Results tagged “Intelligent Travel” from Intelligent Travel Blog

• Have you always wanted to see the famous Christmastime Macy's window displays? A new exhibit at the National Museum of American History features the art and business of commercial holiday displays, according to USA Today. The exhibit also details the history of the creation of Macy's Day Parade floats. [USA Today]
  
  
• This November and December, Saguaro National Park (just outside Tuscon, Arizona) is offering a variety of guided sunset and moonlight hikes. Due to popularity, reservations are recommended. [National Parks Traveler]

Photo: wallyg via Flickr

• Yahoo! and the Times Square Alliance have teamed up to offer free Wi-Fi in New York's now pedestrian-only area. For the next year (and hopefully after that), just log on to m.yahoo.com to access the free internet. [Gadling]
  
  
• American Airlines is testing a retail service that would sell items like tickets to a Broadway show or theme park tickets to passengers while they're 30,000 feet in the air. Currently the airline is selling items like Heathrow Express train tickets and items from SkyMall. Brett Proud, executive vice president of GuestLogix (the company providing the technology to do this), described airplanes as "a retail space that is probably the biggest retail opportunity ever uncovered." [NY Times]

Photo: mbshane via Flickr

• Legos and World Heritage Sites are probably two of my favorite things, so when I found that someone has combined the two, it made my day. Eco-site Environmental Graffiti has an awesome photo gallery of these great Lego creations, like the Red Square, above. Click here for the full gallery. [Gadling]
  
  
• Plan to be in Scotland next week? St. Andrew's Day is November 30, and the town is celebrating by hosing St. Andrew's Free Weekend on November 28 and 29. Sites like Edinburgh Castle, St. Andrew's Castle, and other popular attractions will waive admission through the weekend. For more on St. Andrew's Day, click here. [Wandering Educators]

Photo: via Environmental Graffiti

• 'Tis the season of giving, and Google is giving away free Wi-Fi to travelers during the holidays. Through January 15, airport Wi-Fi will be available for free in 47 airports, like Seattle-Tacoma, Milwaukee, Baltimore-Washington, and Houston. Check out www.freeholidaywifi.com for the full list of participating airports. [Gadling]
  
  
• In a few days, Colonial Williamsburg is getting an 18th-century-style coffeehouse. The R. Charlton's Coffeehouse, which will open on Duke of Gloucester Street, will serve free coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, and will include re-enactors who will discuss the drinks "related to colonial society, hospitality and political issues of the day, including trade and taxes," according to USA Today. [USA Today]

Photo: @Saigon via Flickr

Frequent Traveler writer Margie Goldsmith just returned from Arizona, and gave us this perspective on the recent sweat lodge tragedy.

In some Native American cultures, the sweat lodge is a place where sacred ceremonies take place.  Often these rituals--which last about fifteen minutes--include drumming and prayers offered to the spirit world. The lodge is built with great care, respecting both the environment and the materials used. The opening, which always faces East, is covered with a woolen blanket to keep in the heat. The dome-like structure itself is constructed of adobe mud and bark, and the floor is earth. The sweat lodge experience consist of "rounds," after which a "fire keeper" brings more heated rocks inside the lodge. If the heat is too intense, participants can either curl up into a little ball close to the earth (where it is cooler), or leave the lodge until they have cooled off.

Last month, three people died from dehydration and kidney failure after spending two hours in a sweat lodge near Sedona, Arizona, led by an American facilitator, James Arthur Ray, who most often leads New Age seminars and mentoring services on wealth creation. Ray made his participants remain inside for over two hours and called the ceremony a "rebirthing experience." The participants in his "Spiritual Warrior" four-day retreat had just finished a 36-hour "vision quest" which included an experience in the desert with no food or water. No Native American would ever consider putting a dehydrated person into a sweat lodge, and certainly not 60 people, the number of participants Ray invited to the 24-foot-wide by 4.5-foot tall makeshift structure. The roof of the sweat lodge in which Ray conducted his ceremony was covered in non-breathing plastic.

The Native American sweat lodge experience has nothing to do with money, but Ray charged each participant $9,695 to attend his 4-day retreat. This was not surprising, because according to his website, Ray has spent the last 20 years "studying the thoughts, actions, and habits of those who create true wealth and mentoring individuals to create wealth in all areas of their lives." Last year, Ray's company made $9.4 million from seminars, books, and videos.

• Virgin Atlantic just launched Taxi2 in an effort to help customers pay their "fare share." The site (which is still in beta) allows passengers to plug in their flight information, and it will "match" passengers up with others (on any airline) who have similar travel itineraries so that they can share a cab ride to their final destination. [Virgin Atlantic]
  
  
• Going somewhere this Thanksgiving? Orbitz just released its list of the Top/Least Busy Airports in the U.S. for the upcoming holiday. The list is no surprise, with the busiest airports being Chicago O'Hare International (ORD), Los Angeles International (LAX), Denver International (DEN), and San Francisco International (SFO). Passengers traveling through San Jose International (SJC), Nashville International (BNA), Richmond International (RIC), Sacramento International (SMF), or Jacksonville International (JAX) can breathe easy. These are expected to be the least busy during the Thanksgiving holiday. For the complete list, check out blog.orbitz.com. [Orbitz]

Photo: 2_dogs via Flickr

• Some 30 people have died in Italy due to swine flu so far, and the Catholic church has gone hi-tech to calm people's fears about catching the disease. Introducing: automatic holy water dispensers. Made to look like traditional water fonts, this holy invention has an infra-red detector that dispenses water when church-goers place their hand under the dispenser. This prevents visitors from having to dip their hand in holy water, thus potentially sharing germs from other people. Inventor Luciano Marabese says he has received hundreds of e-mails around the world requesting information about the "hands-free holy water." [BBC]
  
  
• Japan is getting its newest capsule hotel this December. The luxury 9h hotel will have 125 capsules, locker rooms, showers, and a lounge. Each of the capsules in the nine-story hotel has a panel that controls the lights and sound system--and guests can wake each morning to the lights slowly turning on, 9h's version of an alarm clock. [FastCompany]

Friend of IT Emily King just got back from York and Adams Counties in southern Pennsylvania, in search of the region's best food and drink.

There are 123 wineries in Pennsylvania. I'm no oenophile, but I was floored by this fact. Amish baskets and potato chips maybe, but wine? Curiosity got the better of me, so my boyfriend and I headed north, on an otherwise dreary weekend, to check out one of the state's 11 wine trails.

Admittedly, we chose the Uncork York trail because of its proximity to D.C., but I like to think we chose it for the clever name. The guidebooks will tell you York is the "factory tour capital of the U.S." as it's home to Harley-Davidson, Utz (potato chips), Snyder's of Hanover (pretzels), and Wolfgang Candy Company--all of which, and more, offer guided tours through their factories. And while York is a decidedly industrial city, the outskirts look more pastoral than industrial, and there's nary a smokestack in the center of town.

Day 1: We arrived around 7 pm on Friday night, and checked in at the Yorktowne Hotel, the one non-chain hotel in a city of Holiday, Quality, and Hampton Inns. Rooms are big, if dated, but its proximity to York's downtown shops and restaurants make it one of the more convenient stays of choice. Locals head to Left Bank for those semi-special occasions, but pouring rain kept us inside and we tried the hotel's AAA four-star restaurant, The Commonwealth Room. We were a good 30 years younger than the average patron, but the food was good, especially that rabbit confit appetizer.

Day 2: As we'd previously learned on other wine country trips, a good day of wine tasting MUST be preceded with a substantial breakfast. Easy enough. We made the short walk on Saturday morning to York's Central Market. This is a treasure: 70 or so vendors manning fruit, sustainable meat, baked goods, and granola stands--all under a 120-year-old roof, in a National Register of Historic Places building that spans a city block. The market is only open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, from 6 a.m.-2 p.m. We didn't have time to buy our groceries for the week, but we did manage to stuff ourselves with omelets and the unforgettably moist and not-too-sweet mango raspberry French toast ($8.95, right) at the market's hoppin' breakfast joint, Mezzogiorno.

Now to the wine.

The six wineries we'd chosen were not exactly next door to each other, so I plotted each point on a Google map before departure, then we used Patten's iPhone to do the rest of the navigating. (You can also access maps here, or at the Visitor's Center in downtown York). Our first stop was Nissley Vineyards in Bainbridge (Lancaster County), home to an 18th-century mill and modern, stone-arch winery...and 300 acres of land. Like most PA wineries--as we'd soon learn--Nissley specializes in sweet. "Ninety percent of Americans drink sweet wine," says winemaker Bill Gulvin, "so that's what we focus on." After a tour of the tanks (no barrels used here), we gathered with another ten or so folks outside to taste the wines. Most were too sweet for us--with names like "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Whisper White"--but we did take home two bottles of their decadent black raspberry dessert wine ($14), which Patten wants to pour over ice cream.

Low-key best defines our next stop. Moon Dancer Winery in Wrightsville may look like a French château from its exterior, but inside it's another story. Elmer the dog greats you at the door, and when you take a seat at the tasting counter, you get the feeling you're hanging out in your buddy's kitchen. Judging by the locals around us who have come for a full glass of wine (not tasting sips), the tasting room seems to double as a bar. The walls are smothered in local art--there's a good chance the artist will be on site, hawking his work. Ask for a look-see at the tanks and barrels in the "cellar," essentially an unfinished basement filled with wine-making doodads.

• Tired of peeling off the stickers of the fruit you just bought? The FDA is in the final stages of approving technology that uses a low-energy carbon dioxide laser beam to label fruit. The laser, which is currently being used in New Zealand and Australia, is being advertised as a non-intrusive, tamper-proof method of labeling fruit, and will also reduce waste (and save you from accidentally biting into the annoying stickers). [Inhabitat]
  
  
• Delta Airlines is offering free Wi-Fi to passengers for a week beginning November 24. The catch? The free internet is sponsored by eBay, which means that when passengers log on, they will immediately be taken to the eBay homepage. A tad annoying? Perhaps not, if you intend to get some holiday shopping done while in the air anyway. Worth the free mile-high Wi-Fi? Definitely. [Jaunted]

Photo: szb78 via Flickr

Friend of IT Barbara Fallon is just back from Italy, where she took cooking classes and explored life in the Tuscan hills.
 
Housed in an old Tuscan farmhouse in Mercatale di Cortona, nine female friends from around the U.S. are gathered for a week of Italian cooking classes with chef Faye Hess. She's already taught us so much--from making the perfect mushroom risotto, to braised ribs with white wine, garlic and rosemary (not to mention homemade pasta). Each of us take turns cranking the old Italian pasta machine. Faye pushes us and prods us, espousing her deep-held philosophy of slow, home cooking, that we need to toss out the buillion cubes, make our own stocks and pastas. Right now we all believe that we can. When we aren't having our daily cooking lesson, and eating the results around a very long farm table, we're off on a daily outing, often with a food or wine connection. We've done wine tastings in Montepulciano and Montalcino, cheese tastings in Siena, even tastings of aged balsamic vinegars (amazingly sweet and syrupy--almost drinkable). Tonight we're having dinner at the villa of a local family who have extensive olive groves and produce a top olive oil. There are no crowds here in southern Tuscany, and the weather is perfect and sunny.
 
