Results tagged “National Geographic Traveler” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Friend of IT Melanie Mize Renzulli tells us about the "little engine that could" in Mumbai.

Officials from UNESCO were recently in Matheran, a hill station outside of Mumbai, to consider one of India's latest nominees to the World Heritage list. Operating for over a century, save for yearly pauses during monsoon season, the Matheran Light Railway (MLR) runs only a short distance--approximately 12 miles--but has the kind of history and character to qualify for the UNESCO list.

Known to locals as the "toy train," the MLR seems to be conjured from a child's imagination. The train chugs along on a tiny track only two-feet-wide at speeds between five and 10 miles per hour. On its twice-daily journey up and down the mountain between Neral and Matheran Stations, the train passes by 121 bridges, a tunnel, and 221 curves. One of the curves features signage that says "Ah, what a sharp curve!" the type of blithe statement you could imagine a citizen of the British Raj voicing as he took the train for the first time in 1907.

Matheran sits at the top of a misty, tree-lined mountain in the Western Ghats and provides a cool retreat for visitors wishing to escape the heat and hurry of Mumbai. The resort doesn't have much in the way of activities - save for trekking, horseback riding, and monkey watching - but it does have a few hotels for travelers wanting more than a day trip. The best time to visit Matheran is in the months after monsoon season has ended (October to December) in order to enjoy the lush greenery of the forests and mossy hillsides. The monkeys are a little more relaxed then, too!

The Mountain Railways of India, a group consisting of the rail lines of Darjeeling, Nilgiri, and Kalka Shimla, gained World Heritage Site status in 1999. The MLR, as well as the Kangra Valley Railway (in Himachal Pradesh), is seeking singular status apart from the Railways of India. The World Heritage Committee will make its decision about Matheran's toy train at its 34th session in June/July 2010.

Photo: Himanshu Sarpotdar via Flickr

We know social media has changed the way we travel, but can it actually make for a better trip? To test the thesis, Traveler writer Andrew Nelson is trading in turkey and cranberry sauce next week for sunscreen and a BlackBerry. He's headed to Miami Beach to see if the local Twitter community can lead him to on-the-go discoveries in South Florida. If you know Miami, be a bird on his shoulder. Follow him @andrewnelson and help guide him to your favorite bits of South Beach, Coconut Grove, Little Havana and more.

Andrew will be in Miami from Thursday, November 26th through Monday, November 30th. Tweet him your insider tips on where to eat, play, and soak up the city's culture, using the hashtag #ngtmiami. Follow him now, and read his story about his experience in an upcoming issue of Traveler.

Flamingo illustrations: piccerella/istockphoto.com

To many people, the old Route 66 represents the romance of the open road. Even though it was replaced with modern highways and officially decommissioned in 1985, this 2,400-mile stretch of road from Chicago to Los Angeles continues to have many of the one-of-a-kind motels, cafés, and other landmarks that sprung up during the Mother Road's heyday. To help locate those attractions, the National Park Service has launched an online Discover Our Shared Heritage travel itinerary on Route 66.

As a former Oklahoman, I'm very familiar with one of the more unusual sites along the old thoroughfare in Oklahoma City: a tiny triangular building with a huge milk bottle on top that was built in 1930 (I passed it every day on my way to work). Other quirky attractions mentioned on the National Park's website include the Arcadia Round Barn, also in Oklahoma; the Wigwam Village Hotel #6 in Holbrook, Arizona (above); and the 1927 KiMo Theater in Albuquerque, New Mexico. All the landmarks are plotted on an interactive map.

For more great road trips, check our Drives of a Lifetime special.

Photo: brianbutko via Flickr

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.

If you work in magazines, you quickly learn to keep things a few months ahead in your mind. So while the rest of the world is happily enjoying fall, we're already knee-deep mentally into winter as we're working on our upcoming issue. That said, as much as we're looking forward, it's also wonderful to look back. So now that our November/December issue is on newsstands, we asked Traveler editor Keith Bellows to select his favorite images from the past year and created a gallery of them online. You can see the slideshow, with his commentary, here.

Photo: From "Secrets of the Lakes," a story on Austria's Lake District, in the April 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler. By Cotton Coulson/Sisse Brimberg.

Our November/December issue is on its way to a newsstand or mailbox near you - and features our sixth annual Destinations Rated Survey. Conducted by the National Geographic Society's Center for Sustainable Destinations, this year's survey looked at how tourism is impacting some of the iconic places we first surveyed in 2003 and rated in 2004, with several new places added to the mix.

Topping the list this year was the "vigorously protected" Fjords region in Norway, followed by the "awe-inspiring" Kootenay/Yoho National Parks in British Columbia and the "authentic Francophone" villages of the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec. And pulling up the rear, garnering strong concern from our panel of tourism management experts, was the "cruise ship hell" of Grand Bahama Island in the Bahamas, the war-torn and "intimidating" status of Bethlehem in the West Bank, and Spain's Costa del Sol region, which one panelist called a "textbook example of tourism run amok." See all the results from this year's survey, and more comments from the panelists online.

Elsewhere in the issue, you'll find Jim Conaway's pitch-perfect piece on Portland, Oregon, and Andrew Evans' On Foot walking guide to Valpariso, Chile, which he reported for us while filming the pilot for "Confessions of a Travel Writer." Melina Bellows heads to the boreal forests of Central Mexico "In Search of Magic" (hint: it involves butterflies), and Raphael Kadushin brings us tidings of good cheer from Copenhagen, Denmark's eco-aware capital city, which is hosting the U.N. Climate Change Conference this December.

Want more? Visit our online table of contents for more maps, photo galleries, and World Wise quizzes from the issue.

Traveler writer Andy Isaacson is just back from Tristan da Cunha on assignment for the magazine. Below, he offers a peek into what it's like to visit the most remote island in the world.

Reaching the world's most remote inhabited island is, and probably has always been, an awesome moment. From Cape Town, I sailed west across the Atlantic for six days on a South African polar research vessel, covering nearly 1,700 miles, or the equivalent trip from NYC to Denver. Every day the horizon was flat, unbroken. On the seventh day, at 6 a.m., I walked onto the deck and looked up to an enormous volcano, capped by snow, towering over the sea. This is how I arrived at the island of Tristan da Cunha, and its tiny settlement, the romantically named, "Edinburgh of the Seven Seas."

How did I get here? One afternoon last spring, I was curious about how it felt to live on the fringe of the planet, and a bit of online searching turned up Tristan, located 1,450 from the nearest inhabited settlement of St. Helena (the distance from Chicago to Miami). I'm spending three weeks here on assignment for the magazine. In recent years, many changes have come to this formerly isolated outpost. Now, in ways, this UK territory, inhabited by 270 descendants of British soldiers, Dutch sailors, American whalers, and (two) Italian castaways, resembles a Scottish fishing village: one general store and pub (The Albatross), and the community meeting place, Prince Philip Hall, which holds Saturday night dances and the mail call when ships arrive every 4-6 weeks. The landscape is a mix of potato plots and sheep fences, and tiny single-story houses with corrugated roofs that have the Internet and British TV piped into their living rooms.

Working here has had its challenges. Over the years, journalists have visited Tristan, only to write or air inaccurate, superficial or somehow offensive things, resulting in a justifiable weariness. (Every visitor, in fact, must be appeal to the Island Council to land here - for real, you can be voted on or off this island.) I've warmed up to the locals by helping plant potatoes and dancing a decent waltz, but I haven't managed to warm the weather any. It's been mostly gusty and overcast; there have only been three sunny days in three weeks, which has confined my movement. Everything is determined by the weather, Tristanians will say, and that also depends on which way the wind blows. Today it's an easterly, and as my host here said: "East is the Beast."

Andy Isaacson has written for the New York Times, Afar magazine, and National Geographic Traveler. Check out his most recent article about an ocean engineer, a famed aviator, and their secret project to reach the bottom of the planet in National Geographic Adventure magazine. Learn more about Andy on his website or by following him on Twitter.

We were pleased to find out this weekend that National Geographic Traveler was named the winner of two gold awards from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, in the categories of Best Travel Magazine and Best Online Travel Journalism Site. The annual Lowell Thomas awards are recognized as the most prestigious in the field of travel journalism, and were announced in Guadalajara at the annual convention of the Society of American Travel Writers, the professional organization of travel journalists and communicators. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the awards, and the 25th anniversary of Traveler magazine, and it's a honor to have been selected. We could brag, but instead, we're going to share some of the comments from the judges.

