February 2008 Archives

Travelers tracking the hot hostelry usually brace themselves for a haughty hotel staff who specialize in putting the "snoot" in snooty. From South Beach to downtown L.A., a chilly check-in can strangle delight no matter how many Aveda amenities appear by the sink. So it's a pleasure to come across a hotel that's both stylish and friendly. Downtown San Diego's 10-month-old Ivy (600 F Street; +1 619-814-1000) will make a guest feel both fussed over and cool at the same time.

As luck had it, I spent my two-night stay in a handicapped-accessible room. Usually a design afterthought, my room at the Ivy was certainly the coolest one I'd ever been in. (Though it lacked the funky design flair in the hotel's 6th-floor suites, with their see-through shower panels between bath and bedroom. Those frost up at the flick of a switch for the more shy among us). But my room more than sufficed, what with its fresh fruit, complimentary copies of Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone and the Keurig coffee machine, an idiot-friendly device that dispenses shots of Green Mountain dark roast with a flourish. So intent on playing barista, I almost didn't notice the wall-mounted HDTV.

John Ur is back this week with the next stop on the Cinematic Road Trip. This time it's Idaho. Sweet!

A confession must be made. The amount of time that I’ve spent within the borders of the state of Idaho between birth and the present day total approximately ninety minutes – eighty of which were spent in the car driving between Montana and British Columbia. But cry not, native Idahoans! For I am aware of the tragedy of my limited visitations to the Gem State.

Any avid reader of adventure and backpacking magazines could rattle off a number of great locations in Idaho that deserve your outdoor attention: Snake River, Hells Canyon (the deepest canyon in the U.S.), Shoshone Falls (higher than Niagara Falls), and Borah Peak (the highest in the state, and which has a number of peaks running through the Rocky Mountain Range), to name a few. You can check out some of the great, natural areas of Idaho here, in panoramic photos no less.

Idaho's 80 recognized mountain ranges stretch across much of the north and southeastern part of the state. The majority of the cities lay in the Columbia Plateau, a region that follows the Snake River through the center of the state. This region is also the home to the farms that make the state famous for its potatoes. And potatoes are the main ingredient of Tater-Tots, a small cylindrical side dish made from deep fried, grated potatoes.

Planning an España getaway this summer? If you're headed to Barcelona, be sure to check out the new Barcelona Urbany (opening June 1), which claims to be the country's first eco-friendly hostel.

What makes this hostel eco-savvy? It will recycle and reuse 50 percent of the water and use a rainwater harvesting system. It will also use low-consumption lamps and "more environmentally friendly and less aggressive materials." Sounds pretty good to us.

But just because Urbany is greening its quarters doesn't mean it is lacking in 21st-century amenities. Not only will the hostel have a swimming pool, BBQ area, free guest kitchen, and spa facilities, it will also offer breakfast and Wi-Fi free to guests.

The 13-story hostel will include about 400 beds in both mixed and female shared rooms, as well as individual and double rooms for those not wanting to put up with snoring strangers (you can check out some current construction photos here). And all rooms also have en suite bathrooms, which is the definition of hostel luxury.

Read more: IT got the goods on some U.K. hostels' efforts to go upscale, and on an eco-savvy hostel-on-wheels.

Photo: www.flickr.com/photos/bcnbits via Flickr

We knew Minnesota's Twin Cities were pretty serious about their theater (bragging more live theater per capita than anywhere outside New York). Even so, our eyebrows are sufficiently raised at hearing that bars across the metro area there were staging "theater nights" to bypass the statewide smoking ban.

The Star Tribune explains:

Dozens of bars are expected to stage "theater nights'' this weekend in which patrons are dubbed "actors". The law, which went into effect in October, permits performers to smoke during a theatrical production. "Two weeks ago, we had one bar doing this,'' said Mark Benjamin, a criminal defense attorney who launched the theater-night idea. He estimates 50 to 100 bars could be on tap for theater nights this weekend based on phone calls, e-mails and requests for the how-to-stage-a-theater-night packet that he's devised.

Lisa Anderson, owner of Mike's Uptown bar, told the Star that her "theater night" last Saturday drew four times the usual crowd. She plans to continue to host similar themed nights, at least until state health department officials pull the plug on the loophole.

De Hapertse Molen, Hapert, Netherlands

Photographer: Arnoud Augustinus, Eersel, Netherlands

Details: One of my hobbies is Kite Areal Photography (KAP). The picture shows the corn mill ("de Hapertse Molen") in Hapert and is made with a camera lofted from a kite.

Getting the shot: At the end of this winter period, we had a couple of days almost wind free. Only this weekend in February, the wind was just enough to lift my camera about 100 meters (328 feet) above the mill.  In these conditions I used an eight-foot Rokkaku kite, a reliable lifter for low winds. The camera is mounted in a construction giving it the ability to shoot images in different angles, controlled from the ground.

We like the unusual view of the Netherlands' landscape. Have your own bird's-eye, Global Eye view of the world? Share your photos in our Flickr group.

Photo: Arnoud Augustinus

We were asked to update readers on last weekend's Running of the Reindeer in Anchorage, Alaska. During the annual Fur Rondy festival, 1,000 men and women ran down Anchorage's Fourth Avenue with 12 reindeer in the inaugural Running of the Reindeer. Before the race, handlers and participants were afraid that the normally docile animals wouldn't be up for the sprint, but fortunately for spectators, the reindeer ran with the best of them. Many runners dressed in costume (as a bull's-eye, or as carrots and lichen — a reindeer's favorite foods).

Afterwards, participants and spectators lined up at local eateries to get a taste (literally) of the reindeer. As USA Today reports:

"Normally we just eat them," said Mark Berg, a spectator who has lived in Alaska since 1967. "I just made some jambalaya the other day out of reindeer sausage. I've eaten more of their cousins than they want to know."

Less fortunate reindeer are participating in the Reindeer Sausage Eating Contest at Humpy's, held today.

Check out the Anchorage Daily News for some great videos of the event. The Fur Rondezvous festivities end Sunday, March 2.

Photo: Thomas Leach via Flickr

Get Stoned: Artist Sue Lawty at the Victoria & Albert Museum has started the World Beach Project, which invites people around the world to create patterns with beach stones, then take a photo and upload it to their site. Each photo has a little description of the place where it was taken, and they will post it on their interactive map for others to enjoy. The design above was created recently at Seapoint, Monkstown, County Dublin by Derek, Patricia and Olivia Masetti-Nolan, who said, "We started with one single orange stone and thought it would look great on a black background! It was freezing cold but we had a lot of fun."

No Photos, Please:  It turns out those rules about no photographing in public places in NYC are a lot of hooey, according to NewYorkology, a great travel blog about New York. So if you're trying to take a photo on public property and someone wants to see your I.D., with few exceptions, you're under no obligation to hand it over.

KitKats of the World:  IZReloaded, my favorite blogger from Singapore, discovered this Flickr photoset of KitKat bars from Japan and around the world. Did you know there's a Brandy-and-Orange variety of KitKat, and a striped Choco-Banana, and Fruit Parfait?  Now you do!

Pattern and photo: Derek, Patricia and Olivia Masetti-Nolan, 2008, World Beach Project

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One of Hollywood’s most photographed stars could be on its way to becoming just another real estate selling point if a Chicago-based investment firm has its way.

Cahuenga Peak’s 138 acres of unspoiled mountains, which stretch behind the postcard-ready Hollywood sign, hit the real estate market earlier this month for a cool $22 million—much to the chagrin of Los Angeles city officials, who reportedly have been trying to raise funds over the past several years to purchase the property. The city hoped to preserve the mountaintop and join it with Griffith Park, where the sign sits.

According to the L.A. Times, city leaders have so far accumulated about $5 million and had intended to ask the nonprofit Trust for Public Land to help negotiate a selling price with Fox River Financial Resources. A recent appraisal estimated the ridge was worth about $6 million, resulting in all-out sticker shock from Fox River’s lofty asking price.

Ironically, the glitzy relic-turned-Kodak-moment dates back to 1923, when the Hollywoodland Real Estate Group spent $21,000 on the sign as an advertisement to promote a new residential subdivision. The sign’s 13 letters (it read “Hollywoodland” until 1949) each measured 30 feet wide by 50 feet tall and were only intended to be a temporary addition to the landscape. Four thousand 20-watt bulbs glittered through the Hollywood night, visible from 25 miles away, and soon the sign became a symbol of the city's glamour. But after several years the icon fell into disrepair and was replaced with the debut of a new 45-foot-tall sign in 1978.

In Traveler’s March issue, renowned travel writer and former Paris resident Taras Grescoe takes readers through the streets of authentic Paris, a city through the eyes of Parisians themselves. IT had the chance to grill Grescoe on his first Parisian encounter, his favorite little rue, and how those Frenchies are holding up under the new smoking ban.

Describe your first meeting with Paris. What stuck with you? What remains the same?

I was bumming around Europe with a rapidly diminishing stock of travelers checks; Paris is where the last of them ran out. I ended up staying for four years, teaching English, living in four different arrondissements, and doing a great deal of walking.

Paris in the 1990s was a somewhat grittier place. Cigarettes cost ten francs a pack, less than two bucks at the time (now they’re five-plus euros), and people smoked everywhere—metro platforms, elevators, toilet stalls (they had convenient ashtrays set above the toilet paper rolls). There were still first-class cars on the metro (identical to second, but less crowded), and cell phones had not become the chief means of flirting and conducting a love affair.

In many ways, Paris has become greener since I lived there. Bicycles are everywhere, as are bike paths. There are far more pedestrian-only sectors, and vast new parks (like the one at Bercy). But Paris is still Paris, and there are still passages, museums, and café-tabacs I’d like to discover. I wouldn’t mind running out of money and getting stranded there all over again.

In Authentic Paris, your friend Hélène Lurçat says that, “Parisians still shop in it [Paris] like it’s a village.” What is your personal favorite petite slice of Parisian “village” life?

I always make a beeline for the Rue Montorgueil in the second arrondissement. It’s a pedestrian street near the former site of Les Halles food market, and it’s full of fishmongers, cheese shops, bakeries, pastry shops. I grab a seat at a café terrace some time before noon (if I can find one—competition can be fierce) and watch the parade: check out which pattern of scarf everybody seems to be wearing this year, which breed of dog is fashionable.

For eager wanderers like us, browsing a bookstore’s travel guidebook section tends to stir raw and conflicting emotions: lust, for the thrill of a new adventure; ennui, for the too-often trite content; and angst, for the endless options from which to choose.

After all, no matter how off-the-beaten-track you consider your destination, chances are likely the bookshelf holds at least a handful of guidebooks promising to be your travel bible. And while we strongly believe that the best way to experience travel is by immersing yourself in a place full-throttle—not with your nose in a book—there’s no denying the added confidence a guidebook provides in unfamiliar territory.

So when we heard about Portland-based eat.shop guides, we were eager to learn more. The guidebook series only features local shops and restaurants—such as Manhattan's Saxelby Cheesemongers (pictured) in Essex Street Market—so you can support establishments with local color instead of generic big-box stores and chain restaurants and hotels.

“We believe that for travelers, patronizing locally owned businesses is so integral to the real experience of any city,” eat.shop’s Emily Mattson explained to us. “Especially in the U.S., it's too easy to stay within your comfort zone while traveling: drinking Starbucks, for example, because you recognize the logo on the street. Why not go to Ristretto Roasters here in Portland, for example, where the owner, roaster, and barista are passionate about what they're serving you?”

