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IT—Inside Traveler
By Jessie Johnston and Emily King

July 20, 2006:

IT Gets Around

IT's sometime correspondent Andy Isaacson has sent us his latest observations on transportation, though in slightly less exalted fashion than his previous post:

"As if carrying a map and gawking didn't already label you an out-of-towner, more offbeat ways to sightsee can seal your tourist identity. In spite of staring locals, these alfresco and eco-friendly alternatives to bus tours, rental cars, and public transportation can almost pass as cool, even if a tad unusual.

"In San Francisco, you can rent small electric vehicles equipped with GPS-powered audio tours to cruise independently around famous landmarks, such as Coit Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, and crooked Lombard Street. Brightly colored, over a foot narrower than conventional cars, and resembling souped-up golf carts, the vehicles are street- and hill-friendly, reaching a top speed of 25 mph. Choose from three different routes that begin and end at Fisherman's Wharf. Along the way, prerecorded directional instructions voiced by locals explain historic sites and reenact scenes from the city's history.

"Stately Savannah, America's first planned city (which didn't plan for automobiles), offers sightseeing by pedicab, a human-powered, three-wheeled vehicle with pedals and a passenger cab, an efficient and pleasant way to take in the elegant architecture and verdant public squares. Savannah Pedicab gives half-hour, hour, or full-day chauffeured rides around the downtown historic district.

"And in Chicago (as well as six other cities), one company offers the chance to see the city aboard that most Jetson-like of inventions, the Segway Human Transporter. Its popular, three-hour tour begins with a prevent-a-crash course in riding the upright, two-wheeled, self-balancing 'personal transportation device.' Starting from the Adler Planetarium, staff-guided groups cruise past the Shedd Aquarium and along Lake Shore Drive to Grant Park, then past Soldier Field stadium and the downtown skyline."

An added bonus to transport by Segway? Thanks to their recent adoption as airports' security vehicles of choice, they're sure to give riders an added air of authority in the near future.

And one more thing. IT spent a long weekend in Savannah earlier this year, where we more than once turned green with envy at the sight of Coastal Scooters customers beetling around in another, adorable, alternative means of transportation.

IT Travels with Jerry Sealy

National Geographic Traveler art director Jerry Sealy put his jetlag to good use last week by writing us a blog entry at 4 a.m. the day after he returned from France:

"Even a missed flight has a silver lining. When I found myself with an unexpected extra day in Paris (let's not talk about how a travel professional can be so disorganized as to have a 'lost flight,' as the French say, or, ahem, get off at the wrong Greek island as I did last summer), I quickly boarded the RER train from Charles de Gaulle Airport (a bargain at just over $10) and headed back to the city I love most. I had been caught up in World Cup frenzy the previous day (as was the entire republic), and had missed taking care of some last-minute shopping and museum-going, so I was happy for the opportunity for another 24 hours in Paris.

"First stop, a gift for the loyal dog-sitters back home at the exquisite Jean-Paul Hévin Chocolatier in Montparnasse, a whisper-quiet almost-sanctuary for fine chocolate. Next purchase, a beautifully crafted XOOS-label shirt ($44) for moi at neighboring clothier Michel Faret (10 rue Vavin; +33 [0]1 40 51 71 37). For five weeks beginning in late June, virtually all Paris stores display the soldes sign—signaling sale season—and with reductions of 30 to 50 percent, it's impossible to resist a bit of French fashion. Finally, some wine shopping for a Sancerre to take home, then back to the hotel.

"That evening, friends sent a text and we agreed to meet for dinner at Le Relais de l'Entrecôte (20 rue Saint Benoît; +33 (0)1 45 49 16 00)—the classic Parisian bistro that's been serving delicious steak frites, and only steak frites (rare, medium, or well-done are your options), for decades. The beef is expertly prepared, fries crisp, and a second portion is always included. Dinner (with dessert and wine): $45-50.

"Next morning, a slightly sticky Métro ride (Paris has had its share of heat this summer) to the newly opened—and quite wonderful—Musée du Quai Branly (a stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower). I can only describe it as a magical mystery tour into world culture. The museum's contemporary architecture is bold, unexpected, and happily controversial; think deconstructed terrarium. Plants, moss, and grasses adorn the exterior of the building, and sweeping glass panels line the sidewalk offering expansive views of the museum's wild gardens. Inside, a gorgeous collection of tribal masks, textiles, paintings, jewelry, and carvings from the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania are displayed in a space with such expert lighting and design, it's almost mind-altering.

