Ljubljana’s Old-Style Euro Appeal

by Erik Olsen on

It’s already been heralded as the new Prague, the place where American expatriates can go to leave behind the trappings of the modern world and find a place resembling Paris in the 20s and Prague in the 80s, where artists and writers congregate at coffee houses and the spirit of old Europe still permeates the air. Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia, the newish little East European country at the foothills of the Alps that is becoming the must-see city of Europe. In other words, get there before the tourist hordes ruin it.

According to this New York Times piece, Ljubljana’s exposure exploded in 2004 when Slovenia was admitted to the European Union and several budget airlines began flying here, making it an easy weekend trip for travelers weary of Paris or London or Prague, and looking for places their Euros would go a little farther. It is, I am told by a friend who was there recently, and who lived in Prague in the early 90s, a truly wonderful little place. The NYT piece is definitely bullish on it, saying the city “has enough genuine charm to withstand” all the exposure its getting.

Fearing Other Races

by Erik Olsen on

A fascinating piece from
National Geographic about human fear that ties in nicely to our notions of travel. The study shows that people are
more readily afraid of others who are not their own race. In the study, blacks and whites were shown images of both
black and white men and given a mildly uncomfortable electric shock (you have to love any study that administers
electrical shocks). When shown the same images later, however, without the shock, they found that people dropped their
fears of people of their same race, but continued to fear of members of the other race. I find the methodology a bit
confusing (why the need for the shock in the first place? Perhaps just for kicks?), but it makes sense in evolutionary
terms because confrontation with different groups probably often led to conflict.

As one of the scientists put it, “Millennia ago, when groups stayed segregated by tribes and clans, the association of
difference with something bad or fear-provoking may have been reasonable or served a purpose.” That is, “humans may
have developed a predisposition to associate people of a different social group with a negative outcome”…like getting
their asses kicked.

This ties nicely into travel because travel is the way we overcome these fears. Right? Isn’t that one of the reasons
we venture out? To know more about the world outside our immediate lives, to encounter people who do things differently
and look different so that we can better understand ourselves as individuals and gain insight into the human condition?
To control and reduce our fears? We are fulfilled when travel strips us of prejudice and contributes to our personal
growth. We visit foreign places that reveal our collective history, that capture our imagination, and that give us
faith that the species will continue to survive and strive toward greater happiness for all. Or maybe that’s just
me.

Nova’s Science Now

by Erik Olsen on

We talk about things here sometimes that are only peripherally related to travel. Environmental issues, health
issues, science. We do this because when it comes down to it, travelers are curious people. Curious people want to know
what makes the world around them tick.

And so I offer this link to a new show on PBS called Science
Now. If you have not seen this program put it on your calendar, or Tivo it, have it transcribed by workers in
Bangalore, whatever. The point is you should watch it because it is superb. Actually, tell you what, if you want to see
it rright now, you can watch certain segments online.

One of the problems with science journalism, and science TV specifically, is that subjects are often treated with such
vapidity that it is too easy for the human brain to tell the human hand to seize the remote and turn the channel to
something more viscerally pleasing. After a day of work, a fast cut episode of 24 or the contrived drama of Survivor
are much easier to digest than a science segment on stem-cell research. But just this once, I urge you NOT to change
the channel. Watch an episode of Science Now and tell me if Robert Krulwich, the quirky but brilliant host, does not
make topics like Fuel Cells or
Mirror Neurons wonderfully entertaining…and informative. This is
the way science TV should be done. I’ve now watched every episode of Science Now and think it is getting better and
better. Give it a try, and let us know what you think.

More DiCaprio and a Bit of Phriday Philosophy

by Erik Olsen on

Sorry for the DiCaprio deluge today…if two posts can be called a
deluge…but I just came across the young actor’s environmentally
conscious Web site and thought it was worth looking at. It is suprisingly informative, if a bit shrill, IMHO.
Still, good for him to put forth the effort.

The site takes on the issue of global warming, offering links to news and events related to oil consumption,
greenhouse gases and ocean conservation.  DiCarpio himself has
penned an essay on the subject
of global warming, and offers a short Flash
film to boot.

Lots of stars these days (and in days past) have made a public stand on important issues. You might remember Brad
Pitt’s recent jaunt to Africa to rail against global hunger, and
we’ve moaned a bit here about the anti-war wanderings of
Sean Penn. I guess I’ve come around a bit to see these efforts as something positive. We’re inundated with so much
information these days, that it’s hard to focus on certain issues, and actors often serve as points of focus, casting
their celestial light on things we might otherwise be distracted from. Ours is a celebrity obsessed culture, a fact due
to some kink in our genetic make-up that makes us look up to those others look up to, a kind of societal pecking order
mechanism that has always been a part of the human constitution. While perhaps misguided (shouldn’t we really be
celebritifying the scientists and activists who really make change happen?), that is who we are. Why fight
it?

Fighting Over Hans Island

by Erik Olsen on

I love this stuff. After all these years when it seems as if most issues of territorial dispute are a thing of the past (Kashmir not withstanding)…turns out I was wrong. Canada and Denmark are in a tiff over a tiny Arctic island called Hans Island, situated between Canada’s Ellesmere Island and Greenland, which belongs to Denmark.

The shenanigans are humorous. Canadian Defense Minister Bill Graham “secretly” visited the island and said that Canada had always regarded the 1.3-square-kilometre island as part of Canadian territory. The Danes begged to differ. The incident hasn’t led to an all out invasion of the island by either party, but they are still trying to sort out who the island belongs to…