Africa
World Cup Fever
Jun 15th
The World Cup is underway, and I couldn’t be happier! Ever since summer 2002, when I first got caught up in World Cup fever, I have looked forward to this tournament with awe and passion. It’s a little hard to get in the true spirit when in the U.S. we as a nation do not follow professional soccer as closely as we do our other sports — hockey, baseball, basketball and football.
I was living in Brussels in 2002 when the World Cup took place in South Korea. This was the first time I found a sporting event that creates such strong comraderie, passion and fun. Even the Olympics don’t ignite people in this way. Luckily, many people in New York City do follow soccer and the World Cup, so once inside any bar, I always find a fun crowd to join and cheer on the teams.
As much as I enjoy watching the games, I really enjoy the way the tournament brings people of all nations and cultures together on one field. While watching the games, I always receive messages from friends all over the world who are also watching, everywhere from the United Kingdom and Dubai to Korea.
Here’s a tip for those of you traveling on business during the World Cup but not following the event: Check when the matches are being shown in the country you are visiting and make sure you do not need to see a key client when his/her country is playing. This may sound ridiculous to some, but most likely you will not be able to schedule that meeting, or you will find yourself competing with a TV or a radio play-by-play. Save the meeting time for a different hour and try to enjoy the match yourself. It may score you some business of your own!
– Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher
Goal!!
Jun 11th
The World Cup kicks off today, the first ever to be held in Africa. A number of South African cities, including Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, will play host to the soccer games and the tournament; and various festivities will continue for the next 30 days. Soccer (or football) fans all over the world are rejoicing that the games, which take place every four years, are finally back!
According to an Associated Press report, the opening ceremonies were met with a touch of sadness, following news that Nelson Mandela‘s 13-year-old great-granddaughter was killed in a car accident following last night’s World Cup concert. Mandela did not attend the opening ceremonies today.
Soccer City, one of the stadiums located between Johannesburg and Soweto, hosted the opening ceremonies, with African dancers and a crowd of fans in Bafana Bafana (South Africa’s home team) jerseys. Notable attendees included Mandela’s former wife, Winnie, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.
Let the games begin! South Africa, welcome to the world stage.
– Kim Krol, eFlyer editor, circulation and public relations executive
King Tut
Apr 8th
King Tut was nine years old when he became Pharaoh, and he reigned until he was approximately 19 years old. Unlike most Pharaohs of Egypt, King Tut was worshipped as a god and honored with a cult-like following during his lifetime. His tomb is currently one of the most complete ancient Egyptian royal tombs ever found. It was discovered in the Valley of the Kings, almost completely intact. Today, the tomb is in Times Square.
Opening on April 23 and running through December, King Tut’s famous tomb will be open to the public, with information on its discovery back in the 1930s by British archaeologist Howard Carter, as well as forensic evidence about his life and death. After December, he will return to Egypt.
We are just as excited about this exhibit as our friends at Egypt Tourism. I will certainly be there on opening day!
– Courtney Centeno, account executive
Pursuing Travel Dreams
Apr 3rd
Just yesterday, Kim Krol blogged about her adventure zip lining in Hawaii, and last week Fran Gallagher wrote about his plans to visit the D-Day beaches at Normandy when he travels to France this week. It got me to thinking about some of the places I still want to visit — some of them as much for certain ubiquitous activities which are associated with those locations as for the places themselves. Both Kim’s and Fran’s experiences are ones I’d like to duplicate, but there are lots more.
For instance, I’d love to visit the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, but somehow just floating over it in a glass-bottomed boat wouldn’t suffice. I’d want to dive into those blue waters and be surrounded by all the beautiful coral and sealife. That would require me to first learn to snorkel or scuba, of course, but if I got as far as Australia, you can bet I’d acquire the skills to enjoy the full experience under the water.
Closer to home, I must admit that I have yet to visit the Grand Canyon (but it’s on my list!). While I look forward to someday standing on the rim and drinking in the views of that great natural wonder, I’d really love the chance to take part in a rafting trip on the Colorado River through it. My sister Robbe actually took such a trip several years ago and had a fantastic time. And really quite close to home is the Pacific Crest Trail, running along the crest of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains continuously from Mexico to Canada. Although I doubt I’ll ever hike the entire length of it, I nevertheless would like to get out on some stretch of it for a week or two and enjoy the beauty and peace. I wouldn’t mind a similar trek on the Appalacian Trail, either.
Some others? Sailing through the Panama Canal (or the Suez). Riding a camel across the deserts of Egypt. Going on safari (photography) in Africa. Hiking across a glacier in Alaska. Riding the bullet train in Japan. Attending a fashion show in Paris. The list goes on and on. Adding to it makes for pleasant daydreams, and pursuing crossing items off gives me travel goals I can look forward to.
How about you? What are some things you’d like to do in this wide world, near or far from home? And what have you already done that you heartily recommend others do?
– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader
