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Berlin Unveils New Airport and New Airport Park

The big news out of Berlin this year is the opening of the $3.4 billion Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport, set to make its debut on June 3rd. However, I’m more excited at what Berlin did with its former airport, Tempelhof, which is now the vast Tempelhofer Freiheit public park. Families come to bike and roller blade on the old runways and picnic on the grounds. Germany has always been at the forefront of reclaiming former industrial spaces and transforming them into parks. Landschaftspark in Duisburg-Nord is a former coal and steel plant that now features a high ropes course. It’s wonderful to see urban designers blurring the line between civilization and nature to create parks from former contaminated sites, landfills, abandoned manufacturing plants, and older airports.

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Following in Tom Thomson’s Footsteps at Algonquin Provincial Park

On our first day at Bartlett Lodge, we signed up for a Tom Thomson tour with our guide, Malcolm. Tom Thomson was arguably Canada’s first iconic painter, sketching lone birches and pines swaying in the wind on the shores of Algonquin’s many lakes. While not technically a member of Canada’s Group of Seven artists, he was good friends with many in the group and would have certainly been a member if he had not died under mysterious circumstances at Algonquin in 1917. Thomson would spend a good 5-year span at Algonquin before his untimely death and Malcolm did a thorough job showing us the many sites where his paintings were created. We started at Tea Lake Dam, where Thomson first camped in the area along a babbling brook. Thomson was also known as an accomplished angler and paddler and you can easily see him living happily on the water’s edge here. It helped that Malcolm brought along a laptop to show us the sketches that were created in this exact spot and many other locales we would visit that day. 

The bulk of our time was spent on Canoe Lake, the busiest part of Algonquin, and where they serve a Tom Thomson burger at the Visitor Center. We took “Winnie the Tinnie,” a motorized canoe around the entirety of the lake, passing celebrated Canadian overnight summer camps, like Camp Ahmek, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was both a camper and counselor. At Hayhurst Point, we docked and walked up a small hillside to see a plaque that Group of Seven artist, J.E.H. MacDonald, created in memory of his friend. No one is certain how Thomson died, but his canoe arrived back to the shores first, and soon his body was found in the waters. It was ruled an accident, but there were some unruly characters living in the park in those early years, and many still believe he was murdered. Malcolm showed us the sight where his body was found and the small cemetery where he is now buried (another controversy since some people think his body was taken), before we headed back under heavy rains. The heavyu drops splashed off the water of the lake, creating a pointillist canvas that Thomson would have appreciated. 
 
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Winslow Homer’s Studio Will Open to the Public in September

Winslow Homer’s still-standing studio on Prouts Neck, Maine will finally open to the public next month. It has been closed for renovations since 2006, when the Portland Museum of Art acquired the studio where Homer lived and painted many of his masterpieces from 1883 until his death. Several years ago, I wrote an article for Yankee Magazine about Homer’s years in Prouts Neck. You can reserve tickets to the studio through the Portland Museum of Art. To further celebrate the opening, the Portland Museum of Art will display 35 major oils and watercolors painted during Homer’s time at Prouts Neck in a show titled Weatherbeaten: Winslow Homer and Maine. The exhibition will run from September 22 to December 30, 2012. Stay at one of my favorite stopovers in southern Maine, the Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth, a 15-minute drive from both Portland and Prouts Neck. The Inn by the Sea is featuring a "Seascapes Package" to coincide with the exhibition and studio opening. For $632, you receive two nights in a one-bedroom suite, two rum cocktails named for the artist, two tickets to the Weatherbeaten exhibition, a catalogue from the show, and full breakfast for two each morning. They can also help to arrange tours of the studio, which cost an additional $55 per person. 
 
