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Quick trips 3/2/08

Sunday, March 02, 2008

New travel Web site for boomers: Boomeropia

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A new travel Web site has been launched for baby boomers at http://www.boomeropia.com. "I happen to be a baby boomer and I felt like the fun side of me wasn't being catered to and marketed to," said Web site founder Liz Dahl, 59, in a phone interview from her office in Louisville. "I was getting ads for medication and hearing aids and no one was appealing to my fun side."

So she created Boomeropia as an information site, listing interesting trips and tours in 30 categories, from adventure to pet travel to beaches and bed-and-breakfasts.

Other categories include cruises, culinary travel, golf, fishing, and "glamping" - which means "glamorous" camping or camping trips where the tour operator does all the hard work for you, with comfortable tents and catered meals. Click on "botanical tours" and you'll read about a trip to Kazakhstan in search of alpine plants; click on "volunteer" for details on an American Hiking Society trip to work in a park in the Chilean Patagonia.

There is also a forum section where readers can post photos and share their thoughts.

How to travel with your laptop

PHOENIX (AP) -- If you're taking your laptop on an airplane, there are some steps you should take to keep your computer safe.

Here are 10 tips from Luke M. Ford, founder of My Computer Works, a provider of help desk and computer support services for businesses and consumers.

-Use a well-made, well-padded case to carry your laptop in. Never check it as checked baggage during air travel.

-Make sure security applications and software updates are current - anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware.

-Limit confidential information transmission, such as any credit purchases and reservations or anything with a Social Security number. Unfamiliar networks are always potentially dangerous.

-Set up a remote Web mail account to enable e-mail access from any browser, such as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail or MSN Hotmail.

-Bring an Ethernet (Cat5) cable with you on your trip, in case there is no wireless connection available and you have to hook up to that little box next to the phone that you'll find in most hotel rooms.

-Use a system password on your laptop to help slow down the novice thief.

-Use file passwords when available on confidential files.

-Do not set your computer down and leave it out of sight (especially in the airport bathroom).

-If you must leave your laptop unattended in a car, put it in the trunk where it can't be seen. But remember that extreme temperatures are not good for electronic devices.

-Don't send your laptop through the airport X-ray conveyor belt until it's your turn to walk through the metal detector. That way you'll be able to pick it up promptly when it comes out the other end and prevent anyone else from walking away with it.

Ice art in Fairbanks, Feb. 26-March 23

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) -- Fairbanks is getting ready to host the 18th annual World Ice Art Championships, Feb. 26-March 23.

Sculptors from around the world will create well over 100 works of ice during the event, which is held in the city's Ice Park. This year's theme is "Celebrating the North: The International Polar Year 2007-2008."

The event also includes a four-acre Kids Park with a maze, slides, tunnels, a larger-than-life polar bear and other whimsical structures - all made entirely from ice.

The ice, which is harvested from a pond with a forklift, is clear but glows a natural pale blue. Lights and paint are also used to color some of the creations, which are carved with chainsaws and other tools.

The competition for sculptures made from single 5-by-8-foot blocks of ice begins at 9 a.m. on Feb. 26 and ends with judging 60 hours later on Feb. 28 at 9 p.m. A second competition, for works made from up to 10 blocks of ice measuring 4 by 6 feet each, begins March 2 and ends with the judging 132 hours later on March 7.

Some teams work around the clock, and the public can watch the works in progress whenever the park is open - 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Water is used to glue the blocks together; some of the sculptures will stand 25 feet high. All the finished pieces remain on view until the festival ends. Shades are erected to protect the works from direct sunlight. Temperatures in Fairbanks can be in the 30s in late February and March.

Amateur sculpting and a high school competition are on the program too.

Details about the event are at http://www.icealaska.com, where you'll also find a live Web cam once the competition gets under way.

If you do make the trip to Fairbanks for the festival, your itinerary should include a stop at the University of Alaska's Museum of the North as well as a night away from the city lights to view the northern lights. For help in planning a trip, contact the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau, http://www.explorefairbanks.com.

