The Sounds of Grenada

Like any place you visit for the first time, the impressions you first get are crucial. If you arrive late, you miss out on one of the biggest sensations--sight. And if you've ever gone to an island in the Caribbean at night, you know exactly what it's like. You're hovering over the landing zone, seeing only black and scattered dots of light, and suddenly WHAM! you're on the ground. The wheels screetch to a halt and before you have a chance to assess the situation, you are safely on ground in a Caribbean island.

The same could probably be said for any night-landing on an island anywhere in the world, but for whatever reason, there's something different about landing in the Caribbean at night. Maybe it's changing seasons in just a few hours. Maybe it's the sudden laid back attitude. Either way, you know exactly where you are before the captain comes on to tell you the local time and weather.

I arrived in Grenada today after a long and tiring day of travel. I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to leave Amherst, driving in the dark to Bradley International Airport somewhere between Springfield and Hartford. With a layover in San Juan, Puerto Rico, I had a chance to reflect on some of the other Caribbean destinations I'd been to in my time. Grand Cayman, Bahamas, Barbados--after a while they all start to blur together. Especially when you land at night and all you have to go on is your primal senses.

So when I got off the plane a little after 8:30 p.m., the first thing I noticed was the sweet smell in the air. I'd noticed this smell before in St. Thomas--so strong that you can't ignore it. But there's something else. There's the smell of a fire burning. The smell of some food on the grill. The smell of the night just getting started as hungry Grenadines decide what to do on a beautiful Friday night. No clouds, no wind, just the 5 feet of visibility in front of them and the smells they're all but accustomed to.

I'd like to say I'm all but jaded to this "newbie" phenomenon to an island, but I'm not. I'm excited as you could be--a newcomer to something beyond what I could have imagined. After a fantastic dinner at The Aquarium Restaurant, hosted by Ulrich Kuhn, we took the short ride to our lodging, the Spice Island Beach Resort, which completely blows away anything I ever could have imagined.

A private pool and sauna are just two of the things awaiting me in my own villa, and the champagne has been on ice waiting for me as well. Perhaps it's chilly for the Grenadines, but for me, it's just right. I can smell the sweet fruits that I don't yet know, and many other things which amuse my nostrils, tempting me to stay out longer. But for now, it's time for some sleep, for it's been a long enough day, and lord knows there's more of the sweet life in store tomorrow.

I will be in Grenada from Friday to Tuesday morning. Check my blog daily for updates on the trip.

The er Files

Kelly Westhoff, who writes and blogs for GoNOMAD, has recently changed to format of her blog. Where Global Roam used to be, The er Files now exist. The er Files focus on tidbits about the freelancing life of a writer. Westhoff writes about different topics every few days on different and unique topics. Her latest entry is about a book called The Buenos Aires Broken Hearts Club. Here's a selection from it.

I just finished reading a book called The Buenos Aires Broken Hearts Club. The author's name is Jessica Morrison and her main character, Cassie, flees to the city of good airs after being fired, dumped and evicted from her Seattle life all in one day.

While the book is billed as fiction, the author says up front in her author's note that she went to Buenos Aires after a divorce and on more or less a broken heart. After reading it, it was very clear to me that the author had indeed spent time in the city.

I picked up the book because I, too, went to live in Buenos Aires when I had a broken heart. It was 1997 when I went and the city soothed me. Well, there's nothing really "soothing" about Buenos Aires. It's a massive, crowded, noisy, bright and caffeinated city. Perhaps it would be better if I said that Buenos Aires distracted me. It distracted me from my broken heart long enough for it to heal.

You can read the rest of this post and all of Westhoff's blog posts at:

The er Files

25 things to do in Boston for under $25

The Boston Globe has come out with a list of 25 fun things to do in Boston for under $25. Though some of the things listed might seem obvious, there are other events that might surprise you. Here's an excerpt from the entry about going to a Celtics game.

With baseball season at a close, it’s time to cheer on Boston’s basketball team, the Boston Celtics. Try to snag $10 balcony seats, where you can enjoy the game from high above and see all of the action. For a look at the complete Celtics schedule, visit the Celtics website.

This is an excerpt from the entry about skating on Frog Pond.

Test your ice skating skills on America’s oldest public park’s ice skating rink. Frog Pond skating will open on Nov. 15 at 5:30 p.m. and is open from November to mid-March. Mayor Thomas Menino will host this year’s opening ceremonies with special demonstrations by champion figure skaters and precision pairs and skating teams. Glide alongside local residents or visitors as you train for Olympic gold or just enjoy a romantic evening out with your special someone. Admission is $4 per person, and children under 13 are free. Skate rentals are $8 and $5 for children under 13.

Here is an excerpt from the entry about the International Fine Arts Show.

Now is the time to brush up on your contemporary and traditional fine art knowledge when you visit the Boston International Fine Art Show on Nov. 15-18. Guests will be able to browse over 40 galleries from the United States and Europe including paintings, works on paper, sculpture, photography, fine prints, mixed media, studio furniture, and glass and ceramics at the Boston Center for the Arts in the South End. Enjoy the fine food, delicious wine, festive music, and of course the wonderful selection of fine art. Weekend show admission is $12 at the door, and children under 12 are free.

You can see the rest of the 25 things to do in Boston at Boston.com

More to See in Lisbon

In a new travel article from The New York Times, writer Seth Sherwood writes about Lisbon, Portugal having much more to offer than most people realize. Lisbon, which is often over shadowed by bigger or better known cities in Europe, has just as many things to do and a wonderful culture of its own. Here's a piece from the article.

For years, the best-known cultural contributions from this small seafaring nation were those stewed up in cauldrons from humble materials like squid and cod.