While most of our day outings from the Faye Hess cooking school near Cortona had a food focus, one did not: a day trip to Deruta in Umbria, to learn how they make their famous ceramics. We toured the Cama family's small factory: one of the brothers was shaping the pottery on a wheel, and mama and papa were painting by steady hand their beautiful, old patterns. While I had always heard that Deruta wasn't a particularly pretty town, the ancient hilltop was beautiful for both its architecture and dozens of shops with ceramics literally pouring out.

• In celebration of Veteran's Day, the National Park Service will offer free entry for all to any of its parks. Said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, "The Department of the Interior is honored to offer this fee free day to thank our nation's service men and women." [Gadling]
  
  
• Taipei 101 is on schedule to becoming the world's tallest green building. The skyscraper is undergoing $1.8 million in green renovations, with the hope that these energy-efficient upgrades will save the building $20 million annually. Said Harace Lin, Chairman of the Taipei Financial Center Corporation, "As the world's tallest [completed] building, Taipei 101 aims to raise people's awareness about our environment and be a pioneer of international green building certification for existing buildings." [Inhabitat]

• Advocates in L.A. is lobbying to change some city streets to "ciclovias," or bike-only streets, on Sundays. cicLAvia member and director Green L.A. Institute Jonathan Parfrey told the L.A. Times, "This city is so park poor, and so car dependent.... Air pollution is awful and childhood obesity is epidemic. But building new parks for people to get out of their cars and exercise can be prohibitively expensive. We want to create public space using the infrastructure we already have - our roads." [L.A. Times]
  
  
• The Global Symposium of Peaceful Nations was held last week, and 144 countries were giving a Global Peace Index (GPI) rating. The most peaceful country in the world? That designation goes to New Zealand, followed by Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Austria, Sweden, Japan, Canada, and Finland. Our expert analysis? The colder the country, the more peaceful they are. For the full list (and a more accurate analysis), click here. [Vision of Humanity]

Photo: bananatron via Flickr

Hello city-lovers! Today we're headed to the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, where resident Petra tells us what she loves about her hometown.

Want to see your city on IT? Copy and paste our list of fill-in-the-blank questions into an e-mail, fill in your answers, and send your responses to IntelligentTravel@ngs.org. And if you're still waiting for us to feature yours, fear not! We're going to keep posting as long as we keep getting them (please include photos and links!).

Ljubljana is My City

The first place I take a visitor from out of town is Bled, about 37 miles away, but worth the trip.

When I crave a large coffee I always go to Le Petit Café.

If you come to my city, get your picture on one of the many bridges.

For a huge splurge I go to BTC. Take the bus nr. 27 from the city centre. It's only 15 mins away and you get everything there.

My favorite jogging/walking route is Pot spominov in tovarištva (The Path of Remembrance and Comradeship), a circular 18.6-mile path around Ljubljana.

• We've all done it--used our luggage as a seat while waiting in endless lines at the airport. But Dutch designer Erik De Nijs took that action to a whole new level when he created Suited Case, a collection of suitcases that can be fitted together to create a couch. Says the artist, "When a familiar object from home is taken with you on a trip you feel much more at ease. And which object is more familiar then your own comfortable couch." [Neatorama]
  
  
• Living like a modern-day Jack Kerouac is the newest trend. Take the Dudley family. Dad Dave lost his job and, figuring it would cost his family $3,000 per month to continue to live in their house or $300 per month to live in an RV, he and his wife decided to pack up the kids and live on the road, or "Anywhere, U.S.A." Find out how they do it on this Today show special, or learn about how other families are living on the road at FamiliesOnTheRoad.com. [TODAY]

Photo: via Neatorama

Hello city lovers! Andy Hayes, author of the Edinburgh Walking Guides, takes us on a stroll through his favorite city.

Want to see your city on IT? Copy and paste our list of fill-in-the-blank questions into an e-mail, fill in your answers, and send your responses to IntelligentTravel@ngs.org. And if you're still waiting for us to feature yours, fear not! We're going to keep posting as long as we keep getting them (please include photos and links!).

Edinburgh, Scotland is My City

The first place I take a visitor from out of town is a walk down the Royal Mile.  It's the heart of the city and where most of the popular attractions are.

When I crave fish and chips I always go to Bene's on the Royal Mile - if it's fit for royalty then it works for me.

To escape the city I head for the Water of Leith Walkway. It's 12 miles long but you can do any number of sections, or the whole thing if you feel like.

If I want to have good coffee I go to Artisan Roast.

For complete quiet, I can hide away with a stroll down the Innocent Railway Tunnel bike path. It's so easy to reach from the city centre, yet miles away from the world.

If you come to my city, get your picture taken with a bagpiper. I suppose it's just what is done.

If you have to order one thing off the menu from any pub it has to be haggis! Don't ask what it is, just try it.

Locals know to skip Princes Street and check out the boutiques on Cockburn Street as well as hidden alleyways across the city.

When I'm feeling cash-strapped I go for a nice pub meal. Greyfriars Bobbys Bar does a mean steak and ale pie.

Photo ops in my city include anywhere in Holyrood Park and the best vantage points are anywhere near the castle.

• The hills are alive, with the sound of... Google? Google recently opened its offices in Zurich, Switzerland, and certainly knew how to integrate Swiss culture into the office, as evident by these meeting rooms--in the form of ski gondolas--above. [FastCompany]
  
  
• In other European news, the Munich Airport was recently rated Number 5 in the world, according to a recent Skytrax survey. One of the main reasons it fared so well? Its abilities to reduce stress. The airport has a visitors' park where travelers can take walks, mini golf, and in summer, sit on a beach. The airport also has a brewery with local beer, a Fit & Fly Health & Spa Club with message chairs in multiple terminals and, at Christmastime, the airport has a traditional Bavarian market, making me almost wonder why anyone would ever want to leave the airport in the first place.

Photo: via FastCompany

• A South Korea court has ruled that cab drivers can continue to have televisions on their dashboards, despite the obvious risk of getting into an accident. The BBC reports, "The ruling comes after a taxi driver challenged a $507 (£311) fine imposed by the local authorities in the capital, Seoul. The city's tortuous congestion led taxi drivers to install new mobile TV systems in an attempt to beat boredom." [BBC]
  
  
• Scotland's family-friendly Crieff Hydro Hotel has asked that its guests leave video games at home this holiday season in an attempt to "restore traditional family values." The hotel, said to be the oldest family-run hotel in Scotland, is hosting family quizzes, Highland games and archery, sporting activities and outdoor laser quest over the holidays. We're realistic, acknowledging that teenagers may want some time away from their parents, and vice-versa, and there are plenty activities to break free and be independent with family friends or others in their peer group," says the hotel's managing editor. "We're not just offering a fun family Christmas but opportunities for our younger guests to be active, learn new skills and make new friends." [Scotland Herald]

Photo: Paul in Uijeongbu via Flickr

• For the past month, 10 slabs of the Berlin Wall have been installed outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). According to thelocal.de, "The 2.6-tonne slabs have been made available to artists, who have been given free rein to make their own statements on each block of concrete." The wall will be on display until November 8, "being symbolically toppled." [thelocal.de]
  
  
• Through November 5, Omni Hotels is offering 40 percent off select stays in Austin, Chicago, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Diego, New Orleans, San Antonio, Houston, and Tucson. Reservations must be made for travel between Dec. 2, 2009 and Feb. 10, 2010 (and excluding December 31). Fore more information, click here. [Omni Hotels]

Photo: currentevents via Flickr

• For the first time, tickets to the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will be awarded by online lottery system. Fill out the application between November 4 at 12:01 a.m. EST and November 6 at 11:59 p.m. EST for a chance to win one of 10,000 tickets (7,000 are standing-room-only) to the annual tree lighting on December 3. [Jaunted]
  
  
• Ever wonder what the colors on top of the Empire State Building actually mean? Check out website WhatColorIsTheEmpireStateBuilding.com for a guide to what the colors stand for each day. Brilliant! [Gadling]

Photo: BenjaminB99 via Flickr

• Looking for a Thanksgiving getaway? Aspen, Colorado's Hotel Jerome is offering a "120th Anniversary Celebration" package between November 25-29. For $1,889 (half the usual price--and the year the hotel opened), guests get: four-night's accommodation for two in a junior suite, lift tickets for two days, and a full Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday evening. [Gadling]
  
  
• Want to celebrate the holidays with George and Martha Washington? Tickets to Mount Vernon's annual Candlelight tours went on sale yesterday. Every year, the estate opens its doors at night, and leads tours of Mount Vernon, complete with hot apple cider, cookies, caroling, dancing, and even a special appearance of Mrs. Washington. Tours are offered on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from November 27 through December 13. Click here for more information and to make reservations.
  

For most of us, hotel stays come with check-in and check-out dates. But many lodgings claim to have guests who refuse to leave, lingering in the rooms or on the grounds long after their scheduled stay. Check in to one of these hotels if you want to spend Halloween with real ghosts. And why limit it to Halloween? Since the spirits in these establishments are not staged seasonal events, ghost hunters can spend the night with specters year-round.

Logan Inn, New Hope, Pennsylvania
This 18th century tavern-turned-inn has a reputation for hosting numerous colonial-era spirits. The restless ghost of a Revolutionary War soldier has been spotted marching around the grounds.  Guests also frequently see the specter of a little girl wandering the parking lot, but no one is sure who she is. Glowing orbs hovering in the lobby and hallways are also reported.

• If you find yourself around D.C. this Halloween weekend, look out for some sweet-looking traffic cones. Street artist diabetik has been installing Candy Cones all around the city. Has anyone in your hometown done anything eye-catching for Halloween? [Laughing Squid]
  
  
• New York Times best seller Pat Conroy (author of South of Broad) now has a walking tour to accompany his book. Old Charleston Walking Tours has put together a two-hour tour that highlights the sites featured in the best-selling novel, including the Gibbes Museum of Art, St. Michael's Episcopal Church (the oldest in Charleston), and the Dock Street Theatre. Tours are available Tuesday through Saturday at 11 a.m. and begin at the Mills House Hotel. For more information, click here. [Old Charleston Walking Tours]

Photo: diabetik via Flickr

• Budapest's Museum of Fine Arts just opened "From Botticelli to Titian: Masterpieces of Two Centuries of Italian Painting," on display through February 14, 2010. The large-scale exhibit, which will feature some 130 Renaissance paintings borrowed from 50 museums (like the Met, the Louvre, and the Prado), includes pieces like Cossa's "Portrait of a Man," Botticelli's "Story of Virginia," and Palma Vecchio's "La Bella." For more information, visit www.szepmuveszeti.hu.
  
  
• Travelers heading to Philadelphia this year should book their hotel through gophila.com/withlove. Visitors who book their stay through December 30 will receive a pass to 26 restaurants (like The Prime Rib and Table 31) that will offer prix-fixe, multi-course menus at $20, $30 and $35 per person. Visit gophila.com for more information.