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My Favorite Music of 2014

As I do every year, I go through the Boston Globe and NPR’s music reviewers’ lists of top reviewed albums and songs of the year to see what truly stands out. It was a great year for electronica music, thanks to Leon Vynehall, Caribou, and Jacques Greene. Check out these three songs, in particular: Goodthing, Can’t Do Without You, and 1 4 Me. Love the sultry delivery of Niia on her latest cut, Body. Lee Field’s Standing By Your Side is old school R&B straight from the playbook of Curtis Mayfield. The Matt Wilson Quartet and John Mediski came out with an ebullient up-tempo jazz album called Gathering Call, which I just purchased on Amazon and can’t wait to listen to it as I write. Check out Pumpkin’s Delight. Hip-hop lovers will adore the new Freddie Gibbs and Madlib song, Deeper, meant to be played loud in the car when you don’t want anybody to mess with you. There was some excellent African music to come out this year, including Ugandan singer Somi and her strong delivery on Lady Revisited. Nigeria’s Brymo came out with a great album, Tabula Rusa, including one must-download song, One Pound. My favorite album of the year was A Long Way to the Beginning by Seun Kuti, Fela’s son. The younger Kuti reunited with his dad’s band to once again create that hypnotic Afropop beat, guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I can’t wait to crank it out on my trip to Tanzania in March. Enjoy! 

 
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New Hotel Openings in Costa Rica

Costa Rica Experts, the tour operator we adore for our clients’ trips to Costa Rica and Panama, has added a handful of new hotels to their list of available lodgings. Located just off the remote Nicoya Peninsula, Isla Chiquita offers the one and only glamping experience in Costa Rica. Arrive by boat to the small luxury site, where you will be lead to one of 15 premium tents. For an adults-only luxury getaway, check out the new Las Catalinas property by Casa Chameleon, which enjoys panoramic views of the Pacific from the comfort of the infinity pool. Holistic, healing, and rejuvenation are the primary focal points of The Retreat, an intimate 11-room boutique property that features yoga classes every morning and afternoon. Lagarta Lodge, a 26-room modern boutique hotel on the Nicoya Peninsula, is located between two rivers and a sandy beach within a private nature reserve, an ideal locale for hiking, kayaking, and stand-up paddleboarding. If you’re thinking of visiting Costa Rica this winter, please let ActiveTravels know and we’ll package together the whole trip, including lodging, activities, and transfers.

 
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The Eureka Art Scene

They say Eureka has more artists per capita than any other place in California. A walk around town Sunday introduced me to many of the impressive local wares. My first stop was the Morris Graves Museum of Art housed in the circa 1904 Carnegie Free Library. A jazz quartet was playing to a packed crowd in the atrium as I wandered over to the Humboldt Artists Gallery to see the inviting watercolors of poppies and hydrangeas by Karen Berman, photographs of the seascape by Jim Lowry like Camel Rock, a favorite surf spot in the region. In the upstairs gallery, Corey Drieth creates mesmerizing geometric shapes of gouache on wood. From Morris Graves, I walked down to the historic Old Town waterfront district of Eureka and stopped in at the First Street Gallery. Run by Humboldt State University, the fine arts gallery features the works of students, faculty, alumni, and visiting artists. Inside, Don Gregorio Anton’s 3D Lazergraph produced intriguing faces and mist etched in glass, while Teresa Stanley’s “The Waters No. 6” was an enticing play of color and geometric patterns, all created on yupo paper. 
 
That evening I wisely chose to spend the evening at The Hotel Carter, one of four Victorians that form the Carter House Inns near the shores of Humboldt Bay. The hallways are lined with contemporary art, a sign that owner Mark Carter is a longtime supporter of the local art scene. Carter is perhaps best known as a winemaker in Napa Valley. Paired with a sublime beef tenderloin, I had the pleasure of sampling his 2006 Carter Cellars Cabernet at Retaurant 301. A perfect way to end a perfect day. 
 
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Member’s Video Wins Second Prize from Backroads Photo/Video Contest

We love it when members post photos from their recent trips on the ActiveTravels Facebook page. Even better when it’s an award-winning video. We sent Sara Jones and her family of five on a Backroads trip to Glacier National Park last August. Upon her return she created a video of the many memories from the adventures shared in that exquisite part of the country. She then submitted the video to Backroads for their annual photo and video contest and learned recently that she won Second Prize! That’s a $4,000 credit towards her next trip with Backroads. Congratulations Sara! 

 

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