But that is changing, and no place embodies Portugal's emergence as a serious design destination better than the waterside Santos quarter of Lisbon. The splashiest evidence is the Boavista site, where Norman Foster is designing a futuristic tower and commercial complex that will be filled with “galleries, studios, showrooms, exhibitions, performances, cinema, auditorium, cafes, shops, bars and restaurants,” in the words of its press materials. The goal is to create a project that “promotes the worlds of design and the arts.”

In the meantime, devotees of sleekness can genuflect before Santos da Casa (Avenida Dom Carlos I 49a, 351-21-395-2536), a loftlike emporium that showcases upstart Portuguese designers alongside Continental design icons like Poltrona chairs and Arne Jacobsen tea services. Especially impressive are Ana Pimentel's sinuous J-shaped lamp in blond wood (163 euros, or about $243 at $1.49 to the euro) and Luísa Peixoto's boxy chrome lamps adorned with red silk (180 euros).

Aluminum, plastic, cork, rubber and wood aren't exactly the most dazzling ingredients in the jewelry trade — and that's just the point for Paula Crespo, the proprietor of Galeria Reverso (Rua da Esperança 59-61, 351-21-395-1407; www.reversodasbernardas.com). “When you don't use expensive materials, you can show more easily the artistic side of the piece,” she said. Ms. Crespo sells her own rings and brooches alongside those of judiciously chosen Portuguese and international peers. “If something is in gold, people just think it's expensive. If it's in plastic, it's easier to show the creativity and innovation.”

Read the rest of the article at NYtimes.com

A Spa in the Czech Republic

In a new article in The New York Times by Rosslyn Glassman, a trip to the Czech town of Marianske Lazne is explored. The town is famous for spas where kings once went to relax, and Glassman went for a week to see what it was all about. Here's a sample from the article.

“That is excellent,” he said. “For this I will recommend six mineral baths, six gas baths, three gas injections, three inhalations and three manipulations. You will exercise in the pool and walk three miles a day. You will also go three times to the springs and drink three liters a day.”

Then he pointed the way out of his office.

This was not the treatment I’d imagined when I’d booked a relaxing week at the Czech town of Marianske Lazne. Once known as Marienbad, this spa town was for decades a draw for countless of the celebrated and the royal — among them Goethe, Chopin, Wagner, King Edward VII of Britain and Czar Nicholas II of Russia — who would come to take the waters and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

My own knowledge was limited to seeing the Alain Resnais film “Last Year at Marienbad,” in which Delphine Seyrig, playing a bored housewife, wanders through corridors of an elegant chateau, wearing designer clothes and trying to remember whether she’d been there the year before.

When booking my stay, I’d rather fancied the idea of drifting through a few corridors and meeting some glamorous people on the way.

Wrong again.

On my way down to dinner in what had once been the sumptuous dining room of the Hotel Nove Lazne — built in the 1890s and now modernized to 1970s hideousness — the only residents I encountered seemed to be elderly Russians in shiny track suits and even older East Germans dressed for church. A large buffet arrangement of dumplings, potatoes, cake, cake and more cake awaited.

Marianske Lazne claims to have 40 springs in the immediate vicinity and 100 in the surrounding area. The three most important — Rudolph’s, Caroline’s and the Cross Spring — are pumped into a neo-Classical temple in a lovely park in the center of town, across the road from my hotel.

Read the rest of Glassman's article at NYtimes.com

The Gorillas of Rwanda

In a new travel article up on GoNOMAD, Gabriel Constans writes about his trip up into the mountains of Rwanda and his experiences with the gorillas there. Besides the gorillas, Constans talks about the beautiful scenery and the people he met. Here's a sample from the article.

The scenery during our two-hour ride along the Ruhengari Road (built by the Chinese) was spectacular, but even that lovely assault on the senses didn’t prepare us for what was to come.

When we arrived at The Gorilla Nest Lodge in Ruhengeri, just outside the Volcanoes National Park, we were stunned. Imagine a luxury hotel, superbly crafted from local stone, wood and bamboo, tucked into the jungle at the bottom of a blue-green volcanic range.

Top that off with spacious rooms, fine dining and friendly service from people that speak English, French and Kinyarwanda (the national language) and you have a virtual Shangri-la in the middle of Africa.

After a peaceful night we were driven to the Virunga Park entrance and met our guide, Fidel, who has worked as a park ranger for thirteen years. He informed us that we would be walking for about three hours to find the family we would be observing.

We set out, nine in all and made our way up the hillside past planted fields and traditional mud huts; over the stone wall, which was built by villagers (who were paid by the government) to keep out elephants and buffalo and to delineate the park boundary.

We were well prepared for what is usually a wet misty experience (with our boots and raincoats), but were in luck with sunny weather and clear trail.

You can read the rest of the article at GoNOMAD.com

A Change in Airlines

Michelle Higgins of The New York Times writes in a new article about the changing condition of Coach class airline tickets. With cheaper airfares, airlines are cutting back on some of the things that used to be expected with every flight. Here's a clip from the article.

Doug Fesler, an executive at a medical research group in Washington, wasn’t expecting much in the way of amenities on his American Airlines flight to Honolulu in September. In fact, knowing the airline no longer served free meals, he had packed his own lunch for the second leg of his flight from Dallas to Honolulu. But he said he was shocked at the lack of basic services and the overall condition of the cabin.

On that flight, the audio for the movie was broken. The light that indicated when the bathroom was occupied was squirrely, causing confusion and, in some cases, embarrassingly long waits for passengers in need of the lavatory. And though food was available for purchase, it ran out before the flight attendants could serve the entire cabin, leaving some fellow passengers looking longingly at the snack he had packed.

His return flight was just as disappointing. This time the audio for the movie worked — but only in Spanish — and his seat refused to stay in the upright position. “I was just appalled,” Mr. Fesler said. “You pay $500 or $600 for a seat, and you expect it to be functional.” He said he has considered refusing to fly airlines with such poor service, but added that “if you did that with every airline that made you mad, you’d never get anywhere in this country.”

