See Italy for Free

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

21436_671351496226828_1320764026_n

Are you hankering for a visit to Italy but you’re low on cash or time? Italy’s popular beverage brand San Pellegrino has created an opportunity for you to take a 3-minute digital vacation in Sicily for free.

San Pellegrino has built robots that explore the town of Taormina in real-time and stream live video broadcasts from the town. The five robo-tour guides drive around and interact with locals and tourists, while a skybot provides scenic views from above.

You can take your personal 3-minute vacation via the San Pellegrino Facebook app.

1148907_674859239209387_1904707586_n

2

1175700_675530619142249_1028531801_n

Posted in apps, Europe, Tech, Tourism | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Travel the Bookshop Trail

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

cityoflit_app

The new Bookshop Trail app was created to celebrate Edinburgh’s status as the very first UNESCO City of Literature and to provide booklovers with thorough information on fifty-three of the city’s bookstores. The helpful app covers it all from antiquarian and indie to secondhand and chain bookshops, with shop details, contacts, times, images and a locator map.

DSC07152

I was chuffed to find that the app features some of my favorites in Edinburgh, including Old Town Bookshop, Peter Bell Books and McNaughtan’s. Bookshop Trail also offers a need “What’s On” feature which provides timely information on literary events around town.

photo-6-150x150photo-7-150x150

Related articles
Posted in apps, Books, Bookstore Tourism, Europe, Maps, Tourism, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

I Want the Guava Empanada

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

557196_420470194680189_1222398051_n

Here in the U.S., we’ve become enamored of international cuisines. Even in regions where a Korean restaurant was once an exotic discovery, it’s not unusual to find Southeast Asia, Latin American, Caribbean and African restaurants. But Pittsburgh’s Conflict Kitchen takes multinational take-out cuisine to a new level.

The unique restaurant, which changes its menu and cuisine every few months depending on geopolitical events, only serves foods from nations that the U.S. government is in conflict with.

3CK

Conflict Kitchen “uses the social relations of food to engage the general public in discussion about countries, cultures, and people they might know little about outside of the polarizing rhetoric of governmental politics and the narrow lens of media headlines”.

In the past months, Conflict Kitchen has served Afghan, Iranian and Venezuelan food. They’re currently featuring Cuban food, with a menu that includes favorites like tostones and ropa vieja, but I want the empanada guayaba.

CK

Posted in South America, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon Can’t Replace This (2)

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

Stuart_Manley_with_the_poster_283375583-4317213

Situated in a wonderful old Victorian railway station in England’s Northumberland, Barter Books has been delighting bibliophiles since 1991. Counterbalancing the doomsayers in the era of the supposed death of printed books, Barter Books carries on. In fact, owners Mary and Stewart Manley were the ones who rediscovered the World War II era motto “Keep Calm and Carry On” and reintroduced the maxim to the world.

Alnwick_station,_now_Barter_Books_(6)_-_geograph_org_uk_-_1364873

If you can’t get to historic Alnwick to visit Barter Books, at least you can vicariously browse through this little film.

Related articles
Posted in Books, Bookstore Tourism, Europe, Film | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Midtown NYC

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

Okay, I admit it, I’m a sucker for an awesome time-lapse video. Midtown New York City is one such terrific film from the folks at Washington D.C.’s District 7 Media. Based on 50,00 plus still frames, shot over six months, it captures the raw, kinetic energy of the city that never sleeps.

Posted in Film, Photography, Tourism, Uncategorized, USA | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Moshi, Moshi

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

I don’t know about you, but when I’m traveling I sometimes hesitate making local telephone calls due to my language deficits or just plain ignorance of local “phone etiquette”. This helpful infographic from the folks at Repair Labs may be a useful tool for navigating phone rules around the world. Although even I know that it should be do svidaniya.

phone-etiquette-world-wide_5209297855164_w594

Posted in Tourism | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Beer Lovers Only

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

phone-2

Have you ever found yourself at a loss when attempting to order a beer in another country? Do you ever have trouble getting the type of beer that you really want when traveling? Well, the new Pivo app is just for you.

Developed by Justin Amey and Ollie Hepworth, Pivo provides the correct spelling, phonetic pronunciation and video tutorials by native speakers for beers in 59 languages from Afrikaans to Zulu. Best of all, no Wifi connection is required for use. I’ll drink to that.

iphoneshots-1pivo1

Posted in apps, Tech, Tourism | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Souvenir Nation

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

Smithsonian-Castle_8100

Travelers have been picking-up mementos of their trips since the first tourist hit the road. Now that universal tendency is the focus of a new exhibition by Washington D.C.’s National Museum of American History.

1683321-inline-slide-9-from-chads-to-mount-vernon-nuts-souvenir-nation-celebrates-tiny-pieces-of-american-history

“Souvenir Nation”, at the fantastical Smithsonian Castle on the Mall, dates back to the time that travelers pilfered souvenirs rather than making purchases at the now ubiquitous gift shops. The diverse exhibits include a chunk of Plymouth Rock chiseled-off by a 19th century tourist, Napoleon’s napkin, John F. Kennedy’s PT-109 tie clip, a brick lifted from George Washington’s childhood home, tables and chairs appropriated from Appomatox Courthouse, a piece of fence rail split by Abraham Lincoln and other curios and keepsakes.

EXHIBIT_header

The fascinating exhibition runs daily until August 2014.

1683321-slide-slide-7-from-chads-to-mount-vernon-nuts-souvenir-nation-celebrates-tiny-pieces-of-american-history

Related articles
Posted in History, Museums, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Big Books

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

new_york_public_library2012-wide

This summer, the Main Branch of the famed New York Public Library is featuring a wonderful book art installation by artist/designer Kelli Anderson and book blogger Maria Popova (Brain Pickings) . Titled “Big Books made of paper”, the fantastic installation is a charming diorama of books floating above a stylized New York City skyline. Each of the books has been painstakingly recreated in 3D cut paper.

buildings

wideshot

whyiwritecompare

zen-compare

twaincompare1

new1

papercity2

Posted in Art, Books, Libraries, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Is This NYC’s Worst Hotel

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Brian D. Butler

xsun-hotel-ceiling-604cs080513_jpg_pagespeed_ic_rkqs5bFe27

The Sun Bright Hotel is located in NYC’s Chinatown just a block from the world famous Canal Street. The hotel offers free WiFi, cable TV, a 24 hours front desk, and rooms for as low as $10 per night. But it also has prison cell-like rooms that measure only 7×5 feet and room ceiling constructed from chicken wire. Online reviews of the Sun Bright Hotel highlight the ubiquitous “vermin, fleas, roaches, bedbugs and the odor of rotting trash”.

sun-bright-hotel

sun-bright-hotel-2

sun-bright-hotel-9

sun-bright-hotel-8

data=6HKJbOaNyfXbnLpQF0b8EPW6BK9ySB6q4QEq508Dw_5zW7I0zuftnpsR2aO2yty2c66dixqeedT7UuJcDVw2dCyZNbiKAZccBcrh46Q

073113SunBrightHotel3wf060239--525x400

Posted in Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment