Argentina’s Abasto Plaza Hotel

by Adrienne Wilson on

The five-star Abasto Plaza Hotel located in Buenos
Aries, goes beyond the ordinary theme hotel.
From the moment you check-in you’ll notice the concierge dressed in a uniform that
resembles a black tango dress.  You can rest assured they’ll be quite helpful answering all of your tango
questions. Rooms are decorated with tango motifs in addition to the rest of the hotel interior dotted with dancing
illustrations. Rates start at $200 and include breakfast, gym usage, and tango lessons of course. For $400 extra
dollars you book the suite which includes a dance floor in the room. At night you’ll be able to enjoy live
dancing by two tango champions and should you get happy feet of your own you can purchase shoes in the tango boutique.
Not enough of the sexy and moody dance that has been practiced for centuries?

If that’s the case, make sure you book your reservations during the Tango Festival to be held February 24-March
6, 2006 or the World Tango Championship in August 2006. In short the country is hoping to dance Argentina
back into the tourism industry the way it was before the 2002 economic crisis. 

via
CNN

Smithsonian Journeys

by Kelly Amabile on

The Smithsonian’s flagship travel program, Smithsonian Journeys,
offers global educational travel itineraries led by expert study leaders. Travelers stay at luxury hotels, dine at fine
restaurants and participate in tailor-made tours and lectures. SJ has recently introduced a series of
Member’s Choice Tours, crafted from actual articles
featured in Smithsonian Magazine, to commemorate the publication’s 35th anniversary. Browse their website and
monthly Vistas newsletter to learn more about the
large selection of tours they offer.

Airfare is not usually included in the price of these trips, but if you want to score a deal right now, sign up by
November 30 for the April 2006 Iberian
Peninsula Tour and round-trip airfare is free. This is a particularly pricy trip since it includes a Mediterranean
cruise aboard the luxurious small ship Le
Levant.

For those who’d like to participate in a slightly more affordable Smithsonian experience, they also offer a
Travel
Adventures series, in partnership with Collette Vacations. These enlightened vacations seek to introduce travelers
to the customs and values of a particular foreign land. Itineraries for 2006 and 2007 include trips to Costa Rica,
Newfoundland, Alaska and Iceland.

You must be a Smithsonian member to sign up for any of these trips — annual membership is $29 and includes a year’s
subscription to Smithsonian Magazine.

Pay Up, Ditch the Line

by Erik Olsen on

Ah, the marketplace.

You have to celebrate when the wonderful apparatus that is supply and demand reveals with harmonious clarity
and purpose the greed and determination of rich families who visit theme parks. To wit: a policy at some parks
that allows customers to pay to skip line.

It cost one man $600 to tour Busch Gardens. At the Empire State Building $35, or more than double the
regular entrance fee, will get you preferential treatment. That is, you will wait no longer than 20 minutes for the
soaring Willy Wonka Glass elevator ride to the top. But Disney, to whom ALL guests are VIPs (finger down
throat) such policies are forbidden.

An interesting look at a practice that most of us didn’t even know existed.

After the Nile

by Erik Olsen on

The Nile is apparently one of the top attractions in Egypt, and
as such, you often find yourself standing there at the rail of a Nile cruise ship, surrounded by hordes of
chatty, photo clicking tourists. Writer
Gayle
Keck says, forget this nonsense, and urges you to jump ship. To bail on the tourist trappings and hit the
road…er, sand.

 

She starts her adventure at Luxor, said to be the largest open air museum in the world (and no, I am not referring to
the Vegas casino by that name), which lies about 400 miles south of Cairo. Then it is south to Dendera,
a temple dedicated to Hathor, the goddess of “love, drunkenness and motherhood,” which made me wonder if
the temple is a common destination for fraternity parties.

 

You have to envy Keck. I’ve read many of her stories before, and she gets to
do some great stuff for the Post. Her article always balance a fine sense of humor with a professional dedication to
telling you things you need to know. With this article, this trend remains unbroken.

Attention for Flight Attendants

by Kelly Amabile on

As a young girl, I was drawn to the life of a flight attendant,
daydreaming of fancy flights around the world, meeting people from exotic places. I believed it was loads of fun but as
I grew older, I realized it was the thrill of flying that was the real appeal, not working the friendly skies.
But I salute those who do this tough, glamourless job.
Laura Brandle (who we learned about
from World
Hum) has been at it for 38 years! Impressive, especially in this age of terrorism, security checks and bankrupt
airlines. I can’t imagine being able to stay dedicated to this type of work for so long, especially with the
ever-increasing health and safety concerns.

At least today’s flight attendants don’t have to deal with smoking on board. (If they started working post the smoke
ban, that is.) Take a look at the stories of these four flight
attendants, all non-smokers who have been diagnosed with smoker’s diseases as a result of exposure during flights.
These attendants would sneak sucks of oxygen while being required to hand out free cigarettes during flights, their
uniforms and yellowing hair reeking after a day of flying. After the ban, an institute dedicated specifically to
non-smoking flight attendant medical research was established. Not so glamorous at all, but as
the profession celebrates its
75th year, it is good
to see organizations like this taking care of those who served in the sky.