Intelligent Travel

Beyond the City Limits

Mid-April, I decided to visit my hometown of Seattle. Seeing as the Emerald City is in the peak of its rainy season at that time (believe it or not, the rain does stop eventually), my mom wondered why I'd ever want to visit for a week of gray drizzle. Well, I found round-trip airfare for $178 (which I ended up paying for in the end, when my MD-80 flight was canceled and I spent an extra six hours in BWI—I'm not bitter), and I knew visiting in April would allow me to see my favorite parts of the Pacific Northwest sans camera-toting tourists. Fortunately, I ended up bringing with me about 36 hours of sunshine, so my mom and I ventured out of the city.

Our first stop: Whidbey Island. About 30 miles north of Seattle is the ferry from Mukilteo (its small port has no more than a lighthouse, small market, and Ivar's restaurant—their smoked salmon chowder is to die for) to Whidbey Island.  There's not much on Whidbey, either, but that's the beauty of it. We stopped by Greenbank Farm, a 1930s berry farm on the south-central part of the island. In 1972 Greenbank was considered the largest grower of loganberries, a cross between a raspberry and blackberry, for which the farm is now famous (stop by in July for their Loganberry Festival). Unfortunately, we arrived before the farm actually opened for the day, so instead of testing some delicious loganberry products, we were instead greeted by some of the farm's furry friends (pictured left).

We continued north through Deception Pass, a 4,134-acre marine and camping park with great views and wildlife-watching opportunities. Stop your car before Deception Pass Bridge and take a walk along one of the short trails, or check out the view from the lookout on the other side (for more information, the visitor center is located about one mile south of the bridge). After leaving Whidbey Island, we continued east on Route 20 and north on 237, on a mission to make it to Edison, Washington, for lunch.

Passport DC

Whenever I need a surefire way to impress an out-of-town visitor, I head to D.C.'s Massachusetts Avenue for a stroll along Embassy Row. The fascinating architecture makes for lovely eye candy, plus, it's a great glimpse of global culture in our nation's capital. Most of the year the sites serve uninformed passersby merely as stand-offish spectacles to gape at from the sidewalk. But in May, the diplomatic community props open its doors for the two-week-long Passport DC. This year, 60 embassies (and the European Commission Delegation) are participating, from Angola to Venezuela, as well as 24 cultural institutions.

Passport DC kicked off last weekend and will last through May 17, culminating with an Around the World Open House—showcasing authentic culture at 24 embassies from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas—and the National Asian Heritage Festival. In the middle, the International Children's Festival takes place Saturday, May 10, with tyke-friendly activities showcasing 16 countries, from Lebanon to Brazil. Best of all, the majority of the events and open houses are free of charge (yes, Europe can still be affordable!), though the ticketed events present intriguing offerings (Czech bagpiping, French cinema) and  generally draw more intimate crowds.

London Bloggers Divulge Local Secrets

Locals like to guard their hometown's hidden gems from the masses with fiery industry, especially in a colossal tourist destination like London. But lucky for travelers, the Guardian recently convinced ten of the city's most in-the-know bloggers to reveal one each of their best secrets, from a cafe with a gangster's past to a haven for "jive enthusiasts."

These sights have officially been bookmarked for our next jaunt across the pond:

• A series of mosaics that chronicle Alfred Hitchcock's life, both personal and cinematic, installed at Leytonstone tube station, via London Underground tube blog
• Homemade gelato (need we say more?!?) at Hackney City Farm, via London is Free
• Rivoli Ballroom, one of London's two remaining ballrooms—complete with red velvet-padded walls, chandeliers, and Chinese lanterns—and site of a hush-hush White Stripes concert last summer, via Gridskipper

Read more over at the Guardian, and tell us in the comments section which lesser-known London sights you think merit a visit.

Photo: The Birds Mosaic at Leytonstone London Underground, by Annie Mole

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Subway Art

GrrlScientist is a brainy blog I like, and the author, an evolutionary biologist and ornithologist, has recently completed a photo series of all the tile mosaics on walls of the New York City subway station at 81st Street and Central Park West, which is right outside the American Museum of Natural History. She's identified most of the colorful creatures by their scientific as well as common names.

There's a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), spreading its wings, and in a former life, its jaunty striped caterpillar self looping along near the floor. There's brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli), with long feathers and slender beak poised on one wall, and a red and yellow African reed frog (Hyperolius marmoratus), glommed onto another. Near the ceiling under a fluorescent light, an unidentified shark patrols a coral reef. A whiptail lizard (or is it a hatchling Knight anole?) curls its tail around the street number 81 on one wall. An octopus's garden appears on another wall, which GrrlScientist photographed for her cephalopod-loving friend's 92nd birthday. She took many of these images, by the way, while she was recuperating from a broken arm. Her entire archive of 81st St. subway art images is here.  Her favorite is this moody blue coelacanth.

A Colonial America Trifecta

A very special out-of-town friend and I were having a hard time deciding what to do with our lone weekend we would have together while he was in D.C. I just moved here from the Kansas City area, and he was on a short leave from his teaching job in France. Our limited knowledge of attractions within driving distance left us with an empty Saturday slate. We did, however, agree on the general theme: History.

I suggested Williamsburg; my mom had often told me about the "magical" Thanksgiving experience she had there when she was in her 20s. Jamestown piqued both our interests, although neither of us knew how much there was to do there to full up an entire day. My friend thought Yorktown and its battlefields could be interesting. Or we could head north to Gettysburg and see where President Lincoln delivered his resonating "Four score and seven years ago…" speech.

Being that I work within the National Geographic Society, I have access to many a map. I decided to do a wild thing and actually look at the placement of these cities before any "planning" went any further. Lo and behold, Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg are all within an hour's drive of each other. No decision had to be made, which was perfect for my indecisive self and my nonchalant pal. Minus Gettysburg, we could do it all!

We started out that morning a little later than anticipated, but by 10 a.m., we were on the road. The wet, slippery road. But we weren’t going to let the torrential rain deter us. We were determined to see the shores where America was born, come rain or shine. And we did.

America's "Distinctive Destinations"

Every year since 2000, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has added 12 places to its list of "distinctive destinations" in the U.S. These destinations "offer an authentic visitor experience by combining dynamic downtowns, cultural diversity, attractive architecture, cultural landscapes, and a strong commitment to historic preservation and revitalization."

This year's destinations include: Aiken, South Carolina (for its varied history, from the first pottery made by Native Americans to being one of the first railroad towns); Apalachicola, Florida; Columbus, Mississippi; Crested Butte, Colorado; Fort Davis, Texas (for having no traffic lights or chain stores); Friday Harbor, Washington (pictured left); Portland, Oregon; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Red Wing, Minnesota; Ste. Genevieve, Missouri (for its French colonial architecture -- the most found in the U.S.); San Juan Bautista, California; and Wilmington, North Carolina.

Global Eye: Washington, D.C.

"Jefferson Surrounded at Night"

Photographer: Philip Yabut, Arlington, Virginia

Getting the Shot: Despite having had this camera for more than a year at that point, I was still learning how to shoot with it. I had taken many daylight cherry blossom photos over the years, and I decided to experiment with nighttime shots with the flash. I played with the aperture and exposure settings all evening and got a mix of good and bad results. Luckily, I picked a calm night, which gave me motionless cherry trees and still water in the Tidal Basin. A few cherry trees lining the walkway have branches that lean over the guardrail, allowing for nice photo-ops with the Jefferson Memorial.

The Details: Pentax *ist DL set at ISO 200, f/13, 10 second exposure.

With the National Cherry Blossom Festival in full swing, we couldn't resist featuring a local photo. And although the festival ends April 13, you can always find more ways to seek out Japan in D.C.

Photo: Philip Yabut via Flickr

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New York City: Air Bears

As I've noted before, I'm a D.C. newbie, and while I'm loving my new home, I have to admit I always come up short when people ask me what I miss the most about New York. So, though I've been a bit quiet while editing all of our other great content about the city (don't worry, I'll add plenty in time), when Marilyn sent me this link a few moments ago I realized that this is part of what I've missed. It's the spontaneous wonders you can come across at any moment, and the knowledge that though they may seem not to care, everyone in the city is equally incredulous deep down that they're actually, physically, there. Little moments like this just help serve as a reminder. So maybe that's reading a bit more into a plastic bag polar bear that you would expect, but it's a little glimpse of my own version of Authentic New York.

FYI: The artist is Joshua Allen Harris, and the plastic bags are built to inflate when the subway passes under the grates. They kind of remind me of the beautiful scene in the film American Beauty, when the teen couple watch the video footage of a plastic bag floating through the air. An image of the plastic bag bear was posted on the Wooster Collective's blog last week, and people are already smitten. You can count me among them.

What do you think?

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Terminal Art

It's hard to appreciate the design of an airport terminal when you're rushing (or angrily waiting) for your flight. But we were struck by the strange beauty found in an exhibit recently featured in the Washington Post's Studio column. Artist Charles Cohan, an art professor and printmaker by trade, has repurposed the maps from the back of airline magazines into stark, geometric silhouettes. Hung up in the D.C. gallery Curator's Office, they look like hieroglyphics from the future. We had a few images sent to us for a closer look.

This spiny terminal is Frankfurt. 

And this stripey one is Atlanta.

Do you recognize any of the other terminals from your travels?  Let us know in the comments below (tell us the right or left wall, and the number of panels across and down, and we'll check your answers).

Photos: Courtesy Curator's Office

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Strange Planet: Greening Chicago

We've seen lakes turn green because of algae and mildew, but since the 1960s, Chicago has been greening its river every year for the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Apparently, local plumbers found out they could dye the water green by accident: 

In 1961 [Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union business manager] Stephen Bailey was approached by a plumber who was wearing some...coveralls [which] had been mostly stained or dyed a perfect shade of green... [W]hen Stephen Bailey asked how the coveralls got this way, they discovered that the dye used to detect leaks into the river turned green, not just any color green, but the perfect color green.

The men then decided to use the perfect "Irish green" to surprise the public on St. Patrick's Day.

A Bloody Good Shakespeare Marathon

Shakespeare aficionados will be happy to learn that the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is performing all eight of the bard’s history-themed plays over the next few months. The plays—which span over 100 years of history—include Richard II, Henry IV Parts I and II, Henry V, Henry VI Parts I, II and III, and Richard III.  They will be performed at the RSC’s Stratford-upon-Avon home until March 16, and then the company will make its way to the London Roundhouse, where performances will take place from April 1 to May 25.

The 30 actors bringing this performance marathon to life have been preparing for two and a half years. And Michael Boyd, RSC’s artistic director, believes that this is the first time the Shakespeare "history cycle" has been staged by one company of actors.

Globespotters takes us behind the scenes of this mega production by breaking down the following facts:

Across the 8 productions 34 actors play 264 parts, each part is understudied, which means a total of 528 parts have been rehearsed. Each actor plays and understudies around 15 parts each. Between them they have learned roughly 210,000 words. 800 costumes are required and over 40 wigs and hairpieces. In all over fifteen liters of stage blood is needed – it’s made from glucose and ice-cream colouring.

Wow is all we have to say.

For more information on these performances, check out the Royal Shakespeare Company’s website.

Photo: Tasha Rhoads via Flickr

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City Life: Hot Tickets

City Life Editor Amy Alipio is crazy about a lot of things: desserts, James McAvoy, satellite radio, and her new Honda Civic hybrid. But she admits being the geekiest of fans about theater. Musicals, dramas, pantomimes, obscure one-acts, whatever—if it’s a stage, she’s there, wide-eyed and giddy as a toddler. If she could jet around the world at will, here’s where you would find her this spring:

The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, National Theatre, London, now playing - through April 12
27 actors, 450 characters, and no dialogue. “Written” by the experimental and controversial Austrian theater artist Peter Handke.

August Wilson’s 20th Century, Kennedy Center, Washington DC, March 4-April 6
The full cycle of August Wilson’s ten plays about the African-American experience in the 20th century. Each play is set in a different decade (though Wilson didn’t write them in chronological order). The Kennedy Center’s staged readings start March 4 with the 1900s-era Gem of the Ocean.

The God of Carnage, Gielgud Theatre, London, opening March 7
Yasmina Reza’s new comedy, starring Ralph Fiennes, about two couples hashing over a playground altercation between their two young children. Reza is the author of the award-winning and much-staged "Art".

Vienna (Opera) Waits For You

Travel to Vienna wouldn't be complete without seeing an opera. But how to see one on a tight budget? I just learned how to get tickets to a world-class show, without giving up my right arm. The Vienna State Opera (pictured, above), the oldest German-speaking theatrical venue in Europe, has a variety of options to please the budget traveler.

• Between 25 and 100 tickets are reserved for every show for children under 14. Children's tickets sell for €15 (about $22) for a seat anywhere in the house. Not bad for a parent who doesn't want to pay full price to watch their restless kid squirm during a three-hour opera!

• The State Opera's box office opens 80 minutes prior to each show. If you've got willing legs, get in line early to score standing room-only ("Stehplätze" on the seating chart) tickets for a mere €2-3.50 (about $2.90-5.00).

