PALERMO - Dad can be very good at bonding with the locals. His eyes might glaze over with a museum guide or, say, me when I get going about food, but give him someone salty in a tweed cap or a tour bus driver and in five minutes, they’ll be sharing a bag of sunflower seeds with Dad telling the joke about the drunk twins from the County Cork.

In Palermo, this happens with Sicily guide Jean-Paul Barreaud, the man who introduced me to pastry chef and gelato god, Santi Pallazzolo, and spoke my favorite Motherland quote: “Sicilians eat like ogres.”

Their bonding subject was instant: Palermo traffic.

“I like your car Jean-Paul, are those claw marks on the bumper?” asked Dad.

“The only pedestrians with untouchable rights are pregnant women,” replied Barreaud, not skipping a beat. “Everyone else is fair game.”

I couldn’t tell if Dad, a true road warrior, was terrified or agog in admiration for the Palermitans, but I can say that he never took the wheel and after returning home, he wrote a lengthy e-mail thanking me for driving.

Barreaud brought us to U Zù Caliddu, a former smuggler’s safe house in the hills above Palermo run by a sprawling family that includes a grandmother in the kitchen and a four year old playing soccer in a Spider Man costume in the dining room.

There’s a 15-euro fixed-price menu that could put even the hungriest ogre under the table, but it’s also a great way to get a handle on family-style Sicilian. The antipasto includes great examples of the sweet and sour caponata, roasted ricotta and a pizza cousin called ''old man’s face'' – a square and thick pie with a cheese-laden red sauce that Dad promptly got all over his shirt.

Seemingly from nowhere, the guide pulled out a bottle of miracle stain cleaner that he sprays on Dad’s shirt
.
Barreaud looks at me and smiles, “He’s becoming Italian!”

U Zù Caliddu
C/ del Piano dell’ochio
Torretta (PA)
011 091 8983913

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

PALERMO – Mom and Dad are gone and I have Palermo to myself for the morning. I walk behind the Teatro Massimo in the city center, find a bakery where fresh, hot, ricotta-laden pastries come out of the back room just as I enter.

Sold.

Outside, a helicopter whoops mysteriously. I down my coffee and head outside with breakfast to see what the fuss is about.

The theater has moved outdoors.

“You can’t stand there,” says someone who I’ll later realize is a plainclothes police officer.
Twenty-odd mobsters have been rounded up and, one by one, under cover of the helicopter and an impressive line of carabinieri cars, they are escorted out of a special police station, down a set of stairs and into a waiting car.

Wives and grandmothers dissolve into tears and collapse to the sidewalk. News crews and families are pushed around. Tragedy! Comedy! Italians have a particular capacity for making the serious look ridiculous.

Some of the cons come out of the door and pause at the top of the stairs with a look of dread. Newbies. Others grin and give a handcuffed wave with a look that says, "Don’t worry honey, I’ll be outta the clink in a couple of days.''

One guy has a plastic bag that looks like it’s stuffed with a three-day supply of pasta and cannoli.

I pop the last bite of pastry, take a nervous picture of the chaos and wander toward my gelato.
Da Carlo is as fantastic as ever. I have scoops of yogurt and cantaloupe gelato in a brioche capped by a beautifully not-too-sweet whipped cream.

Later, I wash it down with a standup coffee at Caffé del Moro where the barista blurs the line between man and machine.

Without looking, he flips a clean espresso cup from the top of machine to his other hand, waiting for it next to the portafilter. Steam rises from the used grounds in the knockbox.
I ask if I can make a photo and while his machine gurgles, he sizes me up with a look that says, "Why bother?'' combined with "I don’t care.''

“Fa,” comes the response. Do it.

I’ll miss this city.

Caffé del Moro
Via Giovanni Da Procida, 3
Palermo

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

As reliable as sunrise, pilgrims making their way to Santiago de Compostela line the roads of northern Spain in the morning. For one thing, most pilgrimage hostels make them leave by 8 a.m., which is only shortly after dawn. On an early morning run ourselves, we stopped in a roadside bar for a bite, only to find it filled with cheery walkers exchanging tips on backpacks and pack frames and comparing footwear. They represented half a dozen countries among them, yet the lingua franca was not French or (more appropriately) Spanish, but English — as spoken on TV and in the movies. Come se dice "blister?''

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

Photo by Patricia Harris for the Boston Globe

PARIS – It’s perplexing when a new favorite doesn’t live up to what you remember.
A few months ago, I went to F.S. favorite Au Bascou and had a transcendent dish that, when I looked at the price -- a bit more than what I’m used to paying with mains in the low to mid twenty euro range -- still said ‘'well worth it.'’ I knew I’d go back.

Tonight, on my return, I thought of the restaurant as a place that out of town guests would never find on a first trip to Paris and it was…good.

Scallops tasted like scallops. Pigeon like pigeon. Cooking temperatures were perfect, yet nothing was lifted to that happy level where what’s in your mouth becomes more interesting what you’re talking about.

Fittingly, a thirty-odd euro Corbières was never mentioned as good or bad. The service was as slightly understaffed and flighty as ever – nothing to complain about at a corner café, but here, it feels like you’re paying for a bit more and not quite getting it.
I want to like this place as much as I did before. I want my meal to interrupt.

Au Bascou
38, rue Réaumur,
75003 Paris
011 33 1 42 72 69 25

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

I love the food in Spain, but you can only eat wood-grilled lamb, roast hake, and huge juicy veal chops so many days in a row. And I confess to having trouble knowing quite WHAT I was eating in Basque country. It all tasted great but I couldn’t pronounce the dishes because their Basque names were composed primarily of the consonants x, z ,and q. So it was a relief and delight to reach Aranjuez (about 30 miles outside of Madrid), a farming region famous for its white asparagus and strawberries. Asparagus is available April-June, strawberries May-July. I came in June, went to Casa Juli (on Gobernación 12, [tel] 011-91-892-58-43) and had both. Mmmmmmm.....

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

Photos by Patricia Harris for the Boston Globe

I thought Ciccio Sultano was the only Sicilian serving sex food – the kind of stuff that makes you want to forget you’re in a public place, vault the table and make a meal out of your date.
RRROWWW!!!

One of the things I like about Chef Caravanserraglio and his eponymous Ragusa restaurant is that he’s not afraid to do pizzas that tend to be in the 5-10 euro range on a menu that also includes a 58 euro tasting menu; both are great values, but it’s rare to see someone with the guts and skill to do it all right.

Naturally, Caravanserraglio is a product freak and his menu lists four types of olive oil, six salts and five kinds of pepper. Apparently, we both share a dislike for Peugeot pepper grinders (no coarse grind) but he’s ordering a special German grinder normally used by scientists to extract the most from his peppercorns. Until then, he uses a mortar and pestle crushing pepper to order.

One of the first plates with a tasting menu is an index card-sized slice of fat from a Spanish pata negra cured ham atop a similar-sized thick slice of lightly-smoked beef carpaccio with Maldon salt and specially-imported Szechuan pepper so fresh that it actually fizzes in your mouth.

Everything happens at once: textures and flavors, smoky, salty and slippery, fizzy and raw.
Damn these public places. I want to vault the table.

Ristorante - Pizzeria Caravanserraglio
via P.Nenni 78
Ragusa
http://www.caravanserraglioragusa.com/

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Some deals just have to be shared.
The TravelSmart newsletter's Steal of the Month may be just the ticket for Bostonians pining for Ireland.
The Adare Resort Package from Sceptre Tours includes six nights in a two-bedroom townhouse, rental car for a week, and a Shannon Discount Booklet.
TravelSmart says, "The 5-star resort is located on 840 acres ... 40 minutes from Shannon, making it easy to take day trips to Limerick, Bunratty, Galway, Killarney, Waterford, Cliffs of Moher, Blarney castle.''
Travel is for Nov. 1-Feb. 14, 2010. Rate are slightly higher June-Oct. 31, 2009, and Feb. 15-March 31, 2010.
TravelSmart warns, "Rate structure is complex.''

Everywhere I travel in Spain I discover colonies of feral cats — many of them quite beautiful (especially in fishing port towns), and others sadly neglected. But when I visited Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of Spain’s Basque region, I found city fathers after my own heart. The city has established a fenced-in cat sanctuary in the heart of the historic quarter where several dozen cats are living fat and sassy around a section of the city’s 16th century wall.

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

Photo by Patricia Harris for the Boston Globe

When the pilot of a Continental Airlines flight from Brussels, Belgium, to Newark, N.J., died mid-flight yesterday, Belgian cardiologist Julien Struyven was the first physician in the cockpit. There was nothing he could do to save the pilot’s life, he said in an interview with Boston.com today.

“When I arrived in the cockpit, it was already too late. The pilot was dead. I tried to resuscitate him, but was unsuccessful. There is very little you can do aboard an airplane over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Even if I had been able to revive him, it is impossible to say whether we could have found a landing site quickly enough. You can only perform CPR on a patient for so long.”

Struyven, 72, a specialist in cardiology and radiology, is a professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, in the Belgian capital. He said that the pilot’s precise cause of death cannot be determined without an autopsy, but based on his professional experience, he was “99 percent sure” that it was a heart attack.

The Boeing 777’s pilot never had a chance, said Struyven.

“At first, the co-pilots thought he had fallen asleep. When that turned out not to be the case, they immediately called for a doctor. But these cases unfold in a matter of minutes. By the time I arrived in the cockpit, two-three minutes had elapsed. It takes another minute before you can really get to work. At that point, the pilot was dead.”

Struyven lauded the crew’s professionalism. “They handled the emergency flawlessly,” he said. “There was no danger at any point. The passengers and part of the crew never knew what was happening. There was no need to tell them and cause a panic. There was no safety issue at all, because the plane had three other pilots onboard.”

The pilot’s body was moved to one of two built-in bunks in the cockpit. The plane landed safely at Newark International Airport at 11:49 EST.

For Struyven, it was not the first time he had been called on in flight. “Those other cases were rather innocent,” he said. “Nothing worse than gastritis or a passenger feeling unwell for a few minutes. I have never seen anything this critical on a plane.”

Posted by Tom Vandyck, Globe correspondent

Photo of Continental flight 61 from Belgium landing in Newark by Westwood One/Metro Networks via AP.

Spanish super chef Martín Berasategui is one of a small group of creative cooks who revolutionized Basque cuisine, and his three Michelin stars were part of what set French chefs sputtering about the Spaniards a few years back. But Berasategui is also something of a populist, and his new restaurant at San Sebastian’s performance center is priced for accessibility, with set menus starting at 24 euros (about $34). An even better bet at Kursaal MB, as it’s known, is the tasting menu of pintxos (as the Basques call tapas): 3 courses for 10 euros (about $14). For lunch I had this fresh goat cheese and spinach salad, stewed spider crab with parsley foam gel, and a soup with mussels and scallops—and alioli. Oh, and the price included a generous pour of a good Rioja.

Posted by David Lyon, Globe correspondent

Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

It’s fine. I just don’t get what the fuss is about. Maybe I miss my old bakery - L’Autre Boulange in the 11th.

Belleville’s Au 140 bakery won Best Baguette in Paris in 2001 and the way they string the accolades up around the bakery, you’d think it was last week.

There are more scientific ways to do this, but the most Parisian baguette test is to nibble off the end on the way home. A really good one won’t be sticking out of the top of your bag by the time you unlock the door.

Still, it’s fine. There’s a trace of an almost sourdough-y bite, but I’d be hard pressed to say it’s much better than most. Top 40 percent? Mine was a bit past its prime freshness and mysteriously cool on the inside, but that might just be me being sensitive and wanting it to live up to expectations.

Up in this neck of the woods, there’s La Flûte Gana on the Rue des Pyramides which is technically a flute and not a baguette, but it blows the doors off of Au 140.

L’Autre Boulang
43 rue de Montreuil
75011 Paris
011 33 1 43 72 86 04
http://www.lautreboulange.com/

La Flûte Gana
226 Rue des Pyrénées
75020 Paris
011 33 1 43 58 42 62

Au 140
140 rue de Belleville
75019 Paris

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Catalan Carme Ruscalleda, Spain’s first female chef with three Michelin stars, will open her first restaurant in Barcelona at the city’s Mandarin Oriental hotel.

Ruscalleda has three stars for her Restaurant Sant Pau in the town of Sant Pol de Mar and two more for the Tokyo version of the restaurant.

Who’s cooking in Barcelona? Her son, Raül Balam, who’s been working beside his mother in Sant Pol de Mar for years.

Doors are scheduled to open at the end of the year.

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo of Carme Ruscalleda and son Raül Balam by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

RAGUSA, Sicily -- Whenever I’m in the Motherland, Francesco, my good pal and stalwart guide, humors my quest to find the best pizza in Sicily.

There’s some good stuff in the south where he’s from, strong examples in Palermo and more unique, thicker pies in Trapani. We ignore the question of ‘what is real Sicilian pizza?’ and just go with our taste buds.

In the end, we got to the point where, instead of calling places by their names, we’d just call them by their score on a ten-point scale. The place in the hotel down the hill with Speedy Gonzales on the takeout box? Pizza Sette. The seaside place? Sette Punto Cinque. Reigning southern champion? La Contea in Modica, where a pie with rocket, cured wild boar and parmesan (a combination that tends to send me over the moon with glee no mater in which state I find it) which earned it the Pizza Otto title.

Before I came back to the Motherland, Francesco started hinting at a new find: a place he was calling "Pizza Nove Plus.'' The "plus'' being for the food at Ristorante - Pizzeria Caravanserraglio (which we’ll get to in another post) hidden in the outskirts of Ragusa.
As a group appetizer, we order a tomato, mozzarella and basil pie. The sauce is sweet and acidic, the crust crisp and soft with wood-fired flavor. Plus, there’s milky sensuality from the mozzarella and a crisp, fresh bite from the basil.

Pizza Otto was dethroned in one bite.

Later, after a full non-pizza meal, I get edgy, thinking that I might not be back here for a while.

After the cheese course, I find chef Francesco Caravanserraglio wandering the floor and ask for another pizza.

Full to the gills, everyone at the table stares at me funny until it shows up, but Francesco dutifully has a slice.

The pie has a sort of flight path: “This won’t change my life,” I think over my first bites, but then the Parmesan and cured meat sweeten and begin working together.
I look over and Francesco has broken his fork-and-knife protocol and eats his pie with his hands. He pops the last bite of crust into his mouth with an "I-told-you-so'' smile.

Then he asks for another slice.

Ristorante - Pizzeria Caravanserraglio
via P.Nenni 78
Ragusa
http://www.caravanserraglioragusa.com/

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

I always think of Spain with bulls, not cows, so the green rolling hills of dairy country in Cantabria came as a real surprise. As I walked the uphill road from Santillana del Mar to the Altamira cave museum, these Holsteins came bounding over to the fence. I couldn’t help but think that I’d stumbled into a Woody Jackson landscape of west-central Vermont — except for the 12th century Romanesque country church in the valley below and the 20,000-year-old paintings in the caves of the surrounding mountains.

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

Photo by Patricia Harris for the Boston Globe

“Francesco – let’s grab my folks and get dinner on the ocean. You know that place I went for pizza at this place a couple years ago… in one of those towns at the southern tip of the island…you weren’t there…know the place I’m talking about?”
I fear for my memory when I’m older.

Strangely, he knew. Or thought he did. Maybe we’re both doomed.

In any case, the place we went – La Giara – was much better than the one I could only vaguely remember.

The good stuff comes first – we get fish called neonatu if you’re Sicilian, bianchetti if you’re Italian and gianchetti if you’re Ligurian (it’s big up there, too.)

Three names for a fish that’s as long as my thumb is wide? Turns out there are many species that can fall into the neonatu category – the baby form of anchovies, sardines and many other fish lumped into a group known as pesce azzurro – the veal of anchovies.

Until this night, I couldn’t figure out what the fuss was about. Bianchetti are often breaded individually, fried up and served on a plate – in Barcelona, they pay through the nose for this stuff – but being so tiny, their delicate flavor is overwhelmed by breading and fry oil.

Here, they make fritters out of them. Little balls of little fish where the outside stays nice and crunchy – that good fried-ness – and inside, you get sweet, delicate fish flavor. Realizing there’s only one left, Mom and I briefly glare at each other, but I realize I should be a good Sicilian boy and defer with a grunt.

We also have an octopus carpaccio – which almost seems like a contract between chef and customer that says, “You trust us and we’ll do it right.”
They do. Serving it on a bed of rocket and spiced up with red pepper flakes, Mom, who prefers everything she eats well done has several bites.

Wine worth noting: 2006 Sicilia by MandraRossa using the fiano grape. The father/uncle of the Planeta clan shows the grace and restraint of a proud patriarch.

The pasta (a bit more photogenic than fried fritters) is honest and good. At the end of my meal, I make a note – ‘There are thousands of places like this in Italy, and we’re lucky every time we eat in one.”

La Giara
Portopalo di Capo Passero (Along the port.)
Sicily
011 39 0931 843217
Closed Monday

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo of La Giara by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

The phenomenon of the tapas competition seems to be spreading all over Spain, and it’s all to the good for a traveler with a taste for the new Spanish cuisine. The competitions are usually organized by town and run anywhere from a week to two months. Each participating chef offers a special creation, usually at a bargain price. (In Zamora, for example, all competition tapas are priced at 1 euro, or about $1.40.) In Bilbao, the plates are called “pintxos,” and they’re a little bigger than tapas in other regions. The best combo I’ve tasted here was at Bar Zuga on Plaza Nueva in Bilbao’s old town. Chef David Asteinza created this complex dish of a square of seared codfish, a squiggle of mango cream, crispy fried mint leaves, and a bonbon of red tuna coated with unsweetened dark chocolate. The spoon holds little beads of sweet garlic “caviar.” Not bad for $4.50.

Posted by David Lyon

Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

I recently found myself at a Starbucks Café at Copley Place in Boston, waiting to meet my friend Charlotte for a coffee and chat after returning from three months in Havana, Cuba.

I bought my $4 coffee and scavenged for a table. College students with laptops crowded most of them, headphones in place to block out the rest of the world. A European couple stood up and I darted over to ask them if they were leaving.

Reuters photo of men fishing off the Malecon.

They looked bewildered, nodded, and left three empty coffee cups and trash from their lunch on the table. I put my coat down to save the table and took several trips to the garbage can. I learned long ago not to judge tourist faux pas in our country, as I can’t imagine how many I myself have committed while traveling.

I sat down to wait for Charlotte and immediately opened a magazine I had in brought in my bag. There was music blasting and one of the baristas was singing and dancing along. “Gals on the go,” as a friend of mine affectionately refers to American women, ran in and out ordering non-fat double shot lattes.

I was feeling equally as overwhelmed as the Europeans had looked, but trying to get back into my own gal-on-the-go mentality in order to feel normal in American society again.

I am an avid traveler and over the last four years have spent time in Spain, Ireland, South Africa and Cuba. In each country I traveled to I enjoyed long conversations with friends in cafés and spent copious amounts of time sipping coffee by myself and watching the city at work and play – something which seems self-indulgent when I am in America, but to me is a staple of learning about another culture.

Of the countries I have been to Cuba was the most sheltered from American culture, but oddly enough it was also the easiest to adjust to. I spent hours sitting on the Malecon, a sea wall that stretches the length of the city, watching old American cars drive by. The constant visual assault of advertising was gone. I had no cell phone constantly buzzing and beeping at me, demanding my attention and getting on my nerves.

FULL ENTRY

To prepare for the cookout, Dad sits with the English-Italian dictionary to figure out the first thing he’d like to say upon meeting our gregarious host, Guido: "You are my brother from another mother.''

Guido, my pal Francesco’s uncle, was born with the gift of making whoever he’s with feel like they’re two peas in a pod, and this day was no different. He lent me his daughter’s scooter the first time I lived here, and though I only have what the French would call notions of Italian, language never seems to be a barrier when talking with him.

My parents came to Sicily on vacation to learn about the Motherland and our family history here – Dad’s maternal grandparents emigrated from the tiny town of Altavilla Milicia in the early 1900s – and being together in the place where our ancestors were from is a potent emotional experience connecting us with the past and each other.

Guido’s wife Pina and Francesco’s mother make a feast that includes roasted peppers, sautéed mushrooms and grilled meat a go-go and I’ve smuggled an entire jamón Ibérico – black hoof and all – through customs as a gift from our family to theirs.

Today, however, food (very tasty food at that) was simply a way to bring us together, and I’d trade every amazing Sicilian restaurant meal for this one feast.
Being made to feel like family can be as important as finding the real one.

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Architects will probably continue arguing for decades about the impact of Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Bilbao museum, but considering the museum by itself misses the point of what it’s become for the city.

The plazas around it are just as sweeping as those around Boston City Hall, but Bilbainos have embraced the terrain and made the pavements their own. Skateboard kids love the ramps and smooth-rolling runs, while soccer tykes kick balls against the walls. (Try that at the MFA....) The greatest irony might be that Jeff Koons’ 43-foot-tall flower-sprouting puppy has almost upstaged the limestone and titanium building. Installed as a temporary exhibit for the 1997 museum opening, it was saved from demolition through a letter-writing campaign by local schoolchildren. Now it’s part of the Guggenheim’s permanent collection....

Posted by Patricia Harris & David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

Photos by Patricia Harris & David Lyon for the Boston Globe

Memo to Mr. Allen: If the directing thing doesn’t work out, Woody, you’ll probably have a good future writing brochure copy for tourism offices. Woody Allen and Oviedo, Spain, (the romantic getaway city in ‘Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona’) seem to have a mutual admiration society. In 2002, the Principality of Asturias, Spain (where Oviedo is the capital) awarded him the Premio Principe de Asturias de Las Artes. In return, Woody called Oviedo “delicious, exotic, pretty, clean and agreeable.” The Asturians liked that so much they made this bronze of the actor/director/author/comedian slumping along Calle Uria.

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

He's been talking about it for a while, but it appears that Michael O'Leary, chief executive of European budget airline Ryanair, is serious about charging passengers to go the restroom.
O'Leary confirmed on Tuesday in a story in the Guardian newspaper that he's planning to start hitting passengers up for about $1.50 per visit in the next two years. The often outlandish CEO told the Guardian newspaper that he's asking Boeing Co. to try to put credit-card readers on toilet locks for new aircraft.
O'Leary also said that he's aiming to raise extra revenue by removing two out of the three toilets on the carrier's short- to medium-range Boeing 737-800 jets to make room for as many as six additional passenger seats.
"We are flying aircraft on an average flight time of one hour around Europe. What the hell do we need three toilets for?" he told the Guardian.
You'll recall that Ryanair sparked a frenzy here late last year after a news story suggested that the budget giant was set to launch service from London and Dublin airports to Boston and other major US cities, with fares starting at about $13, not including taxes and fees. The report later proved inaccurate.
And the carrier drew fire from Spanish feminist groups last year over its Girls of Ryanair swimsuit calendar.
A representative for the Women's Institute, a government-run rights organization in Spain, where last year's calendar was shot, said that the images presented the women as "sexual objects.''

There are live chickens in the cathedral at Santo Domingo de la Calzada in La Rioja, Spain, because legend holds that two cooked chickens stood up and crowed to protest the innocence of a pilgrim about to be executed for theft. But we found that the parador next to the cathedral also participates in a deal that’s really something to crow about. These fairly luxe state-run hotels have listed rates of 150–250 euros a night ($210-$350), but many (including this gorgeous building) participate in a 5-night deal. Purchase 5 nights at any of the paradors (mix and match) for 103 euros ($144) each. We’ve met a number of Americans who are taking advantage of the deal.

Posted by Patricia Harris & David Lyon

Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

One of my favorite things about traveling is encountering the unexpected. In this video, a woman -- most likely another tourist from the Western world like myself -- spontaneously begins to dance to the music of street musicians, causing waiters to abandon their tables and passersby to stop. All join in an impromptu celebration, and for one moment no one is selling anything, no one is tired and grumpy, there's no sense of "us" and "them," there is only a brief and joyous human connection before the woman bows, and continues on her way.

By Necee Regis, Globe correspondent

Video by Necee Regis for the Boston Globe

As we keep moving across northwest Spain, it’s impossible not to be awestruck by cathedrals, castles, and palaces. But some of the most surprising — and often moving — art is right in the streets. These 14th century stone carvings on an old neighborhood fountain in Pontevedra in Galicia are a case in point, with Adam and Eve staring across the centuries as Eve plucks yet another fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.

Posted by David Lyon, Globe Correspondent

Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

PRELUDE
Driving through Sicily, Mom asks whether there are many foxes roaming the island – a question completely out of left field, and as likely a subject as if she had a sudden interest in stock quotes.

FOOD
Dinner at Nangalarruni in Castelbuono is a snapshot of Sicilian cuisine. A starter salad of blood oranges and pearl onions is served with thin slices of tobacco-smoked pork, sprinkled with salt flakes and dappled with olive oil and deeply-flavored musto cotto from 1987. The dish shows a native love for sweet and savory, reverence for history and an inventive playfulness. Much of that can also be seen in the following course -- a bread pie served next to a big, comma-shaped swirl of ricotta cream.
It’s at this point in the meal where chef Peppino Carollo, who I’ve blogged and written about, sits down one table away to have dinner with his brother on a quiet Monday night. Staying undercover would have been nearly impossible, not to mention really awkward. Besides, it’s hard to braise a wild boar shank (our next course) in 10 minutes.

Instead, we talk. The brother is in town from Rome to hunt mushrooms with chef in the hills above town – Nangalarruni may mean "jew’s harp'' but the restaurant is a mushroom-lover’s heaven and the walls here are covered with paintings of fungi and pictures of Chef and friends after successful mushroom hunts.

Who’s manning the kitchen while chef is having dinner with his brother?
“He’s young,” Chef says of sous-chef Giandomenico Lammonica, but it’s not hard to understand why he is Carollo’s right-hand man – Lammonica has a mushroom farm above town that he tends to as a hobby.

A several-course tasting meal at Nangalarruni is a bargain at 30 euros and the great wine list has gentle prices, perhaps owing a bit to Chef’s wife running two small wine shops in town.

FULL CIRCLE
Walking back after a late-night stroll through town, a fox appears in front of our door.

…

When in Castelbuono, stay at the Casa Ilaria B&B. It’s hidden, quiet, beautiful, spacious and run by gracious owners. It’s also a steal at 30 euros per person per night.

Nangalarruni
Via delle Confraternite, 5/7
Castelbuono
011 39 0921 671428
www.hostarianangalarruni.it

Casa Ilaria
Piazza Tenente Schicchi, 5
Castelbuono
011 39 0921 676268
http://www.casailaria.it/

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Spain has a reputation as a hot and sunny country — but that’s only half the story. The north can be cloudy, rainy and cool, especially in the unsettled spring. In fact, we’d worried about bad weather for the days we spent in León because the city’s Gothic cathedral has as much stained glass in its walls as stone. The day before we arrived, the landscape was murky from horizon to horizon. But as we drove into León and parked the car, the sky cleared like a bad movie. Inside the cathedral, light rained down in a thousand hues.

Posted by David Lyon, Globe Correspondent

Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

We took my friend, almond and olive oil producer Francesco Padova, to lunch at Ragusa Ibla’s Il Duomo restaurant – not an easy feat, considering Sicilians’ amazing hosting skills. It was a great way to see what chef Ciccio Sultano’s been up to – more a check on concepts than a critique.

Chef, who I’ve written about previously, came out to say hello and explained a few dishes, but was almost completely knocked out by a cold.

Highlights from the tasting included fusilli lunghi alle rose – long fusilli supporting rockfish fillets, a bed of fennel and a tiny skewer of sautéed fish liver. The fish was firm, the fusilli floppy, the fennel … feral – at least in the ‘'wild’' and more alliterate sense of the word. The liver? That just melts on your tongue.

The secret weapon, however, is in the sauce: rose water. Light, like you’re smelling perfume without drinking it, and, as Sultano says, a wink at Sicily’s history, where it showed up as a luxurious ingredient.

Rose water shows up again at dessert, this time in the sorbet accompanying a ‘pistachio couscous’ dessert. The dish is playful in concept – couscous being another wink at Sicilian history – but serious in execution, giving it a divine, cake-like quality.
At 100 euros including wine, the tasting menu is a splurge but still a great value.

Il Duomo
Via Capitano Bocchieri, 31
Ragusa Ibla, Sicily
011 39-0932-651265
www.ristoranteduomo.it

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Even the flattest parts of Spain have mountains on the horizon, but in a country full of mountains, the Picos de Europa that wall off the north coast from the rest of the country are easily the most abrupt and towering range. Driving through them is thrilling and dramatic (and beats walking, as the pilgrims to Santiago do). You hardly need the Technicolor effects of sunshine on misty clouds that make rainbows arch from valley to valley.

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

Photo by Patricia Harris for the Boston Globe

I’m back in The Motherland.

It’s a work/play trip that includes bringing my parents to the land of our Sicilian ancestors for the first time. My sister and I are English, Irish, French, Italian, Dutch and German mutts, but it’s always been the Sicilian side – via our paternal grandmother – that we identify with most as a family.

I’m playing tour guide so the induction is based on food and Day One includes a visit to pastry chef Corrado Assenza’s appropriately named Caffè Sicilia.

While Assenza’s ideas and creations can be otherworldly, he’s a product-sourcing freak. If he can’t do it perfectly, he won’t do it.

His almond gelato not only tastes like an almond in another state, but even has the slight tannic tang from the almond skin along with a mix of minerals and salt in the skin that makes Sicilian almonds unique.

We also try a “Traversata del Deserto” – a cake that includes mint, black tea, lemon rind, sea salt and “lyophilized” (freeze-dried) algae. It’s the kind of thing that Mom would try but stop after one bite.

Instead, she makes a funny grunting noise, almost like she’s disappointed.
“I’m sorry for all the cakes that will come after this in my life.”

Caffè Sicilia
Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 125
Noto, Sicily

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Here in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain, there’s a definite hierarchy among the visitors. At the top of the pecking order are the exhausted-looking pilgrims with their backpacks, hiking boots and walking sticks. They’ve walked here from all corners of Europe, though most come across northern Spain on the so-called French route over the Pyrenees. But even those of us who have the least to brag about (because we drove) can’t help but find the main square outside the cathedral a genuine thrill. It rains here A LOT, so the carved granite Baroque facade is encrusted with green moss. Inside lies a 12th century jewel of a Romanesque church bearing the mark of genius stone carver Maestro Mateo at every turn.

Posted by Patricia Harris & David Lyon

Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

Get there before it’s overrun with ministers.
Maybe because it’s brand new and hasn’t been discovered yet. Maybe it’s because it was a vacation week or just a slow day, but four of us had Le 122, smack in the heart of ministry central to ourselves.
Instead of that depressing, feel bad for the owners, ‘why are we whispering?’ feeling, it was perfect. The chef and his wife came over to talk once in a while and the waiter nosed in with an off the cuff crack that had huge crash and burn potential, but instead, he had read us perfectly.
Chef’s pedigree shows in his fish dishes like a toothy and full of flavor smoked sardine and anise-tomato marmelade appetizer and a cod pissaladière – a Provencal pizza cousin, this one doing a wonderful job of respecting the fish.
We share a Coteaux du Vendomois that chef calls his wine of the month. It’s made by a friend of his and so good and well-priced, I hope everything on the wine list is made by his friends.
Dessert? Strawberries with a tea foam that sits in a glass bowl and looks like a floating flower.
A friend was supposed to leave early, instead, she asked for another spoon.

Le 122
122 rue de Grenelle
75007 Paris

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

The wireless Internet battle in the sky is quickly escalating to a dogfight.
AirTran Airways said yesterday morning that it plans to offer in-flight, wireless, Internet access on all 136 of its aircraft by midsummer. Virgin America currently has the service on 24 of its 28 planes, and is on schedule have the rest ready to go by Memorial Day.
On Monday, Delta Air Lines, which became the world’s largest carrier after its merger last year with Northwest Airlines, announced that it has WiFi on 139 planes, or about half of its mainline domestic fleet, and will have the rest finished by September. The carrier also expects to complete outfitting all 200 jets in Northwest’s domestic fleet next year.
And American, which has already equipped all its transcontinental aircraft, says it will have a total of 165 planes WiFi-ready by the end of 2009, with a goal of having 318, or nearly half its fleet, finished over the next few years.
Facing tough competition, the nation's airlines are viewing WiFi, which they once saw as merely a desirable amenity, increasingly as a necessary feature.
“Going online at 35,000 feet isn't a ‘nice to have,’ ’’ said Henry H. Harteveldt, principal airline analyst for Forrester Research Inc. “In today's tough business climate, in-flight Wi-Fi is as essential as the beverage cart. Business people need to stay in touch with their clients and colleagues, as well as stay on top of the volatile business environment. Leisure travelers appreciate WiFi in-flight because they can stay in touch with family and friends, plan their journeys, and entertain themselves.’’
While many carriers are aggressively adopting WiFi, others are at the very least kicking the tires. Southwest Airlines, which carries more passengers than any other US airline, is testing the service on four planes and is looking at the prospects for expansion. JetBlue hopes to have 20 planes outfitted this year for a stripped-down service that would allow e-mail and instant-messaging.
For the most part, all the services work the same. Passengers pay a fee, generally about $8 to $13 depending on the length of the flight, and the service is supplied by a contractor, the largest being Aircell LLC of Itasca, Ill., under its Gogo Inflight Internet brand.
The airlines, which have been garnering increasing amounts of revenue from the assorted fees they’ve launched in the past couple years, expect the service will be not just popular but profitable.
“On a coast-to-coast weekday flight, airlines tell me that it's not uncommon to sometimes have two dozen or more passengers online simultaneously,’’ Harteveldt said. “That could turn into a nice revenue stream long-term for airlines as the product becomes more widely available and more passengers begin using it.’’
But analysts say that the service also eventually could yield significant savings as it may let airlines remove their in-flight entertainment systems, leaving passengers to access the many media options available online. Getting rid of the systems would reduce the weight of planes, making them more fuel efficient, and free the carriers from having to pay for licensing entertainment content.

Call me a traitor, but here I go.
Though it might look like pink champagne, the apéro of the summer is a beer, and not one for the faint of heart.
Cantillon’s Kriek 100% Lambic is an eye-popper that will stand your taste buds happily on end.
It’s also a dive into the deep end of Belgian beer vocabulary. In short, lambics are natural fermentation beers that are aged for at least three years in oak barrels. A kriek, is a lambic (or a gueuze) made with sour cherries known as griottes.
While some companies have turned kriek into a sweet and sticky mess, those worth their salt are bracingly sour.
Cantillon’s kriek has just a hint of creamy suds on top and gets its cooked cherry color from the griottes. Poke your nose into the top of a glass and you’ll get a blast the grapefruit smell that is the hallmark of many good lambics, along with a hint of green apples. If your salivary glands haven’t kicked in by now, blow your nose.
Take a sip and you’ll get a kick of that fantastic sour and acidic grapefruit flavor.
If you can find any way to get your stomach and taste buds more ready for a meal, the comment box is one click away…

P.S. In Paris, I found my bottle at Pommier inside the Marché Beauvau - the covered market at Marché d’Aligre in the 11th arrondissement.
Cantillon has a handy place to start your quest with a partial list of wholesalers and places to buy your bottle here.

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Good morning, travelers.
For the first time, American plans to let frequent fliers use their miles to book one-way flights for half the miles of a round-trip. The carrier will also let customers redeem miles for first-class seats one way and use fewer miles for a coach seat on the return, according to the Associated Press.

Officials at American, which developed the first frequent-flier program nearly three decades ago, plan to announce the changes Monday and put them into effect shortly.
They say American is the first major US airline to offer a one-way award ticket at half miles. It's hard to know how many people would use miles for a one-way trip -- parents driving a child to college and flying home might -- and American officials didn't offer any estimates.

A few weeks ago I wrote about walking the hills of Sierra de Aracena where the Iberian pig is as beloved as bullfighting and fandango. In the fall when breeders perform the matanza, or ritual slaughter, neighbors help neighbors and outdoor cook pots smolder with delicious food for helping hands. Since I couldn’t extend my stay to participate, the Chestertons who raise pigs on their farm Finca Buenvino sent a few pictures of a matanza in their village of Los Marines. I don’t know if this was a kindness or not – the pictures make me hungry just looking at them!

Besides the pork loin with chestnut sauce at Bar Carlos in Los Marines, Carlos Jr. makes a zesty fresh tomato and spare-rib stew for the helpers at his family’s matanza.

The pig livers are combined with turmeric and bread over an outdoor cook fire for this traditional stew.

The Chestertons often make this big paella for winter picnics as well as a hard day’s reward.

Jeannie Chesterton adds a touch of Cordon Bleu training with grilled aubergine, zucchini, and goat’s cheese spread with sun-dried tomato and pine-nut pesto. Her cooking classes are popular with Finca Buenvino guests.

Posted by Patricia Borns, Globe correspondent

Photos by Sam Chesterton for The Boston Globe

The Brussels taxi driver did a double take when I told him the address in the Saint Gilles neighborhood next to the Gare du Midi.
Arriving, I suggested a night-time drop-off half a block from the B&B to avoid making a loop of one-way streets.
“You sure?” he asked. “Be careful.”
Not exactly what you want to hear when you’re just down the street from the police station.
Go anyway. The Art de la Fugue wipes away the doubts as soon as you walk in the door. Gracious hosts, high ceilings and big, beautiful spaces that cleverly mix modern design and flea-market chic immediately make you forget the outside world.
Each room has a theme: Farinelli for the princess, Indochina for a bit of Zen, and Lawrence of Arabia for the travel writer. Don’t worry: all cool, no kitsch.
There are televisions hidden in each room, but it’s doubtful you’ll watch – the atmosphere makes you want to read, write, play the piano, or linger over a very tasty breakfast.
The kicker? The price – around 100 euros per room per night.

L'art de la Fugue
Bed & Breakfast
Rue de Suède 38
1060 Brussels
011 32 478 69 59 44

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

We’d always heard that Extremadura, Spain’s western province that nestles up against Portugal, was a dry and dusty land that only grew paprika peppers and conquistadors. But it’s spring here, and the storks are ubiquitous. Every deserted church in the countryside is covered with their big twiggy nests, and the arches of the 2,000-year-old aqueduct outside Mérida are topped with storks standing on one leg like seagulls on abandoned shorefront piers. Every so often, a downy-headed chick pokes up its head above the nest—and the adult pushes it back down to safety.

Posted by Patricia Harris & David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

American says it has added a third daily nonstop to London from Logan and resumed its seasonal daily service to Paris.
And for a limited time, the carrier is offering 50,000 bonus miles to AAdvantage members who complete a round-trip to the UK on an eligible first- or business-class ticket. That's enough to get you a free economy-class round-trip to Europe. Travelers who fly on select economy-class fares can score 25,000 bonus miles -- this translates into a free economy-class, domestic round-trip.
To qualify for either deal, you must complete travel by June 30.
I've said it before: If you can afford to travel this year there are many, many good deals out there.

Continental, the US industry leader in flights to Mexico, is temporarily slashing seating capacity to Mexico by about 50 percent in the wake of plummeting demand because of concerns over the swine flu outbreak.
The carrier says that the changes will start Monday May 4 and that it will accomplish the reductions by flying smaller aircraft and cutting the frequency of flights. But it plans to continue to serve all 29 of its destinations in the country.
[Update: United said in a press release that it would temporarily cut its weekly US-Mexico round trips, starting May 5, from 61 to 24 in May and from 90 to 52 in June. The carrier says it will continue to serve all four of its year-round Mexican destinations: Cancun, Los Cabos, Mexico City, and Puerto Vallarta. And Bloomberg News is reporting that AirTran has cut two weekly flights and Delta began using smaller planes as swine flu concern reduces travel.]
Analysts expect American and US Airways, numbers two and three, respectively, in US-Mexico flights to examine their schedules closely in the wake of Continental's cuts.
Tom Parsons, founder of Bestfares.com, says that despite the reductions in service to Mexico fares to the nation remain very low.

Do you see animal patterns in the clouds? Get all gooey inside when sunsets turn white puffs pink and orange? Marvel at towering thunderheads in the distance? The Cloud Appreciation Society has a website you’ll love. And now they’ve sanctioned what claims to be the world’s first “Cloud Bar.” The bar opened to the public in April on the beach at Anderby Creek in Lincolnshire, UK. Designed by artist Michael Trainor, it has a wooden platform sanctioned by the society as an “official cloudspotting area” and “cloud menus” to help identify formations. But no alcohol. Just recline in the specially designed cloud-viewing seats and marvel at the artistry above.
For more intensive viewing, there’s a Sky Weekend, June 19-21, at South Downs in Sussex, UK. Society founder Gavin Pretor-Pinney will instruct participants in cloud type identification and understanding what formations tell us about weather conditions. Discover your own creativity by looking at the work of artists, writers, and scientists who have found inspiration in the skies. The two-night weekend at a country house once home to economist John Maynard Keynes is offered by a London-based outfit called The School of Life. Accommodations, meals, and activities come to £395 (less than $580 ) per person.

Posted by Janet Mendelsohn, Globe correspondent

Clearly, concerns over the outbreak of swine flu will affect the travel plans of Americans but Jenn Abelson and Rob Gavin have a story in this morning's Globe about how it will affect the state:

The bruised US economy, which had shown a few signs of life, took another beating yesterday with global concerns over the swine flu outbreak expected to hit travel and tourism the hardest.
The virus, which has sickened people across the United States and Europe and resulted in 149 deaths in Mexico, prompted the European Union's health commissioner to advise Europeans to avoid non-essential travel to Mexico and parts of the United States.
The warning yesterday could have a devastating effect on New England, where 95 percent of overseas travelers come from Europe.
Patrick Moscaritolo, chief executive of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, said just a 10 percent drop in travelers to New England would mean a loss of more than $60 million, but it is too early to predict the fallout. The bureau had already expected a 5 percent to 9 percent drop in travel to New England because of the sour economy.
Travel and tourism business is one of Massachusetts' key industries. It is the fifth-biggest in terms of employment with 300,000 workers, according to the US Department of Labor.
The flu outbreak, coming weeks before the busy summer travel season, is another setback for the struggling travel industry, which was expecting the volume of total overseas visits to the United States to fall 3.1 percent from last year, according to the US Travel Association, an industry trade group.
Several airlines are waiving fees for passengers who were scheduled to fly through certain cities in Mexico and want to change their tickets.

And here's a quick look at how the rest of the world is responding:

* The World Health Organization raised its alert level over the swine flu outbreak but stopped short of declaring a global emergency. The United States advised Americans against most travel to Mexico and ordered stepped up border checks in neighboring states. The European Union health commissioner advised Europeans to avoid nonessential travel both to Mexico and parts of the United States. The WHO raised the alert level to Phase 4, meaning there is sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus causing outbreaks in at least one country. Its alert system was revised after bird flu in Asia began to spread in 2004, and Monday was the first time it was raised above Phase 3. Putting an alert at Phases 4 or 5 signals that the virus is becoming increasingly adept at spreading among humans. That move could lead governments to set trade, travel and other restrictions aimed at limiting its spread. Phase 6 is for a full-blown pandemic, characterized by outbreaks in at least two regions of the world. It could take four to six months before the first batch of vaccines are available to fight the virus, WHO officials said. Russia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan said they would quarantine visitors showing symptoms of the virus amid global fears of a pandemic, an epidemic spread over a large area, either a region or worldwide. (AP)

*US hospitality companies shut a number of facilities in Mexico and relaxed cancellation policies, as they scrambled to respond to the flu outbreak. Starbucks Corp closed 10 stores in Mexico City and Six Flags Inc closed all its Mexico City theme park indoor facilities in the wake of the swine flu outbreak. Some US airlines and hotels began allowing passengers to change itineraries to Mexico. Brinker International, which operates restaurants including Chili's Grill & Bar, said several franchisees have responded to the Mexican government's recommendation that citizens avoid public places by voluntarily closing their restaurants or limiting hours of operations. Carnival Corp, the world's largest cruise ship operator, said in a statement that it will not be making any adjustments to its itineraries. Delta Air Lines saw no impact on its operations but said it was allowing customers to make a one-time change for free for travel plans to Mexico. UAL Corp's United and US Airways Group Inc also said they were allowing travelers to change itineraries for destinations served in Mexico. Starwood Hotels and Resorts said it was waiving penalties for customers canceling or changing reservations at its owned and managed properties in Mexico for arrivals between April 25 and May 6, 2009. (Reuters)

At last look there were only 14 slots open for the F1 Grand Prix Monaco VIP Experience May 22-24. But since the starting price is $30,000 a person, there still may be room for you. The experience includes a private jet charter or a first-class cabin on a regularly scheduled flight, a helicopter transfer from Nice into Monaco, a private car and driver, a suite at the Hotel de Paris, VIP access aboard My Yacht Monaco, meetings with race people and guided tours of race sites, dinner at Joël Robuchon, Louis XV, and at the Hotel de Paris private wine cellar, an introduction to Prince Albert and his royal guests at the My Yacht Monaco party, VIP party, and show entrances, and access to a private VIP Grand Prix party and after-party on the Penthouse of Shangri-La, above the start-finish line.
Call 949-429-8117 or e-mail contact@echelonexp.com.

Posted by Richard P. Carpenter, Globe correspondent

This morning the government for the first time is going to open the books on where and when airplanes have collided with birds over the past 19 years. This has, of course, become a big issue after a US Airways jet hit a flock of Canada geese in January, forcing it to ditch into the Hudson River.
All of which brings us to this interesting video put together by Rosemarie Lennon of Howcast.com. For those who prefer to read the instructions -- or perhaps print them out to stuff into your carry-on -- they are available here.

Thanks to This Just In for pointing us to this.

Who knew a bitter aftertaste was a good thing?
On a suggestion from the bed and breakfast owner, I check out Brasserie de l’Union on the Parvis Saint-Gilles, which, in my case, was literally off the map.
I have an Orval, mostly because I haven’t yet, and watch the world go by. Spring is in the air – trees are budding and everybody in out on les terrasses, following the afternoon sun like flowers.
There are scads of other places to check out on the square: head across the street (sun or no) to Le Librar for leather jackets, piercings, tattoos and a blessed lack of gawkers or double back to the Maison du Peuple for an afternoon’s worth of Wi-Fi and bourgeoisie.
There, however, a local points me further up the street (and further off the map) to Chez Moeder Lambic where the beer list is long and the service and cheeses are raw – one of the best finds of the trip. If they’ve got it, the Trappist Val-Dieu comes highly recommended, but I start with a Gouyasse the end my Belgian beer quest the way I started – with a St. Bernardus wit.
I’ll be back.

Parvis Saint-Gilles

Chez Moeder Lambic – MAP
Savoiestraat 68, Belgium
011 34 02 539 14 19‎

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

After a good round of gueuze, barman Sebastien starts talking about Westvleteren 12, a Trappist brew that’s rare as hen’s teeth and a whole lot better tasting. It’s often raked as the best beer in the world and is the crown jewel of Café la Brocante.
“Super rare,” says Sebastian, delicately teasing out the bait. “First you have to call them 400 times, and they never pick up the phone. And they’re monks, so they don’t have answering machines.”
Later, he explains, if you get through, you schedule a pickup at the abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren where the monks will give you a case (“Two if you’re lucky”) and write down your license plate number so you can’t come back for more.
Sold.
He pours a chalice-type glass, leaving the last bit of sediment in the bottom of the bottle.
The beer’s so deep colored that the thick foam takes on a coffee-with-cream color that gives off a toffee and licorice nose so strong it almost makes you want to cut it with a bit of water to get the full bouquet. At 10.5 percent alcohol -- more than twice of what’s in a bottle of Bud -- the idea’s not that far-fetched.
Sip.
A wall of flavor pushes through my mouth and out the sides of my tongue.
There are the toffee and licorice flavors, but a concentrated, sweet and malty earthiness, too. It’s the perfect way to end a beer trip to Brussels and cheaper than a bad pint in Paris.
I buy one for the road.

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

A quick pause from Belgian beer to say that when it comes to finding the best Italian in the 11th arrondissement, you win, Francois.
Last night, taking the advice of locals and friends, a sommelier friend and I went to Casa Vigata for Sicilian on rue Léon Frot for a hit and miss extravaganza.

The hits:
The Seafood – a clam and artichoke appetizer full of flavor and sauce made for bread dipping, whole-roasted octopus served with just a slice of lemon and a perfectly-cooked breaded swordfish main. Paris can be disastrous when you’re looking for good fish and these guys nail it.
The Cannoli – Leave the gun. The friendly owner makes these daily using a crispy shell, light, tangy ricotta and just a touch of candied orange peel. If there’s better in Paris I haven’t found it.

The misses:
Consistency: Our neighbors ordered two of the same dishes as we did; their octopus was cooked better (mine was slightly over) and their swordfish/caponata portions were significantly larger. They also got a shot of lemoncello with their check. The last is certainly at the owner’s discretion, but all three together leave a bitter taste.

The worst:
The wine – overpriced and/or not that good. A red Sicilian table wine for 40 euros? I love a good Nero d’Avola, but please.
It took us 10 minutes looking at the wine list to essentially decide how we were going to be fleeced, and we still lost. My friend was talking about … something when I got distracted by a sip of the white we ordered…
Me: “This is bad.”
Sommelier friend: “Very bad.”

The verdict?
I’ll try again in a year. Maybe.

Casa Vigata
44 rue Léon Frot
75011 Paris
011 33.1.43.56.38.66

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

My Brussels beer luck holds true at Café La Brocante, found by asking two friendly-looking locals (with all the groceries they were carrying, they couldn’t have been going far) where to go. The café/bar/restaurant is on the square that hosts Brussels’ sprawling and kitschy flea market, and all the signs were good – better said, the sign on the front door announces a beer list that included 3 Fonteinen, Oud Beersel, and Cantillon – whose brewers I’ve been interviewing in the last few days.
Inside, old regulars play backgammon, there’s a stag’s head on the wall with a pipe in its mouth and a sign that says "Please don’t feed the dog'' in three languages. There’s a local dish called stoemp made with mashed potatoes, and theirs comes topped with slices of homemade meatloaf; my father would be in heaven.
The barman, Sebastien, coaches us through a couple of beer selections and his knowledge extends not only to what’s on the menu, but what’s not, including a rare kriek lambic (in short, a barrel-aged beer flavored with sour cherries) from 3 Fonteinen.
We order two drinks and when they arrive, he’s got a bit of a doubt so he opens the first, gets both of our opinions on it and, assured, opens the other.
“I love this place, and I’ve got plans,” he says, alluding to an idea of taking over the bar when the owners retire.
Perfect.

Café La Brocante
Blaesstraat 170
Brussels
011 32 (0) 2 512 13 43

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

I dropped Copenhagen brewer Anders Kissmeyer a note saying I was en route to Brussels and wanted to know where to go for good beer. Within a day, Kissmeyer and his two brewers, Shaun Hill and Kasper Larsen, had a list of brewers, beer halls, and lambic blenders to contact.
Shaun recommended the Poechenellekelder bar, a stone’s throw (a short squirt?) from the city’s bizarre Mannekin Pis statue. This close to the touristic center of most cities, it’s generally good to keep your guard up. Instead we were more than impressed by both the selection and the product knowledge.
The list of choices is extensive – even for a beer enthusiast it can be baffling – yet a lot of selection doesn’t mean much without good guidance – “at that point they’re just a stockist” someone said later. Here, however, our waiter Cedric Jamar - a philosophy student who could easily pass for a sommelier - guided by asking just a couple of questions about what we know and what we like and, without presenting options, simply said, “I’ll be right back.”
He came back with two different beers – one exactly what I asked for, and the other, St. Bernardus wheat beer that – with gentle berry smells and crisp flavors, I’d rank among the top ten beers of my life.
I told Jamar so and, with a bit of clever salesmanship, said, “Ah, that’s nothing – if you like that, come back tomorrow and I’ll give you something that’ll knock your socks off.”
I’m on my way.

P.S. – Hot off the press – I just got word from Copenhagen that Nørrebro Bryghus is going carbon neutral. Cheers, Anders!

Poechenellekelder
Rue du Chêne, 5
Brussels

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo of waiter Cedric Jamar at Poechenellekelder by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

The city of Alicante on Spain’s Costa Blanca has the most elegant McDonald’s I’ve ever encountered, complete with table service in the glass-enclosed patio on the palm-lined and wave-tiled Explanada de España across the street from the yacht harbor. Who needs fries with that?

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

Photo by Patricia Harris for The Boston Globe

Marco Polo is among the cast of thousands with starring roles in The History of Civilization about whom I know almost nothing. (Next to nothing is what I know about Columbus and Magellan and Hudson. As a grade school student in California, I was fed the bloodless stories, too, of Cortez and Cabrillo, Balboa and Pizarro, Drake and Cook.) Could I have said that, unlike that trickle of explorers who set sail from Europe -- even their families unconvinced they would not fall off the face of the earth or be devoured by monstrous sea creatures -- could I have said that Marco Polo took a land route from Venice to Beijing, 13,000 miles across terrain that 700 years later remains among the most forbidding in the world?

Harry Rutstein to the rescue!

FULL ENTRY

There are times that I can just wince at a high price others where I just balk.
The other day, I balked.
I met a friend to catch up over a beer in the center of Paris at the bar, Le Montorgueil on the street of the same name. The bar has a great location on a trendy street but a is a dive, complete with a circular Plexiglas aquarium-like thing with swirling glitter on the bar.
We caught up, decided to move on and I went to the bar to pay for a pint and a demi (25 cl draft) of the cheap stuff.
“Thirteen twenty,” said the barman, the euro equivalent of more than seventeen bucks.
I stared blankly. My eyes started to do that top-left, top-right, while-I do-the-math thing, but with nothing adding up, they went blank again.
“Thirteen twenty,” repeated the barman.
Saying nothing, I went over to verify on the little board with the drink prices.
Sure enough.
My friend had come over by this point to see what was taking so long.
“Thirteen twenty,” I told him.
He turned directly to the barman and without hesitating said, “I’m sorry, sir, but that’s absurd.”
I agree. I get the part about paying for the trendy location. I realize the prices are posted for everyone to see, but give me a break. I’d later bump into a Parisian friend who had the same experience, noting their drinks cost what I’d roughly translate as “the skin off of our rear ends.”
Thirteen euros is over 17 bucks and there are places where I’ll just wince at a price like that – the big, beautiful and similarly priced Café Beaubourg, right down the street, for example. Here, however, it’s absurd.

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo of objet at Le Montorgueil by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Sunday afternoon is one of our favorite times in a Spanish city. Most of the official “attractions” are closed, so there’s no pressure to fit in just one more museum. Best thing is to join the Spaniards in strolling and window-shopping, hanging out with their kids in a park – and eating. This restaurant in the Renaissance city of Baeza in Andalucía was completely empty when we walked by around noon. By 2, every table was filled, most with multigeneration families out for a big meal with lots of wine and animated conversation.

Posted by Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

Photo by David Lyon for The Boston Globe

I wheedled my way into a Krug Champagne tasting in Barcelona the other day – my birthday no less! - getting a chance to sip on some pretty fancy stuff.
I can’t say buying a bottle of their bubbly is the first thing I’d do with a few extra c-notes, but I liked LVMH (Krug’s parent company) enologist Xavier Montclús’ back-to-basics, grapes-to-glass approach to the tasting, even in a room full of food-industry pros that included sommeliers and Michelin-starred chefs. A few highlights:

THE GRAPES:
Montclús’ metaphors to understand part of each grape’s role in Champagne…
Pinot Noir – “The backbone and the muscles that hold up the wine” – anti-flab, if you will.
Pinot Meunier – “The bones which give fruit flavors like pear, peach and quince…remember that the best taste in meat is closest to the bone.”
Chardonnay – “The skin.” The skin? Eww. “Like on a peach. It contributes smell (honey, for one) and golden color.” Mmm.

PRESENTATION:
The Cork - “Loosen the cage that holds the cork, but keep it on top of the bottle, with your hand on it at all times,” he says, reminding me of a moment when I was a waiter on a San Francisco Bay dinner cruise (dressed like Gopher from “The Love Boat,” no less) and put a quarter-inch dent in a ceiling tile with a cork before beaning a woman on the top of her head. Hoo, dear, I couldn’t stop laughing. “Hold the cage & cork in one hand and turn the bottle with the other.”

THE BUCKET:
“Fill it three-quarters of the way with ice, then halfway up with water.” A bottle that hasn’t been cooled should be kept on ice ½ hour, but not more. “Minimum temperature should be five degrees Celsius (41 F) – lower than that just brings out the defects.”

THE POUR:
“Never serve more than half a flute.”
Bottoms up!

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

From May 17-23, travel writer Patricia Preston, author of 15 books on Ireland, will lead a Springtime in Ireland tour, focusing on the southern coast, from Waterford to Kinsale, Bantry, and Killarney. The price with airfare from Boston is $1,801 or $1,369, land only. Included are all sightseeing, four-star hotel stays, most meals, and entertainment.
Visit www.irelandexpert.com or call 845-758-1232.

Posted by Richard P. Carpenter, Globe correspondent

Book by March 31 to save $800 a couple on these Wayfarers walking tours: Cornwall’s Creeks, Coves & Coastal Trails; Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast; the Czech Republic’s Vienna to Prague; and France’s Historic Dordogne. In all, The Wayfarers is offering 39 tours with prices beginning at $3,795 per person that include all walks, activities, meals, and lodging.
Visit www.thewayfarers.com or call 800-249-4620.

Posted by Richard P. Carpenter, Globe correspondent

Bad news, bar fans!
Even in Barcelona, word got to me that after decades of running one of my favorite spots for a Paris apéro, Elyette Planchon has hung up her high heels and sold Au Reve, her 18th arrondissement landmark bar, and retired. For the returning traveler, Elyette and Au Reve were the perfect way to feel back at home in the City of Light.
Not for lack of trying, but one of my biggest food regrets in Paris is never having had one of her semi-secret Wednesday lunches.
Sniff!
Instead of crying in my beer, let's raise a glass of wine to Elyette, wish her well, and do as it said on her apron – la geste qui sauve les vignerons* – take a sip.
Click here to see my Boston Globe Travel article, “Paris dreams of things to come – after an apéro” which features Elyette and Au Reve.

* “The gesture that saves winemakers”

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo of Elyette by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Although we’ve been to Granada often, we’ve never seen the slopes of the Sierra Nevada totally shrouded in snow. The sight made it hard to believe it's nearly spring. But the warm afternoon sunshine brought out a large crowd to the Mirador San Nicolás in the old Muslim quarter of the Albaicín. Flamenco musicians played and sang, and somewhere in their incantations, it was easy to imagine the sorrows of the last Moorish king as he left behind the golden Alhambra, shining on the hilltop with the forbidding Sierra behind it.

Posted by Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

Photo by David Lyon for The Boston Globe

For some, St. Patrick’s Day isn’t just an occasion to raise a pint of Guinness but a chance for sober reflection on the often-tortured history of the Irish, in particular the Great Famine of the late 1840s. Approximately one million Irish died from the terrible famine that swept the country, and the resulting massive emigration transformed the ethnic makeup of cities around the world, including Boston.
Boston has erected a famine memorial, composed of two statues and eight plaques, on the corner of School and Washington Streets. One statue depicts an Irish family, dressed in torn rags, in terrible suffering; the other depicts a hopeful Irish family as they arrive on America's shores. Plaques recount the story of the famine and describe how Bostonians responded to the crisis (both positively and negatively) and how descendants of Irish immigrants have made an indelible mark on the city.
Here are four other memorials that are worth visiting:
New York City. Located on the banks of the Hudson River at the end of Vesey Street (and a block west of the World Trade Center site), New York's memorial looks like a sloping hillside that has been cut out of the Irish countryside and transplanted to Manhattan. The memorial includes a recreated Irish cottage, stone walls, and native vegetation. The top of the memorial has views to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, where so many Irish first set foot in America.
Sydney. In addition to America, Australia was another common destination for famine refugees. Sydney’s understated memorial in the courtyard wall of the Hyde Park Barracks, which was used as an immigration depot, depicts a sterile dinner table with empty bowls and plates and names of girls orphaned by the famine inscribed in glass.
Murrisk, Ireland. So many Irish refugees perished during the voyage to America that the vessels became known as "coffin ships." The National Famine Memorial in County Mayo—located in the shadows of Croagh Patrick, on whose summit St. Patrick was said to have spent Lent in the year 441—reflects those horrific conditions with its eerie depiction of skeletons tied to the masts and prow of the hulk of ship.
Near Delphi, Ireland. About 20 miles south of Murrisk is a much simpler, but no less moving memorial: a solitary Celtic cross surrounded by the serenity and beauty of the blue waters of Doo Lough and a wall of green mountains. It’s hard to believe that the gorgeous landscape was such a place of horror in March 1849 when men, women, and children succumbed to starvation as they trekked through the snow to appeal for help.

***********
Globe travel correspondent Christopher Klein writes his own blog, HubTrotter, and is the author of the forthcoming book, "The Die-Hard Sports Fan's Guide to Boston."

Photo of Boston memorial by Christopher Klein for The Boston Globe

Spain’s Mediterranean is still cool in March, but it’s a heck of a lot warmer here than in most of the rest of Europe, and the locals are trying their best to entertain the northern Europeans. You have to admire their creative approach to panhandling. They spend hours in the sun building castles in the sand, which they often light with candles after sunset. All they ask is an appreciative coin or two from passers-by. The chap here was working away in Benidorm, on the Costa Blanca between Valencia and Alicante.

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

Photo by Patricia Harris for The Boston Globe

Brian Moore International Tours modestly calls its five-day, late-autumn trip Ireland’s Finest Pub Tour. Although the escorted tour visits the Emerald Isle’s most popular sights, the emphasis is on spending time at pubs in Dublin, Killarney, and Bunratty. The price is $599 plus air fare and dates are Nov. 4-9, 11-16, 18-23, and Dec. 2-7.
Included are transfers, hotel stays, motorcoach transportation, the services of a tour director, Irish breakfasts, two dinners, an Irish coffee gathering, and entrance fees to attractions. You can buy your own Guinness.
Visit www.bmit.com or call 800-982-2299.

Posted By Richard P. Carpenter, Globe correspondent

The Cruise Store, based in East Longmeadow, sells more than cruises. For instance, its Ireland Summer Resort offer features a stay in a villa at Adare Manor. Located on 840 acres of countryside, the castle estate provides easy access to Limerick, Bunratty, Galway, Killarney, Waterford, the Cliffs of Moher, and Blarney Castle. Priced from $699 per person, the package includes Boston-to-Shannon airfare, six nights in a three-bedroom Adare Manor villa, and rental of a full-size standard shift car. The lowest price is based on four people sharing, for travel in May, and must be booked by March 31. Visit www.cruisestore.com or call 800-732-2897.

Posted by Richard P. Carpenter, Globe correspondent

Just in time for St. Patty's Day. Aer Lingus recruited 999 folks to strip and don shamrocks as a publicity stunt Sunday at London's Jubilee Gardens. The Irish discount carrier organized the event to publicize the April launch of flights to eight destination from Gatwick and a promotional Pounds Sterling 9.99 -- No Hidden Extras fare.
Participants, which included "nudes of all shapes and ages,'' were recruited and pre-selected via various social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter. Each volunteer received free flights in return for their services, according to a news release from the company.
Between this latest promotion from Aer Lingus and Ryanair's calendar caper it seems as if Irish carriers really keep their eyes on the bottom line.

On this, the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, thoughts turn to visiting, or revisiting, Ireland. Those who can quickly turn their thoughts into action by visiting this month or next can see the island on a CIE Tours International self-drive vacation that starts at $468 plus airfare. (Those fares are currently 40 to 50 percent lower than at this time last year.)
Travelers pick up a self-drive standard shift car from Hertz at Shannon or Dublin airport, and create their own itinerary with unlimited mileage, insurance, and government tax included. Also part of the package are open vouchers for six nights at a choice of more than 1,100 bed-and-breakfasts with private bathrooms, Irish breakfasts, service charges, and all taxes. The offer is also available in May or June, beginning at $516. Visit www.cietours.com, call 800-243-8687, or see a travel agent.

Posted by Richard P. Carpenter, Globe correspondent

VALENCIA, Spain -- Pat Harris and I find ourselves in Valencia the week before Fallas, a festival that seems to combine the best of Mardi Gras and the Burning Man. Hotel rooms are still plentiful, but already there’s plenty to see. All along the streets giant displays of phantasmagorical sculptures are rising at plazas, squares, and crossroads, and traffic is (of course) snarled. Streets are hung with lights like Boston at Christmas (actually, better), and parades and other events are building up anticipation. We see people in 17th century court costumes. The little girls look like they stepped out of a Velazquez painting. It may be Lent, but celebration is in the air! During Fallas (March 14-20 this year), the Metro runs around the clock. Firecrackers pop everywhere, anticipating the night of torching the statues.

Posted by David Lyon, Globe correspondent

Photos by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

I can get caught up in the primordial pleasures of food – a caveman's instinct that can obscure technique, artistry and emotion. A freelancer's budget will also curb the reflex of heading to a fancy restaurant in a hurry, but Mauro Uliassi who runs his two-star restaurant Uliassi in Senigallia, Italy and is the consulting chef for the brand-new Domani in Hong Kong, helped glue the pieces together the other day at the Forum Girona food show.
I originally met Uliassi in Paris where he was showing off a dish called cuttlefish carbonara -- shaved ribbons of al dente cuttlefish, cooked sous vide, topped with oven-crisped pancetta and Cryovacked egg yolk -- a well thought-out and perfectly executed dish that made a clever wink at the classics.
To bridge the gap between food as fuel and food as inspiration, however, the Italian chef talks about sex.
"There's a huge parallel between food and sex. If you don't eat, you die. If you don't make love, there aren't more people,” he says, with a blunt and curious blend of math and biology, “but when you get past that, eroticism and food are pleasure.”
“If we're just hungry, I take a pig, cut it in half, stick it on a fire and eat it with my hands,” he continues, appealing to the primal needs while augmenting with a bit of spectacle, “but evolved cultures eat for pleasure.
“When you eat, you must 'ooh!' and 'ahh!' -- it's very important. Musicians have guitars, painters have canvases. Food is a way for me to show enthusiasm for life.”

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

The Society of American Travel Writers has polled its members for advice on how to save on the go.
Among the top suggestions: Travel in the off-season or on the edges of popular seasons; try bus or metro transportation during city stays; instead of eating every meal in restaurants, have a picnic; have your big meal at lunch, when prices are cheaper; make your first stop the visitors center and collect coupons, brochures, and free maps; stay in places that have free breakfast and a refrigerator to store snacks; visit less well-known destinations; try a home swap or home rental; in cities, stay at business hotels on weekends when there are often lower room rates and restaurant deals.
For details, go to www.satw.org.

Posted by Richard P. Carpenter, Globe correspondent

I got a whirlwind tour of the Alícia food research center today at Món St. Benet, about an hour outside of Barcelona.
The center, whose name is a mix of the Catalan words alimentació and ciència (food and science) is chef Ferran Adrià's dream child, focusing on gastronomic research, improving eating habits, including pushing for better school and hospital lunches. It’s sort of like an Alice Waters dream project with more test tubes and scientific gear.
It was an unfortunately quick tour, but at first glance, I love the idea that kids come here to learn good eating habits. Instead of a field trip to the museum, you go to the lab of food. Pay attention America.
Another favorite is a quote from Alícia coordinator Pepe Zapata – “We don’t deal with processed food here. You can put vitamins in milk, but why not get them from the products they originally come from?”

Alícia
info@alicia.cat
011 34 938 759 402
workshops and guided tours
info@monstbenet.com
011 34 902 875 353

P.S. - Speaking of Alice and school lunches, Mrs. Waters and collaborator Katrina Heron had a February 19 op-ed piece in the New York Times – “No Lunch Left Behind” – detailing what is needed to help make school lunches better – a worthy read.

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo of Ferran Adrìa by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Carlo Cracco is onstage at Girona's Forum Gastronomic holding a deep orangish-red egg yolk in his plastic-gloved hand. He squeezes it, pokes it, talks about it, and instead of turning into a gooey mess that drizzles unflatteringly down his arm, it holds firm.
The yolk is part of his "marinated egg yolk with light Parmesan cream'' -- a deconstructed egg yolk that is one of the Italian's signature dishes at his eponymous restaurant in Milan. It's a play on textures and preconceptions, a chef having thought-out fun.
Marinated?
Yes. For four or five hours, each yolk in a tin cupcake cup with a mixture of salt, sugar and bean flour that sucks much of the moisture from the yolk, leaving it like putty in his hands.
“Up to now, everyone pushed limits,” he tells me later, referring to the long burst of creativity and science that's been coming out of high-end kitchens. “Now, we need to slow down and look at what's worth it and what's not.”
I can't help but wonder what the controversial chef does with all of the extra egg yolks at the end of the day and curiously, he devotes much of the rest of the demonstration to just that.
With most of the liquid pulled from the yolk, he mashes a few of them together creating a thick, bright paste that looks like it's been pimped from his pastry chef. This he spreads between two sheets of oiled wax paper and rolls flat into a translucent pasta that practically glows orange. He runs half the sheet through a pasta machine that turns it into thin noodles which he suggests heating for a minute and serving with a tomato sauce. The other half becomes meat ravioli that look as delicate as a Pierre Herme macaron. This, he serves raw -- a mini steak tartare encased in its yolk.
This is worth it.

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Many, but not all, new parents already know the basic rules-of-the-road (or skies).
For domestic travel, if you're flying with a child under two the child can sit on your lap for free. If you want to buy the child a seat be aware that you'll probably have to pay the regular adult rate; there won't be a child's rate -- except on Southwest, which does offer one with a reduced fare. (It's also worth noting that on many airlines if there are a number of vacant seats -- a rare occurrence these days -- flight attendants often will generously shuffle passengers around a little and get you a seat for your baby for free). While these rules generally hold, it's worth a check with your airline to make sure you've got it straight.
Internationally, things get much trickier. My pal Rick Seaney, CEO of farecompare.com, took a look at this and says that things are all over the map. He suggests that anyone planning such a trip absolutely needs to do a little homework. He cites these examples:

FULL ENTRY

An old standby is a new favorite.
I’d been to L’Escargot, tucked away in the far reaches of Belleville, years ago when Canadian singer Sarah Slean and her entourage were in town and they turned to me for a place to go.
It’s been a bit too long to remember what we ate, but my favorite moment was when the diva’s dad turned to me and said, “That was the best meal we’ve had in France.”
Recently, I ate at L’Escargot a couple times in a two-week span – enough to notice that chef Frederic Valade had the guts to propose gizzards as a bar snack. Earning more points, I also learned he runs a triperie (hard-core butcher shop) down the street.
… but I’m putting the cart in front of the horse.
Like Mehdi As-Siyad, what Valade is doing is some of my favorite stuff in Paris right now – young chefs, making some seriously good food and having fun.
One night, Valade walked out into the open kitchen in a pink wig, then giant sunglasses, then a cabaret-style sequined hat, all of which would have made him look really dumb if the food wasn’t good.
Instead, his duck confît is among the best in town – crunchy on the outside, melting on the inside and packed with flavor. Add to the plate a little tower of mashed potatoes with truffle oil and a salad with a vinaigrette that keeps your taste buds awake and -- Petit Fer A Cheval take note -- you’ve got something comforting, luxurious and well-priced.
Almost every dish at L’Escargot is this good – a venison steak with winter vegetables, braised lamb shank that bursts with flavor, incredibly tender kangaroo (!) filet and ‘beef bo bun’ – a bowl of bite-sized seared flank steak in a lemongrass sauce.
Dessert? The only problem with the crispy crepe (think: thin cousin of a sugar cone, broken up, and shaped into a little puck of goodness nestled under a dense cloud of whipped cream) was that I got a little aggressive with my spoon and launched half of the dish onto the table and my lap.

I ate it anyway.

L’Escargot
50, rue de La Villette
75019 Paris
011 33 1 42 06 03 96

*******************************
Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Reflections on movement through time and place from "How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone" , a novel by Sasa Stanisic. Stanisic was born in 1978 in Visegrad, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and fled with his parents to Germany when war arrived in 1992. In this novel that tries to build a peace from pieces of the real past and fictional future, Stanisic's protagonist, Aleksandar, describes a writing assignment he received from Comrade-turned-democrat-teacher Mr. Fazlagic:

A wonderful trip, and it has to be an experience -- not just an event! Mr. Fazlagic looks at us. Vukoje, I shall stop reading after the twentieth spelling mistake. Faruk, anything illegible will lose you marks. And Aleksandar, I don't want to know anything about your great-grandma uprooting oaks, or inauguration parties for the family bathroom, or your Auntie Whirlwind running a race with Carl Lewis over the bridge and ending up in Tokyo. You've wandered off the subject in every essay you've written this year, so kindly restrain your imagination! Mr. Fazlagic comes up to my desk and bends down toward me. And we use quotation marks for direct speech, he says, leaning his fists on the desk top, you know that, I don't have to explain it to you every time. Now, you all have an hour!

American is putting most of its international destinations on sale, but you must purchase by March 10. Travel that must begin no later than May 16 for Europe and other destinations by May 17 and travel must be completed by May 20. Best fares are available Monday-Thursday, except for Great Britain where it's Monday to Wednesday. There are other restrictions and you can read the fine print on the website.
What kinds of prices are we talking about? For London in mid-March, I found round-trips starting at $372 and Paris for $404, not including taxes or fees. Not bad. If you've got the scratch and an itch to hop the pond, check it out.

The May Fair Hotel in London is promising luxury for less with its Advanced Purchase Program, good through August. The rate starts at about $200, a 20 percent savings on the best available rate, if you book at least 10 days before your arrival date, pay in full when booking, and understand that there are no cancellations or changes are allowed. No minimum length of stay is required.
Call 800-333-3333 or visit www.themayfairhotel.co.uk. Pick your dates on the website, and if you don’t see Advance Purchase Program, click on Show All Rates Results, and there it will be.

Posted by Richard P. Carpenter, Globe correspondent

Azores Express has air and hotel packages to Madeira, a sunny island 750 miles south west of Lisbon. Six-night packages, including round-trip air, hotel, and breakfast, start at $1,169. Flights depart and return on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Call 800-762-9995 to book. For more information, visit www.sata.pt and click on Air & Hotel.

Posted by Richard P. Carpenter, Globe correspondent

Air France has slashed March fares but the deal only lasts till Thursday. This sale covers several European destinations with one-way fares as low as $231 from Boston to Paris, not including taxes and fees. The discounts are available for departures between March 1–31. And there are other terms. The fine print is here.
OK, it's not April in Paris but it's close.

How would you like to see 3,000 Picasso paintings illuminated on giant limestone walls in an underground quarry? The dramatic show is one highlight of a Provence Escapes seven-day, villa-based tour hosted by travel writers Judi Janofsky and Rich Steck and limited to 10 participants each trip. The dates are May 23-30 and May 30-June 6, and both tours include seven nights of villa accommodations, transfers from and to the Avignon high-speed train station, local ground transportation, breakfast and lunch or dinner daily, tours and admission tickets, wine tastings, a cooking class, and other amenities. The price is $3,175 per person. Book before Feb. 28 and get a discount of $200 each.
Visit www.provenceescapes.com or call 770-998-7800.

I had great fun walking around Brussels and looking at the comic book murals for “A serious devotion to comics on display” in last Sunday's Travel section, but I did feel one thing was missing: much evidence of the work of Georges Prosper Remi, better known by his pen name, Hergé. When he created Tintin the reporter back in 1929, he revolutionized comic art in Europe the way that Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse changed everything in the United States. I’d wager that without Hergé, there would never have been the graphic novel. I just learned last week that a museum devoted to Hergé’s life and work will finally open in June after two years of construction. It sits practically next to the railway station in the village of Louvain -- La-Neuve, built in the shape of an elongated prism which seems to float on the forest of ancient trees. All the more reason to go back! Besides, Brussels itself is opening a René Magritte Museum on June 2.

