BOO! Ghosts of the London Underground

by Justin Glow on

Do you believe in ghosts?

Me? I don’t know… it’s tough to say. Those who have experienced a sighting are sold on it — of course there are! But without having any contact with the “other side,” I only have numerous television specials to go on, and honestly, what’s to say there isn’t a bit of fancy editing or trick photography going on?

Regardless of where you travel, there’s bound to be a haunted this or a haunted that. Hollywood, for instance, has a myriad of hotels, mansions, restaurants and studios rumored to be haunted by film stars long gone. And what’s a trip to New Orleans — known as “America’s most haunted city” — without going on one of the many haunted tours peddled to tourists roaming the French Quarter?

Ghosts are everywhere, apparently — including the London Underground. A post on MetaFilter today alerted me to this website dedicated to tracking the many reported ghost sitings in the Tube, along with bizarre, unexplained photographs and a 47 minute documentary [Google Video] on the subject.

For you ghost lovers, London might be the next stop on a haunted trip around the world.

Tour De France in London

by Neil Woodburn on

Planning on catching the Tour de France this year?

Then you better get yourself to England.

England?

Yes indeed, England.

The legendary race will kick off in London this summer and tool around the city’s famous sites before heading out to the British countryside and then eventually over to France.

Unbeknownst to most (including myself), the Tour de France actually begins outside of its namesake every three to four years. This will be the third time it has started in England but the first for London itself.

The race will start July 6 and continue for three days in England. Unlike the 1994 race when the riders peddled through the Chunnel to reach France, this year’s event will see the contestants travel by other means across the Channel and over to Dunkirk where the race will resume.

London, as you might imagine, will be a crowded mess during this time. If you love biking, make your arrangements to visit NOW. Otherwise, avoid the city at all costs until the last colorful jersey is sprinting its way through Dunkirk.

Update: A Town Named WHAT?

by Justin Glow on

Last Friday I put a call-out for readers to share the funny town names they’ve run across in their travels, and we got a ton of great responses! Without further delay, I give you some of the more interesting results of this captivating geographical research:

  • Gadling blogger Neil reminded us that he had the opportunity to visit Puke, Albania last summer, and on the way “a ten year old kid in the minivan lived up to the town’s namesake and lost his lunch out the window of the minivan.” Score one for that kid.
  • Toni happily noted that she lives near the lovely town of Buttsville, New Jersey.
  • B. Cunningham gave us Toad Suck, Arkansas. I wonder how far that is from Weiner?
  • In case you forgot, Divester.com superblogger Willy spent 6/6/06 in Hell.
  • My favorite of the bunch: Cucumber, West Virginia was brought to our attention by ED. Thanks ED!
  • Nick points out Athol, Idaho, which he urges must be said aloud to be fully appreciated. Thufferin’ thuccotash!
  • Last, but certainly not least, my wonderful mom gives us two Texas towns: Comfort and Welfare.

If you’d like to see the full list of suggestions sent in by our readers, visit the comment section of “A Town Named WHAT?” and if you’d like to add to the list, feel free to do so in the comments of this post.

Thanks for sharing!

Chinese Counterfeit British Town

by Neil Woodburn on

Here’s something very strange.

The Chinese, experts at copying everything from Levis to Gucci bags, have now applied their expertise to a proper British town.

Thames Town, in the suburbs if Shanghai, is a small town/housing project that has been designed as though it were a real British town. According to an article in The Telegraph, the town includes a pub, neo-gothic church, Victorian style houses, and a fish and chips shop. What makes this even stranger, and so typically Chinese, is that the pub and chip shop are exact replicas of the Rock Point Inn and Cobb Gate Fish Bar in the British town of Lyme Regis. Even the names were ripped off–although somehow one of the B’s was lost on the Cob Gate Fish Bar in China.

Naturally, the owner had no idea that her pub and shop in Lyme Regis had been counterfeited on the other side of the globe. She has considered legal action but since Chinese officials claim there is no law prohibiting the copying of buildings, she has no choice but to sit around in England wondering how the Chinese are butchering her fish and chips.

Finally, Europe Has Its Own Natural Disaster

by Iva Skoch on

As a journalist, I find weather stories pathetic. It’s mainly the use of all the tragic words I despise: devastating, gushing, torn into homes, etc. But people love them. There is nothing like a natural catastrophe that gets the readership numbers up. Now, with the high winds “blasting” across Europe, killing 45 people, European papers have stuff to write about.

Call me cynical, but I have always suspected that Europeans felt slightly inferior in the “natural catastrophe” realm. I mean, the occasional flood or hailstorm pales in comparison to all the weather events going on in the US: hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes…

But now, that’s over! Europe finally has its own storm WITH A NAME – Kyrill. And, it has swept across most of Northern and Western Europe, heading east now. The funny thing is, Americans probably haven’t even heard of it yet. Well, give the PR weather machine time, Europeans are new at this.

And speaking of which, here in Prague the winds hit above 100mph yesterday and are still going strong today. It’s actually really nice to listen to the wind outside, rather than watching calm, gray skies for months.

Travel warning: check for airline and train service cancellations!