With the attacks in Jordan, you might be thinking that trips to
the Middle East are probably best left on the back-burner. Nothing ruins a good trip like a suicide bomber. So maybe
that trip to Egypt needs to be shelved, but you’ve still got a serious Jones for the Pyramids. Well if so, then check
out the PyramidCam, a new webcam that serves up more than 1,000
high-definition color images of the pyramids every day. There is a
gallery where you can check out the prior images. I found
it pretty interesting because it appeared you could see a sandstorm brewing in some of them. Uh, or maybe that’s just
smog.
Branding Baltimore
Baltimore is slogan-obsessed. Whether
directed at city residents or potential tourists, Baltimore seems crazed with defining itself in short sentences or
catchy phrases. And now it’s about to undertake a major “destination repositioning”.
When I first moved to Baltimore it was called “The City that Reads”. Next it was
re-branded as “The Greatest City in America” by
our hottie rockstar mayor. Then the
BELIEVE ad campaign was created as a community initiative to
reduce crime. (That’s hottie mayor in the photo, modeling the slogan tee.) The city went outside for help too,
enlisting the services of Faith Popcorn, who developed a “Be” theme that never amounted to much. And now it’s been
announced that city tourism officials are going to spend half a million dollars to embark on yet another
image campaign
to attract visitors!
As I prepare to move away from Baltimore this month, I’ve got to share my two-cents about all this. First, I’m not
leaving Baltimore because I think badly of it. In fact, I absolutely love it, and my departure from it may only last a
few years. Charm City is a fantastic place to live in or visit for vacation. If you’ve never been, you should go, plain
and simple. TV shows like The Wire and The Corner have supposedly had a negative impact on the city’s
reputation. I don’t watch them so I can’t really speak to that, but I just don’t buy it — turn off the TV and give the
real thing a chance, I can’t imagine you’ll be disappointed. Baltimore is not New York or Chicago or even Philly. It’s
Baltimore, with lots to offer on its own as a stand-alone destination.
The Frommer’s folks agree.
Regardless of whatever slogan it gets slapped with next, the home of the Hon
is absolutely worth a visit. The place is affordable, manageable, pleasant — a big city with a small town feel, home to
dozens of unique neighborhoods, museums and restaurants. Some call it Smalltimore too — maybe that would work for the
tourism folks and we could put that half a mil towards city needs that are a bit more pressing? Name games aside,
Baltimore should not be overlooked.
Prague: The Past, The Press and Prognosis
I’ve been eternally bummed that I never made it to Prague when I
visited Europe in 1996. Back then, it was the new place to stop on the backpacker circuit. I missed out, and
now read about how many folks are so over Prague and its throngs of tourists and English teachers.
Sooooo, Prague is popular — that might turn some backpackers away, but not me. I’ll be heading there next year, and
will have to see for myself what popularity has done to Prague. Until then, I’ll study up on the Prague that was, and
start by digging into the mini-archive of Prognosis, the first
non-communist English-language newspaper in Prague. Members of the ambitious team that founded the newspaper in 1991
included Matt Welch,Ben Sullivan, Laura Pitter, Chris Scheer, Jenny Ogar and Vladan Sir. Prognosis was “…an
alternative newspaper that track[ed] the Czech Republic’s traumatic transition from communism to capitalism.” (SF
Examiner, 1993). It attrracted attention as a respected publication, but as Welch said in the
post-mortem salute (it died in 1995), “…the oldest owner
was 24, everyone was drunk, and no one within vomiting distance of the place ever had a clue about running a business.”
The American journalists who visitied Prague back then were
criticized by Welch for writing about the YAPs (Young
Americans in Prague) instead of focusing on the city itself and the changes it was experiencing.
There are unfortunately links to only a few Prognosis articles on Welch’s site, but they’re worth browsing to get an
idea of what was going on in Prague 10-15 years ago. For more, read Think Magazine’s
Let the Kazoo’s Sound: A Decade of English Language Press in Prague.
The best way to learn about any place before visiting is to read the local papers, so for Prague, check out these two
English language pubs: Prague Post and
The Prague Tribune.
[Thanks Amy!]
Prague: One for the Road: Guidebooks
Somerset Books published the latest title in its art/shop/eat series with the September 2005 release of a book about
Prague. The pocket-sized guide to art and cultural
treasures has details about museums, galleries, churches and other architectural landmarks in the city. The
art/shop/eat guides do not provide comprehensive coverage of all there is to do and see in a city, but will suggest
some of the best places for dining, shopping and art-admiring around town. Here are a few other recent book releases
about Prague:
Art for Travellers: The Essential Guide for Viewing Art in Prague
Fodor’s Gold Guide to Prague, First Edition
Gadling CityScapes: Prague
A little notice: Tomorrow we’re doing our second Gadling CityScapes feature picking up where we
left off with New York and taking you to Prague, in the Czech Republic. This city is dear to my heart personally
because some of my very good friends are from there, and I was there fairly recently for a wedding of a good friend.
Like we did with New York City in our first CityScapes day-long feature, we’ll be covering all aspects of Prague,
from dining, to hotels, to things to do and, well, pretty much everything. So check in tomorrow. It should be cool.