Two Denver Museums, Two Special Exhibits

Denver Art Museum and Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Museums exert a magnetic pull on me. Whenever I travel --whether to a significant city with world-class museums or a small town with a tiny museum filled with local teasures and memorabilia -- I visit as many as I can. We are members of several local museums, including the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and I visit but not often enough. In the last 10 days, I went to the DAM when I had time in downtown Denver between scheduled events and then to Nature & Science with friends visiting for Thanksgiving. I spent most of the time in both museums seeing special exhibits, and I recommend both. FWIW,  I went to the art museum on an uncrowded Wednesday afternoon, and four of us visited Nature & Science on the busy Friday of Thanksgiving weekend.

Charles M. Russell at the Denver Art Museum

The Denver Art Museum is showing the first major retrospective of the works of Charles Marion Russell, who depicted a Wild West that had already been considerable "tamed" by the time he documented it between the mid-1880s until his death in 1926. More than 60 important artworks of this self-taught artist are shown, including oil paintings, bronze sculpture and mixed media, plus a selection ofletters and personal objects that portray the artist in his own words and images. Russell was a Western artists but not a "cowboy painter." He actually painted more Native Americas than gringo cowpokes. The entrance to the exhibit, where no photography is permitted, is shown below.

I joined a docent tour, and although many works came from Tulsa's renowned Gilcrease Museum which I have visited. Still, I learned a lot about the artist whom I had often lumped into a pair, "Remington and Russell." Iin truth, these two renowned Western artists overlapped only slightly and corresponded during that time. The Russell exhibit, which hangs through January 10, is included in the museum admission: adult admission, $10 for Colorado residents, $13 for others. Click here to see all admission prices.

Genghis Khan at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
                  
Genghis Khan, his sons, his grandsons and their Mongol hordes galloped into the Denver Museum of Nature & Science with a multi-faceted exhibit that enlightens us about this 13th century warrior and ruler. The Mongol Empire was the most extensive the world has ever known. "The Two Faces of Genghis Khan: Warrior and Statesman" explains his humble beginnings from which he rose to become both a feared warrior and a revered statesman and leader.

The exhibit includes horsemanship, military and governing strategies and tactics, nomadic culture, domestic life and craftsmanship. Lots of interactivity, numerous video presentations, informative maps and docent demonstrations help bring the time and place of this distant ruler with the frightful reputation to life. The entrance to the exhibit, where no photography is permitted either, is shown below.

Genghis Khan will be at the museum through February 7. Many of the 200 objects have never been seen outside of Asia or Russia. The Denver area has about 2,500 Mongolian residents, and members of the Mongolian Cultural Center for the Arts present music and dance traditions of their native country in brief performances. Genghis Khan ickets, which include general admission to the museum, are $20 for adults. Click here for all other admission prices.

Denver-DIA Rail Line Construction to Start in '10

Major news for metro Denver travelers, but train linking London and Madrid will be operating first

The week has been hectic, and my newspaper reading was minimal, so I missed a brief Associated Press report in Wednesday's Denver Post indicating that "construction of a $1.3 billion train from downtown Denver to the airport is expected to begin this summer." Other reports indicate that it should be finished by 2015.

Regional Transportation District acting chief Phillip Washington reportedly made an announcement on Tuesday night about a public-private partnership to construct the line and its "hopes" for $1 billion in federal dollars. Work is expected to start in August. According to the Post, "RTD officials have said the airport train isn't dependent on getting federal funds because it can be built with RTD funds and $950 million in financing expected from the public-private partnership.

Curiously, the  fourth of five news items on RTD's website (following promoting holiday service via SkyRide buses, announcing the temporary unavailability of the online TripPlanner on Monday and promoting use of public transportation to next weekend's Parade of Lights in downtown Denver) covered this really big news.

Here's the RTD announcement:

RTD's East and Gold Line FasTracks Corridors receive major stamp of approval by Federal Transit Administration.

Major milestone marks the end of environmental processes and the start of transition to Eagle P3 Project.

RTD's East and Gold Line FasTracks Corridors receive major stamp of approval by Federal Transit Administration. Major milestone marks the end of environmental processes and the start of transition to Eagle P3 Project.

RTD celebrated a major milestone for the FasTracks transit expansion program at a special ceremony on Friday, November 20 at Denver International Airport – the completion of the environmental processes for the East Corridor and Gold Line projects. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has signed the Records of Decision for each of the projects signifying the formal environmental approval of the projects.