We all know that the Eurail is one of the most convenient ways to travel around Europe, but it can also cost a pretty penny (er, euro). But for the young and adventurous (or even young at heart) there's another option: Busabout, or more specifically, Busabout Explorer, which expanded on the "hop-on, hop-off" city tour bus model to create network covering 30 cities in ten European countries.

The cool part: Busabout has its own tour guides that travel with passengers on every bus. So before arriving at each city, they can tell you everything you need to know about that destination, as well as answer questions and give recommendations on where to stay, eat, etc. Once you arrive at your city, the exploration part is up to you, so you're never being dragged on any boring, stereotypical tours. The guides also have an extensive selection of the best accommodations in every city of hostels, budget hotels, and camping villages, all based on Busabout passenger recommendations, so it takes the guesswork out of finding a decent (and affordable) place to stay.

Neat technology: Every Busabout guide carries a handheld computer that has a seat- and bed-booking system. This means that travelers never need to search a city for a cheap Internet café to book the next part of their trip. Every passenger also gets a Busabout Travel Pass, a card which holds your personal details, a full itinerary and other useful information, and is swiped through the handheld computer so that someone in the world knows where you are (worrisome parents, perhaps?).

The best part: Trip options are split into loops, the Northern Loop (like Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, and Munich), Southern Loop (think Venice, Rome, Florence, and Nice), and Western Loop (to Paris, Nice, Avignon, Barcelona, Madrid, Bordeaux, and beyond). Travelers can stay for as many days as they like in each city, and the Busabout buses stop in every city once every two days, making travel easy. Busabout also encourages sustainable tourism, and is part of The Leading Travel Companies of the World Conservation Foundation (which is always a plus in our books).

The pretty penny: Loop passes start at $639 for one loop. The Flexitrip pass costs $549 for six stops along any of the three loops, plus $59 for each additional "hop."

Photo: Busabout

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Moyka River, St. Petersburg, Russia

Photographer: L. Toshio Kishiyama, Maryland, USA

Getting the Shot: I used a Canon EOS 30D digital camera for this high dynamic range (HDR) image.

Details: I was in St. Petersburg, Russia, for work when I walked over to this bridge, not far from my hotel room, on a foggy morning. The river was so peaceful and the colors of the amazingly beautiful buildings seemed to really stand out in the fog. St. Petersburg is a fascinating city with so much to see and do.

We like the way the bright colors bounce off the gray water. Think you've got a picture with a story to tell? Submit your best photos to our Flickr pool.

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Virginia State Capitol, Richmond, Virginia

The Department of the Interior recently released the Tentative List of 14 U.S. sites that are "eligible to be considered for nomination" for a UNESCO World Heritage title (so they are nominees for being nominated, so to speak). It's about time: It's been a quarter of a century since the U.S. updated their Tentative List.

And, drumroll please... the eligible nominees are:

1. Civil Rights Movement Sites (Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama)
2. Dayton Aviation Sites (Ohio)
3. Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks (Ohio)
4. Thomas Jefferson Buildings (Poplar Forest and Virginia State Capitol, Virginia)
5. Mount Vernon (Virginia)
6. Poverty Point National Monument and State Historic Site (Louisiana)
7. San Antonio Franciscan Missions (Texas)
8. Serpent Mound (Ohio)
9. Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings (in multiple states)
10. Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (Hawaii)
11. Fagetele Bay National Marine Sanctuary (American Samoa)
12. Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (Georgia)
13. Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona)
14. White Sands National Monument (New Mexico)

These sites are eligible to join the existing list of eight cultural (like the Statue of Liberty) and 12 natural (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Everglades National Park) U.S. sites (for a list of other tentative sites around the world, click here). Unfortunately, we might not know exactly which of these will become World Heritage sites for another 10 years — that's how long it can take to be considered and approved as a World Heritage nominee.

Which sites do you think are worthy of nomination?

Photo: Karl E. Steinbrenner Photography via Virginia General Assembly

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Living here in Washington, D.C., where transportation officials just upped the subway fares, it's nice to know at least one (more expensive) city across the pond has a cheap underground alternative.

London's infamous Tube, which has origins as far back as 1843 (when city solicitor Charles Pearson first proposed the subway system), is a bit expensive, with single fares starting at £4 (about $8). But the city's Oyster card provides discounts to passengers that shouldn't be missed. (Unlike D.C.'s similar SmarTrip card, which simply serves as an easy way to store Metro money.)

For example, a trip from Kew Gardens to Oxford Circus normally costs £4 when paying with cash, but for Oyster card holders, the trip only costs £2 (£2.50 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday). Kids under 16 would only have to pay £.50 (£2 without Oyster)!

Oyster cards can store up to £90 and can be used to access the Tube, buses, trams, the new Overground, DLR, and even some of London's National Rail services.

There is an initial fee for an Oyster card (£3 for residents, £2 for visitors), but it's definitely worth it for visitors and residents alike, especially given the weak U.S. dollar that's worth only about £.50.

Thanks to EuroCheapo for the tip!

Photo: zTransmissions via Flickr

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Traveler's Associate Editor Amy Alipio offers up some city-licious links and other news from the City Life team.

Get Some Dim Sum: At least, while you still can. Check out Andrew Evans' interesting post on Gridskipper.com about the gentrification of Chinatowns, Washington’s in particular.

Map it Out: We like superfuture’s cool maps for cities around the world, with shops and eateries pinpointed in colorful, easy-to-read fashion, like this map of London’s Soho.

Cupcake Love: We don’t know about other city lovers, but we at City Life are out of our minds for cupcakes. Which is why we stepped up our workout program when we read that Beverly Hills-based Sprinkles is looking to open an outpost in D.C., one of 16 cities soon to be graced with the confectioner's cakes. For City Lifers in Phoenix, Sprinkles is set to open at 4501 North Scottsdale Road this month.

Extreme Makeover City Edition: Maverick urban planner and three-time mayor of Curitiba, Brazil, Jaime Lerner gave this entertaining talk at the March 2007 TED Conference, but it’s just been posted online now. “Every city in the world can be improved in less than three years,” Lerner says. He ought to know: His TED biography says that he “transformed a gridlocked commercial artery into a spacious pedestrian mall over a long weekend, before skeptical merchants had time to finish reading their Monday papers.”

Photo: Chinatown in LA, by Adamina, via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool

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Getting the Shot: In November 2006, I traveled to Israel with my church. At the time I only had a point and shoot Kodak DX4330.

The Details: We had just gone to the Mount of Olives that morning and were walking down the roads of Jerusalem. As we started down the narrow road of the Via Dolorosa, to my delight was a street vendor selling olives. The colors caught my eye, as freshly picked olives filled the bright white bags.

IT likes the way the olive bags billow larger than life in this shot. Want your own photos featured on IT? Add them to our Flickr pool.

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Travel to Vienna wouldn't be complete without seeing an opera. But how to see one on a tight budget? I just learned how to get tickets to a world-class show, without giving up my right arm. The Vienna State Opera (pictured, above), the oldest German-speaking theatrical venue in Europe, has a variety of options to please the budget traveler.

• Between 25 and 100 tickets are reserved for every show for children under 14. Children's tickets sell for €15 (about $22) for a seat anywhere in the house. Not bad for a parent who doesn't want to pay full price to watch their restless kid squirm during a three-hour opera!

• The State Opera's box office opens 80 minutes prior to each show. If you've got willing legs, get in line early to score standing room-only ("Stehplätze" on the seating chart) tickets for a mere €2-3.50 (about $2.90-5.00).

• Or bring binoculars and plenty of tissues and grab a seat in the nosebleed section. Balcony and gallery (balkon and galerie) tickets sell for only €7-18 (about $10-26). This is quite a steal, in my opinion. My legs would definitely appreciate the extra €3.50 spent on a seat!

Thanks for the tips, EuroCheapo!

Photo: Liam Delahunty via Flickr

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A self-described "passionate yet lazy environmentalist" Josh Dorfman, radio host, environmental entrepreneur, author, and speaker, is anything but lazy. Since starting his satellite radio show, The Lazy Environmentalist, Josh has interviewed people ranging from celebrities to magazine editors highlighting green living, sustainable travel, and more.

What inspired you to start the Lazy Environmentalist?

I felt that a voice was missing from the environmental movement that embraced the realities of our consumption society and instead of guilt-tripping and preaching, strived to make green living fun, attractive, and super convenient. As much as so many of us care about the planet, leading environmentally responsible lives is not always top priority. There’s our careers to attend to, our kids’ soccer practice, and millions of other aspects to our frenetic lives that make going green challenging. My aim is to constantly inform about green choices that actually make our lives better, so that going green becomes something we want to do instead of something we feel compelled to do.

In what ways have your own habits changed since starting your radio show? Are you still lazy?

I’m definitely still lazy, which is why I want green solutions that don’t require me to change my habits. But if changing my habits is required, then I want green options that are cool or save me money or make me healthier. I’m more apt to go green if it’s in my enlightened self-interest – that is, it’s better for the planet and it’s also better for me. “Sacrifice Environmentalism” is a really lousy brand marketing concept. We need smarter thinking, more innovation.

Do you have any examples of innovative ideas that seem to work for you?

I’ve been sampling reusable bags from Envirosax and Flip and Tumble and Angry Little Girls (I love this one). I’m more apt to change my behavior and bring a reusable shopping bag with me to the store if the bag is stylish, convenient, and/or funny. Think about the Toyota Prius. People buy it partly because it saves them money at the pump and it’s better for the environment. But people mostly buy it because they know that when they’re driving it, everyone else on the road sees what a wonderful, enlightened, hero of the planet they are. We need more solutions like that. Relying upon people to “do the right thing” is a losing proposition. Engage people and let them feel really conspicuously good about going green and we’ll get some results. I know a lot of people take issue with me on this, but the question we have to ask ourselves is: Do we want to feel righteous or do we want to be effective? I prefer trying to be effective. 

View from Promenade Plantée, by Catherine Karnow

In the March issue of Traveler, writer Taras Grescoe reveals how to enjoy Paris's tradition-steeped pleasures like a local in the cover story, "Authentic Paris." David Downie, an expat based in Paris since 1986 and author of Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light, suggests elevating your stroll. Extending east from the Bastille 4.5 km to the Bois de Vincennes, the Promenade Plantée is a defunct railway viaduct turned linear park that guides walkers above the traffic. Framed with a pleasant landscape of cherry trees, maples, roses, and more, the path offers a quiet respite and unique vantage perfect for ogling pretty architectural details and the busy cityscape below. Stone stairways lead down to small parks and arcades filled with craft stalls.

The Promenade Plantée is said to be the only park of its kind in the world, though a similar project is currently in the works on Manhattan's West Side.

Check out more photographs by Catherine Karnow here and in the March issue of Traveler, now on newsstands.

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Sacre-Coeur, with Jeanne d'Arc in distance

Continuing our Paris theme this week, Traveler's A*List newsletter has uncovered a five-day, four-night Paris package from Tourcrafters with round-trip airfare from JFK or Boston starting at $545, including daily breakfast. This is a February deal, and the price will increase to $620 per person on March 1, which will be good until March 13. Sign up for our A*List e-mail newsletter here.

The A*List also offers this teaser from an essay about Paris by Pulitzer-winner David Halberstam:

In America new was always better than old; in Paris old was always better than new. In the New World big was always better than small; in Paris there was a quiet celebration of all things small. In the New World time was of the essence; but in Paris life was of the essence—one should rush through absolutely nothing, most particularly lunch.