Three new 'Placenotes' guides out: Pittsburgh, Dallas, Chicago

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Placenotes travel guides offer a unique format of 4-by-6-inch cards to help travelers appreciate landmarks, architecture, neighborhoods, parks and cultural institutions in various cities.

Three new Placenotes have just been issued, one for Dallas, one for Pittsburgh and one on "Chicago Art & Architecture."

Each set includes three to four dozen cards with color photographs of buildings or places on one side, and information including the address, phone number, small map, history and other details on the other side. The thick laminated cards make nice collectibles.

Visitors can thumb through the cards while planning their trips and then bring along cards for the sites they intend to visit. Most guides also have fold-out numbered maps that correspond to the cards.

The Chicago set includes well-known spots like the city's famed Art Institute, the Field Museum, Millennium Park and the Pritzer Museum, along with sites less well-known among out-of-towners, like the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio and the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. The set also comes with a separate map of the University of Chicago.

Pittsburgh Placenotes includes a guide to the city's parks and bridges, in addition to cards on attractions like the Andy Warhol Museum and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, which is located about 90 minutes from the city.

The Dallas box includes cards on the Dallas Arboretum, the Wilson Historic District, Southern Methodist University and Neiman Marcus among others.

The Placenotes series is published by the Charles Moore Foundation and distributed by the University of Texas Press. Moore was an architect, and Placenotes was inspired by his observation that "the best test of architecture might be whether people send postcards of your building."

Each box is $19.95. Past Placenotes have offered guides to Sante Fe, N.M.; "New York Art Museums," and Austin, San Antonio and Houston, Texas, along with one on the University of Texas. Future sets are planned on Boston, San Diego and Seattle.

Group seeks to preserve San Antonio missions

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- A new coalition has kicked off a campaign to raise $15.5 million to restore and preserve the four historic missions in San Antonio.

The Las Misiones campaign has already raised $4 million toward the goal for Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose, Mission San Juan and Mission Espada.

"These mission churches are deteriorating and in need of restoration, repair and refurbishment," Archbishop Jose Gomez said in a statement. "It cannot wait another generation. It is our responsibility and obligation to keep them standing and alive as our ancestors have done."

The missions were established nearly 300 years ago and are the oldest buildings in the region. The National Park Service operates the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, while the Archdiocese of San Antonio cares for the church buildings.

The money will be used for things such as plaster repair, structure stabilization and art conservation.

The campaign committee includes local business and religious leaders and volunteers.

Details at http://www.oldspanishmissions.org

Tribeca Film Festival in New York City April 23-May 4

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Tribeca Film Festival is back in Manhattan April 23-May 4 for its annual showcasing of new films.

About 125 feature premieres, from big Hollywood releases to indies and documentaries, are on the screening schedule this year. There are panel discussions and several free public events, including the Tribeca Drive-In at the World Financial Center (leave your car home!), April 24-26; the Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair on Greenwich Street, May 3, and the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Marathon, April 27 and May 3.

Venues range from Lower Manhattan to Union Square and the East Village.

The lineup of movies has not yet been made public, but typically the schedule includes something for fans of every genre, from drama to comedy to horror.

Tickets are $15 for evening and weekend screenings and $8 for daytime, weekday and late-night screenings. In addition, the festival will offer a few select screenings with panel discussions for $25. Sales start Feb. 28 (Feb. 21 for American Express cardholders).

Details at http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org or 212-941-2400.

Bird reserve in Colombia open to tourists

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new bird reserve has been designated in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range of northern Colombia.

The area boasts the highest concentration of continental range-restricted bird species in the world, with 21 types of birds such as the Santa Marta parakeet and Santa Marta antpitta found nowhere else, as well as migratory songbirds from the U.S., according to the three organizations announcing the reserve, Fundacion ProAves, American Bird Conservancy, and Conservation International.

The area is considered critical for conservation of certain bird and amphibian species.

The reserve features ecotourism facilities that the organizations described as "self-sustaining," including the Jeniam Ecolodge and the Blue Moon Restaurant.

