The world’s tourist traps and how to avoid them

by Catherine Bodry on

What constitutes a tourist trap? Forbes Traveler’s Chris Colin argues that it’s a place that eclipses the genuine article. Postcard racks block the actual view, and prices are considerably higher than they might be a few miles (or blocks) away. They leave you drained financially, asking yourself, “Why did I do this?”

How do you spot a tourist trap? Colin suggests that anywhere a cruise ship docks is a good indicator. Also, double-decker buses tend to deposit large numbers of camera-toting tourists. Fisherman’s Wharf and sections of China’s Great Wall are good examples of tourist traps. I also think of Koh San Road in Bangkok, Thailand, a backpacker’s trap (although I love it, I’m sort of ashamed to admit) filled with bootlegged-CD stalls, bland pad thai, and restaurants showing the latest bootlegged DVD.

But you shouldn’t avoid all places overrun with tourists. Sometimes it’s a matter of wandering a bit further, or coming at a different time of year. I know the pad thai gets a lot better just a few blocks away from Koh San Road, and that the Grand Canyon is less crowded on weekdays.

Thanks to Mamabrarian on Flickr for the photo she titled “Existential Tourist Trap.”

Off the beaten foodie path in New York City: Studiofeast

by Grant Martin on

With so many good places to eat in Manhattan, chefs are continuously trying to outdo each other in complexity and presentation of dishes. To that effect, eventually one beings to pay for elegance and setting as much as for the food itself. Is it really worth two hundred dollars a person to eat at Morimoto? Really?

For a different type of dining experience, where you won’t have to worry about what shoulder your Y-3 sweater is hanging from or the appellation of your Côtes du Rhône, try Studiofeast.

Recently slated in the New York Post as a having “code names, mysterious meeting places, a cult following and the intoxicating whiff of illegality,” Studiofeast is one of the numerous underground eating clubs that have popped up in the city over the past few years. It brings a unique, intimate air to dinner, where you can mill about a random Williamsburg or Red Hook studio, converse with the other diners, bring your own bottle of wine and not worry about the pretense of a normal awkward dinner on the LES.

Read the Post’s stub about Studiofeast here or check out their website. I’ll be at the November 3rd feast with my Y-3 cable knit sweater zipped all the way up. I should note that I met the creators a few years ago and have been regularly impressed with their fare and general zeal. My opinion aside, it should still be an excellent meal.

2,500 years of erotic art on display in London

by Martha Edwards on

There’s a thin line between pornography and tasteful erotic art, and if you’re a fan of the latter, you might want to head to London, where 2,500 years of it is on display at the Barbican Centre — making it the largest art store of it’s kind ever. Most of the works of art are pieces that, at some point throughout history, have been censored according to what was appropriate at that point in time. But it’s all out in the open now, and if you don’t like it, stay away. Interestingly, a similar show was presented in Cincinnati in 1990 and the gallery’s director was indicted for obscenity, but later acquitted.

In addition to classic art, the show, called Seduced: Art and Sex from Antiquity to Now also features new works by some of the controversial names of our time, like Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe who contributes a series of sado-masochist homosexual portraits.

The show runs until January 27, 2008.

India: Now at The Newark Museum

by Kelly Amabile on

There’s a really unique look at India on exhibit at the Newark Museum right now. India: Public Places/Private Spaces is devoted to contemporary art and photography from 28 Indian artists. A cornerstone program running in conjunction with the exhibit is a two-day symposium taking place Oct. 27-28: India: Changing the Way We See will include lectures, readings and film screenings by a select group of internationally renowned scholars, writers and artists as they explore the impact of a rapidly changing India on the global art scene. There will also be an art workshop about Bollywood on November 17 and a family Thanksgiving program celebrating the arts and culture of India on November 23. The art exhibit runs through January 6, 2008.

The Newark Museum has over 80 galleries, including African, American and Asian collections. They have a really nice museum shop too. The Museum is located in the downtown arts district, not far from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

Shake it up at Iowa’s salt and pepper museum

by Catherine Bodry on

Traer, Iowa, wants its share of the state’s tourism income. The only problem? The central town doesn’t have any sights to draw tourists. But never mind that because residents have decided to create their own attraction. The city approved a $12,500 (collected in sales tax) purchase of 14,400 pairs of salt and pepper shakers.

The shakers were assembled by resident Ruth Rasmussen, who’s been collecting sets since 1949. 84-year-old Rasmussen is glad her collection is going to a good place. “I can’t take care of them anymore,” she says. At one point, her collection was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest.

[via USA Today]