The futurist: Putting the choo-choo back in Chattanooga

Amtrak's Empire Builder departs from Chicago's Union Station. New funding could bring a magnetic levitation line to the Chicago area. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

The ripple effects from Florida governor Rick Scott turning down $2 billion in federal funding for a high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando are finally starting to gather into small waves.

Transportation secretary Ray LaHood has instead been handing out the cash to other states, like California, and gave $450 million to Amtrak. The money will be used to upgrade tracks in the northeast so Acela trains can run up to 160 miles per hour on some New Jersey and Pennsylvania tracks (it now rarely exceeds 70 miles per hour), and build a new spur through Queens, so Boston-bound trains can travel on separate tracks from New York commuter trains. But more ambitiously, Amtrak recentlyhired consulting firm KPMG to develop a plan for high-speed rail service from Washington, DC to Boston by 2020. The trains will run at 220 mph and the first leg would be from New York to Philadelphia (a trip taking about half an hour, compared to an hour and a half now) by 2023.

Meanwhile, a slew of other states are starting to stitch together their own plans for high-speed rail. Last week it was announced that the money is finally in place for proceeding with an Atlanta-to-Chattanooga magnetic levitation line. The eventual plan is to link the two cities and then head north, terminating at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. North Carolina received money to start improving existing track and an agreement was signed with rail freight company Norfolk Southern Railways to start exploring a major high-speed rail corridor between Charlotte and Raleigh. California received $179 million of the Florida money, even as costs are spiralling ever higher for first stretch of the San Diego-Los Angeles-San Francisco link that is being built in the Central Valley. Construction is slated to being in September 2012, making it more of a reality than any others. Illinois received a chunk to help fund a Chicago to St Louis line.

While all of these improvements are greatly needed, funding high-speed rail piecemeal and state-by-state instead of as a federal project means that train and track technology may differ. Imagine travelling from Miami, Florida to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and changing in Atlanta from a steel-wheeled fast train to a magnetic levitation one. But perhaps getting any kind of choo-choo back in Chattanooga, which has no passenger rail station anymore, is a victory.

Business trip: Sydney

Lavender Bay and North Sydney at dusk. (Greg Elms/LPI)

About the only thing a business traveller can find wrong with Sydney is that it is so far away from the rest of the world.

• Related article: Business trip in Hong Kong

Other than a little jet lag after the 25-hour journey from Europe, the 14-hour slog from California, or the 10-hour flight from Tokyo, Sydney is all positives: a gorgeous harbour, Mediterranean climate and a sophisticated food and wine scene. Its hotel stock is modern and upscale. Every day the Qantas fleet of giant Airbus A380s float in at Sydney’s newly expanded, bright and airy international terminal at Kingsford Smith airport from cities around the world.

When it comes to business, there is little sign of a “GFC” in Sydney. GFC is how Sydneysiders refer to that unfortunate global financial crisis that has cast a pall on nearly every other city in the world. But in Australia, a stable government, massive raw materials exports to Asia, a strong currency and a talented, optimistic workforce have helped it weather the global economic storm better than almost any other advanced nation in the world.

Spurred on by robust business and consumer confidence, economists expect Australia’s economy to expand even faster in the next five years. Through 2015, Australia’s GDP should grow about 5% annually.

Hotels: elegant or edgy? 

Elegant
When it re-opens in early 2012 after a seven-month closure for a tip-to-toe renovation, the harbourfront Park Hyatt Sydney will likely resume its rank as the top choice for visiting business travellers. This contemporary three-storey hotel is known for its breezy indoor-outdoor public areas and spectacular views of the Sydney Opera House through floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies. A few blocks uphill on a quiet street above the Rocks you will find the classically elegant 100-room Observatory Hotel, favoured by CEOs and diplomats. Nearby is the 563-room Shangri-La, an ultramodern marble and glass tower hotel offering equally expansive rooms and views, free wi-fi, and a bar on the 36th floor with a very popular happy hour. Closer to the “CBD” (how Australians refer to a city’s central business district), is the Radisson Blu Plaza hotel, a modern 362-room boutique-style hotel built inside an 1800s sandstone façade that once housed Bank of New South Wales. Here “business class” rooms get complimentary lounge access, wi-fi and a hot breakfast buffet among other extras.

Edgy
Two of Sydney’s hippest hostelries are housed in reclaimed buildings. The popular 136-room Blue Sydney hotel serves as the anchor for a lovely marina, outdoor dining and apartment complex in a repurposed wharf building at Woolloomooloo near Sydney’s famous Royal Botanic Gardens. The hotel’s wide variety of rooms and lofts retain the rustic authenticity of the building (like its exposed timber) while providing a modern five-star experience and water views. Fashionistas and celebs hole up in the modernist chic 31-room Establishment Hotel located in a converted warehouse building in the middle of the CBD, adjacent to some of the hottest restaurants and bars in the city. If you are looking for more space or a longer stay, consider the new Fraser Suites near Darling Harbour, with 201warmly functional luxury studios and suites. 