Read the rest of the article at NYtimes.com

Eat Your Way Through Vermont

Everyone knows that Vermont is famous for cheese, maple syrup, and other homegrown treats. Diane Foulds of The Boston Globe writes in a new article that there is much more to those treats than some people realize. Eat Your Way Through Vermont is a new tour that lasts for three days during the spring, summer, and fall. The tour takes you to farms, markets, and food producers to give you a good taste of the cuisine of Vermont. Here's a sample from the article.

These welcoming stores, plentifully stocked with seasonal specialties, represent the next evolutionary step from the dwindling family farm. Numbering about a dozen, most are staffed by family members, and in most cases not at all remorseful that they've swapped barn-mucking for bus-greeting. Several shops provide amusements for the nonshoppers who turn up inevitably in every crowd, and all make for interesting browsing, if only to wince at the moose shirts and chocolate "cow patties."

In the mood for soft serve? Don't ask for vanilla; maple's the only flavor. As you lick the creamy softness, look around at how many concoctions a Vermont farm with time on its hands can dream up, and the answer is: plenty. Maple in every form conceivable: fudge, candy, sauce, cream, sugar, mustard, salad dressing, and more. For the more adventuresome, maple-infused beef jerky, peanut brittle, and popcorn.

At Butternut Mountain Farm's shop in downtown Johnson, you can sample infused maple syrups spiced with unexpected accents, a gourmet twist on the usual pancake topper. Besides the gingered maple, there's Sweet Autumn tinged with a vanilla-apple blend, Sweet Chai with cardamom and ginger, and Sweet Heat nuanced with habanero peppers. Owner Dave Marvin is the second of a three-generation sugaring family that wholesales syrup to other producers. He opened the shop a few years ago as "an adjunct to the farm" and to test new items on the market. Maple isn't all he sells; you'll also find honeys, homemade jams, chocolates, pewter, and locally-crafted gifts.

Read the rest of the article at Boston.com

Around the World Travel Adventure

If you've ever watched The Amazing Race and thought about doing it, now you can. GreatEscape2008 is an around-the-world travel competition that allows you to see different parts of the world for three weeks. The competiton is looking for fifty people to compete. Here's a description of the competition.

A recent travel poll conducted by National Geographic Traveler/Yahoo!, found that for 2 of 3 travelers, the circumnavigation of the globe is the greatest journey left and called it the "ultimate travel experience." GreatEscape2008 offers real travelers that chance.A real adventure for real people.but only 50 savvy travelers will be allowed to compete in this annual travel adventure competition and international charity event that takes place between April 11 and May 4, 2008. The winning Team will be crowned The World's Greatest Travelers in this remarkable one-of-a-kind travel event."

GreatEscape is all about allowing real travelers to compete in a real travel adventure competition, for all the right reasons-the love of travel, trusting strangers in strange lands and giving something back to the planet," says Event Director William Chalmers, "Some have called our annual event the 'Olympics of Travel', some refer to it as A Blind Date with the World because our travelers won't have any foreknowledge as to what countries they're going to until they're onboard a 747 bound for parts unknown, and some have even called it a 'Magical Mystery Tour'. I like that one!"

For three magical weeks, 25 Teams of two will travel the globe visiting at least 10 countries scattered across 4 continents like Indiana Jones' (and Jane's) hot on the path of the Holy Grail. Teams earn points by completing a series of cultural-oriented scavenges (finding Buddha's tooth in Sri Lanka; explaining Thai cooking flavors; visiting King Tut) and challenges (take a photo of a wild orangutan in Indonesia; enter a camel race in India; learn to belly dance in Turkey) in exotic destinations. A cultural immersion at its best, the event is designed to be a rally rather than a flat out race. The object is to test each Team's ability to combat not only the inevitable jetlag, but language difficulties, cultural differences, their appetite for strange foods, logistical snafus and Team dynamics in the milieu of a well organized competition.

For event related information, please contact: Event Director: William D. Chalmers - 310.281.7809 OR 2008eventdirector@GlobalScavengerHunt.com

Down Under to Antarctica

Bruce Northam has written a new article for GoNOMAD about an amazing trip he took down to Antarctica. Spending time with penguins and touring the glaciers was only part of the experience. Here's a short piece from the article.

At its thickest, the ice is over 2.8 miles (4.5 km) deep, a colossal cap covering the continent and exerting massive influence on world weather, substantially more than the arctic ice cap. The Arctic region/North Pole is ice floating on an ocean and, by comparison, has half the ice.

Here, there are birds that can’t fly (penguins) and mammals that can’t walk (seals); a pollution-free environment where the wildlife returns your ogle. There’s no native population, so any environmental degradation is caused solely by outsiders. With limited history of abuse – excepting whalers and seal clubbers active until the mid 1900’s – animals don’t fear humans.

Wildlife endures unimaginably harsh climate conditions. Only two percent of its land is not covered by permanent ice, and that’s where 16 of the 17 species of extremely tolerant, upright ducks colonize and nest during their short summer vacation. (Penguin species number seventeen claimed the Galapagos).

The UN-sponsored, 1959 Antarctic treaty mandated that everything south of 60-degree southern latitude may only be explored for peaceful purposes: no hunting, fishing, industry, exporting, oil drilling, or weapons testing. Mingling with penguins, however, penguins willing, is permissible.

You can read the rest of the article at GoNOMAD.com

Relax on the Beach in Bahia

Bahia is a section in Brazil that is becoming more and more popular for tourists, musicians, and actors alike to vacation. With 650 miles of coastline to explore, you can have a great vacation and not worry about being bothered by huge crowds. In a new article from The New York Times, Alex Robinson writes about how to spend 8 days in Bahia, as well as other things to know about the area. Here's a sample from the article.

