Travel and History

Goats in Trees in Morocco

2009-10-22T11:09:00.001-07:00

Goat tree
Originally uploaded by Lens linker

Goats in Morocco will clim the Argan tree to forage, leading to some remarkable and unbelievable pictures.

More goats in trees: http://images.google.com/images?http://images.google.com/images?=1C1GGLS_enUS345US345&sourceid=chrome&q=goats%20in%20trees&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argan

The Smallest House in Great Britain, and other UK Travel Tips

2009-08-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

The Internet has become a simply amazing tool for in-depth exploration of any and all topics. My favorites generally relate to travel and my favorite travel sites are those written by locals and experienced visitors to a region. These blogs, forums, and member websites often give you a perspective and insight you'll only rarely get from a guidebooks or tourism bureau, both of which have agendas that often conflict with yours and have severe space limitations. Unless the guidebook happens to cover your exact itinerary you'll have trouble finding printed literature that goes into the deep coverage you'll appreciate from blogs.

Here's a great example of what I'm talking about for the UK:

http://members.accesswave.ca/~tvor/uk2006c.html

CNN: Seven Civil War Stories You Don't Know

2009-06-14T10:15:00.001-07:00

CNN has a neat article showcasing seven Civil War Stories that are not common textbook fodder. Among them are Mark Twain and Paul Revere's roles in the war, Lincoln's segregation efforts, and more. Here's the article from Mental Floss

Top Ten Hotel Balconies

2009-06-05T11:47:00.001-07:00

Check out this great list from ASKMEN.com via MSNBC of the world's top ten hotel balconies. I'll start you out with their Top 3:

1. Atlantis Resort & Casino, Bridge Suite, Nassau, Bahamas
At $25,000 a night, the Bridge Suite at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in Nassau is positioned atop a bridge that connects the hotel's Royal Tower buildings. The balcony overlooks the entire resort and marina, with the turquoise waters of the Caribbean.

2. Palms Resort & Casino, Hugh Hefner Sky Villa, Las Vegas.
This balcony, which hosted the likes of Kanye West, Common, Soulja Boy and T-Pain during the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, overlooks the glittering Las Vegas Strip. As well as having enough space for a party, the balcony boasts a cantilevered Jacuzzi pool with glass end-wall and the Playboy logo.

3. The Hotel Cipriani, Palladio Suite, Venice, Italy
Built above a shimmering blue lagoon with dozens of floor-to-ceiling windows, it's not hard to see why the Palladio Suite at the Hotel Cipriani is its most coveted. The suite has access to a stunning terrace that features an outdoor heated plunge pool flanked by fragrant jasmine bushes. There's also a Jacuzzi, from where you can admire Venice's canals.

Twitter Tip from: @velvetescape, @travelinggreen, @msnbc_travel

Sri Lanka

2009-05-15T00:53:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka is a beautiful island nation. Today there's a lot of news about the tragic circumstances in the north as the government battles the "Tamil Tiger" insurgents in an ongoing civil war that has lasted for about twenty years.

For a fantastic introduction to the *beauty* of Sri Lanka, check out this 10 minute YouTube flyover video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sM9vcAIYyc

Hanging Rope Bridges Around the World

2009-05-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a great collection of hanging rope foot bridges titled as the "World's Most Dangerous".

Another great "don't try this" travel tip from Dir Journal Blog.

A Great Peru Travel Blog

2009-05-13T00:39:00.000-07:00

If you're heading to Peru you'll want to browse Barbara's excellent blog An American in Lima

She covers everything from culture to food to attractions and as is often the case provides the kind of insights for travel that are lacking in the tourism brochures. You can also interact with Barbara via Twitter

World's Strangest Restaurants from Travel and Leisure Magazine

2009-05-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

You may not care to dine at any of these places but you'll enjoy the creativity in architecture and interior design that led Travel and Leisure Magazine to name these the "World's Strangest Restaurants"

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/worlds-strangest-restaurants

Concord, MA

2009-05-10T00:48:00.001-07:00

Concord, MA
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

This is the field where "The Shot Heard Round The World" rang out in 1775 at the Old North Bridge in the background.