Off the clock
If you have some free time, head to the city’s busy ferry hub at Circular Quay and catch any of the many ferries to get some fresh air, establish your bearings and see locals on their way to or from work. (Sydney ferries carry more than 14 million passengers each year.) The ferry ride to nearby Manly for an outdoor meal and stroll to its picturesque beach is perhaps the most iconic choice for visitors. On Saturdays, catch one to Balmain for a walk through its famous outdoor market and surrounding fisherman’s cottages. Stick around for a long lunch at Kazbah, or take a tour of its many pubs, which Australians call “hotels”. The harbour’s Cockatoo Island, which once housed a prison (among other structures), is an increasingly popular playground, and now includes the quirky Island Bar. But arrive early because the last ferry departs the island at 8:30 p

Malaysia's Thaipusam festival

Devotees climb up the 272 steps into Batu Caves for Thaipusam. (Anders Blomqvist/LPI)

Thaipusam is the most spectacular Hindu festival in Malaysia, marking the day when Lord Shiva’s son, Muruga, was given command of the celestial forces to vanquish three Asura demons. A wild orgy of body piercings – cheeks, tongues and lips are all skewered, often multiple times -- this fascinating festival can be a mind-spinning sight for a first-timer.

• Related feature: Malaysia behind the headlines

Devotees take approximately 48 days to prepare for the festival, which takes place mid-January to mid-February, when the moon is full in the 10th Tamil month of the Thai calendar. They undertake special diets and cleansing routines, sleep on the floor and practice regular prayer.

Thaipusam takes place deep in the Batu Caves. Thousands of people flock here to give thanks to Muruga, the Hindu god of war. Inside, you will find monkeys scampering and bounding up the 272 steps into Temple Cave, the vast main cavern that houses a golden statue of Muruga. The caves were “officially” discovered some 120 years ago by American naturalist William Hornaday.

Pride of place in the festival is Lord Muruga's silver chariot, which makes its way from the Sri Mahamariamman Temple in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown to the caves. Carrying statuettes of Lord Muruga, as well as consorts Valli and Teivayanni, the chariot tips the scales at 350kg of silver – a jaw-dropping display of wealth when it was first unveiled in 1893.

During Thaipusam, devotees perform a dance to Muruga known askavadi attam. The dance helps the devotees appeal to Muruga for divine assistance or give thanks for his help. But it is not just dancing that happens here.

The greatest sight is the kavadi carriers, the devotees who subject themselves to seemingly masochistic acts as fulfilment for answered prayers. Many of the faithful carry offerings of milk in paal kudam (milk pots) often connected to their skin by hooks. Even more striking are thevel kavadi – great cages of spikes that pierce the skin of the carrier and are decorated with peacock feathers, pictures of deities and flowers. Some penitents go as far as piercing their tongues and cheeks with hooks, skewers and tridents. While it looks excruciating, a trance-like state stops participants from feeling pain; later the wounds are treated with lemon juice and holy ash to prevent scarring.

Interested in taking part in the pierced proceedings? Only the truly faithful should attempt the ritual – insufficiently prepared devotees keep doctors especially busy over the festival period with skin lacerations. Make sure to take plenty of water with you, as the heat can be just as overwhelming as the sights.

The latest news from Fast Track

This weekend, Fast Track on BBC World News TV featured the following stories:

Pat down show downWith the holiday season underway, intimate security checks at American airports are continuing to upset travellers.When passengers refuse the full body scanners they may be submitted to what authorities are calling an enhanced pat-down.Politicians are calling for them to be outlawed but the department of justice has threatened that flights whose passengers are not screened will be cancelled.

Nancy Campbell, a 33-year-old from Brooklyn, reveals how the experience left her feeling as though she had been "sexually assaulted". 

Online check-in
Carmen Roberts clicks on the campaign to clean up grotty hotels in the UK. Plus, an in-flight hula dancing flash mob on Hawaiian Airlines. This and more with the best of travel on the world wide web.

Dance advanceCambodia is best known by travellers for Angkor Wat and the Killing Fields - but the country is also looking forward. There has been a revival of traditional and contemporary arts across the country and Phnom Penh has become a hotbed of creativity and young talent. Michelle Jana Chan travelled to the capital to look at this resurgence

Daily deal: Three nights in Los Cabos, Mexico

The Marquis Los Cabo overlooks the Sea of Cortes.

Los Cabos is the "Jewel of the Baja Peninsula", and you can try it on for size with this week's escape.

Retreat to the Marquis Los Cabos, surrounded by pearly white beaches and the sapphire sea.

Slip into the room that fits you best. Relax in a junior ocean view suite that boasts private balconies, Jacuzzi tubs, cosy beds and luxury linens for three nights ($670) or four ($893).

Or, spoil yourself for three ($1,380) or four nights ($1,841) in an ocean-view Casita, equipped with garden or rooftop pools, Bulgari toiletries, a stocked wet bar and more.

"Like many properties on the tip of the Baja peninsula, Marquis Los Cabos focuses on stellar service," notes Travel + Leisure. "But here it translates to unique touches and complimentary amenities: Check-in includes a 10-minute neck massage followed by guacamole, chips, and drinks."

Greet the golden sunrise with a scrumptious daily in-room breakfast. From there, your escape's 30% Avis car rental discount frees you to fashion your day. Scuba dive or snorkel in Los Cabos's turquoise waters while surrounded by rainbows of tropical fish.

Hike bronze desert trails, or watch for silvery whales. Tee off on emerald greens with 15% off golf, or spend that same discount on the on-sitespa's divine body treatments.