On the Magazine: "Really striking cover photographs, paired with cover lines that spoke directly to me, drew me into this wonderful magazine. I loved how the editor introduced me to each issue on the table of contents page and how each story blurb made me want to turn directly to that page and read the story. Thumbing through the magazine, however, was equally rewarding, with quick features that begged me to stop and read them and loads of those beautiful pictures accompanying interesting tales. I could curl up in an easy chair with each issue and be entranced for an evening."

On the Website: "This extremely effective site takes advantage of the power of multimedia and interactivity. The interactive travel maps are a visual way to experience a new place, and the printable versions are an excellent resource on arrival. No surprise that the photography is excellent, though it would be nice to see more of it integrated into the actual stories. Interactive elements such as quizzes and photo contests make this site a wonderful travel experience."

Find the complete list of results, which includes four awards for our sister publication, National Geographic Adventure, and an award for our Trip Lit book critic, Don George, here.

There's a crispness in the air, and with a long weekend approaching, it's the perfect time to plan the quintessential autumn leaf-viewing trip. A few weeks ago, we ran a list of the Top Ten Fall Foliage Drives excerpted from National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways & Byways, and your comments assured us that there are far more than ten out there. So we decided to open it up to the masses. I asked Traveler staffers for their favorite fall drives, and then went to the Twitterverse (via @NatGeoTraveler) for more suggestions. Here's what we've gathered so far. Feel free to share your own, or look for a great drive near you in the comments.

Instead of responding by email, Traveler Editor in Chief Keith Bellows came into my office and had me Google "The Dragon" just so I could see the infamous US129 highway on a map. Spanning Tennessee and North Carolina, the drive has 138 hairpin turns in just 11 miles, and if you can take your eyes off the road, the leaves are incredible. "It. Is. Awesome," was all he needed to say.

Our beloved book critic Don George is back this month reviewing the latest tome from Peter Mayle, a writer who first inspired us to pack our bags two decades ago with his best-selling A Year in Provence. His latest, The Vintage Caper, revisits Provence through a story of a multi-million-dollar heist of French wines from a Hollywood collector. "As our protagonists track the precious bottles, the trail leads--naturellement! --through a succession of excellent repasts and leisurely ambles, which Mayle depicts with painterly ease and signature savoir vivre," George writes.

Check out the full review here. 

Every Thursday, we select a Photo of the Week on our website, and it's available for you to download to your desktop. Check out the entire gallery of images here.

Many of you have written us wanting to know how to replicate writer Stanley Stewart's motorcycle drive through Sardinia's North Coast. So we asked him to dish the details. Stewart's article, "Sardinia's Carefree Coast," just appeared in our September issue, but you can find the full story here, as well as a photo gallery online.

To book a motorcycle, contact Central Italy Motorcycle Tours (+39 339 1556988) who have a range of bikes including the the Ducati ST3, a good touring bike, from $916 for five days. A slightly cheaper option would be a Suzuki DL650 at $715 for five days. Bikes can be collected in Rome, Milan or Pisa, allowing you to cross by ferry from Civitavecchia, Livorno, Piombino or Genoa. Owned and run by Francesco Venzi, who speaks excellent English, CIMT also offer a range of group or private tours in Sardinia and elsewhere in Italy that include guides, support vehicles, and accommodation.
 
"Sardinia is a biker's dream," Stewart tells us. "The roads are excellent but curvy enough to make the whole thing good fun, and the Mediterranean on your shoulder is a great companion. Inland you can get some wonderful straight runs though it is difficult to keep your eyes on the road as the mountains begin to loom.
 
"What Francesco doesn't know about touring Sardinia, isn't worth knowing," he continued. "He is not only biker, he is a traveler and an excellent guide and has seen parts of the island only the shepherds know. He supplies bikes but he also points you in the right direction, and his group tours, with support vehicles, are one of the most congenial and sociable ways to tour the island."

[Central Italy Motorcycle Tours]

Photo: Stewart rides a Ducati along the coastline, shot by Dave Yoder for the September 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler

Thanks to all those of you who offered up suggestions for my Labor Day trip down to Charleston, South Carolina. Here are some of the highlights from my visit:

Cruising through Charleston with the dog in the front seat. That's me in the mirror, taking the picture.

There is perhaps no better way to see Charleston then from the seat of a maroon 1974 Buick LeSabre convertible. That's how I got my first glimpse of the city, thanks to my friend Abby, whose fine ride was passed down to her by her grandmother (and, thanks to the new engine she installed a few years ago, will probably outlive us all). I didn't have big plans for my Labor Day weekend, but I did manage to take some of your tips and, more importantly, relax. Because things move slower in the South, and there wouldn't really be any other way to do it.

Check out our new Photo of the Week of Lord Howe Island, a Jurassic Park-esqe spot off the coast of Australia. Download it as your wallpaper for some travel inspiration. This is one of the sites featured in the special issue of National Geographic Traveler, "50 Places of a Lifetime: The World's Greatest Destinations, Part II," October 2009.

Check back for a the Photo of the Week each Thursday.

Photo: Tom Till/Getty Images

America's national parks are all the rage these days--the First Family visited Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon earlier this month, Ken Burns's six-episode PBS series on "America's best idea" premieres September 27, and your very own Traveler is putting together some handy guides to the parks. Here's yet another novel and authentic way to travel some our country's best natural places: with Native American guides on Native American land at Native American-owned and -run lodges.

Bonnie Tsui reports in the New York Times that a new generation of Native American entrepreneurs are updating and upgrading tours and accommodations of and on native land while preserving native heritage and staying pretty green in terms of the ventures' environmental practices.

The Thunderbird Lodge in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, is one such native-run enterprise. A historic trading post, the lodge is now a modern hotel run by an all-Navajo staff. It offers tours of the back country led by native guides, the only way to access this expanse of bluffs and valleys made famous by John Wayne westerns and Ansel Adam's photos of the 13th-century White House ruins. Guides provide visitors a first-person account of the historic, cultural, and personal significance of native lands.

In the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, nestled between Arizona and Utah, check out the View, a sleek hotel opened in October 2008 that melts into the landscape. Built to eco-friendly specs, the View is owned by a Navajo family and its young chef reinterprets his grandmother's recipes, serving fry-bread tacos and stews.

Another option is to visit the Sky City Cultural Center at Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, perched on its 367-feet-high mesa. Take a guided tour of the mesa, still home to some of the Acoma's spiritual leaders, catch a cultural demonstration, or shop for traditional pottery.  Stop by the Yaak'a Café for a traditional Acoma breakfast of blue-corn pancakes.

Not sure where to start? Consider a tour operator that specializes in small-group trips led by indigenous guides and interpreters such as Go Native America, mentioned in our October 2007 installment of Tours of a Lifetime.

Photo: courtesy The View, Monument Valley

When you tell people you're a travel writer, most people look at you with a bit of envy in their eyes. But the newest reality show to hit the Travel Channel hopes to dispel (or perhaps perpetuate) the myths of living the high life on a magazine's dime. Just ask Andrew Evans, a regular contributor to National Geographic Traveler and Intelligent Travel and one of the five scribes featured in "Confessions of a Travel Writer," premiering tonight at 9 p.m. EST. He and his cohorts traveled to Chile several months ago (see his blog posts here) while Andrew reported a story for the magazine on Valparaíso (tentatively scheduled to hit newsstands in our November/December issue). We asked him to offer a glimpse of what's in store.

"Travel writing is a dream job, but it's still a job," he writes. "I think the show employs a kind of nail-biting, Saving Private Ryan kind of realism in order to shock and awe the viewing public into how challenging travel writing can be--trials like antique-furnished boutique hotels, gourmet 12-course taster menus, and remembering NEVER to look into the camera . . you know, all the travel writing essentials. In a bizarre coincidence of fate and foreshadowing, this pilot takes the form of a timely John Hughes tribute as it is basically five travel writers re-enacting the Breakfast Club in South America."

Watch tonight to find out whether Andrew is the brain, basket case, athlete, princess, or criminal... and if you're a fan of Andrew's work, help him get to Antarctica by voting for him in the Quark Expeditions blogger challenge!

[Confessions of a Travel Writer]

The latest issue of Traveler is hitting mailboxes today - with three terrific tweaks on the classic road trip (through Sardinia, the Cotswolds, and New Zealand) and 20 more all-American drives. Plus there's tips on Twittering while traveling, the best iPhone apps on the go, and a guide to exploring the new gastronomic center of South America, Lima, Peru. Check out the online table of contents to get a taste of the issue (and see our many photo galleries), then pick up a copy, or subscribe to get it yourself.

