TV Tourism

by Erik Olsen on

The smog-spewing buses park along Manhattan’s narrow side streets and hordes of camera-toting tourists waddle out and snap photos of the familiar building facades they know so well from their favorite TV show. The expressions on their faces suggest a suppressed excitement as if they are hopeful that Carrie or Jerry or Chandler will somehow appear from behind the door and walk past them uttering a witty observation on life in the Big Apple. I see these tours ALL THE TIME, and while a part of me is filled with loathing that they a) exist b) cause horrible traffic in the streets and c) further our celebrity-obsession, I have to say each time I walk past, say John Lennon’s apartment on Bank Street, I feel a slight tremor of delight, wondering whether my favorite Beatle, nay my favorite artist of all time may have tread the very sidewalk where I am walking. And so it goes. We all have our own secret fantasies of living among our cultural heroes or seeing the places — real or fake — where they themselves live.

This piece in the Sydney morning Herald takes a brief, and somewhat thoughtful, or at least more historical, look at TV tourism, making note not just of familiar NYC-themed shows like Friends and Sex and the City, but of some rather more obscure ones like Neighbors (an Australian TV show with the worst theme music ever written), Blake’s 7 (a BBC space series) as well as Dr. Who. But perhaps the best advice the article offers is that instead of visiting places like the West Village apartment in Friends (the interior of which was never used in the show itself) you pay a visit to the Museum of Television and Radio, which offers an expansive look at the history of the medium that has so captivated (and some say diminished) modern society. At least there you can actually learn something interesting … and you don’t hold up traffic.

Is It Skiing Time Yet?

by Iva Skoch on

Perhaps the only good thing about the summer ending is that one can start planning a ski vacation. My favorite place to ski is still the Alps. Granted, I have only skied in a handful of places in the US and Canada, but I still prefer Europe.

It’s not that the quality of snow is an order of magnitude better, but it has got two “C’s” going for it: cost and character. Especially in Austria, you can find pleasant chalet accommodations for as little as $30/person, including breakfast. I took this picture in Dachstein, a ski resort in Austria, just a hour away from Salzburg, last December. Sun and powder heaven. The beautiful thing is they still charge only 32euros (about $40) for a day pass. In the US, you can’t even ski the Poconos for that kind of money, sadly enough. If you have ever tried skiing the Poconos, you will understand exactly how sad that is.

Which brings me to my next point: character. Villages in the Alps are just so damn cute. I don’t care how accurately they try to replicate this quaintness in Whistler, it just doesn’t work.

Best American Travel Essays

by Erik Olsen on

I blogged a bit about a story in this book the other day, but realized the entire book itself is worthy of a quick post. I haven’t actually got my hands on it yet, but every year I do, and always I find it the most wonderful reading. I am talking about the series called Best American Travel stories. It is part of a much wider series of Best American books that cover essays on everything from science to mystery to crime and sports. In the case of the Best American Travel Stories, it is basically a hand-picked compendium of what the editor decides are the travel essays published in a particular year.

Last year’s book was edited by Jamaica Kincaid and featured contributions from luminary scribes like Jim Harrison, Madison Smartt Bell, Pam Houston, Simon Winchester, and John McPhee. This year’s promises to be a real treat. It was released just a week or so ago.

Edited by the always entertaining (and talented) Tim Cahill, the book features wanderlustful tales by the likes of Gary Shteyngart, George Saunders, Alain de Botton and (always funny) P.J. O’Rourke. The 2006 edition also seems to place special emphasis on food with an essay by Chitrita Banerji’s about a Calcutta wedding feast and Calvin Trillin’s New Yorker piece about spending a week in Ecuador indulging his love for “thick and hearty” fanesca soup.

I recall reading a couple of these stories over the year in mainstream rags like the New Yorker, but the cool thing about the Best American series is that they usually select a number of essays from spunky little literary mags that you’ve never heard of. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to get my hands on it ASAP.

Google Mapping Kerouac

by Erik Olsen on

It is regarded as the seminal book about exploring the American road. I’ve read it three times, and most people I know have read it. I for one can say it was supremely inspirational as a source of both adventure and literary aspiration. I am tracking about On The Road, Jack Kerouac’s magnum opus featuring the character Sal Paradise and his scruffy, incandescent-spirited iconoclast friend Dean Moriarty. It is a wonderful book, but it is still, well, a book. So what about taking On the Road into the Internet age? How might one do that, exactly?

Michael Yessis of Worldhum fame has got an interview with a guy named Michael Hess who has done just that, basically by retracing Sal Paradise’s steps (or stops, as the case may be, since he was, after all, in a car much of the time) during a cross-country roadtrip from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Los Angeles. Hess did the trip with his wife, and launched a project called Littourati in May 2006. And here’s the modern angle: he then decided to plot their (and Paradise’s) westward progress on Google Maps. The project is the product of Hess’s self-professed interest in literature, maps and programming.

It is a cool project, particularly if you are a Kerouac fan (or fanatic), and could serve as a rather cool template for other epic and famous roadtrips (Animal House anyone?).

Notting Hill Gone Hollywood

by Iva Skoch on

Thanks to Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, the entire world now knows where Notting Hill is. Not so sure it is that great for Notting Hill…

During my recent trip to London, I went to Notting Hill and could not believe the number of tourists and shops that cater to them. The truth is that nowadays, Hugh would not be able to casually stroll on Portobello Road contemplating his love life because he could simply not make his way through the wall of tourists.

Notting Hill is still one of London’s most fun, hip, colorful neighborhood although its cost is pushing the eclectic types out. Here is a virtual tour. Try to avoid going over the weekend, no matter what the guide books tell you. Sure, the weekend Portobello Road market is nice, but unless you enjoy pre-Christmas shopping crowds, you won’t enjoy this either.