What's all the rage in Europe usually trickles its way across the
Atlantic in due time, and such is the case for bike sharing,
which made its high-tech North American debut in Washington, D.C., in
August 2008.
In addition to my blog duties (and the other Special Projects I undertake here at the magazine) I'm also responsible for reading through the letters we receive from readers. And our fabulous Real Travel columnist, Daisann McLane, always evokes some fascinating - and enlightening - comments (and FYI, her columns are now available online). In Daisann's March column "Traveling in Stride," she writes that walking is an essential aspect of her travels: When I travel, I walk everywhere, and I am rather militant about the importance--the necessity--of traveling like this. Until I learn a place with my feet, I never really feel like I know it. And so, I walk, and organize my travel details around that most beloved habit.Daisann splits her time between Hong Kong and Brooklyn, and in the piece, she mentions how difficult it often can be for her to traverse the former, thanks in part to construction and traffic in the city. Reader Keith Arnold wrote in with his own opinion:
Hong Kong is one of the most walkable cities in the world! Downtown or Central has miles of overhead walkways that connect all major government, office and shopping centers. [...] The walkways pass directly into and through shopping areas, also even the post office and many major hotels. On Kowloon there are literally miles of underground walkways....We asked Daisann for her take, and she responded on her blog, excerpted here (after the jump):
The other day, I wrote about the glorious Mardi Gras Indian costumes on display at the Backstreet Cultural Museum. But while it's great to see them up close (where you're able to oogle the beadwork) I'd have to think that it's even better to watch the Indians live and in person. And there's perhaps no more perfect place to do it on Mardi Gras than at the Mother-in-Law Lounge, in the company of the lovely Miss Antoinette K-Doe. 
National Geographic Films producer prepares to milk a dead rat. 
While reading this article in the Washington Post yesterday, about a Buenos Aires blogger who gets all of her restaurant recommendations from taxi drivers, I couldn't help but think about the people I go to for tips when I travel. In the story, blogger Layne Mosler, author of the Taxi Gourmet, gets into a cab with no destination - she simply asks the driver to take her to a local spot. While this does seem a bit dangerous, she reports that it's enabled her to visit some of the under-the-radar local joints that she would have never found otherwise. 
We've been loving your submissions for our I Heart My City project
- and today's city comes to us via Albert Lee, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There were few people who showed as much enthusiasm for their cities as Albert, and we'll let him explain why in his own words:I'm a proud hometown boy. Was raised in the Chinatown section of Philadelphia where our home housed three generations. I serve as the head concierge at the Independence Visitor Center (the official visitor center for Philadelphia and its surrounding counties). My overall duty is to make sure that while you're here, regardless of how long, you're going to have a good time. That is my promise even if our doors are closed. In fact, I carry maps in my bag to make sure people get to go where they need to. Want to get in a fancy restaurant at 8 p.m.? I'll take care of you...even if we are on a street corner. Philadelphia has been good to me and I see no greater reward than showing it off and getting paid for it!Still haven't sent in your own city suggestions? Easy enough. Just complete our list of fill-in-the-blank questions then copy and paste the list into an email, fill in your answers (as many as you like), and send your responses to IntelligentTravel@ngs.org.
What is perhaps the world's most famous ice festival has become another of the world's Disney theme parks, with a Disney licensing company taking over operations from the local Communist government. It is the first time a private company has run the ice festival.
Snow White has replaced snow dragons. Children wander through the frozen hallways of Aladdin's Castle instead of a Qing dynasty palace. "It's a Small World" plays in one corner of the park. (What better theme music for globalization?)
It's hard not to feel like you're being watched when you enter the home and workshop of sisters Laura and Ann Guccione. Push open the two wooden doors to their 1830s-era Creole cottage, and you'll find yourself in a room covered floor-to-ceiling in gorgeous, intricate, dazzingly delicate masks, depicting the likes of Marie Antoinette, jesters, cats, clowns, and
other facades made from leather, wire, feathers, papier-mâché and even
silverware. And they're watching your every move. 
The Backstreet Cultural Museum deceives upon first glance - its rather plain-looking appearance from the street belies a rainbow of colors that peacock inside. Step through the doors of this eclectic museum and you'll find some of the most fascinating glimpses into the African-American Mardi Gras traditions, from the dazzling feathered costumes of the Mardi Gras Indians, to a detailed photographic history of Jazz Funerals, Second
Lines, and the area's Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs. The entire museum has been the life's work of Sylvester Francis, who has devoted most of his adult life to taking photos of the Mardi Gras celebrations. 
