American Airlines flight attendant accused of racist remark

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Dudu Nobre, a Brazilian singer, has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines. He, his wife and producer are looking for $4 million in damages, claiming that flight attendants used racial slurs when talking to him and that they stabbed his producer with a sharp pen. So, the next time you’re wondering what could make the long flight from Sao Paulo to New York worse, in a world where amenities and seat space are declining seemingly daily, Nobre is equipped to let you know.

One flight attendant is said to have called Nobre a monkey repeatedly in Portuguese during the flight – pushing it further by making monkey-like sounds. Apparently, these sounds are the closest thing to comment, as American Airlines is remaining tight-lipped.

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Ten amazing “green” adventures

by Kraig Becker on

Eco-adventures are all the rage these days with environmentally conscious travelers choosing to visit far flung places, all the while fully aware of the size of their carbon footprint. They want an amazing travel experience, and are willing to go to great lengths to get it, all the while adhering to the principles of sustainable travel.

With that in mind, the Times Online has an excellent article listing ten top “green” travel experiences, or what they call “clean breaks”, each of which offer cultural immersion, amazing scenery, and a fantastic experience that is far off the beaten path. For instance, the article recommends heading to Lebanon to hike the Mountain Trail, the country’s first long distance trek, which runs through the Mount Lebanon range from Qbaiyat, in the north, to Marjaayoun in the south. The trail is roughly 270 miles in length, with regularly spaced stone inns offering up a place to sleep, good food, and plenty to drink.

For a completely different experience, hop a flight to New Zealand to spend a little time on the slopes. The authors of this piece recommend heading to Craigieburn Valley in the Southern Alps for some amazing skiing, minus the resort. Yep, that’s right, no chairlifts or groomed trails here. Just a couple of rope tows that will pull you to the top of the mountain, where you’ll get the opportunity to ski through untouched wilderness. And at the end of the day, relax in one of the nearby huts, which are comfortable but primitive.

Other suggestions include a swimming vacation in Finland, camping in France, and hiking in Estonia. There is a little bit of something for everyone, and you won’t need to feel guilty about your impact on the environment while you travel.

World’s longest bike race gets underway on Sunday

by Kraig Becker on

As that little bike race in France comes to an end this weekend on the Champs Elysees, an ocean away, another one will begin, as the inaugural Vuelta Sudamericana gets underway from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The “expedition race”, as it is billed, is 134 days in length, making it the longest stage-race in the world.

The Vuelta is brought to us by the same deviously adventurous minds behind the Tour d’Afrique and the recently launched DreamTours, which lets you build your own cycling adventure. The organizers of the race have years of experience handling these types of events, and they allow the riders to focus on the journey while they take care of all the logistics.

While the race does run 134 days in length, only 110 of those are actual riding stages, with 23 rest days and 1 travel day built into the schedule as well. At the moment, 23 riders from all over the planet are set to embark on the ride, which begins on Sunday and will cover nearly 7500 miles, passing through Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru before ending in Quito, Ecuador four months from now. Along the the route they’ll peddle through steamy jungles, across arid deserts, and over mountain passes, climbing as high as 13,780 feet in the Andes.

The riders won’t be at a loss for interesting scenery either. Along the course they’ll pass by Iguazu Falls, Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America, the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth, Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable body of water in the world, and the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu. All in all, a fairly great tour of the continent.

Of course, not all of us have four months to go cycling around South America, so the entire ride is also broken down into nine smaller sections allowing cyclists who can’t do the entire distance to join and leave at a variety of points along the way.

To learn more about the Vuelta Sudamericana, check out the official website, where you’ll find updates from the riders starting soon. There is also more info on the route, profiles of the riders, an F.A.Q. and a detailed look at the event. This seems like a great adventure for anyone who is into long distance cycling, and makes the Tour de France seem like a short ride in the countryside.

