Voices In Color

Cheaptickets Launches African-American Mircosite

Discount Internet travel site CheapTickets.com will launch an African-American microsite for consumers using content from Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Co.'s EbonyJet.com today.

The site, urbantravel.cheaptickets.com, will include information about music festivals, museums and other cultural activities and sites. A blog will feature contributions of magazine editors, museum curators and celebrities.

Attending cultural events and festivals are among the top four activities African-American travelers enjoy while vacationing, according to the travel Industry Association.

Read more: Chicago Sun-Times

Black Paris Tours

Any American with even a slight familiarity with Paris knows about Josephine Baker, the black swivel-hipped cabaret entertainer who shunned racism in America, vaulted to stardom here in 1925, and stayed on to become one of France's most adored 20th century icons.

But what about William Wells Brown, the 19th-century former slave turned abolitionist who once expressed awe that he could pray next to whites at La Madeleine church, or that some tipped their hat to him on Paris streets?

Both historical figures feature high in Black Paris Tours, offering a glimpse of the mutual love affair between black Americans and the City of Light.

If You Go...

BLACK PARIS TOURS: http://www.blackparistour.com. Offered Tuesday-Friday, year-round except for August, late December and January.Cost: $129 per person for a daylong tour (does not include lunch), and $86 for a half-day tour. Discounts for groups of six or more.

Read more: The Canadian Press

Barbados

I’ve never been to Barbados but often hear of its beauty. The beaches, excellent surfing, and local entertainment are just a few reasons to visit. And don’t forget that rum was invented in Barbados…

American visitors to Barbados needn't worry about the weak dollar: the Barbadian dollar is pegged to it ($1 is worth two Barbadian dollars). Holding onto your cash, however, is another matter. The resort-packed Gold Coast — or, as some call it, the Platinum Coast — more than lives up to its name. But if you head off to the rugged, less-populated east coast of this pear-shaped island, and choose carefully in the overdeveloped south, you can see a more authentic side of Barbados and still have a few bucks left over for a bottle of rum.

Source: New York Times
Photo : Dan Schofield for the New York Times

Flight 001

Flight 001 is hands down the best travel store around. Lucky for us in the Bay area there are two retail locations (they also have stores in LA, NY, Chicago, and even Dubai) to indulge in and for those of you elsewhere, you can peruse their amazing array of travel goods online. Every time I wander through I’m struck by the urgent need to jet off somewhere, anywhere…

Hedonist City Guides

Just when you thought guidebooks were so last century, so passed over and printed before this internet-driven age, along comes a new generation of guides in groovy, sexy travel. The latest info on cool hotels, restaurants, shops, clubs and tipping are all linked to online updates.

The Hedonist city guides are for the stylish, covering the witty cities (Stockholm, Tallinn), the cutting-edge (Moscow, Marrakech), and the exotic (Prague, Istanbul). New: New York. The writers have eaten and drunk in the funnest bars and restaurants, slept in the best beds. These guides aren’t for museum groupies. Hg2 is about foreign life as art.

Springtime in Cyprus

We’ve been invited to a wedding in Cyprus, next May, and since this country’s never been on my radar I thought I’d do some investigating. Here’s what I’ve found so far:

Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus, is a Eurasian island country in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey. Cyprus is the third-largest island in the Mediterranean and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, attracting over 2.4 million tourists per year.

The legendary birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite, Cyprus has been coveted and fought over by a succession of admirers: Mycenaeans, Egyptians, Assyrians and Persians, to name a few. The former British colony was most recently fought over by the Turks and the Greeks. A result of this turbulent past is an impressive range of cultural treasures, from Crusader castles to the tomb of Mohammed's aunt. The island's geography - plentiful coastline with a mountainous center - ensures plenty of year-round activity.

Today Cyprus is a modern country that effortlessly marries European culture with ancient enchantment. It’s a compact world of alluring beaches and fragrant mountain peaks, vineyards studded with olive trees and ancient ruins that stir the imagination, citrus groves and old stone villages where sweet wine flows as freely as conversations at the local café. A carefree place where a sense of timelessness is magnified by the kindness of the people.

Sounds wonderful. Hopefully we’ll be able to make it.

Wallpaper* City Guides

The Wallpaper* City Guides provide a tightly edited, discreetly packaged list of the best a location has to offer. It’s an insider’s checklist of all you need to know about the world’s most interesting cities. With 40 city guides out right now (10 more to come this year) you're almost guaranteed to find one that interests you. So far, I've collected San Fran, Marrakech, Amsterdam, and Cape Town.

And even if you’re not planning a trip asap, these books are so well designed you’ll love just looking at them.

Kidbits – African American Paper Dolls

Actually this is for us grown ups too. Right now my son is fascinated with the continents and other countries and has thus become obsessed with maps. Years ago we came across a map by Friendship Press that depicts all countries and continents according to their ACTUAL size. In the past many maps have been used to instill the belief that (ahem) certain countries were bigger, and thus superior, to other countries. This map is a wonderful tool for both children and adults alike, but I particularly love that my son can see the world, truthfully. You can see/buy the map here.

Luxurious Lodging In Harlem

Luxury lodging is coming to Harlem. The New York Observer recently reported that New Jersey based Resiman Properties will begin breaking ground in August on a very high-end hotel. The new development will run along Fifth Avenue from 125th to 126th Street. No specific hotelier has been named yet, but a number of luxury chains are in the running.

Once completed the hotel will be 19 stories tall and cover 130,000 square-feet. There will be approximately 250 rooms and 25,000 square feet of banquet and meeting space.

Black Owned B&Bs Across The Country

When I travel I like to really immerse myself in the local culture which usually means bypassing the big box hotels and staying in either smaller hotels or better yet, renting a home or apartment. What I haven’t taken much advantage of are B&Bs, which obviously provide that homey, local feeling I’m always after. I came across a wonderful Black Enterprise article that provides a lengthy list of black owned B&Bs across the country. The B&B’s range from urban dwellings to country cottage inns with the owners usually residing on the premises, which ensures a very personalized and, I'm sure, enjoyable stay.