• JetBlue has partnered with car-rental company Hertz to offer a great contest. Here's the deal: enter your information on the Jet & Drive Giveaway homepage everyday through January 31, 2010. Each day, JetBlue will give away a $100 Hertz gift card, or a $2500 Hertz certificate and a $500 JetBlue gift card if the number of entries is over 2,500 or 5,000, respectively. Better yet, if the number of entries is over 50,000, a winner will get a four-night trip for two, including airfare, hotel, and, of course, a rental car. Click here for full contest details. [Jaunted]
  
  
• McDonald's, no more. The fast-food giant--which had three location in Iceland--is leaving the country. Due to the failing krona, McDonald's would have had to charge $6.36 for a Big Mac to make a profit, making it the most expensive Big Mac in the world. [Gadling]

• Never seen snow before? Check out Colorado's "Snow at First Sight" competition, which offers the winner--a "snow virgin"--a three-month, all-expenses-paid trip to Colorado, complete with skiiing, snowboarding, dogsledding, snowmobiling, and any other snow-related sport you can imagine. To enter, submit a short video explaining why you should win, and post your video on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. All entries must be received by November 22. For complete rules and to enter, check out SnowAtFirstSight.com. [USA Today]
  
  
• In honor of legendary climber Sir Edmund Hillary, a new four-day walking trail will open in New Zealand's Waitakere Ranges near Auckland. Hillary had discussed plans to create the trail before he passed away in 2008. The 70-kilometer trail will pass along the Karekare, Piha, Anawhata, Te Henga, and Muriwai beaches, an area explored by five generations of the Hillary family since the 1920s. The trail is expected to officially open early next year. [NewZealand.com]

• Rotterdam's new city hall will be the greenest building in the Netherlands, thanks to designer Rem Koolhaas. The building's modular design will require fewer resources to build, and is easy to add to if the structure ever needs to expand. [FastCompany]
  
  
• Round of golf, anyone? The world's longest golf course--a grand 848 miles long--has opened in the Australian Outback. The scenic course--the fourth hole having the largest population of southern hairy-nosed wombats in the world--takes a week to play, and players must drive to each hole. A five-day tour of the course, which includes meals, lodging, and transportation, starts at $2250 AUD. [Gadling]

Photo: via FastCompany

• Southwest just unveiled its new Green Plane (above). The plane, which is currently flying between Boston-Logan and Chicago-Midway, is outfitted with a host of environmentally friendly products, like the carbon-neutral InterfaceFLOR Carpet and man-made leather on the seats. The life vest pouch is also lighter, and Southwest estimates that it will save five pounds of weight per seat with these eco-changes. [Jaunted]
  
  
• In other Southwest news, the budget carrier is celebrating 2010 by adding 10 new routes, including nonstop flights from St. Louis to Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, Raleigh/Durham, Seattle, and San Diego.These new routes, plus more, will be available beginning in May. [Jaunted]
  
  
• Whether you board by row, group number, or class, every airline has a different approach to getting passengers on its planes. Virgin America is testing another variety--boarding by baggage. Now in a testing phase, the teams for some flights (mostly out of SFO) are instructing passengers without carry-ons to board first, with the philosophy being that these passengers will board faster than those who must fight for overhead bin space, making the overall boarding process more efficient. Many are skeptical about the process. Do you think it will work? [Cranky Flier]

• San Franciscans are celebrating their state's counterculture movement this weekend at the (free!) West Fest: 40th Anniversary of Woodstock festival in Golden Gate Park. The festival will include musicians, anti-war speakers, Beat Generation poets, and even an attempt to beat a world record, as some 3,000 musicians simultaneously play "Purple Haze." West Fest takes place Sunday, October 25, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. [Gadling]
  
  
• Tweeners everywhere, stay calm. Operating company Cruises, Cruises, Cruises has just announced the launch the Alaska Twilight Cruise, dubbed the "Convention at Sea for Twilight Fans." Starting next year, vampire fans can enjoy a week-long cruise to Glacier Bay, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan and Victoria, B.C., in the company of Twilight actors Ashley Greene, Alex Meraz and Michael Welch. Guests aboard the cruise can also attend a costume ball and charity auction. Says cruise owner Linda Wolf, combining an Alaska cruise with a Twilight convention is "the best of both worlds." For more info and to book, click here. [Gadling]

Image: Woodstock Story

Olá, travelers! Today Rafa Vieira writes to us from Coimbra, Portugal, and tells us why this European city is simply the best.

Want to see your city on IT? Copy and paste our list of fill-in-the-blank questions into an e-mail, fill in your answers, and send your responses to IntelligentTravel@ngs.org. And if you're still waiting for us to feature yours, fear not! We're going to keep posting as long as we keep getting them (please include photos and links!).

Coimbra is My City

The first place I take a visitor from out of town is the University of Coimbra patio so they can enjoy a view over the city and the river.

When I crave a Tentúgal pastry, I always go the small town of Tentúgal, in the outskirts of my city.

To escape the bustle and traffic I head for the beautiful spa town of Luso. It is really close to the city, and its wonderful forests and enchanting buildings are great for a walk.

If I want to relax and enjoy the trendiness of my city I go to Feito Conceito, a funky shop.

For complete quiet, I can hide away at Jardim do Penedo da Saudade, a hidden garden with a view of the city that's packed with statues and poems of poets and writers.

If you come to my city, get your picture taken in the city southbank with the river Mondego and the city at your back.

If you have to order one thing off the menu from Zé Manel dos Ossos Tavern downtown it has to be Chanfana (an exquisite she-goat dish).

• Kids need something to do on a rainy autumn day? Get them some Crayons and tell them to enter the National Zoo Poster Contest. The National Zoo is asking kids ages eight to 14 to create a poster for the Zoo, which will be featured at the Zoo, schools, and libraries. Entries due by November 12. [National Zoo]
  
  
• Less than one month before the Terra Cotta Warriors descent on the District, and our NG headquarters are slowly transforming. Check out the Terra Cotta Warriors blog to get a behind-the-scenes look at the exhibit, plus info on tickets, special lectures, Flickr challenges, and more. [Terra Cotta Warriors]
  
  
• How much can you carry for $249? That's what United Airlines is asking its passengers. United travelers can opt to purchase "Premier Baggage" for $249 per year, which will allow them to check in two bags on every flight, plus the bags for up to eight companions traveling under the same confirmation number. Worth the price? Yes, if you're taking nine round-trip flights in a year, or have a family of five taking at least two trips, according to the Economist. [Economist]

Photo: DC Digital Photography via Flickr

• Earlier this year we brought you this heart-throbbing aerial Google photo, and now Oddee's got a photo essay of other Google Earth findings, like the "Badlands Guardian," (above) which looks like a human wearing a Native American headdress (located in Alberta, Canada at 50.010083,-110.113006). [Oddee]
  
  
• Actions: What You Can Do With The City opened last week in Chicago. The exhibit--open through March 13--showcases works from artists and collectives that "share a preoccupation with turning everyday life--walking, playing, recycling, gardening--into interactive stunts, aimed to get people involved in the city fabric, in unusual ways." Want to see what we mean? Check out some highlights from the exhibit--including tents shaped like car covers and DIY bicycle lane stencils--here. [Fast Company]

Photo: Google Earth via Oddee

• New York's Portland Square Hotel is transforming into a luxury boutique hotel. The new Sanctuary Hotel, which is set to debut in 2010 and is located in Times Square, is offering visitors the opportunity to preview newly renovated model guest rooms with a special "Dress Rehearsal" rate. Through March 31, 2010, guests can stay at the Sanctuary Hotel for $159 per night (instead of its anticipated $309 per night), and receive a $50 voucher towards a future visit. To book, call 212 382 0600 or use code DRESS1 when booking online at www.portlandsquarehotel.com.
  
  
• When visiting Paris, forget the Champs-Élysées and Eiffel Tower. The coolest must-see is the Paris Sewer Museum, the "most comprehensive sewer experience available to tourists anywhere." The Musee des Egouts, located just near the Pont de l'Alma, has some 500 yards of tunnels that visitors can explore, as well as exhibits that detail the history of the 2,000-kilometer Paris sewer system. Just don't forget to stop at the museum gift shop for some "sewer-venirs" before you leave. [Brilliant Tips]

Photo: Sanctuary Hotel

• Twenty teams of students have gathered in D.C. this week to participate in the Solar Decathlon, a competition in which university students design, build, and operate energy-efficient solar-powered houses. Entries this year include two houses (like Virginia Tech's Lumenhaus, above) that can be operated entirely by iPhones. All of the solar houses are on display on the National Mall through the 18th. [Guardian]
  
  
• If solar-powered houses aren't your thing, check out the world's longest solar-powered footbridge in Brisbane, Australia. The bridge, which connects South Brisbane to the city center, is 1,500 feet long and has 84 solar panels that will generate a yearly output of about 40 MWh, which will be enough to power the bridge's LED lights and feed the main grid. [Treehugger]

Credit: Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon

• Sustainable and edible? I wish. Ridiculous? Definitely. Bay Area artist Lisa Pongrace recently designed the ever-colorful Cupcake Car, an electric car that runs on a 24 volt electric motor and battery. Sure, I get that the car--which was introduced at the Burning Man festival and tops out at seven mph--is cute and sustainable, but it's also actually for sale. With a price tag of $24,000, I think I'll stick to my local cupcakery for my sweet tooth fix. [Inhabitat]
  
  
• Introducing the German "Männermobil." If you don't speak German, fear not--it's exactly what it sounds like it is. The "boys only" RV comes complete with two surround-sound systems, two flat-panel TVs, a Wii and Playstation 3, a grill, foosball table, dart board, rooftop Biergarten, and other "manly" amenities. [Gadling]
  
  
• Several Leonardo da Vinci paintings and sculptures are on display at Atlanta's High Museum of Art. The rare U.S. exhibit--which includes a 30-foot replica of Leonardo da Vinci's destroyed horse statue, other sculptures, and dozens of sketches--is showing through February 21, 2010. [USA Today]

Photo: via Inhabitat

• An exhibit commemorating American Regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton (1889 - 1975) just opened at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville, Tennessee. Through his art, Benton strove to honor rural America and its folk culture, which was "more authentic than the 'intellectual snobbery' of New York-based Modernists." The exhibit is on display through January 31, 2010. Benton was the creator of several large-scale paintings and murals, like "Social History of Missouri," which covers several walls of the Missouri Capitol building. [Music Road]
  
  
• Plastic isn't worth what it once was. American travelers are finding more often that their credit cards don't work with merchants and kiosks in Europe. American cards lack an embedded microprocessor chip, which adds and extra layer of protection against theft and counterfeiting, which is becoming increasingly popular in Europe. [Practical Traveler]
  
  
• The San Francisco Bay Bridge might get its own version of High Line Park. The Bay Line, which would be located in the East Bay section (currently undergoing major renovation], will include, gardens, meadows, climbing walls, and almost two miles of cycling paths. Skeptics of the "hanging neighborhood" design, proposed by Rael San Fratello Architects, think that the project--expected to cost $350 million--isn't practical, mainly because, according to Inhabitat, the "aging span of the Bay Bridge is being replaced for a reason - it's unlikely to hold up in the event of a major earthquake." [Inhabitat]