—from David Halberstam's "My Paris" essay, Traveler's Places of a Lifetime series

Places of a Lifetime: Paris gives you Traveler's experts' picks for the best places to see, stay, dine, shop, and find entertainment, as well as books, music, and films to put you in the mood before you go.

A*List extra: a downloadable map and walking tour of the Parisian islands in the Seine, the elegant Île St.-Louis and the more bustling Île de la Cité (Notre-Dame and more).

Photo: Rita Crane at www.ritacranestudio.com via Flickr.

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Senior Editor Norie Quintos likes going nose to bottlenose with dolphins...

The Baltimore aquarium's new Dolphin Encounter program, which takes you backstage with the trainer and the marine mammals, is a close encounter of the interspecies kind. The 2 1/2 hour program includes reserved seating at the dolphin show and a short educational seminar. But the highlight is a play session at the edge of the pool with the high-diving creatures. It's hard not to anthropomorphize these clearly intelligent beings (They like playing catch! They're so happy!). I grew up watching Flipper reruns, see, and entertained dreams about become a marine biologist. But fulfilling one's fantasy doesn't come cheap. The program costs $195 and reservations are required. I'm not going to enter into a debate on the ethics surrounding the use of captive animals; suffice it to say that the aquarium follows best practices in the care and keeping of its charges, and focuses on education.

Read More: Learn about what's happening in dolphin's brains (and other animals as well), in the cover feature of National Geographic Magazine, "Animal Minds," in this month's issue.

Photo: Courtesy National Aquarium in Baltimore

The 16th-century Eglise St-Merri (pictured, above) offers free classical concerts on weekends.

Curious about how to see an opera in Paris (while still having money left over for fine French food)? Well, so are we. So we checked out EuroCheapo and voila! Here's what they advise when trying to see all types of shows in the City of Lights:

L'Opéra

"The Opera National de Paris operates both the Opera Bastille and the Opera Garnier. The Opera Bastille, a controversial building when it opened in 1989, presents operas throughout the year, and boasts that each of its seats provides an unobstructed view of the stage. Although ticket prices go as high as €150, seats for the same performance go as low as €5."

La Danse

"Théâtre de la Ville, located across from Theater du Chatelet, provides modern dance performances. Tickets are quite reasonable" (around €12-30).

The celebrated 19th-century Opera Garnier presents mostly ballet and modern dance pieces. Even if you’re not a dance enthusiast, you can’t help but be impressed by the building’s neo-baroque architecture, sweeping staircase, [1,900-seat] grand salle, and ceiling by Marc Chagall."

Le Concert

"The Salle Pleyel is a brand new performance hall, offering performances by classical stars and touring orchestras. Tickets can be found for major concerts from €10."

"Theatre du Chatelet located at Place du Chatelet in the 1st arrondissement, offers modern and classical concerts, from recitals to full orchestras. Again, ticket rates are surprising reasonable, starting at €20 [or less] for most concerts. The theater has a Sunday morning concert series with all seats going for €23 (€12 under 26 years old, children free) and no tickets are sold in advance."

But before buying tickets for anything, be sure to grab a copy of Pariscope, a weekly magazine with heaps of free concerts listings in the city, and check out Traveler's rundown of free things to do in Paris.

Photo: Alison Kerr via Flickr

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We were glad to hear the news that Dominica's government has decided to put a temporary halt to their plans to construct an oil refinery on the island. The slated $80-million development, funded by Venezuela, had been met with opposition from the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association, who argued that the refinery would dissuade visitors and hurt the reputation of Dominica as the "Nature Isle" of the Caribbean.  Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit deferred to the DHTA, saying on a local radio station that he believed "fundamentally that the concerns raised by the DHTA cannot be overlooked" and that an environmental assessment would follow.

Dominica's score of 77 placed it among the "Best Rated" destinations on our Destinations Rated: Islands survey (Nov/Dec 2007). One of our expert panelists said at the time:

The Nature Isle is aptly named—awesome power and incredible beauty of nature unspoiled. Its lush mountains, indigenous population, art, craft, agro-based products, and small-scale accommodation facilities all add to the opportunity for sustainable tourism development.

But another noted that the state of projects, like the oil refinery, keep the fate of the island hanging in the balance:

A serious dichotomy [exists] between lip service to preserving and protecting its wilderness, which is the major product, and the soliciting of more cruise ships, the proposed oil refinery, and support for Japan on the whaling issue.

"If this decision sticks, it will help Dominica retain its excellent but insecure score on the Destination Stewardship Index," says Jonathan Tourtellot, director of National Geographic's Center for Sustainable Destinations, which conducts the survey for Traveler. Dominica tied with the Grenadines as the two most unspoiled places in the Caribbean. "Given the island's eco-oriented visitors and active geology," Tourtellot speculates, "a geothermal-energy plant might suit the 'Nature Isle' image a lot better than oil."

Here's hoping that this helps tip the scales toward more sustainable practices in the future from Dominica.

Photo: Jeff Clow via Flickr

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Our Danish-Brazilian assistant art director, Stefan Caiafa, spent a blissful year as a student in Paris at the satellite campus of New York's Parsons School of Art & Design (now Parsons The New School for Design), and I persuaded him to share a few of his favorite Paris tips:

Musée Gustave-Moreau: One of the many delightful small museums in Paris, this one is dedicated to the life and work of French Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau, located in his former home. His studio is intact at the top of the house, and you can browse through his framed sketches. Stefan especially admires "the iron construction of the spiral staircase linking the studios—made to Moreau's specification—which contrasts beautifully with the floor-to-ceiling paintings arranged around it."

Musée de la Musique: This museum tells the history of Western music through its collection of musical instruments. You put on a pair of infrared headphones at the entrance, and as you approach each instrument on display, you can hear it play music. You can listen to recorded excerpts from famous compositions, from harpsichords to vintage guitars, or attend a live concert in their top-notch concert hall. The museum has been undergoing an extensive renovation which will be unveiled on March 8.  "One of the best museum experiences I've ever had," says Stefan.  "It's in the La Villette neighborhood, an experience in itself."

Musée National du Moyen Age: The National Museum of the Middle Ages is noted for its ancient textiles, especially medieval tapestries.  Their collection is huge, so only a portion of it is on display at one time.  The colors of some of these tapestries are amazing; for example, the sublime 15th-century "Lady and the Unicorn."  Stefan adds: "Also of note are the Gallo-Roman baths (Thermes de Cluny) whose ruins the museum was built on."

Parsons Paris School of Art & Design: Naturally, Stefan suggests that you stop by "during spring to see featured work from different departments (Photography, Fashion Design, etc). The off-site End of Year show allows one to view all projects in one go—contact the school for details on location."

Our web-exclusive feature, Free Paris!, written by Traveler researcher and frequent IT blogger Katie Knorovsky, reveals when the Musée National du Moyen Âge and other Paris museums open their doors without charge, as well as lots of other free attractions in Paris.

Photo: Jean-Alain Le Borgne, taken at Musée de la Musique during L'Expo John Lennon, via Flickr.

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We've been so busy focusing on electric cars, biofuels, and other ways to cut carbon emissions from our autos that we might have overlooked one seemingly endless resource to run our vehicles: air.

The BBC reports that a French engineer has promised that his design for an air-powered car will be ready for the roads in a year's time. Guy Negre has been tinkering with his OneCAT air-mobile for a decade, and plans to partner with the Indian car company Tata (which has been in the news lately due to their efforts to roll out a $2,500 car) to produce it, and says he will work to persuade hundreds of other car manufacturers around the globe to build his cars with locally sourced materials. In addition, his team is also looking to distribute electric mopeds to offset the CO2 output from motorbikes and scooters in urban areas.  All of which sounds promising, but how exactly do the darn things work? The BBC has the details:

The OneCAT will be a five-seater with a glass fibre body, weighing just 772 pounds and could cost just over US$4,900. It will be driven by compressed air stored in carbon-fibre tanks built into the chassis. The tanks can be filled with air from a compressor in just three minutes—much quicker than a battery car. Alternatively, it can be plugged into the mains for four hours and an on-board compressor will do the job.

While some industry officials counter that the car would need to meet safety standards, Negre points out that without a gas tank, only the air compressors would explode during impact, causing a very loud bang. "The biggest risk is to the ears," he says. All of which sounds promising to us.

Photo: Image via AutoBlogGreen and BusinessWeek

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Bandiagara, Mali

Photographer: Romel Jacinto, San Francisco, California

Getting the Shot: I used a basic, but very capable point-and-shoot camera, the Canon PowerShot A460. Although I had another SLR-like camera on this trip, the smaller point-and-shot camera was far less intimidating to people and was easier to use to capture candid shots.

The Details: I was in Bandiagara on a bicycle tour with a small group. Bandiagara is a sleepy town and most travelers only stay in briefly to arrange trekking into Dogon country, but our small group stayed an extra day since someone got sick. That extra day gave a chance to meander and soak up the rhythm of local life. I walked around town slowly, just observing and taking photos when I could.

Most people did not want to be photographed. The others cherished it, particularly young children, and they hammed it up for the camera. This girl fell into neither of those categories and seemed completely at ease with the camera. She just seemed so content, strong and serene all at once, so I took the shot quickly and continued my slow stroll through town.

We love the vibrant colors and the way Romel captured the girl's expression. Think you've got a photo that is worthy of Global Eye? Add them to our Flickr pool.

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Any talk of visiting Chicago in February may seem like a cruel joke to travelers, but the Windy City's taking advantage of its chilly weather to present a public art project that wouldn't be possible in, say, the Grenadines.

Canadian artist Gordon Halloran's "Paintings Below Zero" is the centerpiece of the Museum of Modern Ice in downtown's Millenium Park through February 29.

The work is an impressive, 95-foot long, 12-foot-high sheet of ice that constantly changes shape and texture as it melts and refreezes. Known locally as "The Popsicle," Paintings Below Zero was quite a feat to create. The Chicago Tribune reports:

His slabs of ice, which he and his crew created over a month at a Fulton Market cold-storage warehouse, where temperatures hovered around 4 degrees Fahrenheit, carry patterns created by experiments with pigments, crystal structure and embedded shards of different colors.

Halloran envisions the wall as a receding glacier, cracking into shards and melting into the ocean.

In addition to the Tribune' s extensive photo and video coverage, the Museum of Modern Ice has a lot of resources for learning about the art from photo galleries and a schedule of events. Also, check out their blog for inside information from the production crew about how they maintain the sculpture.

The project is based on a similar work originally commissioned for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

And if you're there to see the art but need to keep moving to stay warm, rent a pair of skates and do a triple axel over Halloran's painting, embedded underneath the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink.

Thanks for the tip, AreWeThereYet?!

Photos: Jennifer Wilkinson

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We were saddened when we heard that the beloved Paris taxidermy shop Deyrolle caught fire earlier this month. The ground floor garden shop has reopened, but the taxidermy gallery upstairs was badly damaged and hopes to reopen later this year. Photographer Catherine Karnow shot the shop for the "Authentic Paris" cover story and was shocked to hear the tragic news. "It's not like it was some fusty-musty old place," Karnow told us. "This is a main, prominently standing building in the middle of a thriving, well-heeled neighborhood, and it seemed to be professionally run and smartly handled. The last time I saw it, the place was bubbling with life and vigor."

