“Catastrophe tourism” on the rise in Greenland

by Iva Skoch on

Greenland says it doesn’t like to be seen as the global warming poster child, according to an article in Sunday’s NY Times entitled “As Ice Recedes, Interest Surges.” They have witnessed a spike in “catastrophe tourism,” or “Come see if before it’s too late” kind of tourism, lately. Apparently it is human nature to enjoy watching things–Greenland, in this case–die.

If morbid curiosity is what does it for you, you can now take a direct flight from Baltimore to Greenland on Air Greenland for about $1300. You can sit on the Ilulissat ice fjord, watching the glacier melt in 3D. Or you can visit the 25-foot ice wall Kangerlussuag, which–if it melts–is supposed to be responsible for raising the world’s ocean level by 24 feet.

Of course, by increasing the air traffic in Greenland, you might actually be helping global warming…

Welcome to Tulip Island

by Brett Atkinson on

The threat of rising sea-levels is getting a few people excited as they plan and plot new artificial islands. Then again it could just be canny developers with an eye on making megabucks.

The go-ahead Arab supercity of Dubai is leading the pack with developments like the Palms and the World, but now the idea is taking hold in perennially low-lying countries like the Netherlands.

A new island is being planned off the Dutch coast which will be in the shape of a tulip. I guess they could have plumped for a giant windmill or a huge bottle of Heineken, but a tulip is still undeniably Dutch.

What’s next? A giant kangaroo off the coast of Aussie’s Great Barrier Reef, or a yellow taxi with room for tens of thousands of passengers flagged down in the Hudson River?

Thanks to Marshall Astor on Flickr for the pic.

Spain to be home to Europe’s largest casino

by Abha Malpani on

Spain’s lottery market is one of the largest in the world; it is home to the world’s fattest Christmas draw (El Gordo) that amounts to Euro2.20 billion(!), the country has slot-machines in almost every bar, and countless mini-casinos in every city.

I don’t know what the scene is like in other European countries, but trying your luck at some sort of gambling on a daily basis can totally be considered part of Spanish culture and tradition. With the high variety and demand of national and local level daily ‘money-winning’ opportunities in the country, gambling has often, and rightly, been called a national obsession.

So, it is no surprise that Spain has just declared building what will be Europe’s largest casino resort in Zaragoza — the 5th largest Spanish metropolitan that is located about 200 miles from Madrid. Tentatively called “Gran Escala” (Grand Scale), this ‘Vegas’ will cover 5000 acres, include 32 hotels and 5 theme parks.

A few years ago, the estimated amount spent on gambling by Spaniards was Euro22.68 billion, with older figures showing that every Spaniard spent Euro435 annually on the same. The country’s gambling market is expected to grow to Euro39 billion by 2010.

I guess everyone would love to sweep the table in a game of poker or win the lottery and never have to work again; here Spaniards try day-in-day-out to make that dream into a reality.

NY Times: 53 places to go in 2008

by Iva Skoch on

Yesterday’s NY Times travel section depicted the 53 “it” destinations of 2008.

Laos made number 1, as the new Vietnam and Cambodia of Indochina. The photo, by Tanja Geis for the NY Times, is of stupas on the grounds of Pha That Luang in Vientiane, Laos.

My home town, Prague, made number 14, apparently because Prague is still the new Prague. Other than that, I have only been to about one third of these. So many places, so little time!

Here is the top 10:

  1. Laos
  2. Lisbon
  3. Tunisia
  4. Mauritius
  5. Mid-Beach Miami
  6. South Beach, Miami
  7. Maldives
  8. Death Valley
  9. Courchevel, France
  10. Libya

The complete list is here.

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So that’s why they hardly speak English in Spain!

by Abha Malpani on

It has always shocked me how little English people speak in Spain. Travel to big cities and generally you can communicate with the locals in English, but in Madrid (for example) you will be lucky to encounter a Madrileño to speak to in English. It’s embarrassing how here you can’t even order a coffee in English at Starbucks!

I think one of the main reasons for its lack of English-speaking capabilities is the fact that Spain is the only country in the world (according to a recent article in the English version of El Pais published by the IHT) that dubs everything. Everything!

The article (which unfortunately isn’t online) also says that Spain has 4,300 cinema screens, making it the country with the highest number of movie theaters per person in Europe. Although now there are a number of Version Original (VO) theaters in the country, they are visited mostly by tourists; Spaniards generally don’t want to read subtitles. When asked, although Spaniards said they prefer to watch films in VO, only 4% of them actually go to cinemas to watch them in VO.

To make a comparison of sorts: I have a lot of Swedish friends, both here and in Sweden. What always surprised me was how well they speak English and how perfectly American their accents are. When I asked them, they all unanimously said it’s because they have grown up watching English-language programs on television as nothing is dubbed. Sweden generally being a rich and cold country, most people have cable and I guess they stay in a lot!

Although English is taught in Spanish schools, it is not uncommon to find it being taught by teachers who can’t really speak English, but they know the grammar. On that note, it’s interesting to think that should Spain not have dubbed programs (initially done under the Franco regime), Spaniards would at least have had basic English communication skills.

The influence of media on the language capabilities of a country is quite fascinating, don’t you think!?