Art in Pernambuco, Brazil: Vitalino and Brennand

by Alison Brick on

If you ask about influential artists from Pernambuco, Brazil, you’ll likely hear the names Vitalino and Brennand. But despite both hailing from the same region and working with ceramics, they couldn’t be more different. I’ve just had the chance to check out the work (and museums) of both.

Mestre Vitalino was the first to create the figurinhas (figurines) that are synonymous with northeastern Brazil. The colorful, beady-eyed, orange-clayed figures have become the region’s modern-day folk art–the kind that would seem to have a much longer history. Vitalino was only 6 years old when he modeled his first figurine–an animal–and his art eventually expanded to include soldiers and musicians, then doctors and lawyers. Vitalino would’ve been 100 years-old this year on July 10th, although he passed away at the age of 54 in 1963.

I visited his former house in Alto de Moura, Caruaru; a modest four-room house made of–what else–clay. Made by–what else–Vitalino’s own hands. It’s there that one of his six sons, Severino, welcomed me to what’s now the Museu do Mestre Vitalino. Severino is also a clay artisan (it runs in the family); one of the 1,000 in Caruaru. I left the museum wondering what it was like for a man who lived a poor and simple life to eventually have his work featured in the Louvre.

Although Francisco Brennand’s gallery is just as antiquated–it’s in an old sugar refinery–the artwork inside is not. (He’s so with the times, in fact, that he’s displaying a huge Obama banner outside.) The son of an artist, Brennand started out as a painter (often depicting himself as the wolf in the Little Red Riding Hood fable with semi-clothed protagonistas). But what he’s most known for is his work as a ceramic sculptor.

His art that’s displayed at Oficina de Ceramica Francisco Brennand–more than 2,000 ceramic pieces, from sculpture to tiles–is often abstract and erotic, sometimes broken but intentionally left that way. Outside is a sculpture fountain with nods to both the female form and Salvador Dali’s work, and a sculpture garden designed by the landscape architect Burle Marx. Not a stranger to controversy, Brennand has been known to buck the system through his art, like figuring statues of soldiers in opposition of the military rule of Brazil’s past (from 1964-1985). As an artist who’s appreciated in his time, at 82 years-old, he’s coming full-circle and beginning to return to his painting roots.

When in Caruaru, Brazil: celebrating Festa de São João

by Alison Brick on

As a fan of summer, I think I’ve finally found a way that even I could be happy ringing in winter: Festa de São João. I’ve just taken part in the festivities in Caruaru, Brazil.

Like many festivals in Brazil, it combines a religious side and a pagan side. There’s the winter solstice side that celebrates the harvest (especially corn) throughout the month of June. And on top of that, three days are taken to honor saints: Anthony on the 13th, Peter and Paul on the 29th, and–most importantly for this region–John (São João) on the 24th.

How do you celebrate Festa de São João? With music and dancing, of course (it’s Brazil, after all)–especially the lively regional favorite of forró, which sets the mood of the festivities. You’re also likely to come across street fairs complete with food stalls, the marching of guarde civil bacamanteiros, and costumes that honor rural life (like women in pigtails and painted freckles).

And then there’s my favorite: the bonfires–not just found in the central square, but liberally throughout the streets of residential areas. It’s not uncommon to see the homeowner standing in the doorway mere feet away, gazing down at theirs. The bonfires start from waist-high stacks of logs, and end in ashes, smoldering as s’mores-worthy embers hours later. The reason for the bonfires? They’re a reminder of the birth of St. John the Baptist. To recap the Christian story: Isabelle burned a fire to tell her sister, Mary, when John was born–a kind of precursor to today’s phone call or text message.

Like February’s Carnaval, Festa de São João is celebrated across the country, but no place more than in Caruaru, and neighboring towns Gravatá and Arco Verde (about 1 hour west of Recife in northeastern Brazil). People flock there to be at the heart of the celebration–it’s not uncommon for more than 150,000 people to join the festivities every night in Caruaru.