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Radio Guests – Norwegian Epic Cruise Ship – July 3, 2010

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:17:51 +0000

Bildiginiz {uzere|gibi} Istanbul {sehrindeki|kentindeki|daki} restoranlar benim{ ozel|kisisel} ilgi alanim. {Dun|Bugun|Gecen hafta|Gecen ay| Pazartesi gunu|Sali gunu} {tesadufen|sans eseri| yakin bir arkadasim|esimle} yeni bir restoran {kesfettik|bulduk}. Ozellikle {japon|cin|italyan| fransiz|hint|amerikan| meksika| rus| arap} {yemeklerine| mutfagina} duskunlugu olan sizin gibi gurmelerin bu restoran hakkinda bilgi sahibi olmaniz icin bu yaziyi yayinlamaya karar verdim. Lutfen {fikirlerinizi| yorumlarinizi} paylasmaktan cekinmeyin.

On Saturday July 3, 2010, travel will be broadcasting from aboard the Norwegian Epic, NCL’s newest cruise ship.

Call in with your travel questions at 1-888-88-travel (1-888-887-3837) or email travel@travelgreenberg.com. (Write “ASK travel” in the subject line.) Featured guests include:

Featured guests include:

- Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor in chief of CruiseCritic.com, talking about the Norwegian Epic and how cruise lines are dealing with the Gulf Coast oil spill;

- Kevin Sheehan, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, telling us what makes the Epic unique among existing lines;

- Paul Harrison, senior director of the Mississippi River and East Coast, Center for Rivers and Deltas, discussing the damage from the oil spill and the long-range effects;

- Jonathan Tisch, chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels, chatting about his new book, Citizen You: Doing Your Part to Change the World;

- Johnny Jet, founder of JohnnyJet.com, giving his onboard review of the Epic and naming his favorite Web sites of the week;

- David Farley, author of In Search of the Church’s Strangest Relic in Italy’s Oddest Town, describing the towns he discovered and explored while researching in Italy;

- Andrew Stuart, executive VP of global sales and passenger services for NCL, describing what it takes to run a ship like the Norwegian Epic;

- Phil Stitleburg, fireman and chairman of the National Volunteer Fire Council, recognizing the contributions of volunteer firefighters all around the country;

- Richard Kilman, Norwegian Cruise Line director of entertainment, describing the entertainment options onboard NCL’s ships.

For more on cruising, visit our Cruise Travel section.

For previous shows, visit our Radio Archives.

Radio Guests – Norwegian Epic Cruise Ship – July 3, 2010 is a post from: Travel Tourism Guide | Travel Maps | Travel Countries |

House Committee Votes to End Cuba Travel Ban

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:17:50 +0000

Travel to Cuba, restricted for decades, may be getting a boost in the near future. The House Agriculture Committee voted on Wednesday to reverse a ban on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba and to ease trade restrictions with the country.

The bill was approved 25 to 20 with solid support from Democrats, but only four Republicans supporting the bill.

The vote is the first step in the long journey toward Congressional approval, but supporters are optimistic that it will lead to an end of the decades-long ban on travel between the two countries.

The bill, called the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act, would also allow American goods to be sold directly to Cuba, which would be a boon to American businesses and farming groups. Unsurprisingly, the bill is supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Farmers Union.

For more on Cuban travel, visit our Caribbean Travel section.

Though proponents of the bill are touting the positive economic effects of eased trade restriction, opponents are critical of the bill’s provisions that open Cuba to tourism. Opponents argue that lifting the ban would only place tourism dollars in the hands of the country’s Communist regime.

Proponents, however, counter that the financial gains for every day Cubans would be even greater than the benefits to the Cuban government. Revenues from the tourism industry would bring money to the impoverished populace and spread democracy, proponents say.

The bill still needs to travel the Foreign Affairs and Financial Services Committees before it reaches the House and then the Senate floor.

Wednesday’s vote was one of several attempts in to ease travel restrictions to Cuba in the last decade. During the Bush administration, bills in both the House and the Senate attempted to ease travel bans, but were threatened by presidential veto.

In April of last year, however, the Obama administration was successful in passing a bill that allowed Cuban-Americans to visit family in Cuba without time restrictions.

