Travel Babel

• Tough Times for Travelers

  Weather, accidents and incidents have impacted holiday travel
  
  
  It started with the closure of the Chunnel under the English Channel and the suspension of Eurostar service. Closer to home, sowstorms across the northern tier of the United States have been gumming up travel since last [...]
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  Posted: December 24, 2009, 2:17am EST
  

• Chunnel Shut Down; EuroStar Services Cut

  London-Paris-Brussels rail connection uncoupled
  
  
  "Indefinitely" is a word that has been in the news lately. Tiger Woods is suspending participation on the PGA tour "indefinitely, and now the Eurostar train between London and Paris has suspended service "indefinitely" too -- at least through" [...]
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  Posted: December 21, 2009, 12:28am EST
  

• Travel Tumbnail: Clear Creek Historic Park in Downtown Golden

  Outdoor museum a short stroll from Golden's quaint downtown
  
  Close to Denver and closer to Boulder, Golden is an appealing destination with plenty to do and to see. I have taken visitors to the town's three guidebook-variety attractions: the free tour of the enormous Coors [...]
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  Posted: December 20, 2009, 8:42pm EST
  

• Temple of Isis Pylon Raised from Sea Floor

  Alexandria retrieves a centuries-old treasure from the days of Cleopatra
  
  Having visited Egypt earlier this year, I felt a connection when I read today's wire service report datelined Alexandria about archaeologists who raised a nine-ton, 7-foot-tall pylon from the bottom of the Mediterranean (AP photo below). The massive quarried stone once [...]
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  Posted: December 18, 2009, 3:01pm EST
  

• Boeing 787 Dreamliner's First Flight -- At Last

  Long-delayed maiden voyage of Boeing's newest plane aircraft
  
  
  The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a mid-size aircraft (290 to 330 passengers), is the first large commercial jet made of light-weight, high-strength composite materials for fuel efficiency, reduced emissions and reduced noise. It was rolled out' [...]
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  Posted: December 17, 2009, 12:45pm EST
  

• Travel Industry to Tackle Climate Change

  "Live the Deal" initiative emerges from Copenhagen conference
  
  The United Nations Climate Change Conference that wraps up tomorrow in Copenhagen has been in the news mainly for the estimated number of demonstrators, the number of demonstrators arrested and the heads of government who would or wouldn't be attending, and if the' [...]
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  Posted: December 16, 2009, 11:36am EST
  

• Big Bling in Washington

  Smithsonian Museum of Natural History to display two fabled blue diamonds
  
  If the US had a monarchy, the 45.52-carat Hope Diamond (top right) would be part of the crown jewesl, but we're a republic, so the priceless gemstone belongs to all of us. The 31.06-carat Wittelsbach-Graff' [...]
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  Posted: December 14, 2009, 11:54pm EST
  

• New Hotel Wing Shines at Sunshine

  Upgraded accommodations at Sunshine Village near Banff
  
  
  The Banff/Lake Louise area in western Alberta boasts three very different and very intriguing ski areas. Mammoth Ski Louise's network lifts and vast skiable terrain comprise the largest ski area in the Canadian Rockies (or perhaps all of' [...]
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  Posted: December 13, 2009, 12:21am EST
  

• Boarding Passes: Printed or Not

  Paperless boarding passes: the way of the future?
  
  
  Once upon a time, airline boarding passes were booklets (often hand-written multi-pagers for connecting or roundtrip flights). They had built-in carbon bars and pages of lengthy small-print legalese about airline and government policies and, if I remember correctly, passengers'' [...]
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  Posted: December 11, 2009, 7:13am EST
  

• "Cat Cam" Reveals the Secret Life of Cats

  When you're away, does your cat play?
  
  What does your cat do when you're traveling or even just away for the day? Many people think that cats most of the time -- some would say the better to be lively at night. Jill Villarreal, an animal behavior scientist, [...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2009, 4:32pm EST
  

• Calgary Builds on Its Olympic Legacy

  With Canada poised to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, the '88 Games have not been fogotten
  
  When you visit a city that hosted the Summer Olympic Games, you might be shown a stadium that was used for track and field, a pool complex built for swimming and' [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 7:59pm EST
  

• SWISS to Inaugurate San Francisco-Zürich Service

  Airbus 340 slated for long-haul flight; SWISS service will make the time pass
  
  
  SWISS just announced a new non-stop between San Francisco and Zürich, and I cheered, both for European skiers heading for North American mountains and for U.S. skiers heading for the Alps. [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 3:09pm EST
  

