Kristen Stewart may be used to be playing the damsel in distress in the Twilight movies but in her new film, she's the one in control.

Kristen has spent the past couple of weeks filming intense battle scenes, complete with suits of armor and horseback chases, on Marloes Sands Beach, Wales for her upcoming movie, Snow White and the Huntsman. The movie isn't exactly the Snow White we remember from the Disney days. Instead, in this grown up version, the Huntsman is ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed but winds up becoming her mentor in her quest to vanquish the evil queen. ]]> cmb 2011-10-04T13:43:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/8/4/82931/70901

And now, a personal travel dispatch from the wilds of North Wales...

Every few years in the course of my travels, I will without fail run smack-dab into a postcard-perfect scene of locals enjoying a game of boules, backed by amazing scenery which is commonplace to them. The first was Bocce on one of Rimini, Italy's famous beaches, though just after the season so the town was as good as deserted. The second was Bocce in the public gardens behind the presidential palace in Slovakia's capital of Bratislava. The third, a sandy game of Petanque along the Esplanade in Nice, enjoyed while snacking on honeyed treats from an Arabic bakery with no name.

And now: a proper game of lawn bowling on a perfectly manicured field situated just behind the medieval castle of Beaumaris on the Isle of Anglesey. It's one of those things about traveling—that one can go for a walk and stumble upon such pleasant scenes, scenes which will remain in the memory despite their apparent banality. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-08-04T15:22:59-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/8/2/182736/0867

Could you live in a space only 10' by 6'? What about if it had an enviable view of the water and an unbeatable location? Well someone has, and someone did up until 1900 when The Smallest House in Great Britain was declared unfit for habitation. These days, it's one of two hugely popular tourist sites in the town of Conwy in North Wales.

Apparently there's only enough room inside for "one stove, a water tap, a bedside cabinet and a bed," although we're quite sure that IKEA would have something to say about it if they could get their hands on it.

The teeny-tiny red house stands on the quayside of the town, with the 8 turrets of the medieval Conwy Castle overshadowing it to the right and the town's even older defensive walls fencing it in on the left. It's quite a thing to behold—both the castle and the small house—but save your cash for going into the castle and not the cramped confines of the latter. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-08-03T10:00:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/7/18/183048/841

Fifty-eight letters and one tiny train station. Welcome to the Welsh town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which sits in the northwestern most corner of Wales on the Isle of Anglesey. Llanfairpwllgwyngyll—the short form, or Llanfair PG to be even shorter—holds the title of longest town name in the world. It would be first for longest general place as well, if it weren't for a New Zealand hill annoyingly sporting 85 letters: "Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu."

In the town name of Llanfair PG, there are only 13 vowels, plus the impressive totals of 11 Ls and 7 Gs. As you can imagine, the town rides on tourism based solely on this claim to fame, and when we dropped by earlier today, the single parking lot at the train station was half-filled with tour buses and half with rental cars (our own included). ]]> JetSetCD 2011-07-19T13:14:07-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/12/12/3584/7276

Some fans might have enjoyed the Led Zeppelin reunion gig on Monday, or might be planning a ride on the Led Zeppelin Roller Coaster at the Hard Rock Park. But apparently too many Led Zeppelin fans have been visiting a small Welsh cottage where Robert Plant and Jimmy Page wrote the band's third album.

The poor vicar who owns the Bron-yr-Aur cottage, immortalized as the title of a short song on the album, is unhappy about fans who break in to the cottage, remove the house's signs and steal bits of cement.

So if you're planning a bit of nostalgic travel through the Welsh Dyfi Valley, please be kind to this poor old vicar and take only photographs. Don't blast your Led Zep music too loud there either, because Reverend John doesn't seem the heavy rock type, and he could be powerful enough to block your stairway to heaven.

Related Stories:
· Led Zeppelin One Time Reunion Gig Set for London [Jaunted]
· Led Zeppelin Ride Centerpiece of Rock and Roll Theme Park [Jaunted]
· Vicar Asks Led Zep Fans to Stay Away [Ananova]

[Photo: Harvard Avenue]]]> amandak 2007-12-12T09:35:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/11/4/181738/244

You don't have to stay at home just because the leaves are changing. Follow along on our Fall Culture Map to discover what's happening this autumn.

November in the Northern Hemisphere tends to signal the beginning of the season for "inside sports", foremost among these being things that involve drinking and wordplay. How appropriate, then, that this week finds us smack dab in the middle of a tribute to poet/drunk Dylan Thomas in his native city of Swansea, Wales.

The Dylan Thomas Festival runs from October 27th to November 9th, the days of the poet's birth and death, respectively. The festivities include film screenings, readings, concerts and a general excuse for celebrities of a literary bent to gather in a really Welsh city. Exercise your liver and pack a sweater as that November in Wales tends to be rather wet, damp and gray. Inside sports, folks.

And before you remind us it's a little late for a trip to Wales, fear not. Thomas' memory can still be appropriately toasted at the site of his death, Manhattan's White Horse Tavern in the West Village. Legend has it that Thomas lost a drinking contest to the jealous husband of his lover at the White Horse and later died from the experience. Be sure to enjoy your poetic nostalgia in moderation.

Related Stories:
· Dylan Thomas Festival [Official Site]
· Swansea Park Festival [Jaunted]
· Literary Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: sallypics]]]> Judson 2007-11-05T14:00:01-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/