By Adriana Padilla at travelGreenberg.com.

Travel News: Guide To Touring Spain By Train & Walking

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:17:48 +0000

Spain’s high-speed AVE train service has made the country more accessible than ever.

On a rail journey between Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Granada, Cordoba, and back to Madrid, Irvina Lew reports on what happens when you get off the train to explore on foot.

Trains may be how my friend Cara and I traveled from Madrid to Seville, Granada and Cordoba, but we explored each enchanting, flower-filled city on foot.

Our mutual mission was to see the architectural wonders of the region: the Alcázar of Seville, the Alhambra of Granada, and the Mezquita of Córdoba. Each one is a legacy of the Moors who arrived from North Africa in the 8th century and called the peninsula we know of as Spain, Al Andalus.

To me, Seville is the most special of the three.

Previously: Trains in Spain: A High-Speed Rail Review.

Seville’s historic charm pervades from its city gates to the central plaza, from Carmen’s tobacco factory to the bull ring. As James Michener wrote, “If a stranger could inspect but one city in Spain … I think he would be well advised to spend his time in Sevilla …” It was true then. And it remains true for me now.

SOAKING IN THE LOCAL FLAVOR

To me, a city that you can walk is a city that you can embrace. Walking a city allows you to stop, look, listen and immerse. And do a short course in becoming a local. With no particular schedule or roadmap, it becomes a wonderful and pleasantly surprising voyage of discovery.

As we walked Seville’s orange-blossom scented streets and ancient alleyways, it took some adjusting. All too often we’d have to do almost a matador’s slow dance and step aside, our backs to the wall, when a car passed through the narrow space.

For more, don’t miss our Spain & Portugal travel section.

We stopped for tapas (tuna, eggs, fried potatoes, jamón), sipped Jerez sherry on the rooftop (pool) terrace of the Hotel Doña Maria and stared across at La Giralda, the iconic 12th Century Almohad minaret (one of three in the world). The tower—with its 16th century belfry—dominates the plaza next to a cathedral that was once a mosque.

But walking the streets took us to a live– and lively– Flamenco performance at Tablao El Arenal; Cara cringed at the sounds that I so love. Flamenco is such an integral part of Spanish culture that our appetizer to the actual performance happened on the street, as we heard the familiar guitar music from within cafés and bars. And when the distinctly rhythmic sound of castanets echoed on the street I turned to see a little girl—she might have been 7 years old—clicking rapidly and moving her hands with great gusto.

Also by Irvina Lew: Barcelona’s Hotels, Art & Architecture

A SENSE OF HISTORY

Many guidebooks will boast that certain cities are living museums, but Seville can claim that with portfolio.

It really started at the Hotel Casas de la Juderia, a collection of 18 authentic and mostly 15th-century houses hidden behind wooden entry doors. It’s situated on a labyrinth of cobblestone streets that are separated by four interior patios reached via arched pathways decorated with fountains, potted geraniums and greenery. Each room is individually decorated, some with high ceilings and four poster beds and all with jet tubs; each of ours had a sitting area.

The hotel is in the barrio Santa Cruz, the formerly walled Juderia ghetto where about 400 Jewish families lived (the hotel’s history says “under royal protection”) between 1250 and 1480. Next door, the church—Santa Maria La Blanca—was formerly the city’s oldest synagogue; it dates from the 12th century.

The Casas de la Juderia became our perfect walking hub — as we ventured past white stucco houses with iron gates en route to the town’s historic center. Here, we discovered the 16th-century Italian Renaissance Palazzo, the Casa de Pilatos, where intricate tiles decorate courtyard walls and flooring and a rose-covered arbor, potted urns and formal gardens bring the space to life.

More by Irvina Lew: Sleeping in Spain: A Madrid Hotel Guide

That’s where we stumbled upon the former home of John Fulton—the American bullfighter and painter (1932-1998). (Fulton’s adventures with his pals Ernest Hemingway and James Michener are described in detail in Michener’s book, Iberia.)

