European hotel booking site Trivago has compiled a list of the top ten most popular European island destinations.
The one thing these islands all have in common is amazing beaches. The lineup varies from the couples friendly island of Santorini, to the party capital of the world – Ibiza.
So, if you happen to be heading to Europe this summer, or just need to dream of a destination not commonly found on the “must visit” list of most Americans, check out the top ten lineup for some beachy inspiration.
Back in January when I was writing about cruise line deals, I thought that if they are such a deal, I should go on one. That’s what I’m doing in August. My mom, son and I are heading to Venice in August to hop on MSC’s Musica Greek Island cruise. My mom and I were half price and had a free upgrade to a superior ocean view balcony room and my son is free. That’s right FREE. All children ages 17 and under are free with an accompanying adult on all MSC cruises, all the time.
Cruise lines are continuing to be a travel bargain thanks to a campaign held by Cruise Lines International. According to this article in Mercury News the campaign, “You Deserve a Cruise” is highlighting travel deals for later this year and on into next year. There are 23 participating cruise lines which means you can probably find a cruise that matches your tastes and your budget. Here’s a link to the Web site, plus you can check out the deals on the Web sites on the participating cruise lines. MSC is listed as one of them.
The article gives a rundown of some of the deals and perks and tells how to get them. Booking in advance is one way. That’s what we did to get our deal, plus the agent we worked with was able to snag us the better rate for an upgraded room.
The message is cruise lines want passengers and are willing to toss you incentives to tip you over to pulling out that credit card. I’m glad took the bait. I certainly deserve a cruise. And so does my mother. My son gets to go because the way I see it, his presence makes my share of the trip cost a real bargain. With kids’ activities on board, I’m assured some me time. With the money I’ve saved, maybe I will treat myself to a spa treatment. I deserve that too.
I’ve always love a good village-by-the-sea, but there’s something about the villages on the Greek isles that are just magical. This beautiful image shared by Cazimiro in the Gadling Flickr pool takes me back to an amazing holiday I once had in Santorini. I’ve been dying to go back every since. Really stunning shot.
If you’ve got some great travel shots you’d love to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day.
Just like Cliff Muskiet, the uniform freak, I have a thing for airline uniforms. I think most flight attendants do. In fact, inside my guestroom closet hangs three different uniform styles from two different airlines. I’ve saved it all – the pants, the skirts, the dresses, the jackets, the vests, the blouses, the wings, and even the blue tie I snapped around my neck and the epaulets I wore on both shoulders with the pleated Bermuda shorts and high heels at Sun Jet International Airlines. Talk about embarrassing. I still own everything except for the silky red and blue scarf I wore thirteen years ago when I first got hired to fly for the airline I currently work for. Oh how I wish I still had that scarf. I wore it off to the side, tied in a knot around my neck. That simple scarf made the conservative navy blue polyester uniform appear sexy and feminine.
“I loved that navy blue coat dress we wore years ago,” said Cady, an ex flight attendant who is also my very best friend.
Personally, I prefer the look of the white starched blouse paired with the navy blue knee length skirt and fitted blazer, even though I always end up wearing the uniform dress. As a commuter, I have to pack what’s easy.
Now my all time favorite airline uniform is worn by the flight attendants of Air France. Though they look great, I’m not quite sure how I would actually feel about serving drinks while wearing the big red bow at 35,000 feet. Delta looks fantastic in navy blue with just a hint of red. However the white bell sleeves, while stylish, seem like they could easily get dirty. That could be a problem for me. I’m a bit of a mess when I get stuck working in the galley, and a dirty uniform is an ugly uniform. Emirates‘ uniform is pretty nice – that is if you look good in Khaki and don’t mind wearing a head scarf. The worst airline uniform has to be First Choice Airways. I mean seriously, pink?
As I began writing this post, I wondered what others thought about all the different airline uniforms, so I posed the question, which airlines have the best uniforms, on twitter.com and here’s what a few people had to say…
Flyingphotog: ” I think Virgin Atlantic’s uniforms are awesome. They’ll make you turn your head. Well… at least if you’re a guy they will. US Airways f/a uniforms are super-boring.
Paulrobichaux: “I really like Delta’s red-dress uniform. very classy looking.”
HeatherMark: “I love Delta’s red wrap dress. The fabric doesn’t look breathable, tho. Those Virgin girls always look fabu, too.
Wkali13: “I’m partial to Delta’s uniforms. They always look so professional.”
CBI28: “best uniform: Air France-I love that dress with the red bow. Worst-First Choice in Britain, a.k.a. the pink flamingos”
Mathew: “Best – Quantas long haul. Worst is Virgin Atlantic & United Airlines
Brajit: “AAs uniforms are dowdy. Skybus uniforms were AWFUL! “
AKnickerson: “Worst? Don’t know. But best: Korean Air. They are gorgeous! Very chic!”
Clipperkid747: “I like Lufthansa uniforms. They do look classy.
Tlonyc: “Got to like the laid back look of Southwest, but not as much as Delta. United and US Airways at the bottom.”
Stgabriel08: “if you are including foreign airlines, thumbs up to Emirates and Thai Air, thumbs down to Singapore Air”
Tyflyguy: “my vote for worst uniform HAS to be Southwest.”
FlightattdntJen: “oh God!The old Air Canada green ones: HIDEOUS! Affectionately named by passengers as the “vagina dress” Yay for new ones!”
Okay, for the record, I have never heard of the vagina dress, but now I must see it, so I emailed Jen and asked her to send me a photo. She said she would.
So why all this talk about flight attendant uniforms? Because Olympic Airlines’ flight attendants and pilots are getting new uniforms and you can help choose the final design. You’ve got until June 7th to vote, so click here to go to the website and pick your favorite uniform design. A few voters will even be chosen to win airplane tickets to destinations in Greece and abroad! Warning: the website is not in English. But good luck anyway!
For those of you still with me, I hope you enjoy this youtube video featuring airline uniforms of yesterday and today…
Photo courtesy of (two flight attendants) Dmytrok, (flight attendant in red) Sagado Corazon
According to local police, the British tourists dressed as nuns and carried crosses. Under their habits, however, they were clad in thongs, which they had a penchant for flashing. This behavior resulted in charges of exposing themselves and offending religious symbols.
With no witnesses, though, the judge had no choice but to judge them innocent. Local residents need not worry: there will be more.
A report on BBCD says that “Malia has become synonymous with Britons behaving badly.” I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what the next costume is!