Ryanair opens new base in Slovakia
Low-cost carrier Ryanair is planning to open its first Slovakian base at Bratislava in March 2015 with two based aircraft and 16 routes including one new route to Madrid. The airline claims the new base will deliver almost one million customers per year and support 1,000 jobs, as Ryanair invests over $200 million at Bratislava. Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:...
Singapore Cruise Centre takes top World Travel Awards crown
13th Oct 2014 Singapore Cruise Centre has been voted Asia’s Leading Cruise Port by the World Travel Awards, an established London- based organisation renowned for benchmarking excellence in the global travel industry. SCC clinched the title at the World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia Gala Ceremony held in New Delhi, India. It won against six other established ports in the region following...
The world’s best ski runs: Peak thrills in extraordinary conditions
North America Mount St Elias, Canada/US The mountain on the border between Yukon and Alaska is little known and even less frequently visited. The weather is generally terrible, with fog alternating with blizzards the norm, and night-time temperatures frequently at minus 40C. Actually climbing up it, let alone skiing down it, is rarely attempted. Still, this is the longest possible snow-covered vertical...
10 of the easiest mountains to climb around the world
UK
Garth Hill, Gwaelod-y-Garth, Cardiff
At 307 metres, Garth is classed as a “Marilyn” (a hill with a relative height of at least 150 metres), rather than a mountain, but it is special to me because my boyfriend proposed to me at the top in August. I said “Yes”! It was also made famous in the Hugh Grant film The Englishman...
Man hit with $1,200 internet bill for ‘viewing emails’ on Singapore Airlines flight
A man has been charged an incredible $1,200 (£750) for using the wi-fi on a flight from London to Singapore. Jeremy Gutsche, a Canadian entrepreneur, claimed he mostly used the internet for work emails between naps and watched no videos. He was hit with the Singapore Airlines bill after getting off the plane on Wednesday, discovering he had racked up $1,142...
What not to do in Chile
1. Don’t… visit Torres del Paine during high season.
December to March in this vast national park in southern Chile is not the time to find quiet solitude — especially on the trekker-happy “W” circuit. The park fills up with people, the concessioned campsites turn into cities, and the “rustic” ones turn into villages.
Do… go during shoulder season.
Or better yet, visit...
Let’s go to … Winchester
Tell me about it …
Susie Barrie and Peter Richards of BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen are behind the city’s inaugural Winchester Wine Festival (21-23 November, £25 per four-hour session, thewinefestival.co.uk), taking place this weekend. Head to the Victorian Guildhall, pick up your free Riedel glass and get sampling – there are hundreds of wines to try. The “Follow your Taste” concept...
Guide to Arizona’s best small towns
The small city of Prescott can feel a world away from the desert climate of Arizona’s south. In fact, Prescott can feel a world away from the rest of the Southwest. The town was pushed into creation by Congress and Abraham Lincoln in 1864 as the territorial capital of Arizona, a move to secure the region’s natural resources for the...
How to not be a tourist in Edinburgh
Photo: Megasensel 1. Accept the ‘Edinburgh Face’.
Due to Edinburgh having permanent winds akin to the moments before a tsunami hits, residents can often be seen with ‘Edinburgh Face’. This is a condition where the face scrunches itself into a ball to escape the beating it will receive from unruly air currents. Just accept it (and perhaps practice before you go...
10 signs your mom is German
Photo: Konrad Prinz 1. Your birthdays are still Bundt.
All German children know that cakes are meant to be hollow. Remember the scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding when the stuffy in-laws bring a Bundt cake to the party? Alongside the even-healthier birthday-apple slices taken to school to share with classmates, the German birthday breakfast, with its dense grain, mere...
The foodie traveller … in Stockholm: the new take on coffee and cake
The traditional fika, which means a rendezvous for a coffee and a pastry, has been part of Swedish culture since the 18th century – and has since spread outside its borders. But now the tradition is taking a more sophisticated turn, as famous Stockholm chefs move into opening bakeries. The Green Rabbit bakery in the Vasastan neighbourhood was opened in...
The smells that let me know I am home in Mexico
1. Freshly cooked tortillas
If you smell fresh tortillas you know everything is going to be ok. You could be overloaded with work, feeling tired, or feeling sad, but that smell will always make you happy…that and slicing into an avocado and finding it perfectly ripe! It’s all about life’s simple pleasures.
2. Gardenias
Ahh the famous Perfume de Gardenia! These flowers...
The best tropical holiday destinations in Asia for under £40
Cambodia
Treehouse, Koh Rong
Cambodia’s second-largest island, Koh Rong, is under an hour from chaotic Sihanoukville by fast boat, yet it’s still so undeveloped that there’s neither mains water nor electricity. Prices are high for Cambodia – but you get to stay in a treehouse on a tropical beach. Rustic bungalows high in the trees have hammock-equipped balconies and gorgeous...
Ahmed Dickinson Cárdenas on Fábrica de Arte Cubano, Havana
Last February, a friend invited me to FAC, or La Fábrica de Arte Cubano, an old oil factory that’s now a thriving arts space in Vedado, one of Havana’s residential districts. The eclectic crowd was typical of Cuban arts centres: imagine London’s Ministry of Sound, Shoreditch House, Annabel’s and the World’s End in Camden rolled into one. For about...
8 truths about Southern Californians
1. We are Californians before we are Americans.
The foreign opinions of Americans vary widely. Abroad people either love us, or feel obligated to assault our ears with a spit-laced diatribe about what ‘fuck-wits’ our federal politicians are, within four seconds of gauging our accent. The foreign opinions on Californians, however, vary little and tend to be loaded with warmth and...
Paris’s hottest new micro-quartier near Gare du Nord
Tuesday marked the 20-year anniversary of the Eurostar service, which has ferried more than 145 million passengers between London, Paris and Brussels. The French capital has changed immensely in the past two decades, with several down-at-heel areas being reinvented as hip neighbourhoods full of exciting new bars and shops. The latest hotspot is in a micro quartier right near Gare...