Tintin and Hergé, depicted in the Brussels Comic Book Museum
Photo by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

An April 14 six-night sailing of the Queen Mary 2 from New York to Southampton, England, begins at $815 for an inside cabin (or even less for those who acted after receiving a mailing from Cunard). Remember that a cruise fare includes meals and entertainment, along with a host of amenities — not that there won’t be ample opportunity to spend more once onboard. For more information check the line's website or call 800-728-6273.
Posted by Richard P. Carpenter, Globe Correspondent

It's a travel writer or blogger's nightmare.
Remember that great “1984” ad for the Macintosh – the one where a female athlete runs into a room full of brainwashed dudes dressed in grey, then hurls a sledge hammer at Big Brother who looms on the screen above them all?
That’s what I want to do with my MacBook – hurl it out the window. Or at least drop it from the window here in Barcelona and watch it break into a hundred little pieces.
Why? My Apple is a lemon.
The problem? A longstanding Mac quirk affecting a large number of users called "WiFi dropout,'' where the computer’s wireless connection picks up and drops at random intervals:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=1441 (a favorite quote from this one: “It’s maddening to persons affected.”)
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/11/06/new_macbook_pros_recent_imacs_grappling_with_flaky_wireless.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-9922461-37.html
and on Apple’s site: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6848205
I switched from PC to Mac last August while back in New Hampshire, buying a beautiful, black MacBook. I reasoned that it was a travel writer’s dream: compact, light, versatile, particularly good with photos (a huge hunk of my work) and … cool.
Thanks to WiFi dropout, however, uploads, downloads, surfing and Skype are crippled.
I can get past the weird glitches my Mac has with word processing programs, but I get hives on my neck watching a little circle go round and round while the computer looks for the connection. Traveling with my computer has become pretty pointless.
I noticed the first signs of trouble when working in a café, something I do several days a week. People on computers around me -- even older Macs -- seemed to have no trouble surfing while my connection came and went.
This renders working wildly frustrating. I’m writing this while waiting for the connection to decide to work again, and meanwhile, a friend of mine is sitting further away from the WiFi station, chugging away without a problem on a five-year old PC.
Where’s the cool in that?
The whole beauty of Apple is the simplicity of their products – the uncluttered design and ease of use – as compared to a PC. Instead, I’ve spent hours on discussion boards (more than I did with my old PC) looking for a solution to an old problem whose existence Apple doesn’t completely acknowledge.
I don’t want to waste time searching for a fix. I don’t want to know the PC-esque inner workings of my computer. I don’t want a workaround. I just want Apple to step up say ‘Here’s the solution’ or admit I’ve got a lemon and send me a new one.
The funny part? I sent a note about the problem to Apple and the first sentence on the ‘Thank you for your feedback’ page?
“We cannot respond to you personally” … which makes me feel just like one of those dudes in grey from the “1984” commercial.
I never thought I’d say it, but I’d happily go back to a PC.

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

In nearly a decade living in Paris, I had never been to the Montparnasse brasserie La Coupole -- it’s the Bostonian’s equivalent of never having been to Legal Sea Foods.
Part of the reason for not going was that I snobbishly avoid chains on principle and La Coupole is owned by the Flo group, which owns or bought up more a dozen brasseries in Paris and across Europe including Bofinger, Brasserie Flo and Julien.

I’d also be justified in staying away for nothing more than wanting to boycott those cheap-looking sandwich board that each Flo brasserie has out on the sidewalk advertising something like a 19-euro prix fixe menu. It looks like they pimped them from the semi-ubiquitous French steakhouse chain called Hippopotamus. I imagine the original owner of each brasserie groaning every time they walk past those things.
But the other afternoon, it was cold and we needed a coffee, went inside and I immediately wondered aloud why I had stayed away so long. Like brasserie Wepler, it’s got that great, big-town feeling that envelops you as soon as you walk through the door. Everything from the big, beautiful cupola that floats over the room to the waiters in their black and whites swooping around with big plates of shellfish to the sense of space the mammoth room affords – it all gives a sort of city comfort.
What I’d really like to applaud is the price of La Coupole’s coffee and hot chocolate. Though 4,10 euros for cappuccino makes me groan, particularly considering the poor quality of most French coffee, I’d pay a similar price at my neighborhood café. La Coupole’s hot chocolate, made with high-end Valrhona chocolate, costs about the same and it beats the pants off the powdered junk with the pony on the label that most cafes use.

La Cupole
102, bd du Montparnasse
75014 Paris
011 33 1 43 20 14 20

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

I’m in luv. I met Alfonso during a wine tour and tasting at Herdade da Malhadinha Nova in the Portuguese Alentejo (malhadinhanova.pt/). Big, blonde, deep-voiced, he was incredibly low-keyed as Mediterranean temperaments go. Throughout my stay he followed me with brown doe eyes rather than footsteps, never underfoot but always there. Girlfriends, you know what I mean. See his picture.

While the Obamas lean toward one of Alfonso’s countryman for White House mascot (the Portuguese Water Dog), my pooch idol has at least one thing in common with our new president: his breed known as Rafeiro do Alentejo roughly translate’s to Obama’s self-described ‘mutt.’ The Rafeiros make especially great watch dogs as well as fall-all-over-him boyfriend substitutes. The breeders’ association is Associação de Criadores do Rafeiro
do Alentejo based in Monforte, e-mail: acra@portugalmail.pt. Eduardo Lucas is an English-speaking breeder I met there (Tel. +351 266 612 023; elucas@gescruzeiros.com.)

FULL ENTRY

Aer Lingus has just launched one of the first European spring-summer sales of the season.
The Irish carrier is offering a one-way fare of $251, excluding taxes, for travel from Boston to Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, or London from April 1 to June 15.
Too early in the year for you? The one-way fares for same destinations can be snagged for as little as $335 for travel from June 16-Aug. 22. Again, this doesn't include taxes.
To qualify, you have to book at the website through Feb. 15.

Looking to head to Europe soon? Air France is offering a $75 discount on March round-trips from the United States to several European countries. To score this deal, you must book by Feb. 17 on the airline website and use this code: MARCH442.

I arrived a few minutes early to lunch the other day at Auberge Pyrénées Cévennes and knew I was in good shape by watching the table of businessmen across the room.
Before the food arrived, everyone was fidgety – they clearly didn’t know each other too well and spent time pulling their cell phones from those goofy belt-holster things to check messages instead of talking with one another.
Their wine showed up and the mood lifted, but the big change came with the first plate. A fortysomething guy with glasses and salt and pepper hair watched a neighbor’s plate arrive and his face sort of melted. Then he switched to a big, childlike grin.
The noise level picked up noticeably as the plates arrived. Everyone was smiling. Suddenly, everyone had something to say. The bridge between business and pleasure had been crossed and one of the men lifted a glass and offered a toast.
“Bon appétit, les amis!”
Auberge Pyrénées Cévennes is not for the slightly peckish – this is the cuisine of la France profonde, complete with hunting lodge décor, and built for that kind of appetite: a standard lunch might be a big lentil salad, a wonderful cassoulet, and a fantastic tarte tatin that comes (as it should) with its own bowl of crème fraiche.
The 30-euro menu (about $39) is more than you need at lunch (price included), but at dinner, it would just make you feel spoiled and happy.

Auberge Pyrénées Cévennes
106, Rue de la Folie Méricourt
75011 Paris, France
011 33 1 43 57 33 78

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Thanks to a dinner at a friend’s house in Barcelona and another at one of my new Paris faves, l’Escargot, I’ve recently been lured back into loving confît de canard.
Crunchy on the outside, melting and moist on the inside, these two dinners reminded me why the dish is a classic.
This afternoon, however, at Le Petit Fer à Cheval – a Marais classic in its own right and a place that prides itself on the dish – I remembered why it’s been so long.

Allow me to work through my plate in reverse…
Yes, it’s winter and the selections at the vegetable stands are pretty grim at this time of year, but this was particularly depressing. There was a vague wave in the direction of seasonality with some cabbage, and there was even a bit of variety, but everything either squeaked on my teeth or was mushy.
C’mon guys…live a little and drizzle some olive oil on the steamed broccoli, try finishing the green beans with some butter and shallots or just punt and swap the veggies out for a salad. I love being in the Clean Plate Club, but not today.
The potatoes next to the veggies were hand cut and crunchy on the outside - Hooray! - but more than a few were crunchy on the inside, too. Ick.
Finally, the duck itself reminded me why I hadn’t had this dish in so long – it was crunchy on the outside (though I almost wonder if, considering the laziness of the preparation for the rest of the dish, they just crisped it up by throwing it into the Frialator with my spuds), but inside it was lifeless.
What’s frustrating is that I like this place – the well-dressed waiters, the U-shaped bar that gives the restaurant its name, the big wall clock that goes backward, the good Parisian feeling that you get here – but I think it’ll be a while before I come back.
I lied unconvincingly when my waiter asked me how it was but the kicker, and a good part of the reason why I’m writing this, was the ridiculous price tag: 20 euros (!!!) or the equivalent of 26 bucks. At L’Escargot, where I would eat it again and again, their confît comes with a potato puree with truffle oil and a beautiful salad for 17 euros.
Expensive and good I can deal with. Expensive and bad just makes me angry.
“Really?” I blurted out to the poor bartender.
“The duck is the specialty of the house,” he said.
It has nothing to do with the guy behind the bar, but quit insulting me.

L’Escargot
50, rue de la Villette
75019 Paris
011 33 1 42 06 03 96

Le Petit Fer à Cheval
28, Rue Vieille du Temple
75004 Paris‎
011 33 9 62 09 23 38‎

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

I like to decide quickly what I’m going to eat in a restaurant. I usually have a good instinct for what will be good, and more particularly what won’t, and if I stare at the menu too long, I start feeling like I’m in a video store without knowing what to rent.
Despite a recent, glowing recommendation by you-know-who about Au Bascou’s Lievre à la Royale, (there’s a framed version of his Le Figaro review on the bar), I was curious to try the wild pigeon cooked two ways.
I love this kind of thing; a few years back while shooting pictures for a story about Spring, chef Daniel Rose served lamb three ways and I still remember the spoonful of tartare he slid under my nose. (Squirm all you want – more for me.)
Here at Au Bascou, the deep, earthy flavor of roast breast of wild pigeon reminded me why I love game, but les cuisses were the showstoppers: black-as-night thighs, legs and claws(!), on either side of the plate that looked like set pieces pinched from “The Dark Crystal.” I wondered aloud if they were to eat or just a gutsy garnish.
Me of little faith.
I took a bite and my hand did that thing where it involuntarily flies up in the faces of my dining companions, quaintly indicating something like "Shut up and let me taste this." The preparation -- en salmi -- a sauce made with the bird’s carcass and, as chef Bertrand Gueneron puts it, “lots of time bubbling away in wine,” give it a depth flavor that demands all of your attention.
Deep and primordial, it made me salivate so much, I almost drooled.
The service was a bit spotty – they seemed weirdly short-staffed and flighty for a place this nice – and two of us were crammed into strange theater chairs not made for eating, in but in one bite, a return customer was born.

Au Bascou
38, rue Réaumur,
75003 Paris
011 33 1 42 72 69 25

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

STA Travel, a student and youth travel company, is looking for two interns for this summer.
What do they want you to do? Video-blog a trip around the world to 15 different countries. On their dime. That's right. For free.
To apply you must be between 18 and 26. You do not need to be a student. Applicants must make and upload a video to YouTube explaining why they deserve the job -- the popularity of your video (reflected in the number and kind of comments and views) will be a factor in whether you advance. You can scope out some of the competition here.
The top 20 applicants will face a phone interview with contest judges, and the 10 finalists must submit a second video giving the judges a tour of their hometown.
Entries will be accepted through the STA Travel World Traveler Internship website until March 8 and winners will be annointed by mid-April.
What is the itinerary? Winners must be free to travel from June 1 - Aug. 20. The odyssey will start with two weeks in Fiji volunteering at a school and enjoying a little R&R. Then it's off to Australia, India, Kenya, and Tanzania, before heading to Berlin, Poland, Denmark and Russia. The trip finishes with a backpacking adventure in Scotland and tour of Ireland.
Sweet, yes? Much better than interning at your Uncle Greg's law firm, methinks.

Put to the test on where to go in the neighborhood to fulfill a French onion soup quest, the team at La Cave à Jojo floundered.
“That’s tricky around here,” said Jojo, batting ideas around with clients at the bar, before smiling. “I’ve got it.”

We walked back into the night, skirting the base of Montmartre and bringing our bodies down to the right temperature for soupe à l’oignon.
On the way to our table, a man alone ate oysters from a raised platter, following each with brown bread and sweet butter, then luxuriously washing it down with some white wine; we were in the right place.
I’ve known this -- the one-man reward in a bistro -- and seeing the man made me think of doing the same several years ago, filing a story at some ungodly hour and heading to Au Général Lafayette for pig knuckle, choucroute, and beer. Similarly, every year when I get a new carte de séjour, I straight from the prefecture to the Petit Fer à Cheval where I order steak tartare, silently toast my grandma, and thank God I don’t have to renew the damn thing for another year.
Back at Wepler, the breeze blowing through an open door shook me from my reverie -- Paris city air sweetened with the sea salt it picked up blowing across the oysters kept outside.
Inside, three men who have ordered two coffees look up as the waiter arrives.
Garcon smiled, placing the coffee on the table and slipping a chocolate to the guy who didn’t need any more caffeine.
In this temple of consumption, the thought of it all made the conversation better, made me hungrier.
We ordered soup, my friends agreed to split a chèvre chaud, but they stared at me funny when I ordered a pig knuckle.
I raised a silent toast to grandma and dug in.

Brasserie Wepler
14, Place de Clichy
75018 Paris
011 33 1 42 93 70 84

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

To me, this explains it all.
How is it that when the EU bans imports of hormone-treated beef from the United States, the Americans triple the import tariff on French Roquefort…a cheese made with unpasteurized milk that comes from sheep that are fed a chemical-free diet?
Not to gloat, but it’s snack time and I’ve got some really good raw-milk Camembert in the fridge…

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Azores Express -- the US division of Portugal's second largest airline, Grupo SATA -- plans to announce this week that on April 5 it will add a third weekly flight between Boston and Lisbon that stops along the way in Ponta Delgada in the Azores, a cluster of islands off the coast of Portugal.
That flight will be on Sundays and cost $584 or more plus tax for a round trip to Ponta Delgada and $710 or more plus tax for a round trip to Lisbon.
The carrier also plans to add a third summertime nonstop flight between Boston and Lisbon starting July 1. That flight will be on Wednesdays and be priced at $816 or more plus tax for a round trip.
The additions will increase Azores Express's weekly flights at Logan International Airport in Boston from two to three year-round, and from a total of seven to nine during the summer. This is part of the carrier's plan to increase worldwide seat capacity by about 5 percent this year, even as other airlines cut capacity and industry forecasts sour.

Posted by Nicole C. Wong, Globe Staff

Here's the deal: Lastminutetravel.com has just launched its World for a Dollar promotion.
Starting in late January, visitors to the website will get a chance to book a room for up to seven consecutive nights for $1 per night at any of the 15,000 hotels in the site's worldwide inventory.
What kinds of hotels? To give you some idea, in Boston you could pick the Onyx Hotel, Nine Zero, or Boston Park Plaza, among many others.
The catch(es)?
Reservations can only be made during one 15-minute period each day, Monday - Friday, over 2 weeks. And they won't reveal in advance what day the promotion will begin or which 15-minute period in any given day. The only way to find out is to keep checking the site.
There are a few more conditions: You can only score a cheap room once during the campaign; the booking must be made online and must be completed within the 15-minute time frame.
Sound hard? You can register on the website for clues to help you out.
Why is Last Minute Travel doing this? The idea is to promote the site's transition to becoming an "opaque" one, like Hotwire, in which you make an offer for a hotel stay, car rental, air flights etc without knowing what specific hotel or company you are dealing with. Thus their interest in having you return to the site multiple times to check things out.
A hassle, yes. But a cool hotel room for $1? With a deal like that maybe you can afford a winter vacation, even in a lousy economy.

American has just launched a sale to select destinations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico, South America, Europe, and Asia.
Sample fares include: Boston-Miami for $94 each way (based on round-trip ticket), Boston – Dallas/Fort Worth, $124, and Boston – London Heathrow, $186.
Tickets must be purchased by Jan. 16. US travel must begin between Jan. 26-March 1 and be completed by March 4; Caribbean and Mexico trips must commence Jan. 12-March 10 and be finished by March 12; Europe flights Jan. 19-April 1 and completed by April 29; Asia travel Jan. 19-March 31 and completed by April 30; and South America flights Jan. 12-June 27 and completed by June 30.
Other restrictions may apply. For full details, hit the website.
.

Amid the global gloom British regional discount carrier Flybe is offering a kind of free fare insurance. If you book flights, car rentals and hotels through them in January for travel before Oct. 24, you will be automatically covered by their Book with Confidence program in case of job loss.
That's right. If you get laid off, you can cancel your trip, and they will make you whole for everything you've prepaid, including government and airport taxes and fees.
Why the largess? Flybe is just doing its bit to "keep the economy moving'' during rough economic times, Mike Rutter, chief commercial officer says.
But it probably has as much to do with the fact that it's getting tougher to lure customers. International Transport Association says global carriers suffered a 13.5 percent drop in cargo traffic and a 4.6 percent decline in passengers in November, and North American airlines saw a 14.4 percent drop in cargo and nearly 5 percent slide in passengers.
It could also be that Flybe has developed a greater sensitivity to the plight of victims of the financial meltdown as their insurer for this program, AIG UK, is the British unit of insurance giant American International Group. You remember them? They're the beneficiaries of an $84b US bailout deal. A sad tale that.
Still, all cynicism aside. It's not a bad idea. Are you American carriers paying attention?

Why do I keep coming back to this place? Beautiful and flawed, Aux Negociants is still one of those places (like Au Reve across the street) that’s the perfect place to come when you get off the plane for a fast dose of Parisian Paris.
One of the most glaring idiosyncrasies is the chef. What’s he doing in the front of the house at suppertime? Shouldn’t he be out back cooking our dinners?
Instead, he seems to have come up with a menu that allows him to spend most of the service time at dinner out at the bar shooting the breeze with his pétanque buddies or time to get mad at me for sending the wine back.
There’s stuffed cabbage, saucisse de Montbeliard, confît de canard -- all stuff that you either make ahead of time and/or just heat up… I can’t tell if I’m miffed that he isn’t out back doting on my food or impressed at the preparation that goes into it.
In any case, the food’s good and there’s the friendly crowd, good wine and that funny feeling that I want to come back again.

Aux Negociants
27 rue Lambert
011 33 1 46 06 15 11

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

I’ve been lucky enough to go to the Bistrot Paul Bert twice in the past month or so. Simon Says’ namesake and I have a fondness for this place to the point where it’s surprising we haven’t bumped into each other.
Truth be told, the last couple of times have been… OK. Perhaps both the chef and I have been a bit too game for game. I had a partridge dish which I liked principally because it had some buckshot in it and lievre à la royale (hare with foie gras and a deep-colored wine sauce) that left me, if we call a spade a spade, with a lot of connective tissue on my plate.
BUT! There have been plenty of reminders why I love this place: particularly a heaping dish of tiny, fried sardines which must have taken advantage of the P-B’s husband and wife team which also runs the neighboring seafood specialist, L’Ecallier du Bistrot. The only way to win with a dish like this is to hit it out of the park; nothing leaves a worse impression than bad fish.
I love a place that’s got the confidence in itself and its customers to serve a "low" fish… which is why I’ll keep going back.

Bistrot Paul Bert
18, rue Paul Bert
75011 Paris
011 33 1 43 72 24 01
Noon-2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.-11 p.m.
Closed Sunday and Monday

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

One of the most intimidating things to do in a Parisian restaurant is to send back a bottle of wine.
It’s a shaky gamble; unless the thing just stinks like a bottle of wet newspaper, it could just be that you’re tasting a wine that’s just not that great. Your nose could be lying. Who knows?
We ordered a bottle of Anjou the other night at Aux Negociants – which proclaims itself a "bistrot a vins." “Wine” is their middle name … or something like that.
The chef, who often serves as a waiter, plunked the bottle down and walked away before we could taste it.
Sniff, sniff.
To my nose, it alternates between smelling like a fair-to-middlin’ wine and something worse.
Sip.
It tastes like fair-to-middlin’ wine and something worse.
"The chef is going to have a field day with me if I’m wrong," I think, followed closely by, "I don’t feel like paying 20 euros for this crap."
“Is this what this should taste like?” I ask trying to be polite while getting my point across.
He grabs the bottle, grunts and walks it back behind the bar where his wife (?) runs the show. She pours a bit in a glass, sniffs, and the only word I catch in her aside to the chef is "bouchonné," “skunked,” as she dumps it. She dispatches chef with a new bottle and clean glasses that he wordlessly plunks on the table.
Sniff.
Next to the old one, it smells like a bouquet of flowers.

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

PARIS – Normally, I’m a salted butter man. The other night, however, I made an exception at a birthday party held at Nono in Belleville. I arrived when dinner was about to be cleared away, but immediately noticed bowls of little wax paper-wrapped butter packets marked with the word "cru'' – literally, "raw" or, in this case, unpasteurized.

Without even checking to see whether the coast was clear, I grabbed a handful and plunged them into my large coat pocket normally reserved for recently-downed game birds. All in the name of science, of course.
Curiously, I’d been making my way through a set of articles about butter in an old copy Saveur magazine, secure in the idea that though it all sounded good, I’d forever be a devotee to beurre demi-sel – tasty butter with big flecks of salt that go "bing!" in your mouth like Pop Rocks.
At the end of my third piece of toast this morning, the coffee kicked in and the butter – sans sel – let me know what I had been missing. For you, gentle reader, I made more toast.
The butter, still unmelted, starts as cool comfort, curious as it’s exactly freezing in Paris this morning. I feel it melt and coat my tongue and the toast’s heat releases its creamy flavors and promotes a gentle sweetness that lingers so long, a wine would blush with embarrassment.
Note: the picture above is the last butter packet that I haven’t devoured – I just noticed this one is both raw and salted. I might explode.

Nono
43 rue de Tourtille
75020 PARIS
011 33 1 43 49 37 79

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

There are lots of reasons to be economical when visiting Paris—and lots of good ways to save a few euros, as my husband and I wrote in “Penny-wise in Paris.” But apart from the obvious (battered stock market, beleaguered American currency, bleak employment outlook…), there’s also the best reason of all: Save where you can so you can spend where you want. In my mind, one affordable Parisian luxury that even the most impecunious traveler should experience is hot chocolate “Africain” at Angelina across from the Tuileries garden. Deeply rich and thick as hot lava, the chocolate comes with a cache of intense whipped cream on the side. No sweet tooth? Then my other option is a champagne cocktail in a Baccarat crystal flute at the Hotel Crillon bar. Last time I was there, the editor of French Vogue (the bartender identified her) came in and had one after a hard day at work.

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic both said they would cut their fuel surcharges because of the decline in the price of oil, which has fallen about 70 percent since the record high hit in July.
BA is cutting the charge on world traveler class flights of nine hours or longer from $149 to $102. For first class and club class on long-haul flights, the fee will be reduced by $46 to $132. BA said it was trimming surcharges on domestic and European service by 25 percent.
Virgin also cut its surcharge on long-haul economy flights from $149 to $102., and other reductions were similar to BA's moves.
The reductions apply to tickets purchased starting Thursday, and the airlines aren't offering refunds to those who have already bought.

PARIS – A restaurant is always doing well if a mother and son dining in their premises feel comfortable enough to have a conversation about French infidelity habits.
This happens to Mom and I at La Table De Claire, a place I’ve been curious about for months, thanks to its obscure location, curious wife, er, chef-swapping habits and deceptively simple-sounding menu.
Hidden away on rue Emile-Lepeu in the 11th, the restaurant has a growing reputation for bringing guest chefs in once a month and giving them carte blanche to do what they will along with giving the sous chef free reign two nights a week (note to struggling restaurant owners: Great way to keep local clients interested!).
Product quality is the guide here, yielding short and occasionally cute dish names; La Table’s magic is getting the flavors to marry. “Fish, scales and rocket” uses thin potato "scales" to surround the fish and gently absorb its sea and salty goodness. Beet and walnut risotto is something that would keep you coming back to a lover who cooked it. A rutabaga and foie gras appetizer sounds a bit gimmicky, but the tuber, sliced in rounds and lightly sautéed soaks up everything that’s good about goose liver.
The only problem is the rocket, sitting as a simple salad next to mom’s fish.
“Tastes like every dandelion I’ve ever picked in my life,” says the gardener, voicing a distaste for the greens I haven’t inherited as she nibbles on a frond.
“Damn things…” she mutters.
“More for me,” I say, taking advantage of her distracted state to swap plates with her.
Somewhere in there, we have a bottle of white, Claire’s list augmented by a revolving selection on blackboards with clever red or white frames. Mirroring the dining menu’s gracious restraint, no bottle appears to climb above 30 euros.
Aided by the latter, I explain to Mom the cinq à sept – the delicately named “five to seven” or post-work time reserved for affairs.

Me: From there, there’s an apéro and after that, dinner.
Mom: And that’s every night?
Me: If they’re doing well.

For dessert, mom orders a near-perfect crème brulée with a beautiful chestnut confît bulging above the surface in the center. For reasons I struggle to understand, Mom doesn’t like the nut but loves everything around it.

Me: This is worth coming back for.
Mom: Just leave the nut out.

La Table de Claire
30, rue Emile-Lepeu
75011 Paris
latabledeclaire@wanadoo.fr
011 33.1.43.70.59.84
Closed Sunday

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Paris – I want Stéphane Chevassus to cook all of my vegetables.
This is my first impression when I taste his braised cabbage with butter that held my fish aloft at Au Vieux Chêne. If a chef can knock your socks off with plat du jour cabbage, he’s got my vote. Plus, I tried it at home and though it was tasty, I couldn’t hold a candle to Chevassus’s cabbage.
I checked in again recently with mom and everything was up to snuff – a light but creamy pumpkin velouté, fish dishes done just right, little chocolate pastilles (white, milk and dark) served with coffee. Prix fixe lunch for 14 euros and cabbage from heaven.

