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<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press  (click to enlarge) Aiming Eyes, an ice sculpture of a praying mantis, was entered in the 2007 World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska.   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • A pretty face, and talent to boot 3/2/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, March 2, 2008 Travel briefs Ice art championships this month in Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska, is hosting the 18th annual World Ice Art Championships, which began Tuesday and runs though March 23. Sculptors from around the world will create well over 100 works of ice during the event held in the city's Ice Park. This year's theme is "Celebrating the North: The International Polar Year 2007-2008." The event also includes a four-acre Kids Park with a maze, slides, tunnels, a larger-than-life polar bear and other whimsical structures, all made entirely from ice. The ice, which is harvested from a pond with a forklift, glows a natural pale blue. Lights and paint are also used to color some of the creations, which are carved with chain saws and other tools. Some teams work around the clock, and the public can watch the works in progress whenever the park is open, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. All the finished pieces remain on view until the festival ends. Amateur sculpting and a high school competition are on the program, too. Details about the event are at www.icealaska.com, where you'll also find a live Web cam once the competition gets under way. New travel Web site for boomers: Boomeropia A new travel Web site has been launched for baby boomers at www.boomeropia.com. "I happen to be a baby boomer and I felt like the fun side of me wasn't being catered to and marketed to," said Web site founder Liz Dahl, 59, of Louisville. "I was getting ads for medication and hearing aids and no one was appealing to my fun side." So she created Boomeropia as an information site, listing interesting trips and tours in 30 categories, from adventure to pet travel to beaches and bed-and-breakfasts. Other categories include cruises, culinary travel, golf, fishing, and "glamping" -- which means "glamorous" camping or camping trips where the tour operator does all the hard work for you, with comfortable tents and catered meals. There is also a forum section where readers can post photos and share their thoughts. Tribeca Film Festival in New York City The Tribeca Film Festival is back in Manhattan April 23-May 4 for its annual showcasing of new films. About 125 feature premieres, from big Hollywood releases to indies and documentaries, are on the screening schedule this year. There are panel discussions and several free public events, including the Tribeca Drive-In at the World Financial Center (leave your car home!), April 24-26; the Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair on Greenwich Street, May 3; and the Tribeca-ESPN Sports Film Marathon, April 27 and May 3. Tickets are $15 for evening and weekend screenings and $8 for daytime, weekday and late-night screenings. In addition, the festival will offer a few select screenings with panel discussions for $25. Sales started Feb. 28. Get details at 212-941-2400 or www.­tribecafilmfestival.org. Bird reserve in Colombia now open to tourists A new bird reserve has been designated in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range of northern Colombia. The area boasts the highest concentration of continental range-restricted bird species in the world, with 21 types of birds such as the Santa Marta parakeet and Santa Marta antpitta found nowhere else, as well as migratory songbirds from the U.S., according to the three organizations announcing the reserve, Fundacion ProAves, American Bird Conservancy and Conservation International. El Dorado is between 2,900 and 8,500 feet above sea level amid dense forests, with views to 19,000-foot high peaks, glaciers, beaches and mangroves. New small ship for luxury European river cruises The Tauck World Discovery tour company is offering a series of European river cruises this year aboard a new small luxury ship, the Swiss Sapphire, which launches in late March in the Netherlands. The 361-foot ship will accommodate 118 guests. It features two hot tubs, a bar and lounge, restaurant and wellness center. Rooms include 14 luxury suites with marble tubs and 45 outside-facing cabins and mini-suites. Itineraries include the Grand European Cruise, 24 days, from $8,090 per person plus air, which begins in Amsterdam and ends in Romania in the Black Sea, and Holland & Belgium In Spring, 10 days, from $3,290 per person, plus air. The April departure for the Holland and Belgium tour is the ship's very first public cruise; some space is still available. Details at tauck.com or 800-468-2825. Associated Press

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