"Tip: Get there early. The museum opens at 10 a.m. and queues can be long. If you arrive a little after 9 a.m., you'll be one of the first to get in, and have the place to yourself—albeit only briefly. Don't miss the Amazon headdresses or the Picture Box—a 12-by-12-foot room with multiple video projections of street celebrations and music from Nepal and India. You'll feel like a participant in all the chaos."

From July 18, 2006:

Schmap IT

IT's always keeping an eye out for new guidebooks, so when Schmap sent us the beta (trial) version of their new product, we were excited and, equally, impressed. A digital collection of interactive guidebooks, Schmap mixes maps with content, virtually allowing users to read about places while simultaneously seeing their locations on a map. Because you download the Schmap Player as a desktop application, you can use the guidebooks without an Internet connection, i.e. putz around the sprawling metropolis of Houston while at cruising altitude. For each destination (by November, the company promises to have a total of 95 international and 82 domestic cities), Schmap includes a thorough introduction, history, and recommended attractions—plotted on the map, of course—like galleries, churches, restaurants, hotels, and parks. The content is somewhat dry and not Schmap's own: they pluck info and reviews from Wcities, maps from Tele Atlas, and photos from Flickr. But, by aggregating community content, Schmap becomes a very useful piece of freeware. For now, the software works only on PCs or Macs equipped with Boot Camp. Come November, Apple-users (like yours truly) will be able to join in the fun.

IT's Reader Roundup

As the most well traveled of any group of travel magazine subscribers, our readers have a fair amount of mileage under their collective belt. So it's only natural that they'd have fabulous and helpful recommendations to share with both us and you, their fellow travelers. This week, IT presents our first roundup of tips sent in by readers. Enjoy!

Subscriber Jill Colpak, of Concord, Massachusetts, tipped IT off on tasty Italian tours: "Bluone runs wonderful food and wine tours in Italy. They have scheduled trips, but they specialize in custom tours. The couple who own and run Bluone are caring and well-informed Bologna residents with long experience in travel and food. I have traveled with them twice, once to Emilia Romagna and once to Le Marche, and both were fantastic experiences of traveling with a small group that included cooking in a home kitchen, tasting wines at the vineyard, seeing how parmesan cheese is made, and learning how prosciutto is cured."

Barbara Nicholson from Atlanta, Georgia, was inspired by National Geographic Traveler's iPod story to drop us a quick line: "Check LibriVox for free books to download. They also want people to read more books for the site." IT was impressed with the site's selection of novels, poetry, and short stories from the public domain.

Gerald Manning of Port St. Lucie, Florida, alerted us to a change in the frequent flyer weather: "British Airways is no longer crediting frequent flyer miles from their partner American Airlines for travel to and from the U.S. On a recent trip from Miami to Amsterdam I was credited the miles to and from London but not the portions to and from the U. S. I called and was told that the fine print somewhere took this away."

And Dedee Bowers wrote us from Dedham, Massachusetts, with lessons learned from her family's recent trip to Spain: "None of us took much cash, as we anticipated using ATMs to withdraw money. Unfortunately, Spanish banks and ATMs can only recognize a PIN with a maximum of four digits. Not one of the six of us had a PIN with fewer than five digits. It got to be a real problem as none of the major tourist sites we visited (including the Alhambra) accept any credit cards.

"I had read in several places that you should plan on getting tickets to the Alhambra ahead of time, as they limit the number sold. I went online and found the website easily. However, one person can only order five tickets (we had a party of six). That was easy enough to solve as I could put three on my card and three on my husband's. I filled out all the required information and kept getting an error message that there was something wrong with my credit card. I tried four cards and repeated trying them for a couple of days before giving up. The good news is that 3,000 tickets go on sale every morning, for those who arrive early enough. Our son got in line at 8 a.m. and was able to get 10:30 entrance tickets. We loved our stay in Andalusia and hope this information will help makes others' stays enjoyable and easy."

Inspired? Send IT your tips and we'll publish them in the next round-up

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, handles the D.C. heat well. She refuses to go outside and keeps her thermostat at 71. Researcher Jessie Johnston sniffs out local pools on the Internet and spends the oppressive summer days doing cannonballs off the high dive boards.

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