The two projects will now become part of the Eagle P3 Project, RTD’s public-private partnership to deliver some of the FasTracks projects, including the East Corridor and Gold Line.

RTD plans to select a team of private partners in June 2010 to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the $2.3 billion Eagle P3 Project. Construction-related activity is expected to begin on the East Corridor later in 2010.

The East Corridor is a proposed 23.3-mile electric commuter rail line that will run from Denver International Airport to Denver Union Station. The Gold Line is a proposed 11.2-mile electric commuter rail line that will connect Denver Union Station to Wheat Ridge, passing through northwest Denver, Adams County and Arvada.

East Corridor and Gold Line Record of Decisions

"This milestone speaks volumes to the progress we are seeing on the FasTracks investment initiative,” said Phil Washington, RTD Interim General Manager. “This is a great vote of confidence by the Federal Transit Administration that keeps us on track to pursue up to $1 billion in federal funds for FasTracks.”

“We are excited to celebrate today’s event with RTD and with representatives from our surrounding communities,” said Kim Day, Manager of Aviation for Denver International Airport. “Having a direct rail link between downtown Denver and the airport is crucial for our passengers and our employees and the addition of FasTracks at DIA will help us stand out as a truly world-class facility.” FasTracks is RTD’s voter-approved transit program to expand rail and bus service throughout the RTD service area.

I can hardly wait for this -- and also for a FasTrack's light rail line finally to be built to Boulder.

London-Madrid High-Speed Train Being Built

Meanwhile, even as we congratulate ourselves for what seems to be implementation this project, travelers will be able to take a new high-speed train between London and Madrid in eight hours. Renfe, the Spanish government rail operator, and SNCF, its French counterpart, are jointly building the new train, which was probably inspired by the successful EuroStar, which makes the Paris-London trip in 2 1/4 hours. 

Asian Airports Top Traveler Satisfaction Survey

Seoul's Incheon International number one once again

On Monday, I wrote a post about The Daily Beast's take on 27 US airports, the best of which isn't all that great when compared with others on the world stage. The Beast called its post "Airports From Hell." Thanks goplantit.com for calling attention to a Business Week story called. "Why Asia Has the World's Best Airports." It reported on the results of the latest annual Airport Service Quality Survey  of some 200,000 international travelers conducted by Geneva-based Airports Council International. The top five are Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong and Halifax. Four in Asia, none in Europe and one in North America.

"Seoul's Incheon International Airport snagged first place in the ranking for the fourth straight year," wrote Business Week's Moon Ihlwan. "Two years before opening the $5 billion airport in 2001, airport administrators set up a task force that analyzed what some of the world's best airports were doing right. The task force looked at Singapore, Hong Kong, Denver and Atlanta. Then planners set about figuring out how the new Seoul airport could offer services that would outdo those hubs. The airport, which last June completed the $3 billion addition of a passenger terminal and runway, has earmarked $120 million for further upgrades in parking and other amenities this year."

Beyond improvements that run into the millions, Ihlwan wrote, "airports in the U.S. are widely viewed as public facilities, while those in Asia are seen as service-oriented businesses....To attract airlines and travelers, Incheon airport has cut down on waiting times. Administrators reassigned terminals for planes making a brief stop and reprogrammed computerized baggage handling systems. The result: Last year the airport reduced to 45 minutes from 55 minutes the minimum connection time for passengers who are traveling through Seoul to other destinations. The airport authority also spent around $7 million on a new 240-seat lounge, which opened last June for departing passengers and offers free showers, Internet connections and movies on giant-screen TVs."

State-of-the-art technology, efficiency and facilities to make travelers' experiences as seamless and pleasant as possible are the winning combination. The Business Week story and passengers' comments are illuminating. If US airport authorities could put just a fraction of these into practice, fewer American airports would be "from hell." Interestingly, even though Denver ranked far down on The Beast's list, it is one that Seoul officials deemed worth looking at.

Happy Thanksgiving

"What's the biggest problem facing the travel industry?"

Chris Elliott wants your thoughts

That's the question traveler consumer advocate Christopher Elliott is asking readers of his award-winning website. He has declared today as "open-mic Tuesday," and he wants to hear from you. If you've got a gripe or, more productively, a practical suggestion on how to solve a general industry problem that you have identified, drop him an E-note at elliottc@gmail.com, including your full name, occupation and city/state. Besides the opportunity simply to vent, something might come of this, because when Chris Elliott speaks, the travel industry listens.

