New Noah's Ark ready to sail

SCHAGEN, Netherlands (AP) -- The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark was thrown open Saturday -- you could say it was the first time in 4,000 years -- drawing a crowd of curious pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder.
Of course, it's only a replica of the biblical Ark, built by Dutch creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible.
Reckoning by the old biblical measurements, Johan's fully functional ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house. (Watch a tour of the replica Ark )
Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras, bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main hold.
"The design is by my wife, Bianca," Huibers said. "She didn't really want me to do this at all, but she said if you're going to anyway, it should look like this."
A contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine -- biblical scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been.
Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools and occasional help from his son Roy. Construction began in May 2005.
On the uncovered top deck -- not quite ready in time for the opening -- will come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats. And one camel.
Visitors on the first day were stunned.
"It's past comprehension," said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her husband while on vacation when they saw the ark looming over the local landscape.
"I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been so big."
In fact, Noah's Ark as described in the Bible was five times larger than Johan's Ark.
But that still leaves enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater, where kids can watch the segment of the Disney film "Fantasia" that tells the story of Noah.
Another exhibit shows water cascading down on a model of the ark. Exhibits on the third level show ancient tools and old-fashioned barrels, exotic stuffed animals, and a wax model of an exhausted Noah reclining on a bed in the forecastle.
Genesis says Noah kept seven pairs of most domesticated animals and one breeding pair of all other creatures, plus his wife, three sons and three daughters-in-law together on the boat for almost a year while the world was deluged.
Perhaps it was only logical that the replica project would be the brainchild of a Dutchman: Fear of flooding is ingrained in the country's collective consciousness by its water-drenched history.
Lois Poppema, visiting from California, said she thought the Netherlands was exactly the right place for an ark.
"Just a few weeks ago we saw Al Gore on television ... saying that all Holland will be flooded" by rising sea levels, she said.
"I don't think the man who made this ever expected that global warming will become (such an important) issue -- and suddenly having the ark would be meaningful in the middle of Holland."
Under sunny skies Saturday, Huibers said he wasn't worried about another biblical flood, since according to Genesis, the rainbow is the sign of God's promise never to flood the world again. But he does worry that recent events such as the flooding of New Orleans could be seen as a portent of the end of time.
Huibers said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands, where churchgoing has fallen dramatically in the past 50 years. He also plans to visit major cities in Belgium and Germany.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Panda cub to get two more years at National Zoo

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Chinese officials on Tuesday granted Tai Shan, the National Zoo's popular giant panda cub, an extra two years at the Smithsonian Institution park with his parents.
Under a panda loan agreement with China, any cub born at the National Zoo would be returned for breeding sometime after its second birthday. Tai Shan turns 2 on July 9 but will remain with his mother Mei Xiang and father Tian Tian at least until 2009.
Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong presented the zoo with a giant green laminated passport to extend Tai Shan's stay.
"As an envoy of goodwill from the Chinese people and a symbol of friendly cooperation between China and the United States, Tai Shan will continue to bring more happiness and delight to the American people," Wenzhong said.
The cub, now 125 pounds, took a few bites of a celebratory "cake," made of his favorite orange Popsicle and chopped fruit, before the cake rolled down a hill. He soon had both paws on it again and was chomping away.
Susan Roswell, a Baltimore resident, said she was dreading the day Tai Shan would have to leave the zoo.
An estimated 2.25 million visitors have gone to the zoo to see the cub since his public debut in December 2005.
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.
"Think about it," Radke says. "These pieces are on the doors of the Baptistery in the center of downtown Florence, where you have people of all important eras walking by. People like Michelangelo, people like Donatello. These doors are really the school of the Florentine art of the mid-15th century. 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.

