The video site Turn Here relaunched today with a spruce new design. The good news: a more navigable layout, links to videos featuring nearby locations, and new categories for searching and sorting clips. The short, user-submitted videos of locals talking about their corner of the world are still mostly focused on major US cities — New York, LA, San Francisco — but there is a smattering of new international clips, like this one of Coyoacán in Mexico City. They also seem to have sorted out the issue of people who were using their clips as a free promotional tool, by having sponsored advertising content that’s distinct from the rest. The so-so news: since the current version of the site is just out of the box, some of the features are still a little wobbly and don’t always work on the first click.

Previously
– “Turn Right at the Forward Slash“

In this edition: the SF Chronicle stumbles upon the Holy Grail (just the cup this time) in Valencia, while the Washington Post visits Brangelina’s compound in Namibia, according to Us Weekly, the site of the second coming.

Perhaps due to the beach weekend, everyone else has island fever: the NYT weighs in with Formentera, an alternative to the party scene on nearby Ibiza, and trekking in Tasmania. The LA Times has a report about an eco-community being developed as a “tribal timeshare” on a remote island in Fiji, for those who want to play Lost on vacation, while CNN reports on possibly the most overdeveloped stretch of seafront in creation, Coney Island, which is about to get a billion-dollar makeover.

Cross-pond paper The Guardian has formed a new partnership with a language-in-action school for a series of free podcasts to help travelers brush up on necessary phrases and vocabulary before embarking. Perhaps to combat the less than savory reputation accquired by the influx of Ryanair-enabled Brits weekending in Spain, the first language on the pitch is Spanish. The narrator gently reminds listeners that: “The best way to learn a language is by talking to real people in the real world.” (really?) The lesson covers all the basics, delivered by a native speaker with the requisite castellano lisp, but doesn’t neglect to include the crucial phrase:
Una caña, por favor – A (glass of) beer, please.

Previously:
- Weekend Travel Section Update (Brits in Barcelona)

Elsewhere:
- Millions prepare to escape soggy UK (Guardian)

Ahh Memorial Day, the first weekend of the year that most of us contemplate crawling out from under our rocks and exposing scary winter pallor to the sun’s (hopefully) warm rays. Since the big day is almost upon us, it’s officially open-season on any strip of sand within shouting distance of a body of water. The Travel Channel has guides to the best of the bunch, both nationally and globally, videos, and a handy list of top beaches by region that you can use to find the closest choice strand to get your sand and surf on. Just don’t forget the sunscreen.

If, like me, you’ve yet to make it to Cape Town to sample its reputedly great low-key vibe, wining and dining, and killer surf breaks, you can get a vicarious dose of SA style via Cherryflava’s photoblog. Local man-about-town Jonathan Cherry has been documenting Cape Town’s goings-on, and his travels elsewhere in Africa, through images, and a regular ol’ blog-blog since 2004. Be sure to browse the photo archives for maximum envy inducement. (via Jaunted)

Here’s a little travel knowledge test for your entertainment, from the good folks over at Lonely Planet. There are 45 clickable image clues in the graphic below, each culled from a specific city somewhere on the globe. See if you can find and guess them all. (click image for link)



(via Transbuddha)

This weekend:

World Cup Travel
– “World Cup: Germany 2006” (Guardian Special)
– “Munich and Stuttgart: Germany’s Perfect Match” (Washington Post)

plus,

The Vacation of Contradiction: a (Not Very) Comprehensive Guide

The Urban Outdoors
– “Vancouver’s North Shore Runs Wild” (SF Chronicle)

Eating Well in Venice
– “How to Dine fine in Venice” (Times of London)

Mexican Beaches without Yanquis
– “On Mexico’s Southern Coast, Huatulco is the Anti-Cancún” (NYT)

Undiscovered Tuscany
“Exploring Tuscany’s Lost Corner” (NYT)

Until Matt Gross’ next column runs on Wednesday (see yesterday’s post), here’s another round-the world account to fill the void: From 2002-2003 Chicagoan Mike Pugh trotted the globe and posted writing, photos and video of travels on the very nicely designed blog Vagabonding.com (no relation to Rolf Pott’s book, or site). One for the archives, sure, but the site and its great content are still available, and Pugh has recently started posting some of his videos in a stream on YouTube. I like his clip of the Rat Temple in Deshnok, India, and this reel of all of the loopy backpackers he met while on the trekker trail in Southeast Asia is classic:



Previously:
– “Around the World in 90 Days”
– “Europe on Foot” (What’s with all of the wanderlusty Chicagoans?)

