Turbo Travelguide

Follow Ásta Andrésdóttir on her trip around Iceland: “Every true Icelander must make a certain trip at least once in his lifetime.  A trip on Iceland’s Ring Road, or Route 1. When I was four years old, back in 1980, my opportunity came. I remember it like yesterday when my parents, my seven-year-old sister and I got in our burgundy colored Volvo, in our matching Hummel jersey tracksuits. Burgundy-colored of course. We were a team, the four of us, ready to take on Iceland.Many of my most precious childhood memories were made during that trip. Some of them I remember vaguely. Other parts I remember vividly. I remember the weather (it was always sunny); the pop tunes on the radio.  It was a trip of discovery, a realization that there was more to the world than the playground behind my apartment building in central Reykjavík.” Read the complete story

He looks like President Barack Obama, speaks like him, and even gestures like him, but he is not exactly the president of the United States. This president is an audio-animatronic Obama surrounded by the 42 other U.S. presidents at Walt Disney World’s newly revamped Hall of Presidents in Orlando, Florida. Disney gathered a team of what it calls “Imagineers,” each trained in various disciplines such as artistry, design and engineering, to update the attraction that has been around since 1971. (…) “The magic of the show is actually being able to see all of the presidents throughout history on this stage together,” said Eric Jacobson, senior vice president of creative development at Walt Disney Imagineering. (Source: CNN)

Logo Witte Aap

Fans of backpackers bible Lonely Planet name Cafe de Witte Aap in Rotterdam in Holland as ‘Greatest bar of the world. ” The Lonely Planet rankings with the 1162 best cafes in the world is this year for the first time constructed on the initiative of the Thai beer Singha.
Cafe De Witte Aap is valued for its hidden location and interesting mix of guests. Students, artists, businessmen, and the Rotterdam ‘couleur locale’ feel welcome in the cafe in the best street of Rotterdam. This is why Cafe De Witte Aap passes by popular cafes in backpackers-mecca as Bangkok and Barcelona. The outside terrace, where even on a warm winter can be a real attraction to travelers from all corners. Owner Ron Strong: “I am completely surprised. It feels great to be chosen as the best bar in the world by our visitors.” The complete ranking is published on the Lonely Planet website, the starting point for many world travelers.  www.dewitteaap.nl |                   singha.lonelyplanet.com

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Opéra Bastille, Gerard Mortier, Director of the Opéra national de Paris, has commissioned the famous painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer with the entire creation (staging, sets, costumes) of a remarkable visual and musical performance brought into being in association with the composer Jörg Widmann, who wrote the music. Am Anfang (In the beginning) will be offered in seven exceptional performances from 7 to 14 July 2009 at the Opéra Bastille.
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The 1609 Exhibition is the title of a exhibition that can be seen from july 01, 2009 - till march 31, 2010 in the New York State Museum. This exhibition at looks back on the Dutch period in New York State history. It focuses on the interaction of the Dutch and Native People of New York during these years, re-examines Henry Hudson’s voyage, the myths that surround it, and explores the legacies of Hudson’s unexpected discovery.
1609 looks at the interaction of the Dutch and native people of New York during these years through four myths. These are: Henry Hudson came here on purpose, the natives were happy to see the Europeans, Europeans took advantage of the natives, and Native culture fell apart as a result of contact with Europeans. These four myths constitute one half of the exhibition. The other half begins with the myth: The Dutch experience in North America is irrelevant to who we are as Americans. Addressing this myth allows the visitor to experience and celebrate thecontinuing legacy that these two cultures have left for us to see andexperience every day.
This project will highlight the extensive collections of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education.

Turner self portrait

Turner and the Masters in the Tate Museum in London will present a selection of magnificent paintings by JMW Turner (1775-1851) alongside related works by the old masters and contemporaries he hoped to imitate, rival and surpass. Bringing together around one hundred works of supreme historical significance from collections around the world this will be the first exhibition to look at Turner’s work in the company of the greatest painters in the preceding history of western art. It will reveal his debts and rivalries in exciting, even unpredictable, ways, and explore his reputation as one of the greatest painters of landscape in the European tradition.
The exhibition will pair Turner’s works with major paintings by his predecessors, many brought together for the first time, including works by Canaletto, Claude, Cuyp, Poussin, Rembrandt, Rubens, Ruisdael, and van de Velde. There will also be pairings with paintings by Turner’s most important contemporaries such as Constable and Bonington. It will show how Turner’s responses to other artists were both acts of homage and a sophisticated form of art criticism, designed to demonstrate his understanding of great art and his ability to equal and even outshine the most celebrated exponents of the landscape tradition.

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Luxe bath in one of the hotels.

Tourists from Europe that travel between July 1 and November 30, 2009 to the Taiwanese capital Taipei, can get a one night stay in the finest hotels for a Euro. This is an initiative of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau. How does it work?  Tourists who booked a holiday to Taiwan in VNC Asia Travel books or a stopover in Taipei and fly with China Airlines and Eva Airways, via VNC Asia Travel can see if there is availability in one of the many accommodations that participate in the Euro project . Is the application confirmed by the hotel, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau coupons should be displayed during the check. Important to know is:  People from Europe can join in with this action. Hotel Coupons are valid for a night .  The rooms are including breakfast . More information: www.taiwan.net.tw

The official Porsche Museum in Stutggart reached since opening earlier this year the quarter-millionth visitor. A remarkable number of visitors since the manufacturer only aimend for 100.000 a year. The fantastic plant collection includes dozens of cars, of which over 80 are shown in the beautiful museum. There are four times more than the old Porsche museum could exhibit. At the old location, the brand has received an average of 80,000 visitors over the year. The new home has an exhibition area of 5600 square meters.

In 1284 attracted a Pied Piper in Hamelin not only pests, but also a whole horde children. The town celebrates the 725th anniversary this summer of this mysterious story. The Pied Piper of Hamelin is world famous. Less known is that this Grimm fairy tale, based on a true story. Because his salary to catch the rats received, prompted the ratcatcher 130 Hamel children.
Not a happy history, but nowadays, the ratcatcher fortunately is the source for a lot of fun. In the medieval town creeps U.S. actor Michael Boyersince fifteen years every Sunday in the skin of the Pied Piper and entertains young and old with his flute playing.
In the anniversary year there is a scoop in Hamelin: Until September, every Wednesday there is a performance of the English musical Rats up. On June 26, the day the Pied Piper 725 years ago left with the children, there is a large children’s parade from Hamelin to Coppename Burg place. With on front of course the ratcatcher himself. Hamelin is the Land of Lower Saxony and is part of the 600 kilometer long route of fairytale towns like Bodenwerder, the birthplace of the Baron of Münchhausen, that links with Bremen, the city of known musicians. www.725-jahre-rattenfaenger.de

India gets this summer a new tourist attraction with the Gandhi tour. Historians, supporters and even immediate family members of the former leader of the Indian people, take tourists to its birthplace in Gujarat and the place where Gandhi was assassinated in New Delhi. “It’s nice to see that from the rest of the world there’s still interest in the peaceful ideas of the late Gandhi”, said Varsha Das, director of the National Gandhi Museum near Rajghat. This summer, tourists can visit the birthplace and even drinking tea with a member of the Gandhi family. There are bidsessies and workshops followed on the same spinning wheel that Gandhi used to hand-woven clothing to protest against imported textiles. Another tour operator offers a four-hour excursion along the place where Gandhi was assassinated in 1948. A guide that tells the story of that fatal day in January.