Just for IT readers, she recounts the unexpected experience she had while on the assignment there this past fall. Check out her photographs here and in the March issue of Traveler, now on newsstands.

Prince Louis-Albert de Broglie in the Deyrolle Taxidermy Shop in Paris, by Catherine Karnow

On the way to the Pont Neuf to shoot dusk, I walked past a store whose window display I had shot a few days earlier. (I had photographed some stuffed deer "wearing" red aprons). Oddly, the shop was open, though it was after six p.m., and they were having an art opening. The store turned out to be one of the oddest places in all of Paris.

The taxidermy shop, Deyrolle, is on the second floor and owned by the Prince Louis-Albert de Broglie. But I did not yet know this when I asked if I could shoot the art opening; as it alone seemed like a lively event to cover. I asked for permission to photograph and the director was called down. He politely informed me that they never, ever allow a single photograph to be taken in their store. I said thank you very much anyway, and turned to leave. “But,” he said, “let me show you the upstairs; I think you will enjoy seeing it.” No, no, I said, I have a feeling it will be too tempting to shoot, so I think I had better just go right now. I added that I had an important photograph to take nearby. “Not yet,” he said, “I have an idea. Please follow me.”

As I came up the stairs, my jaw dropped. I came into the first of a series of high ceiling rooms with chandeliers and stately windows, walls painted a matte green. Everywhere I looked there were animals: huge stuffed lions and leopards; a full-size zebra standing awkwardly next to the door; plump geese, miniature donkeys, a gigantic water buffalo; eagles and hawks swooping down from the ceiling; glass cases of songbirds perched on branches and trays of moths, butterflies and shiny scarabs, fossils and rocks, and so on.

The name “Great Guana Cay” is ironic, because the tiny northern Bahamian island is only about a quarter-mile wide and six miles long. But the island is large enough to become mired in a controversy that is helping to define the irony of modern "sustainable development" issues in eco-destinations.

The island's inhabitants are employed in fishing and cottage industry tourism. Its coral reef is one of the most intact surviving elkhorn/staghorn coral communities in the world, and divers consider it one of the most beautiful in the Bahamas. 

So when the residents of Great Guana Cay found out that a golf mega-development had been green-lit by a distant federal government in Nassau without their consent, they banded together and formed a grassroots effort to derail the plans.

Since then, coral reef scientists and marine ecologists have come to their aid to try to stop the Baker's Bay Golf & Ocean Club (Discovery Land Company) from realizing completion. While coral bleaching is on every coral scientist’s mind, the widespread decline of coral reefs in the West Indies is not only attributed to climate change, but a history of unsustainable coastal development. Coral reefs require their environment to be nutrient-poor in order to survive. And golf courses and marinas, rich in nutrients and pollutants, are a recipe for disaster. Residents worry that the chemicals needed to fertilize the club's 595 acres will seep into the reef.

National Geographic Traveler's new intern, Catherine Pearson, writes about her own experiences as a voluntourist and is hard at work contacting other voluntour organizations to learn more about them. We'd love to hear from you about your own experiences and recommendations. Please email us with suggestions or leave them in the comments below.

Work hard, play hard. Or, in this case, do both simultaneously. Roof a house, dig a well, nurse a wounded animal … and see the sights in São Paulo.

Voluntourism, a combination of volunteering and travel, is becoming increasingly popular. But this vogue practice is not exactly new. It’s been on the radar for the last fifty years, since the beginning of the Peace Corps and Volunteer Service Overseas.

But unprecedented access to international travel has swung wide the gates to a world of opportunities. Captivity in cubicles and finite vacation time exacerbate the urge to get away and do something great. And now, there's a wave of support for these helping-inclined: Entire websites are now devoted to voluntour possibilities, and travel websites, such as Travelocity.com, have tucked in special sections for the service-savvy jet-setters.

Even more impressive, but harder to come by, are scholarships and funding for these volunteer vacations. Travelocity's Change Ambassadors program offers quarterly grants for those who earnestly desire make a difference but can’t pay their own way. Perhaps sponsoring the voluntourist has become a trend in itself.

Tibet, the once remote "roof of the world," has been suffering increasing strain due to rapidly growing tourism. Last year the number of tourists who visited Tibet (an estimated four million) vastly outnumbered the 2.8 million people who actually live there, resulting in a general overload on Tibet’s roads, palaces, and monasteries, reports The Guardian.

To accommodate the constant flood of people pouring in, 775 tour buses are operating within Tibet at all times. That's in addition to three civilian airports (with a fourth in the works) and the high-altitude Qinghai-Tibet Train that connects the capital Lhasa to Xining, China, and brings in over 1.5 million tourists a year.

Matt Whitticase of the Free Tibet Campaign sums up the problem effectively in the Guardian's story: “Tourism is obviously a pillar of China’s western development strategy, but it is putting unacceptable strains on Tibet’s fragile environment.” While China’s government asserts that tourism helps generate the money necessary to protect Tibet’s sacred monuments and general way of life, Whitticase points out that the Tibetan people are not benefiting because the “tourist industry is being run by Han Chinese companies not domiciled in Tibet.”

Barman extraordinaire Colin Field meticulously crafts cocktails at the Hotel Ritz's Bar Hemingway in Paris, so named because the legendary writer was known to spend quite a bit of time with his belly up to the bar (the hotel, in fact, was his second home). Field, one of the world's most celebrated bartenders (named the world's best in 1997 and 2001 by Forbes magazine), innovates fresh cocktails nightly. He has manned the bar since 1994 and is known to please both regular customers and travelers with his mood-matching concoctions. While researching the "Authentic Paris" cover story in the March issue of National Geographic Traveler, IT's Katie Knorovsky chatted with Field about the Bar Hemingway from his side of the bar.

Happy former customers of yours say you know all the cocktails in the world and that you’ve even invented your own drink tools.

I definitely do not know all the cocktails in the world—cocktails are being invented right now somewhere. However, yes, I do know the vast majority of the classics and semi-classics. And I do invent loads and loads of cocktails every night, most of which I don't even remember either. A lot I write down in a special book if I think that they are really interesting or present a new facet to cocktails—rare!

The Barman Tool was created about four years ago. It is excellent for stirring cocktails, opening bottles, crushing mint and fruit, cutting fruit and taking zests, not to mention smashing ice and pouring layered cream.

Did Hemingway really drink at Le Bar Hemingway, or is the name contrived?

Heavens, most definitely did Hemingway come very, very, often to the Ritz. He was the very good acquaintance of Bertin, the bartender, and his wife. Bertin is not of this world anymore. But his wife and Bertin were very good acquaintances. I spent time with Bertin in his very late 80s to learn more about the Ritz and Hemingway. Believe me—they knew Hemingway very well. I would tell you more but it would be a book. Just take my word.

Here at National Geographic HQ, we have no qualms about broadcasting our love for all things monkey. After all, we work in the hallowed building frequented by the likes of Jane Goodall and Gorillas in the Mist heroine Dian Fossey.

And as it turns out, quite a few of our fellow wanderlusters have also gone ape-crazy: The Guardian says ape tourism has never been more popular. So to say we’re distressed about the recent findings on newfound, fatal respiratory threats to great apes in Africa would be to put it lightly—especially considering the germ-spreading culprits are none other than well-meaning eco-tourists.

The Guardian explains:

[The scientists’] concern follows the first evidence that chimpanzees in Ivory Coast, west Africa, died from HRSV (human respiratory syncytial virus) and HMPV (human metapneumovirus) during outbreaks at the Taï chimpanzee research station. The findings pose a major problem for those protecting the declining populations of gorillas in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, now numbering less than 650, as well as orangutans in Borneo, thought to number around 15,000. The tourist dollar is essential. It protects the endangered apes from poachers and funds vital work aimed at halting their decline. But this positive aspect of eco-tourism must now be balanced against the negative side-effects if apes, and ape tourism, are to survive.

To eradicate the risks, scientists are calling on ape tourists to wear masks, keep their distance (with at least a 23-foot buffer zone), provide proof of vaccinations, and to disinfect all clothing and footwear.

Welcome to Intelligent Travel's newest column: Neighborhood Watch, in which we highlight what's happening in urban enclaves.

Despite Detroit’s well-publicized urban blight, Heidelberg Street has maintained its place as a bright spot in an otherwise concrete wasteland for the past 22 years. The street's abandoned homes have been cheerfully re-imagined  with thousands of splattered polka dots and vacant lots are plastered with spray-painted doll heads, stuffed animals, and rusty bicycles. 

Once host to more than 300 African-American-owned businesses, the inner-city east side neighborhood was destroyed by the 1967 Detroit race riots. In 1986, local artist Tyree Guyton and his grandfather and wife took paintbrush and broom to the neighborhood, now known as the Heidelberg Project, in the hopes of transforming the urban decay into a public art environment. Cleaning up vacant lots, they collected junk and trash and repurposed it as art to link the concepts of discarded objects and discarded communities and people.

Though the site has drawn myriad supporters and inspired similar art projects, the city council hasn't always been a fan. The square block of street art has twice weathered city demolition (in 1991 and 1999), managing to not only survive but evolve into one of the top tourist attractions of Detroit today.

“The greatest asset in Detroit is the people—they have remarkable survival skills,” says Jenenne Whitfield, executive director of the Heidelberg Project. “Tyree felt his work was so important that some bulldozers could not keep him down. And each time he rebuilt, the project came back stronger.”

Let’s face it: Planning a big trip can be overwhelming. And at least for me, choosing lodging is always the most overwhelming part of the process—magnified times a million when the destination is overseas or for a special occasion. So needless to say, hotel shopping for my Parisian honeymoon was almost enough to make me rethink the wonders of holing up in a no-frills lakeside cabin, especially when you factored in a modest post-wedding budget and devaluing dollar abroad.

Searching online for budget hotels in Paris could have been easy enough, but reading user reviews was brutal. I could handle tiny rooms and appreciate off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods, but bedbugs and paper-thin walls? Non, merci. So after weeks of drowning in scathing reviews on TripAdvisor, my fiancé and I opted instead for more uncharted (or at least less-reviewed) territory: renting a privately owned apartment.

This week, to celebrate the release ofTraveler's Authentic Paris issue (now on newsstands) IT is heading to Paris!

Ok, so maybe we're not actually leaving our desks, but we are bringing you a bevy of Parisian items and might try to get some crepes for lunch one day. (That and we're hoping Marilyn wears a beret all week.) But we also want to hear from you: What is your version of "Authentic Paris"? Where are the hidden places that you love? Leave your Paris stories in the comments section and we'll feature them on the site throughout the week.

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George Washington snacks on his favorite hoecakes at Mount Vernon.

Most of us look forward to February's three-day weekend, in part because it's the last public holiday until Memorial Day in May (which right now, seems so far away...). But instead of lounging around for three days (ahem), we've decided to see how the nation's capital is celebrating this years' Presidents' Day.

February 12 was Abraham Lincoln's birthday. In 2009, he would have been 200 years old, and all over the country history buffs are preparing for his bicentennial. As we reported back in October, Lincoln's Cottage, just three miles north of the White House, will be opening to the public on Tuesday, February 19. Lincoln's 34-room summer home from 1862 to '64 will also feature the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center next door, which will have a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and plenty of exhibits detailing the President's life (tickets $12).

Just ten days after Lincoln's birthday is George Washington's birthday (February 22). Had the first President found the fountain of youth, he would be 276 years old. Regardless, George Washington's estate of Mount Vernon is celebrating all Presidents' Day weekend. And best of all, part of the celebration is free.

Washington is stuck between a rock and a hard place in the realm of cinema. On the rock side, it is not very close to Los Angeles. The hard place is Vancouver, B.C., which in the past three decades has climbed up the ladder to become the third largest city for film and television production behind Hollywood and New York City. The growth of the industry just north of the Washington border began largely due to the strength of the U.S. dollar against the Canadian dollar. Vancouver was a perfect place to film on the cheap, with beautiful mountains and cityscapes that could double as American locations, and Washington was left out in the cold.

The dollar has softened but Vancouver’s filmmaking base of indoor studios and talented crew members has kept the business flowing. The state of Washington has over the past few years tried to increase its production with tax-based credits for filmmakers along with other incentives. But unfortunately for them, these incentives are similar to those offered in other states and cities including those in British Columbia. So what’s a poor state to do?

Play to your strengths, that’s what. Washington has some breath-taking scenery. From Puget Sound to the Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier (pictured, above), Mount St. Helens, the Snake River, the Columbia River, the San Juan Islands and Olympia National Park, Washington has the unobstructed exteriors needed for many movies. So it should be easy to pick out some movies with sweeping vistas right? Right?

Well, let’s see. There was Dancer in the Dark, by Lars von Trier, that was entirely set in Washington State circa 1964. But a movie “set” in a location does not always mean it was shot there. Dancer in the Dark was actually filmed in Sweden with the exception of the Washington State Penitentiary scenes. If you have an interest in seeing the penitentiary, it’s located in Walla Walla, not far from the northern border of Oregon.

There was WarGames with Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy. This '80s hit built the most expensive set ever at the time, constructing the NORAD HQ in the Cascade Mountains.  There is also a scene of Broderick and Sheedy taking a ferry to “Goose Island.” The real location they ferry to is Anderson Island – the southernmost island in the Puget Sound.  Other locations for the film include Everett, Seattle, and Lake Chelan National Recreation area as well as locations in California.

But if you want the quintessential Washington State experience, you have to go to the quintessential Washington State city—Seattle. And there's a slew of all-time classics shot in Seattle including The Last Mimzy, Firewall, The Ring Two, Life or Something Like It.  OK, you probably guessed that I’m just pulling your leg. Though these movies were shot in Seattle and they surely have redeeming qualities, we all know that when we think of Seattle, we think of one movie.

I'm in the midst of planning a trip to Cabo San Lucas, and while perusing through my guidebooks I came across Green Tortoise, a San Francisco-based company that runs two hostels and operates a series of tours which wind along the Pacific coast, criss-cross the country, and crawl down into Central America. While their two hostels are safely grounded in San Francisco and Seattle, what piqued my interest was that their tours aren't just a series of stops and activities, but actual hostels-on-wheels.

In essence, when you climb into the 36-passenger bus to get to Alaska, Baja, the Yucatán Peninsula, or Yosemite, it turns out that the bus is also your lodging once you get there. Green Tortoise has retrofitted typical tour buses so that their tables and chairs tuck away, allowing a wide swath of mattresses to be spread throughout the cabin, in something akin to kindergarteners putting out their nap-mats (can you imagine if this same idea worked on planes?).

But aside from the comfort you’ll get from snuggling up to your fellow passengers, you’ll be at ease knowing that the company, avowedly committed to green travel, also operates many of its buses using biodiesel fuels, and offers travelers the option of offsetting their carbon count (at $5 per 5,000 miles, it’s a steal).

"Sky Heart" by Mary Hockenbery

Photographer: Mary Hockenbery, Dixon, New Mexico.

Getting the Shot: We were road tripping last summer and decided to stay the night in Baker, Nevada and tour Lehman Caves, then visit Great Basin National Park in the morning. After we got to the motel and checked out the visitor center, we took a little drive around the area and spotted this wonderful horseshoe heart on a rancher's fence.

The Details: I love my Nikon D200. I shot B&W film and had a darkroom for years - but now it's pretty much digital all the way.

IT loves our readers and sends them this heart for Valentine's Day! Love photography and want your own shot in Global Eye? Add your pics to our Flickr pool.

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A patchwork of color is popping up on historic barns all over the country, and the trend is a boon for rural tourism. Our friends at American Style report on the grassroots art movement of barn quilts:

Colorfully painted quilt squares have appeared on barns throughout eastern Kentucky, often representing traditional, local patterns. The local electric company even lends its equipment to mount the panels. State arts organizations are now working to organize the effort, in hopes of driving tourism to rural areas.

Barn quilts—colorful painted blocks eight feet square or larger—started in Ohio in 2001, reports Agriculture Online, and can now be found through Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Dakota, and North Carolina. Oh, and several counties in Iowa, too.

Many projects are sponsored by community groups like the Buffalo Gals Homemakers of Stamping Ground, Kentucky, and have generated local news coverage. Some, such as the Appalachian Quilt Trail sponsored by the Alliance for American Quilts, the Clinch-Powell Resource Conservation and Development Council, and the Kentucky Quilt Trails, are perfectly tailored for the tourist looking for a scenic Sunday drive. To see more quilt barns check out these Flickr photos or the quilted barns photo pool, also on Flickr.

America has been losing its historic agricultural buildings for decades, writes the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The number of farms has been slashed by two-thirds since the 1920s. "Literally millions of barns and other agricultural structures have lost their original reason for existing."

Not only are these quilt squares lovely to look at and interpret, they are helping to preserve a piece of American heritage.

Photos: Top, tnserose; right Citizen110.

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Associate editor Susan O'Keefe shares her favorite kid-friendly hotel activities and amenities. Got any she needs to know about?

Anyone who has young ones knows that when traveling with children it's all about the hotel pool, at least that's the case with my three children. And, if there is a pool (especially one with slides or waves) you can often leverage some off-property time for exploring the area just as long as you build in plenty of time for swimming. Other amenities like kids' clubs are hit or miss, depending on what types of activities and programs are offered. Hotels are beginning to heed the parents' call that one-room kids' clubs with a few video and board games are not the answer to recreation nor experiential travel, even if it may allow more reading time for mom and dad. We all want to feel good about vacationing and part of that is exposing ourselves to experiences and trying new things. Same goes for the kiddies.

Ritz-Carlton Naples, Florida, has just launched Nature's Wonders, an environmentally-focused program for guests who want to connect with nature. Off-resort activities include naturalist-led Back Bay walks, mangrove visits, and even a trip to a hospital for recovering sea life. At the heart of the program is the new Nature's Wonders sanctuary where budding marine biologists can hold turtles and starfish and view aquariums hosting sharks, eel, Florida's spiny lobsters, and grouper. When I visited, four new baby alligators had just arrived and two iguanas were showing off. A small lab invites kids to explore slides and petri dishes with pint-size microscopes. And a Nature Vision Theater features the finest, ahem, nature flicks from National Geographic and Discovery. Nature's Wonder charges a daily fee for its programs (full- and half-day), but it hosts a daily open house for guests—adults and kids alike—who want to check out the aquariums and reef life.

Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica, located in the country's northwest Guanacaste province, offers complimentary kids' adventures through their Kids for All Seasons program. Young guests get to hunt local insects, reptiles, plants, and hermit crabs or make art with treasures collected from the beach. Teens will dig their own hang-out pad called Taunis, outfitted bright-colored furniture and surfboards, where they can dock their iPods or play video games. But the coolest factor by far is in the activities: kids can sign up for hip-hop yoga, hang gliding, and zip-lining through treetops.

Please: do not lick your computer screen...

We have a lot of favorite things. Sleeping (in cool places, of course) and sweets being among them. But we just heard that Godiva is creating a hotel room decked out entirely in chocolate. That got us just a tad excited, so we had to get the scoop.

Godiva and The Bryant Park Hotel in New York are teaming up to create a chocolate hotel room, available only to one (very lucky) couple for an Ultimate Chocolate Fantasy weekend. It's the Grand Prize of this year's Godiva Valentine's Day Promotion. Shoppers purchasing special Valentine's Day gift boxes of $23 or more (before February 29, 2008) will be entered in the contest.

The room will feature wall-to-wall chocolate (literally), from a chocolate mosaic dining room table to a chocolate interpretation of Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss." And since they probably wouldn't want them gnawing on the furniture, the room will have plenty of chocolate truffles that the guests can actually eat. The winners will also get a chocolate spa experience and a private chocolate tasting with Godiva Executive Chef Chocolatier Thierry Muret (Muret will just be at the chocolate tasting, not the spa).

Unfortunately, the room will be deconstructed after the winners' Chocolate Fantasy Weekend is over. But this might inspire the chocolatier and hotelier in all of us to get a little creative.

(And on the record, we've mentioned chocolate 14 times in this post, and we're getting hungry. Yum.)

Photos: courtesy Bryant Park Hotel

Contributing Editor Daisann McLane sends us a dispatch from Bangkok...

I'm in Bangkok now, on the first leg of a "low-carb" (as in carbon) trip around Southeast Asia. Tomorrow I've booked a sleeping berth on Thailand's state railway for an overnight trip down the Thai isthmus, then across by ferry (or taxi) to Penang, Malaysia.

I've been coming to Bangkok for more than ten years, and while I love the city, it has always ranked low on my environmental list. The city sprawls like Houston or L.A., and even though in the last 9 years they've introduced the metro, the traffic jams are still as bad as ever.

The worst offenders by far are the motorbikes. Bangkok's city geography is a strange amalgam of metropolis and village. Cars move (slowly) down wide boulevards, but people and small businesses exist, for the most part, along the sois, the little side streets that branch off from the main avenues. Each soi is like a small town, and if you live far down the soi from the boulevard, you face a long walk.

And so a mini-industry of motorbike taxis has sprung up here. These guys wait at the top of every soi, ready to ferry people, for a small fee, down the lane. They are noisy, and they create an enormous amount of air pollution.

Imagine my surprise then, after settling into my little guesthouse on Sukhumvit Soi 8, to find that there are NO motorcycle taxis on this soi. The hotels and guesthouses at the far end of the soi have purchased these environmentally friendly, electric powered golf-cart taxis. So when I finish my breakfast on the wood patio of the lovely Hotel Salil, I just jump in the golf cart. What a great way to start my green travel day in Bangkok!

Read more: IT's Emily Haile contemplated Tuk Tuk's in Thailand. The city of Adelaide introduced a free solar powered bus to shuttle its citizens around. We give you the lowdown on Ecodriving.

Photo: Daisann McLane

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Traveler magazine's been popping up in surprising places lately, from Real Simple's "best blog" list to the business pages of the New York Times.  At the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, there's a macabre art exhibit called "We're All Going To Die (except for you)," in which our May/June 2007 issue plays a part. From a review by Jen Graves in The Stranger ("Seattle's Only Newspaper"):

One room in Dawn Cerny's magnificent, dark installation is for the dead—rows of glaring taxidermied owls, a stand of funerary flower arrangements, watercolor paintings of macabre T-shirts in heavy-metal style, and 150-year-old photographs of dead infants with their families. The other room is for the not-yet-dead—it's a waiting room. On the coffee table is a National Geographic Traveler magazine. Its headline reads, wickedly, "Sudden Journeys: Adventures in Last-Minute Travel." (Henry Art Gallery, 15th Ave NE and NE 41st St, 543-2280. 11 am–5 pm, $10 general/free for students.)