Photo: AmazingBrian via Flickr

• Last week, officials voted to have the 1.3-mile stretch of road that runs through Stonehenge permanently closed. The move was made in part because UNESCO has expressed concerns about the 5,000-year-old monument's "shabby" surroundings. English Heritage, which manages Stonehenge, will build a £28 million visitors center and parking lot where the road once was. Construction is scheduled to be complete before the 2012 London Olympics. [Times Online]
  
  
• Thinking of volunteering? Disney is giving do-gooders a reason to lend a helping hand next year. Beginning January 1, Disney will reward one million people who take a day to volunteer with one-day free admission to Disney World or Disneyland. To be eligible to receive a one-day pass, those interested should volunteer with the HandsOn Network, the largest volunteer network in the United States. For more information on the "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" program, click here. [In Transit]
  
  
• A room for a quarter? To celebrate the launch of the U.S. Virgin Islands' United States quarter, some hotels are offering a "Cent-sational Promotion." Travelers who book up to three nights at a participating hotel through November 2 (travel dates through November 15) on BookIt.com can stay for 25 cents each night, receive a $25 per person dining credit, as well as a $25 per person activities credit. I say: here's to saving quarters! For more information, click here. [EON]
  

Photo: Bill M via Flickr

• Take the stairs: that's what Volkswagen wants you to do. The popular car company turned a staircase in Odenplan, Stockholm, into a piano to see if people would chose the stairs over the adjacent escalator. The result? Over 60 percent more people chose the "fun" stairs over the boring escalator. Volkswagen also applied what it calls "the fun theory" to trash cans, and found that by creating the "world's deepest bin" (check out the video) people were more likely to throw away their trash. [Rolighetsteorin.se]
  
  
• Introducing the McLouvre. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, fast food giant McDonald's has just announced that its newest location in France (the company's largest market after the U.S.) will be in the Carrousel du Louvre, the underground mall that connects to the museum. The most profitable McDonald's in the world is located next to the Champs-Elysees. [Gadling]

Video: via YouTube

Eating the Big Apple. If there's one great thing about New York City, it's the infinite dining choices that fill every nook of the city. But how to navigate the city's many ethnic enclaves? Foodies should check out New York: The Big City and Its Little Neighborhoods, a book that explores 20 neighborhoods--from Little Italy, to Little Senegal, to Little Odessa--and all the food they have to offer.

One of the best things to come out of last week's Governors' Global Climate Summit was an innovative agreement between California's Environmental Protection Agency and its Mexican equivalent, SEMARNAT, to help protect the 750 million monarch butterflies who migrate yearly to the mountains of Michoacán, Mexico's most colorful natural attraction. Besides engaging in a large-scale reforestation around their winter refuge in western Mexico's Sierra Madre mountains, the bi-national plan seeks to reduce illegal logging. (Every year, millions of monarch butterflies freeze to death, which many scientists blame on thinning forests.) If reforestation and aggressive forestry management result in more trees growing than being cut down - a carbon surplus -- the Mexican mountain communities will receive revenue from companies paying to offset carbon deficits. [via Charles Kulander]

Photo: Universe Publishing

• Trick or Tweet! That's what Caesars Palace is telling its Facebook and Twitter fans. @CaesarsPalace followers who stay at the hotel on October 30 and 31 will get: two-night accommodations, two Roman Ritual passes for Qua Baths & Spa, complimentary in-room Internet access; a complimentary in-room movie; a $50 resort credit; and VIP passes to the PURE nightclub during their stay. The hotel will even tweet locations throughout the weekend  that will lead guests to free food, drinks, and other giveaways. Prices from $175. [Caesars Palace]
  
  
• January 8, 2010, would have been the King of Rock 'n' Roll's 75th birthday, and the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, is celebrating. Elvis fans who want to shell out $3,975 can book the "Elvis in Music City" package between January 8 and August 16, 2010 and receive two nights accommodation, a private recording session at Studio B (complete with limo transport), an iPod preloaded with 50 Elvis songs, ten Elvis movies on DVD, private cooking lessons (of his favorite foods) with the hotel's chef, a guided tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and much more. [Loews Hotels]

Photo: Caesars Palace

• In case you didn't get the memo, October is National Dessert Month, and New Orleans's 5Fifty5 restaurant is celebrating by offering dessert first. Through the end of the month, patrons who order and eat their dessert before the rest of their meal will get 20 percent off their entire bill. Executive Chef Mark Quitney has even concocted five special desserts for $5.55 each, like the seven-layer chocolate cake paired with an Absinthe shake, Reese's peanut butter cup terrine, and Oreo sandwiches paired with a Creole cream cheese vanilla shooter. I can't think of a better reason to celebrate October. [5Fifty5]
  
  
• If you want to learn to cook like Julia Child, sign up for the "In Julia's Footsteps" package at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The two-night package (from €709) includes accommodation, buffet breakfast, and a course at Le Cordon Bleu, the culinary school where Julia Child studied. Bon appetit!
  

Photo: 5Fifty5

• Just last week the New York Public Library opened "Mapping New York's Shoreline: 1609-2009," an exhibit featuring some 200 maps and atlases from the library's collection. In the video above, the NYPL explains how it preserves and restores its 400-year-old maps and other paper documents. The exhibit is open through June 26, 2010. For more about the exhibit, click here. [Wall Street Journal]
  
  
• Rumor has it that amusement park giant Six Flags wants to add a new park to its lineup... in Nigeria (yes, you read correctly). The park is set to be built in Calabar in southeast Nigeria. Calabar is the naval headquarters and about 300 miles from the country's capital. Says one Nigerian government official, "The potential economic impact of this exciting project is vast, with the opportunity to create hundreds of jobs during the construction phase and subsequent operations... The theme park development is destined to become a major tourism attraction, drawing from millions across the continent and the world." Do you think this is a good idea? Let us know in the comments below. [Gadling]

Video: NYPL

• W Hotels has opened its first property in South America. The W Santiago features a Tea Library (above) managed by French chef Sebastien Fontes, Zen-inspired Osaka restaurant featuring Peruvian-Asian cuisine, a heated rooftop pool, sweeping views of the Andes, and a "Drum Wall" made of sheepskin for guests to "play" in the Living Room.
  
  
• It's Jack-O-Lantern season again, and Maine's Inn by the Sea knows just how to celebrate. Guests staying at the resort for two nights this month will receive a pumpkin (plus all the carving necessities) to carve during their stay. Guests leave the pumpkin at the hotel, which will judge all the entries at the end of the month. The winner will have all of their expenses from their October stay (regardless if they stayed for two days or 10) reimbursed to them. [Gadling]

Photo: W Santiago

• Visitors to the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri (i.e. the area surrounding the Gateway Arch) between now and December 1 shouldn't miss the free art exhibit in the Old Courthouse (most famous for hearing the Dred Scott trial). The 100 paintings (all featuring 45 national parks) are all winners of the annual PaintAmerica competition, and are on sale and on display from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. [National Parks Traveler]
  
  
• Need suggestions for your next dinner party? While "sugar-covered moth-pupae" might not be the first meal that comes to mind (unless you're Andrew Zimmern), Japanese chef Shoichi Uchiyama--"a devoted advocate of increased consumption of insects by humans"--is giving all adventure foodies a chance to taste these insect delicacies with his new cookbook, featuring all types of insect recipes. Bon appetit! [Gadling]
  

Photo: Jeannette Kimmel

• In an ongoing celebration of the Lincoln Bicentennial, farmers Jim and Darla Baggenstos have turned their corn fields into a Lincoln corn maze. Every year, some 5,000 people turn out for the couple's annual corn maze in Oregon. This year, the maze--sporting a Lincoln-inspired design--will also feature informational signs to educate visitors about the 16th president. The maze is open through October 31. [Lincoln Bicentennial Blog]
  
  
• The National Park Foundation and Expedia.com have just announced the launch of a new online tool to help people plan trips to the country's national parks. The site includes information on the parks, lodging, and features downloadable maps and editorial features from the National Park Foundation. [PRNewswire]

Photo: via Lincoln Bicentennial Blog

• You don't have to be an avid reader or a devout church-goer to appreciate this ancient church turned  bookstore in Maastricht, The Netherlands. The Selexyz Dominicanen, was originally constructed in 1294, and the building has served as a parish, warehouse, and bicycle parking lot until it was recently renovated into a modern bookstore. [Inhabitat]
  
  
• To celebrate the anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's death (October 7, 1849), the city of Baltimore is holding a host of events in his honor. On Wednesday, October 7, the famous writer will be lying in state at the Poe House and Museum from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.; a candlelight vigil will take place on October 8 at midnight in the Westminster Graveyard; and finally, on Sunday, October 11, visitors can join in the funeral procession from Amity House to Westminster. [Jaunted]
  

Photo: via Inhabitat

• The Empire State Building and the Sydney Opera House are great works of architecture, without a doubt. But it's nice to see the more eclectic architecture get some recognition, too. Instant Shift has a great photo essay of more than 80 "Strange and Fantastic Buildings" around the world, from the beautiful Lotus Temple in India to the Basket Building in Ohio, to Poland's Upside Down House (above). [Instant Shift]
  
  
• Shoes off? Check. Liquids in a quart-size bag? Check. Pockets empty? Check. We all know the airport-screening routine. But now the TSA is adding a new rule: all passengers' names must match their ticket exactly. So if Bob Smith's real name is Robert Smith, Jr., his photo I.D. and ticket name must be identical, or he won't make his flight. So next time you book your ticket, makes sure it matches the name on your passport or drivers license. Is this a necessary addition to the security process? Let us know what you think. [New York Times]

Photo: mango_kr via Flickr

• Rubber Ducky, you're the (big) one! Ernie's favorite bath toy has been spotted in Japan, Brazil, and Europe, courtesy of artist Florentijn Hofman, who explains the reasoning behind his larger-than-life ducky in this video (in Dutch). Says Hofman, "the 'Canard de bain' crosses all bounderies and does not discriminate and does not have a political connotation. The friendly, floating Rubber Duck has healing properties, it can relieve mondial tensions as well as define them." [Cute Overload]
  
  
• Travel and educational organization Elderhostel is getting a new identity. The Boston-based non-profit has used the name Elderhostel since 1975, and since 1993 has only allowed travelers age 55 and up to participate in their tours. Beginning October 1, the company will allow all travelers over 21 to participate (though trips are still geared to older adults), and change its name to Exploritas, "a word created by brand consultants to combine 'explore' and 'veritas,' which is Latin for truth. The organization's leaders hope the new name will evoke the idea of 'exploring the world and your mind, and searching for truth,'" executive James A. Moses told the Wall Street Journal. [WSJ]
  
  
• BusJunction, a Kayak.com for buses, has just added Yelp ratings to its website so that travelers can see not only what bus companies offer the best price, but also which buses and routes get good (or bad) reviews. To access the reviews, go to BusJunction.com and click on the stars underneath the company symbols. [BusJunction.com]

