Luxist

With last week's publication of Sarah Palin's new book, Going Rogue, Alaska is once again in the headlines, so it's easy to forget that there's far more to our 49th state than its red-suited former governor. I've been working on a book project in the Bering Strait of Alaska sporadically for the past few years -- above is a photo from Shishmaref, Alaska. These are places where you really can see Russia. And while these locales aren't much for luxury in the traditional sense, they are the places where simply astonishing Alaska Native art is produced -- where artists utilize the landscape to create everything from delicately carved bracelets to bold mobiles, traditional masks to photographs, amber-jewel like kayaks to paintings.

Alaska's natural resources aren't just used for art, of course -- many Native Alaskans still live at least partially off the land and sea. In part, this is to preserve a traditional way of life, but it's also because the price of basic necessities is so high: a dozen eggs can cost as much as $22. In addition to the challenges of preserving tradition that are faced by native communities everywhere, the raw materials of life are in jeopardy because of global warming. This is the part of the United States that is the most dramatically affected by climate change: The state's wintertime climate has warmed by 40 degrees since 1950, sea ice has thinned by 60 percent since the 1960s.

Nine Native Alaskan artists have produced works in response to this fraught landscape, which opens at the Alaska House New York gallery in Soho on December 10th. Working in a variety of media, ranging from mask-making, to skin sewing, to photography, Brian Adams, Susie Bevins, Perry Eaton, Nicholas Galanin, Anna Hoover, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Erica Lord, Da-ka-xeen Mehner, and Larry McNeil create works that capture this particularly delicate moment for Alaska -- and works that are certainly highly collectible. Check out the preview below to get just a sample of this extraordinary art.

If Dry Ice inspires you to travel to the places where these works are created, Alaska House New York (which is as much of an "embassy" for Alaska as it is an art gallery) has many resources to guide you through the parts of the state that you're unlikely to see on your own. And if you're more of an armchair traveler, check out this thoughtfully curated selection of books about Alaska -- a good place to start is 50 Miles from Tomorrow, by William L. Iggiagruk Hensley. You'll also find a list of online resources, including the very entertaining online newspaper, Alaska Dispatch.

These properties spare no luxury while also keeping you mindful of your location which is smack in the middle of wild African nature -- you're asked to never go to your room at night without a watchman, and staff will keep a watchful eye out to to make sure mischievous vervet monkeys don't snatch away your mid-day snack. (When I stayed at Singita Sweni a couple of years ago, on a visit arranged through Premier Tours, I received my most favorite answer to a question I posed to a bell man, ever: "oh yes, just last week, two lions killed an impala near the pool.")

Kensington's specially priced deal is based on double occupancy. The offer is good January 15th – May 31st, 2010 and August 1st – December 15th, 2010.

I've always liked rosé, but up until a few years ago, its resemblance to wine coolers made people who weren't wine-confident feel uncertain about whether ordering it would make quite the right impression.

No more. Rosé seemed to be everywhere this past summer, and now The CIVP/Provence Wine Council has released statistics that adds weight to that perception. From mid September 2008 to mid September 2009, U.S. retail sales of imported rosé wines priced $12 and above grew 11 times faster by volume than total table wine sales.

The CIVP/Provence Wine Council is extra happy about this, first, because France accounts for more than a quarter of worldwide rosé wine by volume, and Provence is the leading rosé producing region in that country, and second, because consumers appear to be buying more expensive bottles. Sales of imported rosé wines at the $12 level and above grew by 28.4%, seven times faster than the 3.7% increase for total table wine dollar sales in the past year.

(Oh and in case you're wondering, CIVP stands for the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Provence, which is loosely French for "Provence Wine Council".)

One of the advantages that Park City, Utah has over other Western ski destinations is its convenience -- it lies 35 major highway minutes east of Salt Lake City's airport. So if your desire to ski exceeds the time you have available to devote to the slopes, you don't have to lose an entire day to transportation: wake up at dark-thirty almost anywhere in the United States and catch a flight into Salt Lake and board your chair lift by the afternoon.

To sweeten the deal, you don't even have to buy a lift ticket on your first day. The Quick START Vacation program allows you to convert your boarding pass into a lift ticket at Deer Valley Resort, The Canyons Resort, or Park City Mountain Resort. You need to register in advance online for a voucher, which you present along with your boarding pass, a non-Utah driver's license or other official state identification at the ticket window.

Make sure you read all the rules and regulations on the website, since there's no flexibility in these requirements. Like, if you're a person who shuns printing boarding passes at home and relies on your PDA for check-in, you're going to need to change your ways to get this deal. And if the airline wants to keep your boarding pass, you're going to need to put up a fight.

As you'd expect there are also black out dates: you're not going to get this deal over Christmas week (December 25th, 2009 to January 2nd, 2010) or from Valentine's Day weekend through March 27th, 2010.

