Average Meal in London now the Most Expensive in the World

by Neil Woodburn on

Well, this is hardly a surprise: London has been awarded the honor of being the most expensive city in the world for dining out.

According to a recent article in the Guardian, a typical three-course meal and a glass of wine now costs an average of $79 per person in the British capital. Ouch!

Paris takes second place with $72. Tokyo averages $71 while New York comes in at a comparatively cheap $39.

The data is based upon the ubiquitous Zagat Guide. The most recent London edition has just been published and the 2.9% increase in the average cost of a meal from last year’s edition has concerned local foodies. As for myself, London just keeps dropping lower and lower on my list of places to visit. I’d rather just hang out in New York where the food is half the cost. And, of course, much tastier!

Home Suite Home

by Brett Atkinson on

Maybe this story reconciles two perpetual challenges? How do you afford the home you want, and how do you keep that “on vacation” feeling when you get back from a trip?

English couple David and Jean Davidson have spent 10 years living in a room at the Gonerby Moor Travelodge in Lincolnshire. They actually own their own flat in Sheffield, but prefer the convenience, safety and affordability of staying at the Travelodge. Every two weeks they make the trip back to their flat to pick up mail, but otherwise are perfectly happy at Gonerby Park. For meals they visit nearby restaurants or pop across the road to dine at a motorway service stop.

They’ve actually been staying at the Travelodge chain for 22 years, and on a recent trip to the United States spent every night in Travelodges even though Stateside ones are owned by a different company.

Back in Lincolnshire, Travelodge has honoured their intense brand loyalty by naming their regular room, The Davidsons’ Suite.

Via Guardian Unlimited and thanks to Travelodge for the pic of Gonerby Moor.

Short and Sweet Travel Advice for the World’s Top Tech Cities

by Neil Woodburn on

If you’re in the tech industry these days, your travel has become increasingly more widespread in the last five years as international competition has started challenging Silicon Valley as the sole place to do business.

With this in mind, Business 2.0 has published a handy little guide in this month’s issue: The Road Warrior’s Guide to Travel.

The guide, which is available online here, or as a pull-out in the print edition, breaks out the travel basics for the planet’s hottest tech cities: Bangalore, Barcelona, Helsinki, Hong Kong, London, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Stockholm, Tallinn, Tel Aviv, and Tokyo.

Each city section addresses the same six questions; How to get around, where to find free Wi-Fi, where to get a trim, best place to get down to business, best place to celebrate closing the deal, and what you might not know.

Better get a print copy soon, however. I just learned that Business 2.0 (one of my favorite magazines) is going belly-up–perhaps yet another sign that the tech world is migrating out of America?

The World’s Most Expensive Cocktails

by Catherine Bodry on

Wine from 1830 — a taste of France’s “zenith of glory.” 125-year-old cognacs poured over rubies. A martini with a sterling-silver pick holding a pair of diamond earrings. A cocktail mixed with a rare African aphrodisiac. You could spends upwards of $500 to be one of a few to enjoy a rare vintage or a cocktail embellished with jewelry (which seems a bit like cheating, don’t you think?). Here, Forbes Traveler describes some of the most expensive cocktails in the world.

The holder of the Guinness Record for most expensive cocktail goes to the Ritz Sidecar, served at the Paris Ritz’s Bar Hemingway. Bartender Colin P. Field follows the classic sidecar recipe: cognac, Cointreau, and a drop of freshly squeezed lemon juice shaken and served in a martini glass. The magic (and cost — $515) lies in the cognac, 1830 Ritz Reserve. The cognac comes from vines that predate the phylloxera plague; in the 1860s, insects from America wiped out many of France’s finest grapevines, and only a handful of bottles of the Ritz Reserve remain.

If you’re considering imbibing, you might also want to check out Gadling’s list of drinks men shouldn’t order, as well as the worst places to be hungover. Both might save you some embarrassment.

The Diamond Cocktail in the Piano Bar at London’s Sheraton Park Tower Hotel combines Charles Heidsieck Vintage 2001 champagne and Remy Martin Louis XIII cognac (which can go for $1,750 a bottle) with three drops of angostura bitters, poured over a sugar cube with the customer’s choice of diamonds or rubies. A 0.6 carat diamond will produce a $4,350 drink, but the price could more than triple if a customer wanted a more expensive gemstone.

Is it worth it? The article doesn’t discuss flavor, but at that price I’d certainly want to taste the alcohol — and it better be good.

Check out Forbes’ slide show of cocktails that break the bank.

Monty Python Day: Reenact the Holy Grail

by Jamie Rhein on

Neil wrote a post about the best swear words in various languages, some perfect for lobbing insults. How about this bit of dialogue? Sound familiar?

“ French Soldier: I don’t want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.”

“Sir Galahad: Is there someone else up there we can talk to?
French Soldier: No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time.”

(Quotes from IMDb: Memorable Quotes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

The first time my friends and I saw the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, we recounted this particular scene afterwards just to laugh some more. I’m not quite sure why “I fart in your general direction,” is so funny, but the scene is still a hoot. And I’m not the only one who still thinks so.

Today, 500 lucky people who snagged a ticket are at Doune Castle in Scotland to reenact scenes from the movie as part of Monty Python Day. The 1300s castle is a real one and not just a set. The rest of the year, it’s open for people to tour the rooms and imagine life back in when it was occupied by Robert Stewart, the Duke of Albany. However, on Monty Python Day, it’s turned over to silliness.

The tickets are already sold out, so it’s too late to go this year’s event, but keep this in mind as a September thing to do next year. This year is the event’s third. Since the movie is what mostly brings tourists to this Scottish location, I bet that Monty Python Day will continue to flourish. To tide you over until you can get there, here’s the insult scene (starting before Sir Galahad and his men reach the castle) posted on You Tube. I wonder if at the event today any animals came hurling over the wall? Thanks to Marilyn Terrell at Intelligent Traveler for pointing out this fun and frolic happening.