Tiny island nation seeks tourists

BOMBOM, Sao Tome and Principe (AP) -- Flying into the tiny island of Principe off Africa's west coast brings a sense of traveling back in time.
Seen from over the Atlantic, the dense tropical jungle coats the volcanic terrain down to a turquoise sea and golden beaches reachable only by boat. It looks like a prehistoric land that time forgot.
Principe is one of the poorest spots on Earth in dollar terms. But in terms of virgin tropical landscapes it is one of the wealthiest, says Rombout Swanborn, a Dutch businessman and conservationist.
Swanborn recently purchased two hotels on Principe and, backed by local authorities, aims to plug this island of about 6,000 people into the ecotourism boom now spreading across West Africa.
Ecotourism took off in eastern Africa in the early 1990s. Underdeveloped countries such as Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya discovered they had what vacationers from developed countries sought -- raw wilderness rich in animal life.
Now the business is gaining traction in the western part of the African continent, too.
Ecotourism is flourishing in Gabon and Ghana. Angola and Nigeria are also signing up. Sao Tome and Principe, a twin-island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, aims to become the latest.
"The people here are sitting on a pot of gold," said Swanborn, who also operates four ecotourism developments in Gabon.
The Madrid, Spain-based World Tourism Organization in October described Africa as the industry's "star performer." Growth in visitors is predicted to be around 10 percent this year, more than double the world average.
"One can safely say that the growth we observe in Africa ... is mainly based on ecotourism growth," Eugenio Yuris, head of the WTO's sustainable tourism section, said.
The United Nations and international conservation bodies such as the World Wildlife Fund are backing the ecotourism trend. They view the development of sustainable tourism as a way of wedding local needs and care for the environment.
There are potential pitfalls, though.
Neel Inamdar, a senior adviser at Washington, D.C.-based Conservation International, a nonprofit organization, points out that Kenya has fought hard to recover from the damage wrought by high-volume, low-cost ecotourism.
"You need a strong regulatory environment, with bodies that will stand up to the industry," Inamdar said.
Principe island, just north of the equator, fits the bill of a tropical paradise.
Just a few hundred people live in its seaside capital, Santo Antonio. The rest are scattered across small communities of clapboard houses and tumbledown former plantation buildings where they scrape a living from farming and fishing.
The jungle spills down to beaches where you can spend an entire day and the only footprints in the sand are your own.
The thick Atlantic rainforest is sprinkled with colorful birds, including rare species, and waterfalls. In certain seasons, sea turtles lay eggs on the beaches and whales come within view of land.
Despite its charms, this country is not all that it could be as a vacation destination. There are few international-standard hotels.
But tourism development is gathering pace.
Portugal's Pestana Group, which runs a resort on Sao Tome island, is building a development in the capital, also called Sao Tome, that includes a five-star hotel, a casino and villas.
Arlecio Costa, local director of the Falcon Group, is developing a huge project on the northern tip of Sao Tome island called Lago Azul with South African investors.
The $380 million development, still at the planning stage but scheduled to open in five years, includes a quay for cruise liners, an 18-hole golf course, a conference center and a hotel with a health spa.
"It looks like a dream," Costa said.
The project will leave a large footprint, but Costa insists its biggest selling point is the area's natural beauty, especially the nearby Obo National Park whose conservation activities are supported by the United Nations.
Sao Tome and Principe was a largely overlooked country until it found major oil reserves, estimated at 11 billion barrels, in its offshore waters a few years ago. That discovery brought foreign governments and international oil companies knocking at its door.
Costa, though, reckons tourism is the way forward.
"The oil will run out one day," he said. "Tourism can be forever, if you take care of it."
IF YOU GO:
SAO TOME:
National tourism Web site: http://www.saotome.st
TRAVELING TO SAO TOME: Foreign passport holders require visas and a yellow fever vaccination to enter Sao Tome. Flights leave from Lisbon, Portugal (TAP Air Portugal); Luanda, Angola (TAAG); and Gabon (Air Sao Tome). Air Sao Tome flies from Sao Tome island to Principe island.
WHEN TO GO: The equatorial islands have a steady temperature between 22 and 30 C (72 and 86 F). The October-May rainy season brings sporadic heavy showers and higher temperatures. It is mostly cloudy between June and September.
WHERE TO STAY: There are just a handful of international standard hotels, though the national tourism Web site lists some other local places to stay.
In the capital, Sao Tome, there are two main hotels. The Marlin Beach Hotel - http://www.marlinbeach.com - is on the bay and the Hotel Miramar -http://www.sao-tome.com/hmiramar/index--english.htm - is located in the city's embassy area.
On the Ilheu das Rolas, an islet off the southern tip of Sao Tome island, the Pestana Equador Hotel -http://www.pestana.com/hotels/en/hotels/africa/SaoTomePrincipeHotels /Equador / Home/ - offers beaches and diving.
On Principe island, the Bombom Resort - http://www.bom-bom.com - has beachside bungalows and organizes trips into the rainforest.
TIPS: Portuguese is the official language. Few speak English; more can speak French. The local currency is the dobra, though euros can be widely used. There are a few taxis, and visitors renting vehicles are advised to choose four-wheel-drive jeeps because the roads are poor. The streets are safe and the people are friendly and welcoming. Sao Tome, with international aid, has greatly improved its problems with malaria in recent years, but visitors should take the usual precautions against mosquito bites.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Disney World hotels ban smoking

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) -- Smoking will be banned as of June 1 at all 22 Disney World hotels and time-share resorts in Florida.
The ban permits smoking at designated outdoor areas. The transition to become smoke-free will allow Disney to better accommodate the increasing number of guests requesting nonsmoking hotel rooms, the theme park's spokesman Jacob DiPietre said.
The ban follows a 2000 measure that restricted smoking throughout Disney's theme and water parks, limiting smoking to designated areas, DiPietre said.
"We're focused on responding to what our guests are asking for and our guests are overwhelmingly asking for smoke-free rooms," DiPietre said. "The number of guests requesting smoking rooms has declined dramatically in recent years."
DiPietre could not provide figures tracking the decline, but said it has been "significant."
Less than 4 percent of Disney's more than 24,000 hotel rooms are currently smoking optional, DiPietre said.
Guests caught smoking after the ban could face cleaning surcharges as high as $500, DiPietre said.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

High Museum unlocks 'Gates of Paradise'

