Janelle Nanos: June 2009 Archives

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

This image, of Isla Palenque, Panama, was taken by Adam Elliott. Submit your photos now for a chance to win fabulous trips, gear, and other prizes.

There may be no better way to end a weekend than by paying a visit to the Cafe Hon in Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood. After driving seven hours home from the Catskills this past weekend, I was starving, and recalculated the iPhone map to direct me to the eclectic eatery. Replete with a life-sized Elvis statue, a rack of neon sunglasses, and enough beehive hairdos to make you think you're an extra in Hairspray, this high-ceilinged restaurant anchors funky 36th Street and is easy to find thanks to the huge pink flamingo hung outside. Inside, the restaurant, with its attached bar next door, serves up a mix of American comfort foods with a Maryland twist. (One favorite element: the menu offers its own dictionary of 'Bawlmerese'.) I ordered the crab and shrimp pizza (which comes laden with cheddar cheese) and some mussels along with my cream of crab soup. So stuffed was I that I had to skip the pie, which I later learned was a huge mistake.

So what is a Hon anyway? The cafe's website defines it: "[T]he Bawlmer term of endearment, Hon, short for Honey, embodies the warmth and affection bestowed upon our neighbors and visitors alike by historic working-women of Baltimore." (And yes, my waitress utilized the phrase multiple times during our meal.) Every year, the restaurant's proprietor, Denise Whiting, holds the annual HonFest (pictured, above), a celebration of these women and their role in the community. This event basically manifests itself in the form of beehive hairdos, blue eyeshadow, leopard skin tights, and funky sunglasses, and appears, from the many photos, to be a complete hoot. HonFest just passed two weekends ago, but mark your calendars for next June.

Cafe Hon, 1002 W. 36th Street Baltimore, MD +1 410 243 1230

Photo: Hip2bDaniel via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool

Traveler and Photo District News are currently hosting our annual World in Focus Photo Contest, and this year we're letting readers preview the submissions and vote on their favorites. Here's one of of the featured shots from this week:

Steve Nash - 'The Player' from meathawk on Vimeo.

My football-fanatic fiancé (that's European football, mind you) tipped me off to a great charity event happening this afternoon in New York City's Chinatown. The second annual "Showdown in Chinatown," which is coordinated by the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash, pits international pro soccer players against an assorted group of NBA all-stars, all in the name of raising money for Football-for-Good, Nash's charity. Football-for-Good helps bring team sports to war-ravaged countries in Africa, and aims to "develop world-class youth football (soccer) academies that are sustainable, community-centered social businesses in regions that have been ravaged by war." They're working to support "human rights and child protection, and a committed global advocate for African players, families and their communities."

This year, in addition to Nash himself (who famously plays soccer in NYC during the off-season to stay in shape), star athletes expected to attend include Claudio Reyna, Thierry Henry, Tony Parker, Javier Zanetti, Raja Bell, Adrian Mutu, Chris Bosh, Ivan Cordoba, Grant Hill, and Giovanni van Brockhurst. And there's a rumor that Yao Ming may swing by. Check out the video that Nash put together to "recruit" the players, it's a whirlwind of travel, and must have been a blast to shoot.

Kickoff starts at 6 p.m. today in Chinatown's Sarah D. Roosevelt Park and it's free to watch. But I can't help but think it's already packed, so maybe you can sit on Yao Ming's shoulders.

Video: Football-for-Good

Guarded by giant seven-headed serpent gods high on an obscure mountain, in backcountry disputed by Thailand and Cambodia, is an ancient sacred site that's not on the regular tourist map.

 

Surrounded by landmines and bunkers from the Khmer Rouge era, and still caught up in today's border disputes, Preah Vihear, or "Holy Monastery," is a mysterious place few westerners have been able to visit.

 

Jon Ortner, photographer and author of the book "Angkor, Celestial Temples of the Khmer Empire," shares his first encounters and impressions of the thousand-year-old sanctuary in this essay of words and photos composed especially for NatGeo News Watch.

We're always excited when a new National Geographic blog enters the fray, and for the past few weeks Blog Wild editor Ford Cochran has been publishing some seriously great content at a steady clip. Blog Wild covers all of the missions-related news at the society - from the work our explorers are doing out in the field to the programs and events that are happening in the building (Angelina Jolie's recent visit to our offices falls into the latter category, she was here speaking about U.N. World Refugee Day last week). Ford's got a great voice, and he's providing a sneak peek at the inner workings here, including a story about this behind-the-scenes shot (above) taken by Tim Greenleaf of Nat Geo Expeditions during a visit to Kenya's Amboseli National Park:

"Photography rule number one," Tim admonished. "Don't forget to look behind you!"

