British Airways offers North American flight discount to entice US travelers

by McLean Robbins on

Many of us have been yearning to visit our neighbor across the pond since The Royal Wedding (capitalization intended). Great Britain is in celebration mode, there’s no doubt. They’ve capitalized on the trend and embarked upon a four year multi-million dollar marketing campaign to their most valuable overseas market – the US, just in time for 2012, a year when

Britain is hosting the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, World Pride and hundreds of festivals that will make up the Cultural Olympiad.

To celebrate, British Airways is offering savings of up to $150 when flying from any North American gateway to anywhere in the UK in British Airways’ World Traveller Plus, its premium economy class. The offer is available for tickets purchased by October 31, 2011 and is valid for travel until March 31, 2012.

We’re sure they’ll be offering many additional similar promotions, so we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop.

[Flickr via BriYYZ]

Inside Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s annual Chile Pepper Fiesta

by Jessica Festa on

Last Saturday, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden held their annual Chile Pepper Fiesta, a mix of music, dancing, beer, chocolate, and, best of all, chile peppers. Being a hot sauce junky myself, I was really excited for my quest around the numerous kimchee and spicy pickle stalls to try to find something that would really make my throat burn.

While the event hosted various educational lectures on green living, gardening, and cooking, the real fun here was the samples. Various spicy dips, vegetables, condiments, salsa’s and more were dispersed around the gardens, allowing for a picturesque setting while you (willingly) set your mouth on fire. Although I can honestly say that there was nothing I didn’t enjoy trying, my top pick for tasty and spicy sauces was Grace Foods. They sell a line of Caribbean-style products, and their Grace Jerk Hot Seasoning, which has hot peppers from Jamaica as well as Scotch Bonnet peppers, was flavorful while creating that intense but enjoyable spice that creeps up on you at the end. Karma Sauce also had an array of sauce flavors to sample, including Good, Bad, Curry, Smokey, and Catsup. The Bad was actually really Good, tasting like a sweet red pepper and then slowly bringing on the heat. I was definitely thankful for the live bands at the event and the beer tent to be able to relax and reset my palate.

While sampling the savory sauces, drinking pumpkin beer, and watching Caribbean dancers made for a great day, the real highlight was in Osbourne Garden, which had been transformed into a Chile Chocolate Wonderland. While I always put hot sauce and peppers on my meals, the concept of mixing chiles with desert was new to me. However, after sampling the various spicy cookies, chile-infused chocolate bars, and pepper-flavored truffles, I was instantly addicted. I also learned there is a demand for spicy chocolate in Brooklyn, New York, as there were tons of chile-chocolate connoisseurs at the event. My absolute favorite treat in this area was, without a doubt, Tumbador Chocolate’s Hot Hot Chocolate. For $1 you could buy a small Dixie cup of the stuff, which was thick and creamy and, of course, spicy.

If you’re in Brooklyn, New York, and want to sample some spicy chocolate of your own, here is a list of excellent places to try:

Tumbador Chocolate
34 34th St., Brooklyn
(718) 788 0200

nunu chocolates
529 Atlantic Ave., between 3rd and 4th Ave., Brooklyn
(917) 776 7102

The Chocolate Room
86 Fifth Ave., Park Slope, Brooklyn
(718) 783 2900

269 Court St.,Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
(718) 246 2600

Liddabit Sweets
Check out the Brooklyn Flea Market on Saturdays for their stall at 45 Main St., Brooklyn
info@liddabitsweets.com

Mast Brother’s Chocolate
105A North 3rd St., Brooklyn
(718) 388 2625

Interesting indoor spaces around the world

by Laurel Miller on

I love the outdoors, to the extent that I tend to bypass or overlook exceptional indoor spaces when I’m traveling or recounting a great trip. Fortunately, Lonely Planet author/former Gadling contributor Leif Pettersen’s recent list on LP’s website has reminded me that—as many a grandmother has said—beauty is on the inside.

Pettersen says only in recent years has he developed a special appreciation for the indoors. He had ample time to contemplate his new interest “during two sadistically cold weeks last winter when I voluntarily confined myself to the Minneapolis Skyway System as a livability experiment for an article I was working on.”

