Perceptive Travel March/April

by Erik Olsen on

Hey, a quick heads up for y’all. If you haven’t already
taken a peek at Tim Leffel’s new online travel magazine Perceptive
Travel, you should do so. The March/April
issue is now online, and chock full of articles about travel to all parts of the globe, music and book reviews, as
well as some insightful commentary in the pieces themselves.

Let me call out one article, in particular that I
enjoyed. This piece on the restoration of coral reefs by writer/vagabond/photographer Jeff Greenwald is very
interesting. Greenwald examines the broader question of how to preserve the global reef system in the context of
efforts to protect a reef in Indonesia. The crux of the issue, it seems, is providing management responsibilities to
the local population (i.e. villagers, fishermen, and dive operators) who, one might argue, has a deeper vested interest
in preserving the area’s ecology.

I was interested to learn from Greenwald’s piece that all the
world’s reefs put together would only cover an area half the size of France. For some reason, I would have guesses it
was much larger than that. I thought the Great Barrier Reef alone might have been near that large. Almost looks like it
on a map. The big issue, of course, is that coral reefs are being decimated at an alarming rate. Currently, according to
Greenwald, 70% of them are so threatened that they will cease to be viable within 50 years. That’s very bad news
for divers and the local population as a whole…not to mention scientists and, well, all of us who know that
these reefs are “rainforests of the ocean” that hold a stunning biodiversity of life forms worthy not only
of study and protection, but admiration.

There are some other fine articles at the site as well. And
we’ll go back to Perceptive Travel in the future. So far
it’s creator, Tim Leffel, has done a really fine job with it.

Bullish on Budapest

by Erik Olsen on

My first solo trip outside the United States (and not
including various trips to Mexico…that is, a jaunt here or there to Tijuana) was a trip to Europe after college. To
be honest, I’d pretty much advocate sending your kids abroad by themselves as an integral part of their upbringing. And
you know what? I’d send them to Europe or Asia or South America BEFORE college. But all that is beside the point. What I
wanted to say is that on this first solo trip of mine to Europe, I had to make a choice. 1) go to Greece with a hot
Australian woman I met in the South of France and had traveled with for a week or 2) continue to a newly liberated
Eastern Europe, whose history I studied in school. Hmmmm…..what would YOU do?

Well, I opted for Eastern
Europe, and never saw the Aussie babe again. BUT I did get to see Budapest, and that experience alone was worth it. The
sight of the Parliament building along the Danube river, the bath houses, the wonderful little cafes. Goulash! Budapest
is great. And did I mention how beautiful the women are? Oh my.

And so, I offer you a fine piece that
delves into the beauty, culture, history and food of Budapest. They offer 12 places to see and experience in the
city…and sadly I haven’t seen most of them.

 

Bob Dylan's New York

by Erik Olsen on

He sang about New York like no other rocker. In fact, even
though he hailed from Minnesota, Bob Dylan sang about New York as if he was born here, and his music is so closely
associated with the city that it’s hard to think about his career without picturing him on the streets of the Lower
East Side.

Personally, I am a BIG Bob Dylan fan. I was in support of the efforts some years ago to give him
a Nobel Prize for Literature…or Poetry. Probably poetry. He deserves it. Seriously, go back and read some of
his  early lyrics and tell me they aren’t drenched
in brilliance. Sometimes when I walk around New York City (and I live very close to Bleecker, for example), I’ll put
Dylan on my iPod, and the two, like chocolate and peanut butter, just really go together.

All of this is to
prepare you for a very fine site I encountered recently that does exactly this, mixes the peanut butter (chunky-style)
of Dylan’s voice, with the smooth chocolate darkness of New York City. This site  features all sorts of links to Dylan’s life and work in
New York. Give it a look. Pretty sweet.

GADLING'S TAKE FIVE: Week of February 26

by Neil Woodburn on

It’s Friday, the end of the week, so that means it’s time for a quick wrap up of
some of the posts you may have missed.

5.  Postcards from Trinidad:
Seven
Thanks to the marvel of technology, Adrienne is posting this week from Trinidad where, in her sober
hours, she is keeping the Gadling spirit alive.  Over the past week, she has been gracing us with a handful of
wonderful photos from one of the biggest parties in the world: Carnival.  If you don’t have a chance to
check out the others she has posted, do yourself a favor and at least click on this hauntingly beautiful one. 

4.  Red
Corner: The Wonders of Lake Baikal in Wintertime
Lake Baikal in the heart of Siberia continues to fascinate
me.  This week’s post discusses the various tourist opportunities still operating in the middle of
winter.  It may seem crazy, but a frozen lake simply provides one more surface to drive upon, and one more surface
to scuba dive beneath.  Locals don’t stop what they are doing in the winter, and neither should
tourists.  

3.  Going to the World Cup
Everyone knows that the World Cup is kicking off in Germany next summer, but no one knows just how to score tickets
to the big matches.  Well, Erik unearthed a novel way to do so.  Simply fly from Dubai to select German
cities on Emirates Airlines and grab yourself some “free” tickets as part of the airline’s
promotional giveaway.

2.  Strange Name Places: Psycho
Path
We’ve all come across strangely named streets while traveling and now someone has put their very
favorite together in a collection aptly summarized by Erik.  The favorites?  Divorce Court and Psycho
Path.

1.  Hitler Hotel
Ah yes, the Hitler
Hotel.  Another strange post this week, this one managing to combine the Third Reich with a fancy place to
stay.  If you’re interested in bedding down where the Fuehrer once slept, get yourself to Berchtesgaden and
catch some Zzzzz’s. And no, the new hotel is not located at 666 Psycho Path.

Jain Festival on the Beeb

by Erik Olsen on

The Jain Festival in India is one of the largest and
most colorful in the world, and this audio slideshow on the BBC does a fine job bringing out both the vividness
of the event, but also the deep philosophy of the Jani faith (whose abiding principle is a sort of "live and let
live" edict, that one should have respect for life). The photos that accompany the piece roll along very nicely,
illustrating the narration and really feeding the eyes with stunning images. In the best case scenario, this would have
been done in video….but then again, I do video so I am biased.

No matter. The audio takes you briefly
through the festival, with the author and narrator, Karoki Lewis, at first huffing it up a hill to reach the festival
and then talking to various participants about the importance and meaning of the festival. Altogether nicely done.