It seems like every few months, some bigger, better and more ostentatious landmark is built somewhere in the Middle East. Most recently, Atlantis, Dubai’s long-anticipated resort on the manmade Palm Island, held its $20-million opening gala. The lavish underwater-themed resort features 113 acres of family entertainment, including waterslides and gigantic aquariums filled with fish and other sea creatures. With megastructures like Atlantis and the city’s other famous hotel, the Burj Al Arab, it’s easy to label the blossoming Persian Gulf cities as grandiose and flashy.

Qatar: An Art Mecca?

However, the small country of Qatar plans to change that image with the opening of its capital's newest cultural attraction, the Islamic Museum of Art in Doha. The building which houses the new museum was designed by internationally acclaimed architect, I.M. Pei, designer of the Pyramid at the Louvre and Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Pei had to be convinced to come out of retirement for the project, which he admits will likely be his last major cultural design at age 91. After accepting the project, he spent months traveling across the Middle East searching for inspiration. His goal was to create a structure that would embody the “essence of Islamic architecture.” The building’s understated, modern elegance was inspired by a 13th-century mosque in Cairo, an ancient fortress in Tunisia and the Alhambra Palace in Spain. The museum exemplifies the “strong and simple” design that Pei hoped to achieve. “There is nothing superfluous,” says Pei.

Like the Atlantis, the Islamic Museum of Art was built atop an artificial island in the Persian Gulf off the shore of Doha. Unlike the Atlantis, the choice of location came from Pei, who wanted his monument to be isolated from the rest of the city. He hoped that this would prevent the beauty of the building from being overshadowed by future development in Doha, which plans to open more than a dozen new museums in the coming years.

cc: Abdurahman

Yo-Yo Ma, Robert DeNiro and Tribeca Film Fest

The opening ceremonies for the much-anticipated museum began this past weekend and included fireworks, an outdoor exhibition, a lecture from Pei and a performance by Yo-Yo Ma. More than 1,000 invited guests attended, including political leaders, members of the Qatar royal family and celebrities, like Robert DeNiro. However, DeNiro wasn’t there just for pleasure; on Nov. 23, DeNiro signed an agreement to bring a satellite of his Tribeca Film Festival to Doha in November 2009. The new museum will host the event, which plans to feature close to 40 films from internationally acclaimed filmmakers, new talent, and the local Qatari and broader Arab community.

The commission of this building signals a break by Qatar from the rest of the Persian Gulf's sybaritic paradise, full of ultra-modern feats of architecture. Qatar looks forward to acting as a bridge between the Middle East and the rest of the world. While right now, Qatar may seem like an unlikely vacation, the country plans to soon be the Persian Gulf destination for the arts.

Your bags are checked and you’ve gotten settled in your seat. The last thing you want is to be stuck on the tarmac without an idea of when you’ll get to your destination.

A federal task force, unofficially referred to as the “tarmac task force,” recently came up with a series of voluntary guidelines for airlines, in order to help the thousands of passengers each year who get stranded on the tarmac for hours. These guidelines include: updating the passengers on the flight’s status every 15 minutes, providing a secure room for those who can't make their overseas flights (so they don't have to go through security more than once), and offering refreshments and entertainment. However, none of the guidelines specify a certain time limit for how long passengers need to be stuck on a plane until they are allowed off the aircraft.

Some of the reasons given for the decision delays include the fact that the time limits for passengers need to be tailored to each airline and airport. Also, until now, airlines had not yet worked on coming up with an effective strategy on dealing with delayed flights on the tarmac. Yet, the tarmac task force, created in December 2007, is currently working on a separate rule that would specifically require airlines to develop their own plans-which would include a time limit-for how to deal with passengers who get stuck on the tarmac. Although this plan is still in the works, it could be a welcome relief for future passengers.

You no longer have to spend your flight watching endless movies or passing the time flipping through the SkyMall catalog. Now, when you fly with American Airlines, you can check your e-mail or catch up on the latest news with newly offered inflight Wi-Fi broadband service, Gogo Inflight Internet.

