Sherman's Travel

As far as 2012 travel trends go, river cruising is right up there, so there’s no surprise that the gays are all over it. And although it may be one of seven LGBT tour operators chartering groups aboard European riverboats this summer, newly founded Brand g is the only one that wants you to experience it for free. Contest time!

Launched just in time for Valentine’s Day, as well as the heartening strides made for gay marriage in Washington State and the repeal of Prop 8 in California, the “Share The Love” contest is encouraging adventurers to share their same-sex love story, or for friends to nominate their favorite LGBT couples, for the chance to win two spots on its 10-day Danube River Cruise, which includes a 2-night stay in Prague and port calls in Nuremberg, the Bavarian forest, Salzburg, Linz, Melk, Vienna, Slovakia, and Budapest. Read more

It may only be entertainment, but the settings of movies and TV shows do have the power to transport. So it made me think that with the Oscars just a few weeks away, I should share my picks for the top 10 movies that capture both the romance and beauty of a place – and are actually fun to watch.

Bora Bora: Couples Retreat Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau may be the stars of this 2008 comedy, but Bora Bora steals almost every scene. Filmed at The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort (doubling as the fictitious Eden Resort – and shown above at left), the movie is not as winning as Wedding Crashers, but it will make you want to raid your bank account and fly off to this ridiculously romantic paradise.

New York City: When Harry Met Sally I live in New York City and this 1989 romantic comedy nails what I love most about my hometown – winter, spring, summer, and fall. With scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Central Park Boathouse, Yankee Stadium, and Katz’s Delicatessen (a sign still hangs above the seat where Sally showed Harry how to fake it), this Nora Ephron-written, Rob Reiner-directed classic is like calling a dear friend who lives here each time you watch it.

Read more

Besides signalling a joyous end to the aughts, the new year brought much to celebrate for gay and lesbian lovebirds in Austria when a new civil union (techinically “registered partnership”) law went into effect January 1, granting legal recognition and rights such as alimony and pension inheritance. According to Michael Gigl, Director North America of the Austrian Tourist Office, while much of the country has long been welcoming to gay and lesbian tourists despite its heavy Catholic population, it’s something to celebrate that a coalition of the conservative Austrian People’s Party and more liberal Social Democratic Party agreed to officially sanction same-sex unions.
 
What better way to celebrate than with an LGBT tweak on another traditional institution: the Viennese ball.

For a glamour-clad waltz with diversity, the Rainbow Ball (January 30) offers up a formal alternative to the codified trappings of traditional heterosexual offerings. Less formal affairs with drag-ball matrons include the The Rose Ball and The Wallflower Ball, both held the night of the famed Opera Ball (February 11). While the Rose Ball is more a glitzed-up nightclub spectacle within the framework of a ball at the Palais Auersberg (indeed, many come here as an afterparty to the Opera), The Wallflower Ball is more a homegrown party for an alternative mixed set at Club U within the Art Nouveau Otto Wagner Pavilion. Organized by H-a-p-p-y, one of Vienna’s gay community organizations, the dress code is mousy and beige and the most inconspicuous ball-goer is awarded a prize at midnight. Read more