He’s since started a list of “singular, practical” indoor spaces (traveloguebookdealforthewin!) of note, including (obviously) Minneapolis’ Skyway System (“The largest contiguous skyway system in the world, connecting what may be the largest contiguous indoor space anywhere.”); Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar; Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest structure; NYC’s Grand Central Terminal (aka Grand Central Station); St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, and the Queen Mary 2. Here’s to keeping warm indoors this winter.

[Photo credit: Flickr user davedehetre]

Explore Thailand right from TriBeCa, New York

by Jessica Festa on

On October 17, 2011, from 6:30-9:30 PM, ProjectExplorer.org will debut their fifth film series, “Sawasdee, Thailand”. The film will be in high definition, so if you’ve never walked down the bustling streets of Bangkok or relaxed on a beach in Khao Lak, here is your chance to get a feeling of what it’s like to visit Thailand. The event is being held at the Tribeca Grand Hotel and is being co-hosted by Andrew McCarthy, travel writer and actor, Jenny M. Buccos, the ProjectExplorer.org’s series creator, and another special guest.

Not only is this event a chance for attendees to get a closer look at what Thailand has to offer, it’s also an opportunity to network with other like-minded, travel enthusiasts. There will also be various raffles, giving people a chance to win travel-themed prizes, tickets to live shows, jewelry, lessons, and more. Interested parties should click here to purchase tickets to the event.

ProjectExplorer.org is a nonprofit organization founded by Jenny M. Buccos that produces free, online global travel series. The aim of their work is to expose primary and secondary school students and educators to people and places that they have never seen before. Through their website, teachers and students have access to over 250 videos, more 1,200 images, and over 150 cross-curricular lesson plans.

On the road with Mauiva AirCruise: Part I

by Kirsten Alana on

I’m a card-carrying frequent flyer, refer to airports by their three digit codes and know the exact ritual to go through before I can clear a TSA checkpoint and be allowed to put my shoes back on. The shine has worn off though, and the flying portion of travel is now a chore. But still enjoyable is the feeling I get when I am up in the air and looking down at the ground so rapidly passing beneath me.

Once upon a time my belief was that flying commercial was the only alternative should I decide against passage by train, bus, car or boat. Putting up with the pains of flying commercial? A necessary evil. Enter Mauiva AirCruise and a whole new world of plane travel.

The morning I depart for my All American East tour with Mauiva, it’s pre-dawn in New York City but I’m on a private charter bus and the still-sleeping Upper West Side soon gives way to Harlem and then the Bronx and before I know it we’re in Westchester. Already, this is so unlike my usual combination of trains and taxis and struggling with luggage through bustling city streets. At the private airport in Westchester, I don’t have to wait before I’m able to help myself to free coffee. Instead of hours, it is minutes before I’m driven through the gates, coffee still in hand, and onto a Tarmac right next to my waiting plane. I board and we’ve taken off before I even have a chance to soak in the fact that no one ever demanded I take off my shoes. Once up in the air, I’m served breakfast that’s fresh and recognizable, given a choice of any newspaper I could possibly want to read. The flight attendant calls me by name. I hardly have time to think about how long this journey might take before we’re down on the ground again, ushered into another private bus, again waiting for us on the tarmac while we watch our bags being transferred for us.

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By day two of my Mauiva AirCruise experience, I’m struggling to remember why flying had become such a chore. I think to myself, “Isn’t flying amazing?” and to my fellow passengers I quip, “I could get used to this.” Still, we walk a lot during the day in cities like Toronto, Lancaster, and Washington DC where I get the feeling we’re leaving no stone unturned. By the time I reach my hotel room each evening to find my bags are waiting for me, it’s rare that I have the energy to swim a few laps in the hotel pool or enjoy a cocktail in the bar. Though this trip includes upscale accommodations, I don’t have the energy to take advantage of them to the degree in which I’d like. The private charter buses and planes are certainly a highlight but the pace seems like a sprint, not a well-paced marathon. If that’s my only critique, I might forget it the next time Mickey — our personal flight attendant — hands me The New York Times and a coke before I even have to ask. Still, it’s in the back of my mind how tired I am as I look down to see another state passing rapidly beneath me.

[Editor’s note: Check back for more updates from Kirsten Alana on the Mauiva AirCruise later in the week. Mauiva provided passage on this trip but provided no editorial oversight]