I haven’t had a chance to do a linkpost in awhile, but wanted to write up a quick one for this week….

Airport Layover Contest  –  What would you recommend for the best use of a few hours of airport layover?  Conde Nast Traveler’s Perrin Post says to send in your best ideas by 31 July for their Airport Layover Contest.  The submissions are in the comments; some good stuff already.

The venerable Delta Queen riverboat may not be plying the Mississippi River much longer….

Heading to Australia? Here are 15 ways to play in Perth.

Lone travel to Latin America, or how I beat my fears to a pulp, on BlogHer.

Mena, Egypt is my kind of town.

Tickets for the October 2008 Angola Prison Rodeo in Louisiana went on sale today (yes, the same prison that had a reputation for bloody inmate assaults in the 1960s. Today they run a world-renowned rodeo and you can subscribe to the inmate newspaper.)

Cool places to go in Lawrence, Kansas.

Calling all urbanites….five best quirky city tours.

Finally, we’ve been in several blog carnivals lately, so let me give a shout-out to them, and remind everyone that Wendy at Escape from New York is hosting the next Carnival of Cities:

Bahrain Rising was featured on the Less Than A Shoestring carnival covering South America, Africa and the Middle East.  It also includes a Rick Steves people-to-people diplomacy visit to Iran,  and a Swedish writer’s impressions from hitchhiking in Africa.

Virginia’s unique Barter Theatre was featured on the Less Than A Shoestring carnival covering the Americas (North America, Central America and the Caribbean)  along with the Traveling Mamas telling us where to eat a great fast food lunch in Hawaii.

The Carnival of Travelers on the Fly Away Cafe blog - the Photo Edition - had mostly photo posts, including ours from North Carolina’s Mast General Store and a lovely one from a cemetery in Omotesando in Tokyo.

Welcome to this edition of the Carnival of Cities; it was supposed to be posted as usual on Wednesday (18 June) but I was “overtaken by events” preparing to teach a new workshop yesterday, here in Austin (Learn Five Web 2.0 Tools in One Day.)

Let’s just say that the workshop went very well, but five tools is probably a few too many to cram into one teaching event. :)

At any rate, let’s pause and take a quick world tour in one blog post:

** Cities in the Americas **

Lodi, California, USA JHSEsq tells a great story about an everyday hero saving a life on the train tracks in Life in Lodi: The Village Has a Real, Live Hero posted at Colloquium.

Atlanta, Georgia, USA Claudine recommends the Canine Cocktail Hour at Hotel Indigo posted at her blog theatlantatraveler.com, saying, “We love our pets in Atlanta!”

Seattle, Washington, USA Pam Mandel presents Seattle’s Wing Luke Asian Museum posted at Nerd’s Eye View, saying, “Seattle has a new museum that addresses the Asian and Pacific Islander cultures that call our city home. The museum isn’t quite ready for prime time, but the building is a stunner and the museum promises to be a real gem when they have all their exhibits installed. It’s worth a preview.”

Caminos de Los Indios, Venezuela APH gives some background on Socialist Cities at the Market Urbanism blog, saying, “Development of Caminos de Los Indios, the first of five “Socialist Cities” has begun south of Caracas. In his 2007 inaugural speech, Hugo Chavez said, ‘We need to [develop] a system of cities based on federations, federal regions. We need to build communal cities, Socialist Cities.’”

San Francisco, California, USA CatSynth presents In the shadow of the bridge posted at catsynth.com mp3 kitty cat synthesizer music, saying, “Images and thoughts from our neighborhood in San Francisco.”

Moab, Utah, USA Ms. Smarty Pants gives us some highlights from Moab, Utah posted at Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All, saying, “Moab is a smaller town, but it is the main hub of southeast Utah.”

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Ethan lists all sorts of things to do, plus a neat little photo stream, in Vancouver: So Much to Do, So Little Time posted at Never Clever Whatsoever.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica Amy @ The Q Family presents Carnival Cruise - Day 6 - Ocho Rios posted at The Q Family Adventure, saying, “Our quick visit to Ocho Rios shows that there is more to see in Jamaica than we can do in one day.”

