Practical Traveller news | August 2013

P R AC T I C AL T R A V E L L E R C a mi lle C hi n

SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM © 2001, KEVIN BUBRISKI

by

World Trade Center series (2001) by Kevin Bubriski.

SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM © 1988, LARRY SULTAN

Caught on film

Portrait of My Father with Newspaper (1988)

by Larry Sultan.

After visiting a daguerreotype (photography) studio in 1846, Walt Whitman, aka the poet of democracy, wrote: “You will see more life there — more variety, more human nature, more artistic beauty… than in any spot we know.” A Democracy of Images, presented by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, on now through January 5, 2014, is titled after Whitman’s belief that photography provided America with a new, democratic art form that highlighted the spirit of the young country. And true enough, when photography arrived in the US in 1840, it allowed ordinary people to make and own images in a way that wasn’t possible before. To mark the 30th anniversary of its photography collection, the American Art Museum is featuring 113 pics out of its 7000. The exhibit is divided into four categories — American characters, spiritual frontiers, America inhabited and imagination at work — which can also be browsed online at americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/ online/photographs. Admission to the museum is free.

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Hertz’s hot wheels

If the word “sensible” typically defines your rental car selections, this news item won’t interest you. That’s because there’s nothing really sensible about renting an Aston Martin V8 Vantage (pictured), a Ferrari California or a Lamborghini Gallardo through Hertz’s new Dream Cars lineup — although, we admit, that driving one of these babies would be pretty sweet. The completely sensible or, uh, senseless program lets rental customers in the US choose from a line of ultra high-end performance vehicles in 35 cities, though not every car will be available everywhere. For example, the SRT Viper that we would’ve rented, if we were into this sorta thing, is currently only available in California and Texas.

Reservations can be made online or via telephone, and a Hertz rep will either meet a customer at their airport terminal and give them a one-on-one orientation, or deliver the car directly. Rentals range from US$350 to $1500 a day. tel: (888) 296-9124; hertzdreamcars.com.

On track to the US ROCKY MOUNTAINEER

When National Geographic describes a tour as one of the “World’s Greatest Trips” and includes it in its Journeys of a Lifetime (2007) coffee-table book, you know that that tour company has got to be something. Never mind that Rocky Mountaineer, North America’s largest privately-owned passenger rail service, received its seventh World Travel Award as the “World’s Leading Travel Experience by Train” last year. Now, enthusiasts who like to ride the rails can experience the little somethingsomething that makes Rocky Mountaineer so special on a whole new trip — and it’s venturing into a land yet to be explored by the package provider: the US. The all-new Coastal Package connects Seattle, WA with the Canadian Rockies, with overnight stays in Vancouver and Kamloops.

Two-night, three-day journeys to Jasper start at $2799 per person; three-night, four-day journeys to Jasper or Banff start at $2899; hotel accommodations and some meals are included. tel: (877) 460-3200; rockymountaineer.com.

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The recent 10-month, $17-million redesign of the New England Aquarium’s Giant Ocean Tank will make any marine enthusiast want to visit. Twelve metres wide and as much as eight metres deep, the tank is so big that the rest of the 44-year-old aquarium was built around it. Add in that the aquarium want its 1.3 million visitors to experience the Caribbean as it was before the arrival of Columbus with the tank’s new coral reef, and the Boston aquarium might experience a flood — of people. The revamp saw its manmade coral reefs grow to four-storeys tall and its aquatic inhabitants more than double to 2000. Its windows have been lowered so toddlers can walk up and see the sharks, and a second platform has been built over top where visitors can feed Myrtle, the 250-kilo sea turtle who has lived in the tank since 1970. There are new exhibits, too: one with seven smaller tanks for a close-up look at creatures who rest on the giant tank’s bottom, and another that includes a lobster lab and shark nursery. Timed tickets: adults US$24.95, kids 3 to 11 $17.95. tel: (617) 973-5200; neaq.org.

ERMINE / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Boston’s fishy business

The new language of love?

W. CHAPPELL

“Do you speak touriste?” That’s the question the Paris Île-de-France Chamber of Commerce is putting to hundreds of taxi drivers, waiters, hotel managers and sales people in a city that is sometimes described as, how do you say, surly? If a shopkeeper turns his or her nose up to the question, they’ll get a 101 on how to have a more welcoming demeanour with help from a booklet and website that’ll also provide cultural insight into the many foreign visitors the region gets every year.

DoYouSpeakTouriste.fr explains that Americans are “technophiles” who depend on Wi-Fi for information. It also notes that they like fast, but personalized service, and that they dine at 6pm.

Spaniards, in contrast, chow down after 9pm; it’s a good idea, therefore, to warn them about closing times. Of the Japanese, the site notes that bows are more common than handshakes, that cleanliness is important and that they’ll never complain when they’re unsatisfied — but will grumble when they get back home.

The site says nothing of Canadians.

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An Olympic-sized project

The first phase of London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park just opened, marking the one-year anniversary of last summer’s Games. You may have missed the park’s festival launch at the end of July, but you can party, picnic or promenade in the nowopen North Park all on your own. The Lee Valley VeloPark will only open to the public next year, and when it does it’ll be the first venue in the world to combine track, road and mountain biking, and BMX facilities too. The South Park will also open in

spring 2014 and will include the 115-metre-tall red observation tower known as the ArcelorMittal Orbit, as well as the impressive Zaha Hadid-designed Aquatics Centre, which will be adapted for aqua-fitness classes and family swims. Access to the pool will cost the same as any other in London: currently £4.35.

When all is said and done, the old Olympic site will become a £300 million, 226-hectare park with lots of greenery, rivers, and foot and cycle paths. queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk.

Seeing Rouge Air Canada’s new leisure carrier with “stylishly affordable service” to over two dozen holiday hotspots got off the ground on July 1. Rouge currently departs from Montreal and Toronto only, and will eventually fly to Edinburgh, Dublin, Venice and Athens in Europe; Vegas, Sarasota and Orlando in the US; and many cities in the Caribbean and Mexico too by this 2013/2014 winter season. In addition to competitive prices — airlines like Sunwing and WestJet currently dominate the vacation-destination market — the brand promises a more “casual, friendly conversation with customers” and has sent staff to the Disney Institute in Orlando for training. Even their crew uniforms (pictured) are said to be more relaxed, incorporating Rouge’s signature burgundy and slate with bright accent colours. aircanada.com/en/about/rouge/index.html.

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