• Or bring binoculars and plenty of tissues and grab a seat in the nosebleed section. Balcony and gallery (balkon and galerie) tickets sell for only €7-18 (about $10-26). This is quite a steal, in my opinion. My legs would definitely appreciate the extra €3.50 spent on a seat!

Thanks for the tips, EuroCheapo!

Photo: Liam Delahunty via Flickr

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An Opera in Paris

The 16th-century Eglise St-Merri (pictured, above) offers free classical concerts on weekends.

Curious about how to see an opera in Paris (while still having money left over for fine French food)? Well, so are we. So we checked out EuroCheapo and voila! Here's what they advise when trying to see all types of shows in the City of Lights:

L'Opéra

"The Opera National de Paris operates both the Opera Bastille and the Opera Garnier. The Opera Bastille, a controversial building when it opened in 1989, presents operas throughout the year, and boasts that each of its seats provides an unobstructed view of the stage. Although ticket prices go as high as €150, seats for the same performance go as low as €5."

La Danse

"Théâtre de la Ville, located across from Theater du Chatelet, provides modern dance performances. Tickets are quite reasonable" (around €12-30).

The celebrated 19th-century Opera Garnier presents mostly ballet and modern dance pieces. Even if you’re not a dance enthusiast, you can’t help but be impressed by the building’s neo-baroque architecture, sweeping staircase, [1,900-seat] grand salle, and ceiling by Marc Chagall."

Le Concert

"The Salle Pleyel is a brand new performance hall, offering performances by classical stars and touring orchestras. Tickets can be found for major concerts from €10."

"Theatre du Chatelet located at Place du Chatelet in the 1st arrondissement, offers modern and classical concerts, from recitals to full orchestras. Again, ticket rates are surprising reasonable, starting at €20 [or less] for most concerts. The theater has a Sunday morning concert series with all seats going for €23 (€12 under 26 years old, children free) and no tickets are sold in advance."

But before buying tickets for anything, be sure to grab a copy of Pariscope, a weekly magazine with heaps of free concerts listings in the city, and check out Traveler's rundown of free things to do in Paris.

Photo: Alison Kerr via Flickr

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Paintings Below Zero

Any talk of visiting Chicago in February may seem like a cruel joke to travelers, but the Windy City's taking advantage of its chilly weather to present a public art project that wouldn't be possible in, say, the Grenadines.

Canadian artist Gordon Halloran's "Paintings Below Zero" is the centerpiece of the Museum of Modern Ice in downtown's Millenium Park through February 29.

The work is an impressive, 95-foot long, 12-foot-high sheet of ice that constantly changes shape and texture as it melts and refreezes. Known locally as "The Popsicle," Paintings Below Zero was quite a feat to create. The Chicago Tribune reports:

His slabs of ice, which he and his crew created over a month at a Fulton Market cold-storage warehouse, where temperatures hovered around 4 degrees Fahrenheit, carry patterns created by experiments with pigments, crystal structure and embedded shards of different colors.

Halloran envisions the wall as a receding glacier, cracking into shards and melting into the ocean.

In addition to the Tribune' s extensive photo and video coverage, the Museum of Modern Ice has a lot of resources for learning about the art from photo galleries and a schedule of events. Also, check out their blog for inside information from the production crew about how they maintain the sculpture.

The project is based on a similar work originally commissioned for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

And if you're there to see the art but need to keep moving to stay warm, rent a pair of skates and do a triple axel over Halloran's painting, embedded underneath the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink.

Thanks for the tip, AreWeThereYet?!

Photos: Jennifer Wilkinson

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Sleep Like a Parisian

Let’s face it: Planning a big trip can be overwhelming. And at least for me, choosing lodging is always the most overwhelming part of the process—magnified times a million when the destination is overseas or for a special occasion. So needless to say, hotel shopping for my Parisian honeymoon was almost enough to make me rethink the wonders of holing up in a no-frills lakeside cabin, especially when you factored in a modest post-wedding budget and devaluing dollar abroad.

Searching online for budget hotels in Paris could have been easy enough, but reading user reviews was brutal. I could handle tiny rooms and appreciate off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods, but bedbugs and paper-thin walls? Non, merci. So after weeks of drowning in scathing reviews on TripAdvisor, my fiancé and I opted instead for more uncharted (or at least less-reviewed) territory: renting a privately owned apartment.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Presidents!

George Washington snacks on his favorite hoecakes at Mount Vernon.

