Ever Heard of the "Upper West Side"? It's My Own Favorite Stomping Ground, Which Apparently Stamps Me as Something of a Square
Posted on 05/22/2014, 1:15 PM
Let me start with a disclaimer: I am well aware that visitors to New York come here for the city's most famous sights: the U.N., Broadway Shows, Rockefeller Center, Ground Zero, the "Met", Museum of Modern Art, the Opera, the Empire State Building, Fifth Avenue. But they miss something, in my prejudiced view, by failing to sample the unique New York life that several major neigh...
But I Usually Prefer Paris to Everywhere Else on Earth. Why is That?
Posted on 05/14/2014, 9:00 PM
It always happens. Towards the end of every TV, radio or newspaper interview, I am asked, "If you could vacation in only one place in the world, where would it be?" And I disappoint the questioner by responding not with an exotic or colorful choice--like New Guinea or Montevideo--but simply with the city of Paris. And while the deflated interviewer changes the subject, I go ba...
A Multitude of Americans Will be Traveling to Italy this Summer and Fall, and I've Been Prompted to Remember the Reasons Why
Posted on 05/14/2014, 8:45 PM
The appeal of Italy to American vacationers is one of the great enduring phenomena of travel. Although it costs considerably more to fly to Rome than to London or Paris, an awesome number of Americans will soon make the trip. I can understand their motivations. I was overwhelmed by my own first contact with Italy. I was so affected by its visual sig...
T-Mobile's Simple Global International Roaming: Should Travelers Switch?
Posted on 05/13/2014, 10:30 AM
T-Mobile has been working to publicize its new no-contract Simple Choice plans of late, and perhaps with good reason: There are still a fair number of travelers who are not aware of the advantages of its roaming features, Simple Global. Whereas once all the major carriers charged shocking rates for the right to travel abroad, forcing most of us to leave our phones turned off, its new plan w...
A Bevy of New Exhibits Explore the "Art of Creation" in Washington, DC
Posted on 05/06/2014, 9:30 PM
German chancellor Otto van Bismarck famously remarked: "There are two things you don’t want to see being made—sausage and legislation.” And though visitors to Washington, DC get to watch debates on the floor of the Congress and arguments before the Supreme Court, they rarely, if ever, are allowed to witness the decision-making process that shapes laws. That happens behind closed doors. Intr...
Guidebook Sales in the Bookstores Are An Unscientific Method of Predicting Travel Patterns, But They Seem as Good as Any Other Test
Posted on 05/02/2014, 3:30 PM
We are approaching the summer high season, when tens of millions of Americans head for vacation to the mountains and lakes within an hour or two of their homes. But a slightly smaller number opts for longer-range travel--either to the coastal areas as many as three and four hours by air, or overseas on flights requiring from seven to ten hours. Where is that latter grou...
Travel Here, Not There: Why Choosing a "Secondary" Destination May Lead to a Better Vacation
Posted on 04/30/2014, 2:00 PM
There’s a reason tourists don’t flock to Akron, Ohio. And no, it’s not just because Goodyear decided to close its “World of Rubber Museum” in 2011. (The town’s only real tourist destination, as far as I could tell, when I had the misfortune to spend several weeks in Akron a few years back.) Akron may be highly livable, but it doesn’t have the types of exciting attractions that draw visitors....
Isn't It Time for Someone With a Bit of Imagination to Take Over at Universal Studios Florida?
Posted on 04/27/2014, 8:30 PM
The internet is full of news this past week about a major new attraction coming to the theme parks of Orlando in the coming year: the world's steepest water slide. The stories don't identify the specifc park where this wonderful new experience will be available, but I'm willing to bet it's in one of Universal's theme parks. The people who run Universal are, in my view, utterly unable to ...
Tired of My Gripes About Cruises? I Have a Few More--But Also Some Positive Suggestions
Posted on 04/26/2014, 1:45 PM
It may well be that America's infatuation with the ocean cruise is beginning to wane a bit. Recent studies show a fair amount of worry about the safety of cruising. People are concerned about the fairly frequent outbreaks of the noro virus on cruises. They react badly to the reports of robberies suffered by cruise passengers when they tour outlying areas of islands and encounter local ba...
There's Been a "Sea Change" in the Character of Ocean Cruises, and the Only Remedy Seems an Increase in What You Spend for a Cruise
Posted on 04/25/2014, 7:00 AM
Cruises are no longer what they used to be. They are today so different as to make you consider several all-but-astonishing recent developments, as follows: (1) It is no longer possible to enjoy the more traditional pleasures of the sea in a low-cost ship. Time was when you could simply savor the relaxation of a sea voyage, lying on a deckchair, reading a book, viewin...
