I may be a vegetarian, but I would eat a peacock in a second. I’m not even picky: peacock brownies, peacock pizza, I’d even eat peacock ice cream with a little feather sticking out of the cup for garnish. And then I’d eat the feather. Maybe you’re wondering: why all this spite? Don’t worry, there’s a story to back it up.

I was about 3 years old and I was at the London Zoo with my parents for a day out, as we lived there at the time (in England, not in the zoo). The London Zoo just happens to be the oldest zoo in the world, and opened in 1828. I was in my stroller, buckled in tight. It was then that my parents handed me one of my favorite things: a chocolate chip cookie.

I took a bite and began to smile from the top of my ears to the tips of my toes. And I think it was at this point that my parents turned away, because soon after a peacock waddled over to me, plumage all aflutter. (This frankly was weird, because the male peacocks are only supposed to shake their tailfeathers when they’re trying to find a lady peacock to mate with, and I know I’m not their type.)

Apparently English zookeepers think hungry, horny, 3-foot-tall birds should just be able to mingle amongst the common folk. The peacock stared at me with his beady little eyes, lowering his head so he was almost at my eye level. And then he grabbed the cookie right out of my hand and stood there, just past my reach, chowing down on it. As I was fastened in to my stroller, there was not a damn thing I could do. Like some kind of school bully, he just stood there until he finished the whole cookie before running away. And I wish I had yelled out, “What? Don’t you want to insult my mama while you’re at it!?” as I shook my little fist.

My parents never saw this peacock, or so they say. They just thought I had a very vivid imagination. I know this, because they asked if the peacock could talk and whether he asked for something to drink after he finished the cookie. The valuable lesson I got from this excursion? Never trust a dude who’s into tail.

- by Emily Epstein of b’scuse me? fame.

Based on the top searches on Travelistic this week, I’d say that European-summer-trip planning is kicking into gear:


– Switzerland
– Italy
– Jamaica
– London
– Paris

Your top tags reveal an addiction to our tag cloud; you guys just can’t help clicking on those boldfaced words, can you?


– Architecture
– Beaches
– Drinking
– Scuba
– Snowboarding

The slide in this picture isn’t in a theme park (unless your idea of a thrill ride is watching Un Chien Andalou), it’s in the massive entry hall of the Tate Modern in London. The Tate Modern was once Bankside Power Station, and after removing the turbines, curators were left with a five-story gallery capable of dwarfing even the most grandiose installations. Carsten Höller’s twisting steel-and-plastic slides are the seventh installation underwritten by the Unilever Corp. to utilize all that space. The tallest of several slides drops 182 feet to the gallery floor, reducing cool and collected museum-goers to giggling idiots in the space of a few seconds. Höller, of course, dresses this up for the art world with statements like: “The funfair experience is completely underrated, I don’t know why we don’t take it more seriously philosophically and artistically.” I’m sure the 600,000 people who’ve queued up for the slides since they debuted were considering the philosophical implications as they plummeted towards the gallery floor. A piece from this weekend’s Washington Post travel section has all the details on how you can visit before the exhibit ends on April 15.

– “Doing the Electric Slide in London” (Washington Post)
– “Catch the tube at the Tate – it’s worth the ride” (Guardian)
– Tate Modern (official site)
– Tagged: Art

(Image via austinraustin’s photostream)

Two contiguous as refreshing trends are continued with the graffiti artist Sheone's solo show in London. First, that graffiti artists are themselves being taken seriously. Secondly, that soon-to-be demolished buildings are having their last stand as gallery spaces. Previous harbingers of the two trends have been seen in the Banksy to-do and in the recent 11 Spring Street "happening." Sheone, a graffiti artist as old as the hills (at least in graffiti years) has been making work for 20 years. The gallery, the hulking Union Works building in London is much much older. Due to meet its demise on January 13th, the building dates back to the 1680's and indeed holds the last remaining bear-baiting arena in the UK. From now til its dying day, the building's walls will be covered in the "abstract typography" of SheOne.

SheOne at the Union Works

Previously: Britney Spears Crotch-A-Thon Inspires London Adverts, The Best Graffiti That Wasn't, Pic of the Day: Minimugging, Banksy Contagion

Another look at how the Web 2.0 captured holiday weekend travel traumas: flickr may have the Denver blizzard, but YouTube has footage of the fog that shut down Heathrow. TAflyertalk’s clip was shot from a United 777 that was able to take off for the States after all of British Airways’ domestic flights had been cancelled, stranding hundreds.



Now that’s what I call low visibility.

