Blogstalker: Miss Doxie.com

So it's not a travel blog, but Miss Doxie is dead-on with her most recent post, "With So Many Apologies to David Sedaris." You know how sometimes you think you speak a foreign language, what with the millions of hours in high school spent studying and the occasional trip to that country? And then, you run into someone who REALLY does speak that language, and you're immediately humbled. Yeah. Parlez vous Francais? Me neither.

The Cannes Film Festival insider guide

Yeah, I'm sure going to Cannes is an awful experience. (Actually, for those who cover it as reporters, it is.) But for those gawking from home, I wanted to share a little industry secret: you can see all the photos of the red carpet coverage at WireImage . It sort of amusing to scroll through them all and see what ones the major media outlets don't pick. (To actually download the photo without the watermark, you have to join - and it's expensive.)

Read: What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman

Well, looky here. I'm finishing up a mystery by former Baltimore Sun reporter Laura Lippman (I met her briefly when I was an intern in D.C.) and the New York Times goes and runs a tell-all about the city. Hey, it's more than the TV show Homicide! (There's also John Waters, for instance. Kidding!)

Link.

Women only hotel floors?

I have to say, it sounds like kind of a great idea, especially since they're obviously going for something of a spa angle with it all.

Link

China Advocates

While the trip is run through UCLA, this is the San Francisco-based tour group that is arranging everything: China Advocates I think it can safely be said that their speciality is nerds.

So...China!

Indeed, China! I had a number of ideas as to where to go when I got laid off; I knew I wanted to spend a couple of weeks bopping around somewhere. However, I was hired on a couple projects immediately - money good, but free time zero. Everything is going to calm down in mid-July, however, when is when I can gear up with this.

I'm taking the class with UCLA Extension - it's actually a two-parter. There's an introductory session, then a four-week preparation class on the arachaeology of China, then the trip leaves for two weeks in September. You can download the brochure here.

Ni hao!

All righty, as if my six words of floundering Czech weren't difficult enough to learn - let's try Mandarin! Excellent.

I just signed up for Chinese Pod, which provides podcasts and study tools for Mandarin. We shall see.

And on a side note....

My friend, who is trying to get a student visa to France, and I have started a side blog to amuse ourselves over the process. Who will get their visa first? Hmmmm....

A Tale of Two Visas

And the 2007 trip is...

Yep, I've finally decided on a place. Here is a clue:

Hint.

More details to come...

Blogstalker: 1000 Wines

What to do when you're done with school and your wife is about to start studying winemaking in a year and a half? Travel around the world and drink a bunch of wine, of course. A most excellent idea.

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What do Arthur Frommer and I have in common?

He blogs, too! I stumbled across this the other day. I really like his comments about the farce and worship of money behind the registered traveler programs (it's about five posts down.)

Mud bath!

The marble of the Taj Mahal is absorbing smog from the air - hey, that sounds familiar - so they're considering packing it in mud to suck up the muck and clean it off.

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Cracking while Rome fiddles

Hey, not every city can be like L.A., where instead of preserving things, we tear them down. (Bye, Ambassador Hotel!)

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Venice's first female gondolier

This is interesting: 426 gondoliers in Venice - one is a woman. And they don't make it easy on her.

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The Hate Boat

Yep, this is vacation gone wrong - a cruise ship runs aground and is maybe sinking off the coast of Alaska. They do those little drills before cruise ships leave - it's basically play-acting putting on your life vest and finding your assigned boat - and at the time, they seem mighty silly. Until, of course, the boat sinks.

Link.