There are more Park City deals and promotions to be had, and I'm particularly keen on is a package offered by The Sky Lodge which is throwing in a complimentary breakfast and a 50 minute spa treatment with each night's stay November 26th to April 13th, 2010. The spa treatment deal is especially nice since the Sky Lodge's Amara spa offers all of its massage and body treatment clients a soak in traditional wooden Japanese tubs called Ofuro baths. Per Japanese tradition, you shower before entering the tub, which is filled with piping hot water I'll admit that the soak made me a little nauseous when I visited this past summer (when it was nearing an unusually sultry 85 degrees outside) but it would definitely be just the thing after a day on the slopes. Once again, there are blackout dates during peak periods, so from December 26, 2009 - January 2, 2010, January 21 – 31, 2010 and February 10 – 15, 2010, you'll be paying for your own spa treatment and breakfast.

I visited L'Auberge de Sedona very early in 2009, when this long-time favorite retreat in Arizona's long-time favorite retreat town was just in the beginning phases of an extensive, $25 million renovation. This property now has 64 rooms (up from 56), between its cozy lodge and its private cottages set near wooded Oak Creek. The older cottages were given comprehensive face-lifts designed to reduce the separation between indoors and out -- there are bigger windows, expanded decks and totally private outdoor showers, the 13 new cottages include "spa cottages", designed with jacuzzi tubs.

The second phase of renovations are set to end in April 2010, and will include the addition of eighteen new cottages, set up on the hill overlooking the existing property. These cottages will have a view of Sedona's famous red rocks -- just about the only key feature that this property has lacked in its 25 year history.

Yesterday, while browsing at the incomparable Idelwild, a travel book store in New York's Union Square, I learned that the store is having trouble keeping South American guide books in stock -- the weather starts to get super nice down around those parts just as North American weather takes a nose dive.

If you're looking for a good South American destination to aim for, try Cartagena -- which has been called the next Buenos Aires. There's a new place to stay, too: The Tcherassi, a boutique hotel owned and designed by Latin fashion designer Silvia Tcherassi. She restored and renovated a 250 year old colonial mansion in the heart of the old city for the project, creating a hotel with just seven rooms, each named after a fabric she works with. The result seems a decidedly happy marriage of the old with sleek contemporary lines. (The roof pool is pictured here, see the gallery below for other images.) If The Tcherassi lives up to its promise, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it become a regular on hot design hotel lists.

Five years ago, contemporary art collector Frieder Burda opened a museum right in the heart of Baden Baden, Germany. As one of the world's original resort towns, tradition tends to trumps trendiness in Baden Baden, and this museum, in a building designed by Richard Meier, and the modern and contemporary art exhibits on offer, definitely set tongues a-wagging in town. When I visited this past Spring, the Burda museum was in the midst of an atypical show of 18th century art, including seven giant tapestries. I'd assumed that regular museum goers might be upset about the turn away from contemporary art, but was assured by a local that response was more like relief.

Short-lived, I suppose, since the Burda museum returned to its modern and contemporary art mission. Still horizons have been stretched, five years have passed, and more than a million visitors have passed through the museum's door, Now until November 8th, the museum is exhibiting "Blue Rider" movement paintings, which were first exhibited in early 20th century Munich. (These paintings are usually at the Lenbachhaus in Munich, which is now under renovation. See a few of the works on display in the gallery below.) Next up, starting on November 21st, is an exhibit of the work of German artist Georg Baselitz. The artist himself is involved in the curation of the exhibit, which will be shared with Baden Baden's museum Staatliche Kunsthalle. The Burda will exhibit Baselitz paintings, the Staatliche Kunsthalle will exhibit Baseltiz's sculpture.

I've visited London a few times over the past couple of years, and my visits have ranged from being a bit on the pricey side to being punishingly expensive: when it took just shy of two dollars to buy a pound, I thought twice about shelling out for the Tube. At eight bucks a go, my irrational version of travel budgeting had me figuring I'd rather spend the additional money on a taxi. (Hey, I'm a writer, not an accountant.)

Avoid all of the currency calculations when you book "The Capital Idea" package at London's Capital Hotel, in Knightsbridge. The hotel has just announced fixed-dollar rates for 2010, which includes, among other things, full breakfast, luxury chauffeured car to and from Heathrow, London City Airport or the Eurostar Terminal. The package is for three nights, singles to junior suites from $1,199 to $2,530, with additional nights from $320 to $550.

Take your savings and spend them at nearby Harrods. At least that's what I'd do.

I've been known to rant a bit about the experience of traveling on a large cruise ship -- basically, they strike me as floating shopping malls/theme parks, neither of which I'd ever choose to spend time on.

Even if I'm surrounded by open ocean, which I happen to adore.

But I put smaller ships in a different category, more like a communal yacht, so I was pleased to learn that Silversea, the small ship cruise ship line, plans to launch a new vessel on December 23rd. I was even more pleased when I found out that the new ship, the Silver Spirit, sports a fabulous Art Deco design, and, among its six restaurants, includes one that offers a slow food concept. Check out the gallery for some interior views.

The boat is all-suite, the suites are larger than any the line has offered to date, including two flatscreen televisions, a pillow menu, Carrera marble bathrooms, and a butler assigned to each suite. The maiden crossing from Lisbon to Fort Lauderdale is sold out, but consider signing on for the 91-day inaugural cruise around the Americas departing January 21, 2010, which includes the Christening party and VIP tickets to Rio's Carnival.