The NYT is in a very literary-travel mood these days: first, there was last weekend’s decidedly bookish section, then yesterday, the debut of Matt Gross’ new series “Around the World in 90 days.” Apparently, 100-some years on, the advent of jet travel, high-speed rail and the internet entitles him to 10 more days than needed by Phileas Fogg. But I won’t quibble. The kind of high-speed circumnavigation undertaken by Verne’s fictional Victorian can now be accomplished in 3 days; it will be interesting to see how much of the globe it’s possible for someone to absorb in 3 months. Given that this is a “Frugal Traveler” special, Gross is keeping himself to a limit of $100 for lodging and $40 for food per day, and has thrown in the added complication of only having purchased his trans-Atlantic and -Pacific tickets. He’s currently on the road and will post a new installment every Wednesday, improvising as he goes along. In a nod to the 21st-century, he’s taking tips from readers about where to go and what to do, à la 5 Takes. This week’s column finds him in Lisbon, optimistically visiting the tombs of famous navigators past, and partying with their descendants in the Bairro Alto.

Previously:
– “Weekend Travel Section Roundup: Armchair Travelers Hit the Road”
– “5 Takes”

(Image via musely’s photostream)

Today marks the unofficial 40th anniversary of the start of the Cultural Revolution, an event that, in China, will pass unrecognized due to a PRC government decree. For better and for worse, there have been sweeping changes in the house that Mao built since those dark years — it’s now one of the world’s largest economies, and on its way to being the top tourist destination; what better time for a little soul-searching? The CBC, the NY Times and a bevy of other media outlets have collaborated to produce a TV and Web series of documentaries called “China Rises” examining the current state of China’s nation, from the booming big cities to the struggles of farmers in an increasingly polluted hinterland. The four major categories — politics, society, food, environment — are subdivided into profiles of individuals across the country, all tagged with video, and info-graphics about each subject. If you can get past the often overly melodramatic narration, there’s some fascinating footage. And frankly, it’s hard not to engage in a little hyperbole about a country that never does anything on a small scale.

Elsewhere:
“China: No Longer Forbidden” (Houston Chronicle)
“The Cultural Revolution” (Wikipedia)

(Image via Martin Callum’s photostream)

Just in time for the city to be flooded by rampaging World Cup football fans, Berlin is about to open a very large and shiny mega train station, planted squarely in the former no-man’s land between east and west. The new Berlin Hauptbahnhof will be Europe’s largest, with passenger traffic topping 300,000 a day, and replaces regional stations throughout the city as the main rail entry point. Of course, this means that the wild-West days of Inter-city train arrivals at Zoo Station are firmly a thing of the past (sorry, U2). According to a piece from the Observer, the Hauptbahnof is just one more sign of the happy, 21st-century Germany that’s emerging under the direction of new Chancellor Angela Merkel, even though it’s been in the works for 14 years. Now if they could just get down to building that international airport.

Elsewhere:
– “Germans pine over Zoo Station” (Christian Science Monitor)
– “Berlin Hauptbanhof” (Wikipedia)
– “Berlin International Airport Gets the Green Light” (Deutsche Welle)

This weekend the the LA Times, like the good industry-town rag that it is, runs its coverage of Da Vinci Code-inspired advertising opportunities — I mean travel — as close to the opening date of the film as possible.
– “Unlocking the Louvre’s Secrets”
– “Looking at the Louvre”

On the opposite coast, the New York Times says “Dan who?” and skirts the issue by going meta, with a section about every other book that has inspired people to travel, ever.
– “Borges’s Buenos Aires”
– “Mark Twain’s Hawaii”
– “Literary New York”
– “Books That Triggered Writers’ Wanderlust”

Also making the headlines: Panama, High and Low; Delhi, New and Old; Hiking in LA?

