Katie Knorovsky
Planeta.com Announces Colibri Award Winner
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on July 22, 2008 We’d like to offer congratulations to Gerhard Buttner, the winner of Planeta.com’s eighth annual Colibri Ecotourism Award. South African geographer Buttner won the honor for his superb work training guides and artisans in Mexico’s Yucatan and Oaxaca. Over the past few years Buttner has helped the community of San Antonio Cuajimoloyas develop its annual mushroom…
The Long Weekend: Appleton, Wisconsin
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on July 17, 2008 The Houdini-themed fiberglass “Metamorph Lion” stands guard in front of Appleton’s History Museum. I had a sense of what to expect from Appleton, Wisconsin, when I visited the most wholesome of college towns in Middle America—and on Flag Day, no less. But the genial college town proved more surprising with each cheesehead I encountered (best…
Where the Buffalo….Still Roam
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on July 1, 2008 Back in September, I blogged about the concept of the Buffalo Commons, whose goal was to revert the Great Plains to its pristine condition by creating a nature preserve for free-roaming bison. So when I read a recent article in the New York Times about this very topic, I was delighted to discover the eco-initiative…
Water Falls in the New York Harbor
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on June 27, 2008 A new high-profile spectacle flowed into New York this week, courtesy of Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. The New York City Waterfalls—riding high with a $15-million price tag—is the city’s loftiest public art installation since “The Gates,” when saffron-colored ribbon shimmied atop more than 7,500 gates throughout Central Park in 2005. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the…
Can a Family of Eight Travel on a Budget in Ireland?
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on June 10, 2008 ASK IT Reader Pauline Mankoff wrote the Traveler staff a few weeks back, asking for any advice or help we could offer her for her upcoming, but yet-to-be-planned, trip to Ireland with her children and grandchildren—eight travelers in total. The family doesn’t currently have a computer or Internet access, and with seven weeks and counting…
Tours of a Lifetime: Jane Crouch of Intrepid Travel
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on June 9, 2008 In the May/June issue of Traveler, we highlight 50 of the world’s best tours in our third annual Tours of a Lifetime issue—using the criteria of authenticity, seasoned expertise, sustainability, unprecedented access, and local connections—that offer truly transformative travel experiences. Intrepid Travel fit the bill with their 14-day "Food Lovers Japan" tour, where travelers visit…
Napa Valley: Foodie Globe-trotting
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on June 5, 2008 Napa’s clinking-glass culture is an incubator for more than world-class vino. Proof: Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in downtown St. Helena, which globe-trots via diners’ taste buds each Wednesday for their year-and-running Supper Club. Aptly named, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen is a white-linens eatery cached behind Main Street with a scene that feels more neighborly than swanky. Head…
Las Vegas Goes Au Naturel
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on May 22, 2008 In the neon haze of Las Vegas’s infamous Strip, it’s easy to forget the reason for the Capital of Excess’s birth (hint: it has nothing to do with blackjack or free margaritas). An oasis amid an expanse of barren desert, Vegas was once home to natural bubbling springs that sustained the area’s Native Americans, vagabonds…
Strange Planet: Mike the Headless Chicken Festival
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on May 15, 2008 Here at IT, we love a good tale of chicken grit. No, we don’t mean chicken and grits, but rather the industrious and absurd tale of Mike, the headless chicken of Fruita, Colorado. Legend goes that on Sept. 10, 1945, an almost six-month-old Wyandotte rooster was looking especially delicious to his owners, the Olsens. Lloyd…
Tours of a Lifetime: On Sale!
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on May 7, 2008 Looking for a deal on a tour? How soon can you leave? Senior editor Norie Quintos, the magazine’s resident tour expert, says, “Now is a good time to find bargains on summer tours because some outfitters still have openings for their May and June departures, which typically are not as popular as departures later in…
Passport DC
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on May 6, 2008 Whenever I need a surefire way to impress an out-of-town visitor, I head to D.C.’s Massachusetts Avenue for a stroll along Embassy Row. The fascinating architecture makes for lovely eye candy, plus, it’s a great glimpse of global culture in our nation’s capital. Most of the year the sites serve uninformed passersby merely as stand-offish…
London Bloggers Divulge Local Secrets
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on May 6, 2008 Locals like to guard their hometown’s hidden gems from the masses with fiery industry, especially in a colossal tourist destination like London. But lucky for travelers, the Guardian recently convinced ten of the city’s most in-the-know bloggers to reveal one each of their best secrets, from a cafe with a gangster’s past to a haven…
Neighborhood Watch: Greensburg Rises from the Rubble
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on May 2, 2008 Once-backwater Greensburg, Kansas, is turning a brand-new, bright green leaf. With a population hovering around 1,500, the town has emerged over the past few months as one of the country’s most progressive, environmentally friendly cities. Rising from the rubble left behind from last May’s devastating 1.7-mile-wide F5 tornado, Greensburg earlier this year became the first…
Free EcoCabs, Eh?