Taking the kids: To the Galapagos Islands

(Tribune Media Services) -- The teen was having a fit. He was hungry, and his mother had left to go to work. His father couldn't calm him down and finally gave up trying. The teen stomped around, squawking. Sound familiar?
Except we're not talking about humans here, but rather birds -- a juvenile Nazca booby a few feet away from me on an island in the Galapagos that is home to more than half a million birds.
The bay we're anchored in -- Darwin Bay at Tower Island (also known as Genovesa Island) -- is in fact a caldera formed by an ancient volcano, and we walk around looking at more birds than I've ever seen in one place: red-footed boobies, blue-footed boobies, gulls and frigates, which ignore us just like teens often do. We hike up steep steps to the rim of the caldera and watch the Nazca boobies' mating dance -- the male whistles to try to attract a female.
All week, as we cruise the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, we joke about the parallels between the amazing creatures we encounter here and human family behavior.
We pose with giant tortoises that ignore our presence, and we try not to disturb the marine iguanas sunning themselves on the rocks. Sea lions swim circles around us in the water. We hike over black lava fields and snorkel with sea turtles and stingrays. I feel like we've stumbled into an episode of "Nova."
This wouldn't be everyone's first choice for an expensive vacation. There are no beach chairs or tiki bars on these protected beaches, where tourists may only venture with a guide. But this is an adventure we'll never forget, starting with those sea lions we spotted on San Cristobal Island, snoozing on rowboats as if they owned the place.
Along with three other families, we've signed on for a weeklong cruise organized by Seattle-based Wildland Adventures (http://www.wildland.com/), a member of the Trusted Adventures consortium of travel companies (http://www.trustedadventures.com/).
Our home for the week is an 83-foot boat called Flamingo 1, operated by Ecoventura (http://www.ecoventura.com/). It's comfortable but certainly not luxurious. We're surprised that we can find room for all of our gear in the small cabins.
There are perhaps 85 tour boats in the Galapagos Islands, from a 100-passenger cruise ship to small boats that sleep four or six people. Some of the tour boats are yachts, including one designed to replicate Charles Darwin's ship, the HMS Beagle. Ours seems just the right size, sleeping 20 passengers. It has a crew of 11, including two experienced naturalists, Harry Jimenez and Orlando Romero, who make every excursion an adventure -- even for the 8-year-old twin boys on board.
Captain Manolo Martinez has five children at home, he tells us over dinner. He invites a different family to dinner each night. We're a varied group: my husband Andy; 22-year-old Matt; 20-year-old Reggie, our college junior; and 15-year-old Melanie. There are also the Peets, from Seattle, with 12-year-old Summer and 9-year-old Graham; and the Strausses, from Bethesda, Maryland, with 8-year-old twins Joshua and Daniel.
Then there is Subodh Das, of Lexington, Kentucky, who is here with his 35-year-old daughter Mona Mullin, friend Diane Moore and 25-year-old son Som Das. They try to take an exotic trip every year, Subodh says, his children joking that they're happy to travel with dad since he's paying. "And I'd rather leave them memories than money," adds Subodh, a divorced engineer.
Many families we meet seem to agree with that philosophy. These remote islands off the coast of Ecuador, where the wildlife (especially the giant tortoises) inspired Charles Darwin's work, have emerged at the top of many families' travel wish lists.
Where else can you snorkel with sea lions or watch a sea lion nurse her pup? Even at a cost of more than $10,000 for a family of four, adventure companies such as Wildland Adventures, Austin-Lehman Adventures (http://www.austinlehman.com/), Abercrombie & Kent (http://www.abercrombiekent.com/) and Thomson Family Adventures (http://www.familyadventures.com/) report increasing interest in Galapagos trips designed for families.
"We're not the kind of family that likes to go and sit on a beach," said Sam Peet.
"Definitely not," confirms 12-year-old Summer Peet as she races off to splash in the surf, sea lions lazing nearby.
The beach where we've stopped to swim and snorkel is full of sea lions -- mamas and their nursing pups, frisky adolescents, fathers marking their territory. Every day is a different island and a different adventure. We see Sally Lightfoot crabs, bright red against the black lava rocks; great blue herons; penguins (yes, there is a warm-water species here); and even a short-eared owl, which is small and is apparently the only owl on the planet to hunt food during the day (no predators for the owls to worry about). Frigates hitch a ride on the mast of our boat, much to the kids' delight.
Before dinner each night, the naturalists tell us what we'll do the following day. Important clothing details -- hiking shoes vs. flip-flops, shorts vs. swimsuits -- are discussed. It's nice to leave all the planning and cooking to others. We do have to keep track of our own snorkel gear and wetsuits (provided by the boat) and our beach towels. That's not as easy as it sounds with the gear in identical mesh bags.
And because we're so close to the equator, we see stars in both the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere at night. They are so bright. I can't believe we're here in the Pacific Ocean at the center of the globe.
"You may not remember the food, but you'll remember everything we saw," said Som Dos.
"This has really exceeded expectations," said Steve Strauss, whose only worry is that his two boys aren't old enough to fully appreciate this trip.
But even in paradise, kids get hot and tired, siblings bicker, teens want to get away from their parents, the boat rocks too much some nights, and the food gets tiresome. It's all part of the adventure, we tell each other.
On a small boat like this, everyone must make an effort to get along. It's not as if you can go elsewhere and get away from anyone, whether your own family or others on board. There's no entertainment except that which we supply ourselves. When we're not hiking, snorkeling or exploring, we congregate on the top deck with cushioned chaise lounges, shaded from the sun, to read, talk or take a snooze -- just like the sea lions. The kids play Scrabble and cards. The crewmembers do all they can to make us happy.
"Remember, you're in paradise," the naturalists keep reminding us.
How can we forget?
(For more Taking the Kids, visit http://www.takingthekids.com/, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.)