So, it’s a week too late for a Cinco de Mayo fiesta, but if you ask me, anytime is a good time to celebrate Mexican food in San Francisco. Burritophile, a user-ratings-and-review site for tortilla obsessives nationwide has taken their listings into the Web 2.0 with Google maps, helping them to pinpoint the nearest quality taqueria in a hurry. Each location is tagged with a link to the review and a rating on a one-to-ten point scale. The Burritophiles-in-Chief are Bay Area natives — and really, it doesn’t get any better (or cheaper) than a Mission burrito, so, naturally SF was first. Their picks for the best in town? Taqueria San Francisco for the meat-eaters, and Cuco’s for the vegetarianos. They’ve also added maps for most of the reviewed cities, including places devoid of quality Mexican eats, like New York. Sadly, even schmancy digital triangulation of every taqueria in town isn’t going to fix that situation. Excuse me while I go pout over my Brooklyn Lager. (via Gridskipper)

Just in time for US tourists to keep Bike Month rolling while abroad, comes this bit of info about a new bike rental system in London, OYBike, that operates sort of like Zip Car, only without the fossil fuels. Unlike other cities’ catch-and-release “Yellow Bike” programs, OYBikes’ mustard-colored rides are yours until you decide to return them, for a small fee. Bikes are available anytime at 28 locations throughout the city, such as Tube stations and major public buildings, and are rented by calling a hotline that sends a code to your mobile that will unlock the bike. The rates are more than reasonable, from £0.80 for a half-hour, to £8.00 for a full day, but membership is required before you can rent. Slightly simpler in its implementation, and decidedly more techy, Lyon, France’s Velo’V program uses value-added cards to rent one of its 1,500 bikes, and the electronic locking stations can not only check to see if your vélo is in sound condition before releasing it, but will tell you where to find a free bike, if there are none available at your current location. (via Treehugger)

This clip has been circulating around the Web for awhile, but it cropped up as a recent post while I was searching YouTube’s travel pickings today, and I was reminded how great it is. Such a simple, genius idea: a time-lapse camera mounted on the back of a convertible captures the entire country, coast-to-coast, in the span of one music video. It was directed by impish cine-wizards Olivier and Michel Gondry for the French pop group Laquer. Thought I’d share, just for contrast with last week’s post about the guy who spent 7 months riding his bike around the US.

Those of you thinking about flying United to try and cash in on their win-a-million-miles contest, beware. The US military has decided that TV and video game audiences aren’t nearly captive enough for their liking, and they’ve paid United to run an infotainment spot, about “Today’s Military,” to their belted-in passengers, who are unable to escape bombardment. Apparently this is part of the Armed Forces’ escalating PR campaign to address the largest recruiting shortfall in 26 years.

“CHICAGO—The U.S. Department of Defense is paying United Airlines to run in-flight videos touting glamorous military jobs, but passengers aren’t told that the Pentagon produced the spot, according to a published report.

The 13-minute video titled “Today’s Military” is played in between standard in-flight programming, such as NBC sitcoms or Discovery Channel productions. It profiles five military jobs, although none are in dangerous regions like Iraq or Afghanistan, where thousands of U.S. military personnel are supporting the war.

The video shows only one solider beyond U.S. borders: a Hawaii-based Army animal-care specialist on a humanitarian mission in Thailand, the Chicago Tribune reported.”

United’s sudden interest in helping the government paint pretty pictures, of course, has nothing to with a certain movie that’s currently reminding everyone how unfriendly the skies can be, or, get this, the $306 million loss they posted after leaving bankruptcy. Nah, couldn’t be.