Photo: Cute Overload

• Where can you find the best oysters, strawberry tart, olive oil, or ravioli? The Guardian has a great roundup of the "50 Best Foods in the World and Where to Eat Them." Warning: do not read if hungry. [Guardian]
  
  
• New York's Museo Del Barrio--the city's only museum dedicated entirely to Latino culture--has just announced that after extensive renovations to celebrate its 40th anniversary, the museum will reopen on October 17. Museo Del Barrio will reopen with new exhibit Nexus New York: Latin/American Artists in the Modern Metropolis, and will host a variety of special public programs throughout the rest of the year. [El Museo Del Barrio]
  
  
• Online travel booking site Orbitz has added Google Street View to its website to allow travelers to check out a hotel's neighborhood before they make reservations. Helpful? Sure. But we all know Google Street View isn't updated frequently, so if you're looking for that hotel with the brand new facade, Google probably can't help you. [L.A. Times]
  
  
• Fan of fungi? England's Summer Lodge Country House Hotel, Restaurant, and Spa is hosting a special foray with wild-mushroom hunter John Wright on October 10. Visitors can accompany Wright on a mushroom forage and enjoy a variety of mushroom dishes for lunch or dinner. For more details and to book visit www.summerlodgehotel.co.uk. [Summer Lodge Hotel]

• When life hands you lemons... throw them out. At least, if Southwest Airlines has anything to say about it. The budget carrier polled its passengers to see whether they preferred limes or lemons with their inflight drinks. Limes won, so lemons got the boot. Southwest estimates that it will save some $100,000 annually (and reduce waste) by not serving lemons on any of its U.S. flights. [UPI]
  
  
• Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah have found their tourism niche. Brothers Richard and Herber Holm, who are both former members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, offer a unique tour titled "The Polygamy experience: A guided tour of Colorado City." The tours give visitors a chance to "learn the story of the U.S.'s largest and most secluded polygamist colony." Tours last for four hours and cost $69.95 per person. [News.com.au]

Photo: Daygo D. via Flickr

• If you missed the touring Princess Diana exhibit when it stopped in the U.S. in 2007, you've got one more chance to see it. From October 2 though New Year's Eve, Diana: A Celebration will be on display at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The exhibit showcases some 150 artifacts in a 10,000-square-foot space. Tickets ($23/adult, $15/child) are required. [USA Today]
  
  
• Where do planes go to die? Writer Ransom Riggs has a great photo essay of an airplane graveyard in the Mojave Desert, which has been on lockdown since September 11, 2001. Check out the article on Mental Floss, or visit Riggs' website for the complete photo gallery. [Mental Floss]
  
  
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has juts introduced Climate Passport, a set of kiosks located throughout the airport that allows travelers to key in their flight itinerary and purchase carbon offsets on the spot. The offsets will fund two local projects Dogpatch Biofuels, a bio-diesel fueling station, and a tree-planting program in Mendocino County. [Budget Travel]
  

Photo: Royal.gov.uk

• The Sydney International Food Festival takes place next month (Oct. 9-11), and this year's organizers have arranged a special treat--each participating country is represented by a flag made out of the nation's food (like Brazil, above). Check out the photo gallery here for some mouth-watering creations, and learn more about the food festival here. Yum! [Gadling]
   
• The Vatican Museums has extended its popular nighttime hours. The Vatican had extended its daily hours in summer to help reduce the number of visitors during the day. The program was so successful that the museums will open from 7 p.m.-11 p.m., with last admission at 9:30 p.m. through October. [USA Today]
  
  
• Detroit is hosting its very first restaurant week. Beginning this Friday for ten days, some 17 Motor City restaurants are offering three-course meals for just $27. Check out the website to see what restaurants are participating. [Gadling]

• Near Mt. Vesuvius in Nola, Italy, a new volcano has erupted. This time, it's an eco-friendly commercial center in one of Italy's most important commercial cities. The Vulcano Buono ("good volcano"), designed by Renzo Piano, has an outdoor theatre, market, sloping pine forest, hotel, indoor cinema, and its roof is covered with some 2,500 plants. [Inhabitat]
  
  
• Wend Magazine is hosting a photo contest this month, and is asking for photos with a hiking/trekking theme. The September Friday Photo Contest winners each get a Kaze stainless steel vacuum bottle and the grand prize winner at the end of the month will receive an Eco Ether sleeping pad from Pacific Outdoor. To enter, upload your hiking photos to Wend's Flickr pool and send an email to fphoto@wendmag.com with a description. Good luck! [Wend Magazine]
  
  
• Head to the Great Smoky Mountains this weekend and check out the Mountain Life Festival, an annual event celebrating the fall harvest. Favorite activities include soap, apple cider, and sorghum molasses demonstrations, rug hooking techniques, "old tyme" music, as well as ranger-led walks and evening campfires. [National Parks Traveler]
  
  
• No time to get your flu shot before you travel? No worries. Many U.S. airports are offering flu shots to employees and passengers for $20-35. None of the airports are currently offering the H1N1 flu vaccine, but we'll see if that doesn't change soon. Click here for the complete list of airports offering flu shots. [USA Today]
  
  

Photo: via Inhabitat

• Harry Potter fans are finally getting their wish. This spring, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is opening at Universal Studio's Island of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. The theme park will include a recreation of Hogwarts castle, family-friendly rides, an Owl Post where visitors can send mail with a Hogsmeade postmark, and much more. [Dailymail.co.uk]
  
  
• Anyone traveling up and down the East Coast frequently knows it's a hassle without an E-ZPass, an electronic pass that charges cars automatically instead of waiting in line to pay highway tolls. But the U.S. just got one step closer to creating a nationwide tolling system, as the Ohio Turnpike joins the network spanning the Midwest, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic. Drivers can now drive from Maine to Virginia and west to Chicago using the convenient tolling system. [USA Today]

Photo: AP via Dailymail.co.uk

• America's National Parks are getting a lot of play this year (Ken Burns' latest PBS series on the parks premieres next week) and that hasn't stopped the U.S. Mint from celebrating, too. The Mint is rolling out its newest collectors quarters featuring the parks. 50 quarters will be released between 2010 and 2021 highlighting one park from each state. [USA Today]
  
  
• The U.S. Senate passed a bill that will charge a $10 fee to visitors from countries that do not need a visa to visit the U.S. "for the purpose of attracting international travelers to the United States." Congress hopes that, once passed by the House of Representatives and enacted into law, the "Travel Promotion Act" will create 40,000 U.S. jobs, drive $4 billion in consumer spending... and hopefully not deter foreign tourists from visiting. [TIA]

Photo: Jonathan Eden/iStockphoto.com

• It is a truth universally acknowledged that any fan of Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennett must be in want of attending the 9th annual Jane Austen Festival, which takes place September 18-27th in Bath, England. The festival is hosting some 44 events, including an attempt to beat the world record for the 'Largest gathering of people dressed in Regency costumes' on September 19. [Wandering Educators]
  
  
• In other literary festival news, through September 20 the town of Torquay on the English Riviera is celebrating the life of whodunit guru Agatha Christie (she was born there on September 15, 1890). Events at the week-long festival include an Agatha Christie Potent Plant Garden at Torre Abbey, a writing workshop, theatre performances of Christie's books, and a screening of the 1974 film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express to celebrate the book's 75th anniversary. [National Post]

• British design company Design Q has proposed a new way to seat airplane passengers. The design, which has two rows of seats running back-to-back down the middle of the airplane, and rows of seats facing inward on either side of the plane, would maximize the number of people airlines can fit on each plane. We like: stepping on an airplane that doesn't look the same as every other flight we've ever been on. We don't like: having to stare at our fellow passengers on a cross-country flight.  [Jaunted]
  
  
• And the Guinness World Record for the country with the most Guinness World Records is... Mexico! This record-breaking country is obsessed with breaking all sorts of records, from the most people dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" at the same time, to the world's largest taco (a 1,654-pound flour taco made in 2003), to the most people locking lips at the same time (40,000 on Valentine's Day). [NYTimes]
  
  
• Congrats to our friends over at Equitrekking, a PBS television series about equestrian travel, who just won a Daytime Emmy for outstanding single camera photography. Read all about them here or visit their website to learn more. [Equitrekking]
  

• Just your basic hoodie, right? Look again. Burton's Sleeper Hoodie is equipped with a removable inflatable neck pillow, internal passport/ticket pocket, and a light shield in the hood--perfect for traveling anywhere. There's a good chance that if I owned one, I'd never take it off. [TrustyPony]
  
  
• Ever dreamed of a getaway in Tuscany? Ciao Bambino is giving away just that--a weeklong stay at luxury 3-bedroom/2-bath estate outside Cortona. The trip includes pre-arrival shopping, laundry service, regional maps, and a local guide. To enter, click here. And thanks to our friend Emily King for the tip! [HomesAway]
  
  
• French kiss, no more: To faire la bise--exchanging light kisses on both cheeks when greeting friends--is a basic ritual in France. But companies and schools around the country hare discouraging the act in an effort to prevent swine flu. [NPR]
  
  
• For the first time, the public can visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island at night. In honor of National Public Lands Day (September 26), visitors can buy tickets to see Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and get dinner and a preview of Ken Burns' newest documentary about the National Parks. Hurry, tickets for this event will sell out fast. [LA Times]
  

Photo: Burton

• Monopoly has taken Park Place to a whole new level. The classic Hasbro game just launched Monopoly City Streets, an online version of the game that uses Google Maps as the playing board, meaning players can "purchase" any street in the entire world. The game is available online through January 31, 2010. [BBC]
  
  
• Dozens of heart-shaped sculptures have turned up all around D.C. as part of a marketing campaign to interest people in Colombia. "Every time someone says Colombia, you think kidnapping, you think crime, you think drugs," explainescampaign spokesperson Gretchen Hamel, but "it's safe to go to Colombia now." [DCist]
  
  
• Britain's getting ready for the fall harvest, so check out this great round-up of fall foodie festivals happening all around the U.K. [Guardian]

Photo: vinduhl via Flickr

• Autumn is just around the corner, and that means the eastern seaboard is soon to turn from green to red and orange. Check out New England Inns and Resorts for some great leaf-peeping deals in the Northeast. [Gadling]
  
  
• Airlines are cutting back on yet another basic amenity this fall: pillows and blankets. Airlines like Virgin America hope that the cutback will help prevent the spread of swine flu, though the Air Transportation Association isn't sure how much this will help. "The seats, and pillows and the blankets are really not very important in transmitting influenza," said an ATA spokesperson. "The usefulness of masks is not well determined." [Sydney Morning Herald]
  
  
• How much is visiting the United States worth to you? The U.S. Congress thinks it's worth $10, as a proposal is under consideration to charge a "tourism" fee to all visitors. The fee would be linked to the ESTA pre-registration system, which is required for visitors entering from a visa waiver country, even though when the ESTA was introduced, it stated there would never be a fee. More information on the proposed fee can be found here. Do you think you should have to pay to enter the U.S.? [Gadling]

• Just say "baaah" to global warming. Everyone knows that if you put wool in the dryer, it shrinks. Well, Scotland's sheep are shrinking, too (without the aid of a dryer, of course). Scientists believe that due to climate change and milder winters, smaller sheep are able to live longer, resulting in a "paradoxical decrease in size." [BBC]
  
  
• This Friday, September 11, is a National Day of Service and Remembrance, and plenty of groups are organizing volunteer opportunities across the country. In Traveler's own back yard, Tourism Cares is hosting a clean-up on the National Mall between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. To learn where to volunteer in your area, click here.
  
