On track to debut in Venice, Italy May 1st, new Carnival Magic has completed sea trials in the Adriatic Sea.
Currently under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, the 3,690-passenger vessel had a full contingent of officers, technicians and engineers on board who thoroughly tested the Carnival Magic’s sophisticated navigation and mechanical systems.
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred as a “shakedown cruise” by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.
Following sea trials, Carnival Magic returned to Monfalcone, where it is undergoing final interior outfitting prior to its delivery late next month.
Carnival Magic will introduce a number of new features, including the Caribbean-inspired RedFrog Pub with its own micro-brewed draft beer, Thirsty Frog Red, and a menu that includes conch salad, spicy chicken wings and other bar food favorites; Cucina del Capitano, a family-style Italian restaurant that taps Carnival’s Italian heritage to the table; and SportSquare, a top-deck recreation area featuring cruising’s first ropes course and outdoor fitness area.
Carnival Magic is set to debut in Europe with a series of seven- to 12-day Mediterranean cruises operating May 1 – Oct. 16, 2011. Following a 16-day trans-Atlantic crossing, Carnival Magic will launch seven-day Caribbean service from Galveston, Texas, Nov. 14, 2011, becoming the port’s largest year-round cruise ship.
I’ve frequently pimped Lonely Planet’sPhrasebooks on this site, but I swear I don’t get kickbacks from the company. It’s just that I’m a big believer in not being a). A Tourist (although, let’s face it, if I’m not at home, I am indeed A Tourist) and b). helpless.
Even if you’re the biggest xenophobe on earth–which would make foreign travel a really weird and pointless pastime you might want to reconsider– it’s hard to dispute the importance of knowing how ask “Where’s the bathroom?” in certain urgent circumstances.
It’s with such experiences in mind that I came up with this fun little series. There are a handful of phrases I’ve cultivated in various languages that have served me well, in situations both good and bad. Not only are they inscribed on the dog-eared inner covers of my trusty Phrasebooks; they’re etched into my mind, so I can summon them at will. Whether you need to ward off annoying vendors, personal humiliation, potential suitors, or would-be attackers, it pays to be prepared and know what to say, when. Since things like “Yes, No, Thank you, Please, Hello,” etc. are generally not too challenging, for the purposes of this series, I’ll leave them out. That doesn’t mean they’re not very important to learn, however.
This week’s lesson: “I’m just looking.” Invaluable for politely but firmly stating your desire to see with your eyes, not your wallet. It may not stop persistent hawkers from trying to close a deal, but at least you’re showing respect by speaking in their native tongue (or an approximation thereof). And who knows? If you change your mind, that alone may help you score a better bargain.
P.S. I don’t claim to be polylingual: I’m compiling phrases based on past experience or research. If I offend anyone’s native tongue, please provide a correction in the “Comments” section. Be nice!
1. Spanish: Solo estoy mirando.
2. Italian: Sto solo guardando.
3. French: Je regarde.
[Photo credit: Flickr user Gerry Balding]4. German: Nur schauen.
5. Czech: Jen se dívám.
6. Portuguese: Estou só a olhar.
Many languages, especially those spoken in Asia and the Middle East, use written characters. Transliteration will vary, depending upon the guidebook/translator, which is why the spelling or phonetics below may be different from other sources. Since these languages are largely tonal (and may require accents or characters not available on a Western computer), look at this way: odds are you’re going to mangle the pronunciation anyway, so just do your best! It’s the thought that counts.
7. Chinese (Cantonese): Tái haa.
8. Japanese: Watashi ga mite iru dakedesu (here’s to Japan getting back on its feet and attracting travelers soon!) To make a Red Cross donation, click here.
9. Vietnamese: Tôi chỉ xem thôi.
14. Moroccan Arabic: Ghir kanshuf.
What’s the most useful phrase you’ve ever learned in a foreign language? How has it helped your travels? We want to hear from you!
The great recession hit Ireland especially hard. Irish bankers lent money they didn’t have to people that spent it on speculative real estate made more expensive by the Irish bankers flooding the market with the money they didn’t have. Basically, cash became too accessible and property prices skyrocketed. This is the nature of any proper bubble. Like the tulips in 17th century Holland or a Jose Canseco rookie card in the early nineties, market hysteria drives prices up even when the true inherent value is stalled out in a place called reality.
As we know now, the market came crashing down, and today Irish castles can be purchased at a bargain, along with many other types of distressed real estate.
According to Bloomberg, the 12th century castle of Kilkea is currently on the market for 6 million euros – 10 million less than one year ago. The property had been used as a hotel for decades, though its last few tripadvisor reviews are not exactly glowing. Describing the establishment as “desolate and freezing” with “filthy outdated rooms,” the property is likely in need of gargantuan updates. On the bright side, Kilkea castle has its own wikipedia page. Does it get any more legit than that?
The castle has 36 bedrooms, 140 acres of land, and an abandoned nightclub. It also once housed a wizard. Sounds like the type of place Michael Jackson would have bought. The curious star had a penchant for Irish castles.Maybe castles are not your thing, too bourgeois perhaps. Well, around Dublin, many deals are to be had on all types of distressed property. With commercial property values dropping by up to 70% thanks to the failed perpetual value machine that was Irish banking, even the building cranes and forklifts are being auctioned off.
In the nightlife mecca of Temple Bar, you can purchase a flat for 80,000 euros. A 3 bedroom penthouse in central Dublin, once valued close to 1,000,000 euros, is a steal at 230,000 Euros. Perhaps you have plans of building your own mini castle. Well, land in beautiful Wicklow county is as cheap as 20,000 Euros for a plot. Check out more of the deals here. Maybe it is time to become an Irish expat.
This quick trip around the world by filmmaker and photographer Alex Profit is a stunning display of photo-tourism. The video embarks on a journey through Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Tokyo, New York and London. It will cure your nagging fits of wanderlust for the duration of its five minute run-time. Beyond that though, you may experience an uncontrollable urge to visit Barcelona or one of the other many locales documented.
The video was made by compiling 2000 photographs from eight separate locations. It took Alex twenty-four days to travel to all of the locations and get the shots. That is covering a lot of ground, fast. If you could choose to travel to any of these locations, which one would you choose?
The world’s largest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider, could be the first machine capable of causing matter to travel backwards in time. Vanderbilt University physicists are now armed with what they believe is the ability to prove the unprovable, the potential to jump into a fifth dimension.
It’s the latest theory of Professor Tom Weiler and graduate fellow Chui Man Ho that using the Large Haldron Collider is key.
“One of the major goals of the collider is to find the elusive Higgs boson: the particle that physicists invoke to explain why particles like protons, neutrons and electrons have mass. If the collider succeeds in producing the Higgs boson, some scientists predict that it will create a second particle, called the Higgs singlet, at the same time.” reports Vanderbilt’s research news.
Weiler and Ho thing these singlets should have the ability to jump into an extra, fifth dimension where they can move either forward or backward in time and reappear in the future or past.
“One of the attractive things about this approach to time travel is that it avoids all the big paradoxes,” Weiler said. “Because time travel is limited to these special particles, it is not possible for a man to travel back in time and murder one of his parents before he himself is born, for example. However, if scientists could control the production of Higgs singlets, they might be able to send messages to the past or future.”