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- When the artists of Florence, Italy, swung open the doors of the Baptistery of the Duomo (cathedral) now known as the "Gates of Paradise" in 1452, a new world was waiting on the other side.
Twenty feet tall and weighing three tons, this single work is considered the gateway to the Italian Renaissance, an upheaval so fundamental to how we see our world and think of ourselves that centuries later no Western culture is left untouched by it. ( See an audio slide show with curator Gary Radke )
Legend has it that Michelangelo himself is the one who dubbed these doors the "Gates of Paradise."
And as the High Museum of Art opens its exhibition of three of the doors' 10 gilt panels on Saturday, the conservation effort that brought them here will have lasted 25 years -- just two years less than it took to make the work itself. ( See a gallery of images from the set-up of the High Museum's exhibition )
Once the High showing closes on July 15, the exhibition travels to the Chicago Institute of Art and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
The panels -- depicting the biblical stories of "Adam and Eve", "Jacob and Esau", and "David and Goliath" -- then will be moved back to Florence to be reassembled in the original doorway for permanent, hermetically sealed display at the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. They are expected never to travel again.
Exhibition curator Gary Radke of Syracuse University says that the special alloy of bronze developed in the 15th-century workshop of Lorenzo Ghiberti for the doors had resulted in a corrosion that had dulled the dull surfaces of the square relief-sculptures and other gilt ornaments on the doors.
The danger in trying to reclaim such works, of course, is that chemical treatments can damage the bond between the gold and bronze and take away more priceless, irreplaceable material.
So it's thanks to a specially developed laser-and-distilled-water technique that what you now can see on display is not a restoration -- not new gold leaf added, or reconstructed bronze modeling -- but the same metals Ghiberti worked with himself.
"These 'Gates of Paradise,' think about it," Radke says. "They're on the doors of the Baptistery in the center of downtown Florence, where you have walking by every day, people like Michelangelo, people like Donatello, people of all important eras, going, going there. And they (the doors) are really the school of the Florentine art of the mid-15th century, of the Renaissance. ... They're there, all day, every day, at night, under the moonlight, under the sunlight.
"Think of how many people have been through that piazza and have seen these doors. I remember them being relatively clean -- I went as a student, then went as a newlywed and thought what was on the work was dirt.
"We found out it wasn't just dirt but was actually chemical reactions between the surfaces of the gold and the bronze."
The genius of the master metalworkers of Florence had caught up with their work at last and intervention was required to save them.
Ghiberti ("gee-BARE-tee," pronounced with a hard "G") is, in a way, the artist behind the masters. Born in 1378, he won a competition to create the north doors of the Baptistery at a time when Radke says Florence was spending more money on its cultural expansion than its military endeavors.
By the time that commission had led to the "Gates of Paradise" job, Ghiberti's workshop had become the place in which Donatello, Masolino, Uccello and other key artists of the era would be trained. Ghiberti died in 1455 -- 20 years before the birth of Michelangelo.
One-time U.S. tour
Now housing the reliefs in special transparent oxygen-free cases -- so no humidity can generate a galvanic reaction among the salts in the metals -- the display at the High Museum is designed not only to give you a very close look at three of the 31.5-inch square panels themselves, but also a sense for context.
Patrizio Ostricresi of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence has worked closely with the chief conservatory on the project, Annamaria Giusti. While overseeing the assembly of the protective cases for the priceless pieces in Atlanta, he points to the "David and Goliath" panel's patches of brown that show through the gold.
"Look at this," says Ostricresi. "The mountain in this scene, the helmets" on the centurions in the crowd scene, "and the David, himself. You see how the gold has been rubbed off? Removed? I will show you why."
He walks over to the full-size photographic replica of the doors the High has produced for the display. "You see, the 'David' panel was placed by Ghiberti here, at the bottom of the door. This is why the Florentines could take the gold. It was low. Within reach. But if you look at the 'Adam and Eve' panel? Perfect. It has lived for 500 years up high on the doors. Too high to reach."
And when High Director Michael Shapiro looks at the "Adam and Eve" panel, what he notices is a feat of astonishing relief work. "This angel's wing," he points out, "comes right out of the piece."
Sure enough, there's light behind the central part of the wing on one of the many angels feathering the skies over Ghiberti's glowing Eden.
Shapiro has become known in the industry for his liaisons with European art centers. Still in its first of three years, the Louvre Atlanta series of exhibitions currently is on view, its latest additions the "Decorative Arts of the Kings" show and the recent arrival of "Et in Arcadia" painting of Nicolas Poussin. ( Read more about the High's decorative arts show from the Louvre )
And in 2003, Shapiro brought Verrocchio's "David" to the museum, the first effort in the particular laser conservation technique deployed in the "Gates of Paradise" reclamation.
As might be expected, that effort in conservation involves the international cooperation and study of many experts. The High convened a special workshop in February 2006 in Florence with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (which also underwrote the show's catalog) and resulting in a commission to have the digital-art library ARTstor create a major photographic study of the "Gates."
The completion of the restoration of the bronze doors has been facilitated by special funding from a non-profit organization, the Friends of Florence.

50 years since debut of 'Europe on 5 Dollars a Day'

NEW YORK (AP) -- Arthur Frommer first saw Europe in 1953 from the window of a military transport plane.
He'd been drafted and was headed to a U.S. base in Germany. But whenever he had a weekend's leave or a three-day pass, he'd hop a train to Paris or hitch a ride to England on an Air Force flight. Eventually he wrote a guide to Europe for GIs and had 5,000 copies printed. They sold out at 50 cents apiece, and when his Army stint was over, he rewrote the book for civilians, self-publishing "Europe on 5 Dollars a Day" in 1957. (Read excerpts)
"It struck a chord and became an immediate best-seller," he recalled.
On the 50th anniversary of the book's publication, Frommer is still being credited with helping to change leisure travel by showing average Americans that they could afford a trip to Europe. And while the dollar-a-day series is finally ending this year after selling millions of copies, the Frommer brand remains strong, with a new series from Arthur's daughter Pauline carrying on the tradition.
More important, Frommer's original approach -- a combination of wide-eyed wonder and getting the best value for your money -- has become so standard that it's hard to remember how radical it seemed in the days before discount flights and backpacks.
"If you go back to the 1950s, most people who traveled were wealthy," said Pat Carrier, owner of The Globe Corner Bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "If they went to Europe, it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip. Today, my kids think they should be in a foreign country as part of their every-year experience. Arthur did for travel what Consumer Reports did for everything else."
Anne Sutherland, a professor at the University of California at Riverside who studies tourism as a global phenomenon, used "Europe on 5 Dollars a Day" on a six-month trip in 1965. "When I read the title, I said, 'I can do Europe on $5 a day? I'm going!"' she said. "And I really did live on $5 a day. For my generation, that really made a difference. Without that guidebook, we couldn't have known we could do it."
Bertram Gordon, a professor at Mills College in Oakland, California, recalled sitting in a cafe in Paris in the mid-1970s where "it looked like every third person passing by was carrying a Frommer's." But Gordon, who teaches a course on the history of European travel, noted that many factors contributed to Frommer's success, including the affluence of post-World War II America, adventurous baby boomers, and the rise and ease of jet travel.
"Frommer was catching a wave," Gordon said. "This is not to take anything away from him, but when his books started coming out, there was an audience."
That wave continues today. Americans now "look upon the entire world as a possibility for their next vacation," Frommer, 77, said in an interview. "You go to a party nowadays and people say, 'Shall I go to Miami or London? Shall I go to San Francisco or Shanghai?' The whole emphasis has become international travel, which was not the case 50 years ago."
In the 1950s, he added, "you traveled to Europe with a steamer trunk. You were told by the entire travel industry that the only way to go to Europe was first-class, that this was a war-torn continent coming out of World War II, that it literally wasn't safe to stay anywhere other than first-class hotels."
Then as now, Frommer insists, "budget travel is a preferable method of travel because it leads to a more authentic experience. You meet people imbued with intellectual curiosity -- teachers, students, artists, normal people, people from all over the world -- who want to have a genuine experience, rather than an experience whose aim is to make you physically comfortable and let you enjoy the pretentiousness of flaunting your wallet."
In the 1960s, when inflation forced him to change the title of the book to "Europe on 5 and 10 Dollars a Day," he said "it was as if someone had plunged a knife into my head." Thanks to the weak dollar, the final editions were titled "Europe from $95 a Day."
"The dollar a day concept doesn't make sense when it costs $100 a day if you're lucky to find a hotel room," said Michael Spring, Frommer's publisher at Wiley Publishing Inc.
Carrier, the Globe Corner Bookstore owner, credited Spring with greatly improving the Frommer's guides in the past 10 years. Carrier said they remain especially useful for food and accommodations. But he added that the Frommer's "brand is diminished today in terms of its reach across all age groups. I don't think anyone could have anticipated 15 years ago that Lonely Planet would explode the way it did." Lonely Planet books are geared to backpackers and a younger, more adventurous traveler.
Frommer's still publishes comprehensive guides to many destinations, but is trying to broaden its appeal. Last year the brand launched MTV Travel Guides, geared to trendy 20-somethings; Frommer's Day by Day guides to help time-pressed travelers pare down their options; and Pauline Frommer's Travel Guides, for adult budget travelers, emphasizing alternative accommodations and offbeat experiences like volunteer vacations. "Pauline Frommer's New York City" won the 2006 best travel book award from the North American Travel Journalists Association.
Pauline began traveling with her father and mother, Hope, in 1965 when she was four months old. "They used to joke that the book should be called 'Europe on Five Diapers a Day,"' Pauline Frommer said.
Her father still rails against gourmet meals, five-star hotels, private jets and other trappings of luxury travel, and Pauline shares his tastes. He noted that she recently booked round-trip tickets for herself, her husband and two daughters to fly round-trip to England this summer on Virgin Atlantic for $595 apiece. "She saved close to $1,000 for her family," he said approvingly.
"I never fly first-class," he added. "It's an incredible waste of money."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Nudist camps reach out to the young and buff

WOODSTOCK, Connecticut (AP) -- Here's the naked truth about nude recreation: The people who practice it aren't getting any younger.
To draw 20- and 30-somethings, nudist groups and camps are trying everything from deep discounts on membership fees to a young ambassador program that encourages college and graduate students to talk to their peers about having fun in the buff.
"We don't want the place to turn into a gated assisted living facility," said Gordon Adams, membership director at Solair Recreation League, a nudist camp in northeastern Connecticut that recently invited students from dozens of New England schools to a college day in hopes of piquing their interest.
The median age is 55 at Solair, where a yearly membership is $500 for people older than 40, $300 for people younger than 40 and $150 for college students.
The Kissimee, Florida-based American Association for Nude Recreation, which represents about 270 clubs and resorts in North America, estimates that more than 90 percent of its 50,000 members are older than 35.
"If a young person is enlightened enough to go to a beach or resort, they'll find that they're outnumbered by people who are not like them," said Sam Miller, 32, a medical student in Riverside, California, who is helping to plan a youth ambassadors workshop being held next month in Orlando, Florida. "Oftentimes they won't go back for that reason."
No one is quite sure why nudity, at least the organized version promoted by the AANR and similar groups, is such a tough sell for younger people.
"I think people think that we're all hippies," said Laura Groezinger, 22, of Billerica, Massachusetts, who grew up visiting Solair with her family. "Other people, I don't know the right way to say this, but they think it's more sexual, kind of. They don't understand just the being free with your body and being comfortable."
Money is also an issue. As nudist resorts become increasingly upscale, catering to baby boomers and retirees with plenty of disposable income, they're less affordable for college students and young families.
"There's a financial barrier, and I think it's important for resorts, if they want young people around, to recognize that and cater to them with discounts or free days," Miller said.
Only a handful of students attended Solair's recent college event, held on an overcast 60-degree day that prompted many to bundle up in sweaters rather than shed their clothes. But camp members such as Robyn Maguire, 27, of Manchester, Connecticut, said they plan to try again.
"I hope to get the word out to younger people that hey, it is OK, and here's a safe place to be, a very accepting place," Maguire said. "Unlike any other place in life, people actually look at you when they talk to you."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Cyprus to tempt tourists with saints' bones

NICOSIA, Cyprus (Reuters) -- The bones of martyred saints and somber shrines may not be at the top of every tourist's must-see holiday wish list.
But the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, better known as a major European sun-and-sea spot, is determined to delve into its rich cultural heritage and exploit the budding -- and more wholesome -- market of religious tourism.
"We are more than just a sand and sea and sex destination," said George Michaelides, chairman of the Cultural and Special Interest Tourism Association.
Industry officials say about 100,000 of the island's 2.5 million tourists already come for the cultural and religious monuments and the market has seen a boost since Dan Brown's bestseller "The Da Vinci Code" made religious quests popular.
"Cyprus has always been associated with religion. In earlier times there was no ship going to the Holy Land without stopping at Cyprus. We are known as the island of saints," Michaelides said.
According to the World Tourism Organization, 300 to 330 million pilgrims visit the world's key religious sites every year. Cyprus is eager to take a big bite out of this growing market and boost the island's main industry.
In cooperation with the powerful Church of Cyprus and tourism officials it is launching religious tours for the first time this summer.
"Cyprus packs a huge amount of monuments in such a small space," said Vakis Loizides, a tourist officer at the Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO). "The island's special relationship with saints, like Lazarus and Helen, make it very attractive."
Visitors can go on a tour tracing the footsteps of Saint Paul, who traveled from Antioch to Cyprus in 45 AD, and visit the pillar in the town of Paphos where he was tortured and, according to his second epistle to the Corinthians, given "forty bar one lashes" for preaching Christianity.
Or they can visit the church of Saint Lazarus, who church tradition says came to Cyprus after his resurrection by Christ, and served as a bishop on the island.
Most of his bones were sent to Constantinople in the 9th century but the faithful can see his skull, on display in a glass-topped box in the church.
Da Vinci Code
"We are seeing an increase in demand," said Angelos Mylonas, manager at Mantovani Plotin Travel. "After 'The Da Vinci Code', there is an interest from people to see Greek Orthodox churches."
Scattered over the Troodos mountains, Cyprus's 10 medieval timber-roofed churches, listed as UNESCO world heritage monuments for their stunning wall paintings, are at the top of many religious tourists' lists, he added.
"Tourists already know where they are going and what they want to see. They are extremely well read, they know places not even we are aware of," Mylonas said.
A 300,000 Cyprus pound ($700,000) tourist office campaign part-funded by the European Union and the Cypriot government is aimed primarily at travelers from Greece and Orthodox nations of the former communist bloc like Russia, but also at Orthodox communities in the United States, Britain and Australia.
The CTO is publishing religious tourism guides in several languages and a traveling exhibition of Orthodox artifacts is also planned.
Religious tolerance
Officials say that apart from the large number of shrines spanning millennia, Cyprus's comparative advantage is that it houses monuments of different religions, including one of Islam's most important mosques, the 648 AD Hala Sultan Tekke in the town of Larnaca.
"Cyprus is tolerant to various dogmas. Tourists can see Muslim and Orthodox monuments co-exist. This is very special," Loizides said.
He said the Church, originally skeptical about anything to do with tourism which it associates with lewd behavior, is now eager to promote "religious culture tours". It is cooperating in planning festivals and ceremonies so tourists can attend them.
"There is international interest in religious tourism. Given the violence and wars in the world, there is a belief that if developed properly, it can lead to a dialogue between cultures," he said.
Others in Cyprus see the development of religious tourism from a more practical perspective.
"This will help diversify the product of the island, change its image," Michaelides said. "These people come off-season and stay longer than the average tourist. They are better spenders, who go around and not just from the hotel to the pub."
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Boeing vs Airbus: Battle for the skies

LONDON, (England) CNN -- Last month Airbus began painting the Singapore Airlines livery on its first A380 superjumbo, due for delivery in October this year, while Boeing continues to receive healthy orders for its 787 Dreamliners.
Yet the real battle for the skies is happening on terra firma, between the two major players in the aviation industry.
Each has their backers and each their detractors in a mire of politics, power, money and influence. One thing is for sure though, from the smallest plane to the biggest it is one mighty struggle between the two.
"It's a major contest. Can Airbus sell the A380 against all the Boeing range of planes? There is also the fight for the medium-sized market -- there's going to be a titanic struggle between the 787 Dreamliner and Airbus' A350, which it also got into difficulty with," Kieran Daly, of Air Transport Intelligence told CNN.
"I also think we're just seeing the very beginnings of the biggest contest of all -- who will replace the smaller narrow-bodied planes, like the 737s, which are everywhere you look."
Orders for new planes tell part of the story. For the best part of a decade, Airbus held the lead while Boeing struggled with a painful and lingering restructuring.
But the tables have turned. While delays to the A380 led to some airlines canceling orders of the planes, Boeing enjoyed an almost record-breaking year with 1,050 on its books in 2006, compared to Airbus' 790.
Technical problems with the A380 are symptomatic of a broader ideological malaise at Airbus. At the end of February, Europe's plane-maker is embarked on its own restructuring program, called Power 8.
By reducing aircraft development times by two years, from eight to six, the airline hopes to streamline productivity and regain their market lead. It won't be a smooth ride -- there will be job loses within the company and industrial action has already been threatened.
It is in the airline boardrooms, however, that the fate of Airbus and Boeing will be decided.
Most carriers embark on a rolling program of renewals. Not so British Airways. It is opting for a block replacement of its fleet and that's got the plane manufacturers salivating at the prospect of a truly gigantic order.
So will BA stick with Boeing or go for Airbus?
"If you're Willy Walsh looking at Boeing, all your pilots are trained for their aircraft, so there's an incumbent advantage. However I don't think that's necessarily a done deal. BA will be looking at the future shape of the industry," Andrew Fitchie, an analyst for Collins Stewart told CNN.
In February the airline hinted at the path it may take with an order of four Boeing 777s, with an option for four more.
"There will be certain routes that the A380 will be more suited to on BA's global network. What is interesting is that BA is looking to do the whole fleet and expansion in one, which will give them considerable bargaining power with manufacturers."
Who wins between Airbus and Boeing can only be judged over a large number of years, but one things for sure. Once you are squashed back into seat 36F, it's still going to seem like a very long flight.

