Oh, Switzerland.

In a subterranean fallout shelter in Sevelen, Switzerland, the Null Stern Hotel, biliing itself as "The World's First Zero Star Hotel" is preparing to open its crappy, crappy doors.

"Null stern" actually means "zero star," which is a little relieving. They're being clever, not insane. Normally, this is a cultural misunderstanding we have with Norway. Maybe we've misjudged Switzerland.

The Null Stern Hotel will cost between 6 and 18 euros per night, and includes former bomb shelter facilities, no daylight, slippers, earplugs, communal bathrooms and showers, and a butler (there was one in the photo shoot, I'm not sure he'll be there when you show up).

We don't know why they get earplugs.

The Null Stern hotel will open in early 2009, but recently opened up to volunteers for a test run. See the photos here.

What to do in Sevelen? I don't know. But at least you know there's a bomb shelter where you can stay. If you can read German, here you go.

Want to make all your friends swoon? Rent out a villa in the south of France for an affordable, peaceful vacation.

Want to make all your friends love you? Take them along!

French villas have become one of the top destinations in the great tradition of group vacations. I love group vacations; it's like an extended party. Get everyone you like together and watch them interact for a week. It's fascinating, often scandalous, and makes one feel like they're in some 17th century comedy of manners, or an old-Hollywood movie.

One villa I recommend is Villa Plantat, near the small town Quissac. Villa Plantat (plantat means "to plant") is an elegant house set on 400 acres of beautiful grounds with an orangerie and a private spring-fed swimming lake, and is located close to both historic Roman ruins and the Mediterranean sea (just 35 minutes away).

Villa Plantat can provide a private provencal chef for just around $20 per meal, and they also have twice yearly yoga retreats (2 hours of yoga per day plus special events; not yoga boot camp) in May and September. $1380 per person includes accommodations, wine (!), and classes.

Villa Plantat is available year round for $4,200 per week (price drops by $500 for additional weeks) and sleeps thirteen. That's just $323 per person. Or, for ten people, $420 per week.

Save up your miles and get to the south of France. It's an idyllic, quaint, and quintessentially lovely experience you won't forget.

Want to have a classy winter rendezvous in New York City? Between December 21st, 2008, and March 15th, 2009, The Carlton on Madison Avenue has a droolworthy "Winter in the City" package deal.

"The Carlton on Madison Avenue has a cozy 'Winter in the City' package, which combines comfy delights, including a 'Comfort Foods' menu featuring dishes such as truffled mac & cheese, poached lobster, and peanut butter hot chocolate, exclusively created for guests opting for the package, and passes to ice-skate at Rockefeller Center."

The package, which starts at a reasonable NYC price of $385 (pre-taxes and gratuities) per night, includes a 2-night stay at the luxury Madison Avenue Carlton Hotel, a private consultation with a furrier at Saks (I know, right?), a New York City snow globe welcome gift, and all the grand amenities of the Big Apple.

If I didn't live here, I would beg for this for Christmas. Contact The Carlton for more information and availability!

What's the Fourth of July without fireworks, right?

Just in time for your Independence Day celebrations, here's a simple Web site that lists which states have legalized consumer fireworks, and which states still currently ban them.

A good portion of the U.S. actually allows most every kind of consumer fireworks, including Texas, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Tennessee.

However, those of you living up in the staid Northeast (hey, I'm from the Northeast, so I can say that) have a tougher time of it. New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts ban all consumer fireworks. Vermont and Maine allow only sparklers.

There's a category of states, among them California, Nevada and Florida, that allow only "safe and sane" fireworks, whatever that means, and this distinction varies state to state.

Thinking of stocking up for the big day? See where your state stands. Note that, as the Web site says, the map is only a general guide and does not reflect the fact that often individual communities have their own fireworks laws that might go against state regulations.

Happy Fourth of July everybody!

Jeffrey recently wrote a post about the Gettysburg electric map that depicts this battle in different colored electric lights. The map may become no more, but here is a new opportunity to learn about the Civil War. In Washington, D.C., starting Memorial Day weekend, the bus tour "Civil War Washington: Soldiers and Citizens" will be taking people to several sites important to the time period.

On the list of stops:

• Lincoln Cottage on the grounds of the U.S. Armed Forces Retirement Home. This is where Abe Lincoln went to as a summer retreat.
• Fort Stevens which was attacked during the Civil War
• The African American Civil War Memorial
• Peterson House where Lincoln died. He was taken to this house from the Ford Theater where he was shot.

As with any bus tour worth the money, this tour gives insider type information like how Matthew Brady, a Civil War photographer attempted to get his shots. For information about the tour, click here.

Every year when the temperature warms and the wind picks up, we buy a cheap kite to fly for a day or two before we get too busy to head to an open field. As an Earth Day Celebration, what could be more environmentally friendly than kite flying? Except, of course, for the gas to get to a place with wind and enough space.