In conjunction with his upcoming book, Here Is Where: In Search of America's Great Forgotten History, we're following historian and Legacy Project founder Andrew Carroll as he drives, flies, walks, boats, buses, bikes, and hikes to seek out little-known historic sites in all 50 states. Bookmark all of his posts here.

Near the top of my "things to find" list for this 50-state journey are historic markers on major highways that come up out of nowhere and cannot possibly be read at 65 miles an hour. I've seen these plaques and signs on past trips, and I'm determined to locate one at some point so I can stop, back up along the shoulder (safely of course), and see what it says.

What brought this to mind was the faded brown and white sign I recently whizzed past on Highway 6 & 50 en route to Baker, Nevada, that simply states: "Historical Marker."

The sign gives no indication as to what site of historical significance awaits whomever ventures down the gravel road. Nor does it suggest how far one has to drive. I was running late, short of gas, and had no time for an open-ended adventure in the middle of a Utah desert.

But I knew I'd curse myself if I later found out I'd passed by some extraordinary site just a few hundred feet away, so off I went.

Our bamboo-bike-loving intern Christine Wei, currently tweeting from Taiwan, noticed this story on Inhabitat about an ingenious design for future parking lots. It looks like an attractive way to shade your car from the intensity of the sun, but in fact the panels are harvesting solar rays, not just deflecting them. 

Inhabitat explains:

Each of the trees in Neville Mars's solar forest is composed of a set of photovoltaic leaves mounted on an elegantly branching poll. The base of each trunk features an power outlet that can be used to juice up your eco ride as you run errands.

Neville told Inhabitat that the tree and leaf design wasn't a goal but came naturally as they tried to maximize the shaded surface that the structures provide. Although the efficiency of overlapping photovoltaic panels initially raised some concerns, Neville went on to explain that the leaves rotate with the sun to ensure maximum efficiency. The solar forest is certainly an aesthetic step up from your standard sun-baked concrete parking lot, and serves as great inspiration for integrating solar technology with natural forms.

How cool is that?!

[Inhabitat]

Photo: Neville Mars

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. We just put a new batch of images up on our website, and here's one of our favorite picks:

This picture was taken by Anthon Jackson at the Holi Festival (India's Festival of Colors).

Think your photos stand out? Enter now to win prizes, trips, and other gear, and check out our weekly galleries to see more outstanding images. 

Hacienda San Agustín de Callo, nestled in Ecuador's "Avenue of the Volcanoes" (and featured in a story of the same name by Charles Kulander in our April 2009 issue), calls itself an "archaeological estancia" and there's good reason for that. The hacienda's formal dining room and chapel were built in the 15th-century possibly by one of the last Incan emperors, Huayna-Cápac, out of intricately carved volcanic stone. Eighteenth-century Spanish colonial additions and 19th-century republican styles were piled over top of the Incan imperial architecture. Layer upon layer of Ecuadorian pre-Columbian, colonial, and contemporary history co-mingle and captivate at site.

Archaeologist Dr. David Brown of the University of Texas at Austin has been excavating at Callo for close to 15 years, with the help, we're proud to add, of two National Geographic Society grants. Brown told me that the quality of the stonework at Callo, the finely fitted wall blocks and the hulking double-jamb doors, suggest that it was no ordinary site during Inca times and was quite probably a temple or shrine dedicated to the even now still-active Cotopaxi volcano that rises above it to the site's east. In addition to the two extant rooms that are now part of the hacienda, Brown has unearthed the foundations and low walls of six other buildings that might have once formed a symmetrical compound.

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. We just put a new batch of images up on our website, and here's one of our favorite picks:

This image, "Serengeti Sunset," shot in Tanzania, was taken by Joshua Chaiton, and we think the giraffe silhouette is pretty spectacular. Think your photos stand up? Enter now to win prizes, trips, and other gear, and check out our weekly galleries to see more outstanding images. 

[World in Focus]

We'd like to introduce "Here Is Where," the latest column on the Intelligent Travel blog. In conjunction with his upcoming book, "Here Is Where: In Search of America's Great Forgotten History" we're going to follow historian and Legacy Project founder Andrew Carroll as he drives, flies, walks, boats, buses, bikes, and hikes to seek out little-known historic sites in all 50 states. And here is where he introduces himself and the project. Find all of his posts here.

Although today marks the official launch of my 50-state trip to find forgotten history sites throughout the U.S., I've been seeking out these unmarked spots for 15 years now. This began essentially as a hobby. Whenever I traveled to a new city I tried, time permitting, to hunt down unmarked places associated with little-known events and people.

Sometimes I was successful; during a recent trip to Los Angeles I found the baseball fields in Encino where U.S. military officer Gary Powers died after his KNBC helicopter crashed in August 1977. (Ironically, Powers had survived being shot down over the Soviet Union seventeen years earlier--an incident with enormous historical implications--when he was flying U-2 spy planes for the CIA.) Other times I was less so; while in Missouri last year I tried to locate any site related to George Eyser, a one-legged gymnast who won three gold medals in the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. No luck. But regardless of what I do or don't find, the search is what's exhilarating, and these mini-adventures have prompted me to explore neighborhoods and parts of towns I might otherwise not have visited. 

"Open your eyes -- everything is about to change for travelers," says contributing editor Christopher Elliott. Here's how:

One of the most popular cameras on the number one photo-sharing site isn't a camera at all. It's the Apple iPhone. I mention this for two reasons. First, because a new iPhone is being released June 19. And second, because it now includes a feature that promises to change the way we travel: a video camera.

The specs are nothing to rave about -- 640 by 480 pixels, which is not exactly HD -- but the implications are far-reaching for each and every one of us. At the touch of a button, travelers can now publish an edited video to YouTube. Not coincidentally, YouTube just last week added a feature that allows you to directly share clips to Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader.

Jerry Costello is the co-sponsor of the FAA Reauthorization Bill of 2009, which contains several important new rules designed to help air travelers. Traveler's contributing editor Chris Elliott asked the Illinois congressman, who is also the chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee, about passenger rights and the prospects that new rules would be adopted by the Senate and signed into law.

The latest American Customer Satisfaction Index gives the domestic airline industry an average score of 64 our of 100 -- essentially, a failing grade. What do you think needs to be done to fix the industry?

Ultimately, service will be as good as an individual airline wants it to be. The economic pressures of running an airline - which hit rock bottom after 9/11, through the boom period of the middle of the decade, to another lull currently - will always be there. It is a cyclical business. The key is to be able to focus on the customer experience at all times, and Congress can help emphasize these issues.

The FAA Reauthorization Act contains a number of provisions that could potentially help passengers. If they become law, which of the new rules do you think will improve air travel the most?

Short-term, I believe the emergency contingency plans for airlines and airports to better prepare for long tarmac delays can have an impact on the worst of these situations. We won't eliminate all of these situations, but I am hopeful the horror stories will be dramatically reduced.  Long-term, empowering the Joint Planning and
Development Office to really drive the NextGen process, and providing the funding to do it, will improve the system for everyone.

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'll feature ten entries on the Traveler website. Here's one of of the featured shots from this week:

We kind of wish were were standing in the sun, taking a photo of an iguana sunbathing in the Galapagos right now. But this picture is by Louise Marie Holst, and she's got a chance to win great trips, cameras, and other gear in our contest. Enter now for your own shot at getting the goods.

Need some music to inspire your next trip? In our April issue, writer Tom Pryor put together a list of some of the best songs that will transport you to London: from Britpop to The Clash. And now you can download the entire list on iTunes.

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'll feature ten entries on the Traveler website. Here's one of of the featured shots from this week:

This shot is of three boys joyfully playing among the sand dunes near Kuri, western India, and was taken by Marco Brazzola. For more on traveling to India, check out our Trip Planner, and get inspired with our Ultimate Travel Library picks for the country. Think you have a shot that's a winner? Enter now for your chance to win trips, gear, and other great prizes.

Rainer Jenss and his family are currently on an around-the-world journey, and they're blogging about their experiences for us at Intelligent Travel. Keep up with the Jensses by bookmarking their posts, and follow the boys' Global Bros blog at National Geographic Kids.

Most of the correspondence we've received from friends, family and colleagues in the States during the ten months we've been traveling has referred to the terrible economy, the awful mood back home, and what a different country we'll be returning to. Literally everyone has told us we couldn't have picked a better time to skip town for a year.  