• Two Denver Museums, Two Special Exhibits

  Denver Art Museum and Denver Museum of Nature & Science
  
  Museums exert a magnetic pull on me. Whenever I travel --whether to a significant city with world-class museums or a small town with a tiny museum filled with local teasures and memorabilia -- I visit as many as [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 6:00pm EST
  

• Denver-DIA Rail Line Construction to Start in '10

  Major news for metro Denver travelers, but train linking London and Madrid will be operating first
  
  The week has been hectic, and my newspaper reading was minimal, so I missed a brief Associated Press report in Wednesday's Denver Post indicating that "construction of a $1.3 billion train'" [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 8:36pm EST
  

• Why

  Seoul's Incheon International number one once again
  On Monday, I wrote a post about The Daily Beast's take on 27 US airports, the best of which isn't all that great when compared with others on the world stage. The Beast called its post "Airports From Hell."' [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 6:40pm EST
  

• Happy Thanksgiving

  
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 2:04am EST
  

• "What's the biggest problem facing the travel industry?"

  
  Chris Elliott wants your thoughts
  
  That's the question traveler consumer advocate Christopher Elliott is asking readers of his award-winning website. He has declared today as "open-mic Tuesday," and he wants to hear from you. If you've got a gripe or, more productively, a' [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 8:36am EST
  

• Daily Beast's New Airport Rankings

  The Daily Beast studied, rated and ranked 27 US airports
  
  The Daily Beast's provocative headline, "Airports from Hell," is affixed to an analysis of 27 top airports in the US in eight specific areas, including on-time arrivals/departures so far in 2009 and a separate evaluation of holiday arrivals and departures, [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 10:16am EST
  

• New Denver Sheraton Downtown is City's Largest Hotel

  Former Adam's Mark reborn after $70 million renovation
  
  The gleaming hotel straddling downtown Denver's Court Place place is a new Sheraton, but it's not a new hotel. The tired Adam's Mark is now the Sheraton Denver Downtown following a year-long, $70 million total renovation from the parking garage to [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 3:13pm EST
  

• Winter Park Ski Train Poised for Return

  Train-only and train/lodging packages are options for this ski season
  
  
  The Rio Grande Scenic Ski Train seems "this close" to finalizing operational agreements for the 2009-10 ski season. The newest incarnation of the inconic ski train between Denver and Winter Park is ready [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 11:19am EST
  

• A Gift from the Cyber-Magi: Free Airport WiF

  Google enables free WiFi at 47 new airports for the holidays
  
  We frequent Denver International Airport users have long been spoiled with free WiFi in the main terminal and on all three concourses. E-mail addicts and chronic web surfers like me are shocked and/or disappointed when we are waiting for flights [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 2:47pm EST
  

• Five Stars Again: The Broadmoor'r Anniversary of Honors

  Colorado's top-of-the-heap Broadmoor offers off-season values; book now!
  
  It is no surprise at all that The Broadmoor, a pink palace on the southwest edge of Colorado Springs, has been awarded the top Five Star rating from the Mobil / Forbes Travel Guide (formerly Mobil' [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 8:02am EST
  

• Berlin Wall Sections: A Fragment Here, A Fragment There

  November 9, 2009, marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall
  
  
  With so much strife on the planet, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall gives hope and celebration. After all, not long before the Wall came down in [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 8:45am EST
  

• Nottoway Plantation: 150-Year-Old Louisiana Jewel

  Newly restored antebellum mansion is glorious to visit -- for a tour or for the night
  
  In 1859, shortly before the War Between the States, John Hampden Randolph, his wife, Emily Jane Liddell Randolph, and their 11 children moved into the newly completed Nottoway Plantation in the heart of Louisiana's' [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 10:49pm EST
  

• San Miguel de Allende's Nearby Botanical Garden

  Charco del Ingenio showcases Western Hemisphere cacti in a protected landscape
  
  The roughly 154 acres occupied by the unique botanical garden called Charco del Ingenio outside of San Miguel de Allende is reportedly second most important collection of cacti in Mexico, after Mexico City. That would rank Cacti [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 10:05pm EST
  