Thailand Guides - Kanchanaburi

The third largest province of Thailand, Kanchanaburi offers both natural and historical attractions. It is easily accessible with 3 hour drive from Bangkok. For Thais, it has been known as much a destination for adventure holidays as a place to learn about Thai history.
Overview
Kanchanaburi is a green land. It sits on mountainous terrains that are covered by verdant forests and two big rivers running through the city. Waterfalls, national parks (one of them is accredited as UNESCO world heritage), historical sites and tranquil riverside landscape are the main attractions. It has a frontier with Myanmar to the west with a mountain range as its borderline.
Attractions
Main attractions in the city revolve around war memorials of World War II. The most visited place of all is the Bridge over the River Kwai. Built in 1943 by war prisoners and conscripted labourers, the black iron bridge spanning over Kwai Yai River is a part of the railway that the Japanese army aimed to use as a line to transport supplies to their frontline soldiers in Myanmar during World War II. More than 150,000 people died during the construction of the railway. The original railway, particularly the section that perches on the cliffs, is still in use today while the bridge was destroyed during the battle and rebuilt shortly after the end of the war.
War cemeteries and museums can be found in both in and outside Kanchanaburi city. The farthest of all is the Hell Fire Pass Memorial Museum about 80 kilometres north of the city centre. Built by the Australian Government in 1998, it has exhibition of contemporary photographs, maps, models, illustrations, memorabilia from the war and a 7-minute audio-visual presentation. It is located on the hillside that has a waling trail that allows visitors to walk to the Hellfire Pass. The name derived from flickering bonfires illuminated at night for Australian war prisoners who were forced to work all night to build the railway. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission is free.
Adventurers enjoy plenty of activities in Sai Yok National Park. The 300-square-kilometre park has caves, waterfalls (some of them are known as the most beautiful in the country), rivers and lush forests. Besides bamboo rafting, which is the most popular recreational activity here, you can do trekking and camping. Bungalows and resorts are available near the park. Situated 104 kilometres from Kanchanaburi town centre, the park can be reached by boat and car.
However, the most visited national park in Kanchanaburi is the Erawan National Park. Its close proximity to the city (65 kilometres from Kanchanaburi city) allows Thai weekenders get in touch with the nature. The park has mixed deciduous forests, lots of wildlife, waterways and the Erawan Waterfall, which is one of the most famous waterfalls in Thailand.

For those who have a few more days to spend, the border town of Sangkhla Buri is definitely worth your visit. This mountainous town is about 220 kilometres toward the Thailand – Myanmar border. It has a countryside of scenic valleys that are home of hill tribe villagers. Active tours such as trekking on elephant backs and rafting can be done here. The town is well known for the wooden Mon bridge and the Three Pagoda Pass. The former is the 850-metre-long wooden bridge across the Sonkaria River link the town to Myanmar. It has a fantastic viewpoint of tributary of three rivers. The latter is the miniature pagodas which are the war memorial from the 19th century war between Thais and Burmese.
Prasat Mueang Sing Historical Park presents a historical significance not only for Thais but also neighbouring Cambodians. The park is the site of a city ruin which is believed to be an outpost of Khmer empire during the Angkor period 800 years ago.
Located 43 kilometres out of town, skeletal remains, artifacts, religious statuary and pottery dating back some 2,000 years have been unearthed – it indicates a thriving community that inhabited here between the 12th and 14th centuries. The park is open daily from 9 a.m. – 4.30 p.m.
Activities and Events
Kanchanaburi is considered an adventure destination. Trekking, kayaking and rafting are popular activities you can do all year round. Most of them happen near Kwai River or in the national parks.
River Kwai Bridge Week is the biggest event of Kanchanaburi. The 10 day event is held annually from late November to early December to commemorate people who lost their lives during the World War II. Activities in this event include memorial services, historical and archaeological exhibitions, cultural performances, nostalgic train rides on World War II vintage steam locomotives and a spectacular light and sound presentation re-enacting the bridge’s Second World War history.
Time to Visit
Kanchanaburi can be visited all year round. Rain in September and October makes the forests greener – the best time for nature trips. However, tourists prefer to come here in the cool season that starts from November to February. The province’s biggest festival ‘River Kwai Bridge’ is held in December.

