Conde Nast Traveler photo contest: $15,000 trip for two to Mexico

by Catherine Bodry on


Condé Nast Traveler has a contest you can’t afford not to enter: all you have to do is submit your favorite vacation photo and tell them why it means so much to you. Obviously, photos should be good — one of you and your best friend on Spring Break probably won’t make the cut.

The grand prize is a four-night stay at the One&Only Palmilla resort in Los Cabos, Mexico. The prize includes airfare for two, a beachfront luxury one-bedroom suite, daily breakfast, and a four-hour ocean cruise on a 50-foot yacht. I know I’ll be searching my photo files this week. The deadline for submission is December 18th.

Read the rules, view submissions, and see previous winners here. Good luck!

One for the Road: Frommer’s Barcelona Day by Day

by Kelly Amabile on

Catalan bread, paella and copious amounts of Spanish wine — food is what first comes to mind when I think of my past visits to Barcelona. (Tip: I had several scrumptious meals at vegetarian gem Venus.) Then there is the inviting Mediterranean breeze, the winding stone alleyways and the entertaining Las Ramblas street performers. And of course, best of all (in my opinion) there is the art! My very favorites are the Gothic architectural masterpiece, Santa Maria del Mar and Picasso’s stunning Las Meninas series. But I’ve hardly scratched the surface…

Barcelona offers up an endless array of activities, sights and culinary delights. Which is why a book like Frommer’s brand new Barcelona Day by Day can be a traveler’s best friend. This about-to-be-released pocket guide is structured around “19 smart ways to see the city”, which includes suggested neighborhood walks, special-interest themed tours, practical day-trip options and the best lodging, dining and shopping around. And it’s packaged quite efficiently in a compact glossy 180-pager. The book contains 39 easy-to-read maps and includes a larger regional Catalonia map tucked in a rear-cover plastic pocket.

Let this handy travel partner help plan your stay in Barcelona, whether it’s for 24-hours or a week — just be sure to get there, eventually, one of these days!

Six cemeteries to visit … while you’re still alive, that is.

by Martha Edwards on

I’ve never been too fond of graveyards … they’re okay, I suppose, for funerals and general grieving and/or paying your respects but unless it’s a close relative of mine, I don’t really feel any inclination to meander among the headstones. But hey — that’s just me! Graveyards are a pretty big tourist draw, depending on who’s buried there. Here are some notable graveyards according to the Britannica Blog:

  • Père-Lachaise. Noted as one of Paris’ most popular tourist attraction, this graveyard boast the remains of Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Victor Hugo and Marcel Proust, among others. But undoubtedly its most famous resident is none other than Jim Morrison.
  • Forest Lawn Memorial Park. This California graveyard receives over a million visitors a year, who come to pay respects to deceased celebs like Walt Disney, Jean Harlow and Humphrey Bogart.
  • Valley of the Kings. This ancient necropolis is the home of the tombs of many ancient Pharaohs. And, since the archaeologists who originally found it died soon after their discovery, it’s thought to be cursed.
  • Arlington National Cemetery. Many fallen soldiers lie here; but it’s not all soldiers — Jackie O and JFK also rest here.
  • Catacombs of Rome. Many of the long-gone Popes reside here — the Crypt of the Popes receives hundreds of thousands of visitors.
  • Tomb of the Terracotta Warriors. Construction of this extensive Chinese treasure started in 215 B.C. Man, that’s old. And it was all but forgotten until a farmer stumbled across it in 1974.

Heights of superstitious India: Man marries dog

by Abha Malpani on

If there is a country that often takes superstition to different heights, it’s India.

Throw salt behind you over your shoulder every morning to have a good day; bury your child’s first tooth in cow-dung and throw it over your roof — it will hasten the child’s teething process; you can’t marry unless your astrological charts match; about 300 million gallons of waste go into the Ganges every day, yet people go to bathe there as they believe it will wash away their sins … the list just gets more and more absurd and is endless. (Most Indian politicians follow their faith when they make decisions for their country — but that’s a different story altogether.)

The latest demonstration of superstitious India: Indian man marries female dog to redeem himself of stoning two dogs to death. When he killed those two dogs about 15 years ago, he suffered some form of paralysis and lost hearing in one ear. An astrologer told him that he was cursed for his bad deed and marrying a dog was the only remedy.

What!?OK, just for the record: I like to respect what people have faith in. I am Indian and have been brought up around things like karma and traditional astrological / spiritual beliefs. I may not believe in most of it, but I do respect it. But when it gets taken to levels like this, I really don’t know what to think.

I know India has a huge problem of illiteracy, and poor villagers depend on their local pandit, or astrologer to show them the way. If it helps you in your life, fine — but where is your head when you are asked to marry an animal?

Not being educated doesn’t mean you don’t have common sense and it amazes me how all sense of rationality often gets thrown out of the window in the name of faith. It also scares me.

[Via Red Orbit]

One for the Road: Around the World – The Grand Tour in Photo Albums

by Kelly Amabile on

Long before the birth of travel blogs, online trip journals or digital cameras, there were photo albums and paper scrapbooks. Remember those? Sure you do, and of course, plenty of folks still use these traditional forms to chronicle and capture their travels. But today’s Moleskines and Kodak Photogallery albums are modern day versions of an artistic journaling phenomenon that dates back to the invention of photography.

A new book from Princeton Architectural Press traces the history of the travel photo album with an impressive collection of snapshots, postcards and passenger lists that capture the stories of early voyages. Around the World – The Grand Tour in Photo Albums includes amateur photos, diary entries, ship menus and newspaper clippings that transport readers back to the dawn of world travel. Read author Barbara Levine’s Confessions of an Armchair Traveler essay to learn more about how travel tales were chronicled at the turn of the twentieth century. And pick up a copy of this book to be whisked away on a vintage journey full of classic travel ephemera.