Most of us look forward to February's three-day weekend, in part because it's the last public holiday until Memorial Day in May (which right now, seems so far away...). But instead of lounging around for three days (ahem), we've decided to see how the nation's capital is celebrating this years' Presidents' Day.

February 12 was Abraham Lincoln's birthday. In 2009, he would have been 200 years old, and all over the country history buffs are preparing for his bicentennial. As we reported back in October, Lincoln's Cottage, just three miles north of the White House, will be opening to the public on Tuesday, February 19. Lincoln's 34-room summer home from 1862 to '64 will also feature the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center next door, which will have a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and plenty of exhibits detailing the President's life (tickets $12).

Just ten days after Lincoln's birthday is George Washington's birthday (February 22). Had the first President found the fountain of youth, he would be 276 years old. Regardless, George Washington's estate of Mount Vernon is celebrating all Presidents' Day weekend. And best of all, part of the celebration is free.

Patchwork Tourism

 

A patchwork of color is popping up on historic barns all over the country, and the trend is a boon for rural tourism. Our friends at American Style report on the grassroots art movement of barn quilts:

Colorfully painted quilt squares have appeared on barns throughout eastern Kentucky, often representing traditional, local patterns. The local electric company even lends its equipment to mount the panels. State arts organizations are now working to organize the effort, in hopes of driving tourism to rural areas.

Barn quilts—colorful painted blocks eight feet square or larger—started in Ohio in 2001, reports Agriculture Online, and can now be found through Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Dakota, and North Carolina. Oh, and several counties in Iowa, too.

Many projects are sponsored by community groups like the Buffalo Gals Homemakers of Stamping Ground, Kentucky, and have generated local news coverage. Some, such as the Appalachian Quilt Trail sponsored by the Alliance for American Quilts, the Clinch-Powell Resource Conservation and Development Council, and the Kentucky Quilt Trails, are perfectly tailored for the tourist looking for a scenic Sunday drive. To see more quilt barns check out these Flickr photos or the quilted barns photo pool, also on Flickr.

America has been losing its historic agricultural buildings for decades, writes the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The number of farms has been slashed by two-thirds since the 1920s. "Literally millions of barns and other agricultural structures have lost their original reason for existing."

Not only are these quilt squares lovely to look at and interpret, they are helping to preserve a piece of American heritage.

Photos: Top, tnserose; right Citizen110.

 

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Japan! in D.C.

It's inside, outside, and even trickling out into the parking garage—it's Japan! Culture+Hyperculture, the latest exhibition to take over The Kennedy Center. Made up of over 450 artists, 40 performances, and over a dozen free events, this interactive exhibition showcases all things Japanese: theater, dance, music, fashion, art, photography, literature, and, of course, toys.

According to the DCist, the terrace level of the building is where it's at. Here you'll find a two- and-a-half-foot yellow robot that moves about and shakes your hand as a reward for correct pronunciations of Japanese words. Just beyond is a glass-enclosed display of Jumbo Machinders (courtesy of American-born Japan fan Matt Alt, who began collecting these life-size toys when he was a boy) featuring classics such as Voltron and Godzilla.

Other points of intrigue: A manga and anime reading room; the innovative folding screens (byobu) of Motoko Maio; the lacquered sculptures of Tanaka Nobuyuki; and the vivid photographic portraits and still lifes of Mika Ninagawa, one of Japan's most popular photographers.

But wait! There's more! Costume displays. Drum performances. Robot demos. And a mixed media installation by avant-garde sculptor, painter and novelist Yayoi Kusama called "Dots Obsession," which is composed of two rooms—one bright yellow with large black dots and the other black with large yellow dots—guaranteed to make you feel loopy and, in some cases, slightly mad. Kusama, who lives voluntarily in an institution in Japan, effectively uses her art to work through her own inner turmoil:

I have stood between the pleasure and fear of filling the void of my heart with ever so infinite dots obsession and I feel elated all over my body. 

The good news is that, minus a few performances and guided tours, this exhibition is free. For more information on the various events and shows taking place, consult the exhibition's daily calendar on the Kennedy Center's website.