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on May 1, 2008 Starting today, a fleet of 28 EcoCabs has descended upon the smoggy streets of downtown Toronto. What’s an EcoCab, you ask? In addition to being an adorably goofy alternative to the iconic yellow cab, the EcoCab runs mostly on a trained driver’s pedal-power (in other words, a modern-day rickshaw) and is powered by a rechargeable…
No Beer at the Inn
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on April 29, 2008 The Halal Inn opened last December in Oldham, England, as the first Islamic pub in Britain. Buzzing (albeit a bit hesitantly) with a decidedly sobering business model, the place adheres to a strict no-alcohol policy, opting instead to serve fizzy non-alcoholic juices, drinks, and spritzers. The Daily Mail explains: Pubgoers can play snooker, darts or…
Coffee with an $11,000 Price Tag
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on April 7, 2008 As I deliberated over coffee beans in my neighborhood grocery store, the guy next to me struck up a conversation. It was run-of-the-mill small talk at first, but soon he was swooning over Grape + Bean, a combo wine-and-coffee shop that had just opened in nearby Alexandria, Virginia. Clearly still on a caffeine high from…
Global Eye: Coney Island, New York
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on March 26, 2008 Photographer: Jenene Chesbrough, Brooklyn, New York Getting the shot: This shot was taken on opening day of Astroland/Coney Island 2006. Every year my friends and I bike down to hang out, put our feet in the sand, ride the Cyclone, and eat some Nathan’s Famous cheese fries. There were organ grinders and lots of Coney…
China’s New Bus: Zen or Hell?
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on March 13, 2008 Ten countries, 16 days, one bus full of intrepid travelers. Sound like the makings for a ridiculous reality TV show? Nope, it’s the Butterfly Bus (which just launched as BuddhaBus, but underwent a spitfire-fast name change to avoid religious offense): an “overland adventure” (in their words). Departing from London, the bus slogs its way to…
Neighborhood Watch: A Sign of Change in Hollywood?
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on February 28, 2008 One of Hollywood’s most photographed stars could be on its way to becoming just another real estate selling point if a Chicago-based investment firm has its way. Cahuenga Peak’s 138 acres of unspoiled mountains, which stretch behind the postcard-ready Hollywood sign, hit the real estate market earlier this month for a cool $22 million—much to…
Behind the Lens: Paris’ Deyrolle Taxidermy Shop
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on February 21, 2008 We were saddened when we heard that the beloved Paris taxidermy shop Deyrolle caught fire earlier this month. The ground floor garden shop has reopened, but the taxidermy gallery upstairs was badly damaged and hopes to reopen later this year. Photographer Catherine Karnow shot the shop for the “Authentic Paris” cover story and was shocked…
Sleep Like a Parisian
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on February 19, 2008 Let’s face it: Planning a big trip can be overwhelming. And at least for me, choosing lodging is always the most overwhelming part of the process—magnified times a million when the destination is overseas or for a special occasion. So needless to say, hotel shopping for my Parisian honeymoon was almost enough to make me…
World Cities Vie for Monopoly’s Boardwalk
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on February 1, 2008 Monopoly is spurring a debate even more impassioned than the one over who gets dibs on the sweet metal dog token, and this one’s brewing on a global scale. Reigning as the world’s most popular branded board game (or so says the Guinness World Records), Monopoly recently unveiled plans for a new edition of the…
Rethinking Shanty Towns
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on January 24, 2008 Generally speaking, travelers tend to eschew slums in their urban itineraries. But Robert Neuwirth—a journalist who spent two years living in four squatter communities in Brazil, Kenya, India, and Turkey—considers these shanty towns vibrant neighborhoods worthy of exploration. After all, one in six people on the planet are considered squatters (that’s one billion people), an…
Bungalow Bounceback
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on January 22, 2008 Better known for its Prairie-style architecture in the heart of Frank Lloyd Wright country, Chicago has long dismissed its endless rows of brick bungalows as humdrum. The basic homes were built for the city’s working class–mostly immigrants–in the 1920s as an urban respite, located just four to eight miles from downtown. But the current issue…
Locals for Hire
Posted by Katie Knorovsky on January 15, 2008 Carousing through town with bona fide locals in a new city, you can’t help but feel intrinsically cool. Tourist? Hardly. You’re just kicking it with friends. And for those of us who don’t happen to have friends conveniently scattered throughout the globe, Like-A-Local.com promises that hiring a local to be your friend will elevate you…
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