This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar. I've long been a fan of the AirPano site, a project that houses high-res 3D aerial panoramas taken by a team of Russian photographers. The panoramas are incredibly detailed, with accompanying background information and a series of photos documenting the shoot. They've posted on Las Vegas at night, Africa's Victoria Falls and even an underwater shoot from the Maldives. But what really caught my eye was their newest shoot, a panorama from Easter Island. With the giant Moai statues looming and the stars bright, it's one of my favourites to date. I've never been, and it's high up on my bucket list. A sampling, by Dmitriy Moiseenko
After months of wandering through Thailand, Turkey, Morocco, and Italy, I'm back in Montreal visiting my family for a few weeks. One of the great things about being home (other than seeing family, of course!) is access to a full kitchen -- something I miss while out on the road.
First up: Experiments with quinoa! I made this quinoa in strongly brewed Chai tea with vanilla, then served it with swiss chard and roasted chicken with cumin. Surprisingly, it actually worked well. The quinoa took on a great flavour, sweet and smoky all at once, and the chicken and crunchy sunflower seeds I used to top it complimented the flavors well.
Experiment: Success! I'm calling it Teanoa.
Now, what tea do I try next?
 The results! For those of you looking to make this at home, it's as easy as ever. Measure out the water for the quinoa, boil it in a pot, and then add a teabag or loose tea in a filter and steep for 10 minutes, covered. Add in the quinoa and bring to a boil again, cooking as usual. Presto! Teanoa for all.
-Jodi
Fellow Hipmunk’er Joe G. joins us once again, with words of wisdom for the wandering...
“Hey Yo Adrian!” Hipmunk travels a lot, including to Philly, and we're always on the lookout for reducing agony while on the road. Hipmunk flew to Philadelphia the other day and had a sharp twang of agony while waiting for the National Rental Car shuttle to take us back to the airport. So Hipmunk did what any savvy traveler would do and started
asking questions while hunting for alternative travel choices. Before we say anymore, it should be noted that this savvy travel trick is best suited for those who like to walk and are flying out of Terminal F or Terminal E at PHL.
A helpful agent at the National Rental Car counter informed us that if we “Just walk across the grass and over to the sidewalk, past the parking garage payment booths.” we would find the rental car offices. I tightened my back-pack and gave the Tumi luggage a snappy tug and we were off.
Ready, savvy travelers?...
Here’s how you avoid the agony of waiting for the rental car shuttle:
1) Exit the terminal and walk towards the parking garage and ground transportation signs.
2) Walk across the bridge, over the departures drop-off, as you would normally in this situation.
3) Walk outside to the curb, where you would normally wait for the primary rental car center vans [Avis, Enterprise, Hertz, and National].
4) DONʼT get on the van!
5) Turn right and start walking with traffic towards the exit. You should be heading toward the area where you can
see the garage toll plaza/booths are located. Just walk along the sidewalk here.
6) At the end of the sidewalk, cut-over to the grassy area then hoof-it across to the location
where you’ll be parallel with the rental car agency gates.
7) Once you’re on the grassy area,
you’re almost there! Now, this is where you’ll need to cross the street very carefully! Try to cross at the narrowest section of the street and aim for the grassy area on the other side of the street -- where all of the shiny new rental cars are waiting for your arrival. Vroom!
8) Proudly walk into the rental car facility of your choice and give yourself a pat-on-the-back for being so travel savvy.
Share the knowledge and save yourself the agony!
- Joe
Did you see the full Moon on Saturday night? Playfully called a "Supermoon", it showed up larger than usual in the sky because its orbit was at the closest point to earth.
The Supermoon is scientifically called a perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system (perigee: closest point of an elliptical orbit; syzygy: straight line made of three bodies in a gravitational system).
While it occurs in each orbit, Saturday's moon was particularly large. I'm back in my hometown of Montreal and we got a clear view, but some of the other views from around the world were stunning too!
Jean-Sébastien Roux's crane "picking up" the supermoon in Montreal.
Just as they did in Poland, captured by Kamila Mazurkiewicz.
And in Paris, France as captured by VegaStar Carpentier.
And from space, from the photographer and astronaut André Kuipers (if you don't follow him on Twitter at @astro_andre, you're missing some great shots!)
And another, flattened moon from space.
Lucky for us, Alan Taylor has rounded up 24 of the best Supermoon photos from Saturday, so if these aren't enough for you (they certainly weren't for me!) then head over here for the rest.
-Jodi
Perfect end of the week inspiration: This beautiful video from Dan Riordan and Dana Saint, crafted using footage from their 5 weeks spent in Chile. With a great voice-over and some stunning footage, it's an ideal way to showcase the diversity of landscape and wildlife from Chile. Hope you enjoy! -Jodi
 Matthew Long is the creator and Editor-in-Chief of the Land Lopers travel blog. He's also a photographer and is not your average travel blogger.