Daily Beast's New Airport Rankings

The Daily Beast studied, rated and ranked 27 US airports

The Daily Beast's provocative headline, "Airports from Hell," is affixed to an analysis of 27 top airports in the US in eight specific areas, including on-time arrivals/departures so far in 2009 and a separate evaluation of holiday arrivals and departures, which is oh-so timely. The subtitle is "first to worst," which means they can't all be "from hell."

The best, according to The Beast, is Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) 

On-time departures 2009: 86.19%
On-time arrivals 2009: 84.73%
On-time holiday departures: 90% (ranked first)
On-time holiday arrivals: 86%
Average security wait time: 6.1 minutes
Tarmac nightmares: 22nd out 27
Safety: 5th out of 27
Amenities: 8th out of 27

The worst is Newark International Airport (EWR)
On-time departures 2009: 73.76%

On-time arrivals 2009: 64.14% (ranked last)
On-time holiday departures: 70% (ranked last)
On-time holiday arrivals: 75%
Average security wait time: 7 minutes
Tarmac nightmares: 23rd out of 27
Safety: 25th out of 27
Amenities: 15th out of 27

Denver International Airport (DIA) ranked 17th
On-time departures 2009: 79.23%

On-time arrivals 2009: 80.84%
On-time holiday departures: 84%
On-time holiday arrivals: 80%
Average security wait time: 11.3 minutes
Tarmac nightmares: 9th out of 27
Safety: 23rd out of 27
Amenities: 24th out of 27

According to The Beast, getting through DIA's security lines took several minutes longer than at the speediest airports, on average, and its "Safety" was downgraded significantly after an incident last year when a Continental plane skidded off a taxiway into a shallow gully (often described as a "ravine," making it seem far deeper than it is), injuring 30 people. A hotel at the terminal, fancy Gucci-esque shops and a better selection of more interesting restaurants might have elevated it in the Amenities category. The Beast quoted Matt Daimler of Seatguru.com who said, “It’s one of the better airports to experience.” As for on-time arrivals and departures, IMHO, when there are delays in Denver, more often than not they are due to delays elsewhere in the country's obsolete air-travel system. The Beast's  report is accompanied by a gallery of airport pictures three screens, nine airports to a screen, or as a slide show.

New Denver Sheraton Downtown is City's Largest Hotel

Former Adam's Mark reborn after $70 million renovation

The gleaming hotel straddling downtown Denver's Court Place place is a new Sheraton, but it's not a new hotel. The tired Adam's Mark is now the Sheraton Denver Downtown following a year-long, $70 million total renovation from the parking garage to the roof. It was officially dedicated yesterday with a champagne reception and ribbon cutting (below) that brought out Mayor John Hickenlooper, business leaders and executives from the hotel's owner (Chartres Lodging Group of San Francisco) and  management (Starwood Hotels & Resorts) group. Chartres purchased the hotel for $176 million in early 2008, so a lot of coin is represented in these interconnected buildings.

The hotel  is Colorado's largest with 1,231 guest rooms, and Hizzoner noted that when it is fully occupied, its "population" is greater than Breckenridge or Telluride (about 2,400 each). The mayor and tourism leaders praised it as a key to attracting large convention groups, but IMHO, it's also a great location for people who come to Denver for arts and culture. The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is a short walk to the west. The Denver Art Museum is a short stroll across Civic Center Park to the south, and when it opens in 2011, the Clyfford Still Museum will be there too. The galleries of the Golden Triangle Museum District are nearby as well, and the free Mall Shuttle stops right outside the door for a quick ride to the restaurants, shops and nightspots of Larimer Square and the Platt River Valley attractions too.

I haven't seen any of the guest rooms yet, but if the classy, spacious lobby is an indication, they are lovely. The new lobby is bright and attractive, contemporary and yet warm. I particularly like its newly welcoming pedestrian approach from the 16th Mall. The old Adams Mark design, like many newer downtown Denver hotels, is so vehicle-oriented that people coming in on foot after shopping, sightseeing or attending an off-site meeting often felt like afterthoughts.

Once inside, the square columns and the coffered ceiling are about all that is recognizable from the lobby's previous incarnation. Some people might miss the horse sculpture in the old lobby (top image, below), and while I have no particular attachment to it, I do sort of wonder where it went.

Above, the old Adam's Mark lobby

Above, the new Sheraton Denver Downtown lobby

1550 Court Place, Denver, Colorado 80202; 303-893-3333 or 866-716-8134 (reservations).

Winter Park Ski Train Poised for Return

Train-only and train/lodging packages are options for this ski season

The Rio Grande Scenic Ski Train seems "this close" to finalizing operational agreements for the 2009-10 ski season. The newest incarnation of the inconic ski train between Denver and Winter Park is ready to roll on a three-month winter timetable from December 27 and March 28, according to a report in today's Denver Post. All that remains a sign-off from Amtrak, whose crews will run the train. The train will operate up to four days a week, making about 50 roundtrips this winter and using cars from its summer excrusion train in the San Luis Valley.

The new 17-car trains will have a capacity of 2,000 seats, more than double that of the former ski train. Ed Ellis, president of the San Luis Railroad that will operate the revived ski train, told the Post that the "typical run will have 17 cars — two dome cars that seat 140 each and a mix of club cars and standard coaches." Click here for images of the cars.

Advance tickets are available online and are being purchased, according to the Post. If for any reason that last signoff is not accomplished, full refunds are promised. Regular roundtrip fares will be $49 in a coach car seat, $99 for a premium upper-level seat in a dome car or $600 for a season pass (purchase before December 24). Other early-season values include a 10-ride pass forr $290 and a one-day $79 roundtrip train ticket/lift ticket package (use by February 7). For more information, call 800-726-RAIL.The Winter Park Resort is also packaging a roundtrip train ticket, overnight lodging at the resort base and a lift ticket starting at $139 a day per person. Book that one through the resort, 800-453-2525.

A Gift from the Cyber-Magi: Free Airport WiF

Google enables free WiFi at 47 new airports for the holidays

We frequent Denver International Airport users have long been spoiled with free WiFi in the main terminal and on all three concourses. E-mail addicts and chronic web surfers like me are shocked and/or disappointed when we are waiting for flights or delayed elsewhere and have toactually pay for WiFi access. From November 16 through January 15, 47 other airports across the country will have free WiFi -- some for the first time. The peak holiday travel season (and peak travel-delay season) is wrapped into this two-month offer, which I think of as a gift, so boot up that laptop and enjoy.

Austin (AUS)
Baltimore (BWI)
Billings (BIL)
Boston Logan (BOS)
Bozeman (BZN)
Buffalo, NY (BUF)
Burbank (BUR)
Central Wisconsin (CWA)
Charlotte, NC (CLT)
Des Moines (DSM)
El Paso (ELP)
Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
Fort Myers (RSW)
Greensboro (GSO)
Houston Hobby (HOU)
Houston International (IAH)
Indianapolis (IND)
Jacksonville (JAX)
Kalamazoo (AZO)
Las Vegas (LAS)
Louisville (SDF)
Madison (MSN)
Memphis (MEM)
Miami (MIA)
Milwaukee (MKE)
Monterey (MRY)
Nashville (BNA)
Newport News (PHF)
Norfolk (ORF)
Oklahoma City (OKC)
Omaha (OMA)
Orlando (MCO)
Panama City, FL (PFN)
Pittsburgh (PIT)
Portland, ME (PWM)
Sacramento (SMF)
San Antonio (SAT)
San Diego (SAN)
San Jose (SJC)
Seattle (SEA)
South Bend (SBN)
Spokane (GEG)
St. Louis (STL)
State College, PA (SCE)
Toledo (TOL)
Traverse City (TVC)
West Palm Beach (PBI)

Google is supporting this program. An additional bonus is that, if you donute to any of the participating non-profits via Google CheckOut vi participating WiF networks, Google will match the gifts up to a maximum of $250,000.

The Broadmoor: Five Stars for the Fiftieth Time

Colorado's top-of-the-heap Broadmoor offers off-season values; book now!

It is no surprise at all that The Broadmoor, a pink palace on the southwest edge of Colorado Springs, has been awarded the top Five Star rating from the Mobil / Forbes Travel Guide (formerly Mobil Five-Star Award by Mobil Travel Guide). The Broadmoor always wins the highest honor. What is noteworthy that the resort has achieved this honor for a record 50th consecutive year -- the only property to do so. It also has the distinction in 2010 of becoming a triple Five Star winner, with the Penrose Room receiving the highest restaurant designation and The Spa at Broadmoor similarly recognized. It is the only Colorado property to be so honored so often and for so long.