New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA John presents the Most Common Birds in Middlesex County posted at his comprehensive A DC Birding Blog.

Seattle, Washington, USA Mary Jo Manzanares says to get off of the couch and Let’s Get Ready to Scramble! Writing at her blog The Seattle Traveler, she says, “Explore the streets of Seattle and get a little exercise with this urban orienteering competition.”

Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, USA Kara Williams presents Good, Big Eats at Kahuna Kabobs in Lahaina, Maui posted at Traveling Mamas.

** Cities in Asia **

Nagoya, Japan Silicon Valley Blogger presents Making Money Through Day Trading: The Secret Lives of Stay-At-Home Mommy Speculators posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “This details the story of a day-trading Japanese suburban housewife in Nagoya, Japan.”

Beijing, China I had a wonderful two-part Family Travel blog guest post by Laura Bond Williams about taking young children to Beijing. Part One covers the logistics of long-haul travel from Texas to China with little ones, and Part Two has details of her family’s time in Beijing.

Tokyo, Japan Wendy presents Teenage Tokyo: Hangry and Angry posted at Escape From New York, saying, “They look like the revenge of Hello Kitty. Their names are Hangry and Angry and they have scars, eye patches and stitches.”

Xuan Wei, China Junjie has some nice photos of Xuan Wei posted at Junjie’s China blog.

** Cities in Europe **

Perugia, Italy Karen Bryan presents Review of Holiday Inn Perugia - great value for money and scenic pool posted at Europe A La Carte Blog, saying, “A value for money hotel close to the beautiful Umbrian town of Perugia in Italy.”

Nuuk, Greenland Katrina Cain asks What is the Biggest City in the World? and I’m going with her square kilometers definition. She writes at What is the Biggest….

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Cities. If you’d like to host the July 2 or July 9 edition, drop me an email at sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com. Thanks!

Pam over at Nerd’s Eye View is hosting next week’s 25 June edition, so submit your (one, non-spammy) blog post to the next edition by 12 noon US Pacific time on Tuesday, 24 June, using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of cities, blog carnival.

Hey, everyone. Sorry about not posting this weekend but I got so caught up in a new project that everything else sort of slipped my mind.

What’s the project, you ask?

Well, it combines my love of travel and writing and focuses on an important issue in today’s world.

Of course, you’ve probably already figured it out from this post’s heading. But just in case you haven’t, I’ll be writing about green travel for the b5Media network.

The blog is called Traveling the Green Way and will be looking at all things relating to traveling green.

Sure hope you stop by and have a look.

And for any of you who write about travel, I’ll be hosting a Green Travel Carnival every other week.

So think green with your travel posts and join the first Green Travel Carnival that will be held on the 11th of June.

Here’s how you can Join the Green Travel Carnival.

See you there…

Welcome to the carnival where you can tour the world in one blog post!

If you’d like to host the 28 May or 4 June Carnival of Cities, please email me at sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com. Thanks!

Some intriguing contributions this week….

** Cities in the Americas **

Seattle, Washington, USA Mary Jo Manzanares says that An Angel Whispered to Me: “See Corteo” posted at The Seattle Traveler. This Cirque du Soleil production is worth seeing, whether in Seattle or one of their performances in another city.

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, USA Leslie Carbone gives some historical background and then presents a video on Dunmore’s Proclamation, Liberty to Slaves at her blog Leslie Carbone.

Miami, Florida, USA Michael writes that Downtown Miami’s Skyline Looks To Be Stretching Skywards posted at Michael Emilio. Of course, the Florida real estate picture is pretty grim, so who will buy all those condos in the sky?

Burlington, Vermont, USA Gray says that A Single Pebble has the best Asian food in the county and possibly the whole state. Posted at SoloFriendly.com.

Chicago, Illinois, USA TherapyDoc wonders if those City Cats are going to start strolling right down Michigan Avenue; “It isn’t every day the big cats come down to the big city.” Posted at Everyone Needs Therapy.

