With 2009 behind us (finally!), we have a lot to look forward to in 2010. I was shocked by the closing of several magazines this year, and I was grateful we kept our heads above the water for the year. The economy seems to be picking up, and we’ve had a taste of the harsh winter season when a recent blizzard hit the East Coast. What’s next?

February marks Global Traveler’s sixth year anniversary and another year of success. On Jan. 21, we are happy to help bring business back into the downtown Wall Street area at our GT Tested Awards ceremony and cocktail party at the Andaz Wall Street. I look forward to seeing friends, clients, coworkers, subscribers, family and supporters.

I am proud to be part of such a great team and publication. I wish all the GT subscribers, staff and partners a very happy and healthy New Year!

– Courtney Centeno, account executive

New Year’s Day is a college football fan’s dream day. Unfortunately, I am not much of a college football fan. However, since 2008, the NHL has given me something to watch. The Winter Classic is a yearly outdoor NHL hockey game played on the first day of the new year.

The first Classic in 2008 saw the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres in Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo (home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills). The game drew 71,217 fans, an NHL game attendance record.

The second Classic was held at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Unfortunately, my Blackhawks lost to the Detroit Red Wings. This game drew more than 40,000 and had the highest TV ratings for an NHL game in 33 years.

On Friday, the Philadelphia Flyers will face the Boston Bruins at Fenway Park in Boston. This is assured of being another success.

This is such a great event for hockey fans. Watching a hockey game played outdoors is very interesting. Sunlight, wind and temperatures all create situations not found in games indoors. By keeping the event to one game per year, the NHL is keeping it special.

This morning I heard sports talk radio guys saying the Classic would eventually fail. The only real reason they gave was lack of future possible locations. This is a ridiculous argument. The NHL has 30 teams, with only 10 teams in weather warm enough to possibly make the game unplayable (although technology might make it feasible).

Of course, another possibility is playing in a non-NHL city. There are plenty of colder weather cities who would have enough fans to support the Classic. This might even be a good way to market the product in other cities.

The NHL doesn’t need me to help them with the Winter Classic. They are doing a great job all by themselves. In an era of excess and flamboyance, the NHL is enjoying the success by bringing the game back to its outdoor roots.

– John Wroblewski, distribution specialist

This holiday season brought many fun memories for me — and one I’m happy to soon forget. The day after Christmas, my entire family was struck by a virus that kept us down and out for two days. Luckily, there were no travel plans in the works since none of us were able to leave our beds to even answer the phone. Being bedridden allowed me to catch up on some movies, and I caught one of my favorite classics on Sunday night, The Sound of Music. That sure helped nurse me back to health.

Perhaps it was the songs that helped me relax, maybe it was the beautiful scenery of Austria, or perhaps I was thankful that I don’t live in pre-World War II Austria. Either way, the movie made me remember there’s a world worth getting healthy to see! It also reminded me of my most recent trip to Vienna this fall. While the Sound of Music showed us a pre-war Salzburg, I found a taste of modern hospitality in Vienna at the Das Triest Hotel. The service at the hotel, designed by Sir Terence Conran, is hard to beat.

Das Triest is a modern boutique that caters to the stars. However, if you’re not of rock star status (like myself), you will still be treated like one without any pretentious attitude. Its warm and welcoming staff balanced the award-winning minimalist design. From check-in to checkout, the hotel staff went out of their way to make sure every need of mine was met. I started off each morning with a 5-star breakfast. I was centrally located in Vienna and could get anywhere I needed without traffic or trouble. While my stay was for pleasure, I saw many guests traveling for business, and I would make this property a must-stay on my list for any future trips to Vienna.

Now that I’m back on my feet and ready for the New Year, I look forward to upcoming travels for Global Traveler taking me to the Middle East and Asia. Stay tuned for stories from GT as we report to you on the best of travel throughout 2010 from all around the world. Happy New Year!

– Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher

As the Gallaghers entertained the clan on Christmas Eve, we had a “free” day on Christmas. After leisurely opening up about half of our gifts, we decided to take a drive to Washington Crossing, Penn. (only about 10 minutes north of us) to watch the 57th reenactment of Washington and the Continental Army’s crossing of the Delaware. This year the event was almost canceled, but locals and businesses came up with the funds to make this reenactment possible.

Many people believe that Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas Eve, surprising the Hessians, who were paid mercenaries for the British Army, camped at Trenton, N.J., about 10 miles south of the crossing. But actually, Washington crossed at about 4 p.m. on Christmas Day, making the entire crossing in about 10 hours with 2,400 troops and their supplies, including artillery and horses.

It began to sleet, and the Delaware River was so full of ice that General Washington’s supporting troops, led by Colonel John Cadwalader and Brigadier General James Ewing, never completed their crossing.

