Weekend travel media top five: July 17-18, 2010

by Alex Robertson Textor on

This weekend’s most interesting travel stories include a take on apartment rental listings services, an overview of the delightfully uncrowded White Mountains of Crete, an exploration of boutique caravan rentals in Cornwall, a search for pies in southern Alberta, and a list of NYC hotel rooftop bars.

1. In the New York Times, Benji Lanyado explores new developments in the orbit of inexpensive apartment rentals. Lanyado’s article got a lot of attention this past weekend, all of it deserved. His is essential ammunition for the budget-friendly fight against gratuitously expensive hotels.

2. In the Financial Times, Henry Shukman walks all over Crete’s White Mountains. The article ends with a quick guide to four additional European island hideaways.

3. In the Guardian, Gemma Bowes explores the new wave of boutique caravans (or trailers, as we know them stateside.)

4. In the Globe and Mail, Cinda Chavich embarks on a road trip across southern Alberta’s Cowboy Trail, sampling pie in towns with names like Black Diamond, Twin Butte, and Okotoks.

5. In the Los Angeles Times, Sherri Eisenberg provides a primer to Manhattan’s hotel rooftop bars.

(Image of Crete’s White Mountains: Flickr/bazylek100).

Restless natives refused entry, opportunity to beat up English on home turf

by Andrew Evans on



After days of travel document bureaucracy and Homeland Security snafus, the 23-member Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team has still been refused boarding flights and denied entry into the United Kingdom based on the explanation that their yellow Iroquois Nation passports are not internationally recognized. Never mind that the Haudenosaunee Confederacy passports have been used to travel outside of the United States since 1977, never mind that her majesty Hilary Clinton issued her very special Secretary of State magic wand blessing over the team so that they could travel on their passports “just this once”, the British border agency still insists the team arrive in Manchester, England carrying either a United States or Canadian passport. (How shocking that of all people, it’s the British who would be sticklers for rules.)

But in all the media hubbub that’s followed, nobody’s pointing to the obvious: the Iroquois Nationals were scheduled to play the English team this very evening (July 15th), however as of this morning, they were forced to forfeit the game, granting all points to the English team, (not unlike much of history.) That the people who invented the game of lacrosse are being denied access to the world championships held in the same country that once tried to divide and conquer their people has more irony than some long-running British sitcom. When asked to explain exactly why the Iroquois lacrosse team (with travel passes issued by the American Secretary of State) was still denied entry to England, the British Embassy in Washington, DC referred to the following statement from the UK Border Agency:

“We would be pleased to welcome the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team but like all those seeking entry into the UK, they must present a valid immigration document that we recognise as valid to enable us to complete our immigration and other checks . . . The [Iroquois] passport does not have security features you would expect from a modern international travel document. There are no encryption devices, no holograms, etc. They are paper and would be relatively easy to recreate.”

One would think that this whole fiasco might be resolved simply by the US State department issuing a list of cleared names to the UK government. In their recently released statement, the UK says they are in the process of further discussion with the US Authorities to resolve this situation.

The Iroquois Confederacy consists of over 125,000 people who live in the United States and Canada. Another fun fact: Haudenosaunee means “people of the long house.”

Top spots for mind-body-spirit revival

by Gadling Staff on

Sometimes you just need a little “om.” The daily stresses of life can pile up, the chaos of corporate life can get to be too much or maybe the kids are just getting on your last nerve. You can escape to the gym, or you can escape to a more serene environment where mind, body and spirit are the focus of your journey.

Yogis unite — the following are some of the 10 best spots around the world for a perfect yoga revival.

1. Azeda Beach, Buzios, Brazil
With 21 beaches and an ultra-loose local attitude, the Brazilian resort town/fishing village of Buzios, made famous as a favorite of Brigitte Bardot, is sure to make a more than adequate ashram. Azeda Beach, only accessible via a walking path from Osso Beach or by boat, has great space to spread your mat and relax while you gaze out at the ocean. Azeda rarely gets overcrowded, but if you want privacy, go early in the morning.

2. Cape May Lighthouse Park, Cape May, New Jersey
Cape May is a spot on the Jersey Shore unlike any other. The historical resort town has a calming vibe that, in part, is created by its award-winning beaches and colorfully painted Victorian homes. But the best place to take in the scenery and the harmony of the sea, as you practice your asanas, is near the Cape May Lighthouse.

3. Battery Park City, New York, New York
You may forget you’re even in New York City while enjoying the parks of this southern Manhattan neighborhood, except for the excellent view of the Statue of Liberty. The best park to practice in is Robert F Wagner Jr. Park. You’ll have plenty of space and a bit of peace while you ashtanga as sailboats breeze by along the Hudson River.

4. Ventura Pier, Ventura, California
Located on the coast of southern California between Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, Ventura is a city that feels more like a small-town. The pier and promenade, located just off Harbor Boulevard, won’t get as crowded as the Los Angeles attractions, and you still get to soak in the ocean atmosphere during sun salutations.

5. MacArthur State Park, Singer Island, Florida
Claim one of the pavilions in this peninsula park where you can breathe in the sea air among the subtropical coastal habitats. Well worth a hike after your practice.
6. North Avenue Beach, Chicago, IL
Ponder the marvel of the great Lake Michigan from a grassy spot in front of one of the best beaches in the city. While a park that ranges in activities from volleyball to bicycling to swimming off the sand, you can find a place along the beach to take in all in and let it all go.

7. National Mall, Washington, DC
Immerse yourself in the powerful vibes of the country’s capital, and a view of the Capitol, as you perfect your downward dog. The lawns of the mall are active with tourists and local employees, but expansive enough for you to maintain some of your own space.

8. Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, Vancouver Island, Canada
You’d be hard-pressed to not find a spot on this gorgeous island that’s good for meditation. In Victoria‘s Beacon Hill Park, you’ll be surrounded by the colors and scents of the garden scenery, which will make your pranayama all the more powerful.

9. Wrigley Drive, Lake Geneva, WI
Any one of the lake-front inns in this city located across the great lake from Chicago will provide ample atmosphere for reviving your spirit. But you can also grab a grassy spot near the Riviera Ballroom, on the main Lake Geneva strip of Wrigley Drive. For more tranquility than the summer tourist-season might provide, try going in the spring or fall.

10. Parc Guell, Barcelona, Spain
Balance will be your intention at Parc Guell, a garden complex designed by Antoni Gaudi. Pick a high spot overlooking the incredible colors of the structures so you can take in the genius of the artist while you chant your “Om.”

M. Fuchsloch is a Seed.com contributor

Barefoot Bandit has travel cred

by Andrew Evans on

Now that Colton Harris-Moore has been nabbed by the prim and humorless Bahamian police, it’s open season on psychologically dissecting the teen robber and analyzing his high-jinks artistry. Love him or hate him, hero or criminal, one thing is certain: this kid gets around. If “well-traveled”, “worldly” and “ingenious” are positive traits (oh, and they are), then Colton darling deserves a congratulatory pat on his orange-jumpsuit-covered back.

Let’s review, shall we? By the fresh age of 19, the Barefoot Bandit has:

  • Taught himself to fly with video games and stole at least five planes for private scenic flights across the country, including his final jump to the Bahamas.
  • Enjoys fast boats and has managed to steal several sleek and expensive craft for high-speed joy rides across the Pacific Northwest and Florida.
  • Traveled thousands of miles in three countries and at least six states by way of stolen cars and bikes.
  • Used computer fraud to purchase bear mace and night vision goggles, which is not only totally bad ass, but something that every American male wishes he had in his backpack.
  • Survived on uninhabited islets and in the woods at a time when the average American teenager can barely survive at school.
  • Checked himself into other peoples’ private vacation homes for relaxation, eating fine foods from their fridges and soaking in their unused jacuzzi tubs, revealing a penchant for spa living.
  • Crossed back and forth across international borders sans passport, which is also impressive.
  • Stole from Canadians, Americans, and Bahamaians, showing no favorites or displaying any discrimination.
  • Took pictures of himself with various digital cameras in wild places, mimicking millions of tourists who do the same.
  • Hates shoes and travels mostly barefoot, an unwitting observer of TSA security checkpoint regulations.

The list goes on and on but the point is clear: Young Colton loved his freedom and suffers from interminable wanderlust. The guy has broken some serious state and federal laws and caused around $1.5 million worth of damage but he hasn’t harmed any humans. So the kid is a complete punk? So are most of the Israeli backpackers you meet in Bolivia and the Eurotrash in Thailand. Maybe all that Colton needed was an all-expenses paid gap year in which he got to choose his own itinerary and fly his own planes.

Good luck Colton. Not sure about Wi-Fi reception in prison, but if you keep reading Gadling you’ll soon discover that your insatiable travel itch is fairly universal. We, too love to fly across borders and hike into remote places and soak in hot tubs with a view. There is a legal way to do all these things, but if our brand of travel ever did become illegal, then my guess is that we’d all choose to be outlaws, just like you.

(Photo: Colton Harris-Moore, self-portrait)

Top ten art museums you haven’t been to

by Andrew Evans on

If you wanna see inside someone’s brain, stick ’em in an art museum and then leave them there for an hour. Some will feign interest for at least 10 minutes and then start looking for the bathroom. Others will politely wander or become transfixed by a certain wall and never leave, others will head straight to the gift shop to try on silly hats. Big or small, art museums offer the truest personality test on the planet.