The new service, announced in August, was developed by Aircell LLC. Gogo can be accessed when the plane flies above 10,000 feet and you can connect from your laptop, Blackberry, smartphone and other devices that are capable of connecting to Wi-Fi.

American Airlines charges $12.95 for the Gogo service on flights longer than three hours, and $9.95 on flights shorter than three hours.

Gogo Limitations

While it's great to access the Web and e-mail, the service is currently only available on certain flights depending on your destination-this includes nonstop flights between New York City and San Francisco as well as New York City and Miami. Aircell is planning to extend the existing network to include Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. And you still can't talk on the phone; passengers are ubable to access certain voice over IP (VOIP) services like Skype.

Airlines Adding Wi-Fi

While American Airlines is the first U.S. air carrier to offer Internet access to passengers, several more are following suit, including JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines. Air Canada is scheduled to offer the Wi-Fi service in 2009.

Does the addition of Wi-Fi make you more likely to fly American Airlines (or any airline that offers it)?

Oh, woe is me. I just got back from a weeklong escape to Switzerland, and I must admit, I’m missing my little slice of Ticinese heaven on Lake Maggiore. I wrote a blog post last week about the great hotel that I stayed at, Hotel Garni La Meridiana. But even now, I can’t get the image of the Piazza or the smell of the roasting chestnuts out of my mind. So I decided to write more about the small town that’s captured my heart.



European Beauty

Although Ascona is just a small resort town, it will take your breath away. With a prime location right on the edge of the huge lake, which extends into neighboring Italy, the city is also surrounded by towering mountains. Actually, Asocna is the lowest city in all of Switzerland, which means prime Mediterranean weather year round. The temperature hovered in the 60s during most of my early October visit.

Ascona is a very old town with some of its oldest buildings dating back to the 16th century. Once a fishing village, it has developed into one of the most popular tourist destinations in the canton. It is located next to Locarno, the capital of Ticino and a great little city in its own rights. Ascona’s Piazza is lined with hotels, both modern and old (one used to be part of a castle), restaurants, cafes and adorable shops.

It’s not the main drag that captured my heart the first time I came here; it was the narrow, cobblestone streets that wind through what is known as the town’s Old Quarter. They are barely wide enough for a bicycle to pass two pedestrians. There’s absolutely no way a car could navigate them, not even the ever-so-small Smart car. Here, you’ll find boutique jewelry stores, small clothing stores, gelato shops and such lining the historic streets.

Ascona Events

There are many great things to do here during tourist season, which runs from May to mid-October. The town hosts special events year round, from the Ascona-New Orleans Jazz Festival in late June, a chestnut festival (chestnuts are a regional specialty) in the beginning of October, an artist and performer festival in May and a month long classical music festival that runs from September through October.

During the high season, a boat runs trips from Ascona around the lake. Stop at the popular Brissago Islands to peruse the beautiful grounds and gardens of an old house located on one of the islands and dine at Ristorante Brissage, a lovely restaurant. Or, stop in Italy. Lake Maggiore is bordered by Italy and the boat stops at several small Italian towns, many of which hold markets throughout the week. Although I never had a chance to take the boat trip around the lake, it’s top on my list for next year’s visit. I already know I’m going to return to Ascona. The question next time is whether I’ll ever leave.

Traveling with kids is challenging enough, so why make it harder by hitting the road with a crappy or too-heavy stroller?

Strollers are essential—especially when you are traveling by air. Getting from one gate to another with today’s super-tight connections means you need to be able to set that puppy up and run, people.

So what does a parent on the go look for in a stroller? The key attributes are: lightweight construction, durability and ease of use.

• When you travel, you often need to be able to fold and/or open your stroller with one hand, so test the floor model while holding your child. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to grab my stroller on the jetway and open it while holding my kid and a backpack loaded down with a DVD player, goodies and toys, all while trying to avoid getting run over by the entire section of business fliers.

• You also want a stroller that isn’t heavy—look for aluminum construction. That also helps you avoid rust. That gate attendant could care less if your stroller sits out in the rain. Also, choose a quick-drying fabric that resist stains.