Cadwalader was to cross at Dunk’s Ferry, near Bristol, Penn., and attack the Hessians in Mount Holly, N.J. Ewing was to cross at Trenton Ferry and wait for Washington’s attack and deal with any retreating Hessians. Cadwalader never crossed due to the weather, and Ewing crossed, then retreated, as he could not cross with his artillery.

Until this time, Washington had suffered miserable defeat after defeat, and most were beginning to lose faith in his ability to command. Cornwallis chased Washington across New Jersey after losing the battle for New York. Washington’s troops crossed the Delaware into Pennsylvania and destroyed or commandeered all the boats for miles up and down the Delaware so that Cornwallis could not follow him into the state. Cornwallis, rather than ending the Revolutionary War, ordered the establishment out, setting up outposts along the Delaware and ordering his troops into winter quarters.

The reenactment takes about an hour, and it is quite a feat to witness the 6,000-pound Durham boat cross the river. They pass a small island at Washington Crossing, and once they pass this shelter, they point the bow of the boat into the stream’s current and almost crab their way across the river. The straight shot would send them down the river and they would miss their landing spot.

The victory at Trenton was the turning point for the Revolutionary War; and the following battle, after New Year’s Day (1/3/1776), the Battle of Princeton, was a defeat and a blow to the British military and Lord Cornwallis.

After the crossing, the Gallagher clan returned home to open gifts and enjoy the remainder of a calm Christmas Day.

I have to comment on the the bombing incident on the Delta/Northwest flight on Christmas Day as it landed in Detroit. Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security secretary, said in an interview on This Week on ABC, “The system has worked really very, very smoothly over the course of the past several days.”

If she thinks an individual who purchased a ticket for cash and checked no luggage and whose father called the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria warning them that his son was a threat should be allowed to board a plane bound for the U.S. and should not be on the no-fly list, then I am calling for her resignation. This guy had so many radical comments and so many red flags, I cannot believe that we allowed him on a plane, and I cannot believe our government thinks this is okay.

This disaster — and it was a disaster — could have been much worse, and it would have had a ripple effect to our already weak economy and, in particular, to the travel industry.

– Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

Both in Europe and the United States, the last week has been a nightmare for a large number of travelers trying to reach their destinations for the holidays. A month ago, we got through another big holiday travel period — Thanksgiving week — with mild weather and no major travel snarls anywhere in the country. That in itself was fairly unusual, for considering the size of the U.S. and the time of year, one would expect at least one portion to face ice, snow, heavy rains, wind and/or thick fog and resulting flight cancellations or delays. But no, this year the week was amazingly calm. We should have known; it was too much to expect a similar reprieve two big travel weeks in a row.

Sure enough, last weekend saw a huge weather system track up the East Coast, dumping record amounts of snowfall from the Carolinas through Virginia, D.C. and Pennsylvania and on up north. Roads were a mess and hundreds of flights were cancelled. Not only did it distress those starting their Christmas vacations, but retailers were also concerned that an already sluggish season was taking a big hit on the last shopping weekend before Christmas, traditionally the biggest. A similar but even more unusual and long-lasting (for the region) weather event struck the Northwest last year at about the same time, with the same kind of chaos felt in the transportation and retail sectors. Everyone here watched with great sympathy and empathy the events unfolding in the East.

That particular brand of holiday “cheer” was at the same time occurring in Europe. We read of the closing of the Channel Tunnel and Eurostar service last weekend after some 2,500 passengers were stranded for up to 16 hours there. (I don’t suffer from claustrophobia, but that would definitely make me more than a little crazy!) Officials blamed an unusually cold weather system in northern France that caused condensation on the rails in the comparatively warmer Chunnel, leading to an electrical failure. Service resumed on Tuesday, but it was doubtful that service would be back to normal before Christmas itself. Additionally, related weather systems throughout Europe caused flight cancellations and delays and other rail and road problems. Misery surely had a lot of company on both sides of the Atlantic!

But wait, there’s more! Wednesday a huge weather system began a slow march beginning in Texas, churning north and encompassing a large swath of the Midwest. Our daughter and her husband were scheduled on an early morning flight out of Midway in Chicago on Southwest Airlines, and luckily they made it out a few hours before the storm caused hundreds of flight cancellations out of O’Hare and Midway. Ground and air travel continued to be affected right up until Christmas Day, and we learned that our Texas cousins enjoyed a white Christmas while far up north we simply sat swaddled in fog.

At this point, I’m sure most Americans are wondering with some dread what the New Year’s weekend might bring. We’ll have to hope that the worst is behind us and that the weather gods will figure we’re due for a reprieve after this past week. Here’s hoping for clear skies and calm sailing for all!

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader