We are getting cabin fever. It's mid January and we are still home with no where to go for some time yet. Imagine having an itch you just can't reach to scratch. So, here I was perusing some travel books and came across one I haven't really read cover to cover. It is a bit depressing after all. It's called Don't Go There, the travel detective's essential guide to the must-miss places of the world. Written by Peter Greenberg, it is somewhat tongue-in-cheek type reporting on places that are depressing (high suicide rates), toxic (remember the Love Canal, NY?), apt to get hit with a natural disaster (Florida hurrican season), etc.
I had to chuckle over a little side bar I found in cruise section of the book. The Noro virus is probably taking a backseat right now to the Costa Concordia disaster but this was a report about the Cunard ship the Queen Victoria at her christening. Camilla Parker Bowles was named godmother to the ship and it was her duty to christen it. Unfortunately, in front of 2,000 worldwide guests, the champagne bottle refused to smash against the hull. Not a good sign in maritime tradition.
It was only a few weeks later that norovirus broke out on the ship and 80 passengers were struck down with it. The British press, who are not terribly fond of Camilla, dubbed it the "Curse of Camilla."
By the way, Don't Go There is a fun book to thumb through but much of the information is now out of date since it was pubbed in 2009. Doesn't take long for statistics to change sometimes.
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