A Globetrotter's Guide to Bowling's Best Venues - Brief Article

Bowling Digest, Oct, 2000

THE JULY 17 EDITION OF USA Today ran a list of the 10 best bowling sites in the world as compiled by frequent BOWLING DIGEST contributor Lydia Rypcinski and USA Today's Anne Goodfriend.

Once you peruse Rypcinski's globe-spanning list, pick your own most exotic or favorite bowling center and send a note to us at BOWLING DIGEST, 990 Grove Street, Evanston, IL 60201. We'll run some of the nominations in a future issue.

AMF Bowling de Paris, Paris: "The two-level center in the Bois de Boulogne `features a gourmet restaurant--La Cheminee--on the premises and a zoo park on its front step.' As is the practice in France, dogs are allowed inside, `so not only can you roll a poodle (an old-fashioned name for a split), you can pet one, too."

Ebb and Tide Nile Bowl, Cairo, Egypt: "The wall next to Lane 1 is plate glass and faces the Nile ... offering scenic vistas of barges and Egyptian fellucas sailing by. Be prepared for your ball to roll to the left, as the soft banks of the Nile cause the lanes to list toward the river."

International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, St. Louis: "`Visitors can bowl on automatic tenpin or duckpin lanes, or have pinboys set their pins by hand.' Don't miss the bowling and St. Louis Cardinals halls of fame upstairs."

Manhattan Super Bowl, Sydney, Australia: "Across the street from the international airport and open 24 hours a day. `Super Bowl is a great alternative when you have several hours to kill between overseas flights.' The '50s sock-hop decor comes `complete with the front half of a Chevy' protruding from a wall."

The Lucky Strike, Chicago: "Located in the trendy Lincoln Park neighborhood, this place has art-deco decor, `a terrific bar and grill on the premises (and) no league schedules to work around.'"

Victor's Super Bowl, Singapore, China: "Surrounded by restaurants, a golf driving range, and an open park area, this center in Marina Grove `has several tiered levels of theater seating, with wrought-iron lampposts' like the ones you see in cafes on European boulevards. It also contains a health spa and a gym."

Golden Tulip Privilege Dead Sea Hotel, Ein Bokek, Israel: "One of several hotels in this tourist town on the Dead Sea, the Golden Tulip offers `a state-of-the-art bowling center' that's open to guests and to the public. `Be prepared to shoot your lowest score ever,' as the Dead Sea is about 1,300 feet below sea level, the lowest point on Earth."

Dundonald Ice Bowl, Castelreagh, Northern Ireland: "This facility offers both tenpin bowling and an Olympic-size hockey rink. You can rent bowling shoes or skates, `but please confine your footwear choice to the appropriate athletic area.'"

AMF Chelsea Piers Lane, New York: "`Where the celebrities bowl and beautiful people meet' at Pier 60 in the Chelsea Piers sports complex. `Check out the collection of bowling pins autographed by Jimmy Smits, Julia Roberts (and others) in the pro shop.'"

Bowling Internacional de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal: "Just opened in January, on the site of the 1998 World Expo, this center features `a video arcade nearly half the size of the 30-lane bowling facility, and an upscale pizza parlor upstairs.' It's also near both the city's transportation terminal and the Vasco de Gama shopping mall."