Travel Blog
New York’s Restaurant ‘Week’: Now a Money-Saving Misnomer
by Eva Holland | 02.04.09 | 9:58 AM ET
New York’s famous restaurant week—that heady few days in late January when Manhattan’s priciest meals become, er, somewhat less pricey—has been extended through to the end of February, making it more like Restaurant Month-and-a-Half. Semantics aside, though, we’ll take it. This is a great chance for more budget-conscious travelers to see the way the other side eats. So step out of the queue at Sbarro, book now at one of 150 restaurants, and you’ll land a three-course fixed-menu lunch for around $25 or an equivalent dinner for $35. (Via NewYorkology)
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Yahoo! BuzzWorld Hum Party and Meetup in NYC
by World Hum | 02.04.09 | 9:32 AM ET
It’s at 7 p.m. this Thursday, Feb. 5, at Lolita Bar in New York City. If you’re in town, come meet some fellow travelers, and help us celebrate our redesign.
Morning Links: Australia’s Great Ocean Road, LEGO N.Y. and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.04.09 | 8:21 AM ET
- World Hum contributor Tony Perrottet drives Australia’s Great Ocean Road.
- Scott McCartney: “Perhaps no other consumer-service business is so rule-bound as the airline industry.”
- Travelers can now link Delta and Northwest frequent flier accounts.
- Arjun Basu meditates on the size of airports.
- Photos: The making of an Interstate highway (via Coudal)
- Slate calls Aung San Suu Kyi “the world’s most effectively sidelined leader.”
- These baggage handlers at Edinburgh Airport “played tig” while waiting for planes to land.
- I LEGO N.Y. is currently the most emailed story at the New York Times.
- Video: Did you know Steve Martin was on Flight 1549?
- I’m fantasizing about a future of travel that involves this.
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German Tourists Detained for Changing in Public in Brazilian Airport
by Rob Verger | 02.03.09 | 4:30 PM ET
The AP reports that two German tourists were detained in Brazil after allegedly changing their clothes in public in Salvador’s international airport. According to the AP: “Police inspector Maritta Souza said the 66-year-old man from Koenigsberg and his 64-year-old friend from Bad Bevensen said they thought it ‘was normal’ to change clothes like that in Brazil, especially in a beach city like Salvador.” The article also quotes a witness: “I went there and asked if they would like to see other people taking their clothes off in front of his wife or in front of kids,” Paulo Goes told Globo TV. “They just laughed.” (Via Today in the Sky)
The article notes, “They said that they were late for their flight and needed to change into new clothes because one of them got wet during a boat trip and the other felt sick and vomited during the same trip earlier in the day.”
Come on, folks. I can understand being late for a flight and wanting to fly in dry clothes, but still: How about a little common sense and respect? Brazil, by the way, is more conservative than stereotypes of that country suggest. While bikinis might be normal on the beach, there is no nudity—not on the beach, the street, or in an airport lobby.
Filmed Here: ‘When Harry Met Sally…’
by Eva Holland | 02.03.09 | 3:47 PM ET
Movie tourism: to some, it may be an embarrassing, empty and needy exercise. But to me, it’s at worst a harmless detour from more weighty travel fare, and—in a best-case scenario—can even be a surprisingly illuminating way of looking at the world. By chasing the spots where ghosts of film crews past still linger, you can find yourself stumbling on unexpected treasures, or seeing well-worn landmarks in a new light.
I’ve dabbled in the practice before, but this year I’ve decided to get serious. During my present stay in New York City, and beyond, I plan on seeking out some major movie-making landmarks, and (naturally) sharing my findings here.
And where better to open an occasional series on movie tourism hot spots than Manhattan’s Katz’s Deli, of When Harry Met Sally fame?
‘A Zen Level of Patience’: Matt Gross on Air Travel
by Rob Verger | 02.03.09 | 2:47 PM ET
When I fly, I follow a simple rule: I always ask for a window seat as far towards the front of the plane as possible. I love to stare out of the window, and I prefer the front of the plane because it’s a smoother ride (the tail bounces more) and, once the plane arrives, you get to deplane sooner.
But I was curious to find out what rules and feelings about flying another traveler might have, so I called up World Hum contributor Matt Gross, the man who writes the Frugal Traveler stories for the New York Times. We caught up while he was on assignment—on a train, to be precise—in Europe. He estimates that he’s been on about thirty flights in the past year, all of them in economy.
He told me he loved flying.