  
• The National Mall clean-up comes just in time for the National Book Festival, which happens September 26. Dozens of authors from Ken Burns, Paula Dean, Judi Blume, Jodi Picoult, and John Grisham (to name a few) will be there signing books and talking about their latest masterpiece. [USA Today]

Photo: kpep via Flickr

• Harvest season is fast approaching, and North Carolina is among the first to celebrate. The North Carolina Apple Festival celebrates its 63rd year in Henderson County, the seventh-largest apple-producing region in the country. Check out the website for more details. [Budget Travel]
  
  
• The early bird catches an aisle seat. Southwest Airlines now offers EarlyBird check-in. Instead of waiting by your computer until it's exactly 24 hours before your flight to check in--Southwest has an open-seat policy, meaning the first people to check in are the first people to board the plane, who, of course, get to pick the best seats--passengers can also be one of the first to check in (before the 24 hour mark) by simply paying a $10 fee. Fortunately, you can still check in for free online 24 hours before your flight. [CSMonitor]

Photo: emoeby via Flickr

• Just say "no" to B.O. Honolulu's City Council is "considering a bill that will make it illegal to 'bring onto transit property odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system, whether such odors arise from one's person, clothes, articles, accompanying animal or any other source.'" So next time you're busing in the Aloha State, don't forget deodorant. [USA Today]
  
  
• Like pirates and Portland, Arrrrrrregon? Check out the Portland Pirate Festival, happening September 19-20. If you plan on going Sunday the 20th, make sure you come dressed as a sea dog, as the festival hopes to set the record for "the most pirates gathered in one place." [Jaunted]

Photo: tom706 via Flickr

• Attention baby-makers! Aruba's Westin Resort is offering a package just for you. In celebration of coral spawning season this fall, the hotel is offering a $300 credit to couples who can prove they conceived during their stay at the resort (seriously, we're not kidding). Here's how it works: Stay at the Westin Resort in Aruba through December 19. In a few months, if you can prove that you conceived during your stay, the hotel will reward guests with a "Conception Credit" of $300 to use during a pre-baby getaway in 2010. Couples who book before September 30 will also receive a $100 credit to use at the spa, towards a massage, or any other activity that will help get you in the mood. [Westin Resort]
  
  
• Tourists behaving badly: Earlier this year, the French were voted the worst tourists in the world. Fortunately for them, the "Real Holiday Reports" claims Russians are the newest worst tourists, as deemed by some 1,000 angry Brits who participated in the poll, stating that Russian tourists are "tracksuit-wearing, greedy, money-flashing oafs... who hide sunloungers in their hotel rooms." No word yet on what the Russians think about the Brits. [Gadling]
  
  
• Get into your favorite museum for free on Museum Day, September 26. To participate, click here and register (for free), print out the admission card, and bring it to a participating museum. Unfortunately, for D.C. residents, this isn't much of a bargain, as the Smithsonian museums in the city are free everyday. [Gadling]
  

Photo: Westin Resort

• Belgium's new Liège-Guillemins Station will open on September 18. The station was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and replaces the previous building, updated in the 1950s. For more on Liège, click here.
  
  
• Cash for clunkers for bikes: Portland, Oregon, drivers looking to get rid of their clunker can donate their car to the American Lung Association in exchange for a 10 percent discount at a local bike dealer, as well as a lifetime Zipcar membership. [National Geographic Adventure]
  
  
• Oktoberfest is right around the corner, and EuroCheapo wants to test your knowledge of this annual event. Check out their Oktoberfest quiz here. [EuroCheapo]

• Got a watermelon? Fuel your car! Research shows that watermelons have a high concentration of directly fermentable sugars, which, according to Inhabitat, "may be a valuable source for biofuel due to the ease with which they can be fermented into ethanol." [Inhabitat]
  
  
• Book a three-night stay at Montana's Resort at Paws Up and get $250 credit per room-night toward your choice of outdoor adventure, including ATV rides, horseback riding, fly fishing, and clay shooting. Reservations must be made by August 31. [Gadling]
  
  
• Dreaming of Machu Picchu? Look no further than San Francisco. This Golden Gate town is bursting with Peruvian flavors, and the New York Times has a great round-up of where to get the best ceviche, a classic Incan dish of raw fish, lime juice, and spices. Check out Traveler's Destination Guide to Lima (and our Peru photo galleries) for more on Peruvian cuisine. [New York Times]

• Plans to build the world's tallest wooden building have begun in Norway, where the Norwegian Barents Secretariat wants to construct a 16-17 story building that will be entirely carbon neutral. [BarentsObserver]
  
  
• This week marks the 100th anniversary of the world's first youth hostel, which opened in the Altena Castle in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on August 26, 1909. [Spiegel Online]
  
  
• What will one euro get you? A ride in the French Riviera! EuroCheapo's Annie Shapero checks out the sweet deal that can get you anywhere from Cannes to Montecarlo. [EuroCheapo]

Photo: Reilulf Ramstad Architects

• Tourists to Austria have a good reason to visit Raschala. The town--located near Hollabrunn--is home to Mozart's "whiz stone," and locals have decided to celebrate their landmark with a festival. The town's claim to fame was acknowledged by a local professor in the 1970s. He says, "Mozart drove through our town on his way to Prague in 1787 and asked the horse-carriage driver to stop to take a leak." We just wonder if Mozart hummed "The Magic Flute" while he was stopped. [Austrian Times]
  
  
• No plans for Labor Day? Check out the New York Times' guide to last-minute Labor Day deals, which include cheap flights to beaches in Florida and Mexico, hotel deals in Seattle, Vancouver, and San Francisco, and even international trips to Dublin and Barcelona. [New York Times]
  
  
• Cheese makes the world go 'round: The New York State Fair's dairy building is turning 100 this year, and Wisconsin-based cheese sculptor (who knew?) Sarah Kauffman has been summoned to create a horse-drawn milk wagon, a dairy cow, and birthday cake, all made out of cheesy goodness. Her sculptures will be on display beginning this Saturday, August 29. [Jaunted]

• Aspiring travel writers should check out the GuideGecko Writing Contest for a chance to win a trip to the Frankfurt Book Fair, plus have their winning piece showcased at the fair. Entries must be received by September 24. [Gadling]
  
  
• Plastic bags were just banned in Mexico City last week, though it will take up to a year for stores to implement the changes. D.C., San Francisco, New Delhi, and cities in South Africa, Belgium, and China have imposed similar bans. [Green, Inc.]
  
  
• Want to find the best loo? Try the Shoji Tabuchi Theatre in Branson, Missouri--it comes complete with a hand-carved mahogany pool table, gilded chandeliers, and marble fireplaces. [Gadling]

Photo: GuideGecko

National Geographic staff was lucky enough to sit in on the Society's annual Explorers Symposium earlier this summer at Headquarters. Scientists and conservationists affiliated with and supported by the Society presented their findings and explained their recent work.

Texas State University Anthropologist and NG Expeditions Council Grantee Christina Conlee talked about her research at La Tiza, in southern Peru's Nasca region. I was intrigued by her fieldwork excavating tombs in the region (she recently uncovered evidence of human sacrifice at the site) despite the fact that many having been ravaged by looters. As she spoke about the iconography of the grave goods they've discovered and its similarity with the mysterious geoglyphs etched into the region's Pampa Colorada desert, I wondered how an eager traveler might go about seeing the Nasca Lines firsthand and what that experience would be like.

First off, some background on the pre-Inca Nasca Lines: The 1,500-plus geoglyphs were constructed by the Nazca culture (200 BC - AD 600), not aliens, some 2,000 years ago, and extend over 190 square miles. Though they're virtually indecipherable from the ground, from the air, a monkey, killer whale, hummingbird, condor, and pelican among flowers, trees, and geometric shapes are clearly visible. The lines were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994. The region's arid climate preserved them all these years though they are threatened by the nearby Pan-American Highway. The big question is what are they: Are they sacred, ceremonial paths, maybe outdoor temples, or did they perhaps serve an astronomical or agricultural purpose? Do they indicate the location of underground rivers or irrigation canals? Are they the creations of hallucinating shamans paying homage to a cult of water and the god Kon?

• Mmmm, currywurst. The Deutsches Currywurst Museum just opened in Berlin just around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie. 1,500 people attended the grand opening to celebrate the Berlin staple--a concoction of sliced sausage, ketchup, and curry powder. [EuroCheapo]
  
  
• Attention Harry Potter fans (or anyone else who just likes cool gadgets): a British scientist has been awarded £100,000 to develop an invisibility cloak. The scientist believes he can develop "a material that bends light around itself, making it invisible to the naked eye" in two years--with any luck, before the final Harry Potter movie is released. [Brave New Traveler]
  
  
• And yet, another reason to love Southwest: the budget airline just announced that it will install WiFi on all of its planes by the end of the first quarter of 2010. No word yet on how much the airline will charge for WiFi use per flight. [Gadling.com]

Photo: Currywurst Museum

• Brazil's subway system now has seats for obese passengers on its trains and in stations. According to metro officials, the seats, which can hold up to 550 pounds and are twice as wide as normal seats, are being widely ignored however, possibly because people are too ashamed to use them. [Austrian Times]
  
  
• Ryanair has just added an interesting item to its in-flight menu. The European budget airline has started selling "smoke-free cigarettes" to passengers, and says that so far, sales are doing best on flights out of Italy, the U.K., and France. Packs go for 6 euros each. [The Observer]
  
  
• Next time you head to Napa Valley, take the wine train. The route, which began some 20 years ago, includes breathtaking views of the region (the train chugs along at a leisurely 18 mph), lunch, and, of course, plenty of wine. [SFGate.com]

Photo: Austrian Times

Traveler and Photo District News are currently hosting our annual World in Focus Photo Contest, and this year we're letting readers preview the submissions and vote for their favorites. Each week, we're putting a new batch of images up on our website. Here's the photo with the most votes last week, taken by Cliff W. Estes at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park in Big Sur, California:

Think your own photo brings the world into focus? Submit your entries now for a chance to win a trip to Tanzania, camera gear, and other prizes.  The deadline is August 24.

• Greyhound gets an upgrade. The largest U.S. bus service has outfitted its new fleet of buses (pictured right) with free Wi-Fi, outlets, and seatbelts, in a bid to modernize its image. The new buses have been introduced to its busy Northeast routes before eventually replacing all older models. [Gadling]
  

• Celeb Stays: the Daily Mail in the UK has put together a roundup of the ten best celebrity-owned hotels. Some are exotic (Francis Ford Coppola's Blancaneaux Lodge in Belize), some are bustling (Robert de Niro's The Greenwich Hotel in New York City), but all are Hollywood A-list swanky.

