Epic round-the-world cruise follows in the wake of famous explorers

by Kraig Becker on

In March of 2010, an adventure cruise of epic proportions will get underway from Singapore that will send travelers on a round the world expedition, following in the footsteps of some of history’s most revered explorers.

Cruise West’s Voyages of the Great Explorers will send 120 luck passengers on a 335 day cruise aboard the Spirit of Oceanus, the flagship of the Cruise West fleet. Departing from Singapore on March 6, 2010, the ship will sail west, and eventually return to its starting destination on February 3, 2011. In between, passengers will be treated to 24 individual voyages, encompassed by six defined “chapters”.

Each of these six chapters correspond to a historical figure who explored the world by sea. The first chapter follows the path of Marco Polo, while the second takes the route of Odysseus and the Phoenicians merchants. Subsequent chapters follow the adventures of Lief Eriksson, Christopher Columbus, James Cook, and Ferdinand Magellan. Each cruise within each chapter will follow historical routes and offer insights into what the explorers experienced as they went about their own voyages.

Through the course of the cruise, travelers will experience 242 ports of call spread across 59 countries. They’ll aslo visit 85 UNESCO World Heritage sites, cross 14 seas and oceans, and traverse the Suez, Corinth, and Panama Canals.

So how much will this epic cruise set you back? Good question! You can book any single cruise or combination of cruises starting at $4995. But if you want to do the whole thing, spending all 335 days circumnavigating the globe, it’ll set you back a cool $233,995. I wonder what Marco Polo would think of that.

For more information on the cruise read the press release here.

Museum Junkie: Smithsonian offers real “Night at the Museum”

by Sean McLachlan on

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is offering a special weekend tour to coincide with the sure-to-be-hit movie “Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian”.

Visitors will learn the real story behind the sites and artifacts featured in the film during the Smithsonian’s “Family Weekend in Washington, D.C.”, on July 24-26. The weekend starts with a dinner with Amelia Earhart at the National Air and Space Museum, followed the next day by a viewing of the film at the the museum’s Imax theater and a special tour of the museum. The second day of the tour includes visits to sites in Washington, D.C. that feature in the movie such as the National Mall and the Lincoln Memorial.

The weekend is part of the Smithsonian Journeys series that takes people on informative trips around the world, whether it’s the early Christian sites of Greece and Turkey or the coastal wilderness of Alaska. For those wanting to stay closer to home, “Celebrate Smithsonian!” offers a behind-the-scenes tour of America’s greatest museum, including the newly reopened National Museum of American History. The tour is on September 9-12, but it’s best to book ahead.

River Day: Celebrate Henry Hudson’s river discovery 400 years ago

by Jamie Rhein on

One of my favorite sites last summer on my train trip from Cleveland to New York City was the sun glinting off the Hudson River starting north of Poughkeepsie and continuing until we were past West Point and the shine had deepened to a darker color. The Hudson is a river that has inspired artists and poets and has drawn the wealthy to its banks to create fabulous mansions, private colleges and upstate getaways, and religious types to build monasteries that offer solace in nature and quiet.

To celebrate Henry Hudson’s discovery of one of nature’s river masterpieces 400 years ago, New York is throwing a festival beginning next weekend that starts at Battery Park and New York Harbor on June 5 and continues up to the towns and villages in the Hudson Valley all the way to Albany. The final day for River Day is Saturday, June 13. At each location there are various events to commemorate the occasion.

Some of the main highlights are:

  • Flotilla of boats
  • Parade
  • Cannon welcome
  • fireworks
  • antique plane fly-overs
  • educational programs
  • food
  • music
  • and more of course

From reading the event’s page menu of what’s taking place at each of the festival’s locations, it’s clear how much the Hudson River means to the people who live near it and how the river connects people who live in New York with each other.

At ExploreNY400.com you can find out more information about other happenings this commemorative year.

Photo of the Day (5-27-09)

by Jamie Rhein on

This gorgeous building is in the walled-city of Intramuros, a section of Manila, Philippines. The city, built by the Spaniards on the southern bank of the Pasig River in the 16th century is Manila’s oldest district. I love the tone and the way the angle that wetboxer chose in order to show off the intricate details of the architecture. It’s buildings like this one that draws me to travel. Not the only thing, but one thing. Like nature, buildings that offer visual stimulation and intrigue also capture the world’s wonder. But, I’m fond of cities so perhaps that’s why I feel this way.

If you’ve captured some of the world’s wonders with your camera, send your shots our way at Gadling’s Flickr photo pool. One might be chosen as a Photo of the Day.

Museum Junkie: Manchester exhibit on life as a POW

by Sean McLachlan on

A fascinating exhibit on life as a POW has opened at The Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, England.

The exhibition, called “Captured: The Extraordinary Life of Prisoners of War”, combines pictures, artifacts, and real-life anecdotes to give a glimpse into the experiences of prisoners of war from all armies during the Second World War (1939-45). It also features the only known film of German POWs in Britain.

While the exhibition focuses on the daily endurance test POWs had to live through, it also examines some of the famous escapes from notorious German prisons such as Colditz. This castle near Dresden housed Allied POWs who had tried to escape from other prisons. The Nazis considered it impossible to escape from. Several POWs saw it as a challenge and proved the Nazis wrong.

This museum junkie has been to many of The Imperial War Museum’s special exhibitions and has always been impressed. They’re always easy to follow and full of surprises and leave you knowing a lot more than when you arrived. At the permanent exhibition in the museum’s London branch, there’s a recording of an interview with a British soldier who survived a Japanese POW camp. He got terrible sores on his legs and didn’t have any medicine to treat them. Knowing that tea is a disinfectant, he pressed tea bags against the sores. This bit of trivia saved his legs and probably his life.

This latest exhibition is one of a series of events marking the 70th anniversary of the start of World War Two. A list of upcoming events at the museum’s five branches is online here,

“Captured: The Extraordinary Life of Prisoners of War” runs until January 3rd, 2010.