Lexington and Concord dispute the significance of this vs Lexington's less dramatic skirmish with the British, but all agree that Concord's resistance was one of the most significant events in the early history of America.

Mexico Cruise Prices Plunge Despite Low Risks

2009-05-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

The Swine Flu has yet to claim many victims - in fact it now appears likely that the casualties from regular flu will be *hundreds of times greater* than from Swine Flu. Yet the outbreak appears to be having a chilling effect on travel, especially to Mexico.

Obviously individuals perceptions and tolerances for risk vary, but this is probably one of the best times *in your lifetime* to take Cruise trip to Mexico if you can overcome the anxiety you might have worrying about the small chance you'd pick up the flu during your trip. Keep in mind that precautions are so high now my personal guess is that people are actually *less likely* to get sick on a cruise now than before the Swine Flu outbreak.

As with lightning strikes on a golf course we tend to exaggerate the likelihood of dramatica or catastrophic risks and underestimate the likelihood of minor or mundane risks.

Although the Centers for Disease Control caution that this outbreak could become worse, I think most scientists would agree that people should not avoid travel as a result of the Swine Flu and perhaps more importantly would agree that you can reduce your death risk much more substantially by avoiding or cutting back on other "more risky than flu" behaviors such as driving, bicycling, drinking, smoking, etc, etc.

Here's the AA Cruise link that got me thinking about this. This is NOT an subsidized endorsement and there may be other great deals out there.

Britain by Train

2009-04-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

Over at the Times Online you can follow the UK Transportation Minister in his whirlwind tour of Britain by train. He'll be travelling thousands of miles on about 40 different trains over a 70 hour period to survey the services and the landscapes, and I can't think of a better way to introduce the public and tourists to the joys of train travel.

Trains offer a slower and more relaxed way to see a country and get a feel for the land and people, and I'm a big fan of this approach. Last year on the China Trip I took two major train routes across about 1800 miles of China. This gave me a chance to quietly reflect on the trip as I took in a ground level view from Hong Kong to Shanghai and Shanghai to Beijing.

I would have to say that train travel can become boring at times even on interesting routes. Our family trip from Portland Oregon to Minneapolis, MN was enjoyable but I probably wouldn't be inclined to do that often as it's a long haul with minimal services in route. Amtrak, as well as the China trains, fail to provide enough entertainment along the way. This is surprising as I think opening the dining car into a lounge-like atmosphere for 24 hours would probably result in a lot more food and beverage sales, as well as potential tips for servers.

Whl.Travel - local voices about local travel

2009-04-12T21:32:00.001-07:00

The Whl Travel Network bills itself as one of the largest collections of locally run travel websites, where your information and transactions are handled at the local level rather than by massive consolidators like Expedia, Priceline, Orbitz, etc.

I'm not clear how much of the network is truly the voice of locals but this is a great idea and a good source for potentially "less biased" information than you will tend to find on the large sites or even local destination promotion websites.

One of the great challenges of planning trips online is that there is a huge incentive for many sites to showcase their areas very favorably. This is likely true at Whl.Travel as well, but at least you are less likely to be led only to the hotels and attractions that have the best ROI ratios for marketing agencies.

Ten Twitter Travel Tips

2009-04-03T00:11:00.000-07:00

Rob at St Cristopher's Inn's blog has a nice post about Twitter and Travel where he gives some tips on how to use Twitter - the explosively popular "microblogging" service now used by almost 8 million worldwide - to make your travel easier and cheaper.