As mentioned in my previous post, we couldn't have chosen a better time to go to Greece, either. The big advantages to visiting in May are the weather, lack of crowds and ease of traveling from place to place. So with two weeks to play with, the challenge was figuring out where to go from the multitude of recommendations we received, many more than I had anticipated.  

Going to the Acropolis in Athens is pretty much mandatory, but can easily be done in a day. There are lots of other interesting things to see around the city (a newly refurbished museum opens in July), but with two kids in tow, we didn't feel compelled to seek them out. Albeit among the most famous historical sites in the world, the Parthenon and surrounding ruins did not inspire us as much as others throughout the country.  Most of the site was covered in scaffolding and if you didn't have a tour guide like us, it's hard to make out exactly what happened here in its peak period some 2,500 years ago. By contrast, we had the archaeological site of ancient Corinth almost all to ourselves, while the well-preserved artifacts in its museum really helped us understand its significance. As a port city, the modern day Corinth also offers some nice seaside restaurants and shopping, which made it perfect for a day trip away from the congestion and big-city challenges of Athens. 

The benefits (aside from great travel content, talented writing, and the brilliant photography that you expect from National Geographic Traveler)? You show your mom that she raised a worldly child. And if you're a mom yourself, order a subscription and share the world with your family.

Getting the Shot: Every time I travel for work I carry my camera, and on this particular trip I was hoping to capture some evening shots of the Santa Monica pier and the ferris wheel. It reminded me of the Navy pier in my hometown of Chicago.

The Details: While I was waiting for the sunset and the pier lights to come on, I noticed a group of people swinging on these exercise rings, just like Tarzan. The sun was setting behind them, so I had to squat down on the sand to get the right angle. I later learned that ring-swinging is a huge phenomenon on the pier and some of these superb athletes are known as the "lords of the rings."
 
The Camera: The photo was taken using a D200 in March of 2009. I exposed for the bright sun to capture total silhouette.

We like: The strange silhouette of the gymnast suspended in the air. Think you've got a Global Eye? Add your photos to our Flickr pool.  

Q: I am a faithful subscriber to Traveler and need some direction. We will be attending some performances in Tanglewood in July 2009. We're looking for accommodation "with heart" at $200-300 per night, near sights and restaurants. Sincere thanks. -- Joy

A: Thanks for your support. Hoping that Traveler has steered you to some world-class experiences. Lucky you: The Berkshires is one of my favorite places on Earth! Gorgeous scenery, great folks, intriguing shops and cafés, plus seriously memorable culture. If you are a fan of the dance, look into the offerings at Jacob's Pillow.

I am going to recommend two widely different places to stay--both on Traveler's 2008 STAY LIST of hotels. I suggest that you depend on their tremendous hotel staffs to steer you to see/do/eat options.

For a trendy mix of old and new try The Porches Inn in North Adams, MA (www.porches.com). Or for pure New England quaint opt for the Red Lion Inn, in Stockbridge, MA (www.redlioninn.com).

Wishing you happy trails,

Sheila Buckmaster
Senior Editor, National Geographic Traveler

Have a question for Traveler? Feel free to Ask IT. 

Photo: The Tavern at the Red Lion Inn, by Kristian Septimius Krogh

Hi there city-lovers! Today we're bringing you the Southern charms of Charleston, South Carolina with the help of Currie McCollough.

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!).

Charleston, South Carolina is My City

The first place I take a visitor from out of town is the Battery, also known as White Point Gardens. You can see Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.

When I crave oysters I always go to Bowen's Island.

To escape the heat I head to the Charleston Aquarium.

If I want to look at old houses I go up Highway 61 to Drayton Hall, one of the finest examples of Georgian-Palladian architecture in the United States.

For complete quiet, I can hide away in the Unitarian Church graveyard.

If you come to my city, get your picture taken with an American Revolutionary War soldier on the steps of the Old Exchange Building.

If you have to order one thing off the menu from Hominy Grill it has to be the buttercream pie.

Sugar is my one-stop shop for great baked goods.

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

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

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

Photo: Vamos

Every trip should have a soundtrack, so we've asked CJ Fahey with Nat Geo Music to select artists from their catalog whose songs will inspire you to get going.


If you happen to be in Italy this Wednesday, April 22nd, we've got plans for you: Thousands of people will convene on Rome's famous Piazza del Popolo for a free concert Nat Geo Music is hosting for Earth Day. The featured artist is Ben Harper & Relentless7, and we're also excited to present a band we just signed to the newly-created Nat Geo Music record label: Bibi Tanga & The Selenites. We're even keeping in theme with the day: to offset the carbon footprint of the concert, we'll be planting a thousand trees in a park in Rome as well as acres of trees in Costa Rica.
 
But this is the travel blog, so let me set the scene at Piazza del Popolo. The best way to appreciate the piazza is from above. At the piazza's east end you'll see a terraced path lined with trees that climbs to an overlook in the Villa Borghese gardens called Pincio. From there, Piazza del Popolo and all of Rome, most notably the dome of St. Peter's, spreads before you in a view that's like love at first sight.
 
I lived in Rome for three years and fell in love with the city many times, but most often from someplace high. Whether it's the view of the Garden of Oranges from the Aventine Hill or the front of the Fontana dell' Acqua Paola from the Janiculum Hill (which is actually not one of the original seven hills of Rome), everyone who's lucky enough to explore the views of Rome has a favorite. If you've been to the Eternal City, I'm curious to hear your favorite view, or any experience you had that made you fall in love.
 
Of course, this Wednesday's Earth Day concert will not be the time to catch the view from above the Piazza del Popolo. We hope the piazza is packed with people who love music, but also people who, like us, care about the planet and want to show their support for environmental awareness and action. But if you can't make it to Rome in time, watch the concert live online from 2-6p.m. EST at www.natgeomusic.net. Or at least go plant a tree!

[Nat Geo Music Earth Day Concert in Rome]

Should airlines charge more for people who take up more than one seat? The Canadian Transportation Agency decided last year to stop Canadian airlines from charging an overweight or handicapped person more than the cost of one fare, even if a passenger takes up more than one seat.  Our article about this, in the April issue of Traveler, sparked much debate in our inbox. Our readers sound off:

Jane Bedrosian of Lubbock, Tex., wrote, "Rights for the obese! What about my rights as a normal-size person? I do not want to sit for two hours pressed up against some hot, sweaty stranger! I am very tired of political correctness only being applied to a classified few while the masses must endure and suffer in silence!" Nancy D. Anderson of Urbana, Ill., concurred. "I sure hope U.S. airlines don't do this. If they can't fit into a seat, they should buy two."

Ross Pezzack spoke up for the rights of tall people. "As a flyer of 'excessive' height, I suggest this right also be extended to clients who cannot fit into the small quantity of legroom most seats allow travelers. I would also ask that airlines allow excessive-height clients the right to prevent people in front of them from reclining their seats into their knees (if you are not tall you have no idea how much that hurts)."

Finally, Racheal Galushkin of Medford, Mass., suggested a solution. "While I can appreciate that seat straddlers have been charged extra and that this is a burden to them and the airlines are looking at reducing those costs, perhaps the real issue is a decent seat size. Shouldn't the size of the airline seat be reconsidered so that more of 'today's-sized individuals' fit into them?"

We're sure you have an opinion. Share it with us.

Photo: aslaugsvava via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool

Since its rise to popularity in 2005, the number game Sudoku has produced an overwhelming array of addicts. And last week, when National Geographic Games's new online game, Sudoku Traveler: China, hit the market, I joined the ranks of happily addicted Sudoku players. After all, the only thing better than losing yourself in a game for a half hour or so is losing yourself in a game that transports you to a place like China via National Geographic photographs.

Sudoku Traveler: China allows you to choose from hundreds of Sudoku puzzles (with adjustable difficulty levels) that are set against images of China from over 20 of its most popular sites. Each time you successfully complete a puzzle, more images (in the form of backgrounds and screensavers) are unveiled on your screen--gradually leading you on a tour through China. The details of your travels are logged in a Travelogue area, which also feeds you bits of information and history on the ground you've covered.

I recently sat down to take my first stab at the game (starting at the easiest level, of course) and after five minutes I was hooked. The fusion of visual, mental, and auditory (there's relaxing Chinese music playing in the background) stimulation was effective enough to make me forget I was in an office building--or that I still had loads of work to tackle. Check it out for yourself here, where you're granted an hour of free playing time and then given the option to purchase the game. Enjoy!

Rainer Jenss and his family are currently on an around-the-world journey, and they're blogging about their experiences for us at Intelligent Travel. Keep up with the Jensses by bookmarking their posts, and follow the boys' Global Bros blog at National Geographic Kids.

