Hiroshige at The Phillips Collection

by Kelly Amabile on

I hope some of our DC area readers have time
to catch this exhibit before it ends on September 4th. I’m disappointed that I learned of it too late and won’t be able
to make it down myself, but it seems worth the trip for any art/travel enthusiasts who can get
there.

East Meets West: Hiroshige at The Phillips
Collection

features Japanese artist Hiroshige’s famous series, “The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido,” a travelogue of stops
along an ancient highway known as the Tokaido Road, which runs from what is now Tokyo (formerly Edo) to Kyoto.

Hiroshige painted the series circa 1833, after he had traveled the length of the highway the previous year as a
member of a group traveling to the Emperor in Kyoto. Along the way he sketched the scenes, which became the foundation
of his fame as a landscape artist.  The Woodblock Prints of Ando
Hiroshige is a good place to learn more about the traveling artist and view more of his work. A detailed
bio of his life explains that
Hiroshige was “fond of distant journeyings” and kept diaries along with his sketches as his traveled.

The exhibit features an East/West comparison of
Hiroshige’s influence on Western artists. It is on loan from a private collection so this may be the last opportunity
to see it for quite some time.

Wild About Peru…You Too?

by Erik Olsen on

Years ago when I hiked the
Inca Trail, I looked at the tattered map of Peru I had
with me and thought, man, there’s so much to see in this country, what a shame I’m not going to be here for months.
There are rain forests and winding rivers teeming with wildlife. There are barren altiplanos where the air is thin but
the light is brilliant. There are ancient cities in the clouds, and congested modern cities in the hills and along the
coasts. Peru is one of the most diversely interesting places in the world

WAPO carries a nice
piece on Peru written by Dana Priest. Priest heads to
Manu National Park,  one of the world’s largest
biosphere reserves and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Manu is massive, about as big as Switzerland and large areas of it
are off-limits to anyone but scientists. The park is home to 1,000 bird species, 1,300 butterfly species and five
completely different landscapes, differing in climate, geography, as well as flora and fauna. So you’d think that Manu
would be an eco-tourists paradise, but Priest says that only 800 people visit Manu each year. Priest runs into some odd
characters, and has an exhilarating Peruvian experience, the kind that I hope to have someday when I dig out that old
map and return to Peru.

Travel to Libya

by Erik Olsen on

First a quick question. You know the Marines’ Hymn, the part that goes “to the shores of Tripoli!”, who here knows where that comes from? What battle, historical event, I mean? The answer is provided on the next page if you click “next page”

OK, now down to business. Travel to Libya. Only recently did the country’s somewhat deranged leader Col. Muammar Qaddafi start welcoming US tourists to the country. And only recently did the US and the UN lift sanctions on traveling there. Before that, most international airlines could not fly to Libya, and the country remained a kind of international pariah. But now, with a new Ministry of Tourism making pretty pamphlets and a recently-hired British PR agency helping burnish the country’s image, Libya is becoming one of the hot new destinations. History buffs will delight in scrambling over Libya’s spectacular seaside Roman ruins which, let’s face it, would be thronged with tourists if they were almost anywhere else. But the numbers show that tourism is still in its infancy. Just 350,000 tourists visited the country in 2003, a number that is expected to triple by 2010.

So now is really a good time to consider a trip to Libya. And for inspiration, herewith I provide a link to a nice story in the Sydney Morning Herald on travel to Libya that will certainly whet your appetite to travel there. As you will read, it’s still rough. Amenities are scarce and the infrastructure is in need of repair, but that’s what makes travel to a place like Libya interesting. Once the tourist hordes discover the place and the knick-knack shops start popping up like mushrooms after a storm, well, we’ll miss these early days.

(answer:)
OK, The Tripoli reference is an allusion to the First Barbary War when on April 27, 1805 U.S. Marines and Berbers under the command of William Eaton & Lt. Presley O�Bannon attacked the Tripolitan city of Derna. For the longest time, I thought it had something to do with World War II, but that�s because I am a doofus and forgot the Hymn was composed long before that.

The Hotel Hershey

by Kelly Amabile on

At $300+ a night, this hotel may be more appropriate
accommodations for fans of Luxist, but since I just returned from a weekend
wedding here, I thought I’d share some details that may be of interest to Gadling readers as well.

The Hotel Hershey is by far the
most elegant attraction of the chocolate oasis that is the town of Hershey, PA.
Once you get past the roller coasters, theme parks and endless supply of chocolate
Kisses, it is easy to discover that the Hershey
legacy is a rich one, full of interesting historical tidbits and European influences, which can be observed by walking
the grounds of this central Pennsylvania mirage.

Milton Hershey and his wife Catherine loved to travel.
The halls of the hotel are lined with black and white photos from the early 1900’s, showcasing the company’s
manufacturing operations, as well as their trips abroad to places like Egypt and Spain. The $2 million hotel, built in
1932, was modeled after a similar one the couple had visited in the Mediterranean. Rooms like the Iberian Lounge and
Castilian Ballroom are decorated with lush carpets, towering palm trees and handsome furnishings. According to hotel
literature, famous world-traveler Lowell Thomas described it as, “…a palace that out-places the palaces of the
Maharajahs of India.”

The hotel is a unique and popular spot for weddings, but it also clearly attracts many vacationing families, drawn
to the hotel?s extensive offering of outdoor activities, including two swimming pools, tennis and bocce courts, nature
trails, two championship golf courses and a fitness center. 
I took an hour to tour the nearby 23-acre Hershey Gardens, which includes
a Butterfly House, a Japanese garden, and a replica of Mrs. Hershey?s original rose garden. Hotel guests receive free
admission to the gardens and the Hershey Museum. Another perk that may be
worth the hefty hotel price is that
Hersheypark opens an hour earlier each day for
hotel guests only. The free chocolate bar upon check-in was a welcome treat as well!

Queen Liliuokalani Long Distance Canoe Races

by Erik Olsen on

Paddlers looking for a little island living might be interested to know that the
Queen Liliuokalani Long Distance Canoe Races, the world’s largest outrigger
canoe race, are coming up soon on September 3 and 4. Canoeing and surfing are the state’s two big sports, though you
probably already knew that.

Surfing is what people do for fun, canoeing is kinda how they used to get around. This
event, though, is supposed to be pretty special, as it is really
about celebrating the long history and culture of the islands. The
races open with a ceremony of chants and blessings and Saturday eve features a torchlight parade where, presumably, if
you did poorly, you’ll be voted off the island. Of course no island event would be complete without a luau, which takes
place on Sunday. Aloha and enjoy.