Au Vieux Chêne
7, rue Dahomey
75011 Paris
+33.1.43.71.67.69
Closed Saturday & Sunday

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Barcelona -- Same story, better end.
Caffé Moro, take note; this is how to create repeat customers...
With my favorite Barcelona café closed for the day and looking for a new place to work, I found the new Sifó Xico in my old neighborhood of Poble Sec.
Instead of giving me lip and a lecture when I asked for a glass of water with my coffee, the bartender poured a glass, looked at it for a second, pitched it in the sink (Barcelona’s tap water can be nasty) and gave me a bottle of water. Free of charge.
I’ll be back.

Sifó Xico
C/Roser 82
Barcelona
011 34.663.762.035

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

PARIS – There are places I go to again and again because there are friends in town or they are a great value or because they are good.
Aux Lyonnais fits all of these bills. Mom is in town and we get the 30 euro prix fixe, each trying one of the two offerings. Our mains are pike quenelles and blood sausage, neither one being the first thing Mom (still an adventurous eater, along with being a prize-winning gardener) would choose.
I’m a little nervous until she bites the quenelle – a fish dumpling that’s decorated on either side with a pair pink-orange of crayfish tails. It’s light enough to be a soufflé cousin happily wading in a sauce of creamy brown butter and fish stock. Mom’s face slackens as the dish does its good work.
My boudin is unadorned; the magic is inside. Our waitress explains that their recipe – they make their own – uses shredded meat from pigs’ feet and cheeks. It’s less common than the apples, onions or tasty bits of fat commonly found in boudin noir from the butcher, but this historic recipe creates a tenderness and depth of flavor reminiscent of beef bourguignon. Yow, yow, yow!
When we arrived for lunch, I told Mom about the value of their prix fixe menu – a particularly good deal for dinner – but aided by good food and wine that bring up stories of family and friends I haven’t heard before, I leave with a new appreciation and another reason to come back.

Aux Lyonnais
32, rue St-Marc
75002 Paris
011 33 1 42 96 65 04

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Speaking about contemporary art last May on an otherwise stable day, President Olafur Ragnar Grimmson said: "Perhaps nobody can explain how we have created a modern 21st-century society. But there is an important message for the world: If we can do it, everywhere else can too."

Since, the economy of Iceland - home to 300,000 people -- has collapsed, threatening to take much with it.

Those looking at Iceland now are mostly doing so to find cautionary signs in this crisis felt round the world. In other words, Iceland, which in recent years had been the cutting edge innovator of Nordic culture built upon a hothouse economy, has become a kind of geographic poster child for the global credit crunch.

One artist I'd met in Iceland sent a broadcast email to friends:

"The scenario of defaulting banks in iceland is crucially different from for example the USA, because all the banks that went bust in here are also savings banks, not only investment banks," she wrote from Reykjavik, "and people that believed they were depositing money with no risk, have also been victims."

There were signs of this in May. The morning my flight arrived and I paid nearly $100 for a ride from the airport to the city center, then something like $8 for a coffee -- prices even then were prohibitively high -- I woke to the sound of truck horns in the alley outside my hotel window. The trucks were protesting high gas prices.

Piercing blows bouncing around little lanes then up into the fog: a pretty sure sign something was ready to blow.

So now, geographic travel as means of explanation for the credit collapse:

Banks failed, and last week the IMF set up a $4.6 billion-dollar bailout.

As is their wont, tourists are finding bargains.

The International Monetary Fund is not an island. Who will bail out it?

I may be a knight, but nobody bothered to tell me that the king’s garden closes in November.
I will remember this the next time I want to bring my mother, an award-winning gardener, to Versailles.
The Potager du Roi –-a garden designed for Louis XIV so the Sun King would have fresh vegetables –- closes for the winter on Nov. 1. Oops.
Hungry –- which, in this case rhymes particularly well with angry –- and needing to win back a few points, I couldn’t take bringing Mom to one of those restaurants that ring the chateau’s entrance advertising ten kinds of pizza on a Plexiglas sign.
I ask the gardener who's very gently told us we won't be getting in (and even if we did, our feet would get muddy), who sends us across town to l'aparthé, a restaurant and tea room tucked away next to the Notre Dame church.
Pulling aside the big velour curtain that kept the cold, wet day outside we were greeted with the buzz of French locals.
We split a ‘'five vegetable’' soup, a beet and mozzarella salad, and a big salad with lardons, potatoes, Roquefort, apples and sun-dried tomatoes put to surprisingly good use.
There’s a solid wine selection, 20 teas (Mariage Frères, bien sûr) and coffee comes with a Carambar candy.
“C’est une bonne adresse,” confirmed a local woman who later sat next to us with her family, probably wondering how we lucked into finding the place.
They’re not reinventing the wheel, but finding a place you’d like to have around the corner from your apartment when your primary concern is just getting something good is a real treat.
Lunch for two and peace of mind for 37 euros.
L’aparthé
1bis rue Ste Genevieve
Versailles 78000
France
011.33.1.30.21.26.57

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Barcelona's canned goods quality fanatic Quim Perez should know about this place.
I find the Lisbon landmark, the Conserveira de Lisboa (The Lisbon Cannery) -- famous for their Tricana line of high-end canned seafood, completely by accident.
After I pay for a few tins, cannery owner Regina Ferreria walks out of the back room. She asks me what I've found, grimaces, and walks to the side wall of her tiny, picturesque shop and pulls down a 125 gram tin of ovas de sardinha –- sardine eggs (how do they catch only the females?). She uses both of her hands to place her gift into mine.
"Open them gently. Place them on a plate. Place them on bread –- not toast -– so the olive oil gets soaked up," she says. "No forks! It bothers them - use a spatula. Serve these to your sweetie with vinho verde."
I need to stop traveling alone.

Conserveira de Lisboa
Rua dos Bacalhoeiros, 34
Lisbon
011 351.218.871.058

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Irish discount airline Ryanair has caused a stir in Europe with the publication of its Girls of Ryanair calendar, with feminist groups accusing the carrier of sexism.
You'll recall that Ryanair sparked a frenzy here this month after a news report suggested the airline would soon announce service from London and Dublin airports to Boston and other major US cities, with fares starting at about $13, not including taxes and fees (which would be considerable). The BBC later quoted airline executives as saying that it would likely be at least 12 to 18 months before any plans could be solidified.
The calendar, which features photographs of scantily-clad flight attendants posing in front of jet engines, fuel pumps and tool kits, drew heated criticism from a number of groups, including the Women's Institute, a government-run rights organization in Spain, where this year's calendar was shot, according to a report on the Spiegel Online.
"It is significant that only women are used, in a sector in which there is a considerable percentage of men," the group said in a statement quoted by Britain's Daily Mail.
Spokesman María Jesús Ortiz told the Daily Main that the images presented the women as "sexual objects.''
"We're not talking about morals or nudity here, it's simply how women are portrayed,'' she said. "If there had been men in the calendar I'm sure there would have been no controversy."

Ryanair apparently begs to differ.
"Once again Ryanair will continue to defend the right of girls to take their clothes off, particularly when it is for charity,'' Stephen McNamara, a Ryanair spokesman, said.
The carrier has also sent a copy to Swedish politician Birgitta Ohlsson, who recently launched an attack against a Ryanair ad, which used a model in a short top and mini skirt, and accused Ryanair of exploiting women.
According to the German news organization the Spanish group has complained to Irish and European authorities and is considering legal action against the airline.
More than 700 female workers reportedly applied to take part in the 2009 calendar, which expects to raise at least $125,000 for a Dublin homeless organization, the Simon Community.
So if they make it across the pond someday they'll do the same for the Pine Street Inn or Father Bill's Place?

After finding pork and seafood variations on recent trips to Barcelona, Paris and Belle-Ile, clams and ham struck again during my first moments in Lisbon.
“We eat our words,” says my friend Pedro who’s shared a lifelong favorite place to eat, O Cacho Dourado, while explaining why the ‘o’s are often lopped off of either end of ‘obrigado’ when some Portuguese say thank you. We also eat carne de porco à alentejana with my lesson in local Portuguese 101.
As opposed to Cal Pep’s take on things LINK, where the flavor the pork fat lends to the dish steals the show, here, it lends subtle depth of flavor, almost like tucking an anchovy or three into a slow-cooked meat dish.
Or, as Pedro puts it, “It keeps it from being boring.”

O Cacho Dourado
Rua Eca de Queirós, 5
Lisbon
011 351.213.543.671

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

After a few blissful days in Lisbon, a local friend who lives in NYC and is back visiting her hometown takes her brother and me out to the Moinho de Baixo (a.k.a. “Meco”) beach about 40 minutes outside of town. It’s a perfect break from the city: beaches and dunes, breaking turquoise waves and not a tourist in sight. It’s amazing to think that it’s this easy to get out of town.
Once the sun goes down, we head to the Bar do Peixe, have a seat and dig in. Dinner starts with Azeitao cheese, the main course is half of a grilled Robalo (tasty snook) caught by the owner’s fisherman husband and we drink a white from the Setubal Peninsula – everything comes from less than 40 minutes away.
“The fish comes from there,” says the owner, eyeing the horizon. Cut in half lengthwise, grilled and drizzled with olive oil, it’s a lesson in simplicity.
“When I come home,” says my friend, “this is what I want.”
Bar do Peixe
Rua Praia do Moinho de Baixo
Near the town of Alfarim, Portugal
011 351.21.684.732

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

PARIS -- Today, after a hot chocolate and a decent espresso (a sad rarity in this town) at Caffè Moro, I was refused a glass of water larger than the thimble-sized one I received.
"You can come back three, four, five times if you like," said the waitress, noting the café's absence of table service.
"It's a style," chimed in a loud and grouchy woman who had been bossing the staff around for the previous half-hour while floating in and out of the back room, yet claimed not to be the boss.
I stared at them in disbelief, at a loss to think of a more annoying or petty 'style' to lose customers.
"If you want, you can buy an Evian," added the waitress.
Please. If somebody's going to plunk the better part of ten euros down in a half-empty café and ask for a glass of water that's larger than their thumb, have the good sense to give them a carafe or fill up a bigger glass and not give them any lip.
Caffè Moro
31, rue de Charonne
75011 Paris
011 33.1.43.14.06.39

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

For years, travelers have been screaming for setting limits on how long airlines can leave hapless passengers sitting on tarmacs during flight delays and even the US Department of Transportation's inspector general last fall recommended some kind of rule.
But the best a federal task force could do yesterday was to approve voluntary guidelines for airlines and airports. It failed to come up with any hard rules on how long airlines can keep you shut up in planes before being allowed to exit.
It's hard to find anyone who flies even semiregularly who doesn't have a story of being stranded on the tarmac for hours with no recourse.
(Full disclosure: I've been stuck twice. Both times were in California, once on an American flight and once with United, for three and nearly six hours, respectively, after the jets I was on appeared to be experiencing mechanical problems.)
Passenger rights advocates told the Associated Press that representatives of the airlines leaned on other task force members to reject time limits, saying they wanted the flexibility to design their own response plans.
Right. And what has kept them from doing so thus far on their own?
The DOT says it is working on rules to require airlines and airports to have contingency plans and include a time limit. But who knows when and if that will happen?
Well, you ask, what recommendations did the task force come up with?
They suggest the airlines update you on progress every 15 minutes; provide a secure room for passengers on overseas flight so they won't have to go back through security; provide refreshments and entertainment when practical; and try to keep the restroom clean.
The 36-member task force was created in December by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and was dominated by airline industry and airport representatives.
OK, Barack, I know you already have one or two other things on your plate but let's hope that you will be able to do a bit better by us. Yes, you can.

Westjet, the Canadian discount airline that plans to partner with Southwest, sent out a questionnaire to consumers to gauge their willingness to pay for a menu of services -- or to save money forgoing them.

One of the questions, first reported by Chris Elliott on his blog, involved whether passengers would favor shelling out $10 to not sit next to a parent with a baby.

The Westjet queries are revealing, I think. They don’t necessarily reflect what kinds of fees all the airlines will go for, but they suggest what kinds of things they all must be at least considering (or are already trying).

Besides the baby question, the carrier also asked whether travelers would consider paying $10 for:

• Being among the first to get on or off planes
  
• Quicker baggage delivery
  
• Priority rebooking after flight cancellations
  
• Complimentary meals/hotel accommodations for substantially delayed or canceled flights
  
• In-flight Web access
  
• Guaranteed space in the overhead bin
  
• In-seat power
  
• Premium snacks/meals
  
• Freshly laundered pillow/blanket set that you may keep
  
• Amenity kits with earplugs, eyeshades, and toiletries
  
• Shorter waits to clear security checkpoints

The carrier also asked questions about which services travelers would be willing to give up in order to save $10 on flights of two to four hours. These included

FULL ENTRY

Do imminent $13 airfares between Boston and London sound too good to be true? That’s because they are.
A news report suggesting that Irish airline Ryanair might announce expansion of service from London's Stansted and Dublin airports to Boston, New York, Florida, San Francisco, and Los Angeles sent online readers into a frenzy of e-mailing the article all over cyberspace.
The problem is that the excitement appears a bit premature.
The initial story, which appeared Britain's News of the World tabloid on Sunday, quoted Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary on his plans for the carrier. The Associated Press picked up the report, which noted that Ryanair plans to offer flights as cheap as $12.70, before taxes.
The problem is that Ryanair has been talking about its plans for new service to the United States for a quite a while, but officials at Logan say as far as they can tell the carrier isn’t close to launching flights. They say they have had no formal talks with the European low-cost carrier, and two other airports in the region, T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I., and Boston Manchester Regional Airport in Manchester, N.H., say they haven’t been formally approached either.
Furthermore the BBC quoted O'Leary today as saying that the airline was interested in new US flights but would only launch the routes if it could secure cheap long-haul aircraft from rivals.
"We haven't managed that yet, but we are hoping that in the middle of this recession ... that that opportunity might arise in the next 12 or 18 months,'' he said.

By Nicole C. Wong and Paul S. Makishima, Globe Staff

Now that “Hank” Paulson and the Bailout Buddies are about the only people with enough money for carefree travel these days, and luckily for them it's not to the Louisiana destination on the Travel front this week, perhaps we should simply consider moving. Not off the dime, since we have none, but “moving house,” as the Brits say. And not just Until This Whole Thing Blows Over. Forever, maybe. Moving far from our foreclosed houses, our failing industries, our buff SUVs, our 300 cable channels, our excruciating electoral productions (who will ever write the American “Bleak House” about that?) . . . but wait, that brings me to Panama.

FULL ENTRY

Score one for les Américains. Walking up rue Cambon between Place de la Concorde and the Paris Opera, I was struck by a poofy bouffant of a wedding dress in the window. The shop (Yumi Katsura – Tokyo/Paris, 26 rue Cambon, 065 001 56 01) is so new that the Paris designer for the company, Xavier Renaud, hasn’t even hired staff. But when my husband and I went in, he had some surprising things to say about Boston women. “They are so stylish!” he exclaimed. “In Boston, you see a woman going out at night in a cocktail dress. In Paris, they are all wearing jeans.” But what of those stylish French femmes on the street? “If you see a stylish women on the boulevards of Paris,” says Renaud, “she’s not from Paris.” Boston, he claims, more than any other American city, has real style. Thanks, Xavier.

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

Always wanted to cruise Norway? Hurtigruten is now offering a deal to let you do it at a pretty good discount. This from the folks at The New York Times:

Hurtigruten is running a two-for-one sale on its 12-day sailings between now and Dec. 14 for bookings made through Nov. 30. Featuring stops at the university town of Trondheim, the Lofoten archipelago, and Alesund, a city known for its Art Nouveau architecture, the cruise usually has starting rates of $2,299 per person, but that price will instead be applied to two people (who must stay in the same room). The same discount is good for the six- and seven-day itineraries, which have starting rates of $1,299 (per couple). All cruises leave from Bergen, Norway’s second-largest city.

It is a sublime pleasure to realize that you’re in the middle of one the best moments of your life.

Last week over lunch at the Pinotxo food kiosk at Barcelona’s Boqueria market, I smiled so much that I hit a point where I couldn’t speak.
It happened like this…A very good friend and I sat at a pair of Pinotxo’s stools with three years of catching up to do. Beer and Cava are ordered. I recall the time where I spent a day shooting pictures for a story, wedged behind the bar in the galley kitchen and of the incredible meals I’ve eaten here.
Mushrooms appear, wading in an elixir of olive oil, vinegar, garlic and goodness, dusted with big flakes of salt. Did we order those? Is that important? I take a bite and my right leg starts jiggling.
Razor clams show up next, cooked a la plancha (think: screaming hot greaseless griddle), garnished with nothing and drizzled with olive oil that mingles with their liquor, followed by a plate of clams that are cousins of those at Cal Pep.
A roaring crowd mills through the market, and we talk about life, love, family, tragedy and happiness: the floodgates of three years of busy lives in different places burst out onto the bar. The axis of the world shifts to the center point between our stools and our plates.
My favorite Pinotxo dish arrives – baby squid known as xipirones sautéed with tiny white beans. Along with the drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of salt, there’s a swirl of a balsamic glaze that sharpens flavors and adds subtle sweetness. My left leg starts jiggling, independent of its neighbor.
More Cava, more connecting. I can’t stop smiling. If food can bring you to a higher place, I don’t know what that is.
Take all the three-star restaurants and elaborate presentations you want, this is purity in many forms - the center of the universe.

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

I’m being stalked by pork and shellfish.
Following cockles in meat sauce on the French island of Belle-Ile-en-Mer, fortune smiled on me again by mixing meat and bivalves, this time in Catalonia.
A few days ago at the Barcelona landmark restaurant, Cal Pep, I had tiny clams in white wine, parsley, garlic and … what was it???
Too thick to be olive oil, I asked chef, owner and landmark in his own right Pep Manubens if it was butter (an unlikely candidate in these parts) that gave the sauce such a wonderful texture.
He bristled, recovered, placed a hand on my shoulder and whispered his raspy voice into my half-deaf ear.
“It’s the ham.”
I smirked with pleasure as a larger understanding fluttered down; the little bits of the famous jamon iberico were indeed tasty, but what really contributed the flavor and texture that made me chortle with pleasure was the fat that surrounded the little bits of meat. Giving up the ghost on remaining a solid, the fat surrendered itself to heat and higher purpose, rendering a sauce custom-made to be mopped up with pa amb tomaquet – “tomato bread” rubbed with garlic and coated with olive oil. Yow. Yow. Yow.

Cal Pep – Placa de les Olles, 8 Barcelona - 011 34.93.3107961

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Mickey's headed to Russia. Disney Cruise Line is sending the Disney Magic to St. Petersburg by way of Oslo, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. The 12-night Northern European Capitals cruise will depart from Dover, England, in June and July 2010. Rates start at $3,649 per person. If the balmy Mediterranean is more your thing, the Disney Magic will depart from Barcelona for 10- and 11-night cruises in April, May, August, and September 2010 with stops in Malta, Tunis, Corsica, France and Italy. Rates start at $2,529 per person. Looking for something shorter? The Disney Wonder, departing from Port Canaveral, Fla., will take you on 4- and 5-night cruises to the Bahamas, Key West, and Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. Rates start at $849-$899 per person. Bon voyage.

Perhaps I spend too much time wanting to eat on the rue Paul Bert, but needing to find a good restaurant nearby on a Monday changed all that. Mikael, man of good wines at Crus et Decouvertes, told me about Le Coup de Feu – “the gunshot” - not too far away on the rue Léon Frot – a parallel universe with a foursome of restaurants – Coup de Feu, the Italian Casa Vigata and the bistrot à vins Melac, and La Table de Claire (actually on the rue Emile Lepeu) that quietly give rue Paul Bert a run for its money.

Along with a tasty, organic-oriented wine list, we went three for three on mains at Le Coup de Feu – beef cheeks with root vegetables, flank steak with a soy-based yakitori sauce and calamari with pork belly and piperade (onions, peppers & tomatoes: blub, blub, yum, yum). Though nothing was Bistro-Paul-Bert-engraved-in-your-memory-good, the price was right and the food solid: main course for three and a nice bottle of K.O.’s cot (malbec) and a dessert split three ways for 25€ each. As a bonus, they threw in a tasty, honey-scented white as an apéro.
There’s good neighborhood buzz around the other three restaurants, particularly Casa Vigata, though I’ve heard a reports that the waiters at Melac tend to be on the crotchety side. Also of note is the café/bar/bistrot Carbon 14 – site of the last bougnat (coal depot) in Paris - specialists in good beer and good cheer.
Le Coup de Feu – 48 rue Léon Frot 75011 Paris – 01.43.67.23.48 – contact@lecoupdefeu.fr
Le Carbone 14 – bar/café/bistrot - 6, rue Emile Lepeu 75011 - 01.46.59.04.28
Casa Vigata - 44, Rue Léon Frot - 75011 - 01 43 56 38 66‎
Melac - 42, Rue Léon Frot, 75011 - 01 43 70 59 27‎

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

I recently interviewed American food icon Alice Waters for a story I’m working on – Alice is down on France – particularly on the way the farming industry is run – now preferring to go to Italy where they still “get it.”
She should meet Baptiste Vasseur, an organic farmer in Belle Ile’s tiny town of Kerzo. I met Vasseur, 26, while wandering the cliffs of Belle-Ile. He was out there with his friends, 100 feet above the ocean, fishing for the sea bass known as bar and “whatever else will bite” using shore casting rods to cast their bait a country mile out into the water. How they got the fish up to the top of the cliff remained a mystery.
Vasseur is in his second year of production on his farm with no name, now harvesting late-season tomatoes along with eggplant, cabbage, leeks, turnips, pumpkins and spuds.
It seems a lonely existence for a young guy (Kerzo is a tiny town on an island with a total population of only about 5,000 and mainland France is alternately known as “The Continent” or just “The Other Side”), so why here?
“I’ve got some family here, but mostly I just like it,” he explained. “I found a farm, I studied to make sure it was going to work and got a farmer’s loan. We’ve got a lot of debt, but the loan helped us get going.”
I ask the same question everyone eventually asks me as a freelance journalist: “You can make a living doing this?”
“I sell in the market in Le Palais, to restaurants, at the farm itself, and once a week a group of island farmers sells at the aerodrome. That’s it – that’s all I can grow.
What he doesn’t say (I’ll later learn this from chef Epron, who buys Vasseur’s tomatoes for his restaurant, La Table de la Desirade) is that some jerk once came by and poured pesticide in the cistern Vasseur uses to water his plants. This could strip a farmer of his organic certification in a heartbeat, but Vasseur rapidly realized the problem with a minimum of damage.
“It can get political,” he adds, “but in the end, it’s working. We work hard and believe in what we do.”

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

I spoke too soon. Belle-Ile chef Pacôme Epron has brought me back in from the seawall with one dish.
Though the man has mastered roasting turbot at La Desirade, it was his dish based around cockles (cockles!) that brought me in. His recent millefeuille de coques, rosace de pomme de terre et courgettes au thym, jus viande au foie gras might be a little long in name, but what’s most important is the mix of cockles and meat jus. Some here will cry heresy at the idea of mixing of meat and fish, but theirs is a waste of hot air.
Pouring what tastes like the delicious fond from the bottom of a roast beef pan over the dish turns it from a dainty seafood course to something almost carnal – I wish I was eating this on a date.
Francois Mitterand might have preferred the frou-frou of the nearby Castel Clara (think: thalassotherapy, buffet tables and crisp white jackets), but I like Epron’s and La Table’s simplicity.

La Table de La Desirade – “Le Petit Cosquet – 56360 Belle-Ile-En-Mer - +33 (0)2 97 31 70 70

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Maybe it’s all the clean air, but I’m getting into this ‘lunch on the seawall’ idea. Perhaps it’s because everyone in Le Palais, Belle-Ile’s biggest town, shrugs when I ask for a good place to eat (there are a few), but I’m learning that while the towns are picturesque, people don’t leave “Le Continent” for the island’s social scene or a destination restaurant. It’s more about taking a long walk or watching the waves crash.
I realize this while leaning against one of the two mini-lighthouses (the red one) that mark the entrance to Le Palais’ tiny port. I’ve brought a baguette, a half-dozen plates (flat oysters) from Quiberon, a tomato from a little farm one side of the island and a pepper-coated dome of fresh goat cheese from a cheese maker the other.
Here, this may be the version of ‘"eating out'’ I like the most.

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says!, the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

QUIBERON - A Provencal friend of mine who claims to be "allergic to butter" would perish in this town. Good thing she’s not here – more for me! Last night I had wonderful crèpes at La Duchesse Anne where melted butter is brushed on the hot galette (a crèpe made with buckwheat flour) before the ingredients are added and often brushed again before the finished dish goes out to the floor.
This morning, I stopped at the Boulangerie Bihan “Trois Marches” and picked up a pair of kouign amann – Breton for “cake” and “butter,” though they should have also added Breton for “lots of extra sugar,” which caramelizes around the whole thing and makes life good. Though they’re not particularly large, I learned that eating two is a bit like trying to get through an entrecôte pour deux personnes alone.
Luckily, my arteries and I were up for it. There’s a moment of crunchy, sugary goodness where your teeth stick together, then all at once, the butter gives up the ghost and becomes a liquid, full of so much flavor, I giggle.
Later, on the train back to Paris, I tasted another kouign amann that I brought from Quiberon’s famous Maison Riguidel - touted to be the city’s best. These were excellent – flatter and more cake-like in form, but Boulangerie Bihan’s got them beat, hands down.
SPECIAL NOTE: People of Quiberon, unite! Go to the Boulangerie Bihan (where I found my favorite kouign amann) and encourage the good woman running it not to close the bakery doors for good following the death of her brother the baker – she’s kept on running the bakery, but is talking of shutting it down within a month, taking one of the city’s tiny treasures with her.

Boulangerie Bihan “Trois Marches” 34 rue de Verdun QUIBERON – 02.97.50.14.96
Creperie Duchesse Anne - 10, Place Duchesse Anne QUIBERON 02 97 30 49 33
Maison Riguidel – 38, Rue de Port Maria, Quiberon. 02.97.50.07.41

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

QUIBERON – After three and a half hours on an early train from Paris and another hour on the bus, the idea of sitting around tourists and retirees in a restaurant didn’t really float my boat. Returning from a meeting to set up an outing with a gooseneck barnacle fisherman, I walked right in front of the solution: La Belle-Iloise cannery.
Five minutes and a six-can variety pack of sardines later – everything from the little silver fish marinated in muscadet to two peppers, olive oil and lemon – I was in business. Sitting on the seawall, I ate a tin of sardine à la tomate served on pain Poilâne that I smuggled from Paris. Though there’s a fierce debate as to whether La Belle-Iloise or La Quiberonnaise makes the better sardine it didn’t seem to matter; in the space of five minutes, three people walked by jealously eyeing my picnic and smiling. One guy even offered up a “Bon Appetit!”
On the bus, I had listened to an interview with Alice Waters who extolled the virtues of both cooking and eating with friends, yet here I was, straddling the seawall by myself, getting a sense of place from a can.

**********************

Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says!, the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Among the things I like best about JetBlue and Virgin America are their in-flight media offerings. But as I fly around I increasingly see travelers listening to their own iPods or MP3 players and watching films on portable players or laptops.
I guess the folks at Hudson News have noticed as well. The ubiquitous-in-airports Hudson chain in September started selling (renting, really) Flexplay self-destructing movie DVDs for $6 at most of its 350 newsstand locations.
Why self-destructing? The big advantage of this system is that you don't have to remember to return anything. Once you open your DVD's sealed pouch, a chemical process kicks in, which will allow you to watch the film as many times as you want for at least two days. After that, the quality degrades. Once the DVD is kicked, you recycle.
Each Hudson store will offer about two dozen DVD titles, refreshed with new films every week or two, according to Laura Samuels, a Hudson spokeswoman. Currently, Flexplay has licensing deals with Warner Home Video, Paramount Home Entertainment, and DreamWorks.
You can also order online from Flexplay and have discs mailed to you for $4.99, which includes shipping. Flexplay discs are also available at Staples.
The new Hudson/Flexplay system is convenient and "Mission Impossible'' cool, but it's not the only option for airport DVD rentals.

FULL ENTRY

Signs that summer is officially over in France are everywhere: Parisians, a curiously thin-blooded breed, are even justifiably wearing sweaters and jackets (though they pulled the scarves out a couple weeks ago, bien sûr), the leaves in the Palais Royal garden are a depressing mix of green and brown, and yesterday on the Champs-Elysées, it was cold enough that all of the tables on the terrace outside of Fouquet's – a.k.a. people watching heaven - were ornamental.
La rentrée – the post-summer return to school, work and life - is in full swing. After a month of gathering dust, keyboards in France are now clicking a go go; the projects nobody was thinking about a month ago are underway. Suddenly, life moves fast again.
After a month on vacation, I fall into the same jarring trap.
In the middle of it all, a group of good friends I haven't seen for months asks me to join them for lunch.
"No time!" screams a little voice in my head.
"No money!" says another.
"I'll meet you there," I say, ignoring them both.
Twenty minutes later, we are encased in a little bubble: Chez Janou. Vincent's wife is pregnant again, Seb is laughing and Calou, having just worked a week in Lourdes, is cracking jokes about the pope. Four prix-fixe menus, a bottle of wine, and everything is OK again.
Later, I swing by to pick up a fax that Rose, who runs the show at Chez Lucette in the 17th, is holding for me. She's got a vendor in and I see her for all of 30 seconds, but she sends me off with a kiss on each cheek that cracks so loud my ears pop.
Stars officially realigned, I leave and walk down the street with a smile glued to my face.
Chez Janou : 2, Rue Roger Verlhomme 75003 PARIS 03. Tel: 01 42 72 28 41
Chez Lucette, 43, rue de la Jonquière 75017 Paris Tel : 01 46 27 72 54

*************************
Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says!, the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Attention, shoppers. For those of you who didn't get the memo, today is Friday and the start of the weekend. Many of you will spend some time in the next 48 hours in public houses while others will just hit the bahs.
It probably hasn't escaped your notice that Boston has become a more multicultural kind of place. So in the interest of providing our readers with news they can use, herein is a list of how to say, "cheers'' in 50 languages (with thanks to the folks at Matador Nights).
While it will be immediately useful to some, others, say, travelers, either actual or armchair, might also find the list useful or at least fun for your next trip, party, or even as a prompt for some educational role-playing with Your Significant Other.
Here's the list:

FULL ENTRY

A number of Alitalia customers are obviously worried about what happens next if the carrier goes under. Many readers felt my last post didn't include enough about what to do if you're actually holding tickets so I responded in the comments. I'll run through them here.
Basically, you won't have a lot of options but there are a couple things to keep in mind. If you made your reservation with one of Alitalia’s code-sharing partners, they will likely be responsible either for rebooking or giving you a refund (although in my experience most carriers try hard to rebook for you). Technically, legal responsibility will rest on which airline is the ‘‘validating’’ or ‘‘issuing’’ airline, according to Edward Hasbrouck of the Practical Nomad. Generally that will be the one that took your reservation -- and your money. If you want to check to see who the validating carrier is, look in the "Issued By" box on your tickets.
If you book through either a Web search engine like Kayak or an online travel agent like Orbitz you're essentially booking directly with the airline itself. The sites bear no direct financial responsibility for your ticket. (Although since you pay a service fee to these online travel agencies, they will try to hook you up with the cheapest replacement flights they can -- but you will have to pay for them.).
If you paid for your tickets via credit card -- not your debit card -- you can appeal. The Fair Credit Billing Act gives you the right to have the charges taken off your bill because you're being charged for a service you did not receive.
According to the FTC, here's the procedure:

FULL ENTRY

Alitalia's slide into oblivion is picking up speed, and if you have tickets you need to stay alert and start considering your options. The Italian carrier offers one daily direct flight to Rome from Logan, according to a schedule on its website.
Alitalia's financial situation has been shaky for years, but in recent months has grown more dire due to surging fuel prices and the malaise in the industry. A series of plans has been launched to rescue the carrier, which filed for bankruptcy protection in August. Unfortunately, all the proposals encountered either governmental or labor opposition.
On Thursday the most recent plan fell through when a group of Italian investors dropped its bid to buy profitable parts of Alitalia after unions fought it over the job losses and salary cuts the plan entailed. After this last thwarted effort, the airline could face potential liquidation in the next couple of weeks, according to Reuters and The Wall Street Journal.
The airline's special administrator was scheduled to meet with government regulators Monday to discuss whether Alitalia could keep its operating license.
John DiRienzo, Alitalia's manager for marketing and analysis, declined to comment on the meeting but said that operations were continuing normally.
Alitalia has been near the brink before and it's hard to tell whether the end really is nigh. But if you are concerned Scott McCartney, the Journal's Middle Seat columnist has these suggestions:

FULL ENTRY

Verified Identity Pass's Clear program, which speeds prescreened travelers through security checkpoints at participating airports, will debut at Logan this month. Clear gives travelers who pay the $128 annual fee a high-tech identification card to verify their fingerprint or iris image at designated security lane kiosks. Clear spokeswoman Cindy Rosenthal said the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, was one of the first agencies interested in this fast-pass program since it was tested in Orlando in July 2005. But she said Massport's long approval process has held up Clear's arrival, so instead Delta is sponsoring the program at its Logan terminal. More than 200,000 travelers have registered for Clear and used their fast passes nearly 1.5 million times across 18 airports nationwide since the program began three years ago.
Posted by Nicole C. Wong. Globe Staff

Those wacky Swedes.
Oscar Dios, an entrepreneur and former hostel owner, is hoping that this will be one time you won't mind spending a night aboard a plane -- an old 747 Jumbo, to be specific. The plan calls for 25 rooms with three beds in each and shared baths; flat screen TVs in each room; and WiFi throughout. There will be a cafe that will sell food and drinks and allow you to heat up meals from home.
For those willing to pony up a bit more there will be a cockpit suite -- yes, it'll be right where you think -- and some luxe rooms upstairs with private baths.
The Jumbo Hostel, which will also feature a walkway on the left wing for those who like to watch, will be anchored outside the Stockholm-Arlanda Airport. And it will begin taking bookings in December.

Although you don’t see people smoking as much as in the past, Spain remains a pretty tobacco-friendly country. A non-smoking section is hard to find in a restaurant or bar, but in accordance with European Union health rules, Spain did bar most indoor smoking in other public areas. And, yes, that includes airports. Many US airports (especially in tobacco states) have smoking lounges hidden away — blue rooms where smokers can get their fix in relative privacy. But Madrid’s Barajas Airport has smoking lounges dotted all over the concourses of the new Terminal 4. They’re glass semi-enclosures, so everyone can see who’s puffing away. Here in Boston we used to have the public stocks. In Madrid, they have the Cube of Shame.

Posted by David Lyon, Globe Correspondent

Farewell to the Bird's Nest, those dropped batons, beach volleyball, Michael Phelps mania, and that lip-synching little girl. If you have been going through Olympics withdrawal now that the spectacle is over, perhaps it's time to look toward London. What does it take to plan a visit when the Olympics take place there in 2012? You have some time to think it over; tickets to Olympic events don't go on sale until 2011. Some helpful websites inlcude: london2012.com, visitlondon.com, aboutbritain.com, visitbritain.com, and timeout.com.

In the meantime, watch this cool time-lapse video that captures the progress of the city's Olympic Stadium site (a rendering of what the stadium is supposed to look like when completed is at left).

Hertz, which had been testing rentals by the hour, says that it is planning to launch a major push into the car-sharing market later this year. What does this mean to you, dear travelers? The prospect of a multinational concern like Hertz getting into the business is potentially huge.
Rich Broome, senior vice president for corporate affairs and communications, wouldn’t offer much in the way of details, but said that the company would initially roll out the program in a handful of major US cities. Boston, he said, would "probably be part of a second wave."
Broome said, “Many people think of Hertz being primarily at airports but we also have 1,600 off-airport locations in the United States, and when we roll this thing out we will have leading-edge technology in place to be able to get customers what they want where they want it.’’
For travelers the potential upside is clear. Hertz has 8,100 locations in 147 countries, so it’s not hard to imagine that eventually customers will be able to sign up in Boston, but use car-sharing services around the nation and the world. Sweet, yes?
It's also a safe bet that this will juice up competition, a good thing for consumers. Right now, the leader in the field is Cambridge-based Zipcar, which has seen a tremendous amount of growth and currently has more than 200,000 members in 50 cities in North America as well as a presence in London.
But others will also be interested.
As my pal Scott Kirsner wrote a story detailing this a few months ago, UHaul and Enterprise, noting Zipcar’s success, have been testing the car-sharing waters.

FULL ENTRY

The parched tablelands of central Spain have a kind of mesmerizing beauty, even in the heat of summer — a seemingly endless sea of golden brown wheat straw after the harvest. But planted amid those tracts of wheat are immense plots of sunflowers, turning their brilliant yellow faces as they track the sun. They’re not there just for ornamentation. When we pulled our rental Audi A3 diesel into the station to fill up, one entire set of pumps was dedicated to sunflower biodiesel. It’s still not cheap (fuel in Spain works out to about $9 per US gallon), but at least it’s clean. And as we drove around the region, wherever ridges rose above the plain, we also saw modern windmills that would have given Don Quixote pause to admire their bird-like grace—turbines churning out electricity for the Spanish grid. Green can be beautiful indeed.

Posted by Patricia Harris & David Lyon, Globe Correspondent

American says it will raise fees and mileage requirements for upgrades and free trips.
Under changes that take effect Oct. 1, an upgrade from economy coach on a domestic flight will cost $50, plus the 15,000 miles that was already required.
Miles and fees for upgrades were also raised on international flights.
The airline told members of its AAdvantage frequent-flier program of the changes in an e-mail message. Its moves follow changes in Delta's mileage program last week.
Delta said it would give frequent fliers a guaranteed ability to redeem miles for a free trip but sometimes at the cost of many more miles. Under a new three-tier program, fliers who spend more miles will get a better shot at winning one of the limited number of seats set aside for reward tickets. (AP)

Filthy lucre. When you were a little kid did your mother every tell you to keep money out of your mouth because it was dirty? Turns out that especially in parts of Europe it could also make you high.
The BBC is reporting that an analysis of euros from a handful of Spain's major cities suggests that as much as 94 percent of that nation's currency carries traces of cocaine, making it the most highly contaminated in Europe.
The BBC report was based on a story in El Mundo, which noted that Spain has one of the highest rates of cocaine use in the world, with about 475,000 regular users.
The analysis, done at the University of Valencia and published last week in Trends in Analytical Chemistry, used 20 euro notes from each of five cities -- Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia and Seville. Only a total of six notes were found to be drug free. And overall each bill had an average of 25.18 micrograms of the drug.
The euros have only been in circulation since January 2002.
Chemists at the University of Valencia say that they think the bills become contaminated either in the course of drug transactions, which are mostly done in cash, or in by users who roll bills into tubes to snort.
This phenomena is not, however, isolated to Spain.

FULL ENTRY

Looking to go to Europe this fall or winter? Better sit down. Airfares from Boston to five major destinations are projected to rise as much as 40 percent. The main culprit? Big increases in fuel surcharges over last year.
Tom Parsons and the folks at Bestfares.com ran some numbers for us, comparing last year's total average round-trip fares to London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, and Madrid for the fall and winter travel seasons to the published numbers for this year's fall and the coming winter.
To derive their totals, they averaged basic fares and added fuel surcharges.
Now the numbers for this fall and winter don't necessarily represent exactly what you will pay because they're working with average published numbers. There will be sales, and fuel levies could change, but this should give you some idea of the kinds of increases we're probably looking at.
Bestfares also ran these same numbers for the same European destinations departing from New York, Washington, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, LA, and San Francisco. And those results largely bear a striking resemblance to our numbers. Rest assured there will be plenty of pain to go around.
Here are the Boston charts:

FULL ENTRY

It makes my head hurt. As if keeping the shifting terms for frequent-flier programs straight wasn't hard enough already (how many miles do I now need and when do they turn into pumpkins?).
Delta plans to become the first major carrier to revamp from a two-tier plan to a three-tier, and the whole thing will go into effect in early September.
I'll let Micheline Maynard of The New York Times explain it:
"Previously, Delta offered frequent-flier tickets for domestic coach travel at either 25,000 or 50,000 miles. Under the new system, travelers will need 25,000, 40,000 or 60,000 miles, depending on when they book their ticket, and where they are traveling.
"Delta reinstated a feature called 'last seat,' which allows a frequent flier to book any remaining seat on a plane, whether or not it is designated for a member of its mileage program.
"These seats require 60,000 miles for domestic coach travel, and 100,000 miles in first class, the airline said. Delta first offered the feature in the early 1990s, but discontinued it in December.''
So the bottom line would seem to be that you likely will have to pony up more miles to get a seat. To being with, seats at the upper end have gone up from 50,000 miles to 60,000 and at the lower end you have to ask yourself: How many 25,000-mile seats will there really be? And how hard will it be to get one? If they are tough to snag, then for many the range will be more like 40,000-60,000 instead of 25,000-50,000.
To make us feel better Delta says for a premium price it'll now let you redeem miles for any available seat instead of limiting it to those designated for the program. Big deal. That's the way it was until December anyway.
For those interested in the terms of the international program, we return to Ms. Maynard:

FULL ENTRY

It wasn't all that long ago that it seemed as if fare and fee hikes were raining down daily. And then it stopped. But it looks like it could be starting up again.
On Tuesday, Delta doubled fees for a second checked bag to $50. A big deal, yes, but for consumers not huge since the first is still free.
Today, airfare guru Rick Seaney, who has access to fare databases, is reporting on his website that Wednesday night Northwest jacked up domestic round-trip prices by $80 on more than 4,000 city pairs, less than two-thirds of its route system. This is apparently the first time Northwest has initiated an airfare hike this year.
Bloomberg News is quote Seaney as saying many of the affected routes are to and from Detroit, one of Northwest's three domestic hubs and that "hardly any'' are for flights its Minneapolis and Memphis hubs.
But the big question is: Will there be more?
It's tough to say. Seaney says part of the reason we haven't had any for a while is due to the fact that oil prices have fallen back below $130 a barrel. But a good part of the reason may be that the airlines feared customers might've been reaching a tipping point. Or as Gary Kelly, Southwest chief executive, put it last week: "We have some evidence … in the industry with our competitors where they feel like they’ve pushed fares too fast.''
So we'll see what happens next.

There's just no end in sight.
Citing high fuel costs, Delta says it will kick up the fee to check a second bag from $25 to $50 for most domestic passengers.
The carrier says it will also boost levies on domestic and international flights for items that require special handling such as surfboards or ski equipment.
Even the lowliest of domestic passengers will still be allowed to check a first bag free, and First Class, BusinessElite, and Medallion customers can check up to three bags at no charge. Travelers on international flights may continue checking a first and second bag at no charge.
Need more details? It's all here.

Time for a gut check. There was a story out Thursday morning about a government report showing that average domestic airfares rose 4.4 percent in the first quarter. No surprise, right?
But if you take a closer look at the Department of Transportation press release you see that the agency notes that from the first quarter of 1995 to the first quarter of 2008 average domestic itinerary fares rose 11.7 percent while inflation surged 41 percent.
Average fares include round-trip and one-way fares, taxes and fees and exclude abnormally high reported prices as well as freebie frequent-flier deals.
So I took their numbers, adjusted for inflation, graphed it out, and discovered that there's actually been a trend downwards -- a 20 percent drop from '95. Witness my handiwork above.
Surprising? Not really. Think about it. One of the first times I flew, in the mid-1980s, I did it on the budget-pioneer People Express, which basically priced itself out of existence. A round-trip, coast-to-coast ticket was about $200, which is a bit over $400 in today's dollars. About three weeks ago, I flew from Boston to Sacramento for a total of $465.
Some will want to quibble about details (Is the Department of Transportation Domestic Average Itinerary Fares the best way to gauge prices? And is the Consumer Price Index the best way to compare rates of inflation? Are first quarter prices the best period for comparing numbers), but apply your own life experience to this. Think about a flight you took about 10 years ago. Then plug those numbers in the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator. Not look around to see what that fare is now. And be fair.
Bottom line: Airfares are on the rise and for good reasons (in '95, a gallon of regular gas set you back $1.10-$1.20). But, historically speaking, they aren't that high. Yet. So let's turn down the volume on the kvetching.

Those guys at the delightfully reprehensible Matador Nights. They define mensch. Why the lavish praise, you ask?
These guys have compiled a list of where you can find the world's sexiest -- outside of the United States. I know this is not the criteria by which most plan their travel. But frankly I have heard of worse reasons (I have a pal that has this Mickey Mouse thing...but that's for another day).
So, where can you find the sexiest women?
MENDOZA, Argentina: "Go out on a Friday or Saturday night in January and there’s a good chance seven out of ten girls you see at the bars will be insanely beautiful ... the majority epitomize what you would expect from a smoking hot Latina: Brunette, olive skin, sharp, dark eyes and hourglass curves.
HAVANA: "Tall women with striking features ... the music will stir your soul. This is no place to be a shy gentlemen, but if you can’t open up with a few words of Spanish you’re sunk.''
SEOUL: "If East Asian beauty floats your boat you’ve come to the right place. Don’t confuse westernized with western here -- Seoul style is singular and unique. And if anyone tells you that Korean women are docile and humble, you have been misinformed.''
Sun Lee of Seoul was Miss Korea in this year's Miss Universe pageant.

FULL ENTRY

I'll fess up: Jet lag does me in. I just got back from a quick trip to the Golden State. There's only a three-hour time difference, but it takes me about a week to get so I'm not still squinting quizzically through bloodshot eyes at the sun at 8:30 a.m. on the T.
I'm willing to try anything. Reader's Digest (I once had an English professor who likened the reading of digested material to the consumption of already digested material) has some tips. Most of them involve trying to get your body ready for the changes in advance; some focus on your general well-being; some are fabulously ridiculous. Here are a few (along with my own insights):
ACCLIMATE. If you’re going to be gone longer than a couple of days, begin acclimating your body to the new time zone by altering your eating schedule three days before your plane takes off -- cool, dinner at 3 sharp.
AVOID AIRLINE FOOD. See above. It seems if you're going to be tricking your body by eating closer to the new time zone you don't want at airline repast to mess up your schedule. Besides the food usually sucks anyway.
CHUG. Stay hydrated, but avoid alcohol and caffeine, as they can dehydrate you, mess up your internal clock, make you unpopular with the seatmate you have to climb over to get to the restroom, and exaggerate jet lag symptoms.
HIT THE LINGUINE. Or any other carb-dense food at dinner on the night before your flight. Recent research suggests carbs boost your ability to sleep — particularly when you fly westward. Wonder whether a Sam's summer ale would count. Carbs is carbs, right?
REFRIGERATE. Particularly if you need to sleep on the plane. I call this the suspended animation tip. Use earplugs to cut noise, an eyeshade to kill the light, and turn the air-conditioning valve on high. A lower temperature lowers your body’s core temperature and signals it’s time for sleep.
Here's the whole, unadulterated list.

Just got an email from an old friend, long on the move. Seems he hasn't slowed down:

"hi tom,
yes, just got the confirmation for angola.
will be there from august 1 till september 17.
as I previously told u, immediately after that there will be the festival in salekhard, siberia (sept 21-27) and hopefully few more!
I hope u can wait for me for sardinia, in spring maybe...

what about new years in bariloche?
please try to come!

presently still in srbija, went to exit festival in novi sad, great fun, especially manu chao's concert.
will be in brcko for a few days this week on the way back to italy.

send news when u can!"

Not that there's anything wrong with settling in one place. Take, for example, this from an Argentine friend who has lived in recent years in Kabul, Paris and San Francisco, and now arrived in Rio:

"My little house in Ipanema has a patio and bbq and is 3 blocks from the beach – I'm getting back in shape running every morning to leave the gordos club!, although this evening will cook stuffed squid."

Would make a good first line of a novel, by the way...

They're at it again -- the bulls, that is, as well as those who run with them.

Today marked the first of eight runs of the San Fermin Festival in tiny Pamplona, Spain, commonly known as the "Running of the Bulls" to the rest of the world. The Associated Press reported one man gored and four slightly injured. Check out some highlights from today's run.

I try to accept and appreciate the beauty and variety of all cultures, but I always felt Spain had the most nonsensical traditions out of any country. Let's see: You've got a suicidal sprint alongside fuming, two-ton, horned animals. Then in August you have "La Tomatina," when approximately 30,000 people descend on tiny Bunol, Valencia, to pummel one another with tomatoes.

Some other traditional Spanish celebrations include Fiestas de Haro (a giant wine fight), and Danzandores de Anguiano (some type of ceremony that involves people running down hills on stilts). That's before you even consider the country's commitment to bullfights as a form of entertainment.

I appreciate tradition, but I also respect progress, and part of me thinks that at some point in history someone in Pamplona should've said "Hey, I have an idea -- let's NOT risk getting our guts torn apart by the angry bulls this year!"

But then again, Spain isn't all tomato throwing and bull dodging. The country takes its festivals seriously, and many of them are very beautiful and respectful. Spaniards honor their saints and heritage, and treasure food and drink with family and friends above all else. I can respect that, and there's something pure about a country that has so stoically maintained its traditions throughout the centuries -- even the wacky ones.

So, if you're looking for a nonsensical yet traditional coda to your summer, you might consider heading to Bunol for "La Tomatina" on the last Wednesday in August. Flights from Boston to Madrid or Valencia run a steep $1,000 -- but the trip comes with free tomatoes.

We apologize to Sally Field, who actually said in her 1985 Academy Award acceptance speech: “I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!” Today, we’re talking about travel – Americans abroad, and how they are viewed.
A recent Pew Global Attitudes survey asks where we, as Americans, are most likely to be welcomed. It turns out that the countries Americans most like to visit are, for the most part, countries that like Americans. The survey polled residents of 24 countries – including the United States – between March 27 and April 21. In 14 foreign countries, a majority of respondents have a favorable view of Americans. (The United States itself, on the other hand, is well-regarded, on balance, in only nine foreign countries.)

FULL ENTRY

I'm thinking with the skyrocketing price of gasoline that we may see a resurgence of interest in hitching. But, let's face it. The plaintive extended thumb on the highway on-ramp ... It's just so creepy, Rutger Hauer, old school.
Thank god we've moved on to Hitchhiking 2.0. Those interested in snagging a ride should take a look a couple of specialty message boards: hitchhikers.org for European travel and Digihitch for the United States and Canada.
On the sites, drivers who are willing to offer riders post listings, with info on departure dates, how many seats are available, and whether they're looking to share expenses (some drivers don't want any money; just a little company to keep them awake on a long ride).
Could be a win-win.
But if you're a driver and some old Teutonic-looking dude with a trench coat and a shotgun wants a ride... Let's just say this kind of thing usually doesn't end well.
Thanks to the Great Travel God Arthur Frommer for this one.

