Temples and churches to visit in New York City

by Jamie Rhein on

I have spent so much time in New York City since my brother has lived there for years, that I often forget to look for the new things to do. The tried and true are enjoyable, plus I’m visiting which suits a different purpose. Site-seeing is a small part of my trips. St. Patrick’s Cathedral is one place I head to often since it’s right across from Rockefeller Square and I like the way the candles smell.

Seth Kugel’s article, “Devotion in its Various Homes” is one that made me think, “Now, why didn’t I think of that?” as an article idea. It also presents options for my next visit to New York.

Kugel gives presents an overview of the various places of worship in New York City that visitors of any faith might find interesting. Here is his list. Do you know of others?

1. The Islamic Cultural Center

2. The Ganesh Temple

3. The Elderidge Street Synogogue at the Museum of Elderidge Street

4. The Buddhist Association of New York. Kugel suggests a temple that is near the synogugue. Here is a link to a site that marks Chinatown’s temples.

Read Kugel’s article for descriptions of each place. This could be a do-it-yourself type tour you could take in a day. The wonderful thing about cities like New York is that there are large enough communities of the various religions that their places of worship have had time to develop.

Greenland’s newest tourist attraction: Water!

by Neil Woodburn on

It’s not so often that a radio station showcases a photo gallery. But times are changing and NPR is stepping up its already stellar website with some cool video and slide shows.

I point this out because of a recent story that NPR did on the melting of Greenland.

“So what,” you might say, “ice melts. But when ice melts in Greenland, the rest of the world needs to be concerned. According to the story, ocean levels will rise 20 feet if Greenland completely defrosts.

The good news, however, is that Greenland’s melting ice makes for some wonderful scenery and great tourist opportunities as warming temperatures create rivers and lakes where there were none before. And, it’s all eerily beautiful. That’s why NPR reverted to the visual medium to share some amazing shots of this newly born, crystal clear water that has been trapped for centuries in an enormous ice sheet.

Armageddon never looked so good!

Touring the Silk Road atop a motorcycle

by Neil Woodburn on

One of those travel regrets I still look back on and wish I had done was when I was contemplating buying a Russian motorcycle and sidecar and hightailing it through Siberia.

And it is therefore with great regret that I came across a similar story of adventurous motorcyclists traveling across another rugged territory: the Silk Road of China.

In what has been one of the best travel articles in the LA Times this year, journalist Susan Carpenter joined an 11-day motorcycle tour of northeastern China that took her from the fabled city of Kashgar (another travel regret of mine, by the way) to the city of Turpan 1,700 miles away.

I’m not sure who I’m fooling because I don’t even know how to drive a motorcycle, but I’m not lying when I say that I would do anything it takes to plant my butt atop one of these things and cruise the Silk Road–although the perfect journey would start in Persia, naturally.

To give you a little taste of what to expect, check out Carpenter’s tantalizing summation of the journey:

“We encountered mostly foot traffic — women balancing buckets of water on sticks across their shoulders and men in embroidered caps herding sheep, goats and yaks — as we worked our way toward the military checkpoint that granted us access to the Karakoram Highway and scenery so spectacular I could have crashed.”

Wow.

Oh, and incidentally, hat’s off to the LA Times for incorporating video onto their website. If the above description doesn’t get the travel bug biting, the video certainly will.

The toilet paper chronicles

by Aaron Hotfelder on

I want to tell you about how I first discovered the meaning of the word “love.” Sounds pretty heavy, huh? Stay with me.

Several years ago, some friends and I were traveling through Morocco in a rented Fiat Uno– the car Fred Flintstone might have designed had he been born a few centuries later. All of a sudden, as if a bolt of lightning struck my intestines, I felt rather ill. [Too graphic? Keep reading.] I was at the point where, as most travelers to the “third world” will sympathize, I was in need of a trip to the facilities.

We were driving along, and I made my requirements known: “If we don’t stop somewhere,” I said, “something very bad is going to happen.” That was all my fellow passengers needed to hear.

We soon pulled into some one-horse town– a place that probably wouldn’t have appeared on any map– and I bolted to an open restaurant. Seeing the establishment’s proprietor, I spoke my very best French: “Perdon, où est les toilettes?” Perhaps the man couldn’t speak French, but he could tell by my gingerly gait, and the look on my face, what I was after. “Upstairs,” the man said in Arabic, as he pointed to a nearby stairwell. “Shukran,” (thank you) I said gratefully.

I quickly made my way to the Promised Land, and soon everything was right with the world. Admittedly, the bathroom turned out to be a hole in the ground, but that would meet my needs considering the circumstances. But wait. Apparently this restaurant did not have the same hygienic standards as the nearby Denny’s in my hometown, because there was a roll of very important paper (VIP) missing.

“What the hell am I going to do?” I wondered. Without much elaboration, you can imagine the scenarios that rushed through my head. “What the hell/shit/fuck/ am I going to do?” (Really, pick an expletive– they were probably all used.)

As I am considering this nightmare situation before me, I suddenly hear a knock on the bathroom door. “Aaron,” said my then-girlfriend’s angelic voice. “You might need this.”

I opened the door, and accepted one of the most cherished gifts I will ever receive– a cloud-white roll of the softest toilet paper known to man. “Fiona,” I told her. “You have no idea how much I love you.” She had brought me the roll without a reminder or a prompting. She knew what I needed, and she came through. “That–,” I thought, “that’s true love.”

The moral of the story– besides that insignificant bit of wisdom about the real meaning of love– is to always carry a roll of the white stuff with you. You never know when it might come in handy.

Another round of “top travel picks” for 2008

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Every section in every decent newspaper out there can squeeze two feature stories out of the Earth finishing another revolution around the Sun– one that takes “a look back at 2007” and another with predictions on the “hot new things” for 2008. And travel writers are notorious list-makers, so, well, here’s another one. London’s Times has come out with its 40 travel trends and trips for 2008.

In its “Where in the world to go” section, the Times jumps on the Argentina bandwagon, citing the still-favorable exchange rate. It also mentions China because of the upcoming Olympics, and Egypt because of a brand-new five-star resort for people who make a lot more money than I do.

The list also looks at some of Lonely Planet’s forecasts for the new year: “The guidebook publisher highlights two big themes in travel for 2008: travelling to Muslim countries and seeing endangered wildlife. It recommends visiting “countries of the crescent” such as Brunei, Mauritania, Tunisia, Turkey and Uzbekistan to “debunk [the] myths and stereotypes” surrounding Islam. Trips to see endangered animals – often helping to contribute to projects to protect wildlife – include seeing Komodo dragons in Indonesia, Siamese crocodiles in Vietnam and giant armadillos in Bolivia.” Lonely Planet recommends them… Obey! (Only kidding, LP!)

Whole thing here. The NY Times 2008 list– already covered to death– is here.