Indulge in the rich flavours of the Marquis's eateries. Savour six courses at the elegant Canto del Mar or dine at Vista Ballenas beside the shimmering waves. Enjoy poolside fare at Dos Mares, or soak in a ruby sunset sipping El Suspiro's cocktails.

Escapees will delight in a $100 food and beverage credit, so you can try all of these culinary gems, in addition to an included candlelit evening on the beach with private butler, bonfire, and tiki torches (dinner is an additional fee.)

With its opulent accommodations and decadent discounts, diamonds may be forever, but this wscape surely won't last.

Escape kit

• A three- ($670) or four-night ($893) stay for two in a junior suite with an ocean view
• First 150 purchasers of the four-night junior ocean view suite option receive automatic upgrade to a junior oceanfront suite
• Or, a three- ($1,380) or four-night ($1,841) stay for two in a casita with a private pool and ocean view
• Up to two children 12 and under stay for free
• Daily in-room signature breakfast
• $100 food and beverage credit
• 30% discount on Avis car rental
• 15% discount on golf and spa services
• One candlelit evening on the beach for two with private butler, bonfire, and tiki torches (dinner not included)
• Book by 30 August

Daily deal: Getaway to Palm Springs

Korakia Pensione, a mellow Mediterranean-style villa, sits at the foot of the San Jacintos.

He takes your hand, tells you to close your eyes.

Moments later, you open them to find yourself in front of Moorish double doors framed by a grand entrance. You step inside. The smell of citrus blossoms and the sound of trickling Moroccan fountains washes over you.

But you didn't bump your head during the tornado, Dorothy. You're atKorakia Pensione, a mellow Mediterranean-style villa tucked away from the patter of downtown Palm Springs, and the home of this week's escape.

Unfurl in one of eight Mediterranean or Moroccan suites — the Marrakech, Nomad, Sahara, Bedouin, Kasbah, Paxos, Mykonos, or Acropolis — for a two-night stay for two.

Your stay includes a wine, cheese, and fruit platter upon check-in; full breakfast for two each morning; and a special turndown service replete with strawberries and chocolate fondue ($500).

After hot breakfast in bed (think French toast and fresh fruit), spend your morning poolside with a vintage book from the library lounge. Book a Rain Drop massage — one of the hotel's signature treatments — and let the power of nine pure essential oils, combined with deep hand strokes, course over your body.

Later, explore the grounds hand-in-hand, knowing that luminaries like Rudolph Valentino and Winston Churchill once walked the same steps. Rest underneath olive trees and bougainvillea vines, before riding three blocks into downtown Palm Springs on provided bicycles.

Sup on contemporary Asian-Austrian fusion cuisine at Johannes Restaurant — heralded by the Palm Desert Entertainer as "simply the best of the best". Be sure to share the banana split for dessert. Made with Zone Banana Vodka, Dark crème de cacao, pineapple juice and chocolate syrup, it's a sophisticated twist on a classic dessert.

Back at Korakia, curl up with a glass of Moroccan tea and let the flicker of the glowing fire pit set the mood. You'll know exactly why Forbes named Korakia Pensione one of the Sexiest Hotels in America.

Escape kit

• A two-night stay between Sunday and Thursday in a suite for two
• Daily homemade breakfast for two
• Wine, cheese, and fruit platter
• One night of turndown service with strawberries and chocolate fondue
• Book by 30 August

Worldwide weird: Strip down for the end of summer

The AANR set a Guinness World Record in 2010 for simultaneous skinny dipping with 14,110 participants across North America. (aanr.com)

With only a few weeks left to soak up the sun, clothing just gets in the way.

In Germany, “nakation” enthusiasts have flocked to Dankerode, a small town west of Berlin, where the first nudity-allowed hiking trail opened in May 2010. The 18km stretch welcomes clothed tourists as well, though signs warn unsuspecting hikers they may see more than just wildlife on the trail. Go now before the average high temperature drops to below 16C in October.

For a warmer nakation, Bare Necessities Tour and Travel offers all-nude cruises to the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Philippines. Passengers are expected to be dressed for meals in the dining room and any time the ship is in port, but no need to worry about the dreaded “Formal Night” as T-shirts and shorts are considered acceptable. The tour company does arrange extra theme nights such as an “Undressed to Kill” James Bond-themed night where attendees often wear only 007’s signature bow-tie, or in the spirit of the movie Goldfinger, all-gold body paint.

More active travellers might consider the annual World Naked Bike Ride, happening on 10 March, 2012 in the Southern Hemisphere, and in June in the Northern Hemisphere.

Even in the notoriously prudish US, the American Association of Nude Recreation (AANR) offers a “Nakation in a Box”, complete with a full list of nudist resorts and campgrounds across the US and Canada, a towel, and an ever-important bottle of sunscreen. The AANR set a Guinness World Record in 2010 for simultaneous skinny dipping with 14,110 participants across North America.

When you go on a nakation, it is not always as simple as showing up and stripping down. A few things to know before you go:

• Some resorts are clothing-optional, while some are entirely clothing-free (where nudity is mandatory), so it’s best to call ahead and pick one that will make you feel the most comfortable. Most resorts adopt a “clothed when practical, nude when appropriate” policy.
• Leave your camera at home. Most nude destinations frown on photography or restrict it to certain areas only.
• Don’t assume a nude environment equals a sexual one. Nudists resorts tend to be focused on self-acceptance and freedom rather than free love.