Anyone who has traveled anywhere has run into twisted language on signs. Sometimes they're twisted English translations in foreign countries; sometimes the language has been twisted by someone for whom English is purportedly their first (perhaps only) language. The folks at The Telegraph in UK have been selecting and running photos of some of the world's strangest. We're now in Week Four. These are just a couple of my favorites.

Orbitz is offering a very interesting deal right now. If you book on the site and pay their $7-$12 service fee they promise to reimburse you the difference if the fare for your flight drops before you take off.
This is the way it works: Orbitz will track prices from the time you buy your ticket until the day of the flight and will issue qualifying refunds of $5 to $250, according to details on the site.
There is, however, a good bit of fine print involved. Two big things to keep in mind. First, the reimbursement won't apply if your carrier goes under. And the second involves the way Orbitz keeps track of fare decreases: Specifically, another customer must get a lower priced fare on Orbitz for the exact itinerary you have. So, if a lower fare is available, say, through a carrier's own website it doesn't count. And since Orbitz only sells a fraction of the tickets for any flight (the folks at Online Travel Review put their estimate at about 7.5 percent on average) and since flight prices tend to go up as you get closer to departure the odds that they'll need to pony up a reimbursement seem a little low.
Orbit's plans were first reported by the WSJ.
A little complicated but what a concept, yes?

It's kismet. A kind of magical convergence. Here we are at the beginning of the weekend and the beginning of travel season. You are thirsty, and you have wanderlust.
Thanks be unto Matador Nights for compiling a list of how to order a second beer in 50 languages (for the first one you're kind of on your own).
Anyway, say you're in China in the Hou Hai Bar Area in Beijing. Turn to the nearest friendly publican and utter: yī gèng pí qí (yi geng pee quee).
Or how about if you're in Turkey: Bir bira daha lutfen. Or Finland: Vielä yksi olut (don't you just love a good umlaut?). Or Greece: boro na echo ena beera separakalo.
You get the drift.
OK, so maybe you can't afford international travel. Head over to the Sunset Bar & Grill in Allston-Brighton. I've heard they've got like 130 beers on tap and more than 300 bottled ones. Many from foreign countries. And when you want that second Dos Equis? Dame otra cerveza, por favor.

Air One has postponed Saturday's inaugural flight between Boston and Milan until June 27.
The Italian carrier said its first foray into the US market has been frustrated by a three-week delay in delivery of new business-class seats for its refurbished leased aircraft. More than 1,000 passengers already bought tickets for the first two weeks of flights and have been rebooked on Lufthansa, United Airlines, or other partner airlines.
However, those passengers will not get to experience the Italian cuisine and Italian in-flight films that Air One is known for. The carrier was to have offered five flights a week between Boston and Milan starting at $799 round trip.
"We do apologize," said Giorgio De Roni, Air One's chief revenue officer. He said the airline received its first reconfigured aircraft Thursday and expects the second one next week, but wants to wait until it has a third plane for backup.
Air One will staff its check-in counters at Logan and Milan's Malpensa Airport starting tomorrow to help ticket holders.

Posted by Nicole C. Wong, Globe Staff

Few things can dampen your vacation like a cold. When you're sniffling and sneezing and your throat is sore, the Grand Canyon may not seem all that grand. Most of us know that one of the best prevention methods is to wash your hands frequently, but, alas, many scrub for too short a time to do that much good. Consumer Reports' On Health newsletter suggests that to ensure you're washing long enough, you follow the example of many health professionals: When you start scrubbing, begin singing "Happy Birthday," and keep washing until you finish the song. But sing it to yourself, OK? Otherwise you may find that your vacation companions are few.

Richard C. Carpenter, Globe Correspondent

So, you still haven’t been to Paris? What exactly are you waiting for? The euro to shrivel? Oil to cheapen? The natives to speak English? Americans to be ever again welcomed as amusing, moneyed innocents abroad?
There is only one thing to know about Paris: It will be the City of Light long after all of us have returned to our stardust state.
In a previous century, I took my preschooler and her umbrella stroller to Paris for two weeks in June. Shepherded by my fluent sister and game young nephew, we visited towers and tombs and gardens and museums and churches and boats and bookstores and ice cream parlors (one of us napping almost daily while the other pushed en route to somewhere), climbed Notre-Dame, ate little sandwiches on the street for lunch, were invited to the countryside, dined with an au pair who had survived us, sampled pastries and roast chicken and even happened on some mediocre food. None of it on the scale of Carmella Soprano’s visit, but we were every bit as impressed.
For those of you who need more written encouragement to gauge how short is life and how grand is Paris, there are writers at your service – fluent in English, too. But all their words will have failed them and you if one does not command the day: Go.

FULL ENTRY

Kips Bay? Of course. Southampton? Sure. There's even a designer show house in York, Maine.
But Moscow? Now that's one I'd like to see.
If you're headed to Russia this month, you might want to put it on your agenda.
The Russian Design Show at EcoEstate Pavlovskaya Sloboda, conceptualized by Janna Bullock, CEO and founder of RIGroup, an international real estate development firm, features six houses and the work of 24 designers, including Tom Dixon, Alain Moatti, the Campana Brothers, George Nakashima, Ron Arad, Gio Ponti, and Shiro Kuramata.
The homes, which include the Eco House, the Russian House, the Design House, the Nina Campbell House, the Phillips de Pury House, have all been constructed using environmentally friendly materials.
The show runs through July 1, from 12-8 p.m. daily except Monday. Two of the houses, the Nina Campbell House and the Russian Dacha, will be open through Sept.15. Admission is free.
The EcoEstate Pavlovskaya Sloboda is located at 26th km of Novorizhskoe Shosse.
For more information, see the website.

A year ago, Francesco and I would sit in the office at the end of a long day, uncork a bottle of Nero d'Avola and work on gaining a better understanding of the characteristics of Sicily's best-known grape. Professional wine tastings can be a bit force fed – a winemaker might quickly say what you should be seeing, smelling and tasting. Picking these characteristics out on your own inevitably forces you to go slower than they guy at the front of the room. Taking the time to really understand just one wine is a luxury. And you can really learn something.
A year later, I learned something different.
"Nero," says Francesco, making a diving motion with his hand, "is having a tough time."
We opened a 2006 Nero di Lupo (a 2003 version of which we tasted last year when it was called Pojo di Lupo) and talked about it.
"Traveling in Italy and abroad, I started to notice its absence in the last couple of months," says Francesco.
At Milan's best wine shop, the owner put it to him bluntly. "Nero d'Avola? It's over."
The Nero di Lupo name change was a clue; after a several-year run as one of Italy's trendiest wines, everybody wanted a piece of wines made with Nero. Producers started growing the grape in regions less suited to its production -- often far from Avola. Though quality winemakers are still making excellent wines, the bottom of the market has been flooded, dragging the good wine's good name down with it.
"It's been sold improperly," says Sicily's top chef, Ciccio Sultano, who is upset with both rising Nero prices and an overall quality decline. "Demand grew, but the wineries multiplied…It's too much."
"Take Bordeaux - it's crazy," he says, pointing to his head, "you can't justify the price. It's for the Russians.
"What's the difference between this and a Mouton Rothschild?" he asks, holding up a glass. "Is that 30 or 40 times better? It's marketing. Wine is like a cuisine – there is art and craftsmanship, but it's outrageous to pay too much for food and wine."

FULL ENTRY

As an earthquake last week showed again, Iceland's foundations can be shaky. The remote island is home to geysers, volcanoes and other things that hint at the boiling and toiling beneath the earth's surface.
I saw little of that when I was there a few weeks ago, for the Reykjavik Arts Festival. I wrote a story about that event, in which ideas are the things stirring the scene, here.

While in the capital, I came across another interesting window into Iceland's roots. Just outside my hotel on a central street, a glass-covered box showed through the sidewalk to an archaeological dig down below. The ruins were on display for closer viewing inside a subterranean museum, called Reykjavik 871 + or - 2. The name refers to the year the country was first settled by Vikings, making it among the more recently inhabited pieces of land on the planet.
The museum features 21st-century technology, including digital imaging of people emerging on otherwise uninhabited shores to fish and build and live. It is worth a stop, even for modern travelers come to enjoy the weekend parties on nearby Laugavegur Street.

Good morning, travelers. Continental said that it is cutting 3,000 jobs and reducing its flight schedule in the fourth quarter by 11 percent. Continental currently carries 4.2 percent of the passengers at Logan (and they anticipate being able to talk details about schedule changes as early as next week so stay tuned).
This comes just a day after our friends at United said they would trim their domestic schedule 17 percent by the end of 2009, two days after Delta said it would need to cut flights beyond the 11 percent already announced.
Oh, and let's not forget American who, a couple weeks ago, announced its plans to reduce flights 12 percent.
What these guys are doing is getting rid of unprofitable routes and grounding older, more fuel-guzzling planes -- we here in the US have the unenviable distinction of possessing among the oldest fleets flying.
With all these cancellations, more and more travelers, who made reservations before the reductions were announced, are going to have their itineraries involuntary shifted.
I took a quick look yesterday at what this will mean. If you missed it, here it is.

Yesterday, I interviewed a farmer in his Ferrari for a story about the Sicilian melon market. Taking notes in a car with a suspension-adjusting switch marked "RACE" is not unlike trying to do the same in a 4x4 bumping through an olive grove.


Meeting a couple of melon farmers yesterday, Mr. F430 included, I kept getting distracted by their tomatoes. Odd bedfellows, melons and tomatoes love the soil and hot climate around the southern Sicilian town of Pachino and have become the town's financial backbone and its claim to fame.
Standing in a giant tomato greenhouse filled with the wonderful green smell of the vines themselves, Bruno Cicciarella (who drives a more modest ride pulls a fat thumb-shaped tomato he calls a 'pixel' from a cluster and hands it to me.
The taste isn't perfect, but compared to what we've grown accustomed to from the grocery store, it's mind blowing. It's plenty enough to put me out on the back deck with my family, eating salted chunks of dad's tomatoes straight from the garden.
I also try some tomatoes sold by Sebastiano Fortunato (a.k.a. Mr. Ferrari) and understand why he's got such a fancy pair of wheels. His cherry tomatoes are so sweet, it's easy to understand again why tomatoes are fruit.

FULL ENTRY

Mon Dieu! It's bad enough that airlines keep us on hold interminably. But I'd rather be on hold than not be able to speak with anyone. Air France has a new policy this year that if the agents' telephone queue is of a certain length, a caller is disconnected after holding for 30 minutes! (Yes, they warn you.)

Over the course of several days I tested the Air France reservations line about five times. Once I got through quickly, twice I got a recording saying the wait time would be four minutes (I didn't stay on to check) and twice I held for 30 minutes before the call was disconnected. (Of course I was multitasking.)

This is what you could call ANTI-customer service. I asked Air France media relations rep Karen Gillo about the policy. Her answer: "I'm pretty sure we don't have a policy that says people will be cut off." Mais oui, I countered, which she later confirmed. I asked how many operators the airline uses and when do they turn on that blasted disconnect message, and of course she said, "we don't answer proprietary questions."

FULL ENTRY

Airlines already charge us for things that used to be included in the ticket price: headphones to watch movies and snacks, for instance. Now some airlines have begun to charge a fee to check a bag ($15) and for a window seat ($5). Outrageous, you say? Think again, say I, and brace yourself for these possible new fees:
1. Bathroom. $1.00 per use. There are two ways the airlines could charge for using the bathroom. One is to provide flight attendants with a key. Pay a dollar, get the key plus three squares of toilet paper. (Extra paper: 25 cents per square.) The second way is to have a coin lock on the door: Deposit 4 quarters (one Euro on international flights) and the door twists open. Unlimited use of tiny squares of paper included.
2. Light. Just like in churches in Italy, the overhead light would be controlled by inserting a token. Each dollar token would provide 15 minutes of illumination, almost enough time to complete the crossword at the back of the in-flight magazine. Which reminds me:
3. In flight magazine: $1.00. You think glossy paper is free?
4. Questions. $1.00. If you press the button for the flight attendant, you had better have an important question to ask, something more compelling than "Which gate number did you say my connecting flight will be at?" Which reminds me:
5. Connecting flights: $15.00.
6. Air: $5.00. You want to twist that little nozzle on? It's gonna cost you.
7. Reclining Seats. $10.00. If airlines stopped selling seats that recline they could fit an extra row in each aircraft.
8. Beverages. No more free ginger ale, diet cola, or tomato juice for you. $1.00 per beverage. Cup with ice (if you B.Y.O.B.): 50 cents. Napkin: A quarter.
9. Mini-pretzels or peanuts (.05 ounces): 50 cents. Bundle price $2.00: above, with cup, ice, beverage, and napkin. A bargain!
10. Blanket. $5.00 (used) $10.00 (in sealed plastic bag).
11. Pillow. Ditto.
12. Child-free Zone. $30.00. This ticket guarantees that no child under the age of 12 will be seated within 5 rows of your seat.
Unthinkable, you say? Check back in six months. Or add your own predictions now.

This afternoon, I hitched a ride with Guido to his cabin where I figured I could work unconnected while he puttered around in the garden. He picked me up in his 1970s Renault R4 and headed back through Ispica for an impromptu tour of the old part of town.
"That's my church," he said, rounding a corner, cresting a hill and pointing out the window all at once. "Now, neutral!" he said, batting the old car's dash-mounted stick shift back and forth with his hand and letting the car coast. Next, he passed through streets so narrow, I had previously thought it was a pedestrian area. "Modern cars don't fit."
Five minutes out of town at the cabin he uses both as an artist's studio (he's a well-known artist, with an affinity for mail art) and a base for his gardening, his mulberry tree has a carpet of fallen berries below it. A week after I was here last, the berries on the tree are now a little bigger, a little riper and a lot tastier. With high wire comic panache, Guido again brings out the umbrella and fills up a plate of berries for me to nibble on while I write.

FULL ENTRY

One of the nicest pleasures about being back in the Motherland is seeing everyone and everything again, picking up almost exactly a year to the day after I was here last. There are things to catch up on, there's a slight seasonal shift, but an overall feeling of being home.
Francesco's aunt Pinuccia, knowing I'm a sucker for good cheese, left a big hunk of a crumbly truffle-infused artisanal formaggio she'd picked up on a trip to northern Italy in my fridge. Usually, truffle-infused anything sets off little warning signals in my mind that read: "overpriced bunk". Not here.
We had a bite of the cheese and the truffles did what truffles are supposed to do: reach through your tongue and mouth like smoke, gradually settling into your senses like no other food can.
The next day, I ran into the farmer who sells still-warm ricotta out of the back of his truck. Two euros ($3) for raw milk bliss.
More recently, after starting the day with gelato from the nearby supermarket bar, Francesco and I stopped by Caffé Sicilia in Noto to see what Corrado Assenza – arguably Italy's best pastry chef – has been up to.
I had a cup of ricotta and pistachio gelato, the latter being the star, with a cake-like texture and beguiling simplicity. Francesco shared exactly one bite of his 'orange salad' gelato, based on a typical Sicilian dish that uses oranges, olive oil ultra-fresh onions. Barely sweet, the gelato went from an orange flavor to a vegetable one. It's one of those experiences that short-circuits your brain and leaves you with a smile on your face.
Finally, I made a quick lunch the other day – a pasta with a sauce that's so simple it feels like cheating: chopped up tomatoes, large amounts of good olive oil, salt and a bit of crushed garlic that all bubbles away while the pasta water is coming to a boil. In a moment of inspiration, I shaved bits of Pinuccia's cheese over the pasta, the truffle's potency and the sweetness of the cheese magnified by the warmth of the pasta.
Simple, complex, happy.
Posted by Joe Ray, Globe Correspondent, from his blog Eating The Motherland

NAPLES, Italy — Perception from afar can be a funny thing. We’re just back from a week in Naples, where the English-language news channels (CNN and BBC) make it sound like the world has ended and a mound of garbage threatens to bury the city as nearby Mt. Vesuvius inundated Pompeii. What none of the reporters bothered to mention is that, like many European cities, Naples has centralized trash collection points where people bring their garbage. The piles (and they are huge) are around overflowing dumpsters. It’s important to realize that Naples is a stunning city, and Neapolitans are proud of it. Wherever we went, they apologized profusely for the trash, embarrassed that their government had broken down. (Despite foreign reports, local sentiment is that the government has failed to issue the garbage contracts and it’s only natural that trash men won’t work without getting paid.) And contrary to CNN et al., it’s still a gorgeous place to visit—even under a Berlusconi government.

Posted by Patricia Harris and David Lyon

In Europe, travelers with rail passes aren't guaranteed spots on high-speed trains. Separate seat reservations are also needed. This applies to first- and second-class travel on such high-speed lines as the TGV (in France and Switzerland), Thalys (France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands), Eurostar (United Kingdom, France and Belgium), Lyria (France and Switzerland) and AVE (Spain) trains. An exception is the InterCityExpress (ICE) in Germany.

Seat reservations are not required on local, regional, inter-regional, and most EuroCity trains unless you're traveling during a peak time -- that being early morning and evening rush hour during the week, and weekends and holidays.

You can purchase seat reservations with your rail passes through Rail Europe , through another European train ticket provider, or at the train station. Prices range from about $5 to $35.

It's best to purchase your seat reservation in advance, says Samina Sabir, public relations manager for Rail Europe. Waiting until the day of departure to secure one at the station, for example, is risky because some high-speed trains limit the number of seats they dole out to rail pass riders. And popular routes, such as the high-speed train from Paris to Italy during the summer, sell out weeks early. (Washington Post)

It seems that every other week in Richard Carpenter’s Real Deals another women’s business has joined the travel industry. On bikes, on hikes, on safaris, out West, up north, across the Pond, women are traveling together, and cornering them has become smart commerce. (Other than to shoot game or play or attend one, do men travel together?)

Marybeth Bond won the Lowell Thomas Award for best travel book with “A Woman’s World: True Stories of World Travel’’ (Travelers’ Tales, 2003) by several dozen contemporary voices, many of them writers. Then she had a best seller last year with “50 Best Girlfriends Getaways in North America’’ (National Geographic, 2007). This spring she delivers “Best Girlfriends Getaways Worldwide” (National Geographic, 272 pp., paperback, 15.95). Bond is described on the jacket as “a travel expert, spokesperson, and motivational speaker” and it is this last calling that may, or that should, seem quite personal to the reader.

FULL ENTRY

Hold tight, folks. American said this morning that it needs to tighten the belt big-time. What that means is that it will start charging $15 to most passengers to check a first bag, and that it plans to cut its schedule by as much as 12 percent. American also said it would raise other fees from $5 to $50 for a range of services like reservation help to oversized bags.
The carrier's decision on baggage comes just a month after it decided to join other major carriers in charging $25 for a second checked bag. This means if you arrive with two bags the tab will be $40 each way. The baggage fees will kick in for flights booked starting June 15. But it won't affect some American frequent-flier program members or those paying full fare or international passengers. American put the details on their site.
Delta reacted almost immediately, saying it wasn't planning to adopt the first-bag fee, but United said it would consider it.
Ned Raynolds of American said that the airline will take 40 to 45 big jets and 35 to 40 regional ones out of service in the fourth quarter, so this will affect schedules for regular American flights as well as those of its regional American Eagle service.
The airline hasn't decided which routes it will cut. But the odds that Logan will be affected appear pretty strong, as American serves about 17 percent of the airport's travelers, behind only Delta and JetBlue.
Amid fuel costs that have risen 84 percent in the last year, Raynolds said American was in the process of "unbundling'' services: Basically, offering a menu of services -- some of them formerly free -- and letting travelers choose which ones they want and are willing to pay for.
"As much as we love our customers,'' Raynolds said, "we need to survive and thrive in the current climate.''
Why do we always hurt the ones we love? Did I hear somebody say, "Ouch?''

Let Rick Steves be your guide as you listen to his walking tours of Italy's popular attractions, including Michelangelo’s David, the Sistine Chapel, or St. Mark’s Square.

Download the tours for free from his website or from iTunes.

More than a million tours have been downloaded since Steves introduced his France series last year.

"Quoting "The Godfather" always works," said Francesco within a few hours of my arrival in Sicily.

I'd been back in The Motherland for less than 24 hours when Francesco's uncle Guido unintentionally convinced me to re-open my blog for the two weeks I'm here.

It was an offer I could not refuse.
I arrived at Guido and his wife Pinuccia's Sunday barbecue laden with the groceries for my apartment. Pinuccia (pronounced "pin-noo-cha"), noted my nasty looking store-bought garlic, and handed me a small paper bag with a handful of heady-smelling aglio. "Here. Try these," she said discreetly. "They're from my garden. They're more flavorful."
Meanwhile, home-cured olives made the rounds. Served from a one-liter honey jar, they are slightly crunchy with a pleasant, lasting bitterness.
While thin steaks and sausages cooked on the grill in the fireplace, Francesco's mother sautéed chicken cutlets covered in a mixture of egg, parsley, nutmeg, oregano and "a little red wine." She handed me a bite on a fork – simple and perfect.
Walking over, a smirking Francesco said, "Just like KFC, right?"
Right.

At the table, it's a loud, pretense-free Sicilian family free for all. There seem to be more conversations than people, with everyone munching, talking and reaching across the table for a little more. Presiding over all, Guido grabs the tail end of the salad and eats it straight from the bowl.

Sated, he takes me for a tour of his garden that has furnished everything from Pinuccia's garlic to the mulberries and loquats that ended our meal. He shows off his lettuce and peppers before pulling some lemons from a tree and sticking them in a bag for me. It's five times more than I could possibly eat in two weeks.
Posted by Joe Ray, Globe Correspondent from his blog eatingthemotherland.

FULL ENTRY

The Student and Youth Travel Association (SYTA) has released these Top 10 rankings for US, North America, and International hot spots for student and youth travel from their annual member survey, which polls student and youth travel industry professionals on current and emerging trends:

Top 10 U.S. Destinations
1. Washington D.C.
2. New York City
3. Orlando
4. Chicago
5. Greater Boston
6. Historic Virginia
7. Southern California
8. Philadelphia Area
9. Baltimore/Annapolis
10. Hawaii

Top North America Destinations
1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. Quebec City
4. Vancouver
5. Cancun & the Yucatan
6. Calgary
7. Edmonton
8. Ottawa
9. Oaxaca
10. Mexico City

Top 10 International Destinations
1. United Kingdom
2. France
3. Italy
4. Spain
5. Australia
6. Germany
7. Greece
8. Brazil
9. Peru
10. China

Italian airline Air One said today it is launching its first flights between the US and Italy, including a flight from Logan Into Milan.

Air One said its inaugural flight to Boston will arrive at Logan International Airport on June 14; the Boston-Milan connection will fly daily, excluding Tuesday and Thursday.

Air One noted in its press release, "From lift-off, Air One passengers will be immersed in Italian culture, thanks to Italian cuisine, in-flight entertainment offering Italian films, and with onboard outfitting that guarantees maximum relaxation, making the flight an authentic 'Made in Italy' experience."

(At left, a Milan landmark.)

The press release also noted that Milan is "the industrial and financial heart of Italy, as well as the point of departure to some of Northern Italy's top destinations: elegant Turin; romantic Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet; exclusive Lake Como, and the magnificent Alps."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Here’s an entry in the “good ideas for city living” department.

Sevilla, Spain, is a tangle of narrow little alleys, one-way streets, and main thoroughfares where the drivers must take their training at the bullring. (Sound familiar?) Driving a car in Sevilla is, at best, an inconvenience, and usually much worse than that. But the city is undaunted in its efforts to make it easier to get around. The city government’s “Infrastructure for Sustainability” office sponsors a solution so obvious that even Boston could do it. The SEVICI initiative touts bicycle riding as good for the environment—and makes it irresistible by proving access to nice, solid bikes for only 5 euros a week (or 10 euros per year, if you live there). The snazzy silver and red vehicles are parked at 250 high-tech stands all over the city. Each stand has a kiosk where you can subscribe with a credit card and pick up and deposit bikes. For more details on the program (Spanish only—sorry) take a look at the website: www.sevici.es.

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

Welcome to another episode of: You Can't Make This Stuff Up. First up is the case of the airline passenger from Austin, Texas, charged with disorderly conduct after refusing to get off the wireless during a Southwest flight from Austin to The Big D.
According to the Dallas Morning News, flight attendants repeated asked the passenger -- one Joe David Jones, president and CEO of an Austin environmental start-up called Skyonic -- to please shut the phone down, as the FCC prohibits in-flight wireless calls.
Turns out Mr. Jones, apparently a black belt of witty repartee, nearly a Shakespeare of the clever comeback, reportedly responded: "Kiss my [expletive]." When asked for clarification, Mr. Jones, fearing his terse and pithy mots juste had not been properly recorded for future generations, repeated, "Kiss my [expletive]." Then delivering a linguistic coup de grace, he finished with: "Not happening.''
Mr. Jones remained on the phone for 20 minutes and when Dallas police later met him at the gate to question him displayed disorderly conduct and was charged with a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500, according to police reports.
For his part, Mr. Jones, through a representative, explained that he was on the phone because he had been trying to reach officials in a cardiac unit after getting a message his father's heart had stopped.
Beth Harbin, a Southwest spokeswoman, was sympathetic but said, "It was a safety regulation that we're required to enforce, and we're simply not in a position to make exceptions."

FULL ENTRY

Mount Olympus and Hades, Maui and Gary, mom’s and your brother-in-law’s – you have been there, done that, realized that scale can be everything. Here are two writers who take their own tacks to marry the wide angle with the myriad motives that fuel travel.

