Reminder: World Hum’s Restless Legs Reading in NYC Tonight

Louvre, Pompidou Expanding in France and Overseas

Would-Be ‘Hijacker’ Subdued on Turkish Flight

Rabbit, Run … Away

Love Herring in Sweden

From artery-clogging casseroles to a fermented concoction that smells alarmingly like vinegary flatulence, Lola Akinmade digs in to a smörgåsbord of herring and explains how to best appreciate Scandinavia’s favorite fish. 

The Water Is Wide

Bronwen Dickey considers Tim Butcher’s “Blood River: A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart,” which takes readers deep into the Congo

Vagrant Ruminations of a Compulsive Traveler

Where does the urge to hunt for that “fleeting fix of elsewhere” come from? Peter Wortsman recalls a life of travel inspiration. 

Rolf Potts: Revelations from a Postmodern Travel Writer

His new book “Marco Polo Didn’t Go There” includes his best stories from the past 10 years. Michael Yessis asks him how travel writing has changed in the last decade—and what he sees for the future.

Notes From an Unofficial Tourist Greeter

Summer is over, and so is Julia Ross‘ season as an ambassador to travelers in Washington, D.C.’s Woodley Park neighborhood. She’s happy to be off duty.

10 Great Travel Race Movies

Slow travel is well and good. But there’s something irresistible about a great travel race movie. World Hum Travel Movie Clubbers Eva Holland and Eli Ellison share their favorite vicarious thrill rides.

How Should I Spend My Time in Spain?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

Checkpoint Travel 101 in Israel

Hi Julia:

I’ve never been to Israel, but here in New York I keep meeting athletically shaped woman, straight out of a fashion catalog, speaking a strange tongue who look like they could kick my ass.

They are probably saying things like “That goy’s jeans were washed three days ago.”

They treat my card either with arrogant indifference or regard it as if it were a direct invitation to go steeple jumping in the countryside.

With all the coverage in The New York Times, I’m usually careful about what I say about a place I’ve never been, but which is mentioned in the Bible (but, alas, as an unreachable idea probably not of this earth). If Christ really was born there, it seems unlikely we would have heard about the Virgin birth in the wilderness. I think Christ was born in Europe and came down to pacify a riot, with the Romans’ permission.

This might seem, if not blasphemous, at least contrary to what we’ve learned in school. But in my worldwide travels I’ve been introduced to “secret” pagan Christian art with depictions of Christ older than when he was supposedly born. It’s possible that he even arrived by Viking ship.

His miracles were so impressive that 8 years after the end of the millenium we still say Anno Domino, cross ourselves when something goes wrong, and prepare ourselves someday either for the Pearly Gates or the Dungeon Door.

In an Eastern European country which speaks the mirror-image alphabet of the Bulgarian monks Cyril and Methodius I saw an ancient mosaic of a Christ Pantocrator thast seemed impossibly old, as well as a depiction of the devil who looked remarkably similar, except his face was blacked out with charcoal.

Anyway, the ruins at Bethlehem bear closer investigation. Despite what Arthur Ochs Sulzberger forces us to see everyday amid a cloud of bombs and buses, I hear Eilat is a nice beach resort, well worth visiting.