• One learns something new every day--for example this: the Stendhal Syndrome is a rare condition in which perfectly sane individuals momentarily lose all reason and attack a work of art. Most recently, a Russian museum-goer threw a teacup at the Mona Lisa, which resides at the Louvre, in Paris. The famous smile remained serene and unscathed, protected by its bulletproof glass shield. [Telegraph]

Photo: Greyhound

• The Touro Synagogue--America's oldest synagogue, located in Newport, Rhode Island and dedicated in 1763--just opened its $12-million visitors center. Said Keith Stokes, chairman of the board at the Touro Synagogue Foundation, "We've got this great story and history to share, but we needed to create a platform where everyone felt able to attend and learn." [USA Today]
  
  
• Next time your family rolls their eyes at you for saying, "I want to go to there!" to almost every possible destination on the face on the earth (I speak from experience), just tell them, "It's in my blood!" According to AlmostFearless, "Standford University geneticists have identified a gene that could explain why early man left his farming communities to explore the world, why Americans are natural capitalists and perhaps even why you can't wait for your next trip abroad (and why some people have no interest in leaving home at all)." [AlmostFearless]

Photo: Touro Synagogue

Traveler and Photo District News are currently hosting our annual World in Focus Photo Contest, and this year we're letting readers preview the submissions and vote on their favorites. Each week, we're putting a new batch of images up on our website, and here's one of our favorite picks:

I love how photographer Yann Besrest-Butler captured the expression on this girl's face as she plunges into the water in this photo, appropriately titled "Free Fall."

Think your own image brings the world in to focus? Submit your entries now for a chance to win a trip to Tanzania, camera gear, and other prizes.

• Shoes are probably the most important clothing item you'll ever pack for a trip. But what kind to bring? Whether you need hiking shoes, walking shoes, dress shoes, or beach shoes, check out this review of the best travel shoes. [GoGreenTravelGreen]
  
  
• The state of Iowa has proven to me that you can make an event out of everything. This past weekend, the town of Britt hosted the National Hobo Convention, which included a "5K & 10K Walk/Run, Hobo King & Queen coronation, Hobo Museum, Hobo Auction, Hobo Memorial Service, Flea Market, [and] Outdoor Classic Car Show." If you missed the convention, fear not: you can still visit the Hobo Museum anytime. [FastCompany]
  
  
• A taxi driver in Essex, Vermont, is offering "pay what you want" rides in his Recession Ride Taxi. This means that instead of being charged by a standard meter rate, passengers pay whatever they feel is appropriate. The driver, Eric Hagen, even offers cold drinks and a frequent rider program--after seven paid trips, customers get the next free. [Gadling].

Photo: Whirling Phoenix via Flickr

• If you've thought about getting a tattoo, consider the Hotel Erwin. The new Venice Beach property (above) is currently offering an "Ink and Stay" package, which includes a $100 tattoo voucher from the hotel's in-house tattoo artist, Lubriderm lotion and ice-pack for healing, a bottle of tequila (to numb the pain), temporary tattoos (in case you don't want something inked for life) and a $500 bonus if you get a tattoo that says "I Heart Hotel Erwin." The package starts at $399 and is available through the end of the year.
  
  
• Almost the entire population of Easter Island--some 4,000 people--turned out for the island's first officially sanctioned soccer match. The island team played Colo Colo (dubbed the "Manchester United of Chile") but lost 4-0.
  
  
• Want to see theatre on the go? Head to Belfast, where a taxi is serving as a mobile stage. Up to five people can watch the "show" in the back of the taxi, where, according to the Guardian, they sit with Rosie, "a grandmother-to-be who left the city before it was torn apart by the Troubles, and how on her own "terror tour" she is given a second chance to see the lover she left behind back in the 1960s."

Photo: Hotel Erwin

• To celebrate the International Year of Astronomy, Acadia National Park (above) is offering several stargazing programs. The ranger-led "Stars Over Sand Beach" program is offered on Tuesday and Thursday evenings through the end of August, and "Night Sky Scoping" (Saturday and Sunday evenings August 8-30) gives guests the chance to see the night sky through telescopes.
  
  
• The Discovery Channel will launch a new brand of adventure tours this December that tie in with shows like Man vs. Wild and Dirty Jobs. Discovery Adventures (partnering with G.A.P. Adventures) will range from cruises to safaris and visit places like Costa Rica, Peru, Cambodia, and Morocco. Prices start at $2,000 per person.
  
  
• BoltBus recently launched its mobile site. Smartphone users can now use their phone to purchase tickets, and even save paper by showing their online confirmation to the driver.

• Ever leave for vacation and know you forgot something? Well, if it's your swimsuit you left at home, Standard Hotels has a solution. The hotel chain has partnered with Quicksilver to offer vending machines that dispense swimsuits. Each suit also comes with a "Quick Tips" city guide to the city--New York, L.A., or Miami--where the hotel is located.
  
  
• Tired of the same old boring hotels? Check out Gadling's round-up of unusual U.S. hotels, like an undersea lodge in Florida, and a dog-shaped stay in Idaho.
  
  
• New York City's Restaurant Week has been extended through Labor Day, which means foodies still have time to get prix fixe three-course meals for $24.07 (lunch) and $35 (dinner).

Photo: Standard Hotels and Quicksilver

• Tired of looking at old rundown buildings? Check out FilthyLuker's DeviantArt, which look like something right out of Men in Black.
  
  
• Congratulations to our very own research chief Marilyn Terrell, who was recently named one of the "100 Amazingly Insightful People You Can Learn from on Twitter."
  
  
• Got a cash flow problem? Take the lead of one Sicilian mayor, who has bet local officials' salaries on the lottery in hopes of winning the money for the town. The numbers they chose? 'We chose numbers which were connected with the town's patron saint, the Virgin Mary of the Assumption," the mayor told BBC.
  
  
• Kate Spade and Coach fans should check out Amsterdam's Museum of Handbags and Purses, a showcase of some 400 bags (from a collection ten times that size), ranging from a 1906 "opera bag," to a 19th-century letter case, to a 16th-century pouch--the oldest in the collection.

Photo: FilthyLuker

• The quaint town of Scranton, Pennsylvania, is making the most of its 15 minutes of fame. Students from the University of Scranton are offering Office Fan Tour tours of the town. The four-hour tours (I don't even think tours of Washington, D.C. or New York last for four hours) take visitors to the Mall at Steamtown, the Penn Paper building, the Scranton Welcomes You sign, and other landmarks mentioned in the popular mockumentary.
  
  
• On August 23, head to Vermont for the first-ever Cheesemakers Festival ($20) for over 100 cheese samplings from 50 different cheesemakers. The festival will include other food makers, tasting seminars, and cooking demonstrations.
  
  
• Calling all mustard fans: In case you haven't heard the news, Wisconsin's Mustard Museum is leaving its Mount Horeb location for Middleton, some 18 miles away. Town residents are disappointed that the tourist attraction is relocating, but museum owner Barry Levenson feels that, regardless of the move, "people will still come."

Photo: Niels Ten Have via Flickr

• Sure, laser treatments are all the rage these days, but this fall scientists from California and Scotland are taking lasers to the faces of Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Roosevelt. Archaeologists are using lasers to take 3D images of Mount Rushmore so that they have the data they need to repair or rebuild the monument should it ever be damaged by earthquake or attack.
  
  
• Like The Nightmare Before Christmas? Sweeney Todd? Edward Scissorhands? Tim Burton fans should head to New York City between November 22, 2009 and April 26, 2010, when the Museum of Modern Art will display some 700 of the film director's original works of art (drawings, paintings, storyboards, puppets, etc.), including 550 from his private collection.
  
  
• American Airlines is currently testing mobile check-in at Logan Airport. AA employees will carry the devices, called "Your Assistance Delivered Anywhere" (YADA), and use them to help passengers print boarding passes, check in, and even clear upgrades, thus reducing line wait times.

Photo: dclamster via Flickr

• Sure, rafting down the Colorado River (above) might be awesome, but what if you don't have the means to get there? National Parks Traveler has a great list of other places to raft all around the United States.
  
  
• Ever been to Novi Sad? Gjirokastra? Cesky Krumlov? They're all places on BrilliantTrip's list of the ten best off-the-beaten-path places to visit in Europe.
  
  
• Baboons are smarter than you think. The primates at a safari park in the UK have learned how to break into car-top carriers. Says the park's manager, "Obviously, we're well used to them helping themselves to the odd wing mirror or wiper blade, but this has taken things to a whole new level."
  
  
• Do you tip the waiter in Paris? Or the bellhop in Hong Kong? Check out this guide to tipping in 35 countries around the world.

Photo: WisDoc via Flickr

• BBC Worldwide just announced plans to launch an Australian version of Lonely Planet Magazine sometime next year. BBC already has versions of the magazine in the UK and Brazil (above).
  
  
• Cow tipping is so yesterday. The art of "Smart Smijten"--or Smart Tipping--is becoming a problem in Amsterdam, as people have discovered how easy it is to "tip" Smart cars into the city's many canals. As Gadling suggests, don't park your Smart car near a canal!
  
  
• Where can you see the largest green roof in New York City? Bet you never thought it'd be at the U.S. Postal Service's Morgan mail processing center in Manhattan. Officials expect that the 2.5-acre roof will save USPS some $30,000 in energy costs each year.

Photo: Lonely Planet

• Often overshadowed by popular metropolis Sydney, the city of Melbourne has given itself a new corporate identity--a logo that reflects the city's diversity, innovation, sustainability, and liveability--in hopes of getting on the same playing field as other branded cities such as London, New York, and Paris.
  
  
• Tired of paying for airport Wi-Fi? Check out Consumerist's tips on how to get online during your next layover for free.
  
  
• States like Michigan are looking to ATVs to boost tourism. According to the Wall Street Journal, "long regarded by conservationists as loud, dangerous and destructive to the natural landscape, now seem like a promising new source of revenue." Officials see ATVs as having the same economic potential as snowmobiling, which has generated billions of tourism dollars in recent years.

Photo: City of Melbourne

• Last week the Travelocity Roaming Gnome paid a visit to our friends at the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp as part of his six weeks of summer vacation. Check out more pics from his visit to the City of Brotherly Love here. In this photo, from left to right: Paul Clarkson (6 feet 6 inches tall), Roger Estes (5 feet 3 inches tall), the Travelocity Roaming Gnome  (2 feet tall) and the Travelocity Roaming Gnome replica.You can follow the Gnome, and offer him travel tips, on Twitter (@roaminggnome).
  
  
• Danish cartographer Rene Larson claims that a medieval map showing America just might be real. The map, which was discovered in the 1950s and is titled "Vinland Island," appears to date from 1440, which predates Columbus. "All the tests that we have done over the past five years -- on the materials and other aspects -- do not show any signs of forgery," Larsen told Reuters.
  
  
• Check out BrilliantTips's photo essay of the "Seven Alternative Natural Wonders of the World," which include the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, Wave Rock in Australia, and Iceland's moss-covered lava flows of Hafnarfjordur.