Arlington, Texas, USA The Whited Sepulchre is not happy about The Texas Sinkhole; no, not the Houston one, but the tax-subsidized one for “America’s Team.” Posted at The Whited Sepulchre.

Mexico City, Mexico Jack Norell describes Coyoacan, Mexico City posted at Eyeflare - Travel Articles and Tips, saying, “Coyoacan is a gorgeous leafy suburb of Mexico City. It is famous for its markets and, on a Saturday and Sunday, for great secondhand bookshops and also ice cream (you should try mil flores flavor - “a thousand flowers.”) The name Coyoacan means ‘Place of Coyotes’.”

Loganville, Georgia, USA Amy @ The Q Family describes how to Pick Your Own Strawberries at her blog The Q Family Adventure, saying, “Enjoy Spring; go out and pick your own strawberries in this Atlanta suburb.”

Daytona Beach, Florida, USA Kara Williams got up to racing speed at the Richard Petty Driving Experience at Daytona International Speedway posted at Traveling Mamas.

Branson, Missouri, USA Jeff Sullivan describes the Knudsen Brothers in his post Six - Best New Shows In Branson posted at Branson Travel Attractions.

Whistler, British Columbia, Canada Debbie Dubrow writes about Exploring Whistler Village posted at Delicious Baby, saying, “Read about our family vacation to Whistler BC, where we enjoyed the last ski-weekend of the season.”

** Cities in Europe **

London, United Kingdom Caitlin Fitzsimmons has the scoop on how to Save money in London: Part 1 - Transport posted at Roaming Tales, saying, “The first in a 5-part series on how visitors can save money in London.”

Larnaca, Cyprus Andrew Edgington says that Inexpensive Cyprus Apartments In Larnaca Are A Great Deal posted at Cyprus Informer.

** Cities in Asia **

Jaipur, India Lokendra Rathore describes some beautiful Gardens Around Jaipur posted at Karan’s Guest House.

Hanoi, Vietnam If you’re curious about Vietnam and have wondered, “So, what’s Hanoi like?” then read Pam Mandel’s description of the cacophony of city sounds (including the 6 a.m. morning announcements) posted at her blog Nerd’s Eye View.

Coorg, India AdmirableIndia.com spends time in Coorg, Madikeri and includes photos on the AdmirableIndia.com blog.

That concludes this week’s edition; the Carnival of Cities host next week (on Wednesday, 21 May) is the ever-entertaining Nerd’s Eye View.

Submit your (one, non-spammy) blog post about any aspect of a single city by noon US Pacific Time on Tuesday, 20 May, using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Thanks for visiting!

Technorati tags: carnival of cities, blog carnival.

There’s just something about a map. All folded up, it appears somewhat insignificant. But open it up and it’s potential seems endless. Suddenly you have a city, a state, a country, or the world at your fingertips.

I’ve been hooked on maps for as long as I can remember. First, it was the National Geographic maps that arrived in the mailbox with the magazine. They offered up the world in technicolor and through them I discovered the historic places of the Middle East and Europe and the disappearing cultures of the Incas, Aztecs, and Apache.

From there, it was an easy jump to road maps. My mother might have been the real navigator on family road trips around Europe and the USA, but I was map ready. Sitting in the back seat, I would follow and trace our journeys on the map, more than willing to point out where we were or where we were going. For me, the highlight of each trip was how many new maps I scored at local tourist offices.

It’s a habit I’ve yet to grow out of. I am simply addicted to maps.

On recent trips I have tried to go high tech. I used MapQuest to help navigate my way through the Los Angeles freeways and Google Earth to determine the location of hotels in central Madrid. I even downloaded the NYC subway map onto my iPod. But in the end, it was the paper map that I turned to for direction.

Don’t get me wrong. I love having even more avenues to explore maps. Google Earth is great. So is MapQuest. The internet has opened up total map access. Anytime I want a map, all I have to do is click on a map store, a tourist office, or do a google search and the map will appear.

There are even dedicated map blogs to visit…

The Map Room

Strange Maps

Cartophilia

But it’s the paper maps that will travel with me.