Drawing on experience: Cyprus

A sketch from Cyprus. (Tim Baynes)

Ruins of the House of Theseus near Paphos, Cyprus

29.7.08

A floor plan, some walls, fabulous mosaics on which to gaze. The dust and heat and sky so blue you could touch it. Six remaining columns.

View larger image.

Tim Baynes is a senior executive with the BBC who has recorded his impressions of more than 20 years of travel in Moleskine notebooks. Each week The Passport blog will bring you a new sketch from his collection.

London's art attack

David Brooks Adaptable Boardwalk (With Three Genetic Drifts)(photo courtesy of Damian Griffiths and Bold Tendencies, copyright the artist)

Forget the Tate Modern or White Cube. To get a real taste of the bleeding edge in British art, you need to head south of the river, to the backroom of a pub, or the roof of a multi-storey carpark.

• Related article: London's Tin Pan Alleys

For years, when the name of Peckham, a district of southeast London, was mentioned, people thought of two things. First, Del Boy Trotter, the fictional dodgy dealer who was the area's most famous resident thanks to the hugely successful 1980s BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses. Second, gang culture and teenage knife crime.

Foreboding council estates and concrete tower blocks overlook rundown high streets full of fried chicken shops and stalls offering knock-off mobile phones. It is  a ghettoised place, ridden with poverty and violence. This was the London that tourists never saw, with good reason.

But while Peckham had – and still has – its problems, the stereotypes never quite rang true. Nearby Camberwell College of Arts and Goldsmiths University have long brought a steady stream of art students, lending a bohemian edge to the area. And in just the past three years, the artistic revival has really stepped up the pace of change . Increasing rents in Hackney, the east London borough that has been home to the capital's creative community for the past 15 years, have begun pushing artists south of the river, and the epicentre of London's art scene has started to shift with them.

“Peckham's definitely become the name to drop,” said Jo Dennis, who runs the local Asylum Arts gallery. “A lot of my artist friends used to pretend they didn't even know where southeast London was – now they're all planning to move here.” To celebrate the burgeoning scene,Art Licks, an independent website and magazine, has set up a Peckham art tour that introduces the area's teeming creative riches to a wider audience.

The tour starts at Peckham Space, a community-run gallery that aims to engage local young people with artists. The most recent exhibition was a film project by David Cotterrell, titled Slipstream. He attached a camera to a remote control helicopter and flew across the new build apartment blocks of North Peckham estate, filming the journeys once taken by residents along the now-demolished elevated walkways that linked tower block to tower block.

Across the street from Peckham Space is the Bun House pub. Its main room is full of grizzled men supping pints of bitter, playing pool and watching a TV blaring out horse racing. It is the kind of place where you would suspect a dismissive reaction to Modern art. But step through to the back room, and an exhibition by Austrian artist Ulli Knall appears – a sculpture made of napkins and bottle tops, shards of broken tiles on the walls. Outside, a quick clamber up a wall ladder to the roof reveals a sculpture made of duvet covers and pillow cases, twisted on a stool. On a recent visit two men were having a pint next to it. “No, we're not the artists,” one laughed. “We're just having a drink.”

It is this juxtaposition of the quotidian with the bleeding edge that makes the Peckham scene so refreshing. This is an art scene actively engaging with its surroundings. At the Son Gallery, a minimalistic white room in an industrial warehouse, the evangelical exertions of a preacher at a nearby Pentecostal church might be heard as artist Joschi Herczeg talks about his work.  Panels of black glass hang from the ceiling and blowing hot breath on them, he explained, reveals engraved hidden messages. Around the corner, the Methodist church agreed to allow artists to use its aisles for a new exhibition.

The final stop on the tour is Bold Tendencies, a literal totemic symbol of Peckham's art-driven resurgence. The top two floors of a miserable grey carbuncle of a multi-storey car park have been transformed into a sculpture gallery. The space is made cooler with the addition of Frank's, a cafebar that is fast becoming the one of the most popular new hangouts in the capital. The views across the city are worth the visit alone. Works from 14 international artists are scattered across the concrete. Huge metallic claws resting on uplit pedestals compete for attention against giant inflatable rats singing love songs to each other and a boardwalk twisted into rollercoaster-like hoops by a pallet truck. 

The last exhibition on display, a battered, custard-yellow Robin Reliant van, with the legend “Trotter's Independent Traders” emblazoned on the side, confirms why Peckham needs to be added to any tourist's London itinerary. The recognisable three-wheel vehicle belongs to Del Boy Trotter and artist Jess Flood-Paddock added the words “London-New York-Peckham”. It is a humorous, poignant bringing-together of Peckham old and new, a hitherto unloved working class urban district on the verge, perhaps, of achieving international prominenc

Tools to plan your itinerary faster

GoPlanIt helps you plan trips around cities, supplying daily sightseeing schedules and maps based on what's most important to you.

When you're visiting a city for the first time, are you armed with a list of attractions and a map to find your way, or do you go one step further to plot a customised sightseeing itinerary of the city you're visiting?

