http://www.ajc.com The latest headlines from AJC en-us Copyright 2009, Cox Newspapers Inc., AJC Sun, 5 Jul 2009 00:37:46 EDT Newspapers COXnet RSS Generator v1.0 http://img.coxnewsweb.com/C/08/17/52/image_1352178.jpg http://www.ajc.com 5 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/07/01/thailand_tourism_bargains.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/07/01/thailand_tourism_bargains.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Wed, 1 Jul 2009 16:41:50 EDT Thai Airways is trying to lure passengers from outside Asia with free domestic flights. Hotels on the resort island of Phuket are offering a fourth night free. And mountain lodges up north are offering free golf and spa pampering. Facing its worst crisis in years, Thailand's tourism industry is going to great lengths to drum up business that has plunged thanks to political upheaval, the global recession — and now swine flu fears. Foreign traveler arrivals have fallen 16 percent so far this year, while hotel occupancy across the country has dropped to 44 percent, down from 66 percent last year. Luxury hotels in Bangkok have even lower occupancy rates. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/24/steves_tech_tips_for_travelers.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/24/steves_tech_tips_for_travelers.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Wed, 1 Jul 2009 11:47:48 EDT With my mantra being "Pack Light," I used to be against packing electronics of any kind. But now, I bring my laptop, iPod, digital camera, and mobile phone to Europe. With hotels retiring their fax machines in favor of email, mobile phones getting cheaper and easier to buy, and Wi-Fi hotspots popping up everywhere, it's never been simpler to get connected. There are plenty of Internet cafes in Europe. Large European chains such as easyInternetcafe.com offer in-expensive access in big cities. Even small towns have some way to get online — at hostels, hotels, libraries, bookstores, post offices, and so on. If you plan to check your email using a public machine, make sure you sign up for a Web-based account, such as Yahoo.com, Hotmail.com, or Gmail.com. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/29/travel_britain.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/29/travel_britain.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:34:41 EDT There are few better places to celebrate the United States and its Independence Day than London. Whether you prefer sipping bubbly at the wood-paneled home of America's brainiest founding father, Ben Franklin, or downing an ale on the jetty where the Mayflower set off for Massachusetts, the British capital is packed with options for a patriotic week away. "It is surprising — it's shocking — how much there really is here," said Delaina Stone, the secretary of the American Society in London. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/28/steves_europe.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/28/steves_europe.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:37:37 EDT Smart budget travel isn't just about saving money — it's about maximizing your experience. Every corner of Europe offers memorable moments like these that you can make happen. Dublin: Be the only tourist among 50,000 cheering fans at a hurling match — that uniquely Irish game that's as rough and tumble as airborne hockey (with no injury timeouts). Matches are held most Saturday or Sunday afternoons in summer at Dublin's Croke Park Stadium (www.gaa.ie). Choose a county to support, buy something colorful to wear or wave, scream yourself hoarse, and you'll be a temporary local. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/24/mexico_travel.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/24/mexico_travel.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:41:56 EDT The last time Bud Olson visited Mexico, he ended up in a hospital with kidney stones and missed the ancient Mayan ruins in the seaside town of Tulum. So when he heard that swine flu was sweeping through Mexico just weeks before he was to return this year, the 43-year-old Seattle, Washington, resident and his friends threw all caution to the warm Caribbean breezes and went anyway. Olson is one of the intrepid few who decided to come to Mexico in the throes of the epidemic. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/24/steves_scandinavia.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/24/steves_scandinavia.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:49:02 EDT You can cover a lot of territory in Scandinavia without ever checking into a hotel. Overnight luxury cruise liners stacked with saunas, smorgasbords, and duty-free shopping sail nightly between Stockholm and Helsinki. Imagine enjoying a Scandinavian feast with a vista of archipelago scenery. Budget travel rarely feels this hedonistic. Two fine and fiercely competitive lines, Viking and Silja, connect the capitals of Sweden and Finland. Each line offers state-of-the-art ships with luxurious meals, reasonable cabins, plenty of entertainment (discos, saunas, gambling), and enough duty-free goodies to sink a ship. Of the two, Viking has the reputation as the party boat. Silja is considered more elegant (but still has its share of sometimes irritating and noisy passengers). http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/21/steves_athens.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/21/steves_athens.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:59:22 EDT A century and a half ago, Athens was a humble, forgotten city of about 8,000 people. Today one of every three Greeks packs into this city of about 4 million. The city has been infamous for its sprawl, noise, and pollution. My advice has long been to see the big sights, then get out. But visiting it recently to research my guidebook, I saw a dramatic change. The city has made a concerted effort to clean up and pedestrianize the streets, spiff up the museums, build a new airport and invest in one of Europe's better public-transit systems. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/17/soweto_tourism.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/17/soweto_tourism.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:35:14 EDT JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Southern African home cooking sounds comforting: samp, a chunky corn concoction; pap, a filling porridge; mogodu, boiled tripe. OK, the last sounded better before the translation. But my husband and even my 5-year-old daughter are more adventurous eaters than I am. We all find something tempting at the buffet at Sakhumzi, and the popular restaurant is a welcome stop at the end of a drizzly day spent exploring Soweto, with stops at the former home of Nelson Mandela and an anti-apartheid protest museum and an overnight at a homey B&B. We'd started that morning driving through the rows of mine dumps — low ziggurats a tapped-out shade of yellow — that isolate Soweto from the rest of Johannesburg. We entered the famed township on the Soweto Highway, past neat new homes, and headed to our bed-and-breakfast in Soweto's Orlando West neighborhood. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/11/anne_frank_house_diaries.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/11/anne_frank_house_diaries.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:26:29 EDT AMSTERDAM — The Anne Frank House museum says it will permanently exhibit her diaries and other writings as part of activities commemorating the 80th anniversary of her birth on June 12, 1929. Frank died aged 15 in a concentration camp, but her posthumously published diary made her a symbol of all Jews killed in World War II. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/07/steves_afford_europe.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/07/steves_afford_europe.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Fri, 5 Jun 2009 10:45:19 EDT Given the economy, the No. 1 question I've gotten lately from people is whether to go to Europe. It's true that many people will put off their trips for another time. But millions of globetrotters will find a way to keep on traveling. Let's be honest. Europe is expensive. Prices are high for locals — and for Americans. Yet, the best travelers are not those with the thickest wallets, but those with a knack for connecting with locals and their culture. If you're wandering through Spain's Santiago de Compostela and you hear music and dancers in a gym, pop in and observe. As you enjoy the Galician folk club practicing their traditional dance, you realize northwest Spain is actually Celtic — where flamenco meets "Riverdance." http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/04/angels_demons_tour.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/04/angels_demons_tour.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Thu, 4 Jun 2009 15:49:57 EDT ROME (AP) — On the stone steps of the 500-year-old Santa Maria del Popolo church, our tour group huddled around our guide in a tight circle. "Come closer," the guide said. We leaned in even more. "Be really quiet inside," he advised. He was holding a tattered, hardcover copy of Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons," and as he spoke, he slipped it into a messenger bag slung around his shoulder. "The priest here doesn't like us. Oh, and don't flash your Path of Illumination maps." http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/04/smartphone_guidebook_travel.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/06/04/smartphone_guidebook_travel.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Thu, 4 Jun 2009 15:42:27 EDT NEW YORK (AP) — Conde Nast Traveler magazine sent three reporters to Moscow, one armed with an iPhone, one with a BlackBerry Bold and one with an old-fashioned guidebook, to see whether the gadgets or the book were more helpful in completing a series of typical tourist challenges — finding a hotel, a restaurant, a bar, various attractions and a pharmacy. The results may surprise you: The writer armed with the guidebook completed most of the tasks more quickly and easily than the writers with gadgets. Details of the challenge appear in Conde Nast Traveler's June issue and online at http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/articles/500791. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/05/22/provence_travel.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/05/22/provence_travel.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Fri, 22 May 2009 11:45:55 EDT MONIEUX, France (AP) — On a road trip through the south of France last summer, I hoped to find the place I'd come to love from reading Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence" and his other books. But I worried that the Provence of my dreams might be over-commercialized and overrun by tourists. Happily I did find what I was looking for, but not always where I expected it. Yes, I went to the popular tourist jaunts — an amphitheater built by the Romans, a farmer's market, Paul Cezanne's studio in Aix-en-Provence, and Arles, where Vincent Van Gogh painted. But what made Provence so enchanting for me was a triple sensory experience for the eyes, nose and palate — the scenery, scents and food — along with a detour off the beaten path to Monieux, a small town surrounded by lavender fields. Provence is known for beautiful landscapes of cypress and olive trees amid verdant fields, with medieval towns perched seemingly precariously on hills. Lavender scents the air. And fruits, vegetables and olive oil are so fresh you're convinced farmers picked or produced them that day. The Cavaillon melon, which looks like a softball-sized cantaloupe and costs around $3 each (2 euros), is the most luscious melon I have ever tasted. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/05/17/free_things_europe.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/05/17/free_things_europe.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Fri, 15 May 2009 13:46:28 EDT NEW YORK — If you're taking advantage of the relatively strong dollar this year by heading to Europe, you'll be looking for ways to save even more when you get there. Here is a list of 10 free and fun things to do in Europe, compiled by the European Travel Commission: 1. In Madrid, the Palace of Liria, the 18th-century residence of the Duchess of Alba at Calle Princesa 20, offers a collection of Spanish art, along with Flemish, German, Dutch, Italian, English and French paintings, with guided tours Fridays at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon. 2. Rome's picturesque Trastevere area on the Tiber's west bank, a charming and colorful neighborhood, hosts a festival the European Travel Commission describes as "Felliniesque" for eight days in the second half of July, the Festa di Noantri, with a religious procession, food and entertainment. http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/05/14/seoul_south_korea.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 http://www.ajc.com/services/content/travel/otherdestinations/int_stories/2009/05/14/seoul_south_korea.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=23 Thu, 14 May 2009 20:53:01 EDT SEOUL (AP) — With the South Korean currency, called the won, down against the dollar, now's the time to wander the grounds of 600-year-old palaces, meditate in Buddhist temples and trawl cafes and markets in the labyrinthine capital city, Seoul. GETTING AROUND: one of the world's most densely populated cities, has eight subway lines, hundreds of buses covering every corner and affordable cabs. From Incheon International Airport, city shuttle buses reach Seoul for about $7 (9,000 won). Korean Air offers a more comfy door-to-door service to major hotels for $10 (14,000 won). A taxi to the city center runs $38-$45 (50,000-60,000 won).