Archive for the 'Travel Photography' Category
Got pink? Global travel guessing game for Breast Cancer Awareness month
October 9, 2009 8:55am
This October marks the 25th anniversary of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which spreads awareness and provides education about the disease. It seems like every family has been touched by breast cancer in some way, whether it was an aunt who is a survivor or a friend who passed away from the illness which is is expected to take the lives of 40,610 women and men in 2009, according to the American Cancer Society. Pink is the trademark color for the awareness program, and to show our support we put together a pink-themed photo gallery and guessing game geared to travelers.
Have a look at the 11 photos in this post and see if you know where the picture was taken or the name of the item in pink. The answers are at the bottom of the page.
1. Even though a recent remodeling toned down some of the pinkness of this palace (pictured at top), this grand old dame of the hotel world looks, from the outside, like the color of the Pacific sunsets it fronts. The hotel was established in 1927 as a destination for cruise ship passengers from the old Matson lines. But visitors today seem to prefer the swiftness of a jet, which takes less than six hours from LAX. Where are we?
2. A flock of low-flying pink flamingos. Where in Africa are these beauties from?
3. The color pink can be found in the northern lights. They are best seen at night in polar regions, but have been spotted throughout the world, including Montana. Was this photo taken in Alaska or somewhere else?
Shop ’til you drop with National Geographic in London
September 25, 2009 8:55am
Strolled down Regent Street in London lately? If so, you’ll doubtless have noticed the amazing new National Geographic retail store, which opened last fall on three floors in the heart of shoppers’ London.
There’s everything for the traveler: books, maps, DVDs, photos and posters, cameras, watches and high-quality expedition gear that can be tried out in a testing chamber simulating high winds and abrupt temperature change.
Other departments feature locally sourced handicrafts and jewelry from Africa and Asia, home décor and toys.
Travel the world with bookstores in London, Paris, Rome
September 2, 2009 5:56am
For those who could fritter away hours in a good travel bookstore, there are compelling options in European capitals, starting with Stanfords in Britain.
The London flagship, which claims to have the world’s largest array of travel books and maps, may be the oldest specialty travel shop. Founded in 1853, it was mentioned in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes tale “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”
Since 1901, Stanfords has made its home among the theaters of Covent Garden, where along with books and maps, you can buy flags of the world’s nations (not to mention the skull and crossbones for aspiring pirates). Read the rest of this entry »
10 iPhone photos from the San Diego County Fair
June 26, 2009 12:01pm
I went to the San Diego County Fair last night at the Del Mar Fairgrounds with a gathering of family that included my brother, aunt, uncle, cousin and spouses. We were most excited about the food.
The quest to find the strangest fried phenomenon in the food booths was as much fun as it was to return to the traditional booths we’ve attended year after year. There was a good deal of buzz around the Zucchini Weeni - a hollowed-out zucchini with a hot dog inside that was battered and fried like a corn dog. It was fun just for the sake of trying something ridiculous, but it wasn’t as good as the fried Twinkies or fried Oreos that I’ve had in the past.
The Titanic Awards reveal the world’s worst in travel
May 19, 2009 5:01pm
Who do you think has the world’s worst national cuisine? I said Lithuania, but Doug Lansky, author of ”The Titanic Awards,” to be published by Peigree/Penguin and released in spring 2010, said consensus revealed that travelers disliked their meals from the U.K. the most. On the Web, Lansky, who has written several books, including the “Signspotting” series for Lonely Planet, has already started taking nominees for the world’s worst in travel.
Take the survey: Who has the world’s rudest flight attendants, dirtiest beaches, most dangerous country roads, even the worst architecture? Speak your mind by taking this quick and easy survey. Sure, the long list of obscure countries might make a person who takes an international trip every year still feel a bit under-experienced - but Lansky says that skipping questions (there’s a blank space at the top of the list) is totally natural.
In a nutshell, the Titanic Awards are the Darwin Awards for travel — only nobody dies.
Roundup: JetBlue will refund your ticket if you lose your job; $299 Transatlantic cruise; Photos of the pilgrimage to Karbala
February 18, 2009 8:03am
Airline news | JetBlue is offering the ultimate recession travel perk — if you lose your job (and you can prove it), they’ll refund your airline ticket. There are several reasonable rules that go along with this, like it has to be you that lost your job and your name has to be on the ticket that you, yourself, paid for. Good for those who involuntarily lost his/her full-time job on or after Feb. 17, 2009, for purchases made between Feb. 1 and June 1, 2009. Families, you’re safe. The refund is good for up to nine travelers on the same reservation. Read the terms and conditions for more details. Note: They also have a March into Spring sale going on.
Cruise deal | Cruise.com is having a blowout sale on cruises. The first deal that caught my eye was a 11-day transatlantic repositioning cruise from Miami to London starting at $299. That’s $27 per day before tax. Of course we know that taxes and fees can add a lot to a cruise bill — and that hardly anyone wants an inside cabin. But taking repositioning cruises is a great way to get a cheaper price on better rooms. A balcony on this cruise started at $614, only $55 per day. This is a Norwegian cruise aboard the Norwegian Jewel departing April 17. Contact: Cruise.com, (888) 333-3116
Sy Montgomery, naturalist and traveler, has two great books back in print
January 27, 2009 2:14pm
Welcome back into print two terrific books about nature travel by celebrated wildlife writer Sy Montgomery.
“Spell of the Tiger,” originally published in 1995, travels to a dense mangrove swamp on the border between Bangladesh and India where Montgomery lived in a mud hut studying man-eating tigers.
“Journey of the Pink Dolphins,” which first appeared in 2000, explores the rare and mysterious freshwater dolphins of Amazonia. Read the rest of this entry »
A yearlong 250th birthday party for Kew’s Royal Botanic Gardens
January 24, 2009 8:18am
This year the exquisite Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew near London will celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding by Princess Augusta, the mother of King George III.
What started in 1759 as a 9-acre garden is now an internationally renowned 300-acre wonderland of flowers and plants from around the world, as well as a botanical laboratory in the forefront of efforts to recover extinct plant species using DNA from the dried specimens in Kew’s vast collections.
Celebrations get off to an exotic start Feb. 7 with the opening of Tropical Extravaganza, displaying orchids, bromeliads and other hot-climate plants in the Princess of Wales Conservatory.
The story behind the iconic ‘American Girl in Italy’ by Ruth Orkin
December 25, 2008 12:55pm
[Copyright 1952, 1980 Ruth Orkin]
Susan Spano’s Postcards From Rome
Here’s a little holiday gift for readers of “Postcards from Rome” in the form of Ruth Orkin’s iconic photo “American Girl in Italy.”
Orkin was born in Hollywood, got her first camera at the age of 12. She later specialized in photographing classical composers and musicians.
She shot “American Girl” in Florence in 1951 as part of a picture story entitled “Don’t Be Afraid to Travel Alone.” Read the rest of this entry »
12 books of Christmas: ‘Visions of Paradise’
December 20, 2008 6:00am
My new personal hero may be Bronwen Latimer, who created a photographic escape hatch for these gloomy days when the economic news is as overcast as SoCal skies on a stormy day.
Latimer asked National Geographic photographers where, in their view, was heaven on earth. The result is this luscious book, “Visions of Paradise” (National Geographic, $35), which takes a reader to some predictable places (Hawaii), some not so much (Nebraska) and some I’d never heard of (Lago Ypoa National Park in Paraguay).