We couldn’t leave without a pilgrimmage to Alcázar, the Moorish fort turned exquisitely designed palace strewn with gardens and courtyards—one was sunken so an easy reach could fetch fruit from trees. Ferdinand and Isabella welcomed Columbus, here, Franco rebuilt its kitchen and Spanish royalty still uses the palace for royal weddings and receptions.

Sometimes history needs a point of reference, which we learned at dinner at the elaborate Hotel Alfonso XIII. The Alcazar is the real thing, but this hotel, which looks authentic, was built in Mudejar style for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. Anything less than 100 years old — at least in my book — is “modern” in Seville!

For nearby family fun, try Family Travel Through Spain’s Costa del Sol

MODERN ADVENTURES

Because Cara and I are both interested in Andalusian handicrafts, we needed to see Triana, a residential neighborhood on the far side of the Guadalquivir River known for its ceramic shops.

Beyond the historic center (Casco Antiguo)—where we had already admired handmade ceramics at El Postigo, a collective where a potter actually has a studio, and El Arenal, the stunning 200-year-old whitewashed bullring with its mustard-colored trim—we crossed the Triana Bridge facing a steady stream of pedestrians going to work. Their residential neighborhood appealed with its riverside street (Calle Betis), old market and low-rise, flower-bedecked, apartment buildings with busy shops and cafes on ground level.

The ceramic shops that we sought were crammed with decorative (though not one-of-a-kind) tiles, pots and urns. In search of finding something more artistic, we soon found it – a photography exhibit at the Andalusian Center for Contemporary Art—a modern complex on the site of a former monastery.

And finally, I grabbed a taxi, and crossed Calatrava’s stunning Alamillo Bridge. Eighteen years ago, I boldly walked across it to the Island of Cartuja when I attended Expo 1992. But even I have limits. It was time to rest.

By Irvina Lew for travelGreenberg.com. Irvina Lew is a writer who specializes in travel and spas. She is also the author of Romantic Weekends In and Around New York.

Finding Local English-Language Newspapers Abroad

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:17:43 +0000

The best way to be prepared when you travel is to arm yourself with knowledge. And that means being aware of the local news and the social climate before you go. So here’s how you go about that.

One of the coolest resources out there is The Big Project, a UK-based site that has links to English-language newspapers from around the world.

We’re talking everything from The Albanian Daily News to the Zimbabwe Independent.

A similar site, called Newspapers24.com, allows you to browse papers by language, and there are currently 624 English-language papers linked there.

If you’re just looking for headline news, the Washington, D.C.-based Newseum has a program called Today’s Front Pages.

Just click on a destination and see the front page of hundreds of newspapers from 78 countries.

If you want to go deeper, there are links to the paper’s online edition.

Or, if you’re on the go, check out the World Newspaper iPhone app, which gives users links to 4,000 daily publications organized by country.

Now, for some people, nothing compares to picking up a newspaper and reading it cover to cover.

So once you get to your destination, forget the Web sites and ask where you can find the local English-language paper.

You’ll be glad you did.

For more tips, visit our Cultural Immersion section.

Looking for more advice? Click here for more Daily Travel Tips.

Finding Local English-Language Newspapers Abroad is a post from: Travel Tourism Guide | Travel Maps | Travel Countries |

Airline Meals Prepared in Unsanitary Conditions, FDA Finds

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:17:43 +0000

Airplane food has a reputation for being unappetizing, but a recent report published Tuesday by USA Today reveals that bad taste should be the least of a passenger’s worries when it comes to airplane food.

According to the report, inspectors for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) discovered live roaches, dead roach carcasses, rat droppings, flies, food stored at the wrong temperature, and employees preparing food with their bare hands in the U.S.-based facilities of LSG Sky Chefs, Gate Gourmet and Flying Food Group.

As three of the largest airline food caterers in the country, these companies are responsible for preparing a large portion of airline meals in the United States.

Combined, the three companies provide more than 100 million meals every year at U.S. airports.

The revelation that FDA inspectors found health violations in 27 of the 91 facilities over a two-year time span has public health sanitation experts worried about the risk of illness to tens of thousands of airline passengers that consume airplane meals on a daily basis.

For more on healthy travels, visit our Health & Fitness section.

According to the Hawaii State Department of Health, for example, between 47 and 116 passengers feel ill in 2005 from eating food on 12 flights to Hawaii catered by Gate Gourmet.

