This Texas town has a serious sense of humor.

The URL MargaritasForChristmas.com goes to the holiday video below, plus a list of happenings around the ATX (as we call it) during December.

Singer/songwriter Shelley King‘s “Christmas in Austin” song plus many others are on a holiday benefit album for HAAM (Health Alliance for Austin Musicians) – one more reason why Austin rocks.

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This is what my boarding pass looked like recently on a Delta flight;  a scannable QR code on my rather smudgy-screened Android phone.

Mobile check-in with Delta is available in 50+ airports around the world, including nine in Europe. The airline also has a Delta app that can do things like track your luggage on your phone….assuming you paid to check luggage.

When I went through the TSA security line and the boarding line at the gate, I made sure that I’d brought up this “eBoarding pass” on my phone from the email that Delta sent when I checked in online.

From the Delta website:

“You should have the barcode image available on the screen of your device when approaching the security checkpoint or boarding gate. Please ensure the entire barcode is visible on the screen and make certain the backlight is on when the barcode is being scanned. You should also have a valid government issued photo ID available for inspection at the Security Checkpoint.”

The agent will run it past a scanner that’s similar to the ones at grocery store check-outs.

Tip: I had my phone’s Battery Saver function on, but we found that it made the screen too dim for the scanner, so I had to bump it up to the next battery management setting.

Pretty slick, eh?

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If you’re ever near Eunice, Louisiana on a Saturday, you’re in for a jam-packed day of St. Landry Parish music if you know where to go….

In the morning, from 9 to 12, there’s an informal jam session at Savoy Music Center.

From their website:

“….we ask only one thing… Please, no more than ONE triangle player at a time. If you’re wondering how to find the music center, just look for thirty cars lined up Hwy. 190 between Eunice and Lawtell.

We are open for business, and admission is free, but a small box of boudin or cracklins would make you the most popular guy in there for about 2-3 minutes.”

For the uninitiated, boudin is Cajun-style sausage, and cracklins are deep-fried pork skins.

Here’s what the jam session is like (direct link to the video on YouTube if you can’t see the embed box below)

In the evening, from 6 to 7:30, it’s time for the Rendez-Vous des Cajuns weekly show at the historic Liberty Theater, also broadcast on FM 88.7 KRVS and Eunice’s own KEUN (AM 1490 and FM 105.5.)

There’s dancing at the Rendez-Vous, too, so go kick up your heels, cher.

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Welcome to the (particularly enormous!) Carnival of Cities blog carnival, where we tour the world in a single post, via submissions from a variety of different blogs, all about any aspect of one, single city or fair-sized town.

The previous Carnival edition was hosted on Sheila’s Guide, and you’ll find the next one (December 14) on Travel with Teens and Tweens.

If you would like to host a future Carnival edition on your blog, please contact me at Sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com. Thanks!

Off we go….

Cities in Europe

Akureyri, Iceland Hjortur Smarason presents Akureyri in the Snow! – Photo Essay posted at Raving Ravens, saying, “This is a post I did about Akureyri, the biggest town of North Iceland with pictures from a heavy snow day ”

Tallinn, Estonia Chris Christensen presents Chocolate Quest in Tallinn, Estonia posted at The Amateur Traveler Podcast – travel for the love of it.

Stockholm, Sweden Anne-Sophie Redisch presents Östermalms Saluhall – Slow Food in Stockholm posted at Sophie’s World, saying, “If you’re a travelling foodie and you happen to be in Stockholm, a stop at Saluhallen Market in the hip Östermalm neighbourhood will be a highlight of your visit.”

London, England AbundantJourneys presents London Calling; A New Holiday Tradition? posted at Life Is Full of Bloom.

Avanos, Turkey jenny presents Avanos, Turkey: Search for the Red Clay Turkish Pottery for Pottery Kebabs posted at Devour The World.

Helsinki, Finland Chris Gray Faust presents Fascinating Finland: Finnish Design in Helsinki posted at Chris Around The World: A Journalist’s Travels on the Road.

Glasgow, Scotland Mike Sowden presents Glasgow: There Hasnae Been a Murder posted at Fevered Mutterings.

Munich, Germany Stuart Wickes presents Whirlwind Munich posted at The Family Adventure Project, saying, “A family oriented whirlwind tour of Munich, Germany.”

Florence, Italy MoTravels presents Florence in the Fall posted at MO TRAVELS, saying, “Fall is the perfect time to enjoy Florence, with the beautiful autumn leaves, cooler climate and fewer crowds.”

Poissy, France Michael Schuermann presents The White House Le Corbusier Built posted at easy hiker.

Copenhagen, Denmark Dian Emery presents Sightseeing on a Winter’s Day in Copenhagen posted at GirlsGetaway, saying, “Tips for winter sightseeing in Europe’s capital of cool, Copenhagen Denmark”

Pamplona, Spain Liz presents pamplona posted at Liz en España.