We didn't have taxidermy in mind when we ran the Sudden Journeys story; it was really about being spontaneous, not stuffed.  It's a collection of mini-stories of unplanned adventures, and we liked it so much we posted it on our website. There's Mark Jenkins and his daughter pretending to be nomads in Wyoming; Pico Iyer, on the spur of the moment, abandoning Calcutta and hopping a plane to Bhutan; and Rolf Potts biking haphazardly through the Burmese countryside rather than following through on his meticulously planned itinerary.

What would your Sudden Journey be if you were sitting in Cerny's waiting room?

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It's inside, outside, and even trickling out into the parking garage—it's Japan! Culture+Hyperculture, the latest exhibition to take over The Kennedy Center. Made up of over 450 artists, 40 performances, and over a dozen free events, this interactive exhibition showcases all things Japanese: theater, dance, music, fashion, art, photography, literature, and, of course, toys.

According to the DCist, the terrace level of the building is where it's at. Here you'll find a two- and-a-half-foot yellow robot that moves about and shakes your hand as a reward for correct pronunciations of Japanese words. Just beyond is a glass-enclosed display of Jumbo Machinders (courtesy of American-born Japan fan Matt Alt, who began collecting these life-size toys when he was a boy) featuring classics such as Voltron and Godzilla.

Other points of intrigue: A manga and anime reading room; the innovative folding screens (byobu) of Motoko Maio; the lacquered sculptures of Tanaka Nobuyuki; and the vivid photographic portraits and still lifes of Mika Ninagawa, one of Japan's most popular photographers.

But wait! There's more! Costume displays. Drum performances. Robot demos. And a mixed media installation by avant-garde sculptor, painter and novelist Yayoi Kusama called "Dots Obsession," which is composed of two rooms—one bright yellow with large black dots and the other black with large yellow dots—guaranteed to make you feel loopy and, in some cases, slightly mad. Kusama, who lives voluntarily in an institution in Japan, effectively uses her art to work through her own inner turmoil:

I have stood between the pleasure and fear of filling the void of my heart with ever so infinite dots obsession and I feel elated all over my body. 

The good news is that, minus a few performances and guided tours, this exhibition is free. For more information on the various events and shows taking place, consult the exhibition's daily calendar on the Kennedy Center's website.

Feb. 5 - Feb. 17 at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street NW, Washington D.C.; 800-444-1324; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Photo: Klea Scharberg via Flickr

"Swoosh" Plaza de Armas, Arequipa, Peru

Photographer: Nick Amis, London, UK

Getting the shot: I was in Arequipa, Peru, and had spent the afternoon looking around the city. My companions and I then went to the main plaza, ordered a beer in a nearby café, and waited until the light became golden and perfect for photography. I was taking shots of the cathedral from the center of the plaza when someone disturbed a huge flock of pigeons: I immediately swung my camera up (I use a Nikon D80 and, on this trip, a Tamron 17-50mm lens) and took about five shots; this one had the best composition.

The details: Arequipa is one of the oldest cities in Peru, from both the native inhabitants' and the settlers' perspective, and its well-preserved old city has been named a World Heritage site. Arequipa is also fortunate to have one of the best climates in Peru. Warm sunny days combine with the picturesque streets to make it a treat for photographers. The Plaza de Armas, where I took the photo, is in the very center of the old city and even pigeon-haters (I was traveling with one) agree that it is one of the loveliest public spaces they've seen. The Arequipeños are immensely proud of their city and kept asking me whether I liked it, so I'm pleased to have an opportunity to show it off and tell people how lovely it is!

Apparently, here at IT we have a thing for pigeons. But that doesn't change the fact that this is quite a lovely shot indeed.

Wanna see your photo on our website? Add your best travel pics to our Flickr pool.

Photo: Nick Amis via Flickr

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Many of us here at IT were sad to hear about the demise of Blueprint magazine, but were heartened to learn that though the magazine is gone, their blog will live on. To that end, Bluelines introduced us to a fascinating museum that is now on our must-see list for our next visit to L.A.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology is an amalgam of the strange and wonderful, and both the museum and its curator, David Wilson, are the subject of the book Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder. Mr. Wilson has gathered his wonderful objects for the past 24 years, collecting everything from X-ray bats to intricate almond-stone carvings. There's an exhibit on space dogs and a tribute to trailer homes. Magician Ricky Jay keeps his collection of decaying dice at the museum, and there's a beautiful selection of micro-mosaics created by 19th century Henry Dalton, who cobbled his tiny artworks out of butterfly wings.

Consider it a refreshing alternative to Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Learn more: you can hear a radio piece about the museum here.

Photo: One of Henry Dalton's micromosaics; via Bluelines

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Touch It, It's Yours: Mark Ashley, who writes the travel blog Upgrade: Travel Better ("living the first-class life ...at coach prices") warns of motion detectors in the minibars at Wynn Las Vegas, as well as a weight-sensitive tray of goodies on top of the minibar that knows when you've lifted anything off it. What happens in Vegas, you pay for.

Norwegians Say "Takk": How to say thank you in over 465 different languages.

Slow Pizza: Ecofabulous raves about the wood-fired pizzas at Small Shed Flatbreads in Mill Valley, CA; they're "local, sustainable, organic, and nitrate & hormone-free," not to mention delicious. A cozy place to stop after hiking on Mount Tamalpais, says the Slow Food Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area.

Running Rampant: My husband spotted this website called Go Run Easy sponsored by Reebok that helps you plan good running routes in various U.S. cities. I plugged in the zip code 20036 (where National Geographic headquarters is located) and found 20 runs suggested by readers, from a .36-mile Dupont Circle lunchtime run to a 4-mile "Cathedral to Embassies" run to a 19 miler. Each route is plotted on a Google map, with little cameras indicating scenic spots (check out the 3.11-mile Tidal Basin run). The site also offer playlists that other runners have recommended.

Photo: courtesy Mark Ashley

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While wandering through northern Manhattan’s Washington Heights, you pause to rest under a gorgeous elm tree so storied-looking it seems to pre-date New York. Could the shade you seek be the same as when General George Washington himself strolled the neighborhood in 1776, you muse?

Perhaps. But soon, it’ll be just as likely that the 110-foot tall tree—known officially as the St. Nicholas elm and by locals as “the dinosaur”—could be one of 250 New York City tree clones. It's a unique form of preservation, to be sure.

The National Trust’s Preservation magazine has the details:

As part of Mayor Bloomberg's campaign to plant one million trees in the city in the next decade, Connecticut-based Bartlett Tree Experts is donating 250 trees to the city, all genetic copies of historic trees found in the city's five boroughs. Cuttings from the trees were taken earlier this month and sent to an Oregon nursery, where they will be grafted onto roots to create "clones" that will be planted throughout the city.

"There's just a heightened level of interest in the city's trees," says Adrian Benepe, commissioner of parks and recreation. "If we can get more people interested in trees for their historic association, it's a good thing." Older trees, he says, are a reminder to people of the long-term benefits—economic, environmental, and aesthetic—of planting trees.

One man was tying his shoe. Another was looking at a map. They were just a few of the more than 200 "undercover agents" for the group Improv Everywhere to freeze in place on the Main Concourse at Grand Central Terminal. The result was a human art installation: Frozen Grand Central.

For five full minutes on January 31, 2008, a historic transit hub trafficked by more than half a million people each day became a hall of statues. Instead of looking at the cerulean and gold leaf ceiling or Tennessee marble floors, visitors to the station unwittingly became part of a grand social experiment.

Causing scenes since 2001, the Improv Everywhere team may seem like mere pranksters. But their "missions" are also attempts to make people "stop to notice the world around them." 

Anyone can sign up to particpate in one of their larger or more missions such as the annual No Pants! Subway Ride, by joining their mailing list.

Whether you're participating in the mission or happen to be an innocent bystander, this can be a fantastic way to experience a city. Plus, they've gone global, and local improv groups are sprouting up from Houston to Helsinki.

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It's been a tough few weeks for the National Park Service. First there was a USA Today article noting an uptick in the theft of artifacts from parks throughout the country. Rangers have reported missing Civil War relics and fossils, and say that with the online market for artifacts steadily growing, it's becoming nearly impossible for them to prevent the looting from spreading. Some parks have been duped by phony 911 calls; others have become the victim of meth addicts looking to pawn something for a fix. And while the National Park Service budget is $2.6 billion for fiscal year 2007, law enforcement expenditures amount to only $178 million, about $40 million of which is set aside for homeland security. So some parks have begun posting signs every 20 to 30 feet along trails reminding people not to steal, while others are using volunteer "site stewards" to monitor archaeological sites.

And while theft can be attributed to a few morally-challenged visitors, a new report just released at least gives them points for visiting the parks at all. The study, published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and funded by The Nature Conservancy, found that children who are afflicted with a boob-tube viewing addiction, aka, videophilia, lead more sedentary lifestyles and are less inclined to venture outdoors. Aside from the obvious health detriments, researchers believe that such computer and video viewing is linked to a drop-off in national park visits, and worry that as people lose interest in the parks, interest in conservation efforts will quickly follow. So far the numbers aren't inspiring: Looking through data stretching back into the 1980s, the researchers found a 18- to 25-percent drop in visits and the number of hunting and fishing licenses issued at the parks. But we can't help but think it's a bit odd then, that Yellowstone just began offering an Old Faithful webcam for viewers at home. As one commenter at USA Today put it succinctly:

Neat and sad at the same time. Is THIS the vacation of the future? Webcams of locations? GO VISIT YELLOWSTONE — Get in your car and drive. You would be amazed at the beauty of the whole area!

Welcome to "Been There" a new feature here at IT where we spotlight the lesson's you've learned on the road – the indispensable tidbits that you wish you had known before you left. IT friend Eric Wolff, who calls San Diego home and is a writer for City Beat, kicks us off with a handy how-to on negotiating your way down the Baja peninsula.

Right now, in Puerto Nuevo, Baja California, it’s langostino season, a time when a young gringo’s heart turns to delicious, delicious, clawless lobsters. Fresh caught, then fried and served with warm burritos and avocados, it's quite possibly the perfect meal, preferably if brought to a table with a view of the Pacific Ocean. Good stuff, and not the sort of thing one should miss because a few ne'er do wells are making off with some surfers’ gear, or because of rumors about corrupt cops. The rumors are true, of course, they’re just not a good reason to miss langostino season. Tourists just need to be careful and know the rules of the game.

Actually, there’s only one rule when it comes to the cops: pay the bribe. The going rate is $20, no more, no less. Here’s a textbook case of how to manage the corrupt officers of Tijuana and Baja, drawn from real-life experience – the very day, in fact, I first enjoyed tasty langostinos. My sister and I were driving through the labyrinth of downtown Tijuana after a day spent at CECUT and along Avenida Revolucion, trying to locate an entrance to the road to Baja. I glanced in my rear-view mirror and saw the flashing lights of a police car. I pulled over. The cop ambled to the window and asked for my license and registration, which I gave him. Then he pulled out a piece of paper with a computer-printed table of moving violations and fines. He said the fine for whatever I did wrong (one downside of corrupt law enforcement is they’re so darn vague) would be $60, and I should follow him to the station. Fortunately, I knew the rule. I looked at him and said – and this is key – “I heard it was $20 if I pay right here and now, instead of going to the station.” He took the money, and even led me through a construction zone that put me on the highway. It’s nice to know that once you buy a cop, you get full service.

Anyway, where were we? Ah yes, langostinos. In Puerto Nuevo. Go for it.

What lessons have you learned on your travels? We want to hear them. Email us your story with "Been There" in the subject line, and we'll feature your tales from the road on IT.