One of the benefits of having traveled throughout Africa for the last two months is that it has kept us in an information void for some extended stretches at time (Carol fondly refers to this as being in our little bubble). We did manage to watch Barack Obama being sworn in just a couple hours after we toured a township in South Africa, and I was able to retrieve sporadic e-mails in the bush from friends and family raving about how lucky we were to be on this trip while filling us in on the happenings from back home.  And it seems like every correspondence we've received has made some sort of reference to the lousy economy and how ominous the mood is in the U.S. I'm quick to reply that the places we've been to are feeling it too, proving that there's truth to the saying that when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.

From what we've experienced, I can attest that one sector deeply affected by the global financial crisis has been the travel industry. This was evident from all the empty hotel rooms and sparse crowds we'd seen in recent weeks. Although it's true that countries like South Africa, Kenya, and especially Zimbabwe have been impacted by social unrest and political instability, the economic slowdown has clearly compounded the fact that traffic is down as much as 60% in some places.  

One country that didn't seem as affected was Egypt. If they've lost business as a result of people cutting back on vacation spending, it was hard to notice. The same seems true for Jordan, which found us in full planes and sold-out hotels for our excursion to Petra. Maybe not as many Americans are there as formerly, but the usual mix of German, French and Japanese tourists appeared well represented. We also heard plenty of Indian, Russian and Chinese accents, and from what we can gather, travelers from these emerging countries might be compensating for any drop off from our part of the world.

If you haven't yet submitted your own photos, now's your chance. Take a photo of one or more Peeps in any travel destination, add your photos to our Flickr pool, and then tag them "NGTpeeps." Please limit your entries to three per person. We'll select photos and feature them on our website and the lucky "peeps" will be featured in an online gallery next week. Check out the photos of the prizes after the jump. 

Photo: hushsweetsharlit via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool

Life's not always a beach when it comes to getting scammed. Get advice from the experts.


Though updated statistics are not yet available, state attorneys general are reporting that complaints about travel scams are up. I spoke with Marc Silver, who reported a piece on travel scams in the April issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine.

How do you tell the difference between a scam and a legitimate travel offer?

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Whenever there's a 60-day time lag between the receipt of your credit card number and the date of the "free" trip, be wary--you may not be able to contest the charge on your credit card if things don't work out. Also, any legitimate company won't tell you that "if you don't sign up right now, you are out of luck."

Then there are the "giveaways" that ask for a $100 down payment for taxes and fees. It may seem like a small price to pay for what's billed as a three-day, two-night cruise or vacation. But what you may find is that a lot more money will change hands. Mike Weingard of the World Travel Agency in Houston has seen cases where people do send in the $100, and then are told that to get the dates they want or the level of service they want, they'll have to send in another check, and another. And of course there's no guarantee you'll ever get the free vacation. But you aren't likely to get back those so-called deposits.

We were thrilled to find out last night that we'd been selected as the Best Consumer Travel Blog in the Lonely Planet Travel Blog Awards! Thanks so much to the judges and the voters - and particularly to the readers - who have helped our little blog grow exponentially over the past few years. We love what we do at National Geographic Traveler, and we're so glad that we're able to share what we love about travel with you every day on Intelligent Travel.

Congrats to all of the winners, who were announced over Twitter last night at @lplabs. Lonely Planet asked all of the winners to tape a video or audio acceptance speech - so here's ours - check them all out here. UPDATE: The complete list of winners is also now available online.

For those of you who are new to the blog, please bookmark www.intelligenttravelblog.com and visit us often! Thanks! 

If it isn't already in your mailbox, be sure to snag a copy of the latest issue of Traveler, now on newsstands. Check out the highlights:

• The second annual issue of our Stay List, with 129 top-notch hotels that ooze authenticity.

• A guide to Obama-town, a.k.a. Chicago, and a hit-list of all things gratis in the city.
  

• Get whisked away to Austria's lake country with our feature by P. F. Kluge. For a sneek peek of what's in store visit our Austria photo gallery.

• Reader favorite Daisanne McLane throws some elbows in her latest column about finding personal space while traveling. 

• Traveler Editor Keith Bellows talks with the "ultimate traveler," writer Paul Theroux.
  

• Get an insider's take on Istanbul with our interactive city map.
  

• Arrrgh you ready to take our WorldWise quiz on Pirates? We certainly hope so.
  

Pick up the latest issue, or subscribe now.

If you're looking for something slightly macabre to do in Philadelphia, check out Eastern State Penitentiary at 22nd Street and Fairmount Avenue. ESP, a hulking, haunting, crumbling prison turned tourist destination, will open its recently discovered and restored 1924 synagogue, probably the first built in an American prison, to the public the weekend of April 4 & 5.

At one time among the most infamous and expensive prisons in the world, ESP opened in 1829 and remained in operation for 142 years, closing in 1971. Its radiating, spoke-like panopticon design of individual cell blocks guarded by a central rotunda kept its prisoners in near-constant solitary confinement (but for light work and their Bibles) and was based on the Quaker notion of penitence, and the assumption that once so confined, criminals would revert to a stage of "natural" innocence. The prisoners housed at ESP faced sentences of very little human interaction and most turned mad as a result.

I take great pride having roots in the Midwest. Unfortunately, the to-dos of everyday life keeps me from visiting Missouri as often as I'd like, but every once in a while I run across something that truly makes me miss the kindheartedness--and sometimes quirkiness--of the folks who live in middle America. Case in point: Lambert's Cafe.

In a barn-like structure a few hours south of St. Louis,  hungry patrons are catching their supper--literally. Lambert's Cafe dubs itself "the only home of the throwed rolls." And rightly so. At each of the three locations, guests simply raise their hand if they want one of Lambert's famous rolls, and the server throws one to them (the video above speaks for itself).

How did this wacky practice get started? Though Lambert's Cafe, in some form, has been around since the 1940s, Norm Lambert was passing around rolls to customers on a particularly busy day in the 1970s when an impatient man told him to "throw the #@$#@! rolls." And throw them, Norm did. A tradition was born.

The restaurant's traditional Midwest menu--chicken and dumplings, meatloaf, barbecue pork steak, and chicken wings--is mixed with somewhat more eclectic items, like chicken gizzards, livers, and hog jowl. Vegetarians, don't despair. Lambert's serves a few veggie-friendly items, and everyone ordering from the menu is entitled to the "pass arounds" as well. Servers waltz around with big bowls of fried onions and potatoes, macaroni, and fried okra, and diners can take large helpings of whatever looks good.

[Lambert's Cafe]

Do you have any wacky restaurants where you live?

Traveler photo intern Jenn Blatty recently happened upon a musical surprise while walking around Washington, D.C.

When we're short on travel time and miles away from the parts of the world that we want to explore, our own hometowns can become the closest access points to new cultures. We normally have to make an extra effort to find their niches of flavor, sight, and sound in our own backyards. But on a recent Sunday afternoon there was no effort required for those of us who happened to be strolling around Dupont Circle, as about 20-30 members of the all-women Batala Percussion Band of Washington D.C. magnetized the crowds with the Afro-Brazilian spirit of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.  They radiated samba-reggae rhythms while they drummed in a performance titled "Global Vigil in Support of the Women of Congo."

The Batala of Washington is the newest member of a much larger Batala family (and the first in the U.S.).  The original Batala band was created in 1997 by Bahia native Giba Goncalves while he was living in Paris. There are now four Batala groups in France, five in the U.K., one in Spain, one in Brazil, and one in Angola. If you think you might be interested in joining the group in D.C. (no musical experience necessary), stop by and watch a rehearsal on a Saturday.  

As a person who finds music to be one of the most powerful ways to experience the essence of a culture, I highly recommend checking out the Batala's performance schedule, especially if Brazil is on your mind for future travels.

Photo: Jenn Blatty

IT Editor Janelle Nanos is in Israel this week, and she's (attempting to) blog when she has a few spare minutes. You can follow all of her posts here.

Those of you traveling to our nation's capital in the upcoming months should grab a pencil (or iPhone, BlackBerry, or whatever else you tech-savvy travelers use) and add a trip to see a curvaceous indoor hill constructed of approximately 55,000 sustainably sourced 2x4 wood pieces to your itinerary. Allow me to explain...

Maya Lin's (think the Eleven Minute Line in Wanas, Sweden, or the Vietnam Veterans Memorial here in D.C.) new exhibition, Systematic Landscapes, has found a temporary home in the recently renovated Corcoran Gallery of Art. IT got a sneak peak before the exhibition opens to the public on Saturday, March 14. Find out what's in store after the break.