And later that year, Gate Gourmet was given a warning letter when FDA inspectors found cockroaches, mold and fruit flies in its Honolulu facility.

The other caterers named in the report were issued similar warnings. In a 2009, LSG Sky Chefs’ facility in Minneapolis was issued a warning when an FDA inspector found rodent dropping and nests in prep areas.

Representative from the companies have pointed out that their health standards are better than most restaurants and that they have a system in place to ensure quality control. Also, they point out that improvements have been made since the FDA inspections.

LSG Sky Chefs, Gate Gourmet and Flying Food Group meals are found in legacy carriers like Delta, American, United, US Airways and Continental. They also are found in international airlines like Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways and Singapore Airlines.

By Adriana Padilla for travelGreenberg.com.

Related Articles on travelGreenberg.com:

Airline Meals Prepared in Unsanitary Conditions, FDA Finds is a post from: Travel Tourism Guide | Travel Maps | Travel Countries |

Travel News: Peter Greenberg’s Interview With LA Times’ Jane Engle

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:17:41 +0000

Travel is news and the news never stops.

So when traveling to exotic destinations like Hawaii’s Big Island, travel also takes time to talk about the latest news stories with journalists from around the world.

Check out his conversation with Jane Engle, assistant travel editor for The Los Angeles Times.

Jane Engle: travel, I heard what you were saying recently about short flight connections, and it’s amazing. Often, when you do a search for flights, the first flights that are going to come up are those flights with a short connecting time. That’s something you really have to watch when you book travel online.

travel Greenberg: Even though it’s a “legal connection,” does not mean it isn’t suicidal. If you have to go from Terminal B or C in Miami to Terminal E, you’re talking at least a half an hour of running, so take that into account. But speaking of running, Jane, I was recently talking about the embarrassment we have in this country of having no high-speed trains. I guess it takes a major event like the World Cup or the Olympics for destinations to get their act together when it comes to mass transportation. Now South Africa has inaugurated a high-speed train.

Avoid difficult airports like Miami’s with America’s Best Alternate Airports.

JE: Yes, they have. This is not something you would necessarily expect to find in Africa, but they just opened up the Gautrain this month. They opened up the first short link between the Johannesburg Airport, and a community called Sandton.

PG: I’ve been to Sandton and I could bike ride that distance! It’s just a little suburb outside of Johannesburg.

JE: Yes, it is a short, short way. So this is really a first baby step and the grand plan is to build a $4 billion high-speed train that’s going to link Pretoria, Sandton, Johannesburg, the airport. It’s going to have 10 stations, and that is going to be fantastic as you know from having driven around there and fighting your way to the Johannesburg Airport.

Get some Tips for Traveling South Africa By Car.

PG: Oh yes. The traffic is terrible.

JE: In theory, it is a 45-minute drive to get between Pretoria and Johannesburg. But it can be a couple hours or more, especially with all the construction they’ve been doing.

PG: By the way if you can get to Pretoria, there is a train that leaves Pretoria and goes all the way up to Victoria Falls. It’s one of the most amazing trains I’ve ever seen in the world, and it’s not The Blue Train, it’s not Orient Express. It is called Rovos Rail, and Rohan Vos is the guy who started it. He found these old rail-cars on a siding that hadn’t been used in years. He got South African Railways to let him put these old steam engines on their tracks. I mean this is Out of Africa, Part 2, starring you.

JE: Boy, that sounds like an amazing train. That sounds like one to put on the list.

Find more great experiences in our Train Travel section.

PG: In my book it makes the Orient Express look like ding-dong school. Let’s shift gears for a second and talk about what is going on with the dress code at Disney. This is a new one.

JE: Disney has been famous for its buttoned-up look, literally. But they’ve really begun to change things up, and they’ve just announced that women who work for Disney theme parks … no longer have to wear pantyhose!

PG: Thank you so much, you made my week. But they haven’t relaxed one rule: Mickey still won’t talk to you.

JE: It is very interesting, but they do have plans to allow Mickey to talk to you, but that’s been kind of under wraps. They’ve been experimenting it with it on the new show. There are lots of new things going on at Disney. As you may have read, Michelle Obama and the kids were just out at the California Adventure last week checking out the new World of Color Water Show, which is supposed to be quite fantastic.

