World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Julia Ross
My first trip to Jerusalem overlapped this week with Orthodox Easter, a coincidence that gave me immediate appreciation for what the city means to pilgrims worldwide. Walking through the Old City last Saturday, I found myself shoulder-to-shoulder with Ethiopians, Greeks, Armenians and Russians making their way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (pictured), revered by Catholics and Orthodox Christians as the site of the crucifixion and resurrection. Halfway up the Via Dolorosa, the Armenians erupted in a raucous celebration, chanting, singing, swinging large knives, and waving Armenian flags to what sounded like drums and bagpipes. Nothing like Easter at home, for sure.

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Jim Benning
I’ve loved many of the albums that post-punk ‘80s icon Joe Jackson has put out over the years, from the travel-themed Big World to his new one, “Rain,” which he recorded in Berlin. I just discovered that YouTube has a four-minute video, posted four months ago, of him exploring Berlin and playing tour guide. It won’t allow for embedding, but you can see it here. He’s not half bad. Any other pop-star tour guides I’ve missed doing their own version of Rick Steves or Anthony Bourdain?

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Michael Yessis
I’ve been fixed on cab culture, with the Black Cab Sessions becoming a minor obsession. The project consists of songs sung and filmed in the back seat of a hired car, then posted online. According to the website, performances “just have to be superb. And alive.” Here’s one that meets the standard: A Big Star cover by Okkervil River’s Will Sheff.

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World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Jim Benning
I somehow wound up with a CD by folk singer Tendor Logchopa, who I’d never heard of before but who is active in fighting for the Tibet cause. Song titles include “Prisoner of the Himalayas” and “Sweet Suffering.” It’s not every day you hear a Tibetan folkie. I don’t know much about him—there’s not much to be learned online—but given the recent protests in Tibet and the ongoing torch controversy, he seems destined to be a hit on the coffee house circuit:

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World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Julia Ross
April in Washington, D.C., means two things: tourists and cherry blossoms. Like many locals, I avoid the picture-postcard Tidal Basin like the plague this time of year—it’s wall-to-wall people—in favor of a suburban Maryland neighborhood called Kenwood. The enclave of multi-million dollar homes is dense with Yoshino cherry trees, and the streets this week were framed with soft arcs of pink popcorn-like blossoms. Japanese tourists have long known about the neighborhood and arrive in droves on the weekend, Nikons at the ready, but on a weekday afternoon, there’s no better place to welcome springtime in Washington, relatively untrampled.

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World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Jim Benning
I spent the last couple of days snowboarding in Mammoth, and it’s been great fun. But one of the highlights of the trip was the drive north up Highway 395. I happened to be listening to Terry Gross’ interview with Pico Iyer about the Dalai Lama, and with the snowy peaks all around me, somehow I felt closer to the Himalayas than I had in a long time. 

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World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Terry Ward
I discovered golf is actually a lot of fun while hitting the driving range for the first time in Kauai. Even better than making solid contact with a five wood, however, was watching the humpback whales breaching just offshore while puttering around the course in Princeville. I had heard it was the season, but I didn’t expect to be treated to seeing whale spouts every few minutes. So cool.

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World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Eva Holland
“Loved” might be overstating the case a little, but I was pleasantly surprised by Graceland‘s famous “fried peanut butter and banana sandwich” (pictured)—reportedly the King’s favorite snack. I tried it out of a strange sense of obligation (plus, it was the cheapest thing on the menu) but it really wasn’t bad at all. Peanut butter and banana go great together—the same effect could be achieved, though, by using two slices of toasted bread.

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World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Michael Yessis
Auntie Anne’s pretzels came to the rescue today. They’re my default food amid the generally awful choices at airports and train stations across the U.S., and I picked one up this afternoon at Baltimore Washington International while waiting for my flight to Austin. It’s no match for the barbecue and Tex-Mex I plan to eat in the coming days, but, for a hungry traveler, the twisty, salty piece of goodness sure hit the spot.

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World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Jim Benning
I was in New York City Thursday night and caught the rollicking Irish folk-punk band Flogging Molly at the Fillmore. Their ebullient shows never fail to make me want to jump up and down for hours while clutching a Guinness. Thursday’s show was typically brilliant. Here’s a video from one performance:

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World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Joanna Kakissis
I might have been a Breton-Celtic maiden in a former life. My sister is going to northern France this weekend, and she asked me if I wanted a souvenir. “How about the latest Kornog album?” I said. I love this Breton-French band, especially the songs that feature the bombarde. Its music sounds Celtic but with overtones of Eastern European mystique and it resonates with cinematic energy. Here’s a clip from Brest in 2001:

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World Hum contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.

Jim Benning
I finally got around to watching Mondovino, the 2004 documentary about the globalization of the wine business. It’s a fascinating look at what the filmmaker sees as a clash of civilizations taking place between traditional wine makers in places like Languedoc and Burgundy and American companies like Mondavi and the wine critic Robert Parker. It’s not a perfect movie by any means, but it’s compelling, and it offers a vicarious travel thrill to the Mediterranean and Napa to boot.

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