Sicilian steals a New Year’s Eve away from his family

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Some people will do anything to dodge family at the holidays. We’ll kick and scream or otherwise misbehave, but my new hero is a Sicilian man who risked getting a record to score a New Year’s Eve away from the wife and relatives. The 35-year-old went to the police station and asked to be incarcerated for the evening. The cops refused, claiming that he needed to commit a crime before he could score accommodations in their establishment.

So, lacking any other option, the man went right next door to a tobacco shop, threatened the owner with a box cutter and grabbed some gum and other candy. Rather than take off, he hung around and waited for his ride the police, who arrived and arrested him for armed robbery.

No indication was given as to whether the turn-down service was to his liking, though it’s likely the price was right.

[Photo by harry525 via Flickr]

Worst travel mistakes of the 2000’s: Driving through Dingle

by Melanie Nayer on

Let me be clear about one thing before I launch into my story: I do know how to drive. I have a valid driver’s license and while I don’t own a car, I believe I’ve had a hand in keeping Zipcar in business this year. I know how to drive manual cars and actually learned how to drive on a Toyota Celica two-door manual shift, so it would stand to reason that I can operate a stick-shift on any car in any country for the rest of my life. Right?

Over the past decade I’ve traveled through most of Europe, spent countless hours in airport bars and lounges, cuddled up next to perfect strangers as I squeezed into the middle seat on last-minutes flights, and scoured some of the best (and worst) hotels around the world. It’s a dream job and despite popular belief, it’s not easy. Being a travel writer means long days, even longer nights, and endless reporting from the road. Sleep is a luxury I don’t often get but I’m not complaining – I wouldn’t trade this for the world. However, it’s fair to say that even travel writers hit their point of exhaustion and as anyone knows, making decisions when you’re exhausted is never a good idea. With that, I give you my biggest travel mistake of the 2000s:

Destination: Ireland

It was my first trip to the Emerald Isle and I was overjoyed. Visions of rolling green hills, farmers and sheep herders, bottomless glasses of whiskey and endless nights of Irish sing-a-longs filled my head as I reclined in my seat on my way to Shannon International Airport. Six hours later I arrived in Ireland, standing in line at the rental car counter waiting for the keys my mid-sized four-door Ford or ‘something similar.’

The man came from behind counter with the keys to the Ford and a neatly packed GPS system in a black box, and pointed to a little blue 4-door parked in spot 17. It didn’t seem that difficult. We’d both driven a stick-shift car in the past and now, all we had to do was remember that we’re driving on the opposite side of the road. Even on no sleep I can do this, or so I thought…I’ll spare you the details of the drive to the Cliffs of Moher in the fog, the flat tire somewhere between Shannon and Tralee, and the head-on collissions we escaped by thismuch as we drove our stick-shift car through Ireland. The pièce de résistance comes at the end of our trip as we made our way to the Dingle Penisula for a drive to Dingle Bay. (If you’ve been to the Dingle Peninsula you know what’s about to happen. For those travelers who haven’t been, pay close attention and repeat after me: automatic car.)

I took the wheel, put the pedal to the metal, and recalled the standard H-shift of my youth. The first part of the drive to Dingle was easy — flat roads and plenty of stop-signs allowed me the opportunity to get comfortable with the shift again, all the while driving on the wrong side of the road. As we slowly climbed up the mountain, I gazed out the window and admired the green hills filled with sheep, the old pubs on the side of the road, Gaelic signs and cows for miles. I had neglected to process one thing: I’m on a mountain — a steep mountain — with narrow lanes and sharp cruves. In order to get to Dingle Bay, one has to actually drive up and over the mountain.

The narrow roads were the least of my concerns. Do I downshift or switch to a higher gear? Do I ride the clutch or ride the brake? Do I gun it and hope for the best? At exactly the wrong moment, I looked in my rearview mirror and realized we were at what seemed like a 90-degree angle on the mountain, looking down on fields of sheep, perfectly spaced green patches of land, and miles of ocean. Panic stricken and realizing I had no where to go but up, I started my deep breathing (and silent praying).

