Tuesday, November 14, 2006
MTV launching guidebook series
HOBOKEN, New Jersey (AP) -- A venerable name in travel is partnering with the network that brought you music videos, "Pimp My Ride" and "Cribs" to produce a new series of trendy guidebooks for young travelers.
"MTV Italy" ($24) and "MTV Ireland" ($22) are the first books in the series from Frommer's, an imprint of New Jersey-based Wiley Publishing.
"MTV Europe" ($25) is due out in early December. Guides to Spain, France, England, American road trips and Mexico's beach resorts will be published in 2007.
The publisher says the books will lead readers "to some of the world's hottest party scenes and outdoor adventures" while also listing traditional museums and world-class attractions.
The MTV series is ideal for inexperienced travelers who need basic advice, especially those on a budget. They start out with "Best of" chapters that can help anyone come up with a good itinerary for a trip covering a lot of ground in a short time, combining authentic, offbeat experiences with local must-sees.
But the paperbacks are also filled with easy-to-digest tips on everything from arranging affordable cell phone service overseas, to making sure you have the right converters and adapters for your electronic gear, to explaining that it's hard to find a rental car in Europe with an automatic transmission (most are stick shift). Other advice includes calling your credit card company before you leave the U.S. so that your account isn't frozen because your charges from overseas look suspicious.
The "best of" recommendations in "MTV Italy" include "most awesome ancient ruins" like the Colosseum and Roman Forum, best seen, according to the guide, after dark when the floodlights come on. Best churches, according to "MTV Italy," are St. Peter's Basilica, the Duomo in Florence and St. Mark's Basilica.
The book also recommends the Riviera Romagnola towns of Rimini and Riccione on the Adriatic Coast as anything-goes destinations for serious partying, and Perugia and Bologna as "best college towns." For bars, the Drunken Ship in Rome and the Red Garter in Florence are described as places where "body shots and Power Hour drink specials" will remind you of spring break.
Less wild but also highly recommended bars include Vineria Reggio on Campo de' Fiori in Rome, Rock Castle in Perugia, Corto Maltese in Bologna and Bar Magenta in Milan. Best hostels in "MTV Italy" include Archi Rossi in Florence, The Beehive and Colors in Rome, and Hostel of the Sun in Naples.
Recommendations from "MTV Europe" include the continent's hottest nightclubs and bars, from London's celebrity-studded Boujis to Munich's retro Atomik Cafe to the Kulimnator in Antwerp, Belgium, where you can choose from 700 types of beer.
A chapter on Lisbon, Portugal, compares the city's Avenida da Liberdade, "with its marvelous mosaic walkways and rows of high-end shops," to the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Lisbon listings also include the Lisbon Lounge Hostel, described as "one of Europe's funkiest hostels" with an "irresistible lounge ... for hanging out"; Bom Apetite, a small, no-frills restaurant recommended for cheap eats; and Cafe A Brasileira do Chiado, where stopping in for tea or coffee is a local tradition.
"MTV Italy" ($24) and "MTV Ireland" ($22) are the first books in the series from Frommer's, an imprint of New Jersey-based Wiley Publishing.
"MTV Europe" ($25) is due out in early December. Guides to Spain, France, England, American road trips and Mexico's beach resorts will be published in 2007.
The publisher says the books will lead readers "to some of the world's hottest party scenes and outdoor adventures" while also listing traditional museums and world-class attractions.
The MTV series is ideal for inexperienced travelers who need basic advice, especially those on a budget. They start out with "Best of" chapters that can help anyone come up with a good itinerary for a trip covering a lot of ground in a short time, combining authentic, offbeat experiences with local must-sees.
But the paperbacks are also filled with easy-to-digest tips on everything from arranging affordable cell phone service overseas, to making sure you have the right converters and adapters for your electronic gear, to explaining that it's hard to find a rental car in Europe with an automatic transmission (most are stick shift). Other advice includes calling your credit card company before you leave the U.S. so that your account isn't frozen because your charges from overseas look suspicious.
The "best of" recommendations in "MTV Italy" include "most awesome ancient ruins" like the Colosseum and Roman Forum, best seen, according to the guide, after dark when the floodlights come on. Best churches, according to "MTV Italy," are St. Peter's Basilica, the Duomo in Florence and St. Mark's Basilica.
The book also recommends the Riviera Romagnola towns of Rimini and Riccione on the Adriatic Coast as anything-goes destinations for serious partying, and Perugia and Bologna as "best college towns." For bars, the Drunken Ship in Rome and the Red Garter in Florence are described as places where "body shots and Power Hour drink specials" will remind you of spring break.
Less wild but also highly recommended bars include Vineria Reggio on Campo de' Fiori in Rome, Rock Castle in Perugia, Corto Maltese in Bologna and Bar Magenta in Milan. Best hostels in "MTV Italy" include Archi Rossi in Florence, The Beehive and Colors in Rome, and Hostel of the Sun in Naples.
Recommendations from "MTV Europe" include the continent's hottest nightclubs and bars, from London's celebrity-studded Boujis to Munich's retro Atomik Cafe to the Kulimnator in Antwerp, Belgium, where you can choose from 700 types of beer.
A chapter on Lisbon, Portugal, compares the city's Avenida da Liberdade, "with its marvelous mosaic walkways and rows of high-end shops," to the Champs-Elysees in Paris. Lisbon listings also include the Lisbon Lounge Hostel, described as "one of Europe's funkiest hostels" with an "irresistible lounge ... for hanging out"; Bom Apetite, a small, no-frills restaurant recommended for cheap eats; and Cafe A Brasileira do Chiado, where stopping in for tea or coffee is a local tradition.
Don't be anti-US, says Murdoch
ANTI-Americanism is on the rise in Australia, fuelled by the unpopularity of the Iraq war among young people, Rupert Murdoch said last night.
Speaking in Sydney, Mr Murdoch warned Australians against allowing doubts about the US administration to fester into an irrational antipathy that saw America as a greater threat to world peace than al-Qaeda.
"Australians must resist and reject the facile, reflexive, unthinking anti-Americanism that has gripped much of Europe," said Mr Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, publisher of NEWS.com.au.
Addressing a star-studded audience, including Prime Minister John Howard, at the inaugural American Australian Association benefit dinner, Mr Murdoch said America had to work to address criticisms that it took Australia too much for granted "and not come calling only when in need".
"Australian sentiment is thankfully nowhere near Europe's level of hostility - but it could get there, and it mustn't," Mr Murdoch said.
"In the coming century America will find Asia more important than ever - and its alliance with Australia more useful than ever."
He spoke about the importance of finding new sources of energy to avoid the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change and to lessen dependence on oil "whose profits in some instances help to finance terror and prop up hostile regimes".
Political, business and academic leaders joined media and sporting personalities including golfer Greg Norman, designer Collette Dinnigan and filmmaker Baz Luhrmann at the dinner.
Lachlan Murdoch and wife Sarah shared a table with family members, while PBL chairman James Packer and partner Erica Baxter sat with PBL bosses.
The benefit dinner honoured Mr Murdoch for his contribution to Australian-American relations and launched the new United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
Mr Murdoch said the centre, an initiative between the American Australian Association and the Federal Government, would "raise awareness, dispel myths, groom new leaders" and increase ties between the two countries.
Speaking in Sydney, Mr Murdoch warned Australians against allowing doubts about the US administration to fester into an irrational antipathy that saw America as a greater threat to world peace than al-Qaeda.
"Australians must resist and reject the facile, reflexive, unthinking anti-Americanism that has gripped much of Europe," said Mr Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, publisher of NEWS.com.au.
Addressing a star-studded audience, including Prime Minister John Howard, at the inaugural American Australian Association benefit dinner, Mr Murdoch said America had to work to address criticisms that it took Australia too much for granted "and not come calling only when in need".
"Australian sentiment is thankfully nowhere near Europe's level of hostility - but it could get there, and it mustn't," Mr Murdoch said.
"In the coming century America will find Asia more important than ever - and its alliance with Australia more useful than ever."
He spoke about the importance of finding new sources of energy to avoid the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change and to lessen dependence on oil "whose profits in some instances help to finance terror and prop up hostile regimes".
Political, business and academic leaders joined media and sporting personalities including golfer Greg Norman, designer Collette Dinnigan and filmmaker Baz Luhrmann at the dinner.
Lachlan Murdoch and wife Sarah shared a table with family members, while PBL chairman James Packer and partner Erica Baxter sat with PBL bosses.
The benefit dinner honoured Mr Murdoch for his contribution to Australian-American relations and launched the new United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
Mr Murdoch said the centre, an initiative between the American Australian Association and the Federal Government, would "raise awareness, dispel myths, groom new leaders" and increase ties between the two countries.