Here is the story

My favorite tip was to use the Twitter version of Britain's Rail Service to find great deals on train routes:

The tip offs about when super cheap advance ticket are going to go live online are a thing of beauty too! Did you know for example that you can travel from London to Newcastle and back for as little as £28, just by cruising nationalexpresseastcoast.com and chatting with their discount reps at any staffed station? Crazy good times. Check out twitter.com/nationalexpress

As Travel and History / Online Highways expands to include socializing and social media we'll be talking a lot more about using social media during your travels.

Got Rocks?

2009-03-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

If you like Rock Climbing you'll enjoy Rachel's "Crag Baby" blog where she's documenting her travels all over the world, finding great places to climb.

I'm not sure how she manages to work 2 / climb 5 days per week but it seems to be working out well for her!

Around the World in 8 Days with Richard Branson

2009-03-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

Virgin Atlantic's Richard Branson always seems to be having a grand time, and March was no exception as he video blogged his circumnavigation-in-style on Virgin Atlantic.

Google Street Views for UK

2009-03-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

The BBC reports that Google is launching their amazing "street view" mapping service for the UK. Google's maps and street view offer an amazing way to visualize cities and travel routes on your computer screen as if you were actually in a car in the distant location:

From the BBC:

Street scenes in 25 UK cities from Aberdeen to Southampton can be viewed using the service.

The Netherlands version of the service also launched on Thursday, bringing the number of countries covered to nine.

The imagery available comprises video taken along 22,369 miles of UK streets by customised camera cars.

Google Maps users can zoom in to a given location and then drag the "Pegman" icon above the zoom bar on to a given street.

Google UK Street View

Google Maps

Nantucket History Photos Online

2009-03-14T21:05:00.001-07:00

Arline Wilma Preston
Originally uploaded by nha.library

The Nantucket Historical Association has joined Flickr's History group, providing some great historical photos at their Flickr collections.

Northwest Travel Guide and Oregon Coast Travel

2009-03-12T14:51:00.000-07:00

Two of the many travel sites associated with our Online Highways / US History travel project are Northwest Magazines and Oregon Coast Travel. The Northwest Travel website and printed magazine offer detailed insider information about the attractions, history, and the people of the Pacific Northwest where the sand, sea, mountains and people have carved out many lives with thousands of stories you'll find interesting beautiful, and inspiring.

Oregon Coast Travel. is based on the printed Mile by Mile Guide to Highway 101, one of Oregon's most popular travel publications with stories and detailed directions to hundreds of coastal points of interest, hotels, restaurants, and much more.

Travel Guide Profiles

2009-03-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

As the internet travel information experience explodes, we're all finding that *filtering* through the millions of websites has become as big a challenge as simply *finding* websites that match your interests.

Over the next few months we'll be profiling several "travel guide" websites you might find helpful as you plan your travels around the globe. We are especially interested in bloggers who are writing about their own communities as these tend to be the most authentic "travel voices" and offer you some of the best insights when you visit a location.

Please feel free to suggest other sites in the comments at any time!

52 Perfect Days

52 Perfect Days is a guide to travel written by several travel writers and enthusiasts, and offers an intriguing take on travel to several American cites as well as international destinations:

Check their travel website out here: 52PerfectDays.com

Roscoff - a English Channel port city in Breton, France

2009-03-07T10:12:00.001-08:00

Roscoff - Boulevard Carnot
Originally uploaded by Roscoff-quotidien

Roscoff is a city on the English Channel focused on agriculture and tourism.

Here, Brittany Ferries link with UK and Ireland, initially as a way to ship agricultural products from France to the UK but increasingly as a tourism jaunt where travelers from the UK can combine a short visit to France and bring back French wines more cheaply.

Roscoff is also where many "Onion Johnnies" make the crossing - these are French farmers who sell special onions door to door in England.

Chateau Commarque in France

2009-02-26T20:18:00.000-08:00

Chateau Commarque

Thanks to Rachel (Rachel Style's blog) over at Twitter for the first shot showing the inside of
the Chateau Commarque, a French Castle ruin. She took the shot from the highest point, giving a great view of most of the grounds. The front shot is from the Chateau's Wikipedia page.