Previously:
– “Under Snow: Denver International Airport”
– “Holiday Travel in High Gear: 65 Million En Route, and Big, Bad Weather”
– Today in YouTube

New York and London have a lot in common--the English language, well dressed and wealthy residents, a love of beer, good theater, and price inflation. New York wins in the food and dental hygiene categories while London wins for manners and funny slang. However, as similar as these two cities are, there are some specific goods and customs that ex-pat Britons miss in New York. Here is where to find them:

Gordon Ramsay at the London: The most recent-and highly anticipated-import from across the pond is Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at the London NYC Hotel. The Hell's Kitchen star opened his pricey gourmet spot earlier this month and he pulls from the successful elements of his first resto, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London. No formal reviews have surfaced but we hear rumors the food is pretty impressive.

Myers of Keswick: When the need arises for five varieties of Cadbury chocolate, some Tips tea, and homemade pork pies come to Myers, the traditional English shop that caters to the city's British expats. One of the only places in New York to get pasties (the savory pastry not the nipple adhesive) and traditional sausage, Meyers has been a staple for ex-Londoners since the 70s.

Reiss: The high end London clothing store has two outposts in New York-one on West Broadway and a recently opened spot on Bleeker Street. Strikingly out of place among the West Village's small store fronts, the new outlet-sized Reiss store is stocked with the chain's signature chic designs.

Cafe Topsy: Café Topsy is the place to go if you haven't had good bangars and mash in yonks. The restaurant specializes only in British cuisine from fish and chips to beef braised in Guinness. Whether or not a menu focusing on heavy bland food is a positive addition to the city's collective palate or not is still up for debate.

Chip Shop: If you ever wonder what fried pizza or twinkies taste like, just ask the staff at Chip Shop. The offbeat British-themed Brooklyn chain lets customers fry anything they want "within reason" (M&M's don't work). Funny, irreverent, and obsessed with all things British, Chip Shop is the preeminent place for Anglophiles in New York. The restaurant also offers a menu with steak and kidney pie, fish and chips and the essential spotted dick.

The Hotel Benjamin: Men in London are more dignified (read more attractive) than New York gents mainly because their suits fit. We used to work on Wall Street and the number of middle aged men in ill fitting suits killed our sex drive. British men get their suits fitted by the pros on Saville Row. One such pro, Thomas Mahon, has a shop there, authors the tailor-centric blog English Cut, and comes to New York's Hotel Benjamin a couple times a year to make fittings for his U.S. clients.

Carry On Tea & Sympathy: For groceries and a spot of tea, try Carry On Tea & Sympathy. They sell packaged goods, chocolates, teas, and tea pots and run a small restaurant with a traditional English brunch. They have their own T-shirts for those who want to show off their British pride.

Previously: New York in Las Vegas, Private London Clubs, Reasons to Love New York Right Now

Private clubs in London are like those school clubs you joined in high school to put on your college application, except you have to pay to be a member, they most likely won't accept you, and they have pools and event spaces. Other than that, it is the same- there's the comedian club, the journalist club, the club for glamorous partiers (the social committee). If you don't have the cash, time, or desire to join, the secret is to talk up a member outside of the club. They can usually bring in 4 guests on any given night. Here's our guide to ten private clubs in London and who gets membership:

The Hospital, for writers, musicians, directors: The raddest of the clubs, The Hospital has an art gallery, a cinema, and TV recording studios, one of which is HD. Beat that Soho House. The Hospital is an ideal place for creative types to work, network, and relax. The restaurant Origins is open to non-members.

Hurst House, for comedians, writers: Membership is for talented creative types, meaning screenwriters, comedians, and jugglers. Their website muses, "So if you like to debate, drink, meet, eat, listen, fool around, and generally give your good-time muscles a bit of a work out, read on." We love it when someone gives our good time muscles a work out. Our application is pending.

Savile Club, for old money, famous creative types:
This is one of the most exclusive clubs in London. They pride themselves on the creative pedigree of their members, and have a long list of famous but mostly dead members including Robert Louis Stevenson, Thomas Hardy, HG Wells, Rudyard Kipling, and WB Yeats. Now members include radio journalists, producers and screenwriters. Not exactly Yeats, but they aren't jugglers either so they get some points.

City Golf & Health Clubs, for the upper-class sporty types: Equipped with a golf academy and a high tech gym, this is the club for the sporty urban gentlemen and women. The club has golf simulators with over 50 courses to choose from and digital multi-angled swing analysis. There are also PGA pros on hand for lessons and assistance.