The Mobil Travel Guide originated the prestigious star rating system in the U.S. Think of it as the equivalent of Michelin's stars in Europe. Michelin wanted to sell tires, and similarly, Mobil wanted to sell gasoline. The original Mobil guide is now the Forbes Travel Guide, but its awards are as prestigious as ever. Since 1958, the Mobil Travel Guide’s rigorous ratings process has been based on more than 750 standardized criteria for hotels that begins with a facility inspection considering every aspect of the property, including its overall cleanliness, condition, and location. To achieve Four and Five Star Status, hotels and resort properties must meet or exceed bar-setting service standards as determined byt an unannounced, undercover service evaluation conducted by the Travel Guide’s expert inspectors.

The Broadmoor, which opened in 1918, is quite a spread. It has 744 rooms and suites including 44 cottage bedrooms; 185,000 square feet of flexible event space; a world-class spa; three championship golf courses; a tennis club; 25 retail shops; 18 on property eateries, restaurants and lounges; a full children's program, and more. The Penrose Room, a classic fine-dining restaurant since 1961, is Colorado’s only Forbes Travel Guide Five Star/AAA Five-Diamond Restaurant, making it the most celebrated restaurant in Colorado history in the most celebrated hotel. The Spa at Broadmoor provides 43,000 square feet of sybaritic luxury: spa, salon and fitness center using cutting-edge products and treatments in a setting old-world charm and European elegance. It's hard not to rave about the The Broadmoor, which is simply the best.

The Best for Less

The Broadmoor opened at the end of World War I but rode out the Great Depression, World War II and changes in the way people travel without ever losing its edge. In light of the current economic downturn, the resort is offering Five Star luxury at affordable prices, starting at $80 per person, per night in a standard hotel room between November 15 and February 28. It includes complimentary access to the resort's own movie theater, a complimentary Serenity shower or tub soak with any spa service, 15% discount on select retail shops and a 10% discount at Charles Court, the award-winning Penrose Room or Tavern. During the holidays, The Broadmoor is decked out in an over-the-top (but exceedingly tasteful) display of lights and decorations.

The Broadmoor is at One Lake Avenue, Colorado Springs; 866-837-9520 or 719-577-5775.

Berlin Wall Sections: A Fragment Here, A Fragment There

November 9, 2009, marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall

With so much strife on the planet, the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall gives hope and celebration. After all, not long before the Wall came down in 1989, it seemed as if it would be there forever. I passed through Checkpoint Charlie on a one-day visit to East Berlin on my first trip to Europe a lifetime ago, and it was one East German guard's later opening of one checkpoint that opened the floodgate and changed modern German history.

As passed through the checkpoint into East Berlin, knowing that I could leave in a few hours, I realized that I had taken the freedom of movement for granted. It was eerie to walk down East Berlin's empty streets, past rubble and weed-choked vacant lots still left from World War II. I have not been to Berlin since, though I hope to visit next year during a planned trip to Germany, and I know that the gleaming, modern creative city bears only the slightest resemblance to the one I wandered around.

Berlin has a lot to celebrate, and celebrate it will. The Festival of Freedom starts this evening at 5:00 p.m., local time at the Brandenburg Gate, and an open air exhibition called "Peaceful Revolution" continues through October 2010.

I have seen segments of the Wall in Rapid City, South Dakota (above), and Portland, Maine (and probably elsewhere as well), but I didn't realize how many portions of the Wall have been erected as memorials. Click here for the list. Interestingly, there are 36 in the Americas (four in New York City alone) but only 13 in Europe -- just two in Germany itself. In Berlin, a line of cobblestones follows the original footprint of the Wall. News footage of the fall of the Wall was telecast over the weekend, and I think Berlin is commemorating the event, but I wonder how many other places with segments have organized something. Do you know?

Nottoway Plantation: 150-Year-Old Louisiana Jewel

Newly restored antebellum mansion is glorious to visit -- for a tour or for the night

In 1859, shortly before the War Between the States, John Hampden Randolph, his wife, Emily Jane Liddell Randolph, and their 11 children moved into the newly completed Nottoway Plantation in the heart of Louisiana's Plantation Country. Unlike many of the great houses built with cotton and sugarcane, Nottoway was not seriously damaged during the war even though both Union and Confederate troops camped on the grounds, and it was fired on and still bears a few bullet scars.