Bangkok's new mini hotels

Arun Residence
The look: Hidden on a small residential street in the Old City, this quaint four-story hotel abuts the Chao Phraya river and offers views of Wat Arun, the 19th-century Temple of the Dawn, from its open lobby.
The scene: Diplomats and Thai professionals arrive at the Deck, the hotel's bi-level French-Thai restaurant, for cocktails at sunset, then stay for flavorful dishes such as rice vermicelli with prawns and chiles.
The rooms: Four guest rooms -- each named for a local flower -- have futon beds and glass French doors. The only suite has a private terrace.
The amenities: Arun's space may be spare, but its price can't be beat; we don't mind living without an alarm clock and in-room safe when there's such a genial staff -- and those refreshing glasses of freshly squeezed mango juice upon arrival.
Dirty secret: Call ahead for directions -- most taxi drivers have never heard of the Arun or the small soi on which it's situated.
Nice surprise: The daybreak wake-up calls: roosters crowing, the swish of water taxis and river barges, and the sound of prayers rising from nearby wats.
36--38 Soi Pratoo Nok Yoong, Maharat Rd., Rattanakosin Island; 66-2/221-9158; http://www.arunresidence.com/; doubles from $80.
Baan Thai Wellness Retreat
The look: Five 18th-century teak houses transported from Ayutthaya -- the ancient Thai capital -- create a blissfully shaded 21-room hideaway in the center of the city.
The scene: Fitness mavens and holistic spa-goers love the package deal, which includes meals, a daily spa treatment, and an in-room Thai cooking lesson.
The rooms: Opt for a spa suite with an outdoor massage table, full kitchen and sitting area, or stay above the open-air yoga pavilion and unwind to the soothing sounds of afternoon vinyasas.
The amenities: Choose your spa treatments from a full slate of services. The 50-minute Divine Shirodhara rubdown is thought to cure headaches and reenergize the senses.
Dirty secret: We love the healthful spa-style Thai cuisine, but give yourself time to find the restaurant: the labyrinth of walkways can be more frustrating than relaxing.
Nice surprise: Traditional Thai art is displayed everywhere, from the ornately carved entrance gate to the stone Buddha sculptures beside the three curved pools.
7 Soi Sukhumvit 32; 66-2/258-5403; http://www.thebaanthai.com/; three-night packages from $770 per person, double.
The Eugenia
The look: Eastern colonial grandeur meets African game-lodge chic at this old-world hotel. Animal skins and trophies decorate the walls, brass light fixtures are imported from India, and the smiling staff stands at the ready.
The scene: Media tycoons and local fashionistas check out the turquoise pool from the adjacent bar and restaurant.
The rooms: Most of the 12 rooms have four-poster beds and antique wooden desks. Framed vintage maps adorn the periwinkle walls.
The amenities: The Thai-style turndown service includes a fragrant jasmine candle burning on the nightstand.
Dirty secret: Aluminum and copper bathtubs are fancy but work better in theory than in practice -- keep a few towels on the floor to prevent a dangerous fall.
Nice surprise: Forget the rickety tuk-tuks; chauffeurs will take guests anywhere in Bangkok in the hotel's eclectic vintage fleet, which includes a 1970 Daimler limousine, a 1958 Mercedes Ponton and a 1965 S-Type Jaguar.
267 Soi Sukhumvit 31, North Klongtan, Wattana; 66-2/259-9011; http://www.theeugenia.com/; doubles from $165.
Luxx
The look: Echoing the modern-Oriental style of the nearby Metropolitan hotel, the newest arrival off Silom Road is white-hot, with a glossy bi-level entrance and 13 silver and slate-accented rooms.
The scene: Gen Xers stretch out on the lobby couches to read Lonely Planet guidebooks and Australian fashion magazines while using the free Wi-Fi.
The rooms: Request room No. 12, a junior suite with sliding glass doors, a state-of-the-art sound system, and outsize sofa (only $120).
The amenities: We love the iconic teak-barrel soaking tubs and waterfall showers.
Dirty secret: Room service could have been snappier, to avoid soggy eggs and toast.
Nice surprise: Hit the simple Thai massage parlor next door, or the open-air market just a two-minute walk east on Surawong Road.
6/11 Decho Rd., Bangruk; 66-2/635-8800; http://www.staywithluxx.com/; doubles from $90.
Planning a Caribbean getaway? Don't miss Travel + Leisure's new Ultimate Caribbean Hotel Guide.
Copyright 2006 American Express Publishing Corporation . All rights reserved.