Our host explains the tenets of the Druze faith in Peki'in, Israel

When I signed up on this blogging trip through Israel, I was under the assumption that I'd actually have some time to blog. But I'm here for a week and the country is the size of New Jersey, so they've scheduled us to the point where little time is left for sleeping, never mind blogging. But it is kind of a kick to be introduced around Israel as a blogger. Apparently, from the people I've spoken to, blogs are not as popular here as they are in the States, so our group's visit was the subject of an article in the local paper. Tomorrow, they're planning to follow us on the local news channel.  Apparently, we're kind of a big deal.

When we arrived in Haifa, the Minister of Tourism mentioned that religious diversity was one of the most endearing features of her city. But in truth, I've found the layers of religiosity throughout the country to be fascinating so far. Our first taste was a visit to the Bahá'i Gardens, an exquisite 19-tiered network of landscaped terraces that cascade down the center of Haifa. In the middle is the Golden Dome where worshippers practice the Bahá'i faith, which holds that the many prophets that have appeared to different religions throughout time - be it Muhammed, Jesus, Buddha, or Moses--  all share God's message and have served as educators to spread his word. The Gardens themselves are postcard perfect, and it's fitting as the faith holds that your worship in part should take place outside, communing with nature. In contrast, going inside the Golden Dome is incredibly stark. It's a white space that's surprisingly small inside.

You can hopscotch through religious history easily in Haifa, as just a few minutes away from the gardens is the Stella Maris Church, built onto the side of Mt. Carmel, the origin of the Carmelite order of nuns. The altar of the church is built on top of a cave that is said to be the hiding place of the prophet Elijiah, when he was seeking to avoid persecution from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. It seemed a bit Harry Potter-like to have a cave set in the midst of an otherwise austere church, but I quickly learned that it wouldn't be the most interesting thing I'd see all day.

Friend of IT Marissa Bea writes to us about a strange aquatic animal found along the Pacific Northwest coast. While it looks more like something straight out of The Empire Strikes Back, the funny-looking geoduck (pronounced "gooey duck") is a sought-after treat and even gains media attention (Dirty Jobs's Mike Rowe worked on a geoduck farm in 2006, and Top Chef cheftestants cooked up geoduck in Season 3). Here's what Marissa has to say about this Northwest clam.

Being from the Pacific Northwest, I have a strange love affair with the species of clam known as a geoduck.

The quick and dirty: the geoduck is an oversize clam, with shell sizes ranging from 7 to 9 inches in diameter. But the amazing feature of this bivalve is not the shell size but the length of the odd siphon (or nose, or tongue, or what have you) that protrudes from it. There have been specimens found that are up to 6 feet in length, however most are not nearly that long.

Geoducks have one of the longest life spans in the animal world, coming in close to tortoises with an average life expectancy of 146 years. They have few natural predators and can reproduce like rabbits. The female geoduck can produce 5 billion eggs in her lifetime (that's almost an entire new planet of people).

This creature is native to the northwest coast of the U.S. and Canada and gets its name from the Nisqually word for "dig deep." It is still possible to go hunting for them along the beaches. You know you have happened upon a geoduck when you step in the sand and water squirts out at you. Dig a few inches and they are easy to spot. This unique animal looks like a freak of nature, but really it's nature at its best, with an almost infallible design that has been working for millions of years.

But if you pick one up, please put it back. They enjoy the beach more than your kitchen.

Smithsonian Magazine caught up with Top Chef Season 3 winner Hung Huynh, who showed them how to prepare geoduck. Click here for the video.

What strange species live in your neck of the woods? Tell us about it!

Photo: Jordan Husney via Flickr

UPDATE: We've extended the deadline for entries until April 13th!

What better way to celebrate the season than to put our readers up to a Peeps in Places Photo Challenge!

We want to know where you take your Peeps--in this case, the sugar-coated, marshmallowy kind! Put your Peeps in your suitcase and photograph them in an iconic travel destination or in your own neighborhood. Pick clever and recognizable settings and show us your Peeps!

Here's how it works: take a photo of one or more Peeps (original chicks, pink bunnies, or others--we're not biased) in any travel destination, add your photos to our Flickr pool, and then tag them "NGTpeeps." Please limit your entries to three per person.

We'll select photos and feature them on an interactive map on our website (stay tuned for our online Easter special, launching March 30) and five lucky "peeps" will be featured in an online gallery. Our favorite Peep photo will get a subscription to National Geographic Traveler and a gift from National Geographic Foods of the World. The winners will be announced on our blog, so please submit your Peeps photos by the end of Monday, April 13th, 2009.

Good luck! "Cluck" here to enter the Peeps in Places Photo Challenge and to start putting your Peeps photos in our Flickr pool!

Photos: Stefan Caiafa and Krista Rossow

Friend of IT Ally Burguieres is taking a road trip in Ireland this week, just as the country gears up for St. Patrick's Day. She's got a car, and wants to know where to go.

In Traveler's October issue, John Rosenthal asked the question, "Do You Really Want to Drive?" about the risks of driving abroad. Since his article was in the Smart Traveler section, I had to hope that one could answer "Yes" to the question and still be smart.  Rosenthal presented some pretty sobering statistics. Yet Ireland's a small island, and there's nothing better than a car for getting to all the out-of-the way nooks and crannies.

Tomorrow, I'll pick up my friend from the airport and we'll get into our rental car: a small stick shift that neither of us will know how to drive well. We've got ten days of the open road ahead of us, and nothing but sheep-traffic-jams and tea breaks to slow us down. The whole island is up for grabs: the North, the South, and the coastlines. Do we really have to see the Blarney Stone? Is there a castle that's hidden behind a farm somewhere near County Wexford? Do you know of a pub that's perfect for two fine ladies on vacation?

What suggestions do you have for Ally? What are the must-see places and little-known spaces of Ireland? Where should she go to see the best St. Patrick's Day celebrations? Let us know in the comments below!

Photo: h_roach via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool

I'm exhausted but otherwise quite thrilled to report that I've made it to Israel safely, and am now sitting in my hotel in Haifa, the third largest city in the country, which is about an hour and a half north of Tel Aviv. I flew in via El Al airlines, and the experience was in keeping with everything I'd heard and read about the airline: They were very thorough during check-in, and the flight itself was, to quote my guidebook, "rambunctious." It was a double-decker plane and everyone rushed to get onboard, and the plane was teeming with children, who thankfully for me and my neighbors were very well-behaved during the nine-hour flight. A middle seat is my least-favorite place to try and get some sleep, but I managed and arrived without a huge neck cramp, which was an added bonus.

At the airport, I met up with my group, all of whom are also bloggers (I assume I'll be linking to their posts as the days go by), and we then drove north to Haifa. Driving along Road 6, the major thoroughfare that splices the country, you begin to get your bearings in Israel. Avocado, mango, and olive trees line the highway. The Mediterranean is on your left, the green lights of the minarets on the mosques glow to the right, and then suddenly, patches of the wall that divides the Palestinian Authority from the rest of Israel appear along the roadside. Our driver said that 94 percent of the "Wall," as it's known here, is actually not concrete but fencing. But seeing a concrete section was a jarring reminder of the ongoing strife in the region.

In the course of fact-checking Peggy Loftus's latest online special on poverty tours, we talked with Reality Tours and Travel co-founder Chris Way. His company runs tours through Mumbai's Dharavi, considered by some to be Asia's largest slum. Since the rebound of tourism in Mumbai after last November's attacks and the buzz around Slumdog Millionaire, he guesstimates business is up 25 percent.

How did you create Reality Tours and Travel? How did you get it off the ground?
I got the idea from the favela tours in Rio. I found the concept fascinating with a lot of potential, as there was definitely a market for people wishing to see this side of the city. Having been in Mumbai previously in 2003 doing some volunteer teaching, I knew about the slums (although not Dharavi at that point) and so decided to return to India in late 2004 with this idea in mind. It quickly became apparent that Dharavi was this fascinating place, with so much industry/ energy/ sense of community that it would definitely appeal to tourists. Krishna, who I met in 2003 when he was waiting my table in Colaba, took a little bit of persuading that tourists would find this place interesting (!), but soon saw the potential and we then formed the company in September 2005. Reality Tours, after a few problems, started in January 2006.

