Gadlinks for Wednesday 11.11.09

by Brenda Yun on

Did you know that former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died five years ago today? I think it’s fair to say that the situation is getting rather dire for the people in Palestine, as their current leader is threatening to quit his post. My girlfriend will be volunteering in a Palestinian refugee camp come February. I hope things will clear up by then.

I didn’t mean for this pre-script to be such a downer! Maybe these articles will help to lift our travel spirits?

‘Til tomorrow, have a great evening!

More Gadlinks HERE.

Berlin’s best way to shop for the holidays

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Need a change of pace for your holiday shopping? Try Berlin! A new deal from the Hotel Concorde will make this year’s hunt for the perfect Christmas present more exciting than ever. The “Shop in the City” package starts with luxurious accommodations and includes plenty of discounts and other shopping perks to help you get the most from your trip.

The Hotel Concorde is right on Berlin’s Kurfürstendamm shopping boulevard, so you won’t have to go far to kick off the spending. In addition to staying in this part of town for two nights, the “Shop in the City” deal includes a buffet breakfast for two every day, dinner at Brasserie Le Faubourg and special gifts from Barbour and Lacoste. You’ll also get to enjoy a champagne reception and gift at the Bally boutique, a 10 percent discount at KaDeWe Berlin and 20 percent off at Galeries Lafayette — with a personal shopping appointment that you can wash down with a glass of champagne. Top it off with a 35 euro voucher at Montblanc.

Rates start at $275 a night. If you can’t make it in the next month and a half, don’t sweat it. Berlin’s Hotel Concorde is running it through the end of March.

Get out and go: Events around the world (November 11-15)

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!

  • Saskatoon – The Saskatoon Fall Fair, an agricultural and livestock show in Saskatchewan, Canada, will begin tomorrow, November 11, and continue until November 14.
  • Tokyo – The Shinjuku Ootori Matsuri Festival will take place November 11-12 and 23-24. The festival attracts over 600,000 people to the Hanazono Jinja Shrine.
  • Tallinn (Estonia) – Thursday 12 November 2009 The Black Nights Film Festival combines feature films with the sub-festivals of animated films, student films and children/youth films. The event begins Thursday, November 12, and continues for a full month until December 6.
  • Boulder – The Boulder Adventure Film Festival will be held November 12-14. This gritty, raw film fest is dedicated to the beating heart of adventure and a community undertaking run by adventurers, filmmakers and artists wishing to spread the creativity, enthusiasm, and activism inherent to outdoor adventure.
  • Frankfurt – The ‘Botticelli’ exhibition showcasing the art of Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445–1510), whose work has become a landmark of the Italian Renaissance, opens this Friday, November 13, at the Stadel Museum and will continue until February 28, 2010.
  • Boston – The city’s annual Christmas Festival of Lights will take place this Friday, November 13. The lights will be on display until January 3.

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.

Drunk United Airlines pilot pulled off plane minutes before departure

by Scott Carmichael on

A United Airlines pilot was pulled from his plane yesterday on charges that he was about to fly to Chicago while drunk.

After he failed a breathalyzer test, he was arrested and subsequently released on bond. United did not release the name of the pilot, but did confirm an employee was “removed from service”.

The flight in question was United 949, scheduled to depart London Heathrow at 12:05pm All 124 passengers had to be moved to other flights as no replacement pilot was available. The passengers were told that the pilot was “sick”.

The airline did not release any more information about the incident. The British press reported his age as 51.

Sadly, drunk pilots are not all that uncommon. When we recently compiled some of the worst incidents involving the flight crew, four of the ten involved booze in the flight deck.

London hotels rated as worst in Europe

by Scott Carmichael on

Hotel booking site Trivago.co.uk just released some interesting statistics on European hotels. The site compiled the results based off 2.7 million hotel reviews. Their final conclusion is pretty damning for hotels in London – using a ranking system from 0 to 100, London scored a miserable 69.89.

The best European hotels can be found in Dresden. Dresden managed to score an impressive 81.39. Other good hotel cities include Bruges, Bologna and Salzburg .

The bottom of the barrel is not a big surprise – Birmingham, Copenhagen and Amsterdam all scored poorly. My favorite city of poor hotels, Paris, came in 7 spots from the bottom, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has stayed in the French capital.

To ensure they publish honest reviews, Trivago combines their own data with reviews from Tripadvisor, Holidaycheck and Booking.com. The full results are published after the jump.

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