Capital gains: D.C.'s dining scene has come of age

(Travel + Leisure) -- The meal began in a rush of tiny tastes. A chocolate truffle oozed foie gras. New-wave bar snacks -- pork rinds in maple syrup, sweet lotus chips in star-anise dust -- gave way, in a spray-bottle spritz of mojito, to an endless procession of astonishing bites. What were those specks on pineapple slices that crackled at the back of the mouth? Pop Rocks? Riceless sushi rolls were filled with blue cheese and apple.
Cantaloupe juice, treated before us in a chemical bath, became semisolid miniature fruit bombs. Zucchini seeds had the texture of caviar. There were flavored airs, savory jellies, warm foams, hot and cold in the same little cup. "Guacamole" was avocado-enshrouded tomato sorbet. Lobster came next, a plump hunk pierced on a liquid-filled pod ("bite down and squeeze," the menu specified), followed three courses later by "Philly cheesesteak" -- a slim two-inch-long hoagie with white-truffle slices and rare Kobe beef. (Watch highlights of the D.C. restaurant scene )
After three hours and some 35 courses the final creations arrived: saffron-scented gummies, cocoa-dusted corn nuts and a mentholated cough drop transformed into a wafer-thin after-dinner mint. And the most amazing thing about this dinner? It can be ordered most nights of the week on a once-sketchy block in downtown Washington, D.C.
Spanish chef José Andrés, Washington's answer to Willy Wonka, has built an empire on the once-underestimated promise of the capital palate. His wildly experimental Minibar, where I consumed this cutting-edge feast -- six sushi-bar seats at the heart of Café Atlantico, a high-volume restaurant -- is but a couture test run for a much more ambitious stand-alone place. And Andrés, of course, is only one chef.
It seems our nation's old-boys' meat-and-potatoes club has become one of the most exciting restaurant cities on the Eastern Seaboard. Actually, Washington today is reaping the benefits of a gastronomic coming-of-age that began in the early years of the Clinton White House, when a new generation of chefs began to imbue fine dining with the city's own local character (I cooked at the time as an apprentice chef at then newcomer Citronelle). You'll still find cigar-munching political lifers working back-room deals in dining rooms as entrenched as Ted Kennedy's seat in the Senate, but Washington restaurants, like the politics of this town, are not what they once were. (Vote on your favorite American cities)
The locals
If there can be said to have been a food revolution in Washington in the last decade, Jeffrey Buben and Robert Kinkead are the two local chefs who began it all. At Buben's Vidalia and Kinkead's namesake restaurant, their hugely popular long-running flagships, the chefs forged for the first time what could truly be called "D.C. cuisine." With the exception of Senate bean soup, the city has few classic specialties to call its own. Buben and Kinkead, starting in the early nineties, looked just beyond the Beltway for ingredients (Maryland seafood, Virginia ham) and inspiration, cobbling together their own sophisticated regional repertoire. They paved the way for a new generation to begin tinkering with local flavors.
Taking up the mantle were chefs like Todd Gray at Equinox (818 Connecticut Ave. NW; 202/ 331-8118; http://www.equinoxrestaurant.com/; dinner for two $120), a modestly appointed restaurant one block from the White House. Gray had worked under Roberto Donna, for many years the city's top Italian toque, but embraced more eclectic regional flavors when he set out on his own. The restaurant underwhelms at first glance -- the dining room, packed midday with blue-blazered bureaucrats, has all the appeal of a dentist's waiting room. But Gray's robust, flavorful food rises above its surroundings. Dishes like pan-roasted Chesapeake oysters in a buttery caper-and-pineapple meunière or mustard-sauced bay scallops with grilled frisée are the sort that beg to be sopped up with crusty bread.
Elsewhere, the Buben-Kinkead influence extends to more than just food, inspiring the mixing of homeyness and high-level cuisine. At Palena (3529 Connecticut Ave. NW; 202/537-9250; http://www.palenarestaurant.com/; dinner for two $130), a six-year-old spot north of the National Zoo, the very low-key vibe masks some of the city's most heartwarming food. Palena is actually two restaurants in one: in the boisterous front room, house-made hot dogs and a much-lauded burger are the principal draw, while at the hushed tables in back, far more refined globe-trotting creations get the reverence they merit. The duo in the kitchen met while cooking at the Reagan White House, which might explain their versatility. There are detours through Italy (house-cured salumi, pillowy wild boar-dressed gnocchi) and side trips to France (foie gras-squab boudin blanc). One main course featuring pork three ways deliciously combines tastes of Germany (smoked loin), Argentina (chimichurri sauce), and Italy (cotechino sausage) on the same plate.
The icon
Some 28 years ago Frenchman Yannick Cam gave Reaganites the glamour they craved. At Le Pavillon, the city's introduction to nouvelle cuisine, Cam sent out diminutive, painterly portions that became all the rage. After the restaurant closed, in 1990, the eccentric Cam bounced between kitchens before vanishing from the scene altogether. In 2004, the city's most iconic French chef made his splashy return just steps from the Mall. Le Paradou (678 Indiana Ave. NW; 202/347-6780; http://www.leparadou.net/; dinner for two $110) has the sort of starched-shirt formality that's gone out of vogue of late. The spare, spacious dining room is among the city's most attractive, swaddled in pale blond wood and featuring a Robert Custer glass sculpture. Beneath a ceiling sparkling with tiny faux stars, beautiful dishes emphasize old-fashioned French flavors using a modern, light touch. One oversize plate frames a checkerboard of dramatically sauced girolle mushrooms under garlic-infused escargot; on another, scallops and sea bass dance round a spattered puddle of bouillabaisse-channeling bright yellow sauce.
The old-timer
Citronelle (3000 M St. NW; 202/625-2150; http://www.citronelledc.com/; dinner for two $170) is by now an institution, a restaurant mentioned in the same breath as many of the country's finest. A few years after opening it in Georgetown as an outlying appendage of his Los Angeles-based Cal-French empire, chef Michel Richard ditched the West Coast to stay in D.C. full-time. The dining room, with its woozy color-shifting glass wall, is unrecognizable from my days there searing fish. But the high-wattage clientele is still the same (evidenced by the Secret Service entourage spied in the driveway). The waiters, in black suits and crisp white shirts, are as properly stiff as any at JFK's favorite French spots, but Citronelle is not your grandfather's French restaurant. Richard's food is as vivacious as ever: bracing creations like cuttlefish fashioned into "fettuccine" and showered in trout eggs and beets, or his Technicolor "oyster shooter" amusebouche-a narrow glass layered red (aspic-encased tomato confit) to white (oysters in brine) to green (cucumber gelée) to black (caviar)-are dazzling both to look at and to consume.
The renegade
Neither Richard nor Andrés has a lock on creativity here. At Maestro (1700 Tysons Blvd., McLean, Va.; 703/821-1515; http://www.ritzcarlton.com/; dinner for two $200), in the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner, in the Virginia suburbs, 33-year-old Fabio Trabocchi filters his exquisite Italian food through a Felliniesque lens. Despite the steepest dinner prices in the Washington area --and its far-flung locale about 20 minutes outside the city -- the restaurant is consistently packed. As if the food weren't erotic enough, the dining room's Versace opulence (along with the possibility of a room for the night) makes it ideal for a nostalgic Clintonesque dalliance. Trabocchi is a perfectionist, equally comfortable working in a traditional idiom (superb risotto) or creating something brand-new (Kobe beef carpaccio rolled around tofu). Five- or seven-course meals can be mixed and matched from among his classical dishes ("La Tradizione") and his most outlandish ("L'Evoluzione"). Or the truly adventurous can put their entire evening in this young wizard's capable hands. Raw fish might come first, a gorgeous mosaic of caviar-slathered tuna, hamachi, salmon and conch, with vitello tonnato expressed as a sauce. There might be lobster plumped into a pasta pouch, tortellini filled with duck confit, or loin of Virginia lamb photogenically shrouded in goat cheese mousse and pistachio crumbs.
The emperor
Minibar (405 Eighth St. NW; 202/393-0812; http://www.cafeatlantico.com/; dinner for two $170) auteur José Andrés is a force of nature, launching, it sometimes seems, a new place every week. His burgeoning empire began, naturally enough, with the small-plate food of his native Spain. In 1993 he reimagined tapas at the original Jaleo (there are now three), a restaurant gamble in a neighborhood-abutting Chinatown -- that had seen better days. Since then a new sports arena and a shopping mall have replaced the pawnshops and check-cashing stores. Officially known as the Penn Quarter, the spiffed-up area might easily be billed "Andrés-town." Within a single block the chef runs three of the city's most popular restaurants: along with Jaleo, there's the Latin American-influenced Café Atlantico, which houses the four-year-old Minibar; just up the block is Zaytinya, a high-ceilinged showpiece devoted to the flavorful mezes of Turkey, Greece, and the Middle East.
With Oyamel (401 7th Street NW; 202/628-1005; http://www.oyamel.com/; dinner for two $60), Andrés's newest place, he steers the small-plate concept south to Mexico. Vibrant, authentic flavors Andrés researched in Mexico are interpreted with his characteristic whimsy, like a dried fruit-stuffed quail in rose-petal sauce that's a fragrant homage to "Like Water for Chocolate." Other great nibbles include compulsive mole-doused french fries, cheesy rice with huitlacoche -- the corn fungus more gently described as "black mushrooms" --and tequila-drenched queso fundido with made-to-order

