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IT—Inside Traveler
By Jessie Johnston and Emily King

July 5, 2006:

Look IT Up

With summer officially here, IT's mind turns to beloved warm weather activities. Among them, swimming is very much at the forefront. And, thanks to a website we recently found, we'll never be pressed to find a pool. Swimmers Guide is an online database of publicly accessible, year-round pools worldwide. It currently includes over 18,000 pools in 156 countries, from Andorra to Zimbabwe. Listings include the cost of admission, the pool's dimensions, whether there are diving boards, and links to the pool's website and online maps if available. Most listings are public pools or in hotels, and include facilities in airports, hospitals, and pool-cum-bowling-alleys. Our only complaint? The requirement that facilities be open a minimum of eight months a year to be listed means some of our all-time favorite outdoor pools will never make the cut.

Still, we love this site. Not only because it enables us to swim on six continents, but also because we're generally enthusiastic about quirky directory sites. If you're not in the mood to live the life aquatic this summer, there are online directories available to help you find worldwide spas, North American music festivals, and Minnesotan lakes. Double Feature Finder highlights movies scheduled back to back so you can spend entire summer scorchers inside the nearest air-conditioned Cineplex. Sadly, two of our favorite directories have recently gone the way of the dodo. We have yet to find a suitable replacement for Culture Finder, but there do seem to be a couple of contenders to fill the gargantuan gap left in our lives by the demise of Sushifinder.com. All we can hope is that the disappearance of directories is a trend headed for its own demise.

Euro Trip 2006

Before settling into her cubicle at Traveler, intern Allison Busacca took a three-week, six-city backpacking tour through Europe. She reports:

"Wanting desperately to flex our art history muscles, my three friends and I originally planned on doing a European mega-museum tour. However, we found that most paintings faded into the background as we experienced the many other forms of art around us.

"Ireland's rolling hills: To truly experience Ireland, get out of the city. One (uncharacteristically) sunny Dublin day, we took a Wild Wicklow Tour that, though touristy, allowed us to peruse the grounds of a sixth-century monastery and stand on the cliffs of Sally Gap, a filming location for Braveheart. The highlight was our guide, Ida, who provided us with the perfect combination of intelligent historical information and classic Irish wit. The craic (a Gaelic word for good times and good company) was topped off the typical Irish way: with a complimentary shot of good ol' Jameson Whiskey.

"Portugal's beaches: Though Lisbon lies on the coast, finding a beach with suitable swimming water was a challenge. Based on a suggestion from a local, we took the hour-long trip consisting of a ferry from Terreiro do Paço terminal (which can be reached easily by metro) to Cacilhas and then a bus to Costa de Caparica. The stretch of pristine sand, which was hardly littered with seashells or tourists, was well worth the effort.

"Spain's parks and plazas: Madrid's Parque del Buen Retiro is home to a perfect combination of old and new Spanish culture. Street performers mingled with the statues from the former 17th-century palace grounds, parents toted children on their shoulders, and a couple posed for wedding photos. The park was as alive as the people of Madrid. Bordered by the spiraled towers of a neo-Renaissance government house, Seville's Plaza de España looks like a miniature Venice, with tiled bridges crossing canals created by a gigantic, ornate fountain in the center. If you don't need a siesta, the plaza is an excellent place to spend an afternoon.

"England's theater: If you are traveling to foggy London town anytime soon, check out We Will Rock You, a musical with songs by Queen. Onstage at the Dominion Theatre, the show's bright stage lights and thunderous music make it seem more like a rock concert. Add that to booming vocals (almost all 31 Queen songs are included), fans of all ages singing along, and glowsticks, and you have a not-so-typical, but amazing, theatrical experience.

"France's Impressionists: Paris was the one city where we couldn't overlook the museums, specifically the Musée d'Orsay, across the river from the Louvre, whose top floor is home to works by Manet, Degas, Monet, and van Gogh. Because of the texture of the paint and the vividness of the colors, pictures in textbooks don't even come close to the experience of seeing the paintings in person. To beat the lines, get there early or get a Paris Museum Pass, which includes priority admission to most of the must-see sites in Paris."

E-mail your feedback and tips to InsideTraveler@ngs.org.

Bookmark IT! www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/extras/blog/blog.html

Emily King, Traveler's assistant to the editor, aspires to be on the cover of Fast Company. Researcher Jessie Johnston is traumatized enough by the photo on her National Geographic staff badge.

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