Da Vinci Code tourism, Yea or Nay?
– Eh: “On the trail of The Da Vinci Code”
– Non: “Da Vinci profitability is a code well cracked”

Destinations “preserved in amber” (to quote the NYT’s questionable piece on travel to Burma):
– “Treading Lightly on the Road to Mandalay”
– “Mideast treasure no longer hidden” (Oman)
– “Bratislava: Discovering Time Travel in Slovakia’s Capital”

Off the beaten track close to home:
– “London: It takes a village”
– “Wild Country” (Newfoundland)

Arty travel, with the Globe and Mail picking up the ever-popular “7 Wonders” meme:
– “7 wonders of the world: Art”
– “Five ‘Don’t Miss’ Shows This Summer“

Here’s one more way your iPod can help you travel below the radar on your next urban vacation, this time while traveling underground. iSubwayMaps has free, downloadable subway plans redesigned for easy viewing on iPod Photo or Video. There are maps for transit systems worldwide, from cities famed for their public transportation — New York, London, Tokyo — to those that was I surprised to learn even have subways— Salt Lake City? Larger cities have multiple versions designed specifically for the screens on various iPod generations, and some of the Asian cities’ maps are available either in characters or in English.

British writer and critic Sukhdev Sandhu is out to reclaim London’s once-creepy after dark hours from celebrity nightlife and the all-night cornershop by exploring the forgotten corners and overlooked professions of the nocturnal metropolis. Inspired by a mostly forgotten Victorian tradition of night tourism, Sandhu is posting one adventure per month through 2006 on Night Haunts, a suitably spooky Flash site with sound backgrounds by Scanner. The project is sponsored by ArtAngel, an organization that has funded multimedia works by the likes of Francis Alÿs, Matthew Barney and Shirin Neshat. Thus far, Sandhu has viewed the city from 2,000-feet-up through the cameras of London’s helicopter police, trawled the night with street cleaners, and eavesdropped on the Good Samaritan’s hotline in the wee hours. Willfully macabre and Goth-lite? Definitely. But compelling reading nonetheless. (via Scanner)

This month is Bike Month all across America, unless you live in Chicago, where their city-beautifying mayor has declared it a bike half-year. To set your gears turning thinking about transportation alternatives, here’s a preview of a documentary charting one man’s 7-month, 10,000-mile bike ride around the perimeter of the lower 48.


He’s also got a blog with more in-depth video podcasts at soloride.org. Kind of makes riding to work or the grocery store every now and then seem like not such a big deal, huh?

Courtesy of Wired’s big, bad ” Ultimate Guide to the Online Video Universe,” in the May issue, comes today’s bit of google-mapped fun. VlogMap.org is an aggregator of personal video logs from all over the world, using Google Maps and Google Earth as an interface. Going to Australia, Japan, or Burkina Faso? You can check in to see what the locals are posting about. There’s also a more limited subset of “Geovlog” maps, which pinpoint videos by the location where they were filmed. At this point, most of them have been posted by one guy, Andy Carvin, a digital rights advocate who’s apparently on a one-man mission to vlog the globe. Here’s his linked take on Dubai for your spectating pleasure.

Elsewhere:
– Wired: “A Guide to the Online Video Explosion“

The broadband-enabled, linked-up world isn’t sitting well with the powers that be at the major broadsheets’ travel desks, who opted for some very literary and elegiac navel-gazing about the ghosts of travel past this weekend.

– The SF Chronicle mourns the passing of Heinrich “Seven Years in Tibet” Harrer, “the world’s last true adventurer.”

– The NYT sends domestic dramatist Edward Albee to contemplate the fate of the Easter Islanders, and goes looking for traces of Marguerite Duras in Saigon.

– The Susan Spano’s most recent column for the LA Times laments the decline of the great travel guidebook.

– The FT assesses Barcelona in the age of EasyJet and Ryanair, and sums up their findings with the ultra-curmudgeonly pronouncement: “In a world of global travel, local charm dies fast.”

Elsewhere:
– The Guardian: “So hip it hurts” – more on the downfall of Barcelona (via Gridskipper)