At 53,000 square feet, Nottoway is the largest remaining antebellum mansion in the southern United States. It was built with 64 rooms on three floors, six interior staircases, three "modern" bathrooms with flush toilets and hot and cold running water, gas lights, 22 massive square columns, 165 doors and 200 windows. Construction of this gracious and grandiose mansion is estimated to have cost $80,000.

The plantation house is open for public tours. For years, it was on the regular motorcoach day tour itinerary from New Orleans. Groups -- many on convention spouse programs -- would drive up, tour the mansion, have lunch in a large dedicaed pavilion and leave. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the convention business took a hit -- and so did Nottoway Plantation. Paul Ramsay, an Australian entrepreneur, purchased the property and financed the restoration of the mansion, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. I've tried to find out how much the restoration cost but haven't been successful.

Most of the furniture is not original, but all reflects accuracy to the period.

When you see the 4,200 linear feet of extraordinary plaster friezework and scroll ornaments in the public rooms, it is difficult to envision it as a combination of mud, clay, horsehair and Spanish moss under the confectionary paint.The all-white ballroom is sparsely furnished, because people did have to have room to dance.

I like to see formal dining rooms with all the accoutrements of gracious 19th-century dining, from celery glasses toknife rests.

Each hand-painted plate (from France, I believe) has a different design in the center.

The second-floor veranda overlooks the levee that separates Nottoway from the Mississippi. Rock on!

Below is not a room on the manor-house tour. It was my room for the night that I spent at Nottoway, which now also operates as a bed-and-breakfast inn. My gorgeous antique-filled room in one of the wings, not in the mansion itself, was one of the simpler ones. The home also houses a new fine-dining establishment called The Mansion Restaurant.

I have to say that it was hard to tear myself away the next morning.

Nottoway Historic Inn, as the B&B is now called, has an extraordinary special through November 30: $150 per night for two, including a welcome beverage, tour and a full breakfast. 31025 Louisiana Highway 1 (off The Great River Road), White Castle, LA 70788. Reserve online or by calling 866-LASouth (866-527-6884) or 225-545-2730 (Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Central Time).

San Miguel de Allende'sBotanical Garden

Charco del Ingenio showcases Western Hemisphere cacti in a protected landscape

The roughly 154 acres occupied by the unique botanical garden called Charco del Ingenio outside of San Miguel de Allende is reportedly second most important collection of cacti in Mexico, after Mexico City. That would rank Cacti Mundi that my husband and I visited in San Jose del Cabo several years ago number three or less. The Chacro del Ignenio is a pirvately funded ecological preservation area that began 18 years ago with 60 species now dispays some 550 cacti varieties from native habitats that stretch from Patagonia to Canada, but mostly species that grow in Mexico.

Mario Hernandez is knowledgeable passionate about the plants under his care. He is still awed by cacti's ability to store water and yet transform CO2 into O2 He points out that cacti are edible, and have religious, medicinal and spiritual value as well. And did I mention that they are great to look at too? He didn't bother saying that. I think he realizes that is self-evident.

Below are just a few examples of the varied and wonderful cacti growing at the Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden.

The botanical garden includes flat dry land, a canyon, spring-fed wetlands and even a lake. The section nearest to the entrance is laced with easy paths. The natural area across the canyon is largely wild and includes the ruins of an old hacienda. We didn't have time to go look at that.

Cactus "buds" and cactus flowers.

When the Dalai Lama visited Mexico in 2005, he came to Charco del Ingnio and blessed the Plaza of the Four Winds, a ceremonial and scenic gathering place designed by architect Enrique Pliego and honoring local indigenous groups.Built with inlaid colored stones,wasinspired by the 16th-century Chichimeca-Toltec codex, the plaza is designed with four outer circles that indicate the four cardinal directions and corresponding figures that evoke the four natural resources (earth, water, flora and fauna) in traditional pre-Columbian colors. Reached by a smooth, flat but unpaved trail, it is one of the few places in San Miguel Allende that is wheelchair-accessible.

The Charco del Ingenio is open for self-guided visits, with 2 1/2-hour guided tours presently given on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. The cost is 50 pesos.

Mega Mao Joins Other Gigantic Sculptures

The chairman joins four US presidents and one very nobel Native American leader

Sulptor Gutzon Borglum (who is always referred to as "Borglum") and his helpers carved these four gigantic heads of four important presidents out of South Dakota granite. Mt.Rushmore is now a National Monument, administered by the US Park Service.Nearly 2.5 million visitors a year come to gaze at Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson. Teddy Roosevert and Abraham Lindoln. Borglum, whose father was an immigrant from Denmark, began working on the South Dakota project in 1927 and remained involved until he died in 1941 at the age of 74.

