Carnival of Cities

tags: blog carnivals, Carnival of Cities

Okay, this is what you've all been waiting for, the Carnival of Cities, where you can read about people's experiences with either visiting or living in various cities around the world. So without further ado, I will let you tuck in!

North America

Gudrun and his family went on a quick vacation to San Diego, California over the school break. He includes his perspectives on Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and Legoland as well as some hotel recommendations, should you wish to follow in his footsteps.

One of my fellow sciencebloggers, Sandra, sent in this very short photoessay about her favorite thing about traveling, which is flying in to and out of Seattle, her home. As a native of Seattle myself, her pictures made me homesick.

Mary Jo, who writes The Seattle Traveler, sent in her recommendation for a wonderful place to eat in Issaquah, a city that is near Seattle, Washington. To say the least, I am so hungry after reading this that I had to get something to eat while I was writing this, although it wasn't as good as what Mary Jo describes.

Amanda, author of Value for Your Life, writes a lengthy piece about her trip to that adult wonderland, Las Vegas -- on a budget! She includes a lot of travel tips as well. I was pleased to see that she mentioned fun (non gambling) activities like hiking in Red Rock Canyon and the Valley of Fire State Park -- this information is especially appreciated by all the birders and shutter-bugs out there.

Kara tells us about the top summer attractions for kids in Durango, Colorado. I think that a ride on Tomas the Train looks mighty fun.

PAL, MD, author of White Coat Underground, did not begin drinking coffee until he was 20 years old. He sent in an essay that celebrates his memories of coffee drinking throughout his adult life. Mmm, coffee! He prefers his coffee the same way I do, too; black, no sugar (well, unless I am getting a chai or latte made with soy milk, yummy!).

Sheila sent in this essay, written by guest blog writer Andrea about her kids' exploration of the New Hampshire home of Curious George .. you remember him, right?

Sarah lists those rare but wonderful days when the NYC museums are free! You can bet I was taking notes on her contribution for my own pleasure, since I love the museums and zoos here (I especially need to visit the Historial Society of New York since they are having their annual "Audubon's Aviary" art show, a rotating exhibition of original avian art work by John James Audubon that I have reviewed several years in a row now).

The editor and chief cat-herder at ScienceBlogs, Ginny, sent in this well-written nostalgic piece about Baltimore, Maryland.

Central and South America

James, who writes Costa Rica, HQ, sent an informative piece about the food of Costa Rica. Unfortunately, he does not include any images.

Europe

Jack presents his complete roundup of all ice skating rinks in and out of doors in London, England. Perfect for finding some winter fun in this great city.

Rana sent in an older essay that tells you how to get around in London -- basically, London is nearly identical to NYC -- if you tip NYC on its side, that is! (Includes helpful map).

Heather sent in her essay about her winter walk in Bristol, taking in history, poetry and afternoon tea. This contribution has a lot of really nice images, especially that castle!

Edinburgh is a great place for students to live because of the abundance of pubs, bars and clubs, as New Zealander, Hayden, a new blogger and new graduate student in genetics notes in his contribution, The Edinburgh of the North.

How many reasons are there to visit Bruges, Belgium? According to Caitlin, there are seven reasons .. oh, and you must check out reason number 6 (especially the picture!).

Jul briefly tells us about one of Amsterdam's less known museums that you will enjoy; Amsterdam's hidden catholic church, a relict from the days when catholics were forbidden to practive in Amsterdam.

A blogger, who writes under the psuedonym of "Barn Owl" shares an essay about Birding in Stockholm, Sweden. She reports the bird's names in both English and Swedish, and is interested in any corrections that Swedish speakers might provide.

My friend, Bob, a scientist who was recently recruited to join the Nature blog network, is unsure if his city, Helsinki, Finland, is a city at all. Be sure to read his amusing and educational essay to learn why he has this dilemma.

Even though it is eight months later, Tom writes about his trip to Bratislava, which is the capital of Slovakia, saying that his trip is still very clear in his mind. Oh, and you have to see the pictures, too.

Jason writes about this day in 1853, when János Libényi, a Hungarian, was hanged for attempting to assasinate Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I. Interestingly, public gratitude for Franz's deliverance resulted in enough funds being collected to construct a spectacular church, the Lion's Cavern in Vienna. Includes a wonderful photograph of the church.

Africa

My friend and fellow scienceblogger, Chris, a geologist, writes about his home in Johannesburg, South Africa. Jo'burg, as it's commonly referred to, consists of one of the largest artificial forests in the world -- wow, did you know that? But I noticed that Chris is disappointed that he doesn't have giraffes nosing through his rubbish bins.

Southeast Asia

Lucia is a scientist who usually writes her blog, Uma Malla pelo Mundo, in Brazilian Portuguese, but she made an exception for this essay, where she describes an afternoon in Seoul, South Korea, specifically so she could share it with all of us in English! Includes some really nice images, too. Be sure to go there to encourage her to continue sharing her writings with us.

Travel Tips

Who doesn't want to reduce the expense of travelling? Well, to help you in that endeavor, Raymond presents some information about the available frequent flyer mile plans for all the major airline credit cards.

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That's it for this issue of the Carnival of Cities. It was fun acting as your host, and I was especially pleased to see a few of my fellow scientists and bird pals contributing essays about their cities. The next host for the Carnival of Cities will be Caitlin Fitzsimmons at Roaming Tales. The next edition will be published on Wednesday, March 5th, so submissions are due by Tuesday, March 4th, at 12 noon.