Views, festivals and villas in Italy's Ravello

RAVELLO, Italy (AP) -- Here along the Amalfi Coast, dramatic panoramas of rocky cliffs hanging over the sea are everywhere.
But the views from the town of Ravello -- perched above the gulf of Salerno -- feel like a shortcut to paradise.
Getting to Ravello, which has a rich history dating back to the sixth century, is an adventure in itself. The town remains virtually untouched by the swarms of tourists who visit nearby Capri and Ischia. Perhaps it is the hairpin bends that drop off into ravines that keep away all but the most determined. The town is also closed to traffic; cars must be left in parking lots near the main square.
Still, visitors find their way here to relax, sample limoncello liqueur in local cafes or listen to the renowned open-air concerts that are offered each summer as part of the Ravello Festival. Over the years, the town has hosted many celebrities, including Richard Wagner, Arturo Toscanini, Miro and D.H. Lawrence.
Cobblestone alleys, steep lanes and staircases lead to breathtaking views from terraced villas, like the one at Villa Cimbrone, a well-known local attraction that is also an upscale hotel. Here statues, temples, fountains, epigraphs, an ancient cloister, natural grottos and exotic flowers and trees lead the way to the breathtaking "Belvedere of Infinity."
The view from the balcony is so wide that the American writer Gore Vidal -- who owned a nearby villa -- once defined it as "the most beautiful in the world." White-marbled statues guard you as you lean out, overlooking the coast. The place is incredibly quiet, even in the high season. Only a few tourists, speechless, take pictures of each other as the sea and the sky merge on the horizon.
Villa Cimbrone dates back centuries and is a fascinating mixture of styles and epochs, ethnic and cultural elements and antique finds. Its name derives from the rocky ridge on which it stands, which is known as "cimbronium." An Englishman, Lord Grimthorpe, bought the villa in 1904, and it quickly became a meeting place for English visitors to the Amalfi coast, including the famous London Bloomsbury set.
A nearby villa called La Rondinaia was built by Grimthorpe's daughter and for many years, it was owned by Vidal. La Rondinaia, which means swallow's nest, was built into the side of the cliff, with six stories and multilevel terraces wrapped around it in a labyrinth of stairs and balconies. Vidal , who has had a prolific career as a playwright, essayist, scriptwriter and novelist, did much of his writing here. Celebrities who visited the villa over the years included Tennessee Williams, Rudolf Nureyev, Paul Newman, Hillary Clinton and Brad Pitt.
La Rondinaia is now owned by Vincenzo Palumbo, who bought the property from Vidal for a reported euro14 million (US$18) million. Palumbo, who also owns several local hotels, is renovating the property and said he plans to turn it into a niche lodging for jetsetters. The details were still being worked out, but Palumbo said he hopes to rent the villa out later this summer. With six bedrooms, including suites, two studies and five fireplaces, he said it will accommodate 12 to 18 people at a time.
Palumbo added that Vidal's studio, where he did his writing, will remain untouched and will be part of a small museum inside the mansion.
La Rondinaia is not now open to the public, but I was offered a peek inside on a recent visit to the Amalfi Coast with my parents.
We found the gate in the corner of a narrow alley, anonymous, with no sign or plaque. The black gate was half-open, beckoning. We silently entered the wild garden and wandered past umbrella pines, olive and cedar trees. Paths reached out in every direction.
The scene, with no other sound other than our own steps, was dreamlike. We walked past an empty swimming pool and a natural 70-meter-long (230-foot-long) cave, and there it was, the stunning, almost gravity-defying villa, towering above the sea and clinging to the side of the mountain.
Palumbo, who grew up in the area and visited La Rondinaia as a child, awaited us at the main door. Inside, the living room still seemed to echo the sounds of the parties held there, with its three balconies, four armchairs, cushions on the ground and a fireplace. Old magazines, a dusty sofa and an old typewriter in the studio are suggestive of the many nights Vidal spent shaping novels like the historical "Burr" or the polemical "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace."
Vidal took some furniture and many books back to the United States. But otherwise, everything in the study where he once wrote gives the sense that he just left.
We followed Palumbo to the terraced mansion's upper floors through an opulent staircase. The first terrace seemed to drop off into nothingness. When you peep out over the edge, it feels like you are flying.
It's a sensation that I have never quite felt anywhere but in Ravello, where the views are so expansive you almost feel like you can touch the heavens.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Antarctica: On thin ice

HALF MOON ISLAND, Antarctica (CNN) -- Iceberg Alley is an aptly named narrow channel on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula.
The water is afloat with glassy splinters, hardly bigger than an ice cube, ranging up to colossal tabular icebergs, some the size of several football pitches.
Cruising down this channel in subzero temperatures, it's difficult to imagine Antarctica may be suffering from the effects of global warming.
But these giant breakaway icebergs may in fact be signaling the continent's meltdown.
Icebergs originate from ice sheets, which form on land from millions of years of snowfall. As the ice gravitates towards the sea, it naturally breaks up. But scientists say the ice around the Antarctic Peninsula is disintegrating at unprecedented rates and blame warmer weather.
In the last 50 years, this region has experienced a 2.5C increase in average temperature. That is a faster rise than any other place in the southern hemisphere.
Walking along the pebble beach at Half Moon Island, Chris Edwards, a geologist from Scotland, says the changes are obvious. "I am horrified by the amount of red snow algae I am seeing now, which means we're down to 'old snow.'"
Edwards suggests that's a tell-tale sign of a serious change in weather patterns.
"Evidence like this is everywhere. For example, the Northeast Glacier used to be buffered on to Stonington Island. It's retreated 40 meters (45 yards) in the last 35 years. Now, there's no ice ramp attaching it to the mainland."
This month is the launch of International Polar Year (IPY) -- an ambitious scientific effort involving over 200 projects -- which will study exactly these types of geological changes. Researchers will investigate reductions in ice sheets and explore the impact on sea levels and marine ecosystems.
Birgit Sattler, a microbiologist from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, highlights the need to raise awareness of these issues.
She is conducting a month-long scientific project into glaciers around Port Lockroy, a former whaling station which is now a British research center.
"The Antarctic eco-system is very sensitive and tiny climate changes have dramatic effects. There are far longer vegetation phases now. Plants are growing at much higher altitudes. It's really important to tell people about this."
Before the research papers of the IPY's scientists are published, for those living on the southern polar cap, climate change is already palpable.
Rick Atkinson is Base Manager at Port Lockroy. He has been working in Antarctica for more than 20 years.
"We have to recognize what is happening here. When it's meant to snow, it starts raining. That's not normal."

Island hopping off your own steam

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Imagine a holiday where you come home with not only a tan, but also an enormous sense of achievement.
Swimming between islands for 3-6 kilometers (1.8-3.7 miles) every day for a week might not sound like much of a holiday, but it's a concept that lures hordes of keen swimmers to do just that on their time away from the office.
Australian-born 36-year-old Simon Murie turned his love of swimming in open waters into a business in 2003.
His company, SwimTrek, now takes people on swimming adventure holidays in 10 different destinations. The company's motto is: "Ferries are for wimps, let's swim!"
British lawyer Sally Cook went to Croatia with SwimTrek one year ago, at around the time of her 30th birthday, which, she says, felt like a momentous occasion.
Facing natural forces like the tide, the wind and the sea was an amazing feeling, she says.
"Bizarrely, this somehow gave me an amazing sense of calmness and equanimity. It was like, OK. Great. I can relax now I know my place in the universe," she says.
"For me, swimming in open water makes me feel like I am completely embracing life, facing my fears and being reminded just how insignificant I am all at the same time."
With a former Sydney lifeguard Australian father who loves swimming in the sea, and an English mother who enjoys river swimming, Simon Murie says his love for open water swimming developed at an early age.
The biggest difference between pool swimming and open water swimming, he says, is that in the open water you never know what the conditions will be like.
"There's a big difference between swimming in a pool and swimming in open water. It's much easier in open water if the conditions are good. There's higher buoyancy. But if the conditions are bad, a whole new swimming style is needed," Murie told CNN.
In 1999, he swam the width of the Hellespont, the stretch of water in Turkey that divides Europe and Asia. Organizing the swim involved a week's worth of paperwork. The swim itself took just over an hour.
Although just 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) wide, the challenge comes because the water flows in both directions. One side comes from the Black Sea; the other is from the Mediterranean. It's also a busy shipping channel.
The swim spurred Murie into thinking he could be a guide for people who wanted to swim bodies of open water.
In 2002, Murie swam the width of the English Channel and a year later his business was born.
The most popular destinations are those in the Mediterranean -- namely the Greek Islands and Croatia -- where conditions are pretty good for open water swimming.
"It's based on the idea that you have a sense of journey. You swim from one island to the next. It's a lovely feeling turning up to an island off your own steam," Murie says.
"You spend the night on an island, get up the next day, walk to the edge of the island and swim to another island. That's basically what SwimTrek is about."
On average, swimmers travel 3-6 kilometers a day (1.8 to 3.7 miles) and between 20-25 kilometers (12.5-15.5 miles) in the whole week. Early on in the week, swimmers are filmed while swimming and later the footage is examined with a guide to assess where their stroke and technique can be improved.
In Croatia, swimmers normally do two swims a day because the islands are closer together than in, say, Greece, where swimmers travel up to five kilometers (3 miles) in one stretch.
Which destination is the best depends entirely on the person, says Murie, and the company helps people to decide which location will suit them most.
Each trip is broken into two or three groups, depending on swimming ability. Each group has its own escort boat or swimming guide.
The company gives swimmers a training plan so they can prepare for three or four months before their trip begins.
"Speed doesn't matter. It's all about whether you can do the distance. And there's always the option to get on the boat, have a break and a cup of tea before carrying on."
The ages of those who take part range from early 20s to swimmers in their 70s, says Murie. And the mix of ages adds a nice dynamic to the trips.
"The beauty of swimming is that age is not a barrier. It's a sport you can do until you are very old."
There's also a balanced mix of men and women.
He says that as with any type of open water swimming there are risks, but his company does a lot of research to ensure the trips are to areas where the worst harm could be a minor jellyfish sting.
Ten people who have been on trips with SwimTrek have gone on to swim the English Channel. Murie says he tries to add a few new SwimTrek destinations every year. Next on the list is one that goes from Spain to Morocco.
"You get an amazing sense of achievement. People far exceed what they think they can do. Because there's a group dynamic, you push yourself to achieve," Murie says.
"It's great to see people move on in the sport and progress. People look at the map and can see where they have swum. They get really fit during the week, too."

