | 10.14.08 | 12:09 PM ET
The AFP paints a surreal picture of the scene on Wall Street last week, as tourists “brought a bizarrely carnival-like atmosphere” to lower Manhattan. A “white-bearded busker [played] Amazing Grace on the flute,” and one Swedish visitor said what many of the scared and “numb” money guys might be thinking: “The Americans aren’t world leaders any more. It’s time for a shift and this is the symptom of that. Power is shifting away—perhaps to China.”
Related on World Hum:
* The ‘Terminal Illness’ of Airports
Photo by Helico, via Flickr (Creative Commons)
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Yahoo! BuzzGordon Ramsay, Hotelier
by Eva Holland | 10.14.08 | 11:43 AM ET
The notoriously foul-mouthed celebrity chef unveiled his first hotel last week in London. We can only hope that expletive-laden reality spin-off shows will follow soon.
The ‘Terminal Illness’ of Airports
by Michael Yessis | 10.14.08 | 10:34 AM ET
Here’s Scott McCartney’s sobering rundown of how the “loss of passengers is creating a vicious economic spiral that is gripping airports across the country.” The accompanying video—shot in a near-empty terminal at California’s Ontario International Airport—punctuates the story.
Related on World Hum:
* Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Fear Grips Global Stock Markets’
The Virtual Forbidden City: Eunuchs, Courtesans and More
by Valerie Conners | 10.13.08 | 3:42 PM ET
Armchair travelers, gamers and the merely curious can now explore China’s famed Forbidden City via a virtual 3-D recreation of the Chinese landmark. Forbidden City: Beyond Space & Time is an interactive animated experience developed by IBM that allows users to adopt avatars and explore the city, interacting with other users while participating in activities like training fighting crickets, dressing up like a eunuch or practicing archery with a courtesan.
Related on World Hum:
* In Beijing: A Rainbow of Nations
Photo by jimg944 via Flickr (Creative Commons).
Nuclear Bunker Converted Into ‘World’s First Zero-Star Hotel’
by Valerie Conners | 10.13.08 | 2:09 PM ET
Photo by Fortyseven via Flickr (Creative Commons).
I’m not really sure staying in either a nuclear bunker or a zero-star hotel sounds like a super tempting vacation plan, but folks in Sevelen, Switzerland have embraced the concept, turning an underground bunker into a hotel complete with “artistic decoration and real hotel duvets.”
Amtrak Sets Another Ridership Record
by Michael Yessis | 10.13.08 | 1:41 PM ET
That’s six consecutive years of ridership gains. Americans are embracing rail travel. Now let’s get those high-speed lines up and running.
Reminder: Come See World Hum in New York City
by World Hum | 10.13.08 | 1:19 PM ET
Join World Hum editors Jim Benning and Michael Yessis, and contributors Terry Ward and Eva Holland this Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. at the Lolita bar on the Lower East Side. We’re teaming with host and World Hum contributor David Farley for a night of readings for the wanderlust stricken.
The World in Spanglish
by Michael Yessis | 10.13.08 | 11:13 AM ET
The latest World in Words podcast features interviews with Ilan Stavans, who is translating the first 2,000 manuscript pages of Don Quixote into Spanglish, and Bill Santiago, who does stand-up comedy in Spanglish. Intriguing discussions about the rise of “the fastest growing language in America.”
The Linkery: ‘The Nation’s Only Anti-Tipping Laboratory’
by Michael Yessis | 10.13.08 | 10:17 AM ET
A San Diego restaurant embraces a no-tipping policy, provoking an examination of why we tip, what tipping means to workers and diners, and why European and American restaurants don’t see eye-to-eye on the issue.
Related on World Hum:
* Experts to Americans: Easy On the Tipping!
New Addition to the Travel Lexicon: ‘Vagabond Neurosis’
by Eva Holland | 10.13.08 | 9:11 AM ET
The term pops up in this National Post story about chronic traveler Charles Veley.
World Hum’s Most Read: Oct. 4-10
by World Hum | 10.10.08 | 5:53 PM ET
Our five most popular features and blog posts for the week:
1) Can ‘The Moses Project’ Stop the Tides in Venice? (pictured)
2) Q&A With Rolf Potts: Revelations from a Postmodern Travel Writer
3) Introducing Tenzing Hillary Airport
4) Man Drives From New York City to Los Angeles in 31 Hours
5) South Africa: Three Great Books
Photo by iessi via Flickr (Creative Commons)
What We Loved This Week: Bajofondo, Rattlesnake Cake and Leaf Peeping
by World Hum | 10.10.08 | 4:31 PM ET
World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
David Farley
Having not been in the States for the last couple autumns, I’ve missed the foliage-changing spectacle that takes place in October. So last weekend, I rented a car and headed north, stopping in Lake Placid, New York and getting a room at a lake front hotel (the High Peaks Resort) that happened to offer rooms with great views of the burnt-orange hills. But little did I know there’s a name for people like me who have traveled in order to look at pretty colored trees: leaf peepers. I might have been the only leaf peeper in Lake Placid last weekend who didn’t require a cane or who went to bed before 8 p.m., but I was proud to join the leaf-peeping ranks for a few days.
Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Fear Grips Global Stock Markets’
by Jim Benning | 10.10.08 | 1:59 PM ET
No, it isn’t about travel. But in time, of course, it will be.
Threatened Galapagos Considers Limiting Visitors
by Jim Benning | 10.10.08 | 12:26 PM ET
We noted last year that UNESCO added the Galapagos to a list of endangered places, citing a sharp rise in tourists, as well as migrants seeking work in tourism. Now, the Los Angeles Times reports that the Ecuadorian government has begun sending migrants back to the mainland, and it’s considering a management plan that could limit the number of visitors to the islands “with strategies such as raising the entrance fee for foreigners to $300 or more from $100.”
The Artisanal Food Movement Finds Ireland
by Joanna Kakissis | 10.10.08 | 10:59 AM ET
Irish cuisine has a long, long way to go before the country’s chefs start petitioning UNESCO to declare the meat, potato and butter-based dishes a national treasure. But when Gourmet’s Colman Andrews visited the southeastern county of Waterford, he discovered an astonishing array of homemade delicacies at the local farmer’s market.
