This past Friday night I went to the Rock Fashion Night, one of the events from Berlins Fashion Week. Basically it was a bunch of hipsters and sexy indie folks glammed up watching relatively attractive models who sported tattoos and odd facial expressions as they walked down a catwalk during two rock bands performances. Oh yeah, and at one point they climbed a ladder and just kind of stared into space. Fun? Genau. (translation: helll yeah)

The Rock Fashion Night party was open to the public, like a lot of the Berlin Fashion Week events, though Im not entirely certain this event was technically even part of Fashion Week.

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Whether youre a family of beginners learning the ropes of the mountain or an experienced group of friends ready to tackle the next big challenge, these five North American ski resorts offer great skiing and snowboarding, plus a few extra details that ensure a perfect winter vacation.

Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort
Just 90 minutes outside of Vancouver is the behemoth known as Whistler Blackcomb. Eight thousand acres of skiing area, 27 lifts, and hundreds of runs and trails make for a skier’s dream. T

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Beginning Jan. 26, new rules from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) should make it a bit easier when shopping around for the best airfare. Consumer advocates are hailing a new consumer rule, designed to enhance protections for air travelers, that will require all government taxes and fees to be included in every advertised fare.

The goal is to make it easier for travelers to see “hidden” airfare fees from the start, thereby preventing sticker shock at the time of purchase. Taxes and surcharges will be more clearly visible, and baggage fees also need to be more clearly disclosed. In

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Eastern Europe is becoming popular with many travellers.

People in the UK who are looking to head off on adventurous holidays this summer are increasingly turning to new kinds of destinations in 2012 in order to make savings and see new areas of the world that they may not have had the chance to visit before.While many still enjoy taking out their travel insurance policies for holidays such as the traditional break on a Spanish beach, there are an increasing number who are looking to travel to places where they can undertake a more adventurous holiday, such as a hiking break or a mountaineering expedition.According to Nadine Hallak, travel expert at Cheapflights.co.uk, the destinations which are becoming more popular are mostly in Eastern Europe.She said that countries such as Macedonia and Romania are seeing a substantial increase in visitor numbers already this year, and also suggested another region further afield was quickly gaining momentum.”Vietnam is also a good choice – with new flights with Vietnam Airways the destination is likely to become even more popular and is a great choice for travellers looking for an adventure break, with plenty of activities on offer including biking and kayaking tours in the north.”Those who are heading off on adventure holidays need to make sure that they are buying themselves travel insurance policies which cover such breaks, as the cover often needs to be more extensive than standard ones because of the increased levels of danger.Recently, Rosie Fuller, editor of Adventure Travel Magazine, said that there had been a huge increase in the number of people looking to travel to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan. Read full topic…

Perú is a magical place. For most Smithsonian travelers the goal, the prize I should say, is to see Machu Picchu with ones own eyes. My wife and I went to Machu Picchu in January 1980, when the means to get there, the accommodations, and other aspects of the infrastructure were far less than they are now. Machu Picchu was one of the first places we visited that turned out to be better than we had hoped it could be; it still is, though we must now contend with some 2,000-2,500 other visitors each day.

But there is a great deal more to Perú. Perú was the richest part of the world in the 16th and 17th centuries, and it was a very wealthy country in the 19th century. Pe

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