Last week, the National Park Service announced four new National Natural Landmarks - and National Geographic had a hand in making them happen. Our own John Francis, who is vice president of Research,
Conservation and Exploration at NGS, also sits on the Science Committee of the National Park
System Advisory Board, which has the
responsibility of evaluating sites for designation as natural
landmarks. The recently announced landmarks are
the sixth-longest cave in Texas, a rare ecosystem in Pennsylvania and
major fossil sites in Kentucky and Vermont. The naming of the four landmarks is significant because, although there are 586 listed sites in the National Natural Landmarks Program, only six have been designated in the last 20 years. The program had been curtailed until recently because of issues surrounding private landowner rights. But in his role on the Science Committee, [Francis] has been able to help re-establish the program and protect the four sites named this week.While the naming is significant, we also can't help noticing how cool all of the new landmarks names (or lack of names) are. Check out the list after the jump.
On my first full day in town, I set out with a friend to wander the streets where different Mardi Gras celebrations take place. We headed first to the Tremé neighborhood, which is home to many of the city's musicians, and is considered the major hub for the African-American festivities throughout the Mardi Gras season. (It's also the location of the new HBO series currently in development, which is directed by David Simon of The Wire, that will focus on post-Katrina life in the city). Today the neighborhood feels very much in flux, and there are signs
that is becoming increasingly
gentrified. The mix of Creole and English homes that line the streets
appear somewhat incongruous: some are brightly painted, while others remain blighted, cross-riddled, and left gutted by
the hurricane. Sotheby's signs are cropping up like mushrooms.
National Geographic Traveler's March issue explores the Magic of the City: Celebrating The Urban Places that Captivate Us. We sent four writers to four very different cities to sample the best shopping in Shanghai, eating in Sydney, walking in London, and playing in Montreal. Then we got 29 of our writers, photographers, and other consummate travelers to share their favorite urban places. But we're not done yet. We want to hear from you. 
We're not sure whether this will be a permanent trend here at IT, but we did feel that it was important to share the recently released news that the new baby gorilla at Washington's National Zoo is a girl! (Pause here for a collective awwww....) David Braun at the Nat Geo News Watch blog reports:Thus far, Mandara [the mother] and her baby girl are adapting to their new lives as Zoo celebrities and seem to be unfazed by the attention they're receiving from the crowds of visitors flocking to the Great Ape House.And in more monkey news, there's also now a video of the chimp rescue we wrote about last week. In it, Emerging Explorer Jill Pruetz talks about the rescue, and we get to see baby Aimee live in action. Here's to monkey Fridays!
You can watch a video of the keeper offering an update on the baby here. Visiting the zoo in our nation's capital is free (and it's just one of the many, many free things to do here) so it might be one more reason to plan a visit.
The Twitosphere (is there such a thing? has it entered the lexicon yet?) was abuzz yesterday about how the microblogging application Twitter can be used when traveling. The newest word for our collective dictionary is the TwiTrip, and theory goes that you can ditch your guidebooks (or magazines for that matter) and instead cast your travel plans to the whims of the Twittering masses. Though I happen to be partial to magazine coverage (obviously), I have to admit that the concept is intriguing. 
Larry Roy, the Minister of Fun for the Krewe of Zulu, at the official opening of the "Tramps to Kings" exhibit.
The LEED-certified Terra Hotel in Jackson Hole is one of the featured properties on Travelocity's "Travel Green" site. Travelocity has partnered with Energy Star, the Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations World Tourism Organization to identify and rate the suppliers, and are using the UN sanctioned guidelines for the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria -- which were established with the help of National Geographic's Center for Sustainable Destinations, the creation of which we reported on earlier this year -- as their model.Many are 100-percent carbon neutral, serve locally-grown, organic foods in their restaurants, and some have partnerships with local conservation groups and encourage guests to make individual donations, which will be matched by the hotel.
Travelocity has developed a four-tier system based around the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria Partnership rating system, which helps determine if a business is truly making an effort at being ecologically and culturally responsible. The properties and destinations featured in the green directory are likely to be training their staff and management about conservation, supporting the local community, working for cultural as well as environmental preservation and actively reducing their carbon footprints. Each business may not be doing all of these things, but if they are taking action in most of these areas, they rated highly enough to earn a spot in Travelocity's directory.
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