In fairness, Tim noted that the photographer and videographer above might have been filming, say, Amboseli's deeply endangered lions rather than the elephants. But still.

Congrats to Ford and the Blog Wild crew for a great launch. Bookmark Blog Wild now to keep up with all things National Geographic. 

[Blog Wild]

Ok, so maybe sleeping in a zoo isn't your thing. Want to camp out in a museum instead? Then head to Copenhagen.

The Kunsthal Charlottenborg museum of contemporary art just opened a new exhibit this weekend featuring a work by artists Bosch & Fjord that is, in essence, a group of beds in a gallery space. Culture Camping is social experiment created to challenge your senses, and asks what happens when eight people are picked to live in a museum (overnight) and see what happens... (We can only guess that the guests will stop being polite, and start getting real.)

Those who are lucky enough to snag a bed will experience vertigo, thanks to the six-meter-long cords that are suspended from the ceiling above them, and there are other "nocturnal surprises" like bedtime stores and lullabies planned for the evening. Guests are able to walk through the exhibit, built art installations, record sounds, and play in an adult-sized sandbox. The following morning, the visitors will have a roundtable discussion over breakfast about their experiences.

It's an new week, which means a new batch of World in Focus Photo Contest photos are up online on our website. The contest, hosted by Traveler and Photo District News let's amateur and professional photographers alike submit their pics for the chance to win amazing trips, gear, and other prizes. And this year, we're letting our readers vote on their favorites. Here's one of of the featured shots from this week:

This photo, by Edward Shmunes, was taken in Rockport, Maine. Vote now for your favorites, and submit your own pictures for a chance to win the contest.

[World in Focus]

For some, it's kitsch, Americana, and corn dogs. For others it's the pinnacle of summer. And for Garrison Keillor, host of widely popular radio show Prairie Home Companion, it was an assignment unlike any other. In this month's issue of National Geographic, Keillor shares the lessons he learned while visiting six state fairs last summer, and emumerates his Top Ten State Fair Joys. Photographer Joel Sartore traveled with Keillor to each of the fairs, and some of his brilliant images are featured below. Check out the full gallery and submit your own photos to National Geographic's My Shot: State Fairs, and take our quiz to test your knowledge of state fair history.

"I ain't got no body," croons Andy Mullins, midway barker at the State Fair of Texas. "I greet people, crack 'half' jokes, sing 'All of Me,' " he says. But the mirror illusion that makes him look like half a man is the big draw. "I love the way kids look at me and ask if I'm real."

Traveler and Photo District News are currently hosting our annual World in Focus Photo Contest, and this year we're letting readers preview the submissions and vote on their favorites. Here's one of of the featured shots from this week:

Our colleague Lynn Ackerson recently flew through the Munich airport, where she encountered two odd, futuristic-looking cubes in Terminal 2. Intrigued but exhausted, she curled up across a few chairs in the waiting area during her layover and said she'd investigate after her nap. Too bad she didn't look first.

The gleaming white boxes are in fact Napcabs, and have been installed in the airport for about a year now. The winning design from the Technical University of Munich's 2007 Innovation competition, these two cubes let you have a private nook to yourself for awhile, where you can sleep, check email, and escape the stresses of the airport. They're outfitted with Wi-Fi (though some reports have said it can be spotty), a bed, electrical outlets, and ambient lighting. They cost about 15 Euros an hour and you can use your credit card to swipe yourself in and out.

Um, we want one?

Need a rewarding getaway this summer? About about 100 getaways? Author Pam Grout has gathered a wide selection of fantastic--and fulfilling--trips to choose from in her book The 100 Best Volunteer Vacations to Enrich Your Life. Here are some of her favorites, with the full book excerpt here on Traveler's site. Want the whole book? We're offering a 20 percent discount - so order now and get going! 