The road was too narrow to turn around now, and trying to navigate a 3-point turn might have resulted with us in an unfortunate position with our car and a family of sheep. With the encouraging words of my friend in the passenger seat, I made it over the mountain just as it started to rain. I pulled the car over as the road widened, turned off the engine, handed my friend the keys, and calmly searched my bag for a Valium.

Moral of the story: While it’s fine to skimp on some things, like paying less for coach seats so you can afford a fancier hotel, it’s not a good idea to skimp out on the simple luxuires of the modern-day world, like automatic cars. Save yourself the headache – and the near-death experience – and just pay for an upgraded vehicle. Any travel writer will tell you so.

Cycling the Iron Curtain

by Sean McLachlan on

Paul Kaye had an idea. He loves cycling, photography, and Cold War history, so he decided to combine the three by cycling the length of the old Iron Curtain from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic and documenting his journey.

The 3,600 km (2,237 mile) ride took in several different countries, some of which didn’t even exist when the Cold War was on, and countless towns and villages that are now reunited after a long period of separation.

His photos of crumbling watchtowers and scraps of the Berlin Wall are highly evocative, especially to someone like me who grew up with the threat of nuclear war hovering over his head. I remember in high school when someone was talking about something that might happen in the far future, they’d qualify it by saying, “If we don’t blow ourselves up first.” I’m very happy I haven’t heard that expression for twenty years now.

Paul’s Curtainrider blog tells the whole story. The BBC has a great gallery of his photos here. He’s also come out with a lavishly illustrated book telling of his adventures.

The European Union is turning the entire route into an Iron Curtain Trail for hikers and cyclists, so get your bike ready and head out to see some history.

2009 was a relatively safe year for air travel

by Scott Carmichael on

Yes – I know 2009 is not over for everyone just yet, but assuming nothing bad happens tonight, we’ll be able to say farewell to a year that was relatively safe for air travel.

In 2009, there were 111 accidents involving commercial aircraft. Of those accidents, 20 were fatal to one or more passengers.

The average from the past ten years was 135 accidents, 28 of which were fatal. Looking at the figures for the past three years, air travel is amazingly safe – only one accident for every 1.7 million flights.

In 2009, there were several major accidents – the largest of course involving Air France flight 447 which dropped into the ocean 350 miles off the coast of Brazil. The cause of this crash is still under investigation, and the black box has not been retrieved.

In the United states, the worst accident happened back in February when a Colgan Air turbo prop crashed into a Buffalo home, killing all 49 people on board, plus one person on the ground. The Buffalo crash has thankfully helped create some more attention for pilot working conditions, and improved training.

Of course, the Hudson river incident is the one that will probably stick with us the longest.

We were just 15 days into 2009 when Captain Chesley Sullenberger ditched his US Airways Airbus A320 into the Hudson river. Everyone on board was able to evacuate the plane, and with just a few minor injuries, this accident was a fantastic piece of news for an otherwise gloomy and depressing January. This accident also showed the power of social media, as Twitter was the source of the first news and photos from the crash.

(Sources: NLR-Air Transport Safety Institute / Telegraaf)

Fury ensues over Swastikas in German hotel lobby

by Melanie Nayer on

What would you do if you walked into your hotel and found Nazi symbols in the lobby? Apparently, it’s a question you’ll have to ponder if you book a stay at Hamburg’s Radisson Hotel.

According to London’s The Sun, the German hotel hasn’t quite finished remodeling.

Upon checking into the Radisson Hamburg, one guest looked up (a common thing to do when you’re admiring a hotel lobby) to find 9-foot Swastikas etched into glass. The hotel guest complained to management at the Radisson Hotel, but was apparently told removing the panel was simply too pricey.

The Sun published photos of the Nazi symbols from the lobby here. The etchings are clear, and we have just one word for the Radisson: renovation.