Results tagged “IWTGTT” from Intelligent Travel Blog

It's been a while since I've had a Tina Fey travel moment ("I Want to Go to There") but the combination of danger, beauty, and the sheer isolation that Big Bend National Park offers has me dreaming of nights spent under an ocean of stars. The park stretches over 800,000 acres along the twist of the Rio Grande in southwest Texas, and offers amazing hiking, incredible vistas, and a significant adventure factor that has the potential to bring out the Bear Grylls in each of us. So much so that National Geographic writer Nick Patosi introduces what is perhaps the counterpoint to the "IWTGTT" impulse -- the "You Can Die" factor. He writes in the February 2007 issue:

The You Can Die possibilities are endless, which keeps some visitors--350,000 a year to Big Bend National Park--from coming back. Those who do return are left to ponder the remarkable grit of the hardy few who have managed to survive in this spare, unforgiving environment. Not to mention the roadrunners and kangaroo rats, so adapted to the arid climate they don't even need to drink.

Fortunately for all of us, the National Park System has prepared a short list of ways to counter the "You Can Die" factor, aptly called "How Not to Die in the Desert." Check them out after the jump.

It's rainy and bleak here in D.C. today, so my "I Want to Go to There" (IWTGTT) locale of the day is the sustainable mountainside co-op, Vamos, in Crete. Featured in this weekend's Guardian Travel section, the little town located in the White Mountains has a collection of 19th century sandstone guesthouses available for rent, with on-site cooking classes, nearby beaches, and hiking trails through the snow-capped mountains. Here, author Jane Foster explains its history:

It started in 1995, when five local couples clubbed together and began renovating three old stone family cottages for use as guesthouses. Worried by the village's gradual depopulation and economic stagnation, they planned to revive the rural community through sustainable tourism, offering visitors the opportunity to explore the Cretan interior while providing locals with a new livelihood.

The Guardian has a roundup of other smaller cottages that will let you escape the bustle of the seaside resorts of Crete. All I know is, I want to go to there.

Photo: Vamos

I'm a fan of both Tina Fey and travel, and as such, I find myself using her oft-used remark from 30 Rock, "I Want to Go to There," more and more lately. Most often uttered when Fey's character, Liz Lemon, is in a dreamlike, gut-response mode, "IWTGTT" is the feeling I get when I see or read something that makes me want to leave my desk immediately and jump on the next plane. So I figured that alone should make for a good feature for the blog. (Also, the line was a sentence her young daughter strung together, Fey fessed up at the SAG awards, making it that much more awesome.)

So what's my IWTGTT moment of the day? The Heuriger Hirt in Vienna, alluringly presented by the good folks at Spotted By Locals. Heurigen are essentially Austrian biergartens, only they serve wine instead of beer, along with locally-sourced cheeses and other savory snacks under the open sky. The word heuriger translatets to "new wine," which means that the spots typically serve whatever is the most recent blend. Because they're seasonal joints commonly located on the edge of vineyards, a bunch of pine twigs known as a Buschenschank is hung outside the door, alerting the passing traveler that the establishment is open and the wine is flowing. The Virtual Vienna site describes a delectable afternoon at a Heurigen:

A typical visit to a Heurigen goes something like this: it is late afternoon on a summer's day; evening is approaching, but it is still light out; you and your party find agreeable benches and a table, and are served white wine and mineral water, both in carafes, by a waitress (frequently wearing a country dress, like a Dirndl). Anyone serving as a "designated driver" can opt for a delicious "Kracherl," a sweet carbonated fruit-flavored beverage. Neither beer nor coffee is ever served at a Heurigen - if that is what you desire, you are in the wrong place! With your first few rounds of wine, you might begin the evening's consumption of food with some bread and butter or, more customarily, some pretzel-sticks (Soletti) and savory Liptauer cheese-spread. Later, as your appetite grows, you make a trip to the compact but wide-ranging buffet, with many varieties of meats, salads, vegetables, and other delights. The flow of white wine ceases around midnight, at which point you catch the last streetcar or hail a taxi, which returns you to your permanent or temporary abode.

Spotted's suggestion of the Heuiger Hirt comes with an added bonus beyond wine and homemade snacks - it also offers a fantastic view of the Vienna skyline and nearby Kahlenbergerdorf. I want to go to there.

Photo: Via Spotted by Locals, by Doris Neubauern