1. Excavate Stone Tools; Cortez, Colorado
2. Blaze a New Trail; New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana
3. Collect Butterflies in Remote Amazonia; Huaorani Reserve, Ecuador
4. Produce the News; Cochabamba, Bolivia
5. Turn a Military Base into a School and Garden; Bethlehem, Israel
6. Bottle-Feed Orphaned Lion Cubs; Victoria Falls, Zambia
7. Research the Great White Shark; Gansbaai, South Africa
8. Assist the Kenya Wildlife Service; Kenya
9. Restore a Buddhist Monastery; Mustang Valley, Nepal
10. Go Carbon Neutral in Western Australia; Perth, Australia

Photo: Bottle-feed lion cubs with Amanzi Travel and help save the "king of beasts." by Daniel Mallard/iStockphoto.com

Are you a fan of polar bears? (Who isn't?!) Well there's some good news from our friends over at the NatGeo News Watch blog:

Russia will create a new 3.7 million-acre (1.5 million-hectare) park in the Arctic, a central area for the Barents and Kara Sea polar bear populations, WWF said today.

Announcing the park, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he hoped it would be a major attraction for tourism, and announced that he personally plans to vacation there, WWF said.

The new Russian Arctic park is located on the northern part of Novaya Zemlya, a long island that arcs out into the Arctic Ocean between the Barents and Kara Seas, WWF said. It also includes some adjacent marine areas.

Check out the entire post for more info on the park.

Photo: NGS photo of polar bear in the Russian Arctic by Gordon Wiltsie

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

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

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

Traveler and Photo District News are currently hosting our annual World in Focus Photo Contest, and this year we're letting readers preview the submissions and vote on their favorites. It's the start to a new week, meaning there's a whole new gallery to check out. Here's one of of the featured shots from this week:

Traveler and Photo District News are currently hosting our annual World in Focus Photo Contest, and this year we're letting readers preview the submissions and vote on their favorites. Each week, we'll feature ten entries on the Traveler website. Here's one of of the featured shots from this week:

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

The Duke Ellington Jazz Festival is in full swing here in D.C. this week, with over 100 performances in 35 venues around the city. This year's festival celebrates the music of New Orleans, and has a roster of artists -- Harry Connick Jr., Buckwheat Zydeco, Trombone Shorty -- that would make any jazz-hound swoon. While the huge, talent-packed event at the Kennedy Center this coming Monday is sold out, they'll be plenty of (free!) jazz performances on The Mall this weekend, and restaurants and clubs throughout D.C. are hosting acts as part of Jazz in the Hoods. I spoke with the festival's founder, Charles Fishman, yesterday about the events, and in the spirit of jazz, he riffed a bit with me about how it's come together.

"The first year we did three concerts and had programs in 11 different clubs, this year we have over 100 performances in 35 different venues in the city. Jazz in the Hood is going into restaurants, clubs, hotels, and galleries. Some of these places do jazz, but many of them don't. It's pretty overwhelming -- people keep calling us and saying they want to be involved. Working with all these clubs, it's very encouraging to see what the response has been.

"Jazz is the one of the only original American art forms. You need to expose people to jazz: They hardly hear it on the radio, they never see it on television, and the record studios aren't doing diddly squat. These festivals are becoming a force.

"To have two full days on the National Mall for such renowned musicians from New Orleans is an amazing opportunity. I think we're the first jazz festival to dedicate our festival to another city. With the exception of our artistic advisor - everybody is from New Orleans. Essentially we're offering a virtual microcosmic cornucopia of the diversity of the musical heritage of New Orleans, which has driven American culture. But unfortunately, many immortal jazz artists are more appreciated out of this country than in this country."

Fishman encourages anyone coming into D.C. this weekend to make their way to The Mall, and be sure to check out U Street, where much of the city's jazz history is found. As our interview/jam session ended, I thanked him for his time. "That's what we do, we jazz baby," he said with a laugh.

[Duke Ellington Jazz Festival; Schedule of Events]

Photo: Duke Ellington Jazz Festival

So it's come to this. Our friends over at Gadling just posted a video from an unfortunate American tourist traveling through Australia by train. Nineteen-year-old Chad Vance stepped off the platform during a crew change, and the train began to leave without him. Instead of waiting for the next train, he jumped on, clinging to a tiny stairway platform for over two hours in sub-zero temperatures. He obviously got bored while there, so he had time to take a video of his escapade (one can only imagine his status update: "Stuck on train platform. Cold. Bored. Please Help!").

