Pirates release cruise ship hostages

by Iva Skoch on

Call me naive and uninformed, but I honestly didn’t think that pirates still operate in the world the way they do in the movies. That is obviously not the case.

According to this IHT article, the International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy, says that global pirate attacks rose 10 percent in 2007, marking the first increase in three years. Pirates seized more than two dozen ships off the Somali coast last year alone, AP reports. The U.S. Navy has led international patrols to try to combat piracy in the region. Last year, the guided missile destroyer USS Porter opened fire to destroy pirate skiffs tied to a Japanese tanker.

Just last Friday, pirates seized control of a French cruise ship off the coast of Somalia. Attackers stormed the 288-foot Le Ponant, in the high seas in the Gulf of Aden, as it returned without passengers–but with 30 crew members–from the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean, toward the Mediterranean Sea. Elite French troops were sent to East Africa to bolster efforts to free the yacht captives.

According to the latest update from AP, pirates just freed those 30 hostages. The French government would not say whether any pirates were captured nor whether the vessel had been retaken.

Europe on budget. Yes, it is possible

by Iva Skoch on

If you are ready to visit Europe, even with the Euro soaring against the dollar, you might want to consider some of the money-saving ideas Concierge.com has put together.

Read this article to get Concierge.com’s tips for budget-conscious travelers to Europe in the following areas:

  1. Spas. They don’t have to be expensive.
  2. Cruises. They can help you budget and save (if you pick the right ship)
  3. Culture. Visit Europe’s grand churches and cathedrals. See concerts there for cheap
  4. Food. Visit local markets for authentic and cheaper meals
  5. Transportation. Rent a bicycle in bike-friendly town. Use public transportation.
  6. Accommodation. Camping doesn’t have to mean roughing it
  7. Beaches. Visit off-the-beaten path beaches
  8. Airlines. If you plan it well, budget airlines can save you a bunch.
  9. Destinations. Eastern Europe is a big on culture and small on prices. Spend more time in Europe’s countryside to save money.

One of my favorite tips was staying in an apartment hotel, instead of a regular hotel. I have done this several times in London and always liked the experience. It’s not quite as personal as staying in someone’s house, looking at their family photos, but it definitely has more character than your typical hotel. Details here.

Coldplay ranked “Top band that help Britons get off to sleep”

by Iva Skoch on

“Oh, what’s Coldplay whining about now?” asked my friend David, when he heard Coldplay playing in my apartment a few years back. Ever since then I haven’t been able to listen to Coldplay. All I hear now is whining!

It appears that Coldplay brings entirely different sensations to Britons though. According to a Travelodge-conducted survey, the top bands/singers that help Britons get off to sleep in a hotel are:

  1. Coldplay
  2. James Blunt
  3. Snow Patrol
  4. Take That
  5. Norah Jones

I don’t really know much about the music business, I am guessing it is not really a compliment to be the band that puts people to sleep?

Thanks, Rory Boland, for the tip!

[via Lost Weekend]

Hollywood stuntman to sail Atlantic in popsicle stick ship

by Abha Malpani on

31 world record breaker and former Hollywood stuntman Robert McDonald’s new adventure is to cross the Atlantic in a 15-meter ship made of 15 million ice-cream sticks, that looks like a replica of a Viking ship.

A lot of the sticks were used, steam-cleaned ones and about 13-million of them were donated by Unilever. He made the ship, stick by stick, with the help of his son and 5000 children from Holland; the sticks have been stuck together by salt-water proof glue. This ship is probably the world’s largest handmade recycled object.

McDonald’s creative and risk-filled life stems from the fact that he was injured in a gas explosion that killed his parents and six-siblings, and confined him to 5-years of hospital bed rest. All his feats are motivated by a strong and simple belief that he wants to share with kids: “you can do anything”. Part of McDonald’s fearless stunt portfolio includes climbing the Twin Towers in 1995, and free-climbing the Grand Canyon.

A dangerous expedition but possible; the ship is undergoing various sea-trials at the moment. Apparently, McDonald said that when a boat inspector analyzed one of his planks made of 5000 popsicle sticks, he pronounced it 5-times stronger than steel.(!)

According to a Reuters report, he currently is looking for a crew to sail the ship across Atlantic from Holland to America as well as of course, funding.

From the New Europe: Self-tapping pub promotes drinking games (and drinking)

by Iva Skoch on

The world is definitely about to get fully automated any day now. Just yesterday, I blogged about a German restaurant that’s based solely on automated service: no waiters, no tipping.

Today, I have a new culinary efficiency concept for you: the self-tapping pub. Leave it up to the Czechs–the world’s biggest beer consumers per capita–to invent a pub, where you don’t even need a waiter to get your beer. What waste of time!

The customers at “The Pub“, as the automated pub is actually called, can tap Pilsner Urquell beer from brewer Plze??ský Prazdroj at their tables, and a computer device on the tap keeps track of the standings of all tables in beer drinking. The scores are then projected onto a screen in the bar, Czech Business Weekly reports. The system enables customers to keep track of the beer drinking scores of all tables not only in the bar they are in, but also in all bars of the same chain across the Czech Republic. So far, they have branches in Prague, Pilsen, Hradec Kralove, Brno, Liberec, Karlovy Vary and Tabor.

The bars have Web cameras so that customers can see their competitors in different bars in the chain. They can also select which bar they would like to be in a beer drinking contest with and can send short messages via small screens on the tap. Needles to say, being able to see how much everyone else is drinking only promotes the competitive spirit among the pub guests. And that, I guess, is the idea.

The concept, started by two 24-year-old Czech men three years ago, has been been a smashing success in the Czech Republic. The chain might apparently soon be expanding to Poland, Russia and Italy.