http://www.post-gazette.com/travel Travel news and features, Travel Editor David Bear's column en-us Copyright 2010, post-gazette.com. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:44:57 -0400 15 http://www.post-gazette.com/includes/2007design/images/150x30pg_now_logo.gif http://www.post-gazette.com/ 144 39 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042802-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml EVEN if your college days are a distant memory, it's possible to travel on a student discount over spring break this year. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0400 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042803-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml A D.J. spins old-school beats in one corner, bottles of white wine chill on ice in another, and abstract paintings hang on the lofty white walls at the Mahan Gallery. If not for the occasional red Buckeyes football jersey in the crowd, you might never guess that this is Ohio. But Ohio it is -- Columbus, to be precise. And the Mahan is just one spot in this city's Short North neighborhood that is challenging all preconceived notions of what passes for cool in the Midwest. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0400 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042804-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml BACK in the 1950s, Braamfontein, a suburb perched just north of Johannesburg's Central Business District, was celebrated for three key cultural institutions -- the Civic Theater, the Alexander Theater and the University of the Witwatersrand -- which helped keep the quarter artsy, intellectual and mildly integrated even during the era of apartheid. Today, that troika still forms the backbone of Braamfontein's cultural allure, though its street scene is far more vibrant thanks to a new generation of design sh Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0400 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042805-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml THE BASICS Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0400 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042806-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml Lou Borrani, the owner of La Enoteca, is bullish on his city's foodie scene. "Rotterdam is the culinary capital of Holland at the moment," Mr. Borrani claims, and he's doing everything he can at his restaurant to bolster the boast. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:00:00 -0400 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042117-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml CUMBERLAND ISLAND, Ga. -- As I was biking down a washboard road of dirt and sand -- the only road that runs the length of this lush, wild island and national seashore -- a husband and wife waved Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:14:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042108-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml TUCSON, Ariz. -- To the passing motorist, it's a giant parking lot packed with planes. Military types call Davis-Monthan Air Force Base a "regeneration center" because all branches of the U.S. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:04:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042111-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml TUCSON, Ariz -- Motor heads who love vintage and modern planes can experience a perfect day in this sunny town. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:03:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042324-358.stm?cmpid=travel.xml Hiking, winter activities, shoots, hunter safety courses, educational programs, volunteer opportunities and more Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042325-140.stm?cmpid=travel.xml On cold Fridays during recent weeks, it was not uncommon to see a few older guys drilling and tapping on Lake Arthur's frozen surface. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042326-140.stm?cmpid=travel.xml At age 83, iceboater John Jombock's arthritic knees make iceboating tough, but that doesn't keep him out of the sport. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042327-140.stm?cmpid=travel.xml Earthquakes centered in and near Pennsylvania from 1724 through July 31, 2003. The Feb. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042329-140.stm?cmpid=travel.xml With spring migration just a few weeks away, homeowners can expect to occasionally hear the sadly familiar "thud" of a speeding bird slamming into a window. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042331-140.stm?cmpid=travel.xml Recent upgrades at the Westmoreland County preserve include 2 miles of new pet-friendly trails that are open year-round. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042656-140.stm?cmpid=travel.xml Whenever I scan a flock of ducks on open water, I watch for the divers. I try to predict where they'll resurface. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10072/1042624-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml DAY after day in January, the rain poured down on the California coast without pause or pity -- some of the worst storms to hit the state in a decade. High winds took out power lines and overturned SUVs. Garbage washed up on beaches. Hundreds of people were evacuated from their mudslide-threatened homes. And on one particular Tuesday afternoon, in the Mission District of San Francisco, the heavens focused their fury on a visiting father from Brooklyn -- i.e., me -- who, so self-absorbed he was blind to the Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10072/1042625-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml THE rectangular white box beckoned from the exhibition room, mysterious and inscrutable. As winter clouds rolled across the Parisian sky, I watched as visitors to the Palais de Tokyo contemporary-art museum paused before the work -- "Untitled (A Curse)," by the American conceptual artist Tom Friedman -- and puzzled over its significance. Were we staring at something groundbreaking or derivative? Would this provocative creation be remembered as genius or bunk? Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10072/1042626-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml FOR many, Goa is synonymous with hippies, hedonism and all-night dance parties held under a full moon. But India's popular seaside destination offers more than deadheads and clichés. For one thing, Goa is not a single beach, but a rich and varied state -- one that offers 63 miles of coastline along the Arabian Sea. Beyond the beaches lies a lush landscape that conceals ancient temples, rich ecosystems and the hilly farmlands that proved irresistible to European spice traders. Centuries before the hip Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10072/1042627-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml EVERYBODY out, the military officer ordered us, as we pulled off the bumpy road linking the Tamil-dominated eastern province to Sri Lanka's hill country. My driver motioned to the back seat, where a police officer we picked up a few miles back was sitting. His presence lent an air of authority, and we were promptly waved through. But the busload of European shutterbugs in front of us -- unloading their suitcases and filing out in a single column -- was not so lucky. Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10072/1042628-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml AT Mas Les Cols, a hotel and restaurant in the Spanish town of Olot in Catalonia, chickens roam free, surrounded by a 13th-century mas, or farmhouse, and a cluster of one-bedroom glass modules. The birds make for a pleasantly rustic element, but their winged brethren don't fare quite as well in the kitchen nearby. There, the chef Fina Puigdevall has earned two Michelin stars for the artfully reinterpreted Catalan cuisine she creates for her guests. Sat, 13 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10072/1038219-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Nighttime and 10 degrees....) Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042274-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1038217-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml Prince Charming steps out with another man's wife. ... Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10070/1038215-37.stm?cmpid=travel.xml DENVER - While ski and snowboard makers showed off their latest models at SnowSports Industries America's annual Snow Show this year, inventors with big ideas were trying to get retailers to bite. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500