Eventually, one of the train's staff noticed him and pulled the emergency brake. He was brought inside and given a cabin upgrade (hot showers!) and continued on his travels through the outback. Fortunately for Chad they found him when they did, as the train had another 3.5 hours to travel before it reached its destination.

[Gadling]

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

Hitting the road this summer? Just because you're out of your comfort zone doesn't mean that your eco-friendly habits have to go on vacation too. Responsibletravel.com recently surveyed their readers about which travel faux pas they noticed most often in tourists. It's bad enough looking the part, do your best not to act it by avoiding these ill-minded actions.

1. "Littering - especially plastic bags."
2. "Purchasing illegal souvenirs or food produce."
3. "Wasting water in destinations which face shortages e.g. Spain."
4. "Leaving lights on."
5. "Leaving air conditioning on in hotel rooms when you're not in them."
6. "Purchasing mineral water in plastic water bottles when the hotel provides drinkable water for re-fills."
7. "Standing on coral reefs. It takes approx. one hundred years for one inch of coral to grow. By killing it you affect the whole eco system."
8. "Disturbing wild animals by getting as close as possible for a better picture."
9. "Throwing cigarette butts on the ground."
10. "Failing to take advantage of recycling facilities where offered."

Of course, there's hope for all of us, and lots of great ways to stay green while you're traveling. For more tips and ideas, check out Traveler's Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Travel. And National Geographic's Green Guide just launched their huge online package on having an eco-savvy summer, offering tips on what not to bring to the beach, a "How Green is Your Road Trip" quiz, and yes, even a buying guide to eco-friendly beer.

Got your own tip? Share it below.

[via Traveling the Green Way]

Photo: Vasjan Gulka, National Geographic magazine's My Shot

Traveler and Photo District News are currently hosting our annual World in Focus Photo Contest, and this year we're letting readers preview the submissions and vote on their favorites. Each week, we'll feature ten entries on the Traveler website. Here's one of of the featured shots from this week:

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

It's been a long time coming, but today marks the opening of one of the biggest public works projects to hit New York City in a generation. The High Line began its life as an elevated railway platform stretching through the western edge of Manhattan, delivering cows to the meatpacking district. Decommissioned in 1980 (the last train delivered a batch of frozen turkeys) it was a subject of intense debate in the neighborhood for almost two decades - between those who sought to preserve the rail line and those who hoped to tear it down and develop the land. Today it has been reopened -- and re-invisioned -- as a fantastic public park. Taking a page from Paris's Promenade Plantée, it's a park lifted above the city streets, an escape from the crowds and a place for contemplation. The design, by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio & Renfro, features over 100 species of plants and also provides connective tissue to the neighborhood's gallery scene, incorporating art works like Spencer Finches site-specific piece, The River That Flows Both Ways, which is made up of 700 individual panes of blue and green tinted glass, each of which represent light reflected off the Hudson River. It's also been a boon to development in the neighborhood, with over 30 new projects planned for the space surrounding it, said Mayor Bloomberg this morning at the official opening. The first section of the park, which runs from 20th Street to Gansevoort St. (enter at Gansevoort), is now open to the public from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The New York Times is calling it "something of a New York fairy tale" and I'm dying to check it out. If you have, let us know what you think!

[Getting to the High Line]

Photo: Iwan Baan, via The High Line Blog

A Caribbean sunset? Not quite...it's Vermont.

I'm just back from a trip to the islands...of Vermont. While the Green Mountain State may foster thoughts of skiing, snow and perhaps maple syrup, Vermont is a blast during the non-summer months. And yes, there are islands in the state, the foremost of which are North and South Hero, located just a few miles north of Burlington in the middle of Lake Champlain. It may not be the Caribbean, but these bucolic islands are absolutely lovely, and just as much of an escape.

I ventured north to attend a wedding on South Hero, and the bride and groom chose an innovative option, booking the entire Eagle Camp, a family campground open during the summer. Aside from the staggering views of the lake, which also provided a perfect spot for bonfires, the camp was a hit with us wedding-goers, with a mix of cozy cabins and tents and plenty of room to spread out and play croquet, bocce ball, and shuffleboard (W. Shore Rd.; +1 802 372 4242).

If you prefer to wait until the fall, be sure to visit during South Hero's Applefest, which is the largest apple festival in the state, and will take place October 10-11 this year. I visited years ago and still swoon when I think of the many varieties of apple goodies -- cobbler, cider, candied, pie -- that I sampled while there. A friend and I spent a good part of the afternoon walking through an orchard, pulling apples off the trees, awash in sensory overload. It was hedonism at its best.