Hawaii hotels offering deals, perks to lure visitors

HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) -- Visitors to Hawaii are paying record-high hotel rates despite a sharp drop in hotel occupancy this year. The softening has prompted many hotels to offer deals and incentives -- from complimentary surfboard rentals to free room upgrades -- months before they normally do.
State tourism liaison Marsha Wienert said such specials are traditionally offered during the spring, or the so-called "shoulder" period, but hotels started advertising them as early as mid-January this year. She said Hawaii tourists can expect "added value," such as a fifth night free, a meal or an activity.
The cooling comes after 2 1/2 robust years for the hotel industry, which has benefited from Americans leery of traveling abroad.
"Everybody realized over the past couple years that this is a phenomenon and there was going to be a right-sizing occurring within the marketplace. It was a matter of when," Wienert said.
Hotel occupancy in Hawaii fell to 77 percent for the first two months of the year compared with 84 percent for the same period in 2006, according to the latest report by Hospitality Advisors LLC.
The statewide average rate, however, surged 8 percent to $201, which is among the highest in the nation.
In February, revenue per available room, a key industry measure known as "RevPar," dipped 3 percent to $161, the first decline since August 2002.
"On a 10-year basis, we're having a perfectly fine first quarter. We're just a little disappointed because the previous two years were so hot," said Barry Wallace, executive vice president of hospitality at Outrigger Enterprises, which manages 30 properties statewide.
Outrigger, like other chains, often sets rates for its 9,000 rooms in Hawaii a year in advance for wholesalers. So adjusting the rates is not as simple as a highway motel changing the sign and turning on the "vacancy" light.
Wallace said the company is engaging in selective discounting to certain segments, such as Hawaii residents, in hopes of a short-term boost.
Hyatt, which operates three resorts in Hawaii, is also trying to stimulate some short-term activity by offering spring packages that include complimentary room upgrades, free breakfast or tickets to a luau show.
"We deploy them when we see little pockets where we need some help," said Frank Lavey, vice president and managing director of the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa. "The second quarter has not improved as much as we had hoped it would, but it's certainly more promising than the first one was."
Hilton is running several programs to target the "soft periods," including a 10,000 Hilton HHonors bonus points offer and discounts for members of AAA and AARP, said Jon Conching, regional vice president of sales and marketing for Hilton Hawaii.
The company is also offering a spring deal for Hawaii residents that includes a free surfboard rental or discounted surf lesson.
Hotel consultant Joseph Toy, chief executive of Hospitality Advisors, said a number of hoteliers predicted the softening and prepared with contingent marketing plans, which are now being rolled out.
Toy said hotels should still have a good year, but not as good as they experienced in the past few years.
"I don't think the party is over, but I think we are definitely in a softer market and definitely past our peak," he said.
Many hotel operators say bookings are strong for the summer season and they will not need to offer many perks.
While the Japanese market continues to slump, a substantial decline this year was tourists from the East Coast. Fewer airlines are flying directly from the East Coast to Hawaii and more people are again considering foreign destinations, such as Europe or the Caribbean.
"Hawaii competes with the world now," Wienert said. "As people get more comfortable with flying, especially international, I think you will see travel patterns changing a little bit.
"However, we hope we're still perceived as foreign in nature, but domestic in all that we are and do," she said.
Some say fewer tourists and higher rates may not necessarily be a bad thing for Hawaii.
Walter Jamieson, chairman of the University of Hawaii's School of Travel Industry Management, said if Hawaii is sincere about attracting high-end tourists and not going for volume, it has to accept the fact that the numbers may be down.
He said it's very encouraging if the hotels can continue to charge higher rates.
"That says something about the quality of experience and perceived value," he said. "I'm not one that panics when visitor numbers go down."
Price sensitivity may also be an issue, but many in Hawaii's tourism industry don't believe so.
Hawaii is the most expensive state in the nation in which to vacation, according to a survey by AAA last year. The average cost for food and lodging for a family of four in Hawaii was $559 a day, more than double the national average and more than $200 higher than the next closest state, Nevada.
Jamieson said Hawaii hotels are still competitive with mainland hotels.
"You've got the beach at the front door, and within a short drive, you can be in a rain forest or watching world-class surfers," he said. "I'm one that's fairly bullish about the destination in terms of what we have to offer."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Puglia: Italy's heel has it all -- except hordes of tourists

