Cooking Tours

by Neil Woodburn on

With the rise of celebrity chefs and the 24-hour Food Network, more and more travelers are incorporating a new-found love for cooking into their international travels. 

A recent article in Time Magazine tracks a family’s journey to Oaxaca, Mexico for a week-long cooking course that embraces the wonderful flavors of the region’s tasty foods–such as spicy mole negro and mango-jicama salad.

Mexico is a popular destination for culinary tours, but quite frankly, the world is your oyster, as they say, when it comes to international cooking classes.  For example,  A Cook’s Tour–just one of a handful of companies that specialize in such trips–is offering more than 30 classes in the upcoming year to such locations as Italy, France, South Africa, and of course, Mexico. 

“A Taste of White Truffles” scheduled for October in Piedmont, Italy has really got my drool going.  Mmmmmmm.

Train Ride to Mexico’s Copper Canyon

by Adrienne Wilson on

Searching for a unique way to get to Mexico this summer with a few pals or significant other? Not in the adventurous kind of mood to plan the whole trip point-to-point on your own? I understand – it’s the heat. Well, here’s an idea a nice fella passed onto me just days ago knowing I’d want to hop all abroad – train travel from El Paso, TX into Mexico’s Copper Canyon. There are a number of companies that offer rail tours into the area and this is just one from Caravan Tours that seemed pretty good. Their 8 day roundtrip excursion out of El Paso takes you to a bustling border town of Juarez, to trading posts with handicrafts made by Tarahumara Indians and the town of Chihuahua for rates as low as $995. What I’ve mentioned here isn’t nearly the full scope of what’s included in a package like this one. I’m normally not the type to trhow out packaged tour ideas either, but this one happens to sound very promising. Something to consider for summer…

Mind of a Demon on CBS

by Erik Olsen on

You might remember the podcast we did a while back with ocean explorer Fabien Cousteau. Fabien, the grandson of famed explorer and documentary personality Jacques Cousteau, discussed the making of his film The Mind of a Demon, a documentary account of his efforts to better understand the behavior of Great White Sharks through the very novel use of a shark submarine. Cousteau himself rides in the submarine, which has several cameras mounted inside, and he pilots the shark sub among wild Great Whites in Mexico.

Well, this whole story, which features some absolutely amazing footage (yes, I’ve seen it) is showing on CBS on Wednesday, June 28, and I highly recommend you watch it. If you want to whet your whistle, go over to the CBS site here and check out some video clips, photos and a nice write up of Fabien himself.

Put this on your calendar.

DailyCandy’s Honeymoon Travel Guide

by Adrienne Wilson on

Now that the wedding is over, time for the real adventure to kick in – the honeymoon. While I’m as far away from honeymooning as can be, a girl’s still got her dreams and those dreams are what lead me to bring you these deliciously romantic honeymoon hideouts from DailyCandy. Tahiti, Mexico’s Riviera, Vancouver Island and the Greek island of Santorini easily make the cut and offer something different for all types of couples. If love is in the air, the cards or in your pocket starting planning now to take your love and loved one to Tahiti. Go to the DailyCandy for extra details on great honeymoon resorts.

Running with the Bulls, Mexican Style

by Neil Woodburn on

Don’t have the time or money to travel all the way to Spain to run with the bulls but still looking for a chance to prove your machismo?  Well, if you live in North America, now’s your chance. 

The lesser known Huamantlada takes place in the small Mexican town of Huamantla in the state of Tlaxcala.  The festival begins August 14 with an all night fiesta and continues in this spirit until August 19 when the bulls are released. 

What makes Huamantlada utterly unique is the manner in which the bulls are set free.  In Pamplona, for example, the bulls simply charge down a single, blocked-off street.  But in Huamantla 28 of them are let loose upon the city like some kind of plague and are free to roam, charge, and maul for an incredibly long four hours.  Such excessiveness is just begging for bloody gorings–and you better believe that they happen every year. 

Thanks to Men’s Journal (June 2006) for this great travel/adventure tip (sorry, but the brief article is not online).