Budapest, Hungary Alex Berger presents Adventure Travel: Caving Deep Beneath Budapest – My First Brush With Claustrophobia posted at VirtualWayfarer.

London, England David Leonhardt presents Top Style Bars of London posted at Barwhiz Blog, saying, “Style bars in London are similar to the usual bars which serve great drinks with awesome music to entertain the guests. One thing that separates them from regular pubs or bars is their decor, serving style and most prominently, the star-studded guest list.”

Stockholm, Sweden Lola Akinmade Åkerström presents Holiday spirit around Birger Jarlsgatan – Stockholm posted at The Swedish photo blog — blogs.sweden.se, saying, “Christmas markets are now up around Sweden. Decorations adorn storefronts and shelves. Twinkling stars hang in windows, including mine. You can definitely feel the holiday spirit here in Stockholm, even though snow has delayed its arrival.”

Venice, Italy Tui Cameron presents Venice, Italy’s Warped Sense of Scale posted at Mental Mosaic, saying, “A recent visit to Venice, Italy got me thinking about the meaning of scale. Several luxury yachts in the harbor completely dwarfed that beautiful floating city. It looked like a movie set with items in different scales, as you can see from my photos.”

Annecy, France Andrea presents 3 Hours in Annecy posted at Destination Europe.

London, England Simon Falvo presents London’s East End? Multicultural, Fascinating and So Cool posted at Wild About Travel.

Cities in the Americas

Ottawa, Canada Globetrottergirls presents Ottawa UnLOCKed posted at Globetrottergirls, saying, “We recently discovered that the key to conquering Canada’s capital is by starting at the locks.”

Bogota, Colombia 20stravel presents Street Art of Bogota: A Photo Essay posted at Twenty-Something Travel.

Anaheim, California, USA Jennifer Miner presents Disneyland During Winter Holiday Season posted at Los Angeles Consortium of Online Travel, saying, “Plenty to see and do in Disneyland during the Christmas season!”

Rapid City, South Dakota, USA Beth Blair presents South Dakota’s Bear Country U.S.A. posted at The Vacation Gals, saying, “Terrific stop on a family road trip – Bear Country in South Dakota.”

(more…)

It’s not often that I’m able to make a direct connection between Zambia and the small Texas town of Bastrop.

Thanks to this year’s Passports with Purpose – the annual travel bloggers’ fundraiser – I can support both education in Africa and a town near me that is recovering from terrible wildfires.

We’re working to raise US$80,000 through PwP to build two libraries in southern and eastern Zambia.  Wow. That’s the building construction, all the books and educational materials, teacher training and support for three years.

Last year we raised enough money (mostly in US$10 increments) to build an entire village in southern India in partnership with Friends of LAFTI.  This year, PwP is partnering with Room to Read for the libraries.

It works rather like a raffle – in addition to the goodie we’re showcasing below, you can browse through this full list of travel-related prizes and bid for chances to win whichever ones appeal to you.  At the end of the fundraiser – it runs through December 16, 2011 – one winner of each prize will be randomly selected from all of those who have bid for it.  A $10 donation per bid is suggested, but if you don’t want to make a donation, mail one self addressed stamped envelope to: Passports with Purpose, P.O. Box 16102, Seattle WA 98116.  Include the name of the prize you are entering to win.

A huge thank you to Hyatt Hotels, who sponsored the prize featured here on the Perceptive Travel Blog:  a two-night stay at the lovely Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa in Bastrop (near Austin.)

This prize is special to me because I enjoyed a stay at the resort with my family awhile back;  the room was nice and comfy, food was very good, the staff was helpful and friendly and the water park/pool area (complete with a Lazy River) was a huge hit.

We didn’t get around to some of the other recreational offerings on the Colorado River running through the property, or in the adjacent 1,100-acre McKinney Roughs Nature Park, but that simply means we’ll have to return!

More importantly, the unique Lost Pines area where the Resort is located suffered absolutely devastating wildfires this past September. Record high temperatures, particularly severe drought and high winds contributed to the destruction of most of the distinctive loblolly pines, two people were killed and 1600+ homes burned.

It was the most destructive single wildfire in Texas history, and I could smell and see the smoke from it in my front yard more than 30 miles north.

Consequently, even though the quaint Main Street town of Bastrop (a National Trust Distinctive Destination) and the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort are just fine and are open for business, tourism has suffered and the downtown Bastrop businesses are struggling to convince visitors that the whole town didn’t burn down.

Offering this prize is one small way to both support Passports with Purpose and highlight the recovery of a special place.

For a chance to win this prize or one of many others, go here to the PwP Prize List/Donate page and follow the directions.

(Note: our Hyatt Lost Pines prize is for a two-night stay 1/1/2012 – 12/30/2012. It’s good for nights Sunday through Thursday – based on availability – and is not valid during holiday periods or Spring Break.)

Thanks for your support of Passports with Purpose, and I look forward to showing off some photos of the libraries in Zambia in the next year or so.

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