1) Start off in Salvador. Check into the Convento do Carmo, then see the capoeira dancers and have dinner at Solar do Unhão.

2) After touring Baroque buildings in the city's Pelourinho district, tuck into the moqueca at the Sorriso da Dadá restaurant. Then go to a concert at Terreiro de Jesus square.

3) Catch a plane to Porto Seguro (www.tam.com.br; $150 round trip), then a taxi to Trancoso. Check into the Pousada Etnia (www.etniabrasil.com.br).

4) Hit Itapororoca beach in the morning and Trancoso or Coqueiros beach in the afternoon. Join the beautiful people for a caipisake at Capim Santo.

5) Take a day trip to Praia do Espelho — a long stretch of white sand — with a driver from Portomondo (www.portomondo.com). Have lunch at Silvinha's.

6) Browse the sexy Brazilian swimwear shops (Lenny, Osklen) on Trancoso's main square, the Quadrado. Later, join the samba line at O Tempo Rei.

7) Hop a flight north from Porto Seguro to Ilhéus for a stay at the Txai resort in nearby Itacaré. Sign up for an afternoon horseback-riding trip.

8) Surf and swim off Tiririca beach, then bliss out with a seven-herb body treatment and an abhyanga massage at the Txai spa.

You can read the rest of the article at NYtimes.com

The Beautiful Cote d'Azure

In a new travel article by Kent E. St. John on GoNOMAD, the beauty and adventures of Cote d'Azure in France are discussed. St. John writes about numerous activities and things to do on the coast. Here's a sample from the piece.

As I struggled through a massive breakfast from my rooftop perch at Opio I noticed a huge mountain in the distance. A fellow early eater noted my interest and told me that he happened to be at the top of that mountain the day before. His description of a rock fortress and a small ancient village convinced me that Gourdon might make the perfect first village to explore. It was.

The stone village of Gourdon was stunning, and the view from La Place Victoria simply amazing. Far out on the horizon the blue of the Mediterranean was interspersed with cities and towns such as Cannes and the Antibes.

Hang gliders seemed to float like colorful butterflies and the air was lit in shades that only a painter could describe.

Behind me the massive peak of Castellarras stood like an ancient sentry. There was a fantastic option open to those with a sense of adventure, a hike down the mule path, once the only way in and out of Gourdon.

Hiking down the Gorge du Loup wasn’t difficult, but caution is needed as it is rocky and can be steep. It was sheer peaceful delight. Plants and natural herbs blended into a symphony of fragrance only bested by visual stimuli of a blessed panorama.

A few hours later I sat near the pool at Opio with a glass of local wine in hand and no wallet. A thirsty man with no budget restrictions… the Opio style was rapidly growing on me.

You can read the rest of St. John's article at GoNOMAD.com

Struggles in Belarus

A new article by the Boston Globe's Tom Haines shows the struggles for those living in Belarus to overcome the troubles of the past and move on. Haines writes about the neighbors of Belarus moving on and doing well, yet Belarus itself is still struggling to find itself. Here's a sample from the article.

Two months earlier, another performance in this same house by this same troupe, Free Theatre, ended before it began when police arrested actors and audience alike. To get to tonight's show, individuals stood near a bus depot in the October dark, then followed a man with a backpack up one street, down another, behind the house, and in.

The lean-faced actor stoops at center stage, and there is complete and uncertain silence. Then: CRACK!

With the onstage explosion an actress strides in, arms waving, voice bellowing silly scales. She belts national anthem lyrics from Soviet days in a style that is bold and mocking: "WE BELARUSIANS!" She urges her imaginary students: SING!

In this land-locked edge at the geographic center of Europe, expression still battles repression behind borders that defy time.

Neighbors north and west - Latvia, Lithuania, Poland - have joined the European Union, bringing its boundary closer. Even Russia, just east, has collapsed toward capitalism and risen mightily, if not so democratically, again.

Yet Belarus braces beneath the dictatorial rule of President Alexander Lukashenko, who tries to control industry, information, and ideas.

In the makeshift theater, the singer gives way to an actor tapping a raucous melody on a tinny toy piano, and an actress with steel blue eyes holds up a child's worn nightie: memories of kindergarten. This show, titled "Childhood Legends," goes on without police interference, and actors tell personal tales: a father's lament for a suicidal son, a daughter's struggle with a father behind bars.

Such open dialogue and self-examination have not been possible for Belarus, a country of 10 million people that is not even two decades old. Yet on the inside, even with Lukashenko's campaign for conformity, opinions are everywhere.

Read the rest of the article at Boston.com

Oysters From Prince Edward Island

Frank Bruni has written a new article for the New York Times about a morning activity of collecting oysters in Prince Edward Island. Here's a sample from the piece.

The boat rocked. The tongs slipped through my hands, partly because they were heavy, mostly because I am clumsy. Gripping them tighter, I raked them over the bottom of the bay, which was loose and crunchy in a way that suggested gravel but meant something else.

Oysters. I'd made contact with oysters. And if I squeezed the tongs the right way and managed to pull them up without having them pull me down into the frigid water — restaurant critic overboard! — I might find oysters in their clutch. And I might get to taste oysters whose freshness I had verified not with my server but with my own eyes and my own wet, chapped, shaking hands.

That's why I'd come to Prince Edward Island, the smallest and least populous of Canada's 10 provinces, nestled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence just above Nova Scotia and just beyond the curiosity of most travelers, who don't go much higher up the northeastern curve of North America than Maine. For people the island is a tough sell: long winters, no Abercrombie & Fitch.

For shellfish it's paradise, with cold, clean water that's not sullied by coastal industry and has an optimal degree of salinity, thanks to its partial protection from the open sea.

It's an interesting and thoughtful piece. You can read the rest of it at NYtimes.com

Organic Coffee in Nicaragua

Matthew Kadey has written a new article at GoNOMAD about visiting an organic coffee plantation in Nicaragua. Kadey writes about the people there and the interesting aspects of the organic plantation. Here's a selection from the article.

A dilapidated mountain road leads to La Carona, a fair trade community set among romantic views of flourishing coffee-draped mountains leaping upward to grab hold of the cerulean sky.

The bus is filled with a dozen or so boisterous students from Massachusetts Bridgewater State College guided by James Hayes-Bohanan, a burley bearded mild-mannered geography professor who, for the last couple of Januarys, has brought his students to Nicaragua’s northern fringes to learn about the positive impacts of trading equitably.

“They may not know it now, but by the end of this trip these guys will have a much greater appreciation for where their morning cup o’ joe comes from,” James yelps as a thundering drop into a doozer of a pothole sends our noodles disturbingly close to the roof.

Happy to have two feet firmly placed on the ground, La Carona initially strikes me as a hodgepodge of activity. Wide-eyed kids scamper about, a group of women are busy preparing our mid-day repast and in the background a stalwart man stands atop a foliated hill manually de-pulping freshly harvested coffee cherries. The unsullied air has become malodorous with their aroma.

As I snap a few photos of a seasoned farmer and his dignified cowboy hat, it’s clear he is embarrassed to be the subject of my fuss.

But there’s little time for photography or to even catch my bearings as our community guide Alfredo Rayo promptly whisks us into the coffee fields. The weather is looking bad as rain spits from lowering clouds. Alfredo is a twenty-something seemingly ubiquitous svelte Nicaraguan youth who is among a growing number of men in his age bracket who are being trained to foster tourists’ understanding of organic fair trade coffee farming.

You can read the rest of the article at GoNOMAD.com

Istanbul: The Bridge Between Europe and Asia

Boston Globe travel writer Tom Haines has contributed a new story about Istanbul, the ancient city that connects Europe and Asia. Istanbul has been at the center of life in the East for thousands of years, and as Haines writes, it's still a great place to visit today. Here's a sample from the article.

It may seem odd in such a colossally cosmopolitan city as Istanbul, where architectural riches span centuries, to spend time considering the high art of a restroom designed in the mid-1990s. Indeed, many outsiders arriving amid the urban swath of wood, concrete, and steel spiked with centuries-old minarets and quickly-climbing skyscrapers marvel instead at the sum of it all. One fictional traveler to Istanbul, a character in "The Emigrants," a book by the late W.G. Sebald, noted in a diary entry soon after arrival: "No one . . . could conceive of such a city. So many different kinds of buildings, so many different greens."

But decade after decade, one century layering upon the last, the physical identity of this urban axis straddling two continents is constantly being reconsidered, if only bit by bit, piece by piece. So a visitor curious to understand contemporary ideas and influences in Istanbul, to know how the storied city is falling and rising today, should focus on individual elements.

Gokhan Avcioglu, architect: "How can you deal with 5,000 years of history? I'm not afraid of it. I think I'm building a kind of history. I'm human, and I can add something."

When designing the restroom in the park, Avcioglu, whose firm has created offices, homes, stores, and more in Istanbul and other Turkish cities, wanted to celebrate the traditional role of bathhouses and fountains in Anatolia. He also wanted to create a place with clean, safe facilities that took up less space - something, in other words, that has historical identity, looks nice, and does its job.

Yet the firm, Global Architectural Development, also has an office in New York and incorporates influences from around the world as well as around the Mediterranean: The restroom's above-ground muted glass and crisp stainless steel borders give passersby quick notice that the subterranean design is working on many levels.

It's clear that Istanbul still has relevance today, and it's a great place worth visiting. You can read the rest of the article at Boston.com

Good Eats in Vietnam

In a new article up at GoNOMAD.com, travel guide book writer Robert Reid gives tips and advice on the best way to eat in Vietnam. Focusing on Hue, Reid shows the best things to eat and where to find them. Reid has written several guide books for Lonely Planet and has set up a free on-line guide to Vietnam. Here's a selection from the piece.

For 45 cents a bowl, and a shocked crew at Ba Hoa (Truong Dinh St, just east of Hanoi Street) who interfered to mix my bowl when I hadn't mixed it adequately, it's hard to not take a chance. I've not seen this elsewhere.

Bun bo Hue is one of the city's most famous exports -- and one of the few that reach US Vietnamese restaurants' weekend menus. Like its more famous cousin pho bo, it's a beef noodle soup served with a clear beef broth but healthy doses of chili, shrimp paste and a rounded slippery noodle that slips off your chopsticks and sending dots of reddish-brown broth on your shirt.

The best place in town -- I heard over and over -- is Bun Bo Hue (17 Ly Thuong Kiet St), a block south of Hanoi St. And it's quite good. Like the other cheapies I found, it's a simple concrete-floor, open-front place, with aluminum tables and trash thrown on the floor. The bowls are prepared up front -- just order, sit and await the bowl (about 50 cents).

Hue takes Buddhism a bit more seriously here than most of Vietnam -- with more monasteries than anywhere else, and the nation's most famous monks. Famously in 1963, Thich Quang Duc drove to Saigon to protest anti-Buddhist policies of the South Vietnamese government and set himself on fire on a Saigon street.

Beyond the pagodas nowadays, where robed monks and apprentices break in the afternoon for volleyball games you're welcome to join, Hue's vegetarian scene is more developed than anywhere else in the country.

Com chay, or vegetarian food, places pop up on riverside locations and alleys. The best though is right in the heart of the backpacker ghetto (of sorts).

Tinh Tam Restaurant (24 Chu Van An St), run by a Buddhist family, serves fake meats -- the grilled 'deer' with lemongrass is superb, and only $1.50; as is the mixed fig salad served with fake-shrimp cakes to scoop it up (60 cents) -- that attract monks and a few Lonely Planet holders.

You can read the rest of Reid's advice at GoNOMAD.com

A Different Beach in Sandy Hook, New Jersey

In a new travel article by Dawn Harvey, a different sort of beach is discussed as an alternative in New Jersey. From good swimming and surfing to history, the beach has it all. Located only an hour from Manhattan at the top of the Jersey shore, there's plenty to do there. Here's a sample from the article.

Most people come to Sandy Hook for its outdoor appeal. Surfing, kite surfing, and windsurfing are popular activities during summer months, otherwise known as peak season. The park also features a five-mile-long pathway for walkers, cyclists, and runners.

Sandy Hook is also home to the largest nude beach in the entire northeast, Gunnison Beach, located at the northern end of the island near Fort Hancock. It is the only nude beach in New Jersey and receives more than 5,000 visitors a year. Friends of Gunnison Beach, an American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) affiliated club, hosts social events such as dinner parties, cruises, and dances.


Most beaches don’t have a military base, which is perhaps the most interesting thing about Sandy Hook. Before the Ambrose Channel was built at the turn of the 20th century, ships could only gain access to New York City by passing through the waters off the coast of Sandy Hook - making this a very strategic location.

Fort Hancock was established during the war of 1812 and was the site of the country’s first US Army proving ground. It also served as harbor defenses for New York, Long Island, and New Jersey during World War II. For more information, visit the Fort Hancock museum located inside the former Post Guard House. The museum features a jail cell exhibit, so you can see exactly what is was like to be a soldier under arrest.

Sandy Hook also features the oldest working lighthouse in the country. When it was built in 1764, it was only 500 feet from the water. Due to ocean currents, it’s now one and a half miles from the northern end of the park. Tours of the lighthouse are available from April through December.

Since Sandy Hook is closed between dusk and dawn, there are no lodging options available to the public; however, the neighboring town of Highlands, New Jersey is known for its quality B&Bs. This town lives up to its name – it’s the highest point on the Atlantic seaboard between Maine and Mexico.

You can read the rest of Harvey's article at GoNOMAD.com

Old San Juan

In a new article in The New York Times by Paul Schneider, the fun and excitement of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, is examined. The history of the area is also talked about, and it's interesting to see the parallels. Here's a sample from the piece.

The island, which the locals called Boriquen, had been previously discovered and named San Juan by Columbus, whose physician described it glowingly, especially the houses with their “beautiful gardens, as if they were vineyards or orchards of orange or citron trees.” But Ponce de León, whom one historian described as “a bastard son of the best-known family in Seville,” wasn't much interested in fruit. “We came to serve God,” as one of his generation of conquistadors famously said, “and also to get rich.”

Today, Old San Juan is a place of narrow cobbled streets and blocks of well-preserved colonial architecture where you can glimpse a microcosmic vision of the entire post-Columbian history of the Americas, from the essentially medieval mayhem of the early European invasion to the madcap Nuyorican partying of the 21st century. Though it's not in exactly the same location as Ponce de León's original settlement, that hardly matters: it is the restaurant-, nightclub- and museum-packed heart of what is arguably the most vibrant city in the Caribbean, not to mention the most exotic urban setting Americans can get to these days without a passport.

Having recently emerged from a long personal obsession with the Spanish explorers who followed Ponce de León to North America, a quest that resulted in my most recent book, I took my family last winter to the city. Like almost all visitors, we started at El Morro, the great fortress with its cannons pointing out to sea. It was Sunday midmorning when we walked across its great lawn toward the battlements, and it seemed as though all the residents of the city had gathered on the sunny hillside to picnic and fly kites of all shapes and sizes: there were dragons, ships of the line, bats and Spidermen, all dipping and diving in the trade winds and attached by long strings to smiling children.

Read the rest of the article at NYtimes.com

A Trip to Kenya

In a new travel article by Jenna Kellam on GoNOMAD, the author discusses a trip to Kenya. The differences, new experiences, and impressions are all discussed in this interesting and informative piece. Here's a short sample from the article.

The drive to the safari site was incredible. We passed through villages, towns and desolate areas. I got to see a new side of Kenya, the majority of Kenya, the slums.

About half of Kenya’s population is below the poverty line. Houses are made of corrugated aluminum, mud brick, or elephant dung. All the houses double as stores so people can sell their crops or goods to passers-by.

On a separate occasion, we got a flat tire and had to change it on the side of the dirt road. A bunch of children ran over from herding cattle to see what was going on. They had no shoes, barely any clothes and could barely speak Swahili. They wanted water, pens, and money (emphasis on the first two). They also fell in love with my digital camera. More people from their village came to see what was going on and try to sell us goods.

A four-hour drive over bumpy dirt roads and the equator brought us to Lewa Conservancy. Lewa used to be a rhino sanctuary and to this date Lewa contains a large rhino populaion. We saw cheetahs, black rhinos, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, and more.

I cannot begin to describe the difference of seeing these animals out in the wild in Kenya compared to the Baltimore zoo. Even though it is winter in Nairobi, it is summer here because we are above the equator. I could feel the difference.

You can read the rest of Kellam's article at GoNOMAD.com

Hot Spas in Northern California

There are many ways to relax and ease the muscles. Gregory Dicum of The New York Times writes in a new article about the relaxing hot spas in northern California. Dicum talks about several key points of the hot spas, as well some of the facts. Here's a selection.

The promise of ecstatic moments — whether from body treatments or just the soothing nature of the waters — has drawn visitors to Northern California’s natural hot springs since people first discovered them thousands of years ago. The West Coast’s seismic activity provides plenty of opportunities for water to seep deep underground, where it is heated and mineralized before re-emerging, transformed and imbued with seemingly magical properties.

In the latter part of the 19th century, as San Francisco blossomed, the hot springs sprinkled through the Coast Range north of San Francisco Bay — many of which had long been revered by native inhabitants — became popular resorts. Some have been forgotten, but others remain, adhering to the classic formula: a small spa hotel arranged like a campus around the natural spring.

Sampling some of them last spring with my wife, Nina, I found that each has a distinctive flavor, offering visitors different tastes of California rejuvenation.

Harbin, where I surrendered to Jeanric Meller’s embrace in a form of watery bodywork known as Watsu, is a case in point. These springs were used since time immemorial by the Miwoks before a resort was built there during the Civil War. It passed through several incarnations, alternately bustling and declining — notably each of the three times the place burned to the ground.

By the time we visited this spring, Harbin was well into its fourth decade as a New Age center, operated by the nonprofit Heart Consciousness Church.

You can read the rest of the article at NYtimes.com

Bird Watching in California

In a new travel article on GoNOMAD, writer Claire Hutkins Seda writes about her experiences while bird watching in West Marin, California. The lagoon there has lots of creatures, and it's a great place to bird watch, as Seda writes. Here's a sample from the article.

West Marin has a series of protected waterways, including Bolinas Lagoon, Tomales Bay, networks of ponds and lakes in the Point Reyes National Seashore, and, of course, the vast Pacific Ocean. Together, these waters host over 490 species of birds – which makes beginning birdwatching easy and satisfying.

Inspired by my initial forays into the world of birds, I headed out to Audubon Canyon Ranch, just opposite the lagoon, to witness the nesting of Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets.

At a viewing platform above the redwood trees in which the birds nest, I could see the tiny fuzzy grey heron chicks, helpless and fragile under their massive parents, whose wingspan can be up to six feet long.

With trained ranch guides to answer your questions and binoculars and spotting scopes at your service, it’s the ideal spot to birdwatch and get some great hiking in. From the viewing platform, I gazed at the whole silent lagoon and its outlet to the Pacific Ocean just beyond the forests below.

Colorful kayaks, available for rent in nearby Stinson Beach, dotted the otherwise placid grey surface of the lagoon.

And this is when I realized it: I’m a birder.

You can read the rest of Seda's article at GoNOMAD.com

A Press Trip in Cyberspace

Technology has uped the ante once again. In a new travel article on GoNOMAD, Associate Editor Steve Hartshorne writes about the world's first press trip in cyberspace. The trip, which was sponsored by the Netherlands Board of Tourism, was in promotion of the area called "New Holland" in the online game Second Life. Here's a selection from the article.

I found my way out of the bar and waited with the tour director while her assistants went back into the bar again and again trying to find the wayward journalists.

When we finally got a quorum, they tried to show us how to ride a bicycle, but for most of us that was pretty much out of the question.

I started wandering around New Holland. I saw a lot of great art in the museum, and then went back into the Club Van Gogh to get some more photos.

Some guy named Brink (or rather, his avatar) kept appearing and asking me to teleport to his location, but these teleports began taking longer and longer, so I struck out on my own.

Since I was able to fly, I decided to cross the Channel to England. I was airborne for what seemed like ages with no land in sight, so I decided to cast myself into the sea.

Down and down I plummeted, but I always seemed to end up at the water's edge..."

Besides being an historic first, the World's First Press Tour in Cyberspace was a resounding success in my opinion, even though shepherding journalists around in an alternative reality proved more challenging than originally anticipated.

You can read the rest of the article at GoNOMAD.com

The Year-Long Family Vacation

Have you ever had such a great vacation that you never wanted to come back, or at least continue for as long as possible? In a new article in The New York Times by Caren Osten Gerszberg, the growth in year-long family vacations is examined. Families with school-age children are beginning to take the whole gang on trips across the world more often says the Gerszberg. Here's a selection from the article.

A growing number of American families with school-age children are turning their wanderlust into reality, say travel experts. Missions to expose children to cultural diversity and spend quality time together are among the reasons some parents are willing to exchange violin lessons and after-school sports for, say, a chance to dig for sapphires in New Zealand or to learn about land mines in Laos.

Planning a route, however, can be daunting. Should you take the smorgasbord approach, spending a little time in a lot of places, or opt for longer stays in fewer destinations, in the hope of gaining a deeper knowledge of a given place?

For Lisa and Jeff Holmstead of Gaithersburg, Md., the original conception was to take their four children — then ages 15, 12, 9 and 6 — around the world for a year, dividing the time among only four countries. “We wanted to be in places where the people spoke English for the most part,” Mrs. Holmstead said. “Our children wanted to go to New Zealand because of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies, and our son does Irish fiddling, so we put Ireland on the itinerary.” But after giving it some thought, they decided to go for a more diverse itinerary, and added Greece, India, Nepal, Thailand, Bali, Australia, Hong Kong and Mexico to the list.

Then came the question of affordability. After doing a rough estimate, they realized that the cost of spending a year away would be higher than a year at home. In March 2005, Mrs. Holmstead and her husband — who left his job as assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Air and Radiation just before the journey — devised a schedule. In the months before setting off, they managed to rent out their house, sell their cars, set up health and travel insurance, research home-schooling programs and meet with a travel nurse to get appropriate vaccinations. The Holmsteads designed the trip on their own, booking all their flights in advance through Air Treks (www.airtreks.com) and using the Lonely Planet guidebooks as their bible for food and hotels, which they booked as they went along. Ms. Holmstead said the price tag for their trip came to roughly $140,000, which included everything — flights, food, lodging, entertainment, insurance and souvenirs.

Read the rest of the article at NYtimes.com

The Whale Warriors

A new book out by Penguin Books entitled The Whale Warriors, by Peter Heller, is getting some attention lately. The Whale Warriors focuses on a vegan attack boat, Farley Mowat, which attacks Japanese whaling ships in Antarctica. The book is a great read and shows the adventure and risk that goes on for the sailors on the ship. Here's a review of the book.

"In this stirring account, Heller describes his two-month journey aboard the Sea Shepherd's 180-foot converted trawler, Farley Mowat, and its running battle against a fleet of Japanese whalers. Capt. Paul Watson and his mostly vegan 43-member crew aren't the shy retiring types. They fly the Jolly Roger from the ship's mast, brew their own moonshine to celebrate New Year's Eve in an Antarctic blizzard and exclude no strategy in their quest to save whales from slaughter by the persistent Japanese. Measures include everything from trying to entangle the whale ship's propellers with steel cables to tossing foul stink bombs onboard to sicken crews.

The Farley Mowat also comes equipped with a steel-reinforced bow, used for ramming the much larger Japanese whalers head-on. Watson, one of the founders of Greenpeace, tired of watching endangered whales die while the organization merely unfurled protest banners. Considered a 'lunatic' and and 'eco-terrorist' by his enemies, (and possibly by some who'll read this book), placed on the piracy 'watch list' by the US Office of Naval Intelligence, his full-frontal assaults against both whaling and seal hunting have made him revered by his supporters and crew.

Watson justifies his radical measures by pointing out that although commercial whaling has been officially banned by the UN Charter, the Japanese continue to ruthlessly kill hundreds of whales each year under the guise of 'scientific research.' In fact, Heller argues, the whales are merely slaughtered for Japan's fish markets, a crime made even more senseless by the fact that polls indicate the Japanese consumer doesn't even like whale meat. In fact, the Japanese whaling industry loses money every year. Still, the Japanese whalers persist, refusing to back down in the face of mounting international pressure.

A convincing, passionate account that both educated and infuriates. "

Kirkus Reviews

For more information about this book, visit www.peterheller.net, or go to Amazon.com and search for The Whale Warriors.

Biking Through Portugal

In a new travel article on GoNOMAD, writer Matthew Kadey writes about biking through the heartland of Portugal and the different towns and people he comes into contact with. Here's a selection from the article.

I’ve been invited here to Portugal’s cultural heartland by local Grand Rota experts Pedro Pedrosa and Pedro Carvalho to experience for myself why there are rumblings that this circuit is destined to become one of Europe’s epic multi-day mountain bike adventures.

A few hours of riding from our launch point, Castelo Novo –- a small village adorned by granite two-story houses and winding mazy avenues where the seasoned denizens clap as we race by -- and I’m rapidly becoming smitten by Europe’s most western nation.

Fresh-picked figs and blackberries are quelling my hunger pangs, the tract is generally flat, sprinkled with the occasional kamikaze downhill, and oak and cork trees provide relief from the humming sun.

Portugal produces about half the world's output of commercial cork and, although it can be harvested every nine years, it takes up to 40 for the bark to become commercially viable. Needless to say, this is not a get-rich-quick scheme.

“That bridge has a two thousand year warranty,” jocular Pedro P. proclaims as I finish pedaling over a bumpy Roman bridge heading out of Idanha-a-Velha, a remote former Roman stronghold founded one century before Christ that’s pleasantly set amongst olive groves and parched plains and once unceremoniously vacated due to a plague of rats.

He then makes a pronunciamento: “The climb into Monsanto is perhaps the route's most arduous.”

Read the rest of Kadey's article at GoNOMAD.com

The Viking Ship Museum

In a new article on GoNOMAD, I write about The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark. The museum is very unique and has actual Viking ships that were found and restored. Here's a selection from the piece.

Not only will a patron get to learn about the creation of the ships, but they can then test out their own rowing skills in a modern-day Viking ship. There are also nine Viking ships on display that were found at Skuldelev in Roskilde Fjord and Museum Island. Museum goers can take a look at all of the ships which have been dredged from the fjord.

The museum focuses on the ships, seafaring and boatbuilding culture in ancient and medieval times. The oldest part of the museum, the Viking Ship Hall, was opened in 1969. Today, in addition to the five ships, guests can also view temporary exhibitions and a film about the excavation of the ships.

This is a great day trip for people visiting Denmark, not only for young travelers, but for families as well. Guests are able to learn about the history of the Vikings, their conquests and expansion, as well as their society and lifestyle. You can put on authentic Viking gear like headdresses, robes and weapons and look funny in front of the camera.

A lot of thought went into the museum, too. The architectural style has been described as “Japanese-inspired brutalism,” which gives a specific attitude to the historical perspective for the guests.

Another nice thing about this museum is the staff does not wear any Viking Age clothes or try to act gimmicky.

This is a straightforward presentation, and the staff feels that it’s truly important that the guests learn about the history of the Vikings through the actual content of the museum, and not just through the acting of the staff.

Read the rest of the article at GoNOMAD.com

A Trip to East Berlin

In a new article up on GoNOMAD, writer Bill Dhalle writes about his trip to East Berlin, and the impressions from the former Soviet Union that are still on the part of the city. Here's a selection.

Old names die hard, and that is certainly the case in the eastern areas of Berlin where many streets, parks and squares have retained their communist inspired names. Karl-Marx-Allee is a sprawling four lane boulevard that has been called East Germany’s answer to des Champs Elysées in Paris.

KMA stretches from Alexanderplatz in the Mitte district, to Frankfurter Tor in the Friedrichshain district. The boulevard was born from post-war reconstruction of the Soviet occupied zones of Berlin. Called Stalinallee from the end of the war until 1962, it was built to represent the socialist ideals of the New Germany.

Just about all the buildings were designed in the “wedding cake” style of “Socialst-Realist” architecture. In fact, some of the buildings are said to have been copied from structures in Moscow.

Today, KMA is full of stores, cafés and apartments. Many of the buildings are now under protection order as landmarks. Along some areas of the street there are historical markers that describe the buildings and their significance.

Walking along KMA is a great way to get a peek at a truly historical section of Berlin, but it is a long walk from Alexanderplatz to Frankfurter Tor.

Read the rest of Dhalle's story at GoNOMAD.com