POLIGNANO A MARE, Italy (AP) -- Puglia has some of the brightest seas, most diverse art and architecture, most mouthwatering peasant cuisine and kindest people in all of Italy -- including strangers who will go out of their way to lead you to one after another stunning beach on impossibly lapis-lazuli waters.
Puglia is the heel to Italy's boot, and after two weeks spent touring the region, I felt grateful that charter airlines don't disgorge hordes of tourists here. These are just some of the reasons:
Brilliant seas
"I said put it back, this is a natural park," a stern father told his son. He was pointing to the octopus that sat with protruding eyes on the boy's shoulders after being plucked from the crystalline waters at Natural Maritime Reserve of Torre Guaceto, just north of Brindisi.
With more than 500 miles of coast on two seas, the Adriatic and the Ionian, Puglia has all sorts of gorgeous beaches. For white limestone cliffs spotted with the deep green of gnarled pine trees, try the southernmost tip of Salento.
At opposite ends of this peninsula, I swam in the fingerlike cove of Porto Badisco, where legend has it that Italy's mythological founder, Aeneas, landed, and I dove even deeper into history at Portoselvaggio, where remains of Neanderthal men were found.
A few miles north, it's all about sandy expanses, like Punta della Suina, where the setting sun turns the transparent water pink.
But it's Torre Guaceto that gets my gold medal -- for the baby-powder white sand, the schools of silvery fish flitting from reef-like rock formations in pools of turquoise water, and the scent of pine needles drifting from the pristine forest that borders the beach.
Living history
No other image says Puglia better than the trullo, a rural home that's essentially a whitewashed teepee of small limestone slabs stacked without mortar, with a cone surmounted by pagan or religious symbols. They are scattered among olive groves and huge prickly pear cacti in the Valle d'Itria, inland in a triangle between Bari, Taranto and Brindisi.
Of unknown origin and unique to Puglia, they date at least from the Middle Ages. Most are still inhabited and more than 1,400 huddle in Alberobello. The town might feel a bit too touristy for Puglia, with its souvenir shops exhibiting plastic trulli, but it only takes a look at the clotheslines in a trullo backyard to realize that real life goes on in this primitive fairytale place.
Farther inland is the Murge, scorched highlands grooved by canyons where, in the Middle Ages, people built cave dwellings as homes and churches when they fled from pirates.
The most famous dwellings of all are the Sassi in Matera, which is just across the state line in the Basilicata region. Below the modern town and built on the side of a steep ravine, two whole neighborhoods of single-room cave dwellings and rock-hewn, frescoed churches were inhabited first by hermits and then by families until the 1960s. While some are now trendy hotels and restaurants, they still look so authentically ancient that Mel Gibson filmed scenes here for "The Passion of the Christ."
Cities as art
Art is not a masterpiece in a museum but a whole downtown in Valle d'Itria cities like Locorotondo, or, by the coast, in Bari, Ostuni and Lecce.
Locorotondo is a round nest of a village where everything is white except for the bright splashes of red flowers that overtake its wrought-iron balconies. Ostuni is even more blinding, though a sea breeze caresses you as you hike up and down its steep inclines and marvel at the sculpted baroque portals on its whitewashed houses.
But you haven't seen Baroque in all its theatrical, indulgent, luxuriant excess until you've spent an evening among the wreaths of fruit and the pinup women sculpted on the golden limestone churches and palaces of Lecce.
By comparison, the medieval downtown of Bari is austere, centered on the Basilica di San Nicola, built between the 10th and 12th centuries to honor its patron saint (yes, it's the real St. Nicholas, "Santa Claus").
The busy port city is trying to overcome its dangerous reputation, but the only person that chased us in the narrow alleys was a grocery store clerk with a cold bottle of water, concerned that ours had become too warm as friends and I waited for another clerk to make our sandwiches.
Art gems
Medieval masterpieces are everywhere on the eastern coast, beginning with the inscrutable Castel del Monte. We know the octagonal castle was built by Emperor Frederick II, one of the most powerful men in the Middle Ages, in the early 13th century. But nobody quite knows why.
Isolated on a small hill, it lacks both the architecture and the location for a military fort, and it's way too imposing to be a pleasure palace. The most evocative hypothesis is that it was an intricate symbol, built around the magic intersection of astronomy, mathematics and the Christian faith.
Traveling south, the Romanesque cathedrals at Trani and Otranto seem to rise from the sea. The latter's floor is covered by a mosaic from 1165 representing the tree of life, a hopeful message in the site of a massacre -- a chapel houses the remains of the 800 citizens who were slaughtered in the church where they had fled an assault by Islamic armies in 1481.
Puglia, like most of southern Italy, has been conquered over and over by northern and Mediterranean armies since Greek colonizers established flourishing city-states on its coasts. More than 2,500 years later, their heirs still speak Griko, a dialect of archaic Greek, in the inland Grecia Salentina.
Octopus to figs
I'll admit that the powerfully alcoholic red Salentine wine played a role in my dancing the pizzica pizzica, the local version of tarantella, one night in the streets of tiny Serrano.
But the food that went with it at the farmers' fair was just as worthy of celebrating, including Puglia's staple, orecchiette (ear-shaped pasta), as well as horse meat steaks, ciceri e tria (handmade tagliatelle with garbanzo beans), fave e cicoria (pureed fava beans and chicory), cakes spilling over with figs.
Meat, grilled or cured, reigns inland, nowhere more spectacularly than at Cisternino in trulli land. At night, the absurdly numerous butchers of this whitewashed village set up tiny tables on the sidewalks and cook to order whatever you select from their marble counters, preceded by minuscule black olives, homemade cheeses and salami.
Seafood, including delicacies like octopus and sea urchins, rule the coast in hole-in-the-wall trattorie like Nonna Tetti in Lecce. I had a hard time finishing pignata di polpo there, when the whole octopus was brought to me in a clay pot -- especially since I had already had mozzarella di bufala, fried vegetables, and linguine with mussels.
I needed similar endurance when gratitude compelled me to start my last dinner in Puglia with a humble pizza margherita. This must be the only region in Italy where the tomato-and-mozzarella staple of generations of students and workers still only costs about $2.50.
Puglia is Italy's top olive oil producer, so, for 660 miles back to northern Italy, I carried a three-gallon tank of thick olive oil in front of my car seat, sheltering it from the sun that for two weeks hadn't stopped blazing and that pervades every facet of life here.
I kept thinking about a verse from an Italian poem that was used on an old tourism ad for southern Italy. Roughly translated, it was something like this: "No earthly hope can give my heart peace as much as the certainty of sun that overflows from your sky."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Cruise ship fuel threatens isle