While the first option works fine (we recently reviewed City Maps 2Go, which has an added perk of working offline), the latter could help you choose to stop by the art galleries at London’s Tate Modern after visiting St Paul's Cathedral, instead of the Tate Britain (which is 40 minutes away on the Thames River by ferry).

Mapping out your favourite attractions will give you an idea of the best course to chart around town. Here are some free digital tools for planning an itinerary quickly.

Your Tour
Your Tour is the best tool for creating multi-day road trip itineraries, and this Belgian-based start-up stands out for its deep coverage of Italy, France, Spain, Andorra and, randomly, Florida. The site recommends hotels via Booking.com and includes airport and rental car information, too, so you can truly hit the ground with a comprehensive itinerary. In a nice touch, it provides estimates of the fuel costs for driving each stretch of distance, in case you want to alter your itinerary to incur less road time.

After you plug in your arrival and departure points and your travel dates, the site suggests a "greatest hits" itinerary. You can then customize the suggestions based on your level of interest in various categories (like nature or culture), and then you can refine the results further by telling the site you are only interested in animal attractions and parks. The itinerary list provides detailed information like hours of operation, admission and related practical concerns, plus you can print the itinerary, e-mail it to yourself, or share it via social-networking sites.

The site is far from perfect. Its itineraries aren't formatted to be easily viewed on mobile devices, and the printout versions lack maps and driving directions. The site's other main drawback is its limited geographic relevance. It doesn't include street level information on how to sightsee on foot and ignores major cities like Paris and Miami. Additionally, it fails to offer restaurant recommendations or even to account for the amount of time lunch might take.

Plnnr
This Israel-based website focuses on providing street-level advice for planning a trip to one of the 20 cities most popular with leisure travellers, such as Paris, London, New York City, Rome, Barcelona, San Francisco, Berlin, Prague, Dublin, Toronto, and Washington, DC.

Like YourTour, Plnnr has a questionnaire, and it will customize its sightseeing suggestions based on your answers. Tell Plnnr how much walking you're willing to do, which hotel are you staying at (if you already booked one), whether you are more of a museumgoer or an outdoors person, how many days you're in town, and so on. Then you can pick and choose, buffet-style, the places that are relevant to you, rather than running a lot of web searches. If you like one of its hotel suggestions, you can book it at the rate quoted via HotelsCombined.com.

Like a GPS device, Plnnr also provides step-by-step walking (or taxi or public transit) directions, with recommended times to spend at each spot. Accounting for how long it will take to get from point A to point B has never been simpler. Itineraries can be printed out with all of the relevant information (such as street addresses, opening hours and phone numbers) and multiple micro-maps of each relevant part of the route.

Plnnr has a couple of downsides: Its itinerary is not easy to view in a mobile phone or tablet browser, so the print out option is best, which limits a traveller's ability to make changes on the fly. As with YourTour, the site also overlooks functionality for planning for lunch or dinners, with no space allowed in the proposed schedules.

GoPlanIt
Similar to Plnnr, GoPlanIt is focused on helping you plan trips around cities, supplying daily sightseeing schedules and maps based on your answers to a questionnaire where you prioritise what's most important to you. This San Francisco-based start-up only covers the US, providing trip tips for the eleven largest US cities. The site then whips together a recommended schedule of sites to see according to their proximity to each other.  As with the above-named sites, you can customise your itinerary item-by-item. In the cleanest interface of the three sites, you can drag and drop – or cut – items, just as if you were using a typical electronic calendar. In another excellent touch, GoPlanIt provides restaurant recommendations based on your budget, something the other two sites fail to do. Print out the resulting custom map, which comes with relevant contact information for each attraction, or access this map and related information from your smart phone.

GoPlanIt's interface is more cluttered than Plnnr's, but it deserves praise for including restaurant information, with ratings from Yelp and similar review sites. It's also unique for having mobile access that allows you to adjust a plan on the fly, with great compatibility with an iPhone.

In selected large cities, the site is experimenting with offering deals — like 30% to 70% off restaurants or attractions — via group-deal siteHomeRun. In a recent look at the deals being offered in Washington, DC, I was impressed: the offers were for restaurants I have been to and would actually recommend to friends, and the discounts on offer were substantial. Overall, GoPlanIt was a slicker site for planning a city-level trip than Plnnr, but either of these sites is only relevant if it actually covers the destination you're visiting. I hope GoPlanIt expands its reach to overseas destinations, which is currently Plnnr's turf.  

Google’s My Places
As wonderful as these three competing itinerary-planner services are, they share a common Achilles Heel: they're only as flexible as their databases. If you want to add an attraction or a hotel that isn't on their computerized list, you're out of luck. In this sense, the only site with true flexibility is Google Maps, which in mid-July revised its My Maps feature to make it easier to build a custom itinerary. Now called My Places, the tool lets you star attractions you're interested in seeing, which saves them to a My Places tab on Google Maps. You can also add these places to a customized map, both of which are viewable via your mobile device's web browser.

New integration with the year-old Google Places functionality lets you instantly see user ratings, opening hours, user-generated photos and other relevant information about major attractions, which is relevant data lacking in other online map planners, like Mapquest's year-old tool. Yet while creating a custom Google map offers the ultimate flexibility to a traveller, it is also the most time consuming option. If you would like to speed up the process with the help of knowledgeable advice about your destination, try YourTour for driving tours of sunny European spots, Plnnr for walking around major European cities, and GoPlanIt for explorations of the largest US cities

Copenhagen on a plate

Don’t ask for Danish pastries at Lagkagehuset, a popular bakery chain. In Denmark, they are called Vienna Bread (wienerbrød). (Martin Llado/LPI)

The term “new Nordic cuisine” is setting hearts aflutter on the international food scene, and any gourmand worth their salt (French fleur de sel, preferably) is placing Copenhagen high on their food-fancying holiday itinerary.