Feb. 5 - Feb. 17 at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street NW, Washington D.C.; 800-444-1324; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Photo: Klea Scharberg via Flickr

Strange Planet: Jurassic Lark

Many of us here at IT were sad to hear about the demise of Blueprint magazine, but were heartened to learn that though the magazine is gone, their blog will live on. To that end, Bluelines introduced us to a fascinating museum that is now on our must-see list for our next visit to L.A.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology is an amalgam of the strange and wonderful, and both the museum and its curator, David Wilson, are the subject of the book Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder. Mr. Wilson has gathered his wonderful objects for the past 24 years, collecting everything from X-ray bats to intricate almond-stone carvings. There's an exhibit on space dogs and a tribute to trailer homes. Magician Ricky Jay keeps his collection of decaying dice at the museum, and there's a beautiful selection of micro-mosaics created by 19th century Henry Dalton, who cobbled his tiny artworks out of butterfly wings.

Consider it a refreshing alternative to Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Learn more: you can hear a radio piece about the museum here.

Photo: One of Henry Dalton's micromosaics; via Bluelines

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National Parks in Peril

It's been a tough few weeks for the National Park Service. First there was a USA Today article noting an uptick in the theft of artifacts from parks throughout the country. Rangers have reported missing Civil War relics and fossils, and say that with the online market for artifacts steadily growing, it's becoming nearly impossible for them to prevent the looting from spreading. Some parks have been duped by phony 911 calls; others have become the victim of meth addicts looking to pawn something for a fix. And while the National Park Service budget is $2.6 billion for fiscal year 2007, law enforcement expenditures amount to only $178 million, about $40 million of which is set aside for homeland security. So some parks have begun posting signs every 20 to 30 feet along trails reminding people not to steal, while others are using volunteer "site stewards" to monitor archaeological sites.

And while theft can be attributed to a few morally-challenged visitors, a new report just released at least gives them points for visiting the parks at all. The study, published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and funded by The Nature Conservancy, found that children who are afflicted with a boob-tube viewing addiction, aka, videophilia, lead more sedentary lifestyles and are less inclined to venture outdoors. Aside from the obvious health detriments, researchers believe that such computer and video viewing is linked to a drop-off in national park visits, and worry that as people lose interest in the parks, interest in conservation efforts will quickly follow. So far the numbers aren't inspiring: Looking through data stretching back into the 1980s, the researchers found a 18- to 25-percent drop in visits and the number of hunting and fishing licenses issued at the parks. But we can't help but think it's a bit odd then, that Yellowstone just began offering an Old Faithful webcam for viewers at home. As one commenter at USA Today put it succinctly:

Neat and sad at the same time. Is THIS the vacation of the future? Webcams of locations? GO VISIT YELLOWSTONE — Get in your car and drive. You would be amazed at the beauty of the whole area!

How Is Your City Feeling?

We can't help but think that Eric Weiner's research for his new book, The Geography of Bliss, would have gone a lot easier if he'd paired up with Erik Krikortz, the installation artist behind Stockholm's Emotional Cities project. The Internet-based artwork asks people to answer a simple question: "How Are You Today?" and rate their feelings on a scale of colorful smiley faces. Factors like how well you slept, whether you had any physical activity, and how inspired you felt are all part of the equation. The results are then averaged and aggregated by region to get a sense of how a city is collectively feeling. Right now, for example, Washington, D.C., is rather green, while the rest of the world is feeling a bit more yellow.

Erik then went further and negotiated with a building company in Stockholm, where he resides, to project the corresponding colors on huge panels on the side of five buildings. (A live Webcam shows how the lights change with Stockholm's moods.) The result is a very public display of the emotional status of the city, sparking conversations about how we interact with each other and influence our feelings. IT Editor Janelle Nanos spoke with Erik about his own feelings on the project, and where he plans to take it next.

What was the impetus for this project? Did you originally envision it as a work of public art?

When I started working on the project one year ago, I had just launched a similar project, Colour By Numbers, together with the architect Milo Lavén and the interaction designer Loove Broms, also based on a light installation connected to an Internet platform. (In Colour by Numbers, people interacted with the light installation using their mobile phones, though.)

All my projects are staged in public space and/or online. I find that these two arenas are the most interesting places where art can meet an audience in a non-inbreed atmosphere. Also my projects are based on the participation of people and they often do not even exist without people taking part.

How did Emotional Cities evolve out of your other work?

When coming up with the original idea for Emotional Cities I was studying psychology, and in my art I was playing around with concepts on how to publicly discuss basic psychological issues with strong connections to society and politics. "How are you today?" has very political implications if you take the question seriously and discuss it on a collective level.

Hence the project was a product of these thoughts around psychology and society. It was both productive and interesting to use a light installation again as a huge communication tool.

Which cities are currently participating in the project? Where do you plan to take the project next?