Photo: M. Edlow for GPTMC

• Vintage from the future? Artist Franco Brambilla has taken vintage travel postcards and added aliens, spaceships, and giant robots to the scenery. The images are part of his Invading the Vintage series, which can be seen here.
  
  
• Ladies, look out: Richard Gere and his wife have opened a luxury B&B in Bedford, New York. The inn includes a cafe as well as a yoga studio, which Gere is known to frequent.
  
  
• This fall, be sure to check out the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. The museum aims to highlight Disney's life as a family entertainment genius as well as a family man.

Photo: Franco Brambilla via io9

• Belgian artist Jan Bucquoy recently told Reuters, "If I had portrayed Hitler in his underpants there would not have been a war. I think in this way you can contribute to a better world... If you are scared of someone, just imagine them in their underpants. The hierarchy will fall and you will see that this is a guy like any other. We are all equal, all brothers." For this reason the artist opened the "Musee du Slip," or "Underpants Museum," (conveniently located near the popular Manneken-Pis) dedicated to famous people's underwear, in Brussels (above).
  
  
• A tip from Traveler writer Charles Kulander: Donate eight hours to your community, and you'll receive a free night's stay at one of 50 hotels across the United States. Granted, most of these hotels are limited service operations but there are a few gems, such as The Nines, a Starwood Luxury Collection hotel in Portland, Oregon. The Catch? In some cases you'll only be offered 50 percent off the rack rate. Offer runs from now until Dec. 20. To qualify, you must provide a letter on the non-profit organization's letterhead proving that you've completed the volunteer work at a 501c3 organization such as Meals on Wheels or Habitat for Humanity.
  
  
• If PetAirways ever flies to Paris, its first stop should be the new Hotel Fouquet's Barrière, a posh hotel that pampers its guest's pets with: a deluxe plush bed, special bowls, mats embroidered with the pet's name, Vittel water, a selection of special toys, and gourmet meals (via room service), all at no extra charge.

Photo: Paul Smits via Flickr

• To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the lunar landing in 1969, St. Louis's Moonrise Hotel is offering a "Fly Me to the Moon" package, which includes a night in the Cosmic Jacuzzi Guest Room, breakfast, two bottles of Blue Moon beer, drink certificates, Moonpies, and two tickets to see "Fly Me to the Moon" at the Omnimax Theatre at the St. Louis Science Center. The package is $229 per night through August 31.
  
  
• Too close for comfort? Scientists have confirmed that the 7.8 magnitude quake that rocked New Zealand's South Island last week has moved the country one foot closer to neighboring Australia.
  
  
• New York's Carlton Hotel is "Going Dutch" this September, in celebration of NYC 400, a week-long commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's arrival to the city. The hotel's "Going Dutch" package includes 50 percent off Deluxe and Empire suites and 50 percent off its breakfasts for two. The deal is available for stays from September 8-30.
  
  
• Comfort Inn is giving away the Ultimate Girlfriend Getaway: tickets to a taping of the Rachael Ray Show, roundtrip airfare for four, two-nights accommodations at a Comfort Inn hotel, and $2,000 to spend in NYC. Enter to win at  chatandchew.rachaelraymag.com/comfort before August 27.
  
  
• Passengers flying on planes equipped with GoGo Inflight Internet (AirTran Airways, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Virgin America) can now surf the net at a cheaper rate. Internet on flights 1.5 hours or less will cost $5.95 and a 24-hour pass (available on AirTran and Delta) will cost $12.95.

Photo: Moonrise Hotel

• Scientists from the University of Washington have come up with a way to track the history and growth of the sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park. Check out this BBC video about how the scientists are studying the trees. For travel info about Yosemite, check out National Geographic Traveler's online guide and photo gallery to the park.
  
  
• The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in Hillsboro, Missouri, has found one way to beat the recession--turn itself into a bed and breakfast. For one night, the sheriff's office is renting out the beds in its jail for $50 per person ($90 per couple) in hopes to raise enough money to buy new beds for its inmates. Guests will also get dinner, play games, take a mug shot, and get a t-shirt.
  
  
• Between August 18 and November 18, United Airlines is giving a 20 percent (and up) discount on Mileage Plus Saver Awards (i.e. domestic tickets will cost 20,000 miles instead of the usual 25,000). Tickets must be booked by this Friday, July 24.

Photo: Melville B. Grosvenor

• Residents in Taregna, Bihar, India are getting ready to view the solar eclipse on July 22. The small village, located about 22 miles from the state's capital, is said to be the best place to view the total solar eclipse, which occurs about once every 18 months during the new moon, when the moon sits directly between the Earth and the sun.
  
  
• The Secretary of the Interior issued a notice yesterday that it will enact a two-year ban on the filing of new uranium claims on one million acres adjacent to the Grand Canyon. This is in support of congressional hearings beginning today on a bill to permanently withdraw this area from mining. More than 10,000 mining claims have been filed on BLM and U.S. Forest Service lands near the Grand Canyon.
  
  
• AirTran is offering customers free Wi-Fi on its flights from Boston to Baltimore throughout the month of August. The budget carrier recently installed Wi-Fi on all of its jets.
  
  
• This Saturday, California's Point Reyes National Seashore is hosting the 29th annual Big Time Festival, a celebration of Native American skills and crafts. The festival is free and takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Photo: Michael Würzelberger via Flickr

• The Melbourne Recital Centre and Theater Company recently won the 2009 Victorian Architecture award. The building (above) has five performance spaces, including a 1,000-seat music hall.
  
  
• Budget airline JetBlue is waiving the bike fee for anyone traveling this July, saving bikers $50.
  
  
• Those wanting a taste of Vietnam should check out Friendly Planet Travel. The company's eight-day tour of Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, includes breakfast daily and round-trip airfare from LAX for $999.
  

Photo: Melbourne Recital Centre

• Six of London's iconic red double-decker buses are going green. The buses use 25 percent less fuel and significantly reduce emissions and noise. The city is monitoring the buses before it adds more to the fleet.
  
  
• Secrets Capri Riviera Cancun is offering free spa treatments to guests through December 23. The Unlimited Spa Package start at $220 per night and gives guests up to four free spa treatments per person per day.
  
  
• Guests staying at one of the boutique Desires Hotels will receive 25 percent off their stay plus a $25 gift certificate to Threadless.com. Stays must be booked by September 30.
  
  
• Napa Valley's HALL Wines just became the first winery in California to receive a Gold LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
  

• The Chiang Mai zoo in Bangkok has painted its elephants to celebrate the arrival of the zoo's first baby panda. The elephants are cute... but no word yet on what PETA thinks.
  
  
• Website ResponsibleTravel.com just launched a collection of hotels that respect local people and environments. All of the hotels in the Responsible Hotels of the World group have been rated for their commitment to responsible tourism, and travelers using the site are asked to review their stay upon their return.
  
  
• Flying Fido? Pet Airways had its inaugural flight yesterday. The pet-only airline took off from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, New York, and flights on all of the airline's five planes are sold out for the next two months.
  
  
• New York City's Restaurant Week started on Sunday. Check out the website for participating eateries.
  
  
• Jon Jarvis, the former director of the National Park's Pacific West Region, has been named the new National Parks director by President Obama. Jarvis has also worked for Craters of the Moon, Mount Rainier, and North Cascades National Parks. The National Park Service is preparing for its 100th anniversary in 2016.
  

Photo: Reuters via DailyMail.co.uk

• Calamari fans, unite! An earthquake in California caused dozens of squid to wash up on a beach in La Jolla. Scientists can't quite explain what caused the squid to end up ashore, but residents pitched in to help get the animals back in the water.
  
  
• Washington D.C.'s W Hotel has finally opened, and with it the new rooftop cocktail lounge POV. The lounge undoubtedly boasts some of the best views of the city, with the Washington Monument only a few steps away from the hotel.
  
  
• Helsinki trash cans (yes, trash cans) are talking back. The trash receptacles will say "thank you" (in six languages) when trash is thrown inside.
  
  
• There's a green app for that. Check out Grist's round-up of the best green iPhone applications, like GoOrganic (to find local organic grocery stores), UniBus (to find the next bus in some 20 cities), and Twavel, a combined carbon-calculator and social network.

Video: YouTube

• Utah's Red Mountain Resort & Spa has partnered with Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a 33,000-acre ranch that protects abused and neglected animals. Guests can volunteer at the sanctuary and take a guided hike through Zion National Park for $129.
  
  
• James Madison's Montpelier recently launched Montpelier Excursions, travel packages that include B&B accommodations, wine tastings, fine dining, admission to Montpelier, and even archaeological digs.
  
  
• A new geyser erupted in Russia last week. The geyser, named "Prikolny," or "Peculiar," spouts water over 16 feet into the air. Check out National Geographic for a video of the eruption.
  
  
• Kimberly Anyadike has become the youngest African-American female to fly across the United States. The 15-year-old took off about two weeks ago and flew back to her home in Compton, California on Saturday.
  

Photo: Red Mountain Resort & Spa

• Climbers might be banned from Australia's famed Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock). The rock is sacred to the Aborigine people. Said local elder Vince Forrester, "You can't go climb on top of the Vatican, you can't go climb on top of the Buddhist temples and so on and so forth."
  
  
• Relax in a hurry? The SS Silla set the world record last week as the world's fastest floating sauna. Its speed topped out at 15.5 knots.
  
  
• Nephelios, a solar-powered helium blimp designed by high school students, is currently in testing phases as it prepares to cross the English Channel. If successful, it will become the first manned solar airship in existence.

Photo: GothPhil via Flickr

• Tired of penny-pinching? Don't live in Tokyo. The Japanese metropolis was recently named the world's most expensive city to live in, according to the Guardian. Osaka came in at number two, up 11 spots from last year. London, which was the third most expensive city in 2008, dropped to the 16th most expensive, due to the falling pound. Moscow, Geneva, and Hong Kong rounded out the top five most expensive cities, followed by Zurich, Copenhagen, New York City, Beijing, and Singapore.
  
  
• Surf, sun, and slots? Miami might start adding slot machines in its airport in an effort to increase its revenue.
  
  
• Sip Stash tea and get a free night in one of 600 B&Bs. Simply cut out UPC codes from three Stash tea boxes, send them and a check for $3.95 to Stash and you'll receive Stash's Guide to Bed & Breakfast Inns, plus a gift certificate for a free night at one of the inns in the guide.

Photo: A Malchik via Flickr

• This August, the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore will take its environmental mission to the streets. The museum is teaming up with Exxon Mobile to offer Altcar, an electric vehicle car-sharing program.
  
  
• Want to send a postcard but can't get to a foreign post office? Yeah, there's an App for that. HazelMail, the personalized postcard service we brought to you back in November, has created an iPhone app that allows you to instantly send postcards to your friends and family. The App is free and includes one free postcard.
  
  
• IT editor Janelle Nanos will be on the radio this morning at 9 a.m. giving travel tips for summer. Check out Mediabistro's Morning Media Menu to hear what she has to say.
  
  
• The Chautauqua Institution and National Geographic are teaming up for the Institute's summer programming series, which will include lectures by NG photographers like Annie Griffiths Belt and NG Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis. Check out the 2009 schedule of speakers here.

Photo: Altcar