• Related article: Budget and blowout guide to Copenhagen

The Danish capital is home to the world's number one restaurant Noma, taking the top spot in the S Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants rankings in both 2010 and 2011. Copenhagen is also home to 10 Michelin-starred restaurants and the best young chef, Rasmus Kofoed, gold medallist at the prestigious Bocuse d'Or.

So what has taken this city from its humdrum pork-and-potatoes tradition to culinary dynamo, and what exactly does “new Nordic cuisine” mean? Chief responsibility for the spotlight now shining Copenhagen's way lies with the city's young chefs, many of who have apprenticed with some of the most influential chefs in the world.

These chefs have taken their experience and combined it with a passion for Denmark's local raw ingredients - its excellent pork, game, seafood, root vegetables and berries - and a reverence for the seasons. Taken to extremes, this means Noma's owner-chef René Redzepi eschews all non-indigenous produce in his creations (no olive oil for example, and no tomatoes), plays with modest, often-overlooked ingredients (pulses and grains) and forages for herbs and plants. Ingredients are skilfully prepared but technique never overshadows flavour.

The day after Noma won the title of world's best restaurant in 2010, 100,000 people attempted to make a table reservation. The restaurant does around 75 covers a day, five days a week. In other words: landing a reservation is the equivalent of winning the food-lovers' lottery.

If you do get lucky, you are in for a sensory treat: familiar ingredients are used alongside intriguing Nordic delicacies such as reindeer moss from Finland, Icelandic skyr (similar to strained yoghurt) and sea buckthorn berries. Vegetables feature as dessert (beetroot granita, for example). And there are loads of edible greenery; Noma explains that at their venue “greens take up more room on the plate than is common at gourmet restaurants”. Flavours are fresh and clean on both the plate and palate.

Diners choose between seven or 12 courses and there is a comprehensive wine list or a wine-matching menu (there is also a wonderfully executed juice menu). Service is exemplary -- with the chefs delivering many of the dishes -- the décor is elegantly rustic and the atmosphere warm and convivial, not fussy and formal. At meal's end you may be offered a tour of the kitchen, where you can see the hard work that goes into such gastronomic genius.

Tasting Copenhagen
For all the hype surrounding Noma and new Nordic cuisine, however, this is clearly not how the average Dane eats every day. So where can you go in Copenhagen to get a more prosaic picture of dining, Danish style?

Smørrebrød
Near-unpronounceable smørrebrød is Denmark's famed open sandwich. It generally consists of a slice of rye bread topped, for example, with roast beef, smoked salmon, pickled herring, liver pate, or fried fish fillet and finished with a variety of garnishes. The final sculptured product often looks too good to eat and it is usually only served at lunchtime. Top spots for a fix include traditional Schønnemann and contemporary Aamanns, the latter offering takeaway and a restaurant. Try to pronounce smørrebrød as "SMUHR-bruth", but do not feel bad if your pronunciation does not match a native Dane’s.

Pastries
With a dozen outlets around town including at the airport, on Strøget and next door to the tourist office, Lagkagehuset is a bakery chain selling all the buttery, carb-loading treats you could dream of. Rugbrød (rye bread) is a must-try, but you are probably here for the sweet pastries. Note that while they are called “Danish pastries” around the world, in Denmark they re known as wienerbrød (literally, “Vienna bread”).

Seafood
In Copenhagen's hip “Meatpacking District”, the fish-focused Kødbyens Fiskebar has been generating lots of heat since it opened in mid-2009 and is a favourite of Noma's Redzepi. The menu lists the provenance of all its seafood, from Greenlandic snowcrab to Danish Limfjord oysters and mussels. This is also a good spot to sample Danish white wine.

Hot dogs
Classic Danish street food is the pølser (hot dog in a bun), sold from the ubiquitous pølser vogn (hot-dog cart). At the Andersen Bakery hot-dog kiosk, across from the main train station, fast food goes upmarket. Made from organic pork sausage, Bornholm mustard and a chanterelle sauce, Andersen's “Grand Danois” hot dog is quite possibly Denmark's finest

Arizona’s healing powers

At the Boulders resort in Carefree, participants are led through the spa’s labyrinth (meant to symbolise one’s life journey).

Long before settlers came west, indigenous people were turning Arizona’s native plants and herbs into medicines and treatments. Centuries later, people still flock to the region seeking physical and spiritual healing.

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But amid the protruding mesas and cacti-coated hills, what makes this area such a healing hotspot? Willard Scott, who founded Scottsdale in 1888, credited the climate. He promoted his new settlement as a land “where rain seldom falls and there is no cold”.At the turn of the 18th Century,the state advertised itself as an ideal place to treat tuberculosis thanks to its dry, warm air. By 1920, Tucson alone had more than 7,000 TB patients who hoped to kick the illness.