Founded circa 1100 Château de Commarque was just a protective tower establishe at a crossing of two important roads of French commerce: Périgueux to Cahors and Brive-la-Gaillarde to Bergerac.

The Beynac family replaced the wood with a stone castle keep where they lived, and the fortification was enhanced.

During the Hundred Years' War the Chateau was captured by the English who controlled the Chateau for many years.

Undergoing restoration since 1994, Chateau de Commarque is listed as a historical monument by the French Ministry of Culture.

More about the Chateau Commarque from France's Castle site and from Wikipedia

Whitewater Rafting in Oregon, Northern California, and Idaho

2009-02-18T13:10:00.000-08:00

US History / Online Highways is based in Oregon and although we know there are some great rafting adventures to be had back East and in other Western States like Colorado we love rafting here in Oregon and have some of the most amazing whitewater adventures you'll find anywhere in the world.

For some great insight into the rafting adventures here in Oregon and Northern California check out the Whitewater Rafting blog which also covers some of the great hiking you'll find here in Oregon.

My own rafting experiences on the Rogue River here in Southern Oregon have been exceptional with my favorite the two to three day Rogue River Wilderness Section trips where you put in just outside of the Wild and Scenic section of the Rogue outside of Galice, Oregon, raft a wilderness lodge for the night, and then head out on the second or third day from the take out upriver from Gold Beach. The trip requires no special experience but offers some very exciting whitewater action, especially through the wild and scenic section of the river and especially if you raft in an inflatable Kayak.

Choosing a Cruise Cabin

2009-02-11T12:35:00.000-08:00

About.com has a great article on the relative merits of different cabin locations on a luxury cruise.

You can read the article here, or to summarize in a few sentences they note that you'll save a lot with an inside cabin and for many that usually-very-tight-space will be just fine since they'll be using it mostly just for sleeping. However they also say a window and balcony cabin is much nicer and a thus a fine place to relax on the ship.

Thanks to the economic difficulties this may be an exceptional time to plan a short cruise, especially if you take advantage of the "last minute" specials that all cruise lines offer. The cruise travel economy is *huge* and very complicated, so the best first start is to surf online to the various company websites to get a basic feel for places, amenities, and costs. I've listed a few of these sites below. After you have a sense of costs and what you might want, dig deeper online searching for "discount cruises" and view several major travel sites for specials and deals. My understanding is that generally your lowest costs will come from specials as they seek to fill a boat in the month or week before the cruise sets sail, so as with almost all travel try to be as flexible as possible for the best bargains.

www.NCL.com
www.Carnival.com
www.Princess.com
www.RoyalCaribbean.com
www.CelebrityCruises.com
www.HollandAmerica.com

Mont St Michel in France

2009-01-02T21:58:00.001-08:00

Approaching the Mont
Originally uploaded by dennis and aimee jonez

The Magnificent Mont St Michel, originally callled Mont Tombe, has played an important role in history for almost 1500 years. It was an early stronghold of Rome until AD 460. Mont St Michel was ransacked by the Franks around the year 700.

In the year 933 William I annexed the region including Mont St Michel for Normandy and remained under Norman control during their conquest of England in 1066.

As reformation fervor waned the abbey lost it's significance and the Abbey of Mont St Michel was turned into a prison for several decades, closing in 1863.

Mont St Michel is now a Unesco World Heritage site, recognized for it's unique role in geographical as well as human history.

Minuteman National Historical Park - candlelight walk

2008-12-31T16:06:00.001-08:00

Minuteman National Historical Park - candlelight walk
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

If you find yourself in Boston around mid Aprilyou'll want to check into the wonderful candlelight tours and reenactments of early US History at the Minuteman National Park battlefield area as well as in Concord, Lexington, and the greater Boston area.

Local history enthusiasts dress in period costume and perform, battle, shoot and march over the countryside much as their ancestors did in the formative years of the USA over 230 years ago.