Intelligent Travel

Captured by a Castle

Friend of IT Amy McKeever is currently living it up in Europe, and wants us to know that we're all a bunch of dirty rascals:

I saw a lot of beautiful things when I lived in Switzerland as a child, but nothing captured my imagination like Europe's castles. I recall roaming palace gardens on Isola Bella in northwestern Italy, daydreaming about traveling back to medieval times and befriending the princess who would just happen to be my age.

So it is to my great delight that I'm currently living in the country that claims to have more castles per square mile than any other country in the world: Belgium. One of this tiny country's acclaimed castles, Beersel, lies six miles (ten kilometers) south of Brussels.

Can We See the Menu, Please?

For years now, we bloggers have been enthusiastic fans of the website MenuPages.com. The site has a very simple premise: It provides relatively up-to-date, plain text, on-screen and pdf versions of restaurant menus in New York City, D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, L.A.and San Francisco. The site is a boon when the restaurant you're thinking of eating at has no website, or posts their menu online without prices (sooo irritating!), or if you're trying to find a particular type of restaurant in a particular neighborhood, as their listings tend to be pretty darn comprehensive. Being able to view the actual menus frees restaurant-hunters from having to decipher the always mysterious price-reporting systems of reviewing bodies like Zagat and local newspapers. (How inexpensive is "inexpensive"? Does the two-and-a-half-fork price include dessert?) And the site also includes the ever-so-cool Find-a-Food search that allows you to search not only by cuisine but by actual menu item. (Saag paneer in Capitol Hill, anyone? Pupusas in the Mission?)

So it is with great pleasure that IT announces the launch of MenuPages' new food blog network (currently covering S.F., Philly, Boston, and Chicago). All four blogs launched in March, and once they get a little time under their belts will allow many users to one-stop-shop not only for menu information, but tips on whether the restaurants in question are actually worth visiting.

Spring Break in the Sunshine State

We bloggers weren't the only Traveler staffers to take inspiration from college students last month. This entry from online editor Kathie Gartrell came in just as we were taking off for our spring breaks in Japan and Texas, respectively, so we weren't able to serve it up quite as fresh as those oranges on the Florida's Natural box. Like those oranges though, her trip was so juicy it still tastes good after a little while on ice. Take a sip:

My husband I recently took our own spring break road trip—an 1,100-mile (1,770-kilometer) drive from Wheaton, Maryland, to my dad's place south of Naples, Florida. Call me crazy, but I enjoy stopping at a Cracker Barrel for quick hot meals (not to mention a chance to buy some Bobs Mint Sticks and play the Cracker Barrel Peg Game) and spending the night in a Hampton Inn along the way. Although we don't usually stop at any roadside attractions, we love reading the enticing billboards. Our favorite: the kazillion signs leading to South Carolina's South of the Border flea market/amusement park/roadside resort. They all feature Pedro, a lovable Mexican cartoon-character. One of my favorites: 'Keep Yelling Kids (They'll Stop).'

Death and Delta

IT generally has bad things to say about airlines, but this week Emily offers an ode to Delta:

Three weeks ago, my grandfather passed away, which sent my family members—including me—scrambling for last-minute fares to get home to Utah. Thanks to Delta Airlines' considerate service, my immediate family got home inexpensively and easily—a blessing, especially in our time of need. Here's how Delta helped:

1. My parents were in Houston the day we found out. Their original flight home to Utah was supposed to depart the following day, but Mom called Delta to see if they could get on an earlier flight. With no questions, Delta booked my parents on the first flight out that afternoon, for no change fee.

This Week's Bloggers

Emily King, Traveler's assistant to the editor, hopes she doesn't have to fly on any more planes anytime soon. Researcher Jessie Johnston is OK with the planes, but would be quite happy to never enter an airport again in her life.

Some Like IT Hot

IT's trusty Web troller Marilyn Terrell stumbled upon a nifty little source for those of you temperature travelers. She writes: 

I just discovered this intriguing feature on the travel website Youtravel.com, which is an online travel booking service. You can search by destination, or you can search by average temperature. For example, you can plug in your desired temperature range in the month you intend to be traveling, and see what pops up. As a British site, they kindly offer Fahrenheit as well as Celsius, though their country list is less gratuitous: Their database includes mostly Mediterranean destinations.

Wahoo Weekend

IT used up all its vacation days for "spring break," but that can't stop us from traveling. Our solution? Weekend getaways. And, thanks to a current U.Va. student (and writer) Sara Tisdale, we already have our first one-and-a-half day trip planned:

We Charlottesville residents love to brag about our recently dubbed status as "America's No. 1 Place to Live." While there's enough to do and eat here to keep you busy and full during your four-year degree, for visitors, it's the perfect town for a weekend getaway. Consider this itinerary:

Start off early, just as Thomas Jefferson would advise. Begin with a morning tour of his Monticello, perched on a mountaintop just outside the city. Then head back to U.Va.'s Central Grounds to grab a quick lunch at The Virginian or Michael's Bistro, which both offer outdoor seating and attractive people-watching.

Scaling the Ice Caps (While We Still Can)

Sure, we spend the majority of our time in our D.C. offices editing writers' and photographers' work from far-flung locales like Hue, Vietnam, and Boise, Idaho (hey, it's far-flung to us). But sometimes we get the assignments.

Take, for instance, Traveler senior photo editor Dan Westergren's upcoming expedition to the North Pole with Bernice Notenboom, one of our contributing editors. The expedition, led by veteran Doug Stoup, will include an international team of eight explorers. Starting on April 17, the group will trek over the frozen Arctic Ocean to the Geographic North Pole, GPS 89.999°N, i.e. the top of the world. To do it, they'll have to cross numerous pressure ridges and leads (open water), as well as fast-moving, drifting ice. Upon completion they will be flown back to their starting point at Ice Station Borneo and connect to their flight off the ice.

The group will be delivering live video updates via a satellite phone that can be seen here. There will be a new video every day of the expedition. Check National Geographic Traveler's index page for details.

Seattle: The Center of the Universe

With a title like this, IT panicked. A story about Starbucks? Luckily, writer Ali Busacca takes us about as far from the mainstream as possible, to a place that's just downright odd. Yes, IT's in bliss. She writes:

On a small traffic island along Fremont Avenue, a signpost displays the words, "Center of the Universe," with an arrow pointing straight down.
The signpost, which also points to such destinations as the Milky Way, Atlantis, and the North Pole is just one of the quirky landmarks found in Fremont, a neighborhood in northern Seattle. Known for its artistic freedom, the area is sometimes referred to as "The People's Republic of Fremont" and bears the motto, "De Libertas Quirkas," meaning "Freedom to be Peculiar."

This Week's Bloggers

Emily King, Traveler's assistant to the editor and researcher Jessie Johnston would like to wish IT a happy birthday. Can you believe it's been a year?