Almost a thousand cities already participate in the project. At emotionalcities.com anyone can participate and the project has started to spread internationally. The light installation in Stockholm, at Hötorgshusen (the Hötorget buildings) will be up until March 1 and might come back again next autumn when it gets darker.

In February there will be a light installation in Seoul, South Korea. Next autumn there will probably be a major light installation in Washington, D.C. (in time for the U.S. elections). Other Swedish cities are also in the pipeline. I dream of setting up light installations in cities like New York, Paris, and Tokyo.

Why do you think it's important for us to gauge our emotional status not only as individuals, but as a group?

I think the reflection of life is essential for our individual lives and the foundation of our culture. If you know why you feel bad (or good), you can do something about it. The same goes for our society.

Bungalow Bounceback

Better known for its Prairie-style architecture in the heart of Frank Lloyd Wright country, Chicago has long dismissed its endless rows of brick bungalows as humdrum. The basic homes were built for the city’s working class—mostly immigrants—in the 1920s as an urban respite, located just four to eight miles from downtown.

But the current issue of the National Trust’s magazine, Preservation, reports that after decades of quietly subsisting, the so-called “bungalow belt”—some 80,000 homes strong—has benefited from a new boon of popularity.

More than just a question of historic preservation, reviving the bungalows has become a means of providing affordable housing, creating a green housing stock, and revitalizing Chicago's neighborhoods.

"The initiative started with virtually no knowledge on the public front about what a bungalow was—it was an old house that your grandmother used to live in," says Jim Peters, director of preservation planning at Landmarks Illinois. "Now, a bungalow is a desirable thing to have. People have seen the quality of these buildings, have seen how they can be adapted and upgraded. That wasn't the case 15 years ago."

The bungalows have emerged as a model for the convergence of historic preservation and sustainability, not only because of their eco-friendly restorations, but also because they're an alternative to new construction in the sprawling exurbs.

Six of the bungalow neighborhoods were recently added to the National Register, and the renowned Chicago Architecture Foundation added two bungalow tours to its lengthy roster of offerings.

Uncovering Pompeii's Frescoes

Over 100 artworks that were covered in the dust of the Mount Vesuvius volcanic eruption are now on display at the National Museum of Rome. The frescoes, which adorned public and private buildings in the village before the volcano's explosion in A.D. 79, were removed to prevent looting in the 18th century, but they've only been restored over the last decade.

Archaeologists who later excavated Pompeii were drawn to the vivid colors used by the local artists (still bright despite the dust), and henceforth dubbed one particularly bright hue Pompeii Red (curators have co-opted the name for the exhibit). The International Herald Tribune reports that the museum's images range "from the mythical to the mundane, from Theseus standing triumphant over the body of the Minotaur to still lifes showing what could be found in the pantry of a wealthy Roman kitchen. Delicacies on the menu included dried fruits, mushrooms and moray eels."

Part of the exhibit also features a reconstructed room from a Pompeii home, called the House of the Golden Bracelet because a skeleton of a woman wearing a golden bracelet was found inside. The room features frescoes depicting "gardens with flowers and shrubs such as oleanders, viburnums and strawberry trees, and it is populated by many birds, among which are swallows, doves, turtle-doves, nightingales, [and] magpies." There are also a series of paintings uncovered during the discovery, in 2000, of an ancient hotel (we'd love to know more about hospitality back in B.C.). Kids can also learn fresco-painting techniques at the museum (adults, may we suggest our past Tour Guide post to help develop your own painting skills).

"Pompeii Red" runs through March 20, and costs US $14.

Learn more about restaurants and attractions in Rome in Traveler's Places of a Lifetime guide to the city.

Photo: The National Museum of Rome

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Cow Parade

Who knew the words "cow" and "fine art" would ever be used in the same sentence? But apparently, this combination has become the world's largest public art event.

It all began in 1998, when a Zurich sculptor made 812 fiberglass, life-size cows for local artists to decorate. The cows were placed all around the city, and the Cow Parade drew 1.5 million additional tourists to Zurich that year.

The following year, Chicago artists decorated over 300 cows that paraded through the Windy City streets for a few months before being auctioned off in November 1999. The cows raised $3 million for charity. The highest cow was auctioned for $110,000. Talk about a cash cow!

But the cows didn't stop there. Since 2000 the Cow Parade has grazed in dozens of countries, including Australia, England, South Africa, Spain, Italy, Russia, and Japan. (And while we don't like to admit it, the cows get around more than IT does.)

