Greece is the Word

by Erik Olsen on

Isn’t it about this time every year that you imagine traveling in Greece? Or is that just me?

Well, if you can’t get out of your job, or sticker shock in Europe has got you down, or you just got conked on the head by a brick and are wandering around like a zombie having forgotten your name and where you live (let alone your PIN)…you can live vicariously through someone else. You can read about THEIR trip to Greece and satisfy (sort of) that hungry longing for cerulean seas and golden drips of olive oil on crusty bread. Just go read Gregg’s travelogue or this fine site on Greece. Indulge yourself. And then get back to work! Lazy bast*&*.

Jordan and Egypt

by Erik Olsen on

I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of US and European travel posts lately, so I figured I’d drop one in here about one of the places in the world that really intrigues me: the Middle East. Now ,I did my honeymoon in Israel and Dahab, Egypt, both of which are now dear to me. But I have to say two places I missed that I really want to return to are Cairo and Jordan. I mean, how can you be a fan of the Indian Jones series and NOT want to see Petra? And the pyramids ?So what if they are now a tourist nightmare. I want to see them.

And so here is a piece over at MSNBC.com that takes on both of these places. The writer discuses all the famous tourist spots…it’s a basic travel piece…but somehow I came away with an even more passionate desire to check these places out. What makes the peice a bit more interesting is she visits during the holy days of Ramadan when, she says, people eat like eating is going out of style. But she hits some of the sites that have been part of my lifelist for many years, places like Luxor and, yes, the Pyramids. Then she spirits over to Jordan to see Petrra and once again I was filled with a desire to go. It’s a nicely done bit of work, and if you’re like me, you’ll get inspired all over again to see these ancient wonders.

World War I Museum Opens

by Neil Woodburn on

World War I is often called “The Forgotten War.” It was supposed to be the Granddaddy of them all, but was quickly overshadowed by its nasty successor, World War II.

World War II, as we all know, was a much better war when it comes to cool war things: a more evil enemy, more sophisticated weaponry, phenomenal battles, horrendous carnage, and tons more video and photographic footage. In short, World War II was a much better sound bite.

In a rush to not be forgotten, however, a National World War I Museum was just opened this past weekend honoring the 2 million Americans who served in this most horrific affair. The $26 million museum is located at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City and is sadly the first of its kind in the United States.

Visitors will be greeted with a host of weaponry from the era, “rare film footage,” and an interactive center to help hammer home lessons from the war which we’ve obviously not learned yet.

In addition, 9,000 red poppies decorate the exterior of the museum and look quite lovely until you realize that each one represents 1,000 combat deaths.

Find a Grave Tourism

by Neil Woodburn on

We posted a few weeks ago about those who search out Hollywood graves during their vacations to Los Angeles. I found it a bit silly, as did many readers, but the reality is that most all of us have sought out the locations of various burial places while traveling. The difference, I suppose, is that travelers typically seek out the graves of historical figures rather than Lucille Ball or Marylyn Monroe.

For those tourists with death on their mind–be it celebrity or historical–I just recently came across the Holy Grail of web sites to help you in your morbid quest.

FindAGrave.com locates burial sites by name (naturally), location, date of death, and even “Claim to Fame.” For example, if you want to do a grave tour of Organized Crime Figures, FindAGrave has a category for you.

More interested in your not-so-famous relatives?

This cool sight also lists 13 million grave records of rank-and-file deceased. It’s not complete by any means, but is a good place to start looking if that’s your thing.

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of November 26

by Adrienne Wilson on

Am I the only one who can’t believe it is December 1st? Where did November go? Where did the year go? How time flashes! If the end of the week managed to sneak up on you as fast as it got me you might want to review some of these posts found here over the week.

5. ABBA Museum to Debut in 2008:
Come on! You can’t tell me you’re not excited by the news. Get your dancing feet to this one to find out the details on the new Sweden based museum.

4. Maps of the World:
Erik brings our attention to the poor quality of maps too often found in guidebooks and then provides some good resources to finding good maps to take on your trip. AAA and another site new to me called, Just Maps are the only two that he mentions, but it’s a good starting place if you’re completely lost.

3.Magnifique Martinique:
Considering how popular the islands become once winter storms start pounding less tropical lands I thought this piece on the French Caribbean island of Martinique needed extra mentioning. It’s high on my travel agenda for that particular region of the world.

2. Garlic Card:
As a child I was never a fan of garlic, but this is mostly due to my aunt draping it in my window to protect me from vampires. I kid you not. However, some people can’t go a day with seasoning their food with a pinch of garlic. Neil brings us information on a Garlic card that can be used to help bring extra flavor and taste to your meals while camping in the great outdoors. I’m sure it will protect you from vampires in the woods as well, if you buy into that stuff.

1. Space Tourism Details Start to Fill In:
Everyone ready to go to space? More and more details are starting to come in on Space Tourism and it even looks somewhat affordable. If you think about $200,000 is a lot more affordable than $20 million bucks.