Octantis weather

Great Lakes Cruise Lets Passengers Become Scientists

Asia Pacific, Business, Culture, Europe, Travel

A chilly breeze blowing across the Great Lakes separating the U.S. from Canada greeted passengers as they climbed to the top deck of the cruise ship. From the far end of the boat, three figures holding aloft an enormous helium-filled weather balloon began moving toward the gathering in an awkward six-legged parade. Expedition cruises featuring adventurous activities and exotic destinations, such as the Antarctic and the Galapagos Islands, are increasingly popular with families desiring a learning experience. The Viking Octantis, a 380-passenger vessel built to be part cruise ship and part scientific research platform, includes a laboratory and its very own submarines. The goal, says a marine scientist on the Viking staff, “is to do rigorous science that will be credible in academia and allow guests to participate.”

Evan Robinson

Looking forward to an EV vacation this summer? Think again. Efficient electrical transport is a long way off.

America, Europe, North America, Travel

Washington politicians love to talk about the 2021 federal infrastructure plan that includes $7.5 billion to install 500,000 fast-charging EV stations in urban and rural areas. By 2030, the ability to drive an EV coast-to-coast should improve dramatically. But the National Park Service admits that at present there are only 140 EV charging stations in/near the 424 national parks. One decade ago, only a dozen EV chargers were available in national parks nationwide. But change is coming. Where chargers will be located, what powers them, who builds them and what drivers do while their cars are juicing up could shift the fate of companies, cities and Read More

tourisme-sete

Boats, beaches and music festivals make the Gallic city of Sète a great vacation destination. Here you don’t need to dress up

Culture, Europe, Travel

The Mediterranean seaside playground of the Cote d/Azur  has long been known for its exclusive nightclubs, pricey restaurants and tanned and toned beach bodies. But 190 miles west there is another Mediterranean coastal paradise – Sète. The city often is compared to Venice because of its canals, which are lined with houses, shops and restaurants serving fresh tuna and oysters. Beyond the canals and central business district are dreamy lagoons and 12 km of protected beaches

Gun Frining

Visits by Britain and France foreshadow the approaching anniversary of a Midnight Ride that Changed the World on Both Sides of the Atlantic

America, Europe, History, Travel

Last week, two old friends stopped by for a visit. French President Emmanuel Macron dropped into Washington, where he was greeted by a fife and drum corps garbed in colonial uniforms with tri-cornered hats. Some 430 miles to the north, the Prince and Princess of Wales (aka William and Kate) were in Boston discussing climate change with the descendants of colonialists who fought the American Revolution. It was only the third time that British royalty has visited the city. Unmentioned amid the pomp of the two diplomatic visits was the name Paul Revere. His midnight ride in 1775  initiated the armed struggle against the British and inspired a second revolution 14 years later in France. Yet Revere is not regarded as one of America’s founding fathers. His image has never appeared on U.S. currency and his story seldom is mentioned in European texts.

Alps view from Leogang

Austria’s Alps Adapt Traditions to Meet the Relentless Advance of Climate Change

Culture, Europe

Saalfelden Leogang is not all up-and-down peaks and deep gorges. Much of the region comprises a broad agricultural valley centered on the town of Saalfelden (population 17,000). To the west, the valley narrows into a canyon leading to the village of Leogang (population 3,200). The two dozen or so hamlets and villages in between fall into the destination called Saalfelden Leogang. The location is central to everything: a five-hour drive to Venice, a four-hour drive to Vienna, two hours to Munich, and just an hour or so to Salzburg. Yet it’s just far enough off the main travel routes that most people are unlikely to pass through it. Unless they’re trying.

Despite droughts,  fires and floods, America celebrates bountiful autumn harvests

America, Asia, California, Culture, Europe, North America, Travel

It’s the first Saturday in October at Bauman’s Harvest Festival in Gervais, Oregon and dozens of children have broken free from their parents and are running for the petting zoo. Petting zoos are probably the most popular attractions at autumn harvest celebrations now occurring across the U.S. and Canada. On the other side of a tent selling hot coffee, apple tarts and pumpkin scones more parents and kids are scrambling up a hay bale pyramid or crowding expectantly around an above ground pool to watch local farmers weigh their pumpkins. In a few moments some of the biggest pumpkins will be sacrificed.

Relics, Miracles, and Faith Light the Way Along Spain’s Camino de Santiago

Culture, Europe, History, Travel

It was pure good fortune that enabled me to arrive in Santo Domingo de la Calzada on the feast day of Saint Dominic. I was hiking west along the Camino Frances, en route to Santiago de Compostela, when I saw people gathering in front of the cathedral for a procession that gradually wound its way through the old town on streets lined with spectators. Young men in medieval costumes performed traditional folk dances at points along the route. Young women in period dress marched together.  Men wearing red berets played traditional melodies on flutes. The music and the dances were little changed from medieval times.  I felt as if I were observing a cultural tableau dating back hundreds of years.

Agatha Christie: The Mystery Maven Who Traveled the World

Culture, Europe, Middle East, Travel

Chances are, wherever you travel, you’ll find an Agatha Christie paperback. With eighty detective novels and story collections to her credit, Christie’s work has been translated into 130 languages and ranks third in sales behind the Bible and Shakespeare. She loved nothing more than going away and was utterly fearless about trying new destinations. Of her “foreign travel books,” she later would write, “if detective novels are escape literature, the reader can escape to sunny skies and blue water as well as to crime in the confines of an armchair.”

Troll-spotting, Art Nouveau and an Egg Reveal the Charms of Norway’s Sunnmøre Region

Europe, Travel

Walking through Ålesund in the Sunnmøre region of Norway is necessarily a slow stroll; there’s just too much to take in. Most of the 66,000 inhabitants of this main city in Southern Norway depend on the sea for their livelihood, and there’s even a fishing museum celebrating its heritage. But this does not look like a fishing village. Towers, turrets and imaginative ornamentation decorate graceful buildings in shades of pink, yellow, blue.  Small details – faces, flowers, animals – give each a unique design. It feels as if I have wandered onto the set of a fairy tale. And as with any good fairy tale, this happy ending began with a disaster.