Thanks to my LP Comet email subscription I just found one more reason to invest in a Playstation Portable (PSP). Yes, the same device used for gamers can now be used by travelers ready to discover weekend getaways in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome, Paris, Prague and London. The fully interactive, portable and up-to-the-minute ‘Passport To’ city guides will feature details on 250 of the hottest bars, clubs, hotels, shops, services, and attractions. In addition to the same material you’d find in the old paper LP guidebooks interested takers will visually receive three off-the-beaten track audio tours and essential language phrases with audio. Sounds like a good investment so far. Not to mention the PSP unit is easy to carry and multi-functional. I’ve handled one here and there on various occasions and was quite impressed. This however, ices the cake. Check out the website dedicated to the ‘Passport To’ series and learn more about PSP.
Wallpaper* City Guides
Just when you start to sleep on Wallpaper* they go and make their debut in the publishing world with these nice little City Guides. Their reason being, after 10 years in the game uncovering the best new design and urban travel spots globally, packaging that decade of experience into well-thought out yet simple guide books was only obviously. They make it clear that the traveler’s time is as important as their own and they don’t waste it chucking in massive quantities. It’s about quality and they very best. The first 20 were published this past September and another 20 will be published every six months after that. Current titles include Mexico City, Los Angeles, NYC, Madrid, Bangkok and Stockholm to name only a few.
The books can be purchased at Phaidon. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Stay tuned for the rest in 2007!
Lights Out for Amsterdam’s Red Light District?
My tour of Amsterdam was probably one of the purest 5-hour jaunts imaginable. Think windmills, cheese and clogs, because that’s all I managed to capture photos of and I slept a majority of the time on my tour bus. No Mary Jane the weed or Mary Jane the sex-show prostitute to be seen, so maybe I was on the wrong bus. Like it or not – some travelers come to Amsterdam ONLY for these two purposes. Maybe not both or simultaneously, but like I said SOME travelers and hey, they’re booming industries.
-Or was a booming industry.-
From the sound of this News from Amsterdam piece six days back some entrepreneurs in the Red Light District are not getting their licenses renewed. You see, they have this thing called the Bibob Act which can deny the licenses to entrepreneurs who can be linked to crooked-criminal-filthy money. Ouch! Apparently 37 entrepreneurs have been hit with the bad news and together they own half of the ‘windows’ where prostitutes can be found. Double ouch! Sounds like a hot time in the city. It might just be time for all the sex sight-seeing folks to seek out the windmills too. If you use your imagination they could look like…
Photo of the Day (5/27/06)
I’m going to go out on a limb here with this one, but is today’s photo of the day exploding with bright, neon florescent colors or what? Talk about eye popping! I’d give anything to stumble upon a little carnival like booth these days after seeing nothing, but fields of what used to a vibrant crop of corn out here in the never ending mid-west. Evan R. does all of us far away from anything of the like a huge favor by taking us there in this photo. There happens to be Amsterdam in November of 2005 and there are several other great shots to be found in his very own flickr pool – uknowthename.
Photo of the Day (4/17/06)
I’ve mentioned before my love of European
cities at night — and this photograph of the canals of Amsterdam, taken by Fred Hsu, illustrates my point beautifully. I love how the
stillness of the water reflects the lights of the buildings above — the bridge from which the photo was taken looks
like a very romantic place, indeed.
If you’d like one of your travel photos to be featured in our Image of
the Day, be sure to visit our Flickr Pool, and upload your best
shots there. Every day we’ll pick one to be featured here on Gadling. Thanks!