Traveler and Photo District News are currently hosting our annual World in Focus Photo Contest, and this year we're letting readers preview the submissions and vote on their favorites. Each week, we'll feature ten entries on the Traveler website. Here's one of of the featured shots:

This shot was taken of the hillsides of the central Mexican city of Guanajuato, by Dennis J. Butera. Guanajuato is a UNESCO World Heritage city, and was one of the first sites in Mexico to be colonized by the Spanish. Submit your photos now and get the chance to win great prizes, gear, and trips.  

Contributing Editor Christopher Elliott tests out the latest in travel gadgets.

A travel company that doesn't tell you to get lost when you've got a problem?

When they offered to send me a review unit of the new TomTom GO 740 Live promising me just that, I had just one question -- where do I sign up? But it's true: This navigation system not only helps you find your way when all others -- even my trusty iPhone 3G -- are "off the grid" but it makes sure you don't get lost in the first place. Gotta love it.

Well, almost all of it. I tested this high-end Internet-connected direction-finder, which costs a hefty $399 (it includes three months of Internet services) and found it about as easy to use as any other nav system I've ever evaluated. The similarities end there, though. The GO 740 Live has a host of features under the hood that set it apart, including cool new routing technology that helps you chart the most efficient way based on traffic patterns and other real-time traffic information, a fuel-price locator, and an easy way to find restaurants when you're on the road. It even tells you when you'll arrive at your destination.

What hasn't changed is the primary way of interacting with the device. The user interface has supposedly been redesigned, but in many ways it handles just like the first-generation nav systems I looked at years ago. For those of us who are used to the tried-and-true, that should come as a relief. All others can try the voice-activated instructions. I haven't been able to figure those out yet, probably because with three young children in the back seat, there's never a shortage of ambient noise. If you take frequent road trips alone, you'll want to use the GO 740 Live instead of a handheld GPS system, which, if operated at 70 miles an hour is just an accident waiting to happen. If you have company, a GPS-enabled cell phone -- or an old-fashioned paper map -- might be good enough for your summer road trip.

Traveler and Photo District News are currently hosting our annual World in Focus Photo Contest, and this year we're letting readers preview the submissions and vote on their favorites. Each week, we'll feature ten entries on the Traveler website. Here's one of my faves:

This breathtaking mirror-image was taken in the Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia, South America by Hayden Carlyon. He has the chance to some serious prizes, including a National Geographic Expedition, photography workshops, and new camera gear. Enter now to get the chance to win some prizes of your own.

[World in Focus, Voting Machine]

This week marks the anniversary of some serious intrepid traveling: NASA successfully launched the first monkeys into space 50 years ago. Two rhesus monkeys named Miss Baker and Able were launched in a Jupiter AM-18 rocket, and National Geographic's Breaking Orbit blog reports that "they reached to a height of 360 miles (579 kilometers) before plummeting back to Earth to land in the ocean." Scientists found the heroic "monkeynauts" alive and well and they were immediately taken to Washington for a press conference.

National Geographic News has a fantastic "monkeynaut" slide show documenting their role in the development of space travel, and reports that "although humans have been making space voyages since 1961, animals have continued to play a role in international space tests. In addition to monkeys, animals that have gone into space in the name of science include dogs, cats, fruit flies, rabbits, turtles, spiders, jellyfish, and amoebas." And now, with the help of Richard Branson, all of us may be able to follow in their path.

My question is, what did the monkeys think of all this? This particular guy looks pretty confused by the whole thing. Got a caption for the photo? Let us know in the comments below.

Photo: Courtesy of NASA

The beloved postcard has gone digital. A few months ago, we wrote about Hazel Mail, which allows you to upload photos from your computer to be sent as postcards back home. Well, now it seems there's an app for that as well. Our friends over at Matador Travel introduced us to goPostal, an application for your iPhone or iPod Touch which lets you to snap a photo and send it as a paper postcard with a personalized message attached. The 4x6 postcard can be delivered to any U.S. address for just $1.29 per card, including postage. We can't help but think it's perfect for the tweaks on classic postcard images (holding up the tower in Pisa, for example). But I have to admit that it dispatches with one of my favorite aspects of postcard culture: foreign stamps. What's your take?

[Print Your Life]