Another 100 car pileup?

by Iva Skoch on

What is going on the roads of Central Europe this week, exactly? On Friday, I blogged about the Czech 100+ car pileup on the country’s major highway.

Today, AP reports that 50 to 100 vehicles slammed into each other earlier today in snowfall on an autobahn in western Austria. The accident happened on the westbound A1 autobahn between the towns of Seewalchen and St. Georgen.

Some victims are apparently still trapped in their vehicles because rescue efforts were hampered by snowfall. One person is reported dead, according to Reuters.

When going spring-skiing, watch out for spring-snowstorms. (Optimism aside, it is best to keep those winter tires on through April.)

Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report: Top 10 tourism industries

by Anna Brones on

If you’re curious as to what countries have the most conducive environments for tourism, you might want to check out the second annual World Economic Forum Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008. Basically it’s a report full of a lot of economic figures used to measure how good tourism industries are in countries around the world. This year’s report put a special emphasis on economic development and environmental sustainability. Here are the top ten:

1. Switzerland
2. Austria
3. Germany
4. Australia
5. Spain
6. United Kingdom
7. United States
8. Sweden
9. Canada
10. France

I’ve been to 7 out of the top 10, meaning that the tourism boards are probably doing their job — or I’m just visiting popular destinations. Surprisingly, popular backpacker destinations like Cambodia, Vietnam, and Nepal are at the bottom of the list. For the complete PDF of rankings go here.

Not single? Sorry, no room for you

by Abha Malpani on

With previous posts on tourism for debauchery, nudism and speed-dating, looks like I keep an eye out for naughty opportunities on the road. Truth is, with the increasing number of such “official” options, they are hard to miss. The opening of what is being called the “world’s first singles resort” in Austria, therefore, comes as no surprise.

Called Aviva Singles Resort and Spa, word is that if you have any sort of formal or informal attachment, you are not welcome. How do they check that? I’m guessing they take your word for it. Anyway, if you lie, it’s unlikely they care unless your “attachment” hunts you down and creates a scene in this new free-love hotel.

The website is only in German but long live Babelfish, which allowed me to figure out that the hotel has two selling points: 1) it is for those who want to escape from everything familiar and be alone, 2) it’s for those who are single and want to meet other singles. The resort offers the usual community facilities (gym, sports, bars, spa, restaurants), but the concept encourages mingling.Other than that, they have a singles club (details of which I couldn’t decipher) and a singles shuttle that drives guests coming from Vienna and Munich so the “mingling” can begin en route. The resort is located in St. Stephan am Walde.

The website could be that of any 4-star hotel. It looks very sophisticated and other than the photo gallery that pictures hot men and women interacting, it doesn’t really elude to a wild time; but perhaps the lure is in the subtlety of it all.

And, while we’re on the subject, here’s a list of Best Hotels for Singles as evaluated by Hotel Chatter.

Austria offers therapeutic package holidays for the newly divorced

by Abha Malpani on

If you are on the brink of divorce, you might want to pass by the world’s first Divorce Fair that’s happening in Vienna today and tomorrow. The Fair will later carry on in Austrian cities Linz and Graz.

50% of all marriages in Austria end up in divorce, 65% in Vienna. This Fair is aimed at providing consultation to separated partners on how to overcome the situation with the least possible suffering.

The event seems to be organized quite thoughtfully as days for women and men are separate so as to avoid any sort of possible awkwardness.

Lawyers, mediators, life-crisis consultants, private detectives and DNA laboratories will be participating, and yes therapeutic holiday offers will also be available. Anything to market a holiday huh! I’d really like to know what they include.

Lectures on coping as a single parent, and the effect of divorce on children will also be held and information will be available in German, English, French, Turkish, Croatian and Serbian.

Isn’t that the nicest reasons to have an event!?

[via BBC]

Doorbells and sleighbells and . . . frozen schnitzel?

by Catherine Bodry on

Wiener schnitzel may be one of my favorite things, but I’m not sure how I feel about the new toaster version of the traditional Viennese dish. In the classic version, a thin slice of veal is tenderized, coated in bread crumbs and fried. This process results in a wonderful combination of textures and flavors: crunchy, savory breadcrumbs and tender veal.

Now a German firm has created a more convenient method for preparing schnitzel: in your toaster. This version is made of pork coated in bread crumbs, is sold frozen and can be cooked in any toaster in three minutes. Meat-producer Toennies spokesperson Dietrich Gumppenberg claims that the company is only responding to customers’ needs: “Increasingly people want something that’s convenient. Who has time to go to the trouble of frying something themselves?”

Gumppenberg is keeping mum on the schnitzel’s lack of oozing grease. “We’re patenting our invention,” he says.

[via Reuters]