Get out and go: Events around the world (December 2-5)

by Brenda Yun on

It’s time to look at the festivals and events happening around the world, and this week has a particularly international selection of happenings. If you’re close and have time, then you have no excuse to get out and go!

  • Alaska – The Talkeetna Winterfest will take place in Talkeetna, Alaska throughout the month of December. The month long celebration features various activities, including Taste of Talkeetna, Broom Ball and Bachelor Auction.
  • Hobart – It may be winter in the States, but it’s summer in Tasmania, and the Hobart Summer Festival will be held for the whole month of December in Hobart.
  • British Virgin Islands – The Fireball Full Moon Party will take place today (Wednesday, December 2) in Trellis Bay, British Virgin Islands.
  • Seattle – Seattle’s Winter Beer Festival takes place at Hale’s Ales Brewery this Friday, December 4. More than 30 Washington State breweries will be pouring their winter brews. There will be a vintage beer tasting featuring favorites from years past. Pub food will be available as well as a selection of fine chocolates and holiday gifts for sale.
  • Aberdeen – We Americans may not “get it” but curling is a real spectator sport in some parts of the world. The European Curling Championships will take place this Friday, December 4 in Aberdeen, Scotland and will last through the week until the 12th.
  • New Jersey – Annual Festival of Trees will begin this Friday, December 4 in Basking Ridge and will continue for over a week through the 13th.
  • St. Lucia – Jade Mountain will hold its annual chocolate festival this weekend, from December 4-6. It is a delicious, interactive and exotic introduction to the world’s favorite aphrodisiac. Cacao has a history in St Lucia that dates back to the 1700’s.

If you make it to one of these events, let us know how it was, or if you know of an event that’s coming up, please let us know and we’ll be sure to include it in the next “Get out and go” round-up.

A380 flies to Antarctica for New Year’s 2010

by Andrew Evans on

This New Year’s Eve, Qantas will be taking one of their super swank A380’s to Antarctica. Seats are for sale to the masses starting (checking watch) NOW. This special flight is the first time the double-decker jumbo jet has ever flown this far south, let alone to Antarctica. The plane will take off in Sydney and pick up in Melbourne before spending four hours doing low, figure-eight patterns over the icy, white expanses of the seventh continent. (That sounds really, really cool but also sounds kind of like landing at Heathrow in winter.) Passengers will get to greet the “dawn” of 2010 (remember, the sun doesn’t set) and revel in the rare and incredible view of the southern polar summer without packing a coat.

If you don’t catch the inaugural New Year’s flight, there will be a repeat A380 flight on January 24th or you can take your honey on a boring old split-level Boeing 747 for Valentine’s Day 2010.

One is loath to mention–but must–the doomed sightseeing Air New Zealand Flight 901 of two score and three days ago, which smashed into Antarctica’s highest mountain, leaving shattered champagne glasses icily scattered across the coldest place on earth. There, I mentioned it.

These one-time Qantas flights can be ticketed with their travel agency partners at Antarctica Sightseeing Tours.

Gadlinks for Wednesday 11.25.2009

by Brenda Yun on

I hope we can all take some time out of our pre-Thanksgiving travel madness to enjoy some down time with some pre-Thanksgiving travel stories. On behalf of all the writers here at Gadling, we wish you all a day full of gratitude and filled with loved ones.

‘Til tomorrow, have a great evening!

More Gadlinks here.

How far will a man drive without asking for directions?

by Annie Scott on

How far will a man drive without asking for directions? In this particular case, the answer was nine hours. Nine hours!

An 81-year-old Australian man named Eric Steward took a wrong turn in New South Wales country town Yass, reportedly on his way to buy a newspaper, and ended up on a major highway. He drove almost 400 miles before pulling off and asking the advice of a policeman at a petrol station.

“This little old man came up to me saying he was lost. He handed me his mobile and asked if I could speak to his wife,” Victorian Police Senior Constable Clayton Smith told Reuters.

Steward claims that after taking the wrong turn, he just went with it: “I just went out on the road to have a drive, a nice peaceful drive.”

Nine hours.

cough-cough-Typical.-cough

[via Reuters]

Everyone wants to go to the U.S.: posts highest scores in brand survey

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Step aside, Australia: travelers now prefer the United States. A report by consulting firm FutureBrand shows that the United States’ Country Brand Index topped Australia, which usually has the top spot. The survey collects the thoughts of around 3,000 international business and recreational travelers, measuring how various countries are perceived. The report credits President Obama with driving the increase, since a decent dose of anti-American sentiment around the world put some pressure on the countries performance in the rankings.

The United States ranks best as “ideal for business,” but it lags in many of the 29 other categories. Japan and the United Kingdom score higher for nightlife, and Singapore beats the United States as a shopping destination.

Even with the high score, the Department of Commerce expects visits from abroad to fall 8 percent this year, thanks to an awful global economy.

Interested in seeing the whole top 10 list? Check for it after the jump.

1. United States

2. Canada (hosting the Winter Olympics next year)

3. Australia

4. New Zealand

5. France

6. Italy

7. Japan

8. United Kingdom

9. Germany

10. Spain

[Photo by Diacritical via Flickr]