Destination: London
Which City Has the Worst Drivers?
by Michael Yessis | 03.31.06 | 1:45 AM ET
Is it Buenos Aires? Mexico City? Kuwait City? Rome? Los Angeles? London Times correspondent Chris Ayres devotes his latest So L.A. blog entry to his opinion on the subject. “[T]his week I returned from Buenos Aires, Argentina, a city whose entire population seems to be trying to break the land speed record in a 1984 Renault 9 GLS,” he writes. “And I concluded that the lapses of concentration demonstrated by motorists in Los Angeles is far preferable to the sociopathic stare of the average Porteno cab driver, who considers it his duty to accelerate towards stationary objects (including human beings) at double the speed limit, before averting multiple homicide by stomping on the brakes or swerving violently.” Sounds horrible, but I’m going the other way on this. I’ve seen some dreadful drivers here in Los Angeles. Just tonight, for instance, I was traveling a busy two-lane street when the guy in front of me swerved into the oncoming lane and stopped cold, just to drop off his passengers. No hazards. No signal. No brain.
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Yahoo! BuzzThe Whale Has Passed the Houses of Parliament*
by Jim Benning | 01.20.06 | 12:54 PM ET
A possibly ill northern bottle-nosed whale has swum up the River Thames in London, and CNN footage this morning showed people lining the river to see the whale, which recently passed the Houses of Parliament. It’s apparently the first sighting of this kind of whale in the river since records began in 1913. According to the CNN report, rescue efforts are in the works. * Update, Monday, Jan. 23: Sadly, after a rescue attempt over the weekend, the whale died. CNN reports that tests are underway.
Ernest Hemingway Sofas, Frida Kahlo Tequila, Renoir Mineral Water, and Now Lady Chatterley Thongs?
by Jim Benning | 12.16.05 | 12:35 PM ET
Oh yes, and those are just the beginning. There’s also Jane Austen writing paper and the Virginia Woolf Burger bar. The Times of London today offers an amusing overview of the products bearing the names of artists and novels of yore, as well as the controversies that surround them.
British Tabloid Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Santa Claus in Travel Ban’
by Michael Yessis | 12.07.05 | 12:32 PM ET
The Sun reports that Santa Claus lookalike David Powney had his passport application rejected because of his bushy white beard.
“Merci Pour Cette Belle Matinee Du Foot”
by Michael Yessis | 12.07.05 | 1:42 AM ET
As people around the globe come together this month in Japan and Korea for the World Cup, the Boston Globe’s Tom Haines has taken the opportunity to look back at his own soccer-related travels. The beautiful game, he believes, has connected him in a special way with the people and places he’s visited. “Through a traveler’s serendipity, like walking into a London pub to find a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd watching the first England-Scotland match in nine years, or determined planning, like the detailed reading of French league statistics, an outsider can begin to know and even feel the power of the world’s game,” he writes. “Travel, across borders and into the action, provides the ticket.”
Paul Theroux and the “Demon Eel”
by Jim Benning | 12.06.05 | 12:29 AM ET
Our own Frank Bures wasn’t the only one to take issue with some of the erotic writing in Paul Theroux’s latest novel, “Blinding Light.” Theroux’s prose also came up in a recent Los Angeles Times piece about the “Bad Sex in Fiction Awards” held in London last week. Started by the eldest son of Evelyn Waugh, the awards “lampoon dysfunctional literature,” explains Stephen Bayley.
Boeing 777-200LR Lands in London, Sets Nonstop Flight Record
by Michael Yessis | 11.10.05 | 10:56 AM ET
The plane, which departed from Hong Kong yesterday with four pilots aboard, landed at Heathrow airport in London today after 22 hours and 43 minutes in the air—and two sunrises. MSNBC, the Telegraph and many others have details.
Record-Breaking 23-Hour Nonstop Flight Takes Off
by Michael Yessis | 11.10.05 | 4:35 AM ET
Captain Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann took off from Hong Kong Wednesday morning in a Boeing 777-200LR and set out for London—heading eastbound, the long way around. Four Boeing test pilots are scheduled to share flying duties during the 12,500-nautical-mile flight, which Seattle Times reporter Dominic Gates writes will be a distance record for a commercial jet.
British Tabloid Travel Headline of the Day: ‘Fatties to the Front, Says Airline’
by Michael Yessis | 10.20.05 | 4:31 AM ET
From the Daily Mail: “A holiday airline is investigating an incident in which passengers reported how cabin staff asked ‘fat people’ to move to the front of the aircraft to help with weight distribution. A stewardess said she needed ‘eight fat people’ to sit nearer the front because the captain of a half-full London-bound Thomsonfly flight was unhappy about the weight distribution, according to reports.”
Tracking Travel Inspired by Literature
by Michael Yessis | 10.12.05 | 12:58 PM ET
Developers Announce Plan for Sexual Theme Park
by Michael Yessis | 10.12.05 | 11:56 AM ET
Its home will be in London, near Piccadilly Circus. “Backers say the London Academy of Sex and Relationships, due to open next spring, will not be a sleazy sex museum, but an educational multimedia attraction that will teach visitors to become better lovers and provide valuable information about disease and sexual problems,” according to an AP report.
“Terrorists are giving backpacks a bad name”
by Jim Benning | 08.04.05 | 5:11 PM ET
The backpack—the ultra-utilitarian bag of choice for hip travelers and students everywhere—is under attack. According to a report in today’s San Diego Union-Tribune, since the recent London bombings, transporation and stadium officials in the United States are more likely to view backpacks as potential carrying cases for weapons of terror. “Transit officials in New York are randomly inspecting backpacks on subway platforms,” the article states. “A frightened Manhattan tour bus operator recently called police with a report of five swarthy men with overstuffed backpacks.”
The Politics of Travel Warnings
by Jim Benning | 08.01.05 | 11:38 AM ET
The Seattle Times’ Carol Pucci asks a great question: Why did the recent London bombings result in only a “brief and restrained” travel advisory from the U.S. State Department, while the terrorist attack in Egypt prompted a much more strongly worded advisory? Could it be—gasp—that politics are involved? It’s not a new question, but it’s as relevant as ever. Any traveler who has spent more than a few minutes studying State Department pronouncements for various countries could come up with numerous perplexing inconsistencies.
Letter From London
by Jim Benning | 07.08.05 | 11:20 AM ET
Just posted on World Hum: one traveler’s e-mail home from London after the bombings.
Bombings in London
by Jim Benning | 07.07.05 | 10:14 AM ET
More bad news. The BBC has a detailed report: At least 33 people are dead.