ATHENS, Greece (Reuters) -- Hundreds of tons of oil trapped in the tanks of a sunken cruise ship near the Greek island of Santorini must be pumped out immediately to avert an environmental disaster, Greenpeace said on Tuesday.
The Sea Diamond, owned by Louis Cruise Lines, sank on April 6 a day after running aground off the island, forcing more than 1,500 passengers and crew to evacuate it. A French tourist and his daughter are missing and feared drowned.
Several special vessels have been battling a limited oil spill for 12 days but fears of a much bigger spill grow as about 400 tons of fuel oil remain inside the ship.
"The most serious concern is the fuel inside the cruise ship," said Nikos Charalambidis, director of the Greek branch of the environmental group Greenpeace. "This spill we are dealing with now is minor, just some oil and other fluids but not from the fuel tanks."
"Too much time has been wasted and not a day more should be lost. Over 400 tons of oil in the sea would mean 70 square kilometers of oil spill and pollution along 25 kilometers of coastline," he told Reuters.
Santorini welcomes hundreds of thousands of tourists each year and is one of the country's most spectacular and upscale tourist destinations.
Islanders said the current spill had already shifted direction, avoiding floating dams and reaching the coast below the picturesque village of Oia. It has yet not reached Santorini's best beaches, lined with volcanic black sand, on the eastern side of the island.
"The oil has reached the coast in some areas," a Santorini port official told Reuters. "It is not extensive yet and efforts are being made to clean it off the rocks manually."
The official said the island was still awaiting the government's plans for pumping the remaining fuel from the ship.
"We are now using floating dams to try and control the spill and we are waiting to hear what the plan will be to get the oil out from the ship," he said.
The country's merchant marine ministry was expected to discuss environmental protection plans with interested parties later on Tuesday.
The government has been criticized for being too quick to praise the operation to rescue hundreds of American, European and Australian tourists from the Sea Diamond, only to later declare two people missing and see the ship sink.
The cruise company has attributed the sinking to human error, without naming a culprit. A Greek prosecutor charged the captain and five other crew members with negligence. If found guilty, they could face suspended prison sentences.
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