Milk & Honey for the glamorous: Milk & Honey, a swanky bar and private club, is more egalitarian than any of the other members-only clubs in the city. There is no extensive vetting process for members, and non-members can come if they call in advance and book a 2 hour slot.

Frontline, for media types: This private club is popular for book launches, seminars, screenings, meetings. The restaurant is open to the public as is the events space. The club runs a charity that supports independent journalism around the world.

Mo*Vida:, for models, rap stars, celebrities: This hip bar and club recently hosted parties for Jay Z, Blink 182, and a London modeling agency. Needless to say Beyonce comes here. So does ScarJo. But most of the time it's D-list celebs, so don't feel too suicidal if you can't find a way in.

Fifty, for the wealthy, gamblers: This club opened as a casino in 1857 but was revamped in 2002. The owners replaced the old world charm with cheesy grandeur, threw in two restaurants by Jean-Georges, and ended up with an opulent 4-story casino and members-only club solely designed for the spending of obscene amounts of money. Kudos. Members pay an annual fee of 750 pounds.

The Groucho Club for elderly creative types: Groucho Club was once a celebrity haunt and favorite among those in the publishing industry. These days it's populated mostly by the septuagenarian set. Though seemingly tame, these old-timers have frequent tango nights that can cause quite the hullabaloo.

Cougar Pinks, for those who party: Cougar Pinks is the cocaine-snorting sequin-wearing club of the bunch. It is a popular night spot with a large dance floor but also provides a studio for working artists. Cougar Pinks can be booked from Monday to Thursday for corporate & private parties, but on Fridays and Saturdays, it is open to private members.

Previously: Sohemian Society of W1, Classic Cafes in London, 10 Places Not to Go in London, Hey Good Bookin'

That’s right, in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, 65 million americans will be in the air or on the road. That’s almost double the number who traveled over Thanksgiving weekend (aka – the busiest travel weekend of the year), and an increase of one million from last year. It’s also a new record for the highest number of people traveling during this period. With such an epic number of people flooding airports and highways, cue the bad weather: Denver International is in lockdown due to a blizzard, which in turn has snarled O’Hare. It snowed heavily around Seattle yesterday, with more storms expected over the weekend, and, on the international scene, it’s so foggy in London that hundreds are stuck at Heathrow, and thousands more caused British Airways’ website to crash trying to find out about their flights. If you’re traveling in the next few days, make sure to check the weather, traffic reports, and airport conditions before you set out.

– “65 million expected to travel over holidays” (MSNBC)
– “Some holiday travel delays at O’Hare” (Chicago Tribune)
– “Blizzard Blankets Colorado, Snarls Holiday Travel ” (Bloomberg)
– “Overnight storm mild, but mountain passes get lots of snow” (Seattle Times)
– “Anger and frustration at Heathrow” (BBC)

There are a couple different types of clubs to belong to in London. There's the kind that won't have you as a member (Brooks's), the kind that will but demand you fork over major poundage (Eight Club) and the kind that's unpretentious, fun-loving and dorky. The Sohemian Society definitely falls into the last category. The group's manifesto is to "promote greater awareness of the characters and events associated with the history of Soho covering areas such as arts, crime, sex and politics." To that end, the Sohemians host readings on obscure literary figures such as the "Jewish Charles Dickens" Israel Zangwill; the unveiling of Julian Maclaren-Ross's gravestone and a talk about Jane Francesca Wilde, Oscar's mom. All pretty tame stuff, it seems, but the tag line is "Join the rebel site" and the second graf of the manifesto says the society is a "space free of kill-joy and culture-death preoccupations such as anti-smoking campaigns, obsessive risk avoidance, concerns about diet, pubs with sofas and fear of 'offensive' statements." In other words, a space full of offensive obese smokers! We're in.

Sohemian Society [Official site]

Previously: Soldiering On, Will Self's Guide to London and New York, Classic Cafes in London, 10 Places Not to Go in London

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Annual Geography Quiz
– “Where In The World?”

New Year’s Eve Travel
– “25 great New Year’s getaways” (Guardian)

“The LA Times’ Savvy Shopper
– “A Parisian present … pour moi?”
– “These bargains made in Mexico”
– “Hong Kong, a.k.a. treasure island”
- “In Saigon, spending is great frenzied fun”
- “Wrap up a little cultural cachet from Paris, London”

Southern Caribbean
– “In Los Roques, Venezuela, a No-Frills Vibe” (NYT)

Mozambique
– “Mozambique buries the AK-47” (NYT)

Nicaragua
– “The Rediscovery of Nicaragua” (NYT)