What's the rationale behind your no-camera policy? Do some tour-goers bristle at this prohibition?
We started off asking customers to be considerate and respectful while taking photos. We got some criticism in the press for the tours being voyeuristic and having seen some of the photos in the press (of our customers taking photos), we re-considered this policy and felt that on this issue, they had a point. Also there were some comments from people who felt aggrieved that these "rich people were coming here, taking photos and then making lots of money." We do find that the tour runs a lot more smoothly with the no-camera policy; there is no time wasted as photos are taken and people aren't distracted wondering where is the best location to take a photo; the focus is on the tour and the information behind it. To be fair, most people are fine with this policy and understand it, although some people would like some places where photos could be taken.

To what do you account the growth in numbers of people interested in and taking your tours over the past two years?
First and foremost, the area is fascinating and more people have got to know about the tours that we run through word of mouth and publicity in the press and guidebooks. As a company, I think we provide a very good, professional tour at a very low price and people see that we use the money in a responsible way. Also, I think that this kind of tourism is becoming more popular; people are not just interested in the landmarks and sites of historic importance, but also in the day-to-day lives of people, particularly where this way of life is different to their own.

It's the largest flower show in the world, and it comes every year at a time when most folks are sick of winter. The Philadelphia Flower Show, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, is running now through Sunday, March 8. The theme this year is Bella Italia, which means wine and food tastings, Italian cooking demos with local celebrity chefs, opera singers, and Italian-style gardens with pergolas, stone walls and outdoor living rooms. Plus the usual acres of gorgeous flowers, plants and garden designs.

Professional landscapers, florists, horticultural and educational organizations create full-scale gardens each year at the show, and spend months arranging their displays so that their flowers, trees and shrubs will be at peak bloom. The designers compete for the "Best in Show" Major Exhibitors award in each of their respective categories.

Hello city-lovers! This was our first entry to come in from the under-10 set, and we had to admire the remarkably well-honed tastes of Ruby (age 4) and Kiva (age 8), who were eager to share the favorite spots in their Bay View neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Also, we love anyone who puts a tater tot on their fine dining list.

The Bay View Neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is Our City

The first place we take a visitor from out of town is the Farmer's Market at South Shore Park.

When we crave flavored milk, we always go Anodyne Coffee Roasters.

To escape the crowded city we head out on Lake Michigan in our kayaks.

If we want to climb on rocks we go to Cupertino Park.

For complete quiet, we can hide away in Seminary Woods.

If you come to my city, get your picture taken with the oldest copper beech tree in the state.

If you have to order one thing off the menu from The Palomino it has to be tater tots with Cajun cream dipping sauce.

Here at IT, we're still on a high from our time in New Orleans last week, so we have a few additional Mardi Gras Moments to share before moving onto our next project. Enjoy!

We recently got a letter from reader Clay Shannon, of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin asking about the location of a photo in our Jan/Feb issue. But we'll let him ask in his own words:

There are two things I hate: 1) A photo of a beautiful, but undisclosed, location, and 2) A wet toilet seat.

When I see a striking photo, I want to know where it was taken. Case in point: page 12 of the Jan/Feb issue ("Smart Traveler"). I like to guess the location and then see if I'm right, but if the location is not attributed, how can I ever know? In this case, my guess is Nova Scotia.

Close Clay, but not quite. The photo was taken near Noli, Italy along the famous Via Aurelia (aka the Strada Statale 1) which was originally constructed in 291 A.D. Hopefully, we've solved the first of your problems.

If you have questions for, issues with, or feedback for Traveler magazine, please email us at Travel_Talk@ngs.org.

Gary Krist is the author of "Buy, Buy Shanghai," a feature story in the March issue of Traveler which recounts his search for the perfect anniversary gift for his wife. Here, he offers another insider tidbit on where to snag some designer frames.
 
In a city known for good deals, some items stand out as particular bargains, including freshwater pearls, custom-made clothing, and, of course, counterfeit copies of everything from designer handbags to computer software (remember that such products violate intellectual property rights and may be seized by U.S. Customs). My vote for biggest bargain in town, though, goes to prescription eyeglasses.

Behind Shanghai Railway Station metro stop is a hard-to-find underground mall containing scores of tiny optician stalls where you can get glasses while you wait for under $40 (under $30 if you bargain energetically). I visited them one morning with my American prescription in hand and had a delightful time sipping tea and making (largely pantomimed) conversation with a sales clerk while her colleagues located lenses of the proper strength, ground them to fit the frames I chose, and had them tinted for sunglasses. Total expenditure: about 45 minutes and 270Y ($40), much cheaper than back home. To find the place, take the metro to Shanghai Railway Station and follow the little blue signs to Sanye Wholesale Eyeglass Bazaar.

Photo: Justin Guariglia. For more photos from the story, check out our Shanghai photo gallery.

In addition to my blog duties (and the other Special Projects I undertake here at the magazine) I'm also responsible for reading through the letters we receive from readers. And our fabulous Real Travel columnist, Daisann McLane, always evokes some fascinating - and enlightening - comments (and FYI, her columns are now available online). In Daisann's March column "Traveling in Stride," she writes that walking is an essential aspect of her travels:

When I travel, I walk everywhere, and I am rather militant about the importance--the necessity--of traveling like this. Until I learn a place with my feet, I never really feel like I know it. And so, I walk, and organize my travel details around that most beloved habit.

Daisann splits her time between Hong Kong and Brooklyn, and in the piece, she mentions how difficult it often can be for her to traverse the former, thanks in part to construction and traffic in the city. Reader Keith Arnold wrote in with his own opinion:

Hong Kong is one of the most walkable cities in the world! Downtown or Central has miles of overhead walkways that connect all major government, office and shopping centers. [...] The walkways pass directly into and through shopping areas, also even the post office and many major hotels. On Kowloon there are literally miles of underground walkways....

We asked Daisann for her take, and she responded on her blog, excerpted here (after the jump):

Costumed contessas catch up at Caffé Florian

Carnevale, Venice's ancient festival, suspension of social norms, and celebration of the gradual passage from winter to spring, kicks of this Friday, February 13, and runs through Tuesday, February 24th. This year's theme, Sensation: Six Senses for Six Districts, strives to showcase each of the lagoon city's unique neighborhoods with a variety of activities in each including food events, theater performances, and best mask contests for kids.

To get a handle on what Carnevale is all about, I've chatted with Traveler Senior Editor Sheila Buckmaster, who's been to Venice to revel in Carnevale six times, and is returning once again to celebrate. Sheila tells me Venice during Carnevale is her favorite travel experience. The atmosphere is elegant, not sleazy or raucous. Venice, a World Heritage site, serves as the perfect backdrop for the ornate costumes and masks.

And Sheila doesn't just visit Venice to see how everyone else is dressing, she participates in the festivities herself as ... Charlie Chaplin. She tells me she and Charlie share a birthday. She dons a black suit, white shirt, tie, cane, and iconic mustache and wanders the day away through Venice's narrow passageways and over its bridges.

As Charlie Chaplin was a silent film star, so too is Sheila silent during her peregrinations of Venice. She tells me people stop her and wonder aloud if Charlie's a man or a woman, Italian, German, British, French, or American. She uses pantomime and a handy notebook to communicate when need be. She admits to making the gondoliers chuckle as they glide by, she perched on a bridge, mimicking their rowing motions with her cane.

Still looking for a place to go for Valentine's Day? We've just put a map of some great romantic weekends up online to get you inspired. Check it out...

 

Last month, IT Editor Janelle Nanos traveled to New Orleans to explore the culture and traditions of Mardi Gras. For four days, she spoke with the people behind the masks -- the ones who help make the celebration happen -- to get their stories and insider tips. She'll be blogging about her experiences through February 24th, when the party culminates. Check back for more Mardi Gras Moments throughout the coming weeks.

On my first full day in town, I set out with a friend to wander the streets where different Mardi Gras celebrations take place. We headed first to the Tremé neighborhood, which is home to many of the city's musicians, and is considered the major hub for the African-American festivities throughout the Mardi Gras season. (It's also the location of the new HBO series currently in development, which is directed by David Simon of The Wire, that will focus on post-Katrina life in the city). Today the neighborhood feels very much in flux, and there are signs that is becoming increasingly gentrified. The mix of Creole and English homes that line the streets appear somewhat incongruous: some are brightly painted, while others remain blighted, cross-riddled, and left gutted by the hurricane. Sotheby's signs are cropping up like mushrooms.