“How can you not love flying? You get on a plane somewhere. You sit down; you try and relax. I relax relatively easily. You know, four to twenty-four hours later, you’re somewhere else. It’s pretty cool. I like the anticipation of it as well. The trip has not yet been ruined,” he said, laughing. Gross laughs a lot, a good quality for a traveler to have. “Hopefully it hasn’t yet been ruined.”
“You’re about to go somewhere. You have all this time to gather your thoughts and emotions and everything and get ready for the adventure,” he added.
The Music Lives on in Lubbock (Sort Of)
by Sophia Dembling | 02.03.09 | 1:51 PM ET
Photo by Sophia Dembling Eva has gotten the conversation rolling about today’s big anniversary—it was 50 years ago today that a plane carrying Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens crashed. This is particularly poignant here in Texas, where we feel possessive of our homegrown icon.
Holly’s death was, arguably, the most tragic in rock history. His sound is unique, he was a pioneer in recording technique—that’s a cardboard box providing percussion in “Not Fade Away” and he plays his knees in “Every Day.” Holly influenced our greatest rock legends and his legacy continues. (Marginally related, Mac Davis, who also grew up in Lubbock, Texas, once told me that he would see Holly driving through town with a car full of girls and decided he wanted some of that. And then he went on to write, “Happiness Was Lubbock Texas in My Rear View Mirror.”)
We are much poorer for never hearing what Holly might have produced as he matured.
Rock fans should be required to make a pilgrimage to the excellent Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, Texas, which takes his music and legacy as seriously as he did. (Those are the glasses he wore the night he died—they’re on display at the center. They sat forgotten in the desk drawer of a sheriff until the 1980s.)
I’d post a video for you, but Holly also was a pioneer in protecting his intellectual rights and his estate continues to maintain tight control. I respect that. We’ll settle for this right now:
Blow Baby Blow: Volcano Watch 2009
by Jenna Schnuer | 02.03.09 | 12:27 PM ET
Photo Courtesy of Alaska Travel Industry Association Some Alaska residents might want to consider investing in an umbrella hat. With Mount Redoubt set to blow in a minute? next week?, there’s a good chance they’ll have to deal with some seriously ashy air.
Redoubt is a beaut. I first saw her (and her nearby siblings, Illiamna, Augustine and Douglas) while standing on my favorite beach in America, Bishop’s Beach. Yes, my favorite beach in America is in Homer, Alaska. It was the surprise factor of Bishop’s that made it my dream beach. It was late August and the water was warm enough for swimmers to venture in—all under the watchful eye of the glacier-covered mountains (er, volcanoes) across the way. Don’t get me wrong, Hawaii’s beaches are something stellar but Bishop’s is something unexpected.
Cut to the Quick
by Alexander Basek | 02.03.09 | 11:34 AM ET
Where’s my cheap rate? Price cuts at hotels are not as common as you’d think these days. Many properties are afraid that when the economy bounces back, they won’t be able to raise their rates to pre-econopocalypse levels. So, the savings come in the form of add-ins: hello, bottle of cheap champagne that’s a “$30 value”! Hotels in warm destinations—where they count on Northeast winters slowly driving locals insane—are notorious for this little game.
The flip side is the rate cuts are plentiful in destinations that aren’t typical winter holiday hot spots. Take Bangkok, where prices were falling last year thanks to a low-level hum of bad news and unrest at the airport. Couple that with the economic downturn and voila! Specials like the COMO Metropolitan Bangkok is offering: a $260 a night room for $99. Similarly, rooms at the LeBua at State Tower, another luxury property with great views of Bangkok (and balconies!) prices out to $140 a night over a weekend in March with a 30 percent discount offer. Even the Four Seasons is $200 a night with a system-wide third-night-free deal. Yes, there are cheaper hotels in Bangkok, but the value for these prices is staggering. When I stayed at the LeBua last fall, the staff was so eager to please they would have wheeled me to my room on a hand truck if I had let them.
Of course, Bangkok is a tougher weekend getaway than St. Croix, but what’s the matter with a little jetlag on vacation?
The Day the Music Died
by Eva Holland | 02.03.09 | 9:13 AM ET
It’s been 50 years today since the plane carrying Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and Buddy Holly went down over Iowa, killing all three musicians along with their pilot. Sadly, the music world has seen no shortage of fatal crashes, but as Chart Watch’s Paul Grein points out, the 1959 tragedy—immortalized in Don McLean’s American Pie—remains “the most famous plane crash in rock ‘n’ roll history.” Grein also notes that Holly, who was just 22 when he died, has the sad distinction of being the shortest-lived artist ever to garner a Grammy for lifetime achievement.