Only in Japan would there be a specific term for viewing cherry blossoms – Hanami.
From March until early May, cherry blossoms decorate the Japanese landscape in a dazzling display of delicate pink beauty.
I was lucky enough to be in Tokyo during the height of the event, which seemed to completely preoccupy the city. As a longtime resident of Washington, DC I’m used to the cherry blossom craze, but nothing prepared me for the saturation of the trees throughout Tokyo and the nearby countryside.
In all seriousness, my mouth was agape at the beauty as we passed by the flowering trees and I instantly understood the necessity of a special term for the occasion.
My first Hanami will hopefully not be my last, my obsession evident from these photos of the event.
Jon Sanwell is an English language teacher with a camera. Originally from Tunbridge Wells in the UK, he's now in Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam - and happily for us, he's taking photos. According to his site: I first came to Vietnam for a holiday in 2004 and fell in love with the place. In 2008, I quit my office job in London and moved to Hanoi to teach English – and to improve my photography. I’d bought my first DSLR camera the previous summer and I wanted to live somewhere that was awash with photo opportunities. So, for me, Vietnam and photography have always gone hand-in-hand.He has just put up photos from the Mekong Delta in two parts, highlights below. They're well worth checking out, giving human faces to an area many of us won't travel to in our lifetimes. Wonderful, evocative photography. For the full series, check out Part 1 and Part 2 on Jon's site. You won't be sorry! -Jodi
Savvy travelers, unite! Planning your next globetrotting adventure to one (or several) of United’s 370+ destinations just got a lot less agonizing. We’ve always displayed United flights, but next time you’re on Hipmunk and ready to fly the friendly skies, we’ll send you directly to united.com to book. No third-party websites and booking, just more control over your itinerary and miles. And, keep your eyes glued on Hipmunk’s Facebook page, because we’re giving fans four chances to win flights to a tropical vacation courtesy of United! Between Monday, April 30 and Friday, May 18, we’ll publish four postcards from the Hipmunk on vacation in a secret destination. Follow the hipmunk on holiday and guess the location by commenting on one of the postcards. Those that answer correctly will be entered into a random drawing with one grand prize winner receiving two round-trip tickets to that secret destination. We’ll announce the winner on Friday, May 25. So put on your tropical themed thinking caps and get to guessing where the h ipmunk is wandering next!Go.Travel.
As part of the trip through Umbria, I visited a slew of vineyards, medieval towns and restaurants from the region. While I've heard so much more about wines from elsewhere in the country, I never tried any from Umbria. Happily, I can now say that I've tasted quite a few. One of the vineyards that stood out was Terre Margaritelli, located on a hill called Miralduolo, between the towns of Perugia and Assisi. Part of what makes the visit so charming is the couple who helps run the winery, Federico Bibi from Italy and his wife Jennifer McIlvaine, from Philadelphia. Jennifer is a chef and blogs at Life...Italian Style and together they explained that while the vineyard had been around since the 1950s, only six years ago did they start selling wines as a retail offering. Before that, the grapes were sold to other bottlers, divided into red and white sections but with little knowledge of what varieties were planted in the vineyard. So 12 years ago, they decided to replant everything and thus understand (and control) exactly what grapes were being used. They also decided to become certified organic and run the kitchen under the same principles. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but if any Hipmunks are in Italy, you'd be remiss to skip Umbria. It tastes delicious! ;) -Jodi
Fresh antipasti before we sat down for lunch.
Fava beans are in season! Newly picked beans with pecorino cheese.
My gluten-free lunch (the others got pasta) - tomatoes with stinging nettle pesto and parmesan cheese.
Oak barrels from France to house the wine.
A tilt-shift version of the vineyard, all greens and blues.
Recently, the Marketing team at Hipmunk flew to O’Hare airport in the windy city for a 24hr. whirlwind stint in Chicago. We stopped by Giordano’s on Jackson Blvd. in Chicago’s Loop district and were greeted with the thickest pizza these West coasters had ever seen; because when in Rome, you order the stuffed crust pizza. We continued on our way, darting around the city, remembering to snap shots of everything from ginormous knitted sculptures in front of Hyatt Hotel’s HQ, to Chi-town’s infamous Cloud Gate (AKA “ The Bean”). Here are our favorite memories from our Chicago excursion!... Chicago reminds us of a cross between San Francisco, with its intimate, metropolitan feel and friendly folk, and New York, due to historic districts filled with art deco buildings. This city truly has a beautifully eclectic mix of antiquity and unexpected bursts of color. Bravo, Chicago…
What are your suggestions for local Chicago spots with perfect photo ops, best festivals to visit, or food stops that are a must-do? We’d love to add them to our Chicago bucket list!
Happy travels!
-- The Hipmunk Team
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