• Mega Mao Joins Other Gigantic Sculptures

  
  The chairman joins four US presidents and one very nobel Native American leader
  
  Sulptor Gutzon Borglum (who is always referred to as "Borglum") and his helpers carved these four gigantic heads of four important presidents out of South Dakota granite. Mt.Rushmore is now a National Monument, administered [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 6:57pm EST
  

• By the Sea, By the Santa Barbara Sea

  I recently attended a conference at the Four Seasons Resort, The Biltmore. A handful of people seemed to squeeze in a run or a walk on the beach, but all I had was the occasional ocean view when dashing across the beautifully landscaped property between my room and the [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 5:12pm EST
  

• 'Oasis of the Seas' Now at Sea

  Enormous floating city, the 'Oasis of the Seas,' heading for Florida
  
  
  
  The 'Oasis of the Seas' should be called the 'Behemoth of the Seas': 1,187 feet long, 208 feet wide 213 feet (that's more than 20 stories!) high from the water line, 16 passenger decks,' [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 6:25pm EST
  

• Guanajuato's Mummies: Year-Round Halloween Fright

  36 Mexican mummies touring US museums, starting in Detroit
  
  When I was a child, I once had a skeleton Halloween costume. It was a one-piece black garment with bones printed on the front and sleeves. The back was all-black. I can't remember why I wanted it at the time.' [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2009, 11:10pm EDT
  

• Images of Guanajuato the Gorgeous

  Charmed location and charming center in fabulous Spanish colonial city
  
  Guanajuato is one of the most beautiful cities I've seen. Set in deep valley and connected to the "outside" by tunnels through the steep mountains, this Spanish colonial gem is a vibrant, walkable city. Its narrow lanes, kaleidoscope of' [...]
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  Posted: October 30, 2009, 12:54am EDT
  

• AlaskaTransportation News

  Alaska travel representatives met with travel met media & shared news
  
  Alaska is one of my favorite places. I've been from Southeast (Juneau, Wrangell, Petersburg, Ketchikan, Skagway, Haines, Sitka) to Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean. I've been there is summer (glorious weather, abundant wildflowers, sport fishing, hiking) [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2009, 9:22am EDT
  

• On the Road Again

  Normal false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

  My own travel schedule has me dizzy
  

  My recent travel [...]

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  Posted: October 25, 2009, 5:54pm EDT
  

• Mexican Knockers -- Door Knockers, That Is

  Some doors of San Miguel de Allende's colonial city center are plain and others are fancy. The door knockers are invariably interesting. Here are a few:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: October 24, 2009, 2:49am EDT
  

• Where to Watch Wild Weather

  The Weather Channel stormwatcher picked 10 spots; I have an 11th
  
  If you've ever seen a tornado, you've watched wild weather. Those who were in Miami for Hurricane Andrew, in New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina or on Galveston Island for Hurricane Ike certainly witnessed devastatingly [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2009, 10:15pm EDT
  

• Promising a Report from Mexico

  I have been in Mexico since Thursday, first at the 2009 Society of American Travel Writers convention in Guadalajara with a cast of hundres and now with a smaller group on a post-convention extention to Guanajuato. I saw virtually nothing of Guadalajara I the Hospicio Cabanas for an evening opening [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2009, 9:42pm EDT
  

• Strolling the Real Tlaquepaque

  I have been to Sedona's Tlaquepaque arts and crafts shopping and gallery center, and enjoyed browsing there immensely. But the real thing, the original, the old town about 10 miles from Guadalajara is even better. This community of more than half-a-million inhabitants inspired the Arizona shopping area. Below are' [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2009, 8:28pm EDT
  

• Guadalajara's Hospicio Cabañas Fab Faberge Exhibition

  Imperial Russian treasures displayed in magnificent Spanish Colonial landmark
  
  The opening reception of the Society of American Travel Writers' 2009 convention took place in Gaudalajara's magnificent, monumental Hospicio Cabañas. Originally a hospital and refuge for the homeless and the helpless, and later an orphanage, it now houses the [...]
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  Posted: October 12, 2009, 7:18am EDT
  

• Guadalajara: A Wet Welcome

  I arrived in Guadalajara on Thursday afternoon for the Society of American Travel Writers' 2009 convention. The sky was gray, but it was not raining when we landed. I know this for sure, because the airport (GDL) does not have jetways (or does not have jetways for all' [...]
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  Posted: October 10, 2009, 11:59pm EDT
  

• Weirdest Air Travel Instructions Yet

  "Present your picture ID and boarding pass."
  