Swing City

By the time you read this, minds will no doubt have been made up as to which is cooler, this year’s film version of Miami Vice or the vintage 1980s television original. For most Miamiphiles, though, the point is moot: The arrival of the movie, two decades after the celebrated show completed its run, simply underscored the city’s enduring status as a nexus of style. Whoever you think makes the more nuanced Crockett, the more complex Tubbs, the sleek art deco and neon backdrop of South Beach continues to play a starring role. Propelled by Miami’s popularity, the city is experiencing what’s been described as a golden age of architecture, with some of the world’s finest architects designing eagerly anticipated civic, commercial and residential spaces. The rapid growth is a double-edged sword, however, when it comes to golf. Given the various demands on real estate here, the greater Miami area hasn’t attracted the profusion of new course construction seen almost everywhere else in Florida—home to more than 1,200 courses, the most of any state in the country. On the other hand, several of Miami’s iconic golf resorts—Doral, Turnberry Isle and The Biltmore—are reopening this fall and winter after extensive renovations and have never looked better. A paucity of golf is not the problem in Miami; it’s the abundance of so much else—hip restaurants and nightclubs, modish hotels and pools—that may overwhelm you. So break out the T-shirt-and-blazer ensembles and start growing that stubble.Where to play
DORAL GOLF RESORT & SPA, BLUE **** 1/2 The Blue Monster, as it’s universally known, is one of those larger-than-life courses, though the reason for its renown is a running debate. Yes, certain holes are legendary, particularly the 437-yard par-four eighteenth, an object lesson in risk- reward, with water running along the entire left side and pinching in at key places. But, some argue, that’s mainly because Doral has hosted a televised PGA Tour event annually since 1962, the year after it opened; and besides, the decision to stage the tournament at the expansive Doral Golf Resort & Spa has much to do with logistics. The Blue Monster, this line of argument goes, can no longer even be considered monstrous, as it stretches "only" 7,100 yards from the back tees. I say rubbish. In addition to the copious water hazards and some 120 bunkers, the course is defended forcefully by the frequent winds. The layout boasts some great par threes, including the 237-yard fourth. Furthermore, the resort staff is adept at moving golfers around Doral’s five courses (which receive 150,000 rounds a year), and walking—a rarity in Florida golf—is allowed. Finally, the Blue Monster recently underwent a four-month renovation, during which the greens were resurfaced to roll more smoothly and the bunkers rebuilt to restore some of Dick Wilson’s tricky strategic elements. 4400 N.W. 87th Avenue, Miami; 305-592-2000, doralresort.com. Yardage: 7,125. Par: 72. Slope: 130. Architect: Dick Wilson, 1961. Greens Fees: $225-$250.

Newport focuses on keeping visitors happy

NEWPORT, Rhode Island (AP) -- Luxurious mansions built as summer homes for the fabulously rich share a ZIP code here with the International Tennis Hall of Fame, which sits mere minutes from the church where John F. Kennedy got married and crystal blue waters that wrap around the city.
Newport has long embraced its status as a premium tourist destination, drawing more than 3 million visitors a year. But facing growing competition from other cities for limited tourist dollars, and amid a downturn in visitors, officials are concentrating on keeping guests happy -- and coming back.
A new hospitality training program in the city aims to do that by taking shopkeepers back to basics, teaching them how to help tourists locate hard-to-find public bathrooms and parking, and reinforcing the importance of attending to customers' needs.
"You can't control gas prices, war in Iraq," said Keith Stokes, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce, which is spearheading the initiative. "Those are things that you really can't focus on. What you can focus on, what you can improve, is the positive visitor experience."
It may sound elementary, but it also underscores the importance of hospitality in a city whose attractions include Gilded Age mansions once inhabited by the Vanderbilt and Astor clans; Touro, the oldest synagogue in the nation and heralded summertime music festivals dedicated to folk, jazz and other genres.
Several of the indexes used to measure the health of the tourism and hospitality industry, such as admission to attractions, have declined as destinations around the nation wrestle for their share of the market.
City Councilman Charles Duncan said he's concerned that certain employees in Newport, especially younger ones, aren't as courteous to customers as they should be.
"I don't think they understand that tourism is one of our biggest commodities here -- and Rhode Island's biggest commodity," said Duncan, who sponsored a City Council resolution supporting the program.
"You don't have to be toothy nice, you know what I'm saying?" he said. "You just be polite, for heaven's sake."
Businesses and city staffers that regularly encounter tourists will be coached on providing basic information about the city, like where to find parking, lunch spots and public bathrooms, which often lack adequate signs.
While year-round Newporters generally know answers to those questions, the city's shops and restaurants depend heavily on seasonal workers, often out-of-town students or people from overseas who may be almost as new to the city as day-trippers.
Officials say the initiative isn't about fixing any major problems with Newport. Stokes said the city doesn't receive any more complaints than it used to or than other cities get.
"I don't perceive anything to be broken," said Evan Smith, president of the Newport County Convention and Visitor's Bureau. "I just think we have room to be better."
Business owners say they appreciate the importance of customer service and already practice what the chamber preaches. Several merchants said they liked the concept of the program, even if they weren't sure it was for them.
"Every city employee should be well-versed in giving directions and helping people," said Bill Rommel, owner of the Arnold Art Store and Gallery.
Bob and Cindy Wernicki, of Griswold, Connecticut, had one of their first dates in Newport more than 20 years ago and still make regular visits. They said they enjoy their jaunts here -- even though parking is occasionally atrocious, and even if some restaurants have jacked up prices.

Taking the long route to Sydney

LONDON, England (CNN) -- If you think traveling overland on a bus from London to Sydney sounds like something exclusively for 20-something backpackers, think again.
In September, 38 people will embark on a trip that does just that, and one in four passengers onboard will be aged over 50.
The group -- one-third Irish, one-third English and one-third Australian -- will be the first to do the trip covering 20 countries and organized by London-based company Ozbus.
The idea is the brainchild of Mark Creasey, an Englishman who backpacked around the world a few times in his 20s, including one trip from Sydney that was largely overland.
"Back then you couldn't go any further than Thailand because all the borders were closed," he told CNN.
A few years back Creasey, 37, began hearing about people who were traveling independently on overland routes from Australia to the United Kingdom.
"I got the atlas out and looked at it. Apart from Burma (Myanmar), all the other countries that were once closed can now be traveled through."
Two years ago, Creasey started researching whether he could make a business out of the idea.
"When you think about the amount of backpackers who travel between the UK and Down Under it's vast," he says.
The company launched on January 2 this year, and within three and a half months, the first trip was fully booked.
Creasey and his team have done reconnaissance missions of the entire trip, in two parts, building relations with local agents in each country. There will be three crew members on the trips.
"There's been an awful lot of planning because of the magnitude of the trip. There's an awful lot that can -- and probably will -- go wrong," he says.
"There's been no framework of reference to compare it to. There's another company that does it on a one-off basis and goes only as far as Singapore."
The group taking part in the inaugural 12-week trip in September is made up of a mixture of people, with three aged between 18 and 20, and a quarter aged over 50.
"There aren't too many students. I think it's probably too expensive for them," says Creasey.
"A lot of people over 50 have expressed interest in it. I think that's because it's novel. It would appeal to people who have paid off their house, their kids have left home and they're looking for an adventure that's a little bit different."
The group leaves from London. They then take a ferry across the English Channel and travel across Europe through France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.
From there, they head to Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and East Timor.
They will travel on the same bus the whole way. Once they get to East Timor, group members fly to Darwin, but the bus goes on a boat. From Darwin they get back on the bus and drive down to Sydney, the final destination.
Creasey says he has some concerns about traveling through Iran because of sensitive relations between it and a lot of western countries who are worried about Iran's nuclear program.
"We're monitoring the situation. We're a bit worried about Iran but hopefully we won't have to change the route," he says.
"Luckily there are alternative routes the whole way through. Whilst it's a bit of a headache, we won't be putting people at risk."
Trips cost £3,750 ($7,500). From January, Ozbus will offer a Sydney to London trip.

