New Maps and Subway Sketches in New York

by Kelly Amabile on

Two new travel-related items out of New York this week, that I discovered over at the always resourceful NewYorkology:

First up, a new map that charts Jewish New York, the result of a collaboration between the New York Board of Rabbis, Jewish New York History & Heritage Project and grants from the City of New York. Locations plotted on the map include NYU, Temple Emanu-El and spots associated with folks like Woody Allen, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Marx Brothers, Simon & Garfunkel and Dr. Ruth Westheimer. The map is on sale for $6.95 at the Brooklyn Tourism and Visitors Center and will eventually be available online as well.

And an artistic travel-inspired exhibit to check out later this month:The Transit Museum will display the subway-inspired sketches of Marvin Franklin, a former track worker who was killed in an on-the-job accident in April. Franklin’s watercolors, oil paintings and etchings will be showcased through the end of March at the museum’s Brooklyn location, which is housed in a former subway station.

Bibles and Luxury don’t go together: Goldfish do

by Jamie Rhein on

Over at one of our sister sites, Luxist, Deidre Wollard writes about Bible and hotel statistics that show a trend. I’m not sure exactly what one can say about this trend, like what’s really behind it, but the news is interesting.

If you are one to stay in a luxury hotel and want to find a religious uplift, you won’t find it in a drawer in your room. Luxury hotels are not stocking Bibles in a bedside table like they used to. They say it’s in the line of being environmentally friendly. (?!) If you have a flash of needing a bit of inspiration, you can get it from the front desk. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, the desk has you covered–all you have to do is ask the receptionist.

If you’re not staying at a luxury hotel. Let’s say you’ve just rolled into a Sleep Inn for the night (I just picked a name). You’re more likely to find a Bible in a drawer there than you would have a few years ago. According to the ABC News article where Deidre culled her info, Bibles in drawers have gone up from 79% in 1988 to 95% in non-luxury hotels, inns and motels.

Some luxury hotels, along with religious texts, will provide live gold fish in a fishbowl if asked. At Kimpton hotels, not too many people ask for a Bible. But when it comes to a goldfish, 15% of the guests want Goldie swimming in their room.

Halal Tourism in the Middle East?

by Abha Malpani on


An international report from the World Travel Market that opened this week in London has coined the term “Halal Tourism” as something that the Middle East needs to begin exploiting, especially with the increase of inter-regional tourists.

A halal airline, halal restaurants…ummm…but wait a minute — in my knowledge, Muslim countries are “halal”, i.e. the entire Middle East is halal — so, I don’t see how marketing services under “Halal Tourism” will do much when it has always been a given i.e. default.

Airlines like Emirates, Gulf Air and Qatar Airways serve only halal food and have praying areas or at least a direction that marks Mecca — at the airports and in their aircrafts. In fact, they have incorporated Islamic necessities so well that it makes all passengers feel comfortable — Muslim or not.
On a similar note, Dubai has what I like to call some “considerate” rules that allow it to keep its international spirit but at the same time serves well to those more religious Muslims. For e.g. it has “pink-taxis” with women drivers, undoubtedly only for women and families, women-only days at the beach, and they even sell halal cosmetics!

Now, will things like this encourage women from around the region to travel alone to Dubai or say Algeria? from Saudi Arabia, for example? I highly doubt it.

In fact, shouldn’t they be doing the opposite to attract a market from outside the Middle East? For instance, not long ago Dubai introduced “Pork-Sections For Non-Muslims Only” in supermarkets to cater to the high percentage of international population that lives in the city. Also, drinking alcohol is legal in Dubai — except in Ramadan when they serve alcohol but only to non-Muslims (they check ID!).

If Halal Tourism needs to be promoted, it should be outside the Middle East, beginning with countries that don’t make it difficult for people from the region to get visas to their country, don’t you think?

[Via AFP]

7 gravest threats facing America, according to GQ (It’s not Capri pants)

by Iva Skoch on

I admit it. I actually got the 50 Anniversary Issue of GQ with the big “50 Most Stylish Men of the past 50 years” title on the cover. The cover page comes in 10 mutations, ranging from Michael Jordan to JFK. I got Johnny Depp because he lives in France…and that’s how this is all related to travel, in case you were wondering. (I also got it because Johnny Depp is, you know, Johnny Depp.)

Here is what Gentlemen’s Quarterly thinks the Gravest Threats to America are:

  1. The Media (“I like my truth like my coffee: black or white. Shades of gray are for brain tissue and for the weak. neither has a place in the News Business.”)
  2. Immigrants (“Yes, Virginia, there is a right kind of foreigner. The kind who comes to America, loses his brogue, and creates US Steel”)
  3. Divorce (“Walk it off. Work it out. Thirty day return policy and then no exchanges.”)
  4. The Homosexual Agenda (“I am perfectly fine with someone being gay as long as he marries a woman and has kids like the rest of us.”)
  5. Race (“The worst thing about affirmative action is that it encourages reverse discrimination, so-called because it goes in the opposite way of how we naturally discriminate.”)
  6. Religion (“America is a Christian nation…Think of Judeo-Christian values like ‘Sears, Roebuck and Co.’ Judaism is Roebuck.”)
  7. Evolution (“Just because Darwin was a sick twist with a God Complex doesn’t mean you have to buy into this power trip.”)

Yes, I know what you are thinking. Although funny, it is ignorant and oversimplified. At the same time, these seven points nicely sum up what America doesn’t want the rest of the world to know about America, don’t they?

India’s Sticks and Dance Festival in Modern Times

by Abha Malpani on

In India, the concept of BYOB (bring-your-own-beer) is unheard of, but BYO Sticks is commonplace. I can’t believe I’ve called one of India’s most fun and celebrated festivals one of ‘Sticks and Dance,’ but truth be told, that’s exactly what it is.

During these nine-nights of Navratri (this year 12-20 October — depending in the moon), huge tents are set up throughout the country and people get together to dance ‘dandiya’ (dance with sticks). If you have watched any Bollywood films and wondered if we dance like that in India, the answer is yes — in weddings and in this festival.

As with most Hindu festivals, hundreds and thousands of people go to pray on the occasions; stampedes happen and people die, (in a country of over a billion, these things are unfortunately commonplace) but in general they are happy celebrations. People get together in traditional outfits or fused-modern ones, and as long as you have two foot-size wooden sticks and are willing to hit other peoples foot-size wooden sticks to the beat of drums, you are more than welcome.

This festival is probably India’s most joyous; attendance levels at work and educational institutions are low and political campaigns take a step back as they know people are too busy hitting each others sticks till the wee hours of the morning; except in Mumbai perhaps where open air fiesta has to shut at midnight. I laughed out loud when I read that in Mumbai, dancing is only permitted until midnight because of the noise levels, but dandiya venues managed to overcome that problem by offering guests headphones to wear while they dance!

Great time to visit India if you want enjoy rocking to Indian music and want to experience the cultural partying scene of the Indian youth.