It’s music festival season: this weekend South by Southwest is in Indie-rocking in Austin, and next week Miami Beach will descend into a disco inferno as the Winter Music Conference (WMC) rolls into town from the 20th to the 25th.

Icelanders are famous for knocking back Brennivín, a local version of schnapps so lethal it’s also known as “black death,” but beer was illegal on the island for 75 years, until March 1, 1989.

Whether the locals call it Mardi Gras, Carnevale, or Fastnacht, Carnival is happening this weekend, and it’s the world’s biggest party.

Travel headlines for the weekend of 2/4/07.

A piece from today’s NYT Travel Section on Madrid has vaulted into the ranks of the paper’s most-emailed. It seems, now that Barcelona has slumped into a deep post-party hangover, that stuffier, but more tasteful Madrid is getting it’s due