Navigating between heaven and earth, Tom Stone takes us to Greece on a roundabout itinerary that reminds the poorly educated among us why that country matters in the history of everything, including theology. Stone lived in Greece for 22 years, has written about the country and its culture and language, and lives now in another outpost of the gods, Los Angeles. “Zeus: A Journey Through Greece in the Footsteps of a God” (Bloomsbury, 336 pp., hardcover, $24.95) situates the reader with a brief chronology of Zeus’s long life and purposeful death at the hands of the newfangled Christianity, and then sets off alongside Stone and his wife en route, first, to Crete and Santorini. Those tourist destinations are where Minoan civilization began around 2500 B.C. Zeus, however, had been around for thousands of years already, worshiped in the Neolithic Age around 7000 B.C. in the Russian steppes and south of the Caucasus as a sky god, a belief system that was reflected by goddess-worshiping farmers from Mesopotamia who came to inhabit Greece and its islands and, importantly, Crete, about 6500 B.C. (Even then, everyone wanted to go to Greece!)

FULL ENTRY

Headed for Europe? I know. Given the slumping dollar and the soaring costs of airline tickets it's heard to believe that anyone is but in its first international summer travel forecast AAA is actually expecting travel by Americans to rise 2.6 percent.
OK, so if you happen to be headed over you should know that the Auto Rental Wars that are percolating here are starting to brew there.
Hertz, which has a number of offices in Western Europe, just announced that it would start renting for periods shorter than a day. The new Hertz 369 program will let you rent for three or six hours for day trips, or nine hours for overnights.
It's no mistake that Hertz is doing this a little over a month after our own Cambridge-based, car-sharing pioneer Zipcar announced it was setting its sights on Europe (it already has an office in London).
My old friend Scott Kirsner wrote a story in March about how UHaul and the big rental agencies like Hertz and Enterprise , mature industries all, having been casting jealous glances Zipcar's way and are looking to compete for the sharing/short-term rental biz aux Etats Unis.
And now it appears a new front is being opened across the pond. This is a good thing.

If you're a golfer and planning on traveling in southwestern Ireland on May 14, here's an opportunity. County Limerick's five-star castle hotel, Adare Manor, is hosting the Irish Open May 15-18, and Irish golfer Padraig Harrington is returning to defend his title on the Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed parkland course. Purchase a ticket to the event online prior to May 10, and you're automatically entered into a draw to play alongside Harrington in the Irish Open Pro-Am on Wednesday, May 14. Fine print: Men must have a certified GUI handicap of 24 or below; women 36 or below. Tickets for the event begin at 25 Euros; ages 15 and younger are free when accompanied by an adult.

If playing this course is too rich for your blood, consider the adjacent, but independent (despite its name) and far less expensive Adare Manor Golf Club, which wraps around ruins of a 13th-century castle, 15th-century Franciscan priory and church cemetery and provides views of another priory-turned-school and Adare Manor itself. Not too shabby.

If you're looking to fly this summer, maybe you'd better think about buying soon.
Delta and United have once again raised fuel surcharges, the second time in two weeks. This time the increase amounts to $10-$40 round-trip.
This increase pushes the domestic tote board figure for round-trip fuel surcharges to as much as $110 (!!) and the transatlantic figure to $230 (!!!).
Thanks to Rick Seaney at farecompare.com who has been keeping track and doing the math.
The latest hike comes a week after United pushed a similar one, which was joined by all the majors by Saturday.
And it was a week ago today that Delta CEO Richard Anderson said that US carriers would need to raise fares 15 percent-20-percent to offset rising fuel prices. They are most of the way there at this point so it would not be surprising to see a couple more increases heading our way.
Bear in mind, that these increases are not simply across the board. It's still possible to get a sale or a good deal on highly competitive routes. But this trend isn't going away any time soon.

One of the first words I learned in practical (as opposed to schoolbook) Spanish was ruido, or “noise.” Visitors have to be prepared for ruidos in Spain, especially (but not exclusively) if they’re staying at either budget lodgings or the very “best” locations. Budget hotels are usually located on narrow streets where the buzz of post-midnight motor scooters is a given, and they’re also usually upstairs from bars where the closing time is somewhere between 2 and 4 a.m. One simply learns to block out the ruidos of late-night revelries. But this morning, I was reminded of a different urban racket in Spain. Dawn was still a few hours away when the bells of La Giralda, the minaret of Seville’s mosque that was converted into the cathedral’s belltower, began to clang. Even though it was early, and I had hoped to sleep a little longer, they made a comforting, joyful ruido.

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

It's that time of year again. The sun is shining; buds are budding, and airlines add international service at Logan ahead of the busy summer travel season -- and all just for your travel convenience.
So, get a pencil. Here's the list, courtesy of Matthew Brelis, Massport's director of media relations:
At the end of this month, Aer Lingus will increase Dublin service to seven times a week from four, and Lufthansa doubles Frankfurt flights to 14 from seven.
On June 6, Iberia heads to Madrid seven times a week, up from three. Two days later, Icelandair increases Reykjavik service to 11 times from seven, and on June 9 Air France takes off for Paris 14 times a week, up from seven. SATA will double service to Ponta Delgada, Azores to four times a week from two on June 26.

The Eurail Pass is not valid in Great Britain, but if you're between the ages of 16 and 25, ACP Rail and BritRail have a deal for you: Purchase any Eurail Pass and get a 50 percent discount off the regular adult price of a standard class BritRail Consecutive Pass, BritRail FlexiPass, BritRail England Consecutive Pass, or BritRail England FlexiPass.

The offer is valid throughout 2008. Phone 1866 938 RAIL and order your Eurail Youth and your BritRail Pass. If you already have your Eurail Pass, log onto BritRail.com and choose the Eurail Pass Tab on select BritRail passes. The Eurail and BritRail Passes must both be in your possession at the time you travel in Britain and they must both be valid for travel.

BritRail Passes are available for as few as 4 days and up to a month and can be used on 19,000 daily train departures to more than 2,500 destinations.

With the tumbling dollar this could be just the ticket.

Those of you arranging a Dublin celebration of Bloomsday in June might pause and reconsider. Try a taste of James Joyce’s own daring.

Here is Scott Huler, a writer in North Carolina, a man who, on NPR, bashed “Ulysses’’ and swore that after many failed attempts, he would never read Joyce’s novel. (No matter the lists it led as most important of the century, the millennium, the other millennia, the history of human civilization?) Dared to take back his swear by a diligent book group leader, Huler found himself finally enthralled – not by Joyce, though the book is, finally, on Huler’s life list, but by Homer’s “Odyssey.” And so he set out to retrace Odysseus’s steps.

FULL ENTRY

A friend recently sent an email asking for travel tips. She was about to leave for Geneva and hadn’t been abroad for a very long time. Here was my response. (Blog readers: Feel free to comment with your own ways to make air travel easier!)

*The best way to get through a long flight is to upgrade to business class. (This is a joke, of course, but also serious! It's sooooo much better. I save my frequent flier miles for this.)

*Bring earplugs and eye mask as you never know when a screaming child will be in the next row. Also, the eye mask helps shut everything out when you want to snooze. If you sleep, make sure the flight attendant can see your seat belt is buckled--especially over a blanket--because if the captain turns on the "buckle seat belt" sign while you are sleeping...and you aren't buckled...the attendants will wake you up. What a pain!

*Speaking of blankets, I was told by an attendant that these and pillows are the worst source of germs on the plane. I bring a light shawl and use that instead. Also--I always wear socks & shoes because my feet get cold.

FULL ENTRY

ENTRY XVI

Having departed the coast of Andalucía for the rugged mountains, we find ourselves out of the beach traffic—and being passed on blind curves on southern Spain’s most gorgeous natural hazards, its twisting mountain roads. We call them TMRs in our notes for the chapter of Pauline Frommer’s Spain that we’re writing. We need to caution readers without scaring them off, so we’ve come up with a TMR rating scale. Class 1 TMRs have blind curves, long vistas, and safety rails between the mountain and the drop-off. Class 2 TMRs have modest gulleys beside the road, where an accident might damage the car but leave driver and passenger unhurt. Class 3 TMRs have drop-offs that would lead to bodily injury, but with a reasonable chance of walking again. An accident on a Class 4 TMR means certain death.

Too bad that they’re also drop-dead scenic.

Posted by Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe Correspondents

Do you know the difference between "amatriciana'' and "arrabbiata''? (Both are spicey tomato sauces, the former with bacon, the latter with herbs.) Can you order your mineral water carbonated? (Acqua gasata)

If your answers were no, then Andy Herbach has the book for you. Part translator, part restaurant guide, the updated "Eating & Drinking in Italy'' (Open Road, $9.95) is slim enough to fit in your pocket and informative enough to ensure you'll know what you're ordering.

The crux of the book, the Italian to English word list, takes up more than half of the pages and is simple to use. The pronunciation guide is helpful as well.

I'm reminded of a tip from a good friend who joined us on a trip to Italy's hilltowns: Never eat in a place that posts a tourist menu outside. With Herbach's little guide, you won't have to.

ENTRY XV

Málaga in southern Spain, where my wife and I are researching the Andalucía chapter of Pauline Frommer’s Spain, used to have terrible traffic problems with both drivers and pedestrians. British tourists bound for vacations on the Costa del Sol usually fly into Málaga, where (heaven help them) they rent a car. We’ve been told that half the automobile accidents in southern Spain occur within a few miles of the airport, mostly from Brits unfamiliar with driving on the right side of the road. They have the same problem crossing the street, as they look in the wrong direction. Málaga’s ingenious answer has been to install the best animated pedestrian crossing signals we’ve ever seen. The little man (see photo above) starts out walking and seems to be running as the seconds tick down.

Posted by David Lyon, Globe Correspondent

ENTRY XIV

The ironic thing about researching a guidebook that will ultimately help people enjoy their vacation is that we often can’t behave like vacationers. It’s been raining cats and dogs for the last two days, and while the tourists on the Costa del Sol have been visiting museums and lounging in cafes, we've been going to the beach. Our rigid itinerary makes no room for deviation, so today we visited our favorite beach town of Estepona. Last time we were here it was sunny and 80 degrees; today it was 58 and the rain poured down like a bathtub faucet. But Estepona was still a delight, even in the cold rain, proving that great beach towns have much more than sea, sand, and sun to recommend them. At Bar Simonita, owner Ortiz Santiago Simón had a haul of tiny local clams ready to steam away the chill.

Posted by Patricia Harris, Globe Correspondent

OK, so you've been delayed. What now. Well, you can perhaps get some compensation from American, but it depends on how much you've been put out. And you'll need to tell them about it.
If your cancellation forced you to stay overnight somewhere, you can send a message to American's customer relations department and apply for compensation. There is a hot link on the website that gives you access to a form along with instructions. You will be eligible for refunds, hotel and meal vouchers, and a $500 voucher for future travel as an apology, said Tim Wagner, an airline spokesman.
American also will award vouchers of varying amounts to other passengers who message them from the site or write to them via snail mail (American Airlines Customer Relations/P.O. Box 619612 MD 2400/DFW Airport, TX 75261-9612) and detail how they were inconvenienced.
If you are scheduled on a flight that gets scrapped you can get a refund or apply the value of your ticket to future travel (Say Wa-Hoo, somebody). Travelers flying on any MD-80 flight from April 8 – 11, even if their flight has not been canceled, can rebook without fees. Travel must begin by April 17.

The sign outside Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy (AP Photo/Luigi Costantini)

If the depressing exchange-rate has you staying stateside more than you'd like, there's a bar in Venice that wants to ease your economic travel woes. Harry's Bar, which was frequented by libation-loving scribe Ernest Hemingway, is offering a 20 percent discount to American travelers in the restaurant portion of the eatery. Now the only thing left to do is figure out how to say "Another round please" in Italian…

Some tidbits gleaned from the morning news:
*Aer Lingus just cut a partnership deal with United. This comes a couple months after the Irish carrier reached a similar code-sharing pact with JetBlue.
What this means is that it will be easier to fly between anywhere United -- or JetBlue -- flies and any place Aer Lingus does.
Now if you and/or yours only hop between Boston and Dublin or Shannon, it's maybe not such a big deal. But it will make a difference for relatives across the pond who might want to make the rounds here in the States. Or maybe for that daughter of yours living in San Francisco who hasn't been to see the grandparents outside Donegal in a bit.
*Hard to believe but John Weikle, the founder of the bankrupt carrier Skybus, is "working on a plan" to get discounter flying again, the News & Record of Greensboro, N.C., reports. The airline has about $10 million in cash, Weikle said, which is enough seed money to attract other investors. Locally, Skybus flew out of and into Portsmouth, N.H., and Chicopee, Mass.
Excuse me? Didn't we just leave a bunch of folks stranded this weekend?
If you revive it, they will come? Can I have a show of hands: Even if Skybus makes it back, who will take a chance?
My advice? If they get it going again and you're determined to do it, snag tickets early and fly right away. Long-term planning is perhaps ill-advised, methinks.
(Thanks to Today in the Sky for pointing us to this last item.)

Even after reading Francine Prose’s subtle and revealing Sicilian Odyssey, some part of me expected to find Sicily the land of tough guys on dusty hills, vaguely sinister old men thoughtfully fingering their cigars as they sat around in villages squares—and pasta with meatballs and red sauce. But the only blood seems to be the red pulp of the sweet oranges, the only cigar smokers the after-dinner kind, and the only ragu I’ve seen was at the Ristorante Charleston in Palermo (Via Magliocco Vincenzo Generale 19, tel: +39 091 321366). (They mix it with gemelli to fill an oven-roasted, hollowed-out eggplant for their signature melanzana charleston.) Instead, I find myself feasting on fresh fish, new potatoes, and broccoli sprinkled with roasted pistachio nuts. Like Paulie Walnuts, I feel like asking, “Where’s the gravy?” The idea that travel dispels misconceptions is an old story. In the Greek ruins of Agrigento, a little boy spotted me, cocked his thumb and finger, and pointed to the sky: “Bang, bang, Americano!” Stereotypes die hard.

Posted by David Lyon, Globe Correspondent

Having a bad week? Feeling pathetic? Don't feel bad. There are bigger losers -- and some of them run airlines.
It seems that British discount airline Flybe was facing a $560,000 penalty if it failed to increase passengers on its Norwich-to-Dublin route, so it tried all kinds of things to hit the number, including advertising for actors to sit in the seats.
Funny, yes?
It seems that the airline had cut a deal with Norwich Airport, promising that it would carry 15,000 passengers on the route during the 2007/2008 fiscal year, which was ending yesterday. Flybe looked like it would come up 172 fliers short, according to a BBC story. So it added extra flights, offered to give away 200 return tickets, told staffers that they might have to take flights, and also advertised on a website for actors in need of work (StarNow), seeking "actors aged 16+ for paid work flying to Dublin.'' The pay? About $160.
Flybe said it ended up not using the actors. But the Telegraph talked to a woman named Suzanne Moore who was boarding a Flybe plane at Norwich yesterday. She said she was a "model" and had been paid to fly.
Norwich Airport Managing Director Richard Jenner was quoted as saying, "It doesn't seem to be in the spirit of the agreement.''
Ya think? Dude, this is like not only asking your cousin to the prom but plotting your move for the front porch drop-off.

That Sicily was overrun by invaders from all sides of the Mediterranean (and the North Atlantic, too, if one counts the Normans in the 12th century) is a given. The ruins of Selinunte outside Castelvetrano are instructive. Less fully restored than some ancient Greek cities in Sicily, it remains an active archaeological dig. Yet the two standing temples sit nearly a mile apart on the ridges above the Mediterranean. Founded either in 651 or 628 BC (depending on which Greek historian you read), it became one of the largest cities of the ancient world, trading wheat, olive oil, and wine. They took tens of thousands of Carthaginians captive to build their temples, which rose as high as 100 feet. But like one of the Greek tragedies that Aeschylus himself performed at the great theater of nearby Syracuse, its fate was sealed. In 409BC, General Hannibal of Carthage landed and nine days later Selinunte lay in ruins. Carthaginian soldiers pulled down the huge masses of stone that Carthaginian captives had raised.

Posted by David Lyon, Globe Correspondent

Thanks to the tanking dollar against the rising pound and Euro, accents are
plentiful on New England's slopes, from the Eastern Europeans manning the
lifts to the Brits skiing. Bretton Woods, N.H., is no exception. So, I
wasn't surprised, when I struck up a conversation on the Rosebrook Express
chair, to hear what sounded like a British accent peppering the reply to my
usual conversation opener: "Having a good day?"
I've met folks from all over and received insider tips from those chance
chairlift meetings, and I've meet folks from Newfoundland to Alaska, Bosnia
to New Zealand. But until yesterday, no one had ever replied to my "Where's
home?" question with "The Isle of Man."
Whoa -- I Googled the grade school geography files collecting dust in my
brain: Great Britain, no; Ireland, no; Scotland, close; Wales, not really.
Hmm, as familiar as I was with the name, I couldn't pinpoint it on my
inner-vision map.
"It's way out in the Irish Sea," he said. At least I was somewhat close in
my mental ramblings.
Back in my room, I Googled my computer's brain. Ahhh yes. The 227-square-mile Isle
of Man is located between England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (roughly
midway between Liverpool, England, and Belfast, Ireland). It's a
self-governing kingdom with its own language (Manx) and currency, although
English is the spoken language and the pound is accepted. Its parliament,
called Tynwald, was founded by the Vikings 1,000 years ago. Who knew? Not
me, but I'm intrigued enough to see if I can add it to a travel itinerary
the next time I'm in the general area.
But it won't be for skiing: It doesn't have a ski resort.

Posted by Hilary Nangle, Globe Correspondent

The bottom line: Yes, you should be worried but probably not for the reasons you think.
Over the past couple weeks, everybody's been reading about hundreds of flights being grounded because of maintenance problems. It started a couple of weeks ago when Southwest got hit with a record $10.2 million fine after admitting it missed required structural inspections on about 50 planes. And some days later the airline grounded dozens more because it wasn't sure that other necessary check-ups had been properly done.
In the past couple days, American and Delta have canceled hundreds of flights as they grounded scores of planes to inspect wiring. At Logan, this has ended up affecting more than a dozen flights.
No one wants to end up like Southwest.
But right now, with all these planes getting grounded for safety checks, you're getting kind of skittish about flying, yes. The airline wise guys say you're missing the point. In a story in the L.A. Times, they lay it out thusly: Yes, there is a safety issue, but it's not huge. Planes will not be raining down. What you are seeing is the result of an aging US fleet needing more maintenance at a time when carriers have less money to replace them and are trimming schedules to cut costs. As more planes need more work and with fewer options to reschedule we are going to start seeing more of these kinds of disruptions.
So air travel isn't necessarily less safe, but it could become a little less predictable.

ENTRY XIII

Based on their experiences with US restaurants that make “tapas” a series of small, expensive plates that you eat successively in the same place, we find most Americans unprepared for the real thing in Madrid. One night of making the peripatetic rounds of classic tapas bars on Plaza Santa Ana can correct the misunderstandings. Tapas are supposed to be a moveable feast. You enter your first bar at 6 p.m. to order a drink and the specialty tapa of the house. Then you walk to the next bar and repeat. You keep doing this until 10 p.m., when the restaurants open for dinner. Thus, in Plaza Santa Ana you have smoked trout at La Trucha, cod-stuffed red peppers at La Venencia, tuna empanadas at Tia Cebolla, and patatas bravas (fried potatoes in spicy paprika sauce) at Las Bravas. Moreover, tapas are cheap—a euro or two and often free with the drink.

Posted by David Lyon, Globe Correspondent

If you were captivated by the Travel lead on Jan. 27 and plan to bike Hadrian’s Wall (or if you were moved by Jim Shepard’s story "Hadrian's Wall'' in his award-nominated collection, “Like You’d Understand, Anyway’’), you might want to familiarize yourself with those “barbarians’ the Romans wanted kept out of their yard. Yes, the Scots.

FULL ENTRY

In England’s Lake District, fans of Beatrix Potter will find two sites celebrating the creator of such children’s book characters as Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck

The first is Hill Top in Near Sawrey, the home from which the author wrote many of her classics. It’s a modest two-story 17th-century cottage with beamed ceilings, stone floors, and original furniture. In Potter’s room, we saw her desk, copies of her manuscripts and sketches, and letters of acceptance and rejection from various magazines of the time. In many rooms, books are opened to an illustration showing that setting. Some children bring their own books and sleuth for their real-life settings.

The World of Beatrix Potter in Bowness-on-Windermere (pictured) is a more Disney-esque shrine. Visitors follow a path through a maze populated by realistic, life-size models of Potter’s characters set in pastel-washed dioramas of familiar scenes from her books. The attraction includes all 23 tales by Potter, complete with sights, sounds, and even smells.

Surprisingly, in Cumbria, Potter is loved most not for her stories, but for her dedication to conservation. In her later years she bought up all the land she could in the Lake District to protect it from development. When she died in 1943, she left 1,619 hectares (4,000 acres) to the National Trust.

Posted by Ellen Albanese, Globe Staff

I know you missed this, but it could make your life better and, well, that's what we're all here for, yes? To make your life better. So pay attention.
At the end of this month, the EU-US Open Skies Agreement becomes real, and it will bring big changes to anyone who hops the pond -- read more direct flights to cities in Europe along with the possibility of some lower fares as discounters remake European travel the same way they've reshaped domestic flights.
Basically, the deal, signed last year, brought down a complicated series of barriers -- for instance, limiting how many airlines can make transatlantic trips out of Heathrow -- and will essentially allow any US airline to fly to any European city and vice versa.
Already we're starting to see changes: British Airways is launching another airline, OpenSkies, which will connect JFK nonstop with cities like Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam; Air France will fly from LA to London, and KLM will fly from Dallas to Amsterdam.
Gridskipper susses it all out.
This is just the beginning of the changes. Stay tuned.

So this 60-something woman gets stopped in Munich after baggage guys find a skeleton in a plastic bag in her luggage. This is neither the set-up for a joke nor the plot synopsis for "I Know What You Did Last Summer: The European Edition .'' It's in the news. And, seriously, you couldn't make this stuff up.
Anyway, turns out that she was transporting the bones of her brother -- who died 11 years ago in Sao Paulo, Brazil -- and it was his last wish to be buried in Italy. So the authorities check out her papers, find that they are in order, and send her on her way bones and all.
A happy ending. Sort of.

Hola, muchachos. Comment ça va? My pal Carolyn Johnson has a cool story in this morning's Globe about a social networking website, MyHappyPlanet, started by a Harvard Business School student that helps people learn languages.
Sites like this one let members dust off those language skills by communicating through written messages, talking, or IMs with each other (yes, dude, in foreign languages). MyHappyPlanet also has features that lets users correct grammar and vocabulary when sending messages and includes a phrase translator.
The site also hosts a series of user-generated videos that give you a taste of cultures and languages around the world. I had to include one of them here, "One Semester of Spanish Love Song.'' But, WARNING, DANGER, WILL ROBINSON, it's a parody. So if you happen to be an earnest, serious student of language you might want to avert your eyes or least mute the sound. Ciao. Adjö. Sun-kia. Do svidanja.

Need to catch the Brewers home opener April 4? Or sample some of the beers that made Milwaukee famous? Then Midwest Airlines may have a deal for you.

Through Friday, the airline is offering some discount fares for future travel, including some flights between Boston and Milwaukee. So for travelers who want to get a good look at Brewers slugger Prince Fielder (right), this may be an opportunity to check out.

The special fares cover some Midwest Airlines flights from April 1 through June 11, and one-way fares based on round trip purchase include such starting sample prices as Milwaukee to Boston for $79, Midwest said.
For locals interested in cricket and a different kind of royalty than Prince Fielder, British Airways is offering a summer sale that includes round trip fares from Boston starting at $769. Ticket purchases must be made by the end of Thursday, and the summertime rate is available for travel from May 26 through Sept. 3, the airline said.

As always, conditions apply to both Midwest Airlines and British Airways offers.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

Dude, let me tell you. I dig tapas. And flan. The sherry thing I can take or leave, but the food is way cool (I love the olives and the squid -- who knew?). When I used to get sick, Mom used to make flan so... (OK, man, don't look at me like that. I bet you miss the PJs with the feet built in, too).
Anyway, it's that time of year again. Iberia Airlines says that it's planning to ratchet up service from Logan to Madrid (I'll say this once: Bullfights are NOT cool: Think "The Story of Ferdinand'' meets Jason) from three flights a week to seven, starting in mid-June.
Last May the airline launched service from Logan with five flights a week and then scaled back as the weather cooled. So just in time for the summer travel season, Iberia is once again increasing flights as a kind of rite of the season -- kind of like the crocuses or the swallows, or the girls with the big hair at Revere Beach.
Fernando Pollan of Iberia points out that the carrier will be running more flights this year than last and hopes to expand its Logan business year-round.
¡Qué guay!, yes?

ENTRY XII
Looking at dozens and dozens of lodgings has given us a new appreciation for … the wide angle camera lens. Even many of Madrid’s more modest hotels have websites where the rooms often look bigger than their actual dimensions. But, of course, that’s something you can only discover in person. A photo can’t tell you if two people can walk around the bed at the same time, if there’s enough floor space for two suitcases, or if the bathroom door swings open to hit the night table. Websites leave a lot unsaid. No glowing description tells you if the mattress is comfortable, if the room is clean, or if the windows will keep out noise from the street. And they convey nothing of that powerful intangible — hospitality — that distinguishes great lodgings at any price range. Only a personal visit uncovers what kind of greeting you’ll get at check-in and how much help you can expect as you negotiate an unfamiliar city. At one small hotel in a very nice location we encountered three different rude and surly desk clerks on three different occasions. That place isn’t