Thanks, Rick Steves!

Seattle's Rick Steves has been touring Europe for decades, and his PBS shows, books, and personal tours to Europe have captivated many of us over the years. The Rick Steves website is one of the web's best Travel resources with maps and extensive travel tips and participation.

It's really a "must see website" if you are considering or planning a trip to Europe.

Although I am not a fan of the group tour approach I'm finding that the itineraries are a great way to discover new cities and attractions, and most importantly get a quick feel for the landscape, travel times, etc.

We're planning the big family tour of Europe now (thanks Eurail.com ! ) and I'm finding that Eurail and Rick Steves are two of the best sites for planning this complicated trip.

Rick's on Twitter now @RickSteves and I'm hoping he'll actively participate there, as it's a great way to project your views to many very fast. He's also blogging about the politics of travel, offering some really interesting and provocative perspectives on what he feels is a commercialized and narrow view from the American media. Steves' believes that travel is the best way to experience cultures and countries and people so we fully come to understand them, and hopefully come closer to reducing the many conflicts in our complex world. Keep up the great blogging Steve!

History Channel Presents "America - The Story of Us"

The History Channel debuts a new series that will chronicle some prehistory and the entire history of the USA , spanning about 400 years. The first two episodes will be about the English settlements in "the new world".

Rebels In 1607, a small group of English adventurers lands in Jamestown. Thirteen years later the Pilgrims settle in Plymouth, New England. These men and women are all driven by the promise of a new life, and all face huge dangers from disease, starvation and conflict...

Obviously a challenge to a complete treatment of the history of the Americas is the fact that *most* of the history of this continent happened before records were kept, and many would argue historians have always given short shrift to the rich native American cultures, economies, and tribal conflicts that defined American history for thousands of years. However it's also true that this history was in many ways "simpler" as the existing evidence suggests that native populations were small and cultures were fairly stable for much of the time preceding the arrival of Europeans.

In any case, "America - The History of Us" promises new insight into the rise of what has arguably been the most successful economic and cultural experiment in all of history ... the United States of America.

Colleges and Universities

If you are seeking an online list of colleges and universities consider the list of Colleges and Universities around the USA here at Travel and History: http://newoh.ohwy.com/progs/history/showca.cfm

You can click on to the official websites, schools are listed by state

The Reichenbach Falls

The Reichenbach Falls
Originally uploaded by Bods

Sherlock Holmes fans will be glad to know there really is a Richenback Falls - in fact there's a statue commemorating the fictional Holmes, one of history's most prolific crime fighting characters, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the 1890s.

Reichenback is the location of what Doyle intended to be Holmes death, but for reasons that remain unclear but probably related to the huge popularity of Holmes, Doyle later wrote that Holmes escaped his legendary fall at Reichenback, returning to many more crime fighting adventures with Dr. Watson.

The falls are in Switzerland's Interlaken region - one of the world's most beautiful mountain areas:
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/destinations/top_attractions/attractions-nature/reichenbach-falls-meiringen.html

Jin Mao and Shanghai World Financial Center, Pudong, China 086

Jin Mao and Shanghai World Financial Center, Pudong, China 086
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

Shanghai Expo 2010

Shanghai will come alive...even more than usual...starting in May with the start of the World Expo which will last from May through October of 2010. Countries from around the world will showcase their nations and cultures in elaborate exhibits, and the event promises to be one of the global travel highlights of the year.

Official Website: http://en.expo2010.cn/

Watchtower, Calais France

Watchtower, Calais France
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

Calais France is still a popular travel destination, especially for Europeans taking the frequent ferries from Dover, England. However the "Chunnel" under the English Channel from near Calair to Dover certainly changed the travel landscape in this area.

For more about Calais, try the official tourism website here:

www.calais.fr

Photo by Joe, text source: www.calais.fr

The tower is built on the site of an old fortified tower (thirteenth century) attributed to Philip Hurepel. It was damaged in an earthquake in April 1580, it was repaired in 1631 and then consolidated after a bombing in 1809. In 1816, a Chappe telegraph was installed until 1849; from 1818 until 1848 it was also a lighthouse. During World War I, a military post was installed and a dovecote. The walkway culminates at 23 meters high. The tower was spared the bombardments of the Second World War, when more than 70% of the city was destroyed.

Beijing Food Stalls off Wangfujing Street

Beijing off Wangfujing Street, Beijing 641
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

Wangfujing Street is a few blocks from Tianenmen Square in the center of Beijing, and is home to one of the world's largest and most intriguing collections of edibles. Scorpions, starfish, and squid are all here as well as skewers of bug bites sure to give most westerners the willies.

I enjoyed the BBQ Squid on a stick and even a fried scorpion which had a sort of nutty crunch, but passed on the much larger and juicier beatles that were also common.