Best boulangeries in Paris

Travel + Leisure) -- When it comes to iconic baguettes, flaky croissants and melt-in-your-mouth pains au chocolat, the French capital delivers.
Croissants
The shop: Vintage glass panels frame the façade of Maison Kayser (14 Rue Monge, Fifth Arr.; 33-1/44-07-17-81; closed Mondays), a destination boulangerie in the Latin Quarter. Eric Kayser turns out 60 different breads each day, among them the Malesherbes, a square-tipped baguette. His finely crafted viennoiseries -- France's traditional breakfast pastries -- are as notable as his breads. The Kayser café is the perfect spot for a light lunch; a plat du jour, desser and coffee are about $15.
Don't miss: His croissants, decadently plump, with a golden exterior that flakes at the merest touch and a meltingly tender center.
Sourdough loaves
The shop: On weekend mornings, expect to find a queue snaking down the sidewalk from Dominique Saibron's contemporary glass, wood, and stone emporium, Le Boulanger de Monge (123 Rue Monge, Fifth Arr.; 33-1/43-37-54-20; closed Mondays). Fans (you'll be one!) can't get enough of his petits pains aux lardons et comté, slim, chewy rolls with bits of bacon and melted Comté cheese, or escargots cannelle, cinnamon-filled pinwheels of croissant dough with a buttery crumb topping.
Don't miss: The best-selling pain bio au levain, a delicately tangy organic sourdough loaf.
Miche
The shop: Master baker Lionel Poilâne died several years ago, but his daughter Apollonia keeps the business flourishing. At this original (and decidedly diminutive) wood-paneled headquarters of the world-famous boulangerie Poilâne (8 Rue du Cherche-Midi, Sixth Arr.; 33-1/45-48-42-59; http://www.poilane.fr/; closed Sundays), the bread is still baked in an antique wood-fired oven just downstairs.
Don't miss: The big, round miche; this dense sourdough loaf made from stone-ground flour can be decorated to your specifications and makes a fabulous gift. The rustic, free-form apple tart is another perennial favorite.
Baguettes
The shop: Philippe Gosselin, Grand Prix winner of the city's Best Baguette in Paris award, supplies bread and croissants to Jacques Chirac and the Elysée Palace. A classic baguette at Gosselin (125 Rue St.-Honoré, First Arr.; 33-1/45-08-03-59; closed Saturdays) is made from white flour, water, sea salt and leavening and has irregular air holes throughout from natural fermentation. "The baguette is the bread of Parisians," says Gosselin. "It has a life span of just six hours."
Don't miss: The shop's lunchtime array of baguette sandwiches, from ham-and-Gruyère to shrimp-and-avocado.
Pain aux raisins
The shop: Established in the firmament of great Paris bakers for the past 30 years, Basile Kamir is also one of the most influential. An advocate for things done the old-fashioned way, he lobbies for using stone-ground organic flours, forming loaves by hand, and long rising times. His Moulin de la Vierge (166 Ave. de Suffren, 15th Arr.; 33-1/47-83-45-55; closed Thursdays) is steeped in nostalgie, with vintage glass and ornate moldings.
Don't miss: The excellent pain aux raisins, a sumptuous swirl of soft croissant dough, eggy pastry cream, and raisins.
Pain au chocolat
The shop: A striking Art Deco boulangerie complete with starburst light fixtures, 1930's mirrors, and curved display cases, Boulangerie Bechu (118 Ave. Victor Hugo; 33-1/47-27-97-79; closed Mondays), in the heart of the chic 16th Arrondissement, is also a tearoom. Christian Marceau's retro d'or ficelle, a skinny, crisp variation of his "retro-style" pale-gold baguette, makes a perfect breakfast with apricot jam and café crème.
Don't miss: Pain au chocolat orange, an addictive variation on the classic treat, with citrusy notes enhancing the dark chocolate or the unusual, yet delicious, coco-banane, with lush flavors of coconut and banana.
Croissants aux amandes
The shop: After a visit to Père Lachaise Cemetery, resting place of Piaf and Proust, stop at La Flûte Gana (226 Rue des Pyrénées, 20th Arr.; 33-1/43-58-42-62; closed Sundays and Mondays), where Valérie, Isabelle and Marianne Ganachaud, daughters of the legendary Bernard Ganachaud, produce the house's venerable baguette.
Don't miss: Croissants aux amandes, originally conceived as a way to use day-old croissants, with an almond cream-and-kirsch filling, and brioche vendéenne, a template for the ultimate brioche, buttery with a hint of fresh vanilla.
Fougasse
The shop: A short walk from the Eiffel Tower, earnest young boulanger Thierry Dubois is baking his way to a growing reputation among the diplomats and doctors of the Seventh Arrondissement. At his peach-hued Pain D'Épis (63 Ave. Bosquet; 33-1/45-51-75-01; closed Saturdays), Dubois offers a range of specialty breads -- baguettes, boules and ficelles -- all from the same unique mixed-flour dough, a line that he calls Royale.
Don't miss: The fougasse, a ladder-shaped loaf dosed with olive oil and baked with fillings that change daily -- black olives one day, chèvre and tomatoes the next.
Planning a Caribbean getaway? Don't miss Travel + Leisure's new Ultimate Caribbean Hotel Guide.

Taking the kids to Washington, D.C.

(Tribune Media Services) -- Make faces at the oh-so-cuddly panda cub or inspect a moon rock. Cheer on a big-league baseball team or practice spycraft.
Who says a learning vacation can't be fun? Maybe the kids griped when you suggested heading to the nation's capital rather than the beach this spring (they were studying American history this year, after all). But that was before they knew how much fun they could have.
Washington, D.C., is a lot more than boring monuments and stuffy museums. In fact, Washington may provide just the right blend of hands-on museum activities, outdoor fun, hip shopping and kid-friendly restaurants and hotels. (Visit http://www.washington.org/ for the best weekend hotel deals, and remember that most museums are free!) Besides, you can regale the kids with tales from your trip here as a kid. (Remember that eighth-grade trip?)
There's probably no better time than spring to visit, either. It won't be the cheapest time of year for a Washington trip, but it also won't be so hot and humid that the kids will beg you to skip seeing the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives in order to make a beeline for the hotel pool.
There's just one problem. No matter how many days you've got, you won't be able to see everything Washington has to offer. You'll make yourself and the kids crazy if you even try. Instead, let each member of the family choose one must-see site. The historic planes and spaceships at the National Air and Space Museum? The giant panda cub Tai Shan at the National Zoo? The chance to climb to the top of the Washington Monument? Reserve free tickets ahead of time by visiting www.nps.gov/wamo. Book a tour of the White House and the Capitol by contacting your congressman (http://www.house.gov/).
Wherever you go, locals say the best way to get around is via Metro (http://www.wmata.com/). I'm also a fan of the Old Town Trolley Tours (http://www.oldtowntrolley.com/) that stop at all the major tourist sites and allow you to get on and off all day.
Just make sure to leave plenty of time to play Frisbee on the National Mall, see the Lincoln Monument at night, check out the weird and wonderful gargoyles at the Washington National Cathedral (http://www.cathedral.org/) and share a terrific pizza (locals say Pizzeria Paradiso is the best; http://www.eatyourpizza.com/). Show the kids the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and tell them how many Americans protested that war. Cheer on the Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium, or drive to nearby Baltimore to watch the Baltimore Orioles play at Camden Yards.
If the kids are old enough, encourage each one to plan one day of the trip. You'll be amazed at where they lead you! Check out the kids' areas on the Web sites for the Smithsonian (www.smithsonianeducation.org/students), the White House (www.whitehouse.gov/kids) the National Zoo (www.nationalzoo.si.edu/audiences/kids) and the House of Representatives (www.clerkkids.house.gov/congress/index.html).
Guidebooks such as "Frommer's Washington D.C. with Kids" and Fodor's "Around Washington, D.C. with Kids" can also help. See what special activities and workshops are offered during the time you plan to visit.
In addition to the major sites, consider activities that tap into your kids' interests-of-the-moment:
The littlest artists will love The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden's "Gallery Tales for Tots," which introduces kids to modern art through storytelling and the chance to create their own masterpieces. The museum (http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/) also has programs for older children and art labs for teens. The National Gallery of Art (http://www.nga.gov/) hosts drop-in workshops for kids and "postcard" tours in which children are given packets of cards with pictures of objects they can find in the museum.
Future spies and spycatchers can take KidSpy classes at the International Spy Museum (http://www.spymuseum.org/), where they can also test their code-cracking skills. Late this spring, your child can take on the role of an intelligence officer searching for a missing nuclear device about to be sold to a foreign country. Does your kid have what it takes?
Doctors in training can check out the bullet that killed Abraham Lincoln, a pool of live leeches and the world's largest collection of microscopes at the National Museum of Health and Medicine (http://www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum/), located on the campus of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Presidents-to-be can take one of the kid-friendly Washington Walks tours (http://www.washingtonwalks.com/), including one at the Lincoln Memorial that introduces children to a young Abe Lincoln and another at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial as seen from the eyes of Roosevelt's famous pooch, Fala.
Kids celebrating bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs should see the exhibition Remember the Children: Daniel's Story at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (http://www.ushmm.org/). It tells the historically true story of a fictional German boy named Daniel, following Daniel from his middle-class home to Auschwitz.
Animal lovers can talk to volunteers at the National Zoo and even help out at the on-site farm. Check out the Asia Trail, which just opened in the fall and not only is the new home for the zoo's famous pandas but also for sloth bears, fishing cats, clouded leopards and even a Japanese giant salamander.
Young actors and actresses have their pick of productions to see, and more than 30 area theaters offer a free ticket for each child 17 and under with each adult ticket purchased. (Visit the League of Washington Theaters at http://www.lowt.org/.) The Kennedy Center (http://www.kennedy-center.org/) has a special family theater, while the National Theatre (http://www.nationaltheatre.org/) touts special free children's entertainment each Saturday. The Kennedy Center is also featuring the Shakespeare in Washington festival through June.
History nuts can talk to costumed interpreters at George Washington's plantation home in Mount Vernon (http://www.mountvernon.org/), located 16 miles south of Washington, and see what 18th-century rural life was like, from the slave quarters to the mansion to the colonial farm site. There are plenty of hands-on activities for kids. (Ever try rolling giant hoops?)
The kids will be too busy having a good time to realize how much they're learning. Good job.
(For more Taking the Kids, visit http://www.takingthekids.com/, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.)