For helpful tips and ideas, visit our Theme Parks section.

PG: I remember when they had the 25th anniversary of Walt Disney World in Florida, I went down with a camera crew to do a story on it. A publicist for Disney actually came to me and said, “If you’d like to have a private moment with Mickey you can go to his house.” So I walk in, and there’s Mickey with two huge Samoan body guards with earplugs in their ears. We roll tape, and then I remembered, he doesn’t talk! Finally when we stopped tape, I said to the person inside the Mickey outfit, “You can tell me: Are you a man or a woman in there?” All of a sudden this guard said, “Mickey is the man, Minnie is the woman.” And I said, “I know that, but who is inside this outfit?” He said, “Sir, step away from the mouse.” Now, here we are in the year 2010. We can’t cure cancer, but we are experimenting with whether Mickey will be allowed to talk.

Get more of travel’s thoughts in his Travel Detective Blog.

JE: Yes, it looks like it will happen in the future, and if you search around on YouTube you may even find a video.

PG: You know what the first words Mickey is going to say are? “Get me out of this uniform; I’m sick.”

JE: Speaking of which, although the female employees will no longer have to wear pantyhose at Disney World, that doesn’t count if that legwear is part of your character costume such as Tinkerbell or Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Then you’re stuck.

PG: Oh boy. OK, let’s talk about Mexico tourism for a minute.

Listen to the entire interview on travel Greenberg Worldwide Radio.

JE: The President of Mexico just announced a whole new campaign to try to repair their image there. The bottom line there is yes, there is tons of drug violence and it is very offensive, but it is not aimed at tourists.

PG: You know what the one country is that has the highest murder rate in the world? You’re never going to guess. It is Thailand. But Americans never get murdered there. It is Thai versus Thai. You know what number two is? It’s Jamaica: Jamaicans versus Jamaicans. So Mr. and Mrs. Schmidlap on the beach in the Riviera Maya, they’re just fine!

By travel Greenberg for travel Greenberg Worldwide Radio.

Avoiding Identity Theft When Traveling

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:17:34 +0000

If you’ve been a victim of identity theft, you’re not alone. And if you’ve been lucky enough to avoid it, read on, because it might happen when you least expect it. Here’s what you need to watch out for …

According to the FTC, as many as 8.3 million American adults have been a victim of identity theft in a 12-month period.

That risk goes up even more when when your guard is down, which happens all too often on the road.

Rule one: don’t leave personal documents in checked luggage.

Once you do that, you’ve just lost control over the security of those items.

Never toss away important documents in your hotel room or public areas.

One of the most common ways that thieves grab information is by going through the trash looking for personal information.

Be on the lookout for electronic skimming devices that may be attached to an ATM.

These devices steal credit debit card numbers, and account for as much as $1 billion in losses worldwide.

And this may be a no-brainer, but we’re all guilty of putting valuable information on our computers.

Clear your computer of automatic logins and saved passwords, and don’t make any credit-card transactions when using public Wi-Fi.

If that makes you too scared to travel, don’t worry.

A little common sense goes a long way in combating identity theft.

For more tips, visit our Travel Safety & Security section.

Looking for more advice? Click here for more Daily Travel Tips.

Avoiding Identity Theft When Traveling is a post from: Travel Tourism Guide | Travel Maps | Travel Countries |

Reports: Apple Skipping Blu-ray, Heading Straight for Streaming

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:14:21 +0000

Reports: Apple Skipping Blu-ray, Heading Straight for Streaming is a post from: Travel Tourism Guide | Travel Maps | Travel Countries |

Bennett: Choosing a new team to root for

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:14:21 +0000

Bennett: Choosing a new team to root for is a post from: Travel Tourism Guide | Travel Maps | Travel Countries |

Lloyd Chapman: Jobs Report Proves Congress Should Pass Small Business Bill

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:14:21 +0000

Lloyd Chapman: Jobs Report Proves Congress Should Pass Small Business Bill is a post from: Travel Tourism Guide | Travel Maps | Travel Countries |