• Got a toddler and an infant? A double stroller is a must if you have two young children. That doesn’t mean you have to get one of those huge side-by-side deals. Lots of brands today make models that allow you to have an infant in a traditional stroller seat, while your older child sits or stands on a jump seat or running board on the back.

• Last but not least, remember that quality lasts. If you travel frequently by air or rail, or even take long road trips, resist the urge to buy a cheap umbrella model. You’ll just end up replacing it 10 times, so spend the cash upfront and avoid the inconvenience.

So what do I recommend? I use a Joovy Caboose model, but here are some others worth considering:

Phil & Ted’s Sport Buggy and Doubles Kit
UppaBaby’s G-Lite Stroller
Maclaren Volvo
Combi Savvy Soho
Peg Perego Aria MT

Admit it. There are times when you’ve been traveling in a foreign country and felt like a complete idiot or outsider. When you’ve said or done something so obviously embarrassing that you wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.

That was me several years ago when I first landed in Thailand at the beginning of an eight-month sabbatical in Southeast Asia. As I waited for the doors on the plane to open, I reset my brand new travel watch, complete with alarm, two-time zones, calendar and more, purchased specifically for that trip. Well, the battery must have shorted or something, because all of a sudden none of the modes worked. Then the alarm, which wasn’t even set yet, went off. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep ...

I hit the stop button. I hit the reset button. Still beeping.

A minute passed. Two. Still beeping.

Did I mention that I was sitting in business class? All the other passengers were men in suits, and then there was me, in khaki pants, a basic black pullover and hiking boots, carrying a backpack. The man next to me, who looked annoyed at having to have me as seatmate from the minute he boarded, began to glare.

I covered the watch with my hand. I sat on it. Still beeping.

One of the last stories I had read before departing New York was about this guy who decided to travel with a small Casio keyboard. At an airport somewhere in Asia, someone accidentally bumped it and the pre-program on it went off and it wouldn’t stop. He was promptly arrested.

With that in mind, my heart began racing a bit more as I continued clutching the watch to muffle the sound while walking through the airport. Nearly 20 minutes had now passed; still beeping.

I thought about throwing it in a garbage can, but there were none to be found. Even if there had been, someone might have thought it was a bomb and that image of being arrested popped into my head again. (OK, so I had seen a few too many action movies and needed more sleep.)

In the bathroom, after slamming it into the wall a few times, I finally decided to take the only action that made sense at that moment—I flushed it down the toilet. The beeping stopped.

So there went my new watch. And my alarm clock. And calendar. Welcome to Bangkok.

What embarrassing moments have you had while traveling?

If you’re looking for a Mexican vacation that puts you closer to the culture than you can get by lazing on the beach, consider going to celebrate Día de los Muertos. The country’s biggest holiday celebrates the memories of departed family and friends, while allowing the living to have a festive time. Here are five great Day of the Dead destinations in Mexico to check out:

Pátzcuaro and Janítzio (state of Michoacán)

A candlelit boat procession journeys from the lakeside town of Pátzcuaro to the island of Janítzio. While both locations pulse with activity, the island’s cemetery is the focus of late-night gatherings. Read our Flowers for the Dead article about the Day of the Dead in this area.

Mixquic (Distrito Federal)

A small town on the outskirts of Mexico City so well known for its Day of the Dead celebrations, it’s often referred to as the “City of the Dead.”

Oaxaca City (state of Oaxaca)

So many people flock to Oaxaca’s cemeteries that travel packages are created just for the holiday. Unique to Oaxaca’s festivities is the temporary creation of colored sand carpets, sculpted in 3-D.

Mérida (state of Yucatán)

The White City celebrations include the Mayan banquet of the dead, Hanal Pixan (“soul food”). Large tamales baked in an underground pit are tasty features on the menu.

Chiapa de Corzo (state of Chiapas)

Marimba and mariachi bands play beloved tunes of the dead at the local cemetery of this small colonial town. Firecrackers announce the departure of souls each year.