Photo: [ ••> jeriko1kenobi <•• ] via Flickr

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An enviro-utopia may be on its way. The city of Abu Dhabi, the World Wildlife Federation, and English architects Foster + Partners have recently revealed plans for a 3.5-mile car-free walled city near Abu Dhabi. The planned Masdar City, which means "the source" in Arabic, will be the home to some 47,500 residents.

The WWF and the city of Abu Dhabi released ten sustainability concepts including sustainable transport, local food, culture and heritage, and fair trade. The WWF will monitor Masdar City's eco-performance.

According to Treehugger, Masdar City is to be multi-level, with a light rail on one level moving people in and out of the city with pedestrians at ground level. In addition to solar power, wind turbines and waste-to-energy plants will be employed to generate power.

Masdar City’s electricity will be generated by photovoltaic panels, while cooling will be provided via concentrated solar power, according to a press release on The Masdar Initiative website. Water will be provided through a solar-powered desalination plant. Landscaping within the city and crops grown outside the city will be irrigated with grey water and treated waste water produced by the city’s water treatment plant.

Buildings are not to be taller than five stories and streets no wider than ten feet. Rooftops will be covered with solar generators and the walls around the city will diminish the desert heat and noise from airplanes at nearby Abu Dhabi International airport.

All this comes with a hefty price tag: $15 billion in funding from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. IT friend Andrew Revkin recently reported on Masdar City in the New York Times, and posed an interesting question on his Dot Earth blog. With Dubai's reputation as a hub for architectural ostentation - is this "green" development yet another theme, akin to building islands shaped like palm trees, or buildings shaped like boats? And if we assume their motives are pure (as they say), then why couldn't we see more of these kinds of solar cities cropping up in U.S. as well?

What do you make of Masdar City? Would you want to live there?

Image: Building magazine

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Our book critic Don George is back this month with an alluring new travel title: In Arabian Nights by Tahir Shah. As Shah explores his adopted home of Casablanca and wanders through Morocco, he also seeks to find a Berber tradition - the story in his heart. George writes:

Simply as a work of art and imagination, In Arabian Nights is an enthralling triumph, but in our lamentably divided modern world, it assumes an even greater importance, for Shah's account poignantly humanizes Arab culture, penetrating deep into usually unseen social and psychic layers. Like the bearer of a precious key, Shah leads us along meandering alleyways to an ancient door, which he unlocks and throws open onto the rich courtyard of traditional Arab custom and belief.

Visit Traveler's website to read the rest of the review, as well as George's take on two new India-inspired novels and a selection of photo books that offer glimpses into the "enigmatic colussus." And check out George's Trip Lit archive and our Ultimate Travel Library for more place-inspired reading suggestions.

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Photographer: Suwandi Chandra of West Des Moines, Iowa (originally From Indonesia).

Getting the Shot: The photo was taken on the Friday night of VEISHEA (an annual week long celebration held each spring on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa) on April 20th, 2007. Using Pentax K10D camera mounted on tripod with shutterspeed 1.5 seconds, and aperture f/3.5.

The Details: The 168-foot-tall "Marston Water Tower" was the first steel water tower west of the Mississippi River when it was erected in 1897. It is named for Anson Marston, Iowa State's first engineering dean, who designed the tower and oversaw its construction. The Marston Water Tower is on the National Register of Historic Places.

I was walking around the campus (Iowa State University) with my camera and tripod and saw a sign board that explained that this water tower was the first water tower in Iowa, so I decided to take a photo for my own collection. And I took this shot from outside of Marston Hall entrance.

IT loves how this photo seems like something out of War of the Worlds. Want your own photo up on Global Eye? Join the Intelligent Travel Flickr Pool.

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John Ur is back with another stop on the Cinematic Road Trip. This time, he sets his sights on Oregon.

During my cross-country drive, I remember looking south across the Oregon coastline and shuddering. Cannon Beach's fog was rolling in over, and the rhythmic waves from the Pacific Ocean had me thinking, 'This place is creepy. It’d be a great place for a Stephen King movie.' The beach was soggy from rain and the rocky coast exposed a land that had been beaten for ages and was tired of being picked on. Trees arched permanently away from the wind. I half-expected zombies to dig their way out of their sandy graves and creep inward from the shore, infecting the entire population in an apocalyptic battle for the future of mankind.

Fortunately, no zombies were to be found. But driving through the fog along the coastline was like seeing things in black and white. The fog and gray skies desaturated the landscape. Trees became dark gray. Lighthouses were a dingy white. Nothing remained a clean, pure color. Everything was (dis)colored by the mist.

Could the shabby, no-frills youth hostels of our, um, youth, actually be growing up? The Youth Hostel Association of the U.K. has just announced that they're planning to inject $26.6 million dollars into their lodgings, upgrading many dorm-style rooms and adding locally sourced food items to their menus. We couldn't be more excited.

"The point is to offer guests more comfort and update what we offer," YHA spokesperson Paul Fearne told the Guardian. "We are breaking down lots of the large dormitories to create private rooms, many of which will be ensuite. Many hostels will have licensed bar areas, where we will sell local ales and organic wines, and there will be a full meal service, with locally sourced ingredients."

Last week, when Lonely Planet released their new Ireland guidebook, they also launched a debate about how "green" Ireland actually is. They pointed out that the country's carbon emission count was "more than double the global average," and warned that “sustainable travel has to become a core issue if Ireland is to continue attracting visitors with its mix of great scenic beauty, distinctive heritage and wonderful culture.”

It seems that most Irish acknowledge that they're behind the curve when it comes to eco-consciousness. Belfast's only Green party representative told the Telegraph, "This doesn't come as a shock, we have got to get our act together, we are very lax and the problem lies in not having an independent environment agency."

We've all heard the buzz around global warming and glaciers. And while most of us aren't trekking around on uninhabited Arctic tundra, here's a heads up if you’re planning that vacation to escape the chilly work commute. Climate change is not affecting only the cold, desolate reaches of this planet. It’s also starting to impact paradise.

In a story aired on NPR last week, experts described the effects of an event known as "bleaching" on Jamaica's coral reefs. When the water heats up too much, stressed coral releases the algae that it needs to survive from its stomach cells, which leaves the coral looking white—or bleached—and in many cases, dead.

If trends continue, says the report, "severe coral bleaching in the Caribbean could be an annual event." Like glaciers, coral reefs are important indicators of climate change. Because they are some of the most biodiverse spots on the planet—perhaps even more so than rain forests—reefs are being studied by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to gauge climate change. NOAA has called reefs the "canary in the mine shaft" for the world’s oceans.

And one more warning to vacationers: Go a little easier when slathering on that sunscreen. It turns out that the lotion we use to protect ourselves from UV rays is actually damaging the reef.

Contributing Writer Cathy Healy is just back from a visit to Wyoming with family, and was ready to dish with us about her favorite breakfast joint.

TETON VILLAGE, Wyo. – Outside the deck of our house at the base of the ski mountain, a mother moose and her calf snuggle in last night’s snow. My family—sibs, spouses, nephews, and wives—are slipping into their third layer of miracle fibers. Not me, I live in D.C. now. I need a fix of politics.

I borrow my brother’s vehicle and head into town for breakfast at Jedediah’s, a snug 1910 log cabin just off the town square where “juice” means more than OJ, and although the thick bacon crunches, you can chew for a long time on what’s happening here and there. As the saying goes: “Everything is political in Wyoming, except politics, which is personal.”

I greet the founder and owner, Mike Gierau, a born host who knows his way around politics as well as he does kitchens – he's chaired the Wyoming Democratic Committee and served on the DNC. As we talk primaries, I tuck into his crepe-thin sourdough pancakes that come loaded with tiny wild Maine blueberries, which don’t make the pancakes soggy like big, fat blueberries do. The sourdough comes from 1870s starter used by ranchers in the Valley, the bacon is ‘specially cut. Mike gets the details.

And it's this attention that'd led Mike to cater to almost all of the private jets that land at Jackson Hole Airport—thousands of them–from his new outpost there. 

But while jets are a 24/7 business, the Jedediah's on the mountain only serves breakfast and lunch. So where does a guy who loves good food and wants great service go for dinner in Jackson Hole?

“Name the top three,” I ask.

Mike hedges. Always the politician, he offers, “You can come here for two weeks and go to a different place every night and get excellent food.” I nudge; Mike votes.

Today's photographer is bombarded with choices—cameras, hardware, software—but in the end, memorable photographs come from the synthesis of a great eye and solid skills. Overwhelmed? Now you can learn from the best with National Geographic Traveler's photo seminars.

Join photographer Michael Melford and well-known nature photographer and lecturer Eddie Soloway as they unearth the mysteries of nature and outdoor photography. See inspired photos and learn the methods our experts used to create them. Find out how to sharpen your skills and fine-tune your technique to turn your nature photos from so-so to so spectacular. Let Eddie and Michael show you how to capture the spirit of nature, whether you’re in Big Sur or your own backyard.

Check out the Putting the Wow in Your Nature and Outdoor Photography Seminar spring schedule:

• Houston, Texas - March 15, 2008
• San Francisco, California - March 29, 2008
• Chicago, Illinois - April 6, 2008

Register online and learn more about our Adventure, Travel, and Digital photography seminars as well.

Photo: Eddie Soloway

Here at IT, we like surfing. Apparently in England they do, too.

The developers of Silvertown Quay recently unveiled plans to create Venture Xtreme, an extreme sports venue and surf center in London. Upon completion, the center will house London's largest permanent outdoor beach and surf pool. The thing is, it's not even a real beach.

Tagging itself as the U.K.'s first "artificial surf experience" (and a "world's first" project of this size), the complex (scheduled to be complete in 2011) will feature 365 days of "perfect waves" ideal for everyone from beginners to professionals.

As you know, we’re all for eco-friendly practices here at IT. And when a green initiative pokes fun at a former boy band member and has a travel angle? To be honest, we can hardly stand our good fortune. So imagine our delight upon reading the news that unsold copies of Robbie Williams’ latest solo album will be recycled to pave Chinese roads.

Indeed, British record label EMI has announced plans to ship upward of one million unappreciated Rudebox CDs to China to be crushed and repurposed in street lighting and road projects.

Trudging through China’s streets has never been so satisfying. Take that, smog!

Photo: Alex Vinter via Flickr

Yukon River HDR, by Christopher Wheeler

I'm not a fan of the cold. But as we sit in our freezing cubicles, every once in a while it's nice to be reminded that here in D.C., it's really not so bad after all. I just stumbled upon a recent mental_floss post about the coldest places on earth, where author Miss Cellania describes a few of these chilly destinations and, needless to say, I warmed up a bit after reading about them.

For example, the average temperature in International Falls, Minnesota, is 36.4°F (2°C), and Fraser, Colorado, claims similar freezing temps. Both cities are in dispute (and have been for a while) over which is the real nation's "icebox" (although I can't really figure out why anyone would want this title).

Umiat, Alaska, has a population of five, according to its website. And that doesn't surprise me. The city is 340 miles northwest of Fairbanks and has frequently reported the coldest temperatures in Alaska. I wouldn't want to live there, either.

Mardi Gras, beads at the ready

Photographer: Kevin "Elvis" King

Getting the Shot: Mardi Gras, 2007. The photo was taken with a Nikon D200, using an 18-200mm lens, external S800 flash.