Just seven years after Borglum's death, sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski (who is always referred to as "Korczak") began sculpting a nearby mountain into what will someday be a statue of Crazy Horse, the great Lakota chief to honor Native Americans. When completed, it will be world's largest sculpture. Born in Boston into a Polish-American family, Korczak worked virtually alone until his death in 1982, like Borglum also at the age of 74. His last words to his wife, Ruth, were, "You must work on the mountain-but go slowly so you do it right." Ruth and eight of their 10 children operate Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation board of directors and guide Crazy Horse toward eventual completion.

Meanwhile, in Mao Zedong's home province of Hunan, a gigantic head is being constructed -- not carved out of a mountain, but built on a concrete frame. China has the biggest defense wall (the Great Wall of China), the biggest dam (the Three Gorges Dam) and one of the tallest skyscrapers (the 101-story World Financial Center in Shanghai, the second tallest skyscraper on the planet -- at least until the completion of Burj Dubai).

By the Sea, By the Santa Barbara Sea

I recently attended a conference at the Four Seasons Resort, The Biltmore. A handful of people seemed to squeeze in a run or a walk on the beach, but all I had was the occasional ocean view when dashing across the beautifully landscaped property between my room and the conference rooms. I thought a few of the images I grabbed were worth posting. I hope you agree.

'Oasis of the Seas' Now at Sea

Enormous floating city, the 'Oasis of the Seas,' heading for Florida

The 'Oasis of the Seas' should be called the 'Behemoth of the Seas': 1,187 feet long, 208 feet wide 213 feet (that's more than 20 stories!) high from the water line, 16 passenger decks, 5,400 passengers (double occupancy; 6,296 guests total if a body is crammed into every sleeping space) and 2,165 crew from over 71 countries. One of the two dozen elevators is equipped with a bar. The center of the ship is something like a landscaped atrium called Central Park. I guess that way they can book more "balcony cabins." The $1.6 billion ship's own website features click-on video that reminds me of an infomercial. First comes the captain, telling viewers that the crew is "wowed" by the ship. Then we see individual crew members saying, "WOW!" individual and then in unison.

I can't say. "Wow!" If it weren't too late, I'd say "Woah! Hold on!" But it's too late, for she is sailing to start service with her first regular passengers boarding in early December. A ship that at peak capacity holds nearly 8,500 passengers and crew overwhelms everything it encounters. On the winter itinerary, the eastern and western itineraries are very similar. In and out of Fort Lauderdale, then to three ports. Labadee is Royal Caribbean's private island for those who prefer activities to any interaction with any real  Caribbean residents. Falmouth on Jamaica's north coast is a new port for Royal Caribbean, which operates a fleet of cruise ships whos last name is "...of the Seas." Falmouth is a heritage site, currently under restoration. I haven't been there, but it sounds like the Williamsburg of Jamaica. Cozumel, Mexico is an island where my husband and I dived many years ago, when cruise ships -- all a fraction of the "Oasis'" size -- anchored in the local harbor and passengers were tendered ashore. Now, an out-of-town pier with built-in shopping opportunities is passengers' first (and often only) port of call there.The "Oasis of the Seas" therefore qualifies as the world's largest floating cocoon.

Passengers enter the cocoon from a new $75 million, 240,000-square-foot terminal built specificallyto be the home port for new the Oasis ships, both the "Oasis of the Seas" and the even newer "Allure of the Seas," scheduled to debut late next year). Between them, these ships are expected to bring more than 500,000 cruise passengers through Port Everglades every year. That's half-a-million people.

I do not need to post the remarkable specs and all of the facilities and activities of the "Oasis of the Seas" here. It certainly is a marvel of maritime engineering (even the stacks retract so it can pass under certain large but not-high-enough bridges). But I question the entire concept of bigger-is-better and glitzier-is-ritzier cruising. It seems like a bad idea environmental, sociologically and even socially. Segmenting this enormous ship into "neighborhoods" doesn't make it any smaller or less intimate.

Sure, it's a wow! but a Wow! that comes with a price. Like Rome, this gigantic cruise ship was not built in a day. I wonder whether Royal Caribbean would embark on such a project in today's economy and with today's sensibilities.