Open fields are among the best places to fly a kite if you live in an urban area. Think the middle of a high school track for one option. Look out for power lines, though. Kites and power lines are not a good combo. If you live near a coast or a large lake, head to the beach. Other places to consider are fields in city parks.

One thing I like about kite flying, once you have a kite, it's free. It's also participatory. What a great way to join in with humanity in environmentally friendly fun. Here are suggestions--some based on personal experience, what people have told me, or in this article, "The Ten Best Places Around the World to Go Fly a Kite":

One of the more interesting aspects of living in another country, I think, is going to a cultural event that is not part of ones own culture or the culture of the host country. In each place I've lived, there have been people from other countries who are also transplants who have brought aspects of their own cultures with them. Such was the case with the Passover Seder I went to at the American Club in Taipei. I'm not Jewish, but a good friend that I taught with in Hsinchu is, and she asked if I wanted to go.

The American Club was merely the location of the event. One didn't have to be an American to go, or a member of the American Club. There were Jewish folks from all over the world. If I hadn't been living in Taiwan, I wouldn't have had this experience--not because there haven't been Seders that I could have gone to before this, but because it's so easy to become routine in ones habits. Living overseas gets one out of the routine and, at least to me, opens up other possibilities for cultural exchange.

With Passover coming up, April 19-27, I was reminded of this experience. Here's a Web site of the Chabad-Lubavitch where you can find Seders to attend all over the world, as well as, a variety of activities and info about Passover. The International Seder Finder lists 2,000 Seders. This link leads to descriptions of the cultural significance of each of the foods shown in the picture.

I enjoy finding websites that represent businesses trying to make-money and help the world at the same time. My latest find is UK based Noflights.com, which as the name suggests, is about traveling without taking a flight.

The company has put together an expansive bundle of travel-itineraries for people who want environmentally conscious travel. From the UK, they have ready packages that, other than Europe, will take you to China, Russia, Morocco, and Turkey. You can travel by bus, train or boat and choose the type of holiday you want basis categories like: "big sky, mountains, lakes", "6-hours from London", "tracks less traveled" and "mix-it-up". They will tailor-make your trip if you want, and if you are based outside the UK you can send them your details and they will sort something out for you.

They promise: "...the lowest price on the market for any of our hotel or holiday products. If you find a cheaper hotel or like for like holiday (either as a package or booked independently) from any other source, we'll match it and give you £10 back for good measure," and 10% of their surplus income will be donated to environmental justice campaigns.

Another interesting feature of the site: you can send in a travelogue of any sort and if they like it they will give you a discount or some reward for using it on their site.

The website looks new and has unsurprising issues of a new site: at the moment it does not have enough information uploaded and many links don't click to anywhere; a bit of scouting around revealed that it launched only about a week ago. Nevertheless, worth checking out.

When Rutherford B. Hayes was the 19th president,of the U.S. he started the tradition of the Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn. The tradition has since carried over to Hayes' estate in Fremont, Ohio. Every year, kids show up at Spiegel Grove with hardboiled, colored eggs in hand to participate in egg related contests and scarf down Easter goodies. This year, it's March 22. So, that's one afternoon. What about the rest of the year?

The estate, part of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, has the original gates from the White House and is where Hayes and his wife Lucy are buried. Other points of interest are the presidential library-- the first ever presidential library, in fact. Also, there are Hayes' and his wife's 31-room mansion, and a museum that chronicles Hayes' life, presidency and Ohio history to add to a trip here.

For some reason, unknown even to me, (and I've written about this place before), I left the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center out of my U.S. presidents with Ohio connections round-up post. So, if you're going to head to the spots where U.S. presidents lived, head here. It's part of the Ohio Historical Society's several landmark holdings, and one of the state's signature places.

I've never been to Mardi Gras but I have beads. My first few came from a good college friend of mine who came back from New Orleans with a smile on his face and tales of forgetting that he's from a "nice" family. Not really, I do know he had a grand time and bought beads back for everyone.

Acquiring lots of beads and trinkets is one way to measure how much of a good time one had at a Mardi Gras parade. I imagine the experience is like a giant pinata that takes forever to empty--all those colors flying.

These beads have been part of Mardi Gras since 1920s when throwing trinkets to spectators started to become a feature. The original "throws" (what is thrown) were cheap glass beads instead of the lightweight plastic ones of today. [Check out this National Geographic article for a detailed history.]

If Mardi Gras beads rain your way there are some things you can do with them once you get them home. Here are directions for how to make a floor lamp. You can also knit a scarf. How about a bead dog?

I bet you could glue those beads on about anything. Buy a cheap picture frame, cover it with beads and show off your favorite Mardi Gras snapshot. That's my idea.