For a full list of today's Salon Travel stories, go to the Travel home page. How a windswept, bullet hole-ridden telephone became a legend in its own time. Sometimes even high-flying airline pilots turn out to have feet of clay.
People forget the darnedest things in London's hotels.
The twine that binds A Minnesota town honors the mother of all twine balls. I traced the longest spider leg, by far, and my eye landed in Colombo, Sri Lanka. I wasn't sure if Sri Lanka was a separate country or more of an Indian province, sort of like Italy's Sicily. Sitting in my cubicle, clicking the airline Web site, it was clear that the farther away I could be carted, the better. I was on a vast journey to the Land of Ceylon.