Destination: Europe
British Opposition Calls For High-Speed Rail Corridor
by Eva Holland | 10.01.08 | 11:30 AM ET
Britain’s opposition Conservative Party has announced a proposal for a £20 billion, TGV-style high-speed rail system, the Guardian reports. According to the announcement, a planned third runway at Heathrow would be abandoned in favor of a high-speed line connecting London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
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Yahoo! BuzzLaunching (and Hyping) the Danube Express
by Eva Holland | 10.01.08 | 10:00 AM ET
Photo by ** Maurice ** via Flickr (Creative Commons)
It seems all eyes were on the Danube Express last week as the new luxury rail route got rolling in Berlin—in fact, nearly every major British travel section devoted feature space to the story.
The Best (Almost) Fictional British Pubs
by Michael Yessis | 09.30.08 | 2:41 PM ET
Among David Barnett’s picks for great fictional pubs: George Orwell’s The Moon Under Water and Anthony Burgess’ Korova Milk Bar, from A Clockwork Orange. Though they’re products of the authors’ imaginations, it looks like they’re so good they’ve both spawned real-world pubs. In his Guardian piece, Barnett mentions a series of British pubs named The Moon Under Water. I found another in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Save the British Pub Sign
by Michael Yessis | 09.30.08 | 10:57 AM ET
Hand-painted markers outside British pubs date to Roman times. Now they’re threatened, mostly by corporate consolidation of pubs. “Only the 30 independent pub chains and breweries in Britain are still ordering individually painted signs,” writes Vanessa Thorpe.
It’s a shame.
The signs, preservationists rightly argue, are full of artistic value and symbolism. See for yourself at Flickr’s cluster of British pub signs.
Borat (Er, Bruno?) Busted In Italy
by Eva Holland | 09.30.08 | 9:13 AM ET
Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen was arrested in Milan this weekend after leaping onto the runway during a fashion show, the CBC reports. The actor is currently at work on a new movie, but this time, his traveling Kazakh journalist Borat will be replaced by another Cohen favorite—roving Austrian fashion reporter, Bruno. The new flick, the catchy-titled “Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt”, is due out next summer. There’s no word yet on another accompanying guidebook.
Feasting in Lyon
by Jeffrey Tayler | 09.30.08 | 9:08 AM ET
Jeffrey Tayler feared he would never feel as intoxicated with the sense of discovery as he once did. But something clicked when he set foot in France's third-largest city.
Has Sauvignon Blanc Trumped Stout in Belfast?
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.29.08 | 3:00 PM ET
Well, not yet, but it’s getting there. In a country that relishes its working-class brew, oenophiles have often been dismissed as effete elitists. But lately foreign travel, among other things, has fueled a marked interest in wine in Northern Ireland. Peter McBride, owner of the Gapwines chain, which recently held a wine-tasting at Belfast Castle, says he’s noticed that travelers often want to re-create the tastes they’ve experienced abroad at home. “And wine is one of them,” he told the BBC.
‘Too Many Memories’ in Venice
by Eva Holland | 09.29.08 | 2:00 PM ET
The Sunday Observer recently published a powerful essay about the author’s first return visit to Venice following her husband’s death. “I was living in a new house in London, had new friends, had a new, more profound relationship with my daughters, and had visited new places,” Sheila Hancock writes. “But fear of looking back on our lives together was beginning to limit my horizons. I needed to venture to a place where in the past I had been supremely happy with John. I decided to go to Venice.” Update: Unfortunately, the essay is no longer available.
The Alphorn: It’s Not Just for Swiss Shepherds Anymore
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.29.08 | 12:23 PM ET
In fact, one 25-year-old jazz musician from Solothurn likes to play Prince, Amy Winehouse and Miles Davis on the 12-foot folk instrument—an act that has ruffled the feathers of Swiss traditionalists used to puffing out tunes like “With the Cows” and “On the Sheep’s Meadow.”
Eliana Burki, who fell in love with the alphorn at age 6, used to practice on a piece of garden hose affixed with a mouthpiece because her parents wouldn’t buy her a horn. Now an alphorn master, she’s played at trade fairs, shopping centers and concert halls in Ecuador, India, Germany and Taiwan, The Wall Street Journal reports, and now, she will be teaming up with Queen’s former producer to put out an album.
Why So Many ‘Bristol’ Hotels Around the World?
by Julia Ross | 09.29.08 | 11:23 AM ET
According to the Wall Street Journal, there are nearly 200 hotels worldwide named “Bristol,” popping up in such non-English locales as Oslo, Warsaw, Paris and San Francisco. Just how did the name become so ubiquitous? No one seems to know for sure, but the working theory points to an 18th-century Earl who had lavish tastes in travel.
Videos: Venice Gondoliers, Mariachis and Bollywood for Barack Obama
by World Hum | 09.26.08 | 2:03 PM ET
In that order. We looked for similar videos supporting John McCain and couldn’t find any; if you have any, we invite you to post links in the comments section. We’d love to see them.
The Long Descent: Airline Fees Cross The Pond
by Eva Holland | 09.26.08 | 12:50 PM ET
It had to happen eventually. Taking a page out of the major North American airlines’ playbook, British Airways has announced that the airline is considering additional fees for “ancillary services.” According to the Telegraph, those fees could include “extra leg room, priority boarding, a glass of water, alcoholic drinks, use of lounges, luggage, and snacks and meals.” Hang in there, Britain. It could always be worse.
Photo by bribriTO via Flickr (Creative Commons)
The Spanakopita’s Last Stand?
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.26.08 | 10:14 AM ET
Three-quarters of Greek adults and two-thirds of Greek children are overweight because of the decline of the famously healthy Mediterranean diet, writes Elisabeth Rosenthal in The New York Times. Just 20 years ago, Greeks were still regularly eating famously healthful staples like whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and goat milk. But as Greek lifestyles grow more hectic and convenience trumps wholesomeness, fast food and high-fat, high-sugar processed snacks have invaded Greek cuisine.
Exploring the Library at Amsterdam’s Ambassade Hotel
by Jim Benning | 09.25.08 | 12:51 PM ET
Novelist and blogger Mark Sarvas offers an “achingly amateur” video tour of the historic library at the Ambassade Hotel, which he calls “the literary hotel of Amsterdam.” The library is packed with thousands of books written by authors who’ve stayed there over the years.
Une Baguette, S’il Vous Plaît: Cash-Strapped French Forgo Multicourse Lunches
by Valerie Conners | 09.24.08 | 12:01 PM ET
Gone are the days of languorous French lunches. As France’s economic crisis worsens, more French diners are opting for quick, cheap meals. The Guardian reports that restaurant-goers are “skipping the traditional aperitif, avoiding starters, drinking tap water, passing on wine and coffee and—at most—sharing a pudding.”