Check out a vintage clip of Buddy Holly, in a 1958 episode of “American Bandstand,” after the jump:
Morning Links: Weird Hotels, Flight 1549: The Game and More
by Michael Yessis | 02.03.09 | 8:24 AM ET
- Marketplace looks at U.S. efforts to lure Chinese travelers.
- More than one million people have already played Flight 1549: The online game.
- Flight 1549 pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger III won’t have to pay fees on the library book that’s still in the plane’s cargo hold.
- At the Window Seat, World Hum contributor Rolf Potts recommends five travel experiences in his home state, Kansas.
- AP Travel Editor Beth Harpaz has a new book out about parenting teenagers, 13 Is the New 18.
- Now we know what the penalty is for smoking on a no smoking flight in Saudi Arabia: 30 lashes.
- Rome’s traditional delis are facing extinction.
- More and more, Mexican singers of narco corridos are becoming victims of the drug-related violence that’s the subject of their songs.
- The Telegraph’s slideshow of the world’s weirdest hotels includes Idaho’s Dog Bark Park Inn.
- It’s the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, and fans are paying tribute in Holly’s hometown of Lubbock, Texas and elsewhere. Eva
will havehas more in her blog. - Video: Overzealous Amtrak police arrested a man for taking pictures of trains for an Amtrak photography contest. Stephen Colbert has the hilarious story.
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Promo Videos Gone Wrong: ‘Telly Savalas Looks at Aberdeen’
by Eva Holland | 02.02.09 | 4:47 PM ET
There’s something inherently funny about most promotional tourism videos. Maybe it’s the inevitable score swelling dramatically, or the cheesy tag lines, but it’s rare to find one that doesn’t make me giggle and roll my eyes. Still, there are some that are more memorable—and more eye-roll-worthy—than others. I’d like to honor those extra-special specimens here, in an occasional series.
First up, “Telly Savalas Looks at Aberdeen”: A quota quickie, narrated by the “Kojak” star, that aired ahead of the main feature in movie theaters in the 1980s. Between the reference to “black gold” (the first time I’ve heard the term since the Beverly Hillbillies remake) and Telly’s declaration that he was “captivated by everything” he saw—while the camera panned across a parking lot—I was sold. Take a “look-see” (to use Telly’s word) after the jump.
Troubles at Tsukiji
by Julia Ross | 02.02.09 | 3:17 PM ET
Tokyo’s fabled Tsukiji Fish Market is attracting its share of controversy these days. First, the market temporarily banned tourists from its early morning tuna auctions after a drunk British tourist was (bizarrely) caught licking the head of a frozen tuna. Now, Tokyo’s governor has announced the city will move forward with plans to relocate the market to a site once occupied by Tokyo Gas Company. Some of the market’s fishmongers oppose the move, slated for 2014, based on studies that have found benzene and petrochemicals in the soil at the new site.
The move—to reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay—would also make for a longer trek for tourists, 500 of whom visit the market daily. It seems the fishmongers wouldn’t mind fewer tourists. If the government can guarantee a clean-up, the relocation just might work out in merchants’ favor.
U.S. Airways Plane Draws Onlookers Again
by Rob Verger | 02.02.09 | 2:03 PM ET
The plane from U.S. Airways Flight 1549 that splashed down in the Hudson on January 15 drew quite the crowd of onlookers (including me) when it was moored at a pier in Battery Park City in the days afterwards. Over the weekend, it became another source of attention as the fuselage was moved to a salvage yard in New Jersey, The New York Times reports. The Times article also links to this great series of pictures, and brief video, of the torpedo-like fuselage being hauled down the street and passing through an intersection (you’ll need to scroll down the page just a little bit). It’s worth watching.
Are the Obamas Headed to Hogwarts?
by Eva Holland | 02.02.09 | 12:47 PM ET
In a wide-ranging interview with The Daily Beast, “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe had this to say to the new First Family: “I’d like to take this opportunity to issue a public invitation to the Obamas that if their daughters would like a private tour of the Harry Potter set, I would be honored to be their personal tour guide.” Over at MuggleNet, the debate over whether the Obama girls are worthy of such a magnanimous gesture is already getting heated. (Via The Book Bench)