As time passed, golfers also discovered the state’s fantastic weather, and in turn, played a part in curating Arizona’s mainstream therapeutic offerings. “The golf and resort boom grew hand-in-hand and spas were the obvious missing link for the non-golfers,” said Lisa Kasanicky, founder of Arizona Spa Girls, an online guide to the state’s spas and salons. Scottsdale now has more spas per capita than any US city.

Arizona’s solid track record of healing was tragically interrupted in 2009 when three people died and others had to be hospitalized after a sweat lodge ceremony at a retreat outside Sedona. The man who led the ceremony has since been found guilty of negligent homicide, but visitors should still do their homework before any treatment. “If you can’t find a referral from someone you trust, stick to reputable establishments like resort spas,” said Robert Vance, a board member of the International Spa Association and spa director at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa. “Look for licensed professionals that are subject to expectations of ethics and high standards of performance.”

From Scottsdale’s plentiful spa scene to Sedona’s famous vortexes(funnel-shaped energy centres believed to promote a stronger mind-body connection), Arizona offers the full gamut of relaxing, spiritual experiences. Get closer to the area’s rich healing traditions by signing up for a treatment at one of the spots listed below, all of which embrace the state’s landscape, history and energy.

Aji Spa at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort
Many spots in Arizona claim to have Native American-inspired treatments, but at Aji, in the Gila River Indian Community, every treatment must be approved by the Pima and Maricopa Tribe’s committee for authenticity and cultural sensitivity. The Tribe’s healer, Belen Stoneman, works on site and offers a treatment that includes massage and some vision work.

The BouldersSet against a huge cloud-shaped granite formation estimated to be 12 million years old, the Boulders resort in Carefree has award winning golf courses and four pools to escape the heat, but its 33,000-sq-ft Golden Door Spa is a destination in and of itself. An on-site shamanic ceremonialist conducts a “Meditation Journey Into the Tipi”, where participants are led through the spa’s labyrinth (meant to symbolise one’s life journey) to the spa’s Sioux-style tipi. The shaman leads a meditation that reaches a dream-like state, so guests leave feeling relaxed and more connected to their inner spirit.

Willow StreamThe 40,000-sq-ft spa at Willow Stream in Scottsdale has no shortage of treatments, but Kasanicky loves the Havasupai Body Oasis Experience which starts under relaxing warm waterfalls, meant to mimic Havasu Falls in the Grand Canyon. The whole body continues to be pampered with a footbath, aromatherapy wrap and a scalp acupressure treatment.

L’Auberge de Sedona and Mi Amo
Due to the energy believed to come from the vortexes, Sedona is the still the place to go for the most new age treatments. Want to try hypnotherapy? The Spa at L’Auberge offers hotel guests a complementary weekly group session by resident healing expert Deena Lee. Topics include everything from anti-aging to clearing the chakras (energy centres located throughout  the body). At Mi Amo, long recognized as one of Sedona’s top spas, you can try “Interactive Aura Photography” to decode the colours that make up your physical, emotional and mental space and find out how they dictate your energy.

Signh FarmsThis 20-acre organic oasis set in the Sonoran desert outside Scottsdaleis its own energy centre according to owners Lee and Ken Singh. By channelling those forces, they have transformed the soil and used their success to educate the public on nutritious food and sustainability based on the Earth’s cycles. Signh Farms is only open to the public on Saturdays from 8am to 1pm, but its produce is so fresh and flavourful that many of the Phoenix’s top chefs buy her

In search of the perfect road in Mallorca

One Balearic island, one new and lightweight Porsche Cayman R, one very short night. Ask yourself: what would you do? (James Lipman)

Mallorca has blown a very big fuse. This is my first thought upon spearing out of yet another pretty-but-identikit rural village, because as soon as we leave the immediate environs, the night sky wraps around the Cayman like a black velvet shroud, turning the ice-white Porsche into a faintly glowing, unquiet ghost. Being let loose in the new Cayman R, the lightened and tightened version of one of the most useful sports cars in existence, up a Mallorcan mountain road at night sounds quite cool, but believe me, at this point there’s a horrible, gut-boiling sense of frustration running through me like a dirty infection. And it has nothing to do with dodgy tapas.

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The fact is that there are precisely no streetlights to give even the vaguest hint as to which way the road goes. Not one. Any ambient starlight or moonglow is diffused by heavy cloud, and the road is simply too twisty to get any solid idea of direction. The wraithlike little Porsche is fitted with the excellent optional xenons, but it’s still impossible to drive even vaguely quickly without risking inconvenient death. Worse, the roads are actually pretty good. But you can sense the doomy drops off the inky edges, and the corners have a nasty habit of tightening at the last moment. Like trying to run across a large room in pitch darkness, you can sense the space even if you can’t see it, and you belt along cringing, awaiting the moment when you meet the scenery with your face. It’s all about confidence, and I appear to have left mine at the hotel.

I can’t believe this. Gifted a hardcore Porsche and a mountain range, and I can’t even find a decent bloody road to drive it on.

Grinding the point home is the overwhelming sense of potential in this newest Cayman. Ghosting through these orange-lit Mallorcan villages, the R potters with sublime ease, riding better than a standard Cayman S, despite being lowered a not-insignificant 20mm, failing to graunch over speed bumps, sucking lumps into the dampers like a tiny, perfect magic trick. On light throttle openings, the 330bhp 3.4 sounds, frankly, like it has a blowing exhaust, the familiar flat-six hoarseness akin to a dog coughing up an angora sweater, but on brief revels to three-quarters of the rev-range, the wail starts to build. Just as I have to slow for the next village. Frustration becomes a familiar – and infinitely bitter – taste in the back of my throat.