Because art is famous and expensive (and sometimes meaningful), the world’s most famous art museums have become iconic travel destinations unto themselves. Cultured people the world over have exhausted the Louvre in Paris, burned hours in the corridors of St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum, and nodded through Madrid’s Museo del Prado (Tick, tick, tick). There are few things Americans will wait hours in line for, but the Musée d’Orsay‘s French impressionism is right up there with Super Bowl tickets and some mattress outlet’s Midnight Madness sale.

It’s nice to know that art still matters, even when the world’s most well-known museums have become their own top ten of cheesy travel status symbols. But true art lovers need not despair–humans have managed to collect art the world over and many a hidden gem are lying in wait for your art-loving eyes to arrive on the spot.

The following list highlights a selection of some of the world’s best art destinations with the least amount of fanfare. (Disclaimer: Just like any person’s taste in art, this list is entirely subjective). What the following museums share in common are their high-quality collections and their pleasant lack of lines going out the door:

  1. Sarjeant Gallery, (Wanganui, NEW ZEALAND) You don’t expect it in small town New Zealand, but Wanganui is the quintessential art haven, with nearly a dozen galleries, live artists’ studios and stately museums. The Sarjeant collection is the largest and most impressive, well worth a day spent in this expressive riverside hamlet.
  2. Philips Collection, (Washington DC, USA) America’s “First Museum of Modern Art” opened in 1921 and houses a bold collection spanning Van Gogh to O’Keeffe. The intimate Rothko Room represents the first collective public showing of Mark Rothko’s famous multi-form paintings. In museum-heavy Washington, DC, the Phillips often gets overlooked by out-of-town tourists. It’s their loss.
  3. Musée Fabre, (Montpellier, FRANCE) You would expect a far more traditional art gallery in southern France, but the Fabre keeps visitors on their toes with a wonderful 500-year spectrum of art, including one of the world’s greatest collections of 20th Century Fauvist art. Like so much architecture in France, the museum itself is a well-preserved work of art.
  4. National Gallery of Art, (Reykjavik, ICELAND) For a country of just 300,000 people, Iceland has a lot of art museums. The largest of these collections is shown in an elegant old ice factory with several floors of soul-stirring Nordic art. It would take you a week to visit all of Reykjavik’s art galleries, but if you only have a day, this is the one to patronize.
  5. Museum of Latin American Art, (Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA) Oh wow, where to begin in Buenos Aires? There’s so much going on in this city, it’s hard to decide, but MALBA is like the ultimate megaplex of Latin American art, helping you realize how little you actually know about world culture. The museum’s gigantic size and vertigo-inducing design adds a punch of awestruck to your gut, whereas the art on the walls will leave you either with dreamy hallucinations or Borges-type nightmares.
  6. Toledo Museum of Art, (Toledo, Ohio, USA) Born from a private collection of local glass industrialist Edward Drummond Libbey, the Toledo Museum is home to an astounding number of high-profile works by 19th-Century European and American greats. The impressive glass collection adds a unique twist to the visit. (Pssstt: I grew up going to this museum at least once a year, and I still consider it one of the best in the world–right up there with any in Paris.)
  7. Heide Museum of Modern Art, (Bulleen, Victoria, AUSTRALIA) Australians are crazy about art, especially in Melbourne. The “Heide” is just a 15-minute ride outside downtown Melbourne, but that’s apparently too far for most tourists. What they’re missing is a creative collection of old Australian houses set up as galleries, bizarre outdoor installations and some downright funky art. Check it out.
  8. Kharkov Art Museum, (Kharkov, UKRAINE) An appreciation for Soviet art is regaining strength both in Ukraine and abroad. While most visitors hit the capital sights in Kyiv, it’s the industrial city of Kharkov that managed to preserve the country’s rich art heritage, from old Orthodox icons to propagandist block prints, epic oil paintings and tender Ukrainian folk art. Honestly, it’s probably the best art museum in the country.
  9. Winnipeg Art Gallery, (Winnipeg, CANADA) Canadians reign supreme in feelgood art experience and the “WAG” (an unfortunate acronym) is no exception. Manitoban art abounds and aren’t you curious to find out what that is? Housed in a sharp and angled stone triangle, the WAG also boasts the largest collection of Inuit art in the world, something the world-famous Louvre generally lacks.
  10. Guangdong Museum of Art, (Guangzhou, CHINA) Despite all the art that got stolen by foreigners and/or ruined by the Cultural Revolution, there is still some Chinese art left in China. In fact, even as you read this, new Chinese artists are producing new Chinese art . Shanghai and Beijing and Hong Kong are more famous and perhaps more impressive, but the Guangdong in Guangzhou is gaining worldwide notoriety for its fresh repertoire and independent spirit. (Why do the industrial cities get the good stuff?)

OK, I realize there are a lot more wonderful and obscure art museums out there (feel free to add your suggestions in the comments). The point is, when adding art museums to your bucket list, think outside the box. Some of the world’s greatest paintings are not in London or Paris. They’re in Winnipeg or Toledo.

(Photo: Flickr Henry Bloomfield; 2 Dogs)