The Details: My girlfriend is part of a Mardi Gras krewe, and has a float in the parade that goes down in downtown Pensacola, Florida. So, during all the preps, I was walking the parade lineup and saw this picture. What was striking is the quiet, harmonious scene, one in stark contrast to the parade that will take place in just a couple of hours. The colors, the lighting, and the absence of motion, people, and commotion lend a certain element to its composition.

We like the bright colors in this shot that make it look like Mardi Gras in Candyland. Do you have any photos you think are worthy of Global Eye? Join our Flickr group.

Photo: Kevin "Elvis" King via Flickr

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A few worthwhile blogs that caught our roving eyes this week...

• For travelers who have ever gotten their unmentionables in a twist after an especially invasive checkpoint screening process, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) launched a new blog last week to start a “lively, open discussion of TSA issues.” Topics range from liquids to shoes to airport inconsistencies, and at this writing, the first three days have inspired more than 700 comments (IT should be so lucky, ahem)—some snarly, some scary, and even a few words of appreciation.

• The City Fix, produced by the World Resources Institute Center for Sustainable Transport, this week covered the origins of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s PLANYC initiative to transform the Big Apple into “one of the greenest mass human developments on earth.”

• Appealing to my inner design junkie, Design*Sponge keeps adding more to its stable of city guides (just in the past month, D*S unveiled Philly and Detroit). The guides (so far, mostly U.S.-centric) are written by in-the-know locals and glorify all things design in each locale, from cultural museums to art galleries, indie shops, and funky cafes. Plus, follow the links to well-designed and fun-to-read blogs by the guides’ authors.

Billie Warden wins the Pancake Race in Liberal, Kansas, 1950, courtesy  www.pancakeday.net

You may have been aware that today was Super Tuesday. And perhaps you're already making the most of Mardi Gras. But did you know that February 5 is also International Pancake Day? So those of you disinterested in the political process or put off by Fat Tuesday's revelry have something of your own to celebrate.

This year's International Pancake Race, is held today (at 11:55 a.m.) is the 59th annual race between the women of Olney, England, and Liberal, Kansas. In both of the cities, the women wear a traditional apron and run a 415-yard S-shaped course flipping a pancake on a skillet (naturally – how else would you carry a pancake?).

According to PancakeDay.net, the race has a interesting origin:

In Olney, the Pancake Race tradition dates back more than 500 years to 1445. A woman engrossed in using up cooking fats (forbidden during Lent) was making pancakes. Hearing the church bells ring calling everyone to the shriving service, she grabbed her head scarf (required in church) and ran to the church, skillet and pancake in hand and still apron-clad. In following years, neighbors got into the act and it became a race to see who could reach the church first and collect a "Kiss of Peace" from the verger (bell-ringer.)

In 1950, a picture of the women racing appeared in an American magazine, drawing the attention of Liberal Jaycee President R.J. Leete. He contacted the Rev. Ronald Collins, Vicar of St. Peter and St. Paul's church in Olney, challenging their women to race against women of Liberal, and the race has been run ever since. The kiss is still the traditional prize in both races.

The score? Twenty-five wins for Olney and 32 for Liberal. (Apparently, the 1980 score does not count because a truck blocked the finish line.)

Can't make it to the race? Next time you're in Liberal, Kansas, stop by the free International Pancake Day Hall of Fame, open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays.

Photo: Olney sign, Andrew Betts (left); and contestants in Olney, 2007 ©Tony Margiocchi via Flickr (right)

In honor of Super Tuesday, we're turning our attention to politics for a moment. While a lot of attention has been paid to the 2008 presidential candidates' reading lists and television viewing habits, but what about their favorite guidebooks? IT's friend Peter Greenberg has an interesting interview with World Hum writer Julia Ross on the subject, and she gave him the lowdown on where the candidates fall on the travel-savvy scale. In brief (and in alphabetical order), here's what Julia thinks the candidates will be reading before their next trip:

Democrats

Hillary Clinton: CIA World Factbook 
Barack Obama: Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux

Republicans

Mike Huckabee: Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler 
John McCain: The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook
Mitt Romney: Rick Steves' Best of Europe

You have to wonder if after today, some of the less successful candidates might want to get away for awhile. So we're happy to help: we have our own Ultimate Travel Library if they need some suggestions or inspiration. Or maybe they'd like to have a look at our Sudden Journeys cover story. We're here if you need us, guys.

Learn more: Read about the candidates' "travel scorecard," at World Hum.

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Mardi Gras is about the last thing you'd associate with conservation — if anything it's a holiday celebrating hedonism at its best. Which is why we were glad to hear from Gadling that at least one element of the Fat Tuesday celebrations is taking a greener tack. Instead of wandering around the French Quarter risking overexposure in exchange for beads, you can snag a 30-pound bag of last year's Mardi Gras trinkets for all your party purposes and help from heaping another bunch of necklaces into a landfill. The local Sierra Club chapter and the Arc of Greater New Orleans are promoting the effort, and they offer a slew of other great activities for when you're in town. Just think, doing a bit of good might help offset your inevitable hangover.

Photo: Tri-X Pan via Flickr

We never like to hear about animal cruelty, but we were very distressed to hear about the mysterious death of 53 sea lions in the Galapagos Islands, as the BBC reported last Tuesday. The dead animals: 13 pups, 25 young sea lions, nine males, and six females, were all found with signs that they'd received a blow to the head, yet their bodies otherwise remained intact, leading the park officials to believe that poaching was not the motive. The BBC reported:

The animals were found in a state of decomposition on Pinta island, part of the archipelago which lies about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. The Galapagos sea lions have no natural predators on land and generally do not fear humans.

Sea lions are a vital part of the island's ecosystem, park official Victor Carrion told the Agence France-Presse news agency. At this time, no other dead animals have been found, and park officials have increased their patrols of the areas.

This news comes as another example of the islands' vulnerability, along with last year's announcement by the UN Environment, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) that the region was "in danger."

Pies Across America: Adam Kuban at Serious Eats has posted a compendium of all the regional variations of pizza around the U.S. he's ever encountered. Anybody for a Trenton Tomato Pie? Check out his list and let us know if he missed your regional favorite.

Getting There: JapanItUp takes the worry out of taking Japanese subways.

Flatware Flak: Peter Moore in the Guardian gripes about funky airline flatware for babies and catches flak for it.

Going to Great Lengths: Are your kids still wishing Santa brought them Wii? You could fly to Europe, where the stores are full of Wii, say Charlie Sorrell and David Becker of Wired. If that seems like an extravagant waste of jet fuel, perhaps you could come back on a wind-powered container ship, as Andrew Revkin reports on Dot Earth.

Pastry Lust: And last but not least, ukulele-playing travel writer Pam Mandel of Nerd's Eye View ponders her love affair with Seattle's Bakery Nouveau: " Is it the mocha cheesecake, dense as a truffle and twice as rich?"

Photo: Courtesy Serious Eats.

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Associate editor Susan O'Keefe rounds up a bunch of news from the hotel beat... 

Gated Community: Guests of the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City not only receive access to a private key to the gated Gramercy Park—the city's only private park—located across from the hotel, but they also are welcome to have brunch, continental breakfast, and evening cocktails on the Private Roof Club and Garden—an indoor/outdoor space exclusive to guests on the hotel's 16th floor.

Seaside Chic: While it continues to be expensive to travel to Europe, we love that the chic, modern Best Western Masqhotel in La Rochelle, France, an architecturally rich city on the Atlantic coast, offers guest rooms starting at $134 on their website. The hotel is bright and airy with interiors that blend large pieces of abstract artwork with contemporary furnishings done in leather, plastic, steel, and chrome. With direct access from Paris on the TGV (under three hours), La Rochelle offers fresh sea air and the charming Vieux Port (Old Harbor) where visitors can check out one of Europe's largest aquarium, walk around the picturesque old city, dine at dozens of seafood restaurants, and promenade along the city walls lit up at night.

Let’s play a game. Name a movie made in the United States. Go ahead name one. The odds that the movie you just named was filmed in California is one in three. And of those movies shot in California, two-thirds are shot in and around Hollywood, according to an August 2005 study by the California Film Commission.

Now, name a country. How about Bulgaria? Or Costa Rica? The film industry of California brings in an estimated $34 billion dollars a year into the California economy (at least as of 2002, according to the L.A. County Economic Development Corp.) which is more than the GDP of 100 countries, according to the IMF, including those of Bulgaria and Costa Rica. In fact, it's as much money as the bottom 38 countries combined.

So to say California produces a lot of film would be to say that Iowa grows a lot of corn. The state is large and the landscape assorted with deserts, mountains, forests and an ocean all within close proximity to Hollywood. This, and reliable sunshine, makes it an ideal location for the center of the film industry.

If southern California is your thing, and for many people it is, you might want to check out these movies to get a feel for the major cities on the West Coast: For San Diego, though it may not stand up as an all-time classic, Anchorman, Will Ferrell’s comedy, was shot all around the city. For Los Angeles on film: LA Confidential or Mulholland Drive will give you an idea of the vastness of the city sprawl.

Driving north of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, you’ll come to Santa Ynez Valley. This area has experienced a tourist boom in the years following the success of Sideways, the story of two middle-aged men on a road trip through one of the lesser-known wine regions in California.

But I would like to drive you up the coast from Tinseltown to the City by the Bay where I was lucky enough to stay for a few months during my college years.

Perhaps the folks in Ireland have gotten a bit wary of our attempts to drive on the left side of the road. Or maybe they're just being friendly. Either way, the Ashford Castle hotel in western Ireland has offered help steer us in the right direction by offering driving lessons, in their How to Drive on the Left program. Driving instructors will teach everything from interpreting Gaelic road signs to how to maneuver clockwise around traffic circles.

We wondered whether tourists were terrorizing Cong, the tiny 150-person village where Castle is located, with their shoddy driving techniques. But it turns out it the locals are actually fine with bringing more people to the town.

"Actually, the idea started here in New York," said Ashford Castle spokesperson Geoffrey Weill. "Many Americans are terrified to drive in Britain, and perfecting the art on the quiet roads around Cong we felt was a super idea. It’s that simple!"

Of course, the 38-room castle is about 26 miles from Galway—so getting there in the first place might be an issue. You might want to get an experienced driver to help you navigate the way before you get behind the wheel.

Photos: courtesy of Failte Ireland

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Monopoly is spurring a debate even more impassioned than the one over who gets dibs on the sweet metal dog token, and this one’s brewing on a global scale. Reigning as the world’s most popular branded board game (or so says the Guinness World Records), Monopoly recently unveiled plans for a new edition of the game, called Here & Now: The World Edition, which pits 68 world cities from six continents against each other in a worldwide online vote to determine which cities deserve the game board’s coveted property spaces.

The contest began Jan. 21, and voters have until Feb 28 to cast their ballots for up to 10 cities daily. The top 20 cities will nab property space in rank order from highest to lowest property value. Among the U.S. cities included on Monopoly’s short-list of global cities are Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Unsurprisingly, Paris, London, and New York are currently vying for the top spots.

But the truly exciting news—drumroll, please—are the two “wild card” spots open for write-in votes. Beginning Feb. 29, the top 20 most nominated write-in cities will square off for the two low-rent property group spaces traditionally reserved for Baltic and Mediterranean Avenues.

No word on whether the token game pieces will transcend the cultures, or, more realistically, if they will scream of capitalistic symbols. But, then again, that’s what a true monopoly is all about anyway, right?

Who are you voting for?

Image: Hasbro, Inc.

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