Europe's scorching hot summer is showing no signs of cooling down, with Italy facing its warmest weekend of the year so far and heatwave warnings issued in southern France.
12.08.2024 - 08:59 / lonelyplanet.com
Aug 11, 2024 • 9 min read
This article is adapted from an essay written by Savannah Rose Dagupion for the Maui guidebook due to publish August 2024.
The island of Maui has an early history that mirrors the rest of Hawaii's, with warring chiefs, missionaries, colonization and sugarcane. More recently, tourism has become a driving economic force across Maui, and much of the state as a whole.
Being respectful and responsible should be a significant part of any trip, and it’s especially important in Hawaii. The islands’ complex history regarding colonization, occupation and development has prompted many Native Hawaiians and locals to have mixed feelings toward visitors.
The Kingdom of Hawai'i was formally recognized as a sovereign nation that was united under the Hawaiian monarchy for years. However, on January 17, 1893, 13 white businessmen staged a coup against Queen Lili‘uokalani, threatening an invasion backed by the US military if she didn’t surrender her government. After the men successfully overthrew the kingdom, President Grover Cleveland deemed that the men had engaged in an "act of war" and recommended that the Hawaiian monarchy be restored. Congress, however, rejected his proposal, and the men formed a provisional government, which pushed for annexation and ended the long line of Native Hawaiian monarchs.
In 1898, the US annexed Hawaii, ramping up the exploitation of its people and resources. Hawaii became a state in 1959 by popular vote; however, by that time, the majority of Hawaii’s citizens were non-native and Native Hawaiians only made up 17% of the population. Since then, Native Hawaiians have struggled to gain autonomy over their homeland.
Get to know more about Maui on your visit with this brief history of the island in 15 places.
Maui was formed by two volcanoes, Mauna Kahalawai and Haleakalā, about 1.5 million years ago. As the volcanoes erupted, layers and layers of lava built upon one another until the summits rose out of the water and formed the island. The two volcanoes, which are now dormant, form two peaks on different sides of the island – Mauna Kahalawai in the west and Haleakalā in the east. Because of this, the central area is flat, hence Maui’s nickname, the Valley Isle.
Around 1000 CE, Polynesians from the Marquesas Islands and Tahiti voyaged to Hawaii in outrigger and double-hulled waʻa (canoes) and settled across the islands. These Polynesian voyagers who landed near Ma‘alaea Harbor were expert navigators and used the stars, clouds, birds, wind, and wave patterns to find their way to land. When they settled, they created what is now known today as Hawaiian culture. To learn about and paddle an outrigger canoe yourself, check out this list of best cultural experiences on Maui.
I
Europe's scorching hot summer is showing no signs of cooling down, with Italy facing its warmest weekend of the year so far and heatwave warnings issued in southern France.
The tonka bean, a wizened-looking South American seed, is beloved for its complex almond-vanilla scent, often appearing as an ingredient in perfumes. Outside the United States, it has also long been utilized by chefs, but studies have indicated that coumarin, a chemical compound in the plant, can cause liver damage in animals, and the Food and Drug Administration banned the bean in commercial foods in 1954. Now, with reports that the minuscule amounts used to impart big flavor are harmless (and the F.D.A. seemingly not particularly interested in enforcing the ban in recent years), tonka is showing up on dessert menus here. Thea Gould, 30, the pastry chef at the daytime luncheonette La Cantine and evening wine bar Sunsets in Bushwick, Brooklyn, was introduced to tonka after the restaurant’s owner received a jar from France, where it’s a widely used ingredient. Gould says the bean is an ideal stand-in for nuts — a common allergen — and infuses it into panna cotta, whipped cream and Pavlova. Ana Castro, 35, the chef and owner of the New Orleans seafood restaurant Acamaya, discovered tonka as a young line cook at Betony, the now-closed Midtown Manhattan restaurant. Entranced by the ingredient’s grassy, stone fruit-like notes, she’s used it to flavor a custardy corn nicuatole, steeped it into roasted candy squash purée and grated it fresh over a lush tres leches cake. And at the Musket Room in New York’s NoLIta, the pastry chef Camari Mick, 30, balances tonka’s richness with acidic citrus like satsuma and bergamot. Over the past year, she’s incorporated it into a silky lemon bavarois and a candy cap mushroom pot de crème and whipped it into ganache for a poached pear belle Hélène. “Some people ask our staff, ‘Isn’t tonka illegal?’” she says. Their answer: Our pastry chef’s got a guy. —
A plan to make airport security lines move a little quicker we’ll have to wait.
Amid Greece’s peak travel season, raging wildfires near Athens are putting tour operators on high alert.
Dangerous wildfires near Athens, Greece forced hundreds to evacuate the suburbs north of the country's capital on Monday, August 12, reported to be the worst fire the Mediterranean country has seen so far this year.
You don’t hear about Central Florida very often, and when you do, chances are it has something to do with Walt Disney World. But just over an hour north of the famed resort complex is the mid-sized city of Ocala, a destination bursting with superlatives, including “America’s largest spring” and “horse capital of the world.”
Whether you need a place to knock out some work or want to freshen up and enjoy an adult beverage while you wait for a flight, an airport lounge can provide a welcome retreat in a chaotic day of travel.
While most American cities aren’t considered easy to navigate by foot, a recent study by travel insurance experts AllClear ranked one popular Southern city as the most walkable in the country. AllClear examined topographical information for more than 240 cities around the world, taking into account average elevation and range, and assigned each city a score — and ultimately, it was New Orleans that was named the most walkable city in the U.S. and the fourth most walkable city globally.
Liberty Tripadvisor Holdings is looking to do a deal, one that could remove what Tripadvisor chairman Greg Maffei characterized as “probably a cloud on Tripadvisor’s stock.”
Europe dominates in a new ranking of the world’s most beautiful cities, filling nine of the top 10 spots.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, August 8, and now here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Maui wants you to come back to paradise.