El Dorado is located between 2,900 and 8,500 feet above sea level amid dense forests, with views to 19,000-foot high peaks, glaciers, beaches and mangroves.

The designation as a bird reserve administered by Fundacion ProAves will protect the area from deforestation and development for vacation homes.

New art center in Madrid

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Madrid's thriving world of art got a new addition with the inauguration of the CaixaForum cultural center, a seven-story brick and cast iron complex located in the heart of the city's art triangle.

The complex, just minutes from the renowned Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen museums that make up the triangle in the Spanish capital, will hold art exhibitions, cinema screenings, concerts, debates and conferences.

Described by organizers as "seductive, daring, attractive and light," the CaixaForum building was designed by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the 2001 Pritzker Architecture Prize winners and designers of London's Tate Modern.

The center is a restoration and expansion of a red-brick electricity station dating from 1900.

Mixing the old with the new, the original building's double-peaked modernist warehouse is now topped with an austere fortress style superstructure of corroded cast iron.

Set atop three discreet support columns, the building's design allows people to pass underneath, giving the feeling of being suspended in air.

Another attention-grabbing detail is a 5,000-square-foot vertical garden that lines one side of the center's front square. Designed by botanist Patrick Blanc, it features 15,000 plants.

The complex, inaugurated Feb. 13 by King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, opens with a modest show of about 30 pieces from the foundation's permanent collection, including works from artists such as American artist Cindy Sherman and Britain's Cornelia Parker.

Its first major show was expected to open Feb. 21 with works by Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj. On March 19, it will exhibit 45 religious paintings from Florence's Uffizi gallery including works by artists such as Botticelli and Luca Giordano, many of which have never left Italy.

Tauck tour company launches new small ship for luxury European river cruises

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) -- The Tauck World Discovery tour company is offering a series of European river cruises this year aboard a new small luxury ship, the Swiss Sapphire, which launches in late March in the Netherlands.

The 361-foot ship will accommodate 118 guests. It features two hot tubs, a bar and lounge, restaurant and wellness center. Rooms include 14 luxury suites with marble tubs, and 45 outside-facing cabins and mini-suites.

The Sapphire will sail six different itineraries, alternating with a sister ship, the Swiss Emerald, which launched in 2006.

Itineraries include the "Grand European Cruise," 24 days, from $8,090 per person plus air, which begins in Amsterdam and ends in Romania in the Black Sea, and "Holland & Belgium In Spring," 10 days, from $3,290 per person, plus air. The April departure for the Holland and Belgium tour is the ship's very first public cruise; some space is still available.

Other tours on the Sapphire this year include "Budapest To The Black Sea," "The Black Sea To Prague," "The Blue Danube," and "Budapest To Amsterdam."

Details at http://tauck.com/ or 800-468-2825.

Concierge.com recommends hidden beaches

NEW YORK (AP) -- If the last few weeks of winter have you dreaming of the sun and sand, consider a trip to one of the "hidden beaches" recommended by Concierge.com.

For the complete list, visit http://www.concierge.com/ideas/beachisland/tour/detail?id1810. Meanwhile, here are a few of the recommendations:

-Bai Dai Beach, on the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc. October through March is the best time to go, and La Veranda on Long Beach is Concierge.com's recommendation for a place to stay.

-Wildcat Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore in California. Here's the catch: You have to walk a few miles to get there. You need a permit to use the Wildcat Campground, so make your plans well in advance.

-Pink Beach on Barbuda, Antigua's sister island. Concierge.com describes the beach as a "flamingo-hued" sandbar and suggests staying in Coco Point Lodge, which has its own peninsula and private airstrip.

-Cayo Costa State Park, on a barrier island off Florida's southern Gulf Coast. Reachable only by private boat or a small public ferry that charges $25 for day visitors. The park has a dozen shelters with bunks (no electricity) and 18 campsites.

-Majahuitas Cove, at the southern end of Banderas Bay, accessible only by boat from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Concierge.com recommends a small hotel, Majahuitas, which offers open-air casitas.

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