Tremé is historically known as the place where the Creole and Africans met, and there is a park in the center of the neighborhood that became known as Congo Square. It's considered the ground zero of jazz, and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

In the 18th century, Congo Square was the place where African slaves would meet on Sundays - the one day that they were not required to work - to reconvene with family and friends and celebrate through music and dancing. At the time, visitors would gather to watch the performances, which were unlike anything that anyone had seen. Today Congo Square is just one section of Louis Armstrong Park, a large stretch of land that abuts the French Quarter, which also houses the Municipal Auditorium, and the recently reopened Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts. Debuting with an all-star celebration this January after being damaged in the storm, the theater will now host the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Orleans Ballet Association, and the New Orleans Opera Association.

National Geographic Traveler's March issue explores the Magic of the City: Celebrating The Urban Places that Captivate Us. We sent four writers to four very different cities to sample the best shopping in Shanghai, eating in Sydney, walking in London, and playing in Montreal. Then we got 29 of our writers, photographers, and other consummate travelers to share their favorite urban places. But we're not done yet. We want to hear from you.

We want to hear what you love about your cities. Below you'll find a list of fill-in-the-blank questions that should help get you started. We'd love it if you would copy and paste the list into an email, fill in your answers (as many as you like) and send us your responses to IntelligentTravel@ngs.org. Please make sure that "I Heart My City" is in the subject line (you can fill in the city, of course).

If you like, feel free to include photos, links, videos, art, poetry, or music - anything that helps show us why you love the place you live. We'll feature our favorite lists here on IT, and we encourage you to share your own list on your blog, website, Facebook, Twitter or MySpace page, and post the link here in the comments below. Check out the questionnaire after the jump.

National Geographic Traveler's March issue explores the Magic of the City: Celebrating The Urban Places that Captivate Us. We sent four writers to four very different cities to sample the best shopping in Shanghai, eating in Sydney, walking in London, and playing in Montreal. Then we got 29 of our writers, photographers, and other consummate travelers to share their favorite urban places. But we're not done yet. We want to hear from you.

We want to hear what you love about your cities. Below you'll find a list of fill in the blank questions that should help get you started. We want you to copy and paste the list into an email, fill in your answers (as many as you like) and send us your responses to IntelligentTravel@ngs.org. Make sure that "I Heart My City" is in the subject line (you can fill in the city, of course).

If you like, feel free to include photos, links, videos, art, poetry, or music - anything that helps show us why you love the place you live. We'll feature our favorite lists here on IT, and we encourage you to share your own list on your blog, your Facebook or MySpace page, or your website, and post the link here in the comments below. Check out the list below.

Rainer Jenss and his family are currently on an around-the-world journey, and they're blogging about their experiences for us at Intelligent Travel. Keep up with the Jensses by bookmarking their posts, and follow the boys' Global Bros blog at National Geographic Kids.

I do concede that I am not a travel writer, so fluently articulating the essence of a place is not something that comes easily to me. This is a particular challenge when it comes to Tasmania, which seems to have almost too much to describe. I can say with great assurance, however, that it feels very little like the mainland of Australia we'd experienced so far. Sure, there's the rugged coastline with crashing seas and desolate overland wilderness that you would expect from an island seemingly not far from Antarctica, but in reality, closer to the equator. But we also saw stunning beaches and jaw-dropping ancient forests that we never would have anticipated. The capital city of Hobart has a thriving cultural scene, but with a real laid-back feeling of ease and contentment I haven't found in too many big cities. No 'uppity', self-righteous attitude here. So as our ten-day visit starts to wind down, I've actually forgotten that we're still in Australia.

When we eventually made it to Hobart a couple of days after Christmas, we were warned that the Australian holiday (as in vacationing) season would be kicking into high gear and to expect big crowds to be joining us as we toured around. We were certainly greeted to a festive atmosphere as the nation's attention turned to the inner harbor and Constitution Dock for the conclusion of the annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, considered to be the most demanding open-water racing competition in the world.  Much to our good fortune, this coincided perfectly with our arrival.

One of the benefits of traveling with children is that you can use them as decoys for conversation starters with the locals. We were having dinner at Mures Seafood Restaurant right in the harbor, when a large group, consisting of mostly husky guys with matching windbreakers, sat down at a table next to ours. I suggested the kids ask one of them if they had participated in the race and if so, how they finished. Reluctantly, the boys did as they were told and as it turned out, were now talking to Mark Richards, the skipper of the winning boat Wild Oats. Seated beside him was the boat's owner, Bob Oatly, who happens to also own Hamilton Island, the first stop in our month long stint in Australia. They were obviously impressed with the fact that we were traveling around the world for a year because the next morning as we were walking along the pier checking out all the yachts, the skipper waved us over and suggested we come on board Wild Oats for a look around, much to the envy of the large crowd gathered around to get a glimpse of the winning boat. The boys were later further impressed when they saw Mark, Bob and Wild Oats splattered all over the front pages of every major newspaper that day!

Raised on Long Island, New York, Janelle Nanos's travels began on her parent's shoulders, being carted around in a backpack while they camped their way through the U.S. each summer. Today she's the Special Projects editor at National Geographic Traveler magazine, and editor of the award-winning Intelligent Travel blog. Intelligent Travel's focus is on sustainable, authentic, and cultural travel, and combines the experiences of the National Geographic staffers with tips, photos, and stories from Traveler magazine readers. The blog was the recipient of the Lonely Planet award for Best Consumer Travel blog in 2009.

Prior to joining Traveler, Janelle worked as a reporter at New York Magazine, covering a litany of subjects, among them: Wall Street floor brokers, nanny surveillance techniques, exploding manhole covers, 9/11 conspiracy theories, cancer survivors, senior citizen karaoke, dog-leash law wars, eldercare services, cold case detectives, presidential politics and celebrity gossip. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, D.C. Magazine, Newsday, Slate, Marie Claire, The Village Voice, Forbes.com, Mother Jones, City Limits, Travel + Leisure Family, The NYU Alumni Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, and Nerve.com.

Follow Janelle on Twitter at @Janelle_IT_Blog

Janelle's Archives:

• Janelle Nanos: June 2009
• Janelle Nanos: May 2009
• Janelle Nanos: April 2009
• Janelle Nanos: March 2009
• Janelle Nanos: February 2009
• Janelle Nanos: January 2009
• Janelle Nanos: December 2008
• Janelle Nanos: November 2008
• Janelle Nanos: October 2008
• Janelle Nanos: September 2008
• Janelle Nanos: August 2008
• Janelle Nanos: June 2008
• Janelle Nanos: May 2008

I was lucky enough to visit the Houston Zoo on my recent trip to Texas's largest city and boy, was I impressed! Let me start off by admitting my ambivalence about zoos in terms of what's best for the animals kept in them, the prison-like enclosures in some zoos, and all the troubling ethical stuff that goes along with them. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I volunteered at the National Zoo here in D.C. as a docent for two years and have come to see zoos' purpose, and, more importantly, the role of the animals kept within them, as that of ambassadors; the zoo, an embassy to the natural world. With exposure comes education and understanding and from that basis, respect for the natural world and its animals develops, hopefully spurring an impulse to conserve and protect in those who visit zoos, especially children.

That said, the Houston Zoo, all 55 acres of it, knocked my socks off--especially the cheetah exhibit, where I saw two full-grown male cheetahs chase after balls with two keepers, armed only with wooden shepherds' crooks. While one keeper explained to the crowd that the cheetahs haven't yet learned to truly fetch, a cheetah sauntered up to her hand, ball clenched in his mouth, asking for another toss to chase after.

I contacted Brian Hill, director of PR for the zoo, and he informed me the cheetahs are just part of an exhibit that includes Anatolian shepherds (dogs!) who were introduced to the cheetahs when they were young. Hill tells me that the unlikely pairing of cheetahs and shepherds has worked well and that "they enjoy each others' company and allow keepers to tell a unique conservation story, how Anatolian shepherds have saved cheetahs in Namibia" where goat herders and ranchers use the pups to guard their herds from the cheetahs to obviate the need to shoot or poison the cheetahs.

Photographer: Susan I Cohen, from Lake Worth, Florida.

Getting the Shot: The photo was taken at the Pushkar Camel Fair in India in November 2007.

The Details: This is a once-a-year event when the tribesmen from all over come to buy, sell, and trade their camels, horses and other livestock. There are acres and acres of "life" happening all around you. We were walking to the arena to watch the beginning of the camel races when I spotted a group of women in their colorful saris and wraps sitting on the wall at the outskirts of the area. This was a "one shot" deal as we continued our walk and I love it.

We Love: The rainbow of colors contrasted against the stone wall. What do you think?

See all of our Global Eye photos, or add yours to the mix by joining our Flickr pool.