Just recently, 150 cows romped through Istanbul, labeled as the largest public art event in the city. The cows will be auctioned off later this year to raise money for local charitable foundations like the Street Children Rehabilitation Association. Cows have currently flocked to West Hartford, Connecticut. On January 26, the cows will be auctioned off to raise money for local nonprofits.

Why? you ask. Why not? In case you miss them, check out the "moo-seum" photo gallery of more than 3,600 cows. "E-Cow Friendly" is, of course, one of our favorites.

Photo: "Moo York Neighborhood" CowParade.com

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Strange Planet: Nebraska

Even Intelligent Travelers get a kick out of the kooky — so as a spin off of our magazine's back page, we're offering up our own Strange Planet selections here on the blog. While researching family-friendly attractions in the U.S., intern Laura Mansho stumbled upon some quirky roadside destinations that will probably never grace the cover of Traveler, but that deserve a mention nonetheless:

Nebraska:

• Can’t make it to England? Find the next best thing at a kitschy version of Stonehenge outside the town of Alliance, where American-manufactured cars have been lovingly shoved into the dirt to create Carhenge — a site where capitalism, culture, and Cadillacs converge in one memorable family photo op.
• Over in Hebron, you can sit back and relax on the (alleged) World’s Largest Porch Swing — it’s long enough to seat 18 adults side by side at one time. However, it’s not actually attached to any kind of porch as far as I can tell.
• If you work up a thirst while you’re swaying on the swing, stick around for August’s Kool-Aid Days festival in Hastings. My favorite thing about this festival (besides the ridiculous amount of sugar water you get to imbibe) is the boat race. You can build your own ship out of Kool-Aid Jammers packets and Bursts bottles and compete for a chance to take home the grand prize — a pair of Nike Air Force Ones with the Kool-Aid Man emblazoned on the front. What else can you expect in the birthplace of Kool-Aid? At the Hastings Museum, you can learn all about its juicy history and glimpse the original Kool-Aid Man’s costume in all its wall-busting glory — Oh, Yeah!

Got more Nebraska nuggets? Send them our way. And stay tuned for more of our funky finds. And if you're on your own Strange Planet, let us know your favorite odd spots, and we'll try to feature them in future posts.

Photo: Barbara Klocko, Friends of Carhenge

Art Lover's Destination Guide

We'd never heard of it until today, but American Style, "the premier arts lifestyle magazine for art lovers, collectors and travelers," has a lot of nifty content for the discerning wanderer. Each issue lists hundreds of arts festivals, gallery openings and museum events nationwide.

We got a sneak peek at their February 2008 issue, in which they've asked readers to vote on the top ten art fairs and festivals in the country. Here's a smattering of our favorites that made the list:

• Scottsdale Arts Festival (Scottsdale, Arizona, March) The civic center in Oldtown Scottsdale comes alive with the wares of 200 artists and live music and roaming performers.
               
• Long’s Park Art & Craft Festival (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, May) Each Labor D ay weekend, this 70-acre park is filled with hundreds of artists from around the country. Enjoy live performances and local wine and craft beer tastings.


• Francisco's Farm Arts Festival at Midway College (Midway, Kentucky, June) Head over to the Kentucky Music Stage to hear some bluegrass before shopping for handcrafted items on the rolling campus of the state's only women's college, situated on a 205-acre working farm.

• Des Moines Arts Festival (Des Moines, Iowa, June) Our Des Moines denizen Katie Knorovsky noted in recent (and much commented on) post: "Downtown transforms into an incredible outdoor art gallery" for this three-day party with multiple performance stages, food vendors, and more than 100 visual artists competing for a juried prize.
  

• Bi-annual Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands (Asheville, North Carolina, July & October) Folks have been attending this southern craft fair for more than 60 years. Over 200 guild members display and demonstrate their crafts, much of it traditional to the Appalachian highlands.

Baltimore-based American Style also releases an annual list of the Top 25 Arts Destinations. You can cast vote for your favorite fine arts city here. IT is glad we've found a magazine that lets us support the arts, shop, and travel all the same time! For more markets and fairs, check out Traveler's list of Worldwide Markets, part of our online Authentic Shopping Guide.

D.C.'s Staging a New Theater Scene

When Senior Editor Norie Quintos noticed a stack of ticket stubs piling up on her desk, she realized it was time to take another look at D.C.'s buzzing theater scene.

Washington, D.C., has always been a theater town to the cultural cognoscenti – an admittedly