  "Place all liquids in a one-quart clear plastic zipbag."
  
  "Remove your laptop from your carryon."
  
  "Empty your pockets."
  
  "Remove your shoes."
  
  "Board only when your row is called."
  
  "Do not leave your luggage unattended."
  
  "Report any" [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2009, 8:20am EDT
  

• 2009-10 Ski Season About to Start

  Single-digit October opening dates signal beginning of lo-o-o-o-o-ong season
  
  Colorado's Loveland (top right) is starting lift operations on Wednesday, October 7, and Arapahoe Basin (bottom right), just on the other side of Loveland Pass, gets going on Friday, October 9. Loveland's first trails [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 9:10pm EDT
  

• United's Premier Baggage "Club" Benefits Frequent Travelers

  Premier Baggage is United's latest loyalty program -- and a quick revenue producer too
  
  United wants $249 of your money now. "For a limited time," the airline says, passengers can sign up at this "introductory rate" for a one-year membership in its new Premier Baggage program. They're [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 11:04am EDT
  

• Fall(en Leaf) Hike to Surprise Lake

  Autumn hike to Surprise Lake in the northern part of the Eagles Nest Wilderness
  
  Our last few Front Range hikes have held the promise of gloriously golden aspens "next weekend." Because the aspen groves are bigger and more spectacular west of the Divide, we drove to the trailhead [...]
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  Posted: October 05, 2009, 6:22pm EDT
  

• Oberammergau? Book Now!

  Bavarian village produces Passion Play every 10 years. Hurry to attend in 2010
  
  Half a million people make a religious or theatrical pilgrimage to the Bavarian village of Oberammergau every 10 years to witness the spectacle of the renowned Passion Play that has [...]
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  Posted: October 03, 2009, 11:54pm EDT
  

• Go Fly A Kite in 35 Countries

  International festival promotes peace and sustainability -- and is all sorts of fun
  
  
  I found out about the One Sky, One World festival when researching free and inexpensive activities for Mile High on the Cheap. The inspiration was the historic 1985 summit meeting [...]
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  Posted: October 02, 2009, 12:59am EDT
  

• Rocky Mountain National Park Images

  The Date: Sunday, September 28, 2009
  The Companions: My husband, Ral, and our friend Dave
  The Hike: Leisurely loop from Upper Beaver Meadows trailhead; 5 to 5 1/2 miles (depending on whether the source is my husband's GPS or Dave's iPhone, which compiles the stats and also generates a [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2009, 1:22am EDT
  

• Three Airlines Battle for Denver Market Share

  United, Frontier and Southwest go head-to-head-to-head to prevail in Denver
  
  When Denver International Airport was being built for a scheduled opening in October 1993, it seemed as if a rivalry between United and Continental was shaping up. Both hubbed at Stapleton International [...]
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  Posted: September 25, 2009, 10:07pm EDT
  

• Gold Hill & Black Hawk: A Study in Contrast

  Two old mining towns in the foothills have different visions of their future
  
  Black Hawk, Colorado -- founded 1859; incorporated 1886; population (2000 census), 118
  Gold Hill, Colorado -- founded 1859, unincorporated, population (2000 census), 210
  
  As both of these historic mining towns in the foothills west of [...]
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  Posted: September 23, 2009, 11:22am EDT
  

• Colorado's First Snow of the Season, 9/21/09

  Skiers and snowboarders celebrate Colorado's first snow of the season
  
  The snowbirds are already shivering in their shoes, but skiers and snowboarders are cheering the arrival of the season's first snow in Colorado's high country. Above is a photo taken at Copper Mountain [...]
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  Posted: September 22, 2009, 8:25am EDT
  

• National Parks, Part II

  An up-to-the-minute website and a great guidebook series spotlight our parks
  
  Yesterday, I wrote a potpourri post that started with a description and photos from a just completed hike in Rocky Mountain National Park and ended with a plea to participate in National Public Lands Day coming up [...]
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  Posted: September 21, 2009, 10:08am EDT
  

• Help Wanted in National Parks & Other Public Lands

  
  Celebrate National Public Lands Day by visiting a park -- or lending a hand
  

  Our Neighborhood National Park at the Change of Seasons

  We are very lucky to have Rocky Mountain National Park a little more than an hour from our door -- and we never take it for [...]
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  Posted: September 20, 2009, 7:57pm EDT