Naomi Campbell faces five charges for her bad airport behavior

by Anna Brones on

Remember the Naomi Campbell incident back in early April? If you need your memory refreshed, Campbell was arrested after causing a scene over misplaced luggage in Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Now Campbell is being faced with five different charges in connection with the alleged assault of a police officer who was called in to deal with her melt down, reports The Guardian.

Not that I am a fan of celebrity gossip, but I think we can use this as a good reminder of what airplane-induced stress can bring to you if it goes too far. Campbell is being charged with three counts of assaulting a constable, one count of disorderly conduct and one count of using threatening and abusive words towards the cabin crew.

I am sure that Campbell will be able to scrounge up some cash to pay for a good lawyer, but keep all this in mind next time you want to lose your cool over luggage. Refrain from attacking people and wait for your misplaced luggage in a timely manner, then you won’t find yourself having to appear in front of a court with a good defensive argument for your crazy behavior.

Europe on a budget: Take public transportation

by Anna Brones on

It really shouldn’t come as a surprise, but when you are trying to save those euros this summer, you are going to want to spend your time discovering cities by way of public transportation. Buses, street cars and metros are what the European continent is known for, and this article in the New York Times highlights how many good deals you can find aboard different forms of transportation.

The article lays out how much you’ll have to pay and where public transportation can take you in five European cities: London, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin and Rome. Any budget conscious traveler will most likely already be well versed in the variety of modes of public transportation and how to pay for them — the constant “single tickets vs. multi-day pass” question — but what I do like about the article are the recommendations for day trips, all accessible by main Metro, Tube or U-Bahn lines, and that take you to some off the beaten path destinations.

The budget basics:

London: The Tube. Invest in a pay-as-you-go Oyster Card to save some money, you have to pay a 3.50£ deposit to get the card, so make sure not to lose it so you can get your money back.
Paris: Le Metro. One trip passes are 1.50€, but the Times recommends that it’s probably cheaper to buy a pack of ten than invest in a multi-day pass.
Barcelona: Metro. Single tickets cost 1.30€, but it makes more sense to buy a ten trip pass which starts at 7.20€.
Berlin: U-Bahn. Single ticket fares start at 2.10€ and a one day pass starts at 6.10€.
Rome: Metropolitana. It’s super cheap: single-ride tickets start at 1€ and one-day passes at 4€!

Read the whole article here.

French trains go for British baguettes

by Anna Brones on

In a country so proud of its culinary heritage, it’s hard to imagine any foreign versions of local specialties ever being sold. I’m talking about France, the country where the capital city organizes the Baguette Grand Prix, just to determine which boulangerie makes the best one (it even makes the French national news). Surprisingly enough, even in a place with such high bread expectations, somehow British baguettes managed to make their way onto the trains of the French railway.

The Guardian reports that Fosters of Barnsley, a Yorkshire bakery, has started exporting truck loads of baguettes across the Channel to be sold on trains. The move has made baker John Foster deemed the “most hated man in France,” according to French media.

With a well-known background of Franco-Anglo tension regarding food, the fact that British baguettes are being sold to French railway passengers is rather humorous. Maybe Sarkozy will see it as an attack on his country’s culinary heritage, or maybe the French will just start exporting fish and chips.

Serial bottom-pincher on the run in England

by Iva Skoch on

Wanted in North Manchester, England: Serial bottom-pincher. A surveillance camera caught the man in action, loitering in the Tib Street area between 7 and 8 a.m. Police have asked that if anyone should recognize the suspect to please get in touch. No word on whether or not he is after a specific type of bottom.

A Turkish or Greek-looking man has grabbed the behinds of at least 19 girls and women between the ages of 13 and 43 over the past 12 months in the town’s center. The suspect, in his late 20s or early 30s, usually approaches his victims from behind and tries to sexually assault them by grabbing their bottoms. While the incidents have not increased in severity, the man has put his victims in extremely uncomfortable situations, police said.

Here is a message for you, serial bottom pincher: Move your operation to New York City. There are plenty of women there who would kill to get their butts pinched occasionally. (Don’t tell anyone I told you to do it.)

[via APP]

To be banned: Drinking of alcohol on London’s transport

by Iva Skoch on

Now there is a progressive plan coming out of London.

London’s brand new mayor, Boris “the Eccentric” Johnson, unveiled the timeline for bringing in the new alcohol ban. The ban, starting on June 1, on the Tube (subway), buses, trams and Docklands Light Railway is one of his election pledges. According to the BBC, the ban is part of Mr Johnson’s wider strategy to tackle “anti-social behavior” and he also believes driving out so-called minor crime will be the first step before getting a “firm grip on more serious crime”.

But the Rail Maritime and Transport Union said the policy appeared “not to have been thought through very well” and could make matters worse.

Worse? As in people will drink more just for the excitement of doing something illegal?