Weekend travel media top five

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Among the best travel stories this last weekend of October: emerging Armenia, undervisited Northern Vietnam, a rail journey across China, top spots to celebrate Halloween (start your research for Halloween 2011 here!), and a wine-free tour of St. Helena, California.

1. In the Financial Times, Teresa Levonian Coles writes about the emergence of Armenia as a tourist destination. Her piece is inspiring and right on the curve. Armenia (along with neighbors Georgia and just possibly an apparently unwilling Azerbaijan) are moving into the tourist limelight.

2. In the New York Times, Jennifer Bleyer writes a piece on Northern Vietnam, providing an exciting window into an underexplored region of ethnic diversity and few tourists.

3. In the Globe and Mail, Mitch Moxley takes an entertaining ten-day journey across China by train, from Beijing to the southern tip of the country and then back again.

4. In the Los Angeles Times, Judy Mandell writes about top Halloween destinations.

5. In the San Francisco Chronicle, Spud Hilton attempts the near-impossible with a wine-free tour of St. Helena, Calfornia.

[Image: retlaw snellac / Flickr]

Tarantula cocktail at the Langham London – yes, an actual tarantula

by Annie Scott on

It’s a Scorpion & Oven Baked Tarantula Tea Punch, to be exact. Happy Halloween, right?

Actually, it has nothing to do with Halloween. This unprecedentedly creepy cocktail is the result of the Courvoisier Spirit of Punch Masters competition this year, and was created by the Langham Hotel‘s very own Francesco Orefici and Alex Kratena. They decided to infuse the cognac with a real tarantula and scorpion. They won.

From their creepy recipe:

“Tarantula is baked in primitive fire heated oven. It is traditional and delicious snack, which if infused in spirits gives nice smoky, woody and tobacco notes. Scorpion, according to old legends, is known for healing properties as well as stimulating ones libido.”

This is starting to sound pretty good. They combine 50mL of the VSOP cognac infused with tarantula and scorpion with …

  • 25ml Poire William eaux de vie
  • 25ml Velvet Falernum
  • 25ml Freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 dash Angostura Bitters
  • 1 dash Regans Orange bitters no.6
  • 50ml Sencha tea
  • 3 pcs allspice
  • 3 tbspoon Mandarin peel infused sugar

… and serve it to you like it’s totally normal. Who knew tarantulas and scorpions created tobacco notes? What are these creepy-crawlies up to on their breaks?

[Photo by mikebaird via Flickr.]

Colonnade Hotel offers Halloween discounts

by Melanie Nayer on

Halloween night can get a little, well, creepy. Before you set out on the streets of Boston looking for something ghoulish and gaudy to participate in, make sure you have a place to call home at the end of the night. Boston’s Colonnade Hotel is offering all guests who arrive in costume on the weekend of Oct. 31, 2010 a 10 discount on room rates.

But for those who like a little trick with their treat, The Colonnade is upping its ante.

For the more competitive enthusiasts, The Colonnade Hotel will offer guests the chance to compete for 31 percent off of the room rate. If your costume is deemed the funniest, the scariest or the most original, your nightly room rate just got 31 percent cheaper. Since The Colonnade is a pet-friendly hotel, pets can dress up and also join in on the fun for a chance to win.

Need a few suggestions? No problem! If you’re coming to Boston for Halloween weekend, consider dressing up as one of these hometown favorites:

  • Ted Williams (with or without ice)
  • Any one of the New Kids on the Block (a good family costume idea)
  • Samuel Adams (with or without the beer)
  • Benjamin Franklin
  • Paul Revere
  • Donna Summer (sequins required)

Happy Halloween!


Lonely Planet offers Halloween alternatives

by McLean Robbins on

Once you pass a certain age (read: enter middle school), the novelty of dressing up and going trick or treating grows old. That is, of course, excluding those who wait all year to dress up as a slutty nurse or Snooki from The Jersey Shore.

In fact, seasoned travelers know that the over-the-top portrayal of Halloween is rather limited to American culture, and that people from other countries often raise eyebrows when we describe our obsession with this admittedly pagan holiday.

So whether you’re traveling, looking for a reason to escape the costume circuit or simply seeking a reason to celebrate that doesn’t involve a skankalicious rendition of an otherwise admirable profession, we’ve found this great list from Lonely Planet of worthy Halloween alternatives.

From mid-October to early November, embrace the Dia de Muertos in Oaxcaca, Mexico, enjoy a classically English bonfire night in East Sussex, celebrate the Festival of the Horned One (sounds dangerous) in Italy, or practice your “talk like a pirate” skills at Pirates Week in the Grand Cayman.

And, of course, if you really want to dress up, Scott Carmichael has the season’s best travel-themed costume suggestions.

[Flickr via I am Rob]

Highwood, IL to attempt Guinness Record for most jack-o-lanterns lit in one location

by Gadling Staff on

There must be a thousand ways to break a Guinness World Record, and most are easier than this.

The city of Highwood, Illinois will light the night for Halloween this year. If all goes well, they will also end up in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most jack-o-lanterns lit in one location. To break the record, this little town of about 5,000 residents needs to beat Boston’s record of 30,128 pumpkins aglow in 2006.

Starting Wednesday October 20, 2010, thousands of volunteers will be carving, staging and lighting candles in pumpkins, culminating in a whopping 32,000 simultaneously-lit pumpkins for the record-breaking grand lighting at precisely 6:30 p.m. (central time) on Saturday October 23rd.

Pumpkin walls are already in place with tiered racks to hold the massive number of pumpkins. To qualify for the Guinness Book of World Records, all 32,000 must remain lit together for a minimum five-minute period.

Other concurrent events include an Evening Gourmet Farmers Market at Highwood’s City Hall Park, vendors selling antiques, live music, a haunted fun house, and of course, a pumpkin pie eating contest.

Pumpkin farmers from across the Midwest are bringing thousands of pumpkins and carving events are organized en masse at every school, religious and community organization and local military base in this area north of Chicago. The ghosts of all those pumpkins will be composted after the celebration.

The Highwood, Illinois festival is also dedicating Scout Park to the Boy Scouts of America and will have 100 Scout packs and troops, as well as veterans and local military on hand for three days of recognition, to raise awareness for Wounded Warrior Project. Highly motivated by this huge celebration, the local Scout troops are pitching in to carve 10,000 of the pumpkins required to beat the world record.

If you’re in the Chicago area and see a strange glow in the sky on October 23, besides the full moon, it just might be the Great Pumpkin victory, as Highwood, Illinois breaks the world record.

Helen Gallagher writes about business, technology, and travel for national consumer and trade publications. She is the author of Social Media Handbook and Release Your Writing: Book Publishing, Your Way! Read her blog on Red Room.