Eventually we stop to take pictures in a sleepy village and immediately cause a bit of a stir. It could be the sight of two men assembling a photographic rig that looks like some sort of siege engine in the middle of the street at 1am, or it could be the Cayman. A mallowy wobble of craggy old lady shuffles over to poke us with her walking stick, so I smile and point at the Porsche, miming picture-taking in some sort of bizarre late-night version of Give us a Clue, becoming increasingly camp during the whole wordless exchange. Apparently satisfied, the leathery old matriarch taps the side of her head, points at my face and undulates away. She likes the Cayman. She likes the fixed rear spoiler. She likes the massaged bodywork, the mascara’d black of the headlight-surrounds. She likes the Seventies graphics down the side, and she loves the lightweight black wheels. She even likes the interior, trimmed as it is in blood-leather and white plastic like some sort of futuristic abattoir. Probably.

What she doesn’t know is that if it were down to pure rationale, there would appear to be very little point in the R. Compared to a standard Cayman S, it’s a bit lower, a tiny bit faster, a smidge more powerful by 10bhp – though torque remains the same – has more downforce (15 per cent at the front, and 40 per cent at the rear) and a tad less weight. I’ll admit that 55kg of weight reduction is significant in a car of this size, bringing down the total to 1,295kg, but probably not a deal-breaker.

A walk through Sydney’s criminal shadows

If Sydney’s lanes could talk, the stories they could tell would shock you. (Gillianne Tedder/LPI)

It can be hard to think of Sydney as anything other than a bastion of delicate pleasures and devil-may-care whimsy. But for history lovers, Sydney offers so much more than a pleasant trip aboard a ferry and a few dizzingly expensive meals.

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As the site of some of Australia’s most notorious criminal gangland activity, Sydney’s past teems with tales of bawdy bordellos, sordid soirees and rapacious razor gangs. As the world emerged from the shadow of the Great War, drugs, booze and prostitution became the criminal order of the day – and no more so than within the belly of Sydney’s bloodthirsty razor gangs.

From the ragged streets of Surrey Hills and Darlinghurst emerged two unlikely kingpins to rule over everyone – unlikely because these two kings were queens. Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh presided over their empires for years, establishing most of their power during the late 1920s. Taking advantage of a legal loophole that denied men the right to profit from women’s “immoral” behaviour but made no mention of women doing the same, Devine and Leigh became Sydney’s most notorious madams and drug dealers. With their own respective gangs looking after their interests, they fended off attempts from all sides – including each other – to maintain their place at the top of the heap.

It is easy to take your own walking tour to follow the trajectory of these key moments, though tours are also available with groups like Razorhurst. So, don your best cloche, wing tips and silk stockings and lift that invisible veil that separates the ages with these highlights.

Kate Leigh’s Sly Grog Shop 
Leigh had already been operating a lucrative criminal business for years before the emergence of razor gang warfare. Capitalising on the enforcement of the so-called six o’clock Swill (instituted in 1916 following a riot of 5,000 ANZAC soldiers high on grog), Leigh was the queen of the sly grog shop. Described by papers as “the most evil woman in Sydney”, Leigh’s main dispensary was a flat above her fruit and vegetable shop at 212 Devonshire Street, Surrey Hills. It was also the site of her death in 1964, at age 82. She had been known as one of Sydney’s wealthiest, most charismatic women and more than 700 people attended her funeral – including police officers and politicians.

Frog Hollow From Devonshire Street, turn left onto Riley Street and walk to the corner of Albion Street.
Most slums would be seen as middle class boroughs in comparison to Frog Hollow. Razed to the ground in the late 1920s, it was a hiding place for criminals, prostitutes and violent thugs. Its swamp-like ground housed frogs in the mid 1800s, but even they abandoned the vile, vermin-infested horrors that lay within. Home to Samuel “Jewey” Freeman, leader of the Riley Street Gang and former lover to Leigh, it was the site of unimaginable poverty and violence.

King’s LaneContinue up Riley Street towards Darlinghurst. Cross over Oxford and Burton Streets.
King’s Lane was the stomping ground for Norman Bruhn’s gang, Sydney’s most violent criminal and master wielder of the razor. With Snowy Cutmore, George “the Midnight Raper” Wallace (whose moniker manages to be both frightening and brutally straightforward) and Razor Jack Hayes, Bruhn terrorised the local populace. Busting out of Melbourne before a court hearing, Bruhn was feared for his garrotting skills: with one hand he would tighten a leather thong around his victim’s neck, while calmly pick-pocketing him with the other. 

The Tradesman’s Arms 
Head east on King’s Lane to Palmer Sreet to arrive at the site of the old Tradesman’s Arms
Directly across from Devine’s home at 191 Palmer Street, the Arms was a literal den of iniquity. With sawdust coating the floor to soak up blood and vomit, it was the site of illegal bootlegging, drug dealing and gambling. Devine operated one of the most lucrative brothel networks in Sydney and often called in to transact business at the Arms