London’s Royal Festival Hall Reopens This Week

by Kelly Amabile on

Southbank will be buzzing tomorrow as Overture Weekend begins, a prelude celebration to Monday’s grand re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall, which has been closed for the past two years. The weekend festivities lead up to a series of kickoff performances that starts with a four orchestra extravaganza on June 11.

The Royal Festival Hall opened in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain. It is one of the world’s leading performance venues, presenting concerts by the finest international orchestras, operas, and a wide variety of music events, from jazz to rock to pop. The Guardian has a nice series of yesterday and today photos of the transformed complex, including the photo shown here.

This refurbishment is part of a larger overhaul of the entire Southbank Center area, which stretches from County Hall to Waterloo Bridge and along the Queen’s Walk by the river Thames.

Tubemap Wallets Are A Wallet AND A Map

by Willy Volk on

When you first see the Tubemap wallet, you’ll nod your head and mutter, “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?” So simple it’s brilliant, a Tubemap wallet is an “ordinary” black leather wallet that folds open to reveal a printed London Underground map inside. Not heading to London? Tubemap also makes wallets for the New York subway.

At £35 ($69), the Tubemap seems a little pricey, but if you’re the kind of person who like traveling light, you’ll gladly pay for dual-purpose gear. With space for loads of cash and 8 cards, this will be one wallet you’ll really cry over if it gets snatched.

Tube Challenge ’07: May 18

by Willy Volk on

When my friend ran the Chicago Marathon, we followed her progress on The L. We had a transit authority map that we pre-plotted, and we met her and cheered her on at various stages of the race. It was great fun and somewhat like being in a mini-version of the Amazing Race. Consequently, if I was in or near London on May 18 of this year, I could definitely see myself participating in the Tube Challenge.

During most of the year, London’s Tube is a necessary evil. However, for certain intrepid individuals, the Tube Challenge — a race through London’s Underground — is a fierce contest between rival teams. An official Guinness World Record event, the currently recognized record time for doing a tour of the London Underground taking in all of the 275 stations, is 18 hours, 35 minutes and 38 seconds, by Sam Cawley and Steve Wilson on May 30, 2006. (However, the following September, two Swedes — Håkan Wolge and Lars Andersson — hit all 275 stops in only 18 hours, 25 minutes and 3 seconds. They’re still awaiting confirmation from Guinness, though, before bragging rights are officially theirs.)

On May 18, a Zone 1 Challenge will be staged. A Zone 1 Challenge means racers *only* have to hit 63 stations. The record for this event is 2 hours, 45 minutes, 11 seconds — as long as a long-ish movie — held by Ric Brackenbury. For more details on this Zone 1 Challenge — including start times and where to meet — hit the Tube Challenge forum.

Blind Pilot Makes Successful International Flight

by Jonathon Morgan on

If there’s one thing common to all adventure travelers, it’s the drive to overcome adversity. One British man exemplifies this spirit — flying 13,500 miles from London to Sydney even though he’s completely blind.

Under the supervision of a sighted co-pilot, Miles Hilton-Baber took to the skies for 59 days in a microlight aircraft, competing with snowstorms, freezing temperatures, and torrential downpours. When the trip was completed, not only had Hilton-Barber fulfilled a life-long dream, but he’d also raised a possible $2 million for Seeing is Believing — a charity that works to prevent blindness in developing countries.

And if you think that’s impressive, you should also know that he’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Blanc, run marathons in the Sahara and Gobi deserts, and made an attempt at the South Pole. This man is proof that people really can do anything they set their mind to.

Jet Airways Offers (Relatively) Cheap Luxury Cabin

by Justin Glow on

India-based airline Jet Airways has introduced a 26-square-foot cabin on its London to Mumbai flight which costs £1200 less than a first-class British Airways ticket. So let’s see: £5000+ for first-class, or £4000 for my own private cabin? That’s an easy one.

As you can see from the photo above, the dual-seat configuration folds down to make a bed, and the 23″ flat TV screen offers over 200 hours of the latest movies. Well, you can see the TV (upper left-hand corner), but you’ll have to trust me on the 200 hours deal, as it’s tough to capture that feature in a photo. Other amenities include a “personal hanging wardrobe,” and “office facilities for working.” More pictures after the jump. [Via Luxist]