While tourists sleep in

(Tribune Media Services) -- Throughout Europe -- on medieval ramparts, in churches, produce markets, alpine farmsteads and Riviera villages -- the local culture thrives while tourists sleep.
I'll never forget waking up with the locals on the Italian Riviera in the off-season. The morning sun kisses the tip of Vernazza's bell tower and greets a sleepy village. There's a refreshingly damp cool in the air and a rare Italian silence. Then a distant rooster crows, "Chicchirichi!" as they say in Italian, at the modern world.
The harbor square is quiet, littered with calloused little boats. The lady whose husband was out all night fishing beckons me to her fish-filled wheelbarrow. Sorting through the wheelbarrow like it's a sale bin at the mall, she introduces me to the "frutti di mare" -- tiny red snapper, electric eel, big octopus and pesce azzurro ("blue fish"). That's the term for miscellaneous fish -- anything from anchovies to tuna.
Picking up a shiny 6-inch anchovy and threatening me with it, as if it were a rattlesnake, she says, "This was swimming this morning at 3 a.m. He will be dinner tonight, maybe for you."
I like beach towns so small that they have no real grocery store, just a mobile market that rolls in every morning. That happens with a particular flair on the Algarve, in the south of Portugal.
One bit of old Algarve magic still glitters quietly in the sun -- Salema. It's at the end of a small road just off the main drag between the big city of Lagos and the rugged southwest tip of Europe, Cape Sagres. Quietly discovered by British and German tourists, this simple fishing village has three streets, a handful of restaurants, a few hotels, time-share condos up the road, a couple of shipwreck bars and a split personality -- the whitewashed old town is for locals, and the other half was built for tourists. Both locals and tourists pursue a policy of peaceful coexistence. Tourists laze in the sun while locals grab the shade. Tourists sleep in while locals rise with the sun.
Salema's flatbed truck market rolls in weekday mornings, one truck each for fish, fruit and vegetables, plus a five-and-dime truck for clothing and other odds and ends. On my last visit, the tooting horn of the fish truck woke me at 8 a.m. with a honky chorus of the 1812 Overture. The bakery trailer, selling delightful fresh bread, rolled in just after that -- with less fanfare.
Salema is still a fishing village, but just barely. While the fishermen's hut no longer hosts a fish auction, you'll still see the old-timers enjoying the cool early morning hours -- when the sand is still wet with dew -- before the tourists take the beach. While mending their nets, they reminisce about the old days, when life was "only fish and hunger."
Local communities seem to live their traditional routines in a parallel existence, oblivious to the tourists who are just another and necessary slice of the local economy.
While churches are "sightseeing attractions" inundated with tourists and their flashing cameras at midday, early in the morning they are more clearly places of worship. From St. Peter's in Rome to St. Paul's in London, I find churches offer a more genuine welcome first thing in the morning. You might even find yourself actually locked into a worship service.
Stepping into Toledo, Spain's vast cathedral before the modesty guards assume their position at the door (to keep out shorts-wearing tourists), I notice that a chapel I've always found closed is not only open but alive with an ornately robed priest and flickering candles. The Mozarabic Chapel comes to life only in the morning, when it hosts a very special Visigothic Mass -- which, with a remarkable Dark Age splendor, claims to be the oldest surviving Christian ritual in Western Europe. As I slip in, the man at the door tells me I'm welcome to enter, but he's about to close the door, so I'll have to stay for the entire Mass. Giving up my freedom, I become a Visigoth for 30 minutes. Toledo's proud Mozarabic community of 1,500 people traces its roots back to Visigothic times, and this service is a lively reminder of the town's dedication to allowing different faiths and cultures to coexist peacefully.
This particular morning, there are so few participants, I find myself helping out by holding a huge, centuries-old Bible while the priest reads. Later, walking out of the Mass, I'm thankful for many things, including the knowledge that, among travelers, the early bird gets the memories.
Rick Steves writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio. E-mail him at rick@ricksteves.com, or write to him c/o P.O. Box 2009, Edmonds, Wash. 98020.© 2007 RICK STEVES, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.