Caymans ban cruise ships at port

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) -- The Cayman Islands government said Tuesday it has banned cruise ships from anchoring at a port where their huge chains have damaged coral reefs.
Environmental officials say some coral can be preserved despite extensive damage along the sea floor near the Spotts Dock facility, which is used as an alternative port when seas are too rough for cruise ships to call on the George Town harbor.
"Because cruise ships are the biggest vessels to use the area regularly, their chains tend to cause a lot of the damage," said John Bothwell, a research officer with the British Caribbean territory's environment department.
A cruise ship anchoring for one day can destroy nearly an 1 acre (0.4 hectares) of intact reef, he said.
Cruise ships capable of holding their position without anchoring will still be allowed to unload passengers in Spotts Bay, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of the capital.
The ban had been in place previously, but Port Authority director Paul Hurlston reinstated it effective April 19 after officials noticed ships were anchoring again.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Tourists seek out black culture along the S.C. coast

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) -- For decades here, there was little mention of the rich culture of the descendants of black slaves, many of whom lived as farmers and fisherfolk on the nearby sea islands.
Euphemisms used by whites helped obscure their history. The Civil War was sometimes referred to as "the recent unpleasantness." Slaves became servants; slave quarters became carriage houses.
Despite the rewriting of reality and lack of recognition from outsiders, the culture of West African slaves was nourished by their descendants. The isolation of the sea islands where they lived helped keep their language, arts and traditions largely intact.
But now this culture known as Gullah in the Carolinas and Geechee in Florida and Georgia is being noticed and sought out by others. Government officials and cultural institutions are taking measures to preserve and promote the uniqueness of Gullah culture.
And bus tours, restaurants, museums and galleries are attracting a growing number of tourists searching for the full history of the region.
"It's like the hidden secret that no one ever talked about," said Alphonso Brown, who grew up Gullah on a farm without running water and now runs Gullah Tours. "Of course if there is something that is hidden and then revealed, everyone is talking about it."
Gullah communities were established on the sea islands by freed slaves after the Civil War. Most made their living fishing or farming fields of vegetables and row crops.
Brown, a retired school teacher and band director, has been giving his tours for more than two decades. When he started, the busiest times were in the spring and fall, the top tourism seasons in Charleston. Now he's booked year-round, except for January when the winter slows business. Even then, he gives tours for corporate groups.
His tours provide a glimpse of things one might miss on a more traditional tour of the city's pastel buildings and historic sites.
There's the Old Slave Mart; a house lived in by Denmark Vesey, who planned an 1822 slave insurrection; and Catfish Row, which inspired the George Gershwin opera "Porgy and Bess."
"There are slave quarters all over the place," says Brown, who navigates the narrow city streets in a small white bus. "The house guides and the Realtors and other people don't say 'slave quarters,' they say 'carriage houses' or 'servants' quarters' or 'dependencies."'
Brown's tours depart near the Charleston Visitors Center just down the street from Gallery Chuma, which does a brisk business in Gullah art.
Artists include the noted Jonathan Green as well as John Jones, whose bright paintings "Confederate Currency: The Color of Money," reproduced scenes of slavery from Confederate bills and Southern bank notes.
"There's definitely a lot of interest in the Gullah culture," said gallery owner Chuma Nwokike, a native of Nigeria who graduated from The Citadel. "People come in and say they want to go to Gullah, Gullah Island and I say it's nothing like that."
There was a children's TV show called "Gullah, Gullah Island" in the mid-90s on Nickelodeon, but there is no real place with that name.
Tourists can visit Gullah communities at real places like Wadmalaw Island and St. Helena Island -- where some segments for the show were filmed.
But the culture is experienced with more than simple sightseeing. It's about food, listening to the Gullah language, and learning about the culture at museums like that at the Avery Research Center for African-American History and Culture at the College of Charleston.
Gullah is a Creole language -- a language that develops when people who can't understand each other remain in long contact, as the slaves did with their captors. Linguists say there are structural differences between Gullah and English that justify it being considered a separate language.
A New Testament in Gullah was published two years ago, to the delight of people like Carolyn Jabulile White, who grew up Gullah and now entertains by telling stories in Gullah to groups and visitors.
"It's nice to see it in a Bible because when you go to the funerals and to the weddings and the gatherings on the islands, you heard it all the time," White said. "I'm glad it's done, because when I'm gone, my children, my grandchildren, those behind will know we certainly had a very rich heritage and culture as a people."
Amanda Manning, of Carolina Food Pros, helps tourists learn about Gullah through some of her culinary tours that stop at restaurants that offer Gullah cuisine.
"Okra, eggplant, peanuts and watermelon were all brought here during the slave trade," she said. "The African slaves grew these things and were very familiar with them."
Indeed, she said, much of what we know as Southern cooking really comes from the slaves.
"The Africans were the cooks," Manning said. "They cooked in their own slave cabins and they cooked in the big houses. The truth is most of them taught most of us how to cook."
About an hour's drive south of Charleston, nestled amid oaks shrouded by Spanish moss on St. Helena is the Penn Center with its museum, site of one of the first schools in the nation for freed slaves. A National Historic Landmark, the center's mission is to preserve the Gullah culture.
A Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor running from North Carolina to Florida was designated by Congress last year. It is the only one of 37 heritage corridors in the nation to focus on the experience of blacks. An International African-American History Museum is also planned in Charleston.
Back on Brown's bus, Ron McMahon, an engineer from Saratoga Springs, New York, and his wife were taking the Gullah Tour with their friends, Linda and Gary Davis, of The Villages, Florida.
"When we travel, we like to find out a little bit about the history and the people," said Linda Davis, taking the tour for the first time.
"It's a very different perspective. It's not the history book stuff you learn about Charleston," said Ron McMahon, who also took Brown's tour two years ago. "It's not talked about. It's not written about. You hardly know anything about it until you get here and talk to people."
Part of that is because the Gullah themselves, for decades, tried not to draw attention to their background.
"There was never an intent to speak Gullah. There was never an attempt to preserve the culture and tradition," Brown said.
"I was born and raised on my grandparents' farm," he added. "We had our horse but, hey, don't you know we'd rather have a tractor? We had no running water, we had a pump. So what some people call culture and heritage and tradition, that was hard work."
Now, though, the work is not as hard and Brown is doing what he loves.
"Pay me at the end of the tour," he tells a lady getting on the bus. "If you don't enjoy it, you don't pay."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.