Hey London, where are the trans cans?

by Grant Martin on








On my way through St. Pancras international station in London this past weekend, I grabbed a smoothie at Marks and Spencer while I was waiting for my train. Tired and dehydrated from travel, I made pretty short business of the drink then proceeded to seek out a waste receptacle to drop my bottle in. Turns out though, there are none. I must have walked around in circles, in and out of the station for twenty minutes looking for a place to drop the bottle before I gave up, walked into a restaurant and dropped it off there. I was curious why a public place wouldn’t have any trash cans.

Apparently, this is for a reason. As I’m told, the British had issues with the Irish Republican Army putting bombs in the receptacles and the bins turning into shrapnel. So as a safety precaution, they were removed.

Preventative measures like this make me leery. On one hand I suppose it’s best to remove as many opportunities to place a bomb in a public place as possible, but is it really necessary to take out all the trash cans? Can’t the Brits just use thin, translucent bags like the French do?

How well can we prepare ourselves for another bombing? Will we next pad all of our buildings with foam, require everyone to wear helmets and walk in our socks? How far is too far?

At some point, we as Westerners are going to have to accept that there is some inherent risk in traveling. Be this a bee sting, malaria or a terrorist bombing we have to come to terms with the fact that going out into the world is not as safe as staying at home and in bed. Until we and our governments can accept that, we’re doomed to paranoia, inconvenience and countless tax dollars for overprotective measures.

British Airways announces London – New York business class-only service

by Grant Martin on

After Maxjet folded last year you would think that the corporate world would have learned, but according to British Airways their business class market is surging and this service fits their model. So they’re moving ahead with the unrolling of their London to New York (JFK) all-business class service.

Slated to begin in 2009, two Airbus A318‘s have been purchased to make the luxury voyage between the world’s two financial epicenters. And those willing to spring for the extra buck will be able to depart from London City (LCY), which is significantly closer to the city than Heathrow or Gatwick.

The jury is still out on the exact routing; for the seven airline nerds out there who read this blog, you know that the A318 can’t make it all the way between New York and London on one tank of petrol. Speculation is that the jet has to stop in Shannon partway through the journey to pick up some more fuel (any idea, Kent?). Sounds like an invitation for more traffic and airport problems to me.

Oh well, if the market calls for it I suppose there’s a place for another all-business class service. Maybe I’ll be able to test this one out before it folds.

£1 rooms at London’s Hoxton Hotel

by Abha Malpani on

Yes, you read it right: from January 24-April 30, the chic Hoxton Hotel in London will offer 5 rooms every night for £1; on normal days rooms here can cost up to £120 a night. You can’t book more than one room for £1 a night, and if you try, your booking will be canceled.

This price offer opens January 24 at 12pm GMT, so sit by your computer ready to book — word is that these rooms go in seconds. If you are not lucky enough to get the £1 rooms, you might be able to get a £29 room, 5 of which are also available every night on the same dates. Follow these instructions if you want to make bookings.

The Hoxton Hotel is a no-smoking hotel located in London City Center and was opened just over a year ago. With the tag line “the no bullshit hotel,” it promises comfort and style without rip-off prices. In the Guardian’s article about its launch, it says that means: “No endless queues at check-in, no £3-a-sip bottles of water in the mini bar, no-sell-your-house-to-call-America telephone charges.”

Sounds too good to be true, and for any sort of luxury being offered on promotion, there has to be a catch. But if you are getting a room in a nice hotel for £1, I guess you can’t really complain, no?

[Via Gridskipper]

Bedlam at Heathrow ensues, as British Airways 777 shorts landing

by Grant Martin on

London‘s Heathrow Airport was cast into disarray today when a British Airways (BA) 777 landed short of runway 27 and nosedived into the earth before the tarmac. Several landing gear were sheared off while the airframe sustained significant damage.

Amazingly, there were no casualties in the disaster, with only a couple dozen passengers being taken to the hospital for minor injuries and one concussion. The rest of the passengers deplaned from the emergency slides. It is perhaps a testament to the pilot’s aptitude and performance during the emergency that nothing worse happened.

According to the most recent reports, the aircraft appears to have lost power on approach, resulting in the plane gliding silently under only mechanical control onto its belly.

Operations at Heathrow shut down completely following the incident, with a graduated return to operations over the course of the day. Despite the resumption, dozens of flights were canceled, stranding passengers inside of the already cramped terminal and overtaking lounges. I can only imagine how pleasant that was.

Heathrow expects to resume operations tomorrow as the investigation continues.

10 of the 53 places to go in 2008

by Jamie Rhein on

I already mentioned Detroit as being number 40 on the list of the New York Times places to go in 2008. Sad to say, I have only been to the airport in Detroit. After posting about this city, I agree that the capital of the automobile and Motown is indeed a place to see this year.

Places to go lists such as the New York Times version can either make a person feel as depressed as hell that one can’t possibly see all of the places mentioned in one year, or fairly smug that one seen as much as one has. As for me, I’m happy I’ve been to some places, but still tipping towards the so many places, so little time and not enough money to even make a dent reality check.

1. I’ve been to Oslo, although I was young, broke and can’t remember much about it except for this Canadian guy I met who I was enamored by to the point that meeting him was far more important than any glacier I may have seen. I still have the sweater I bought.

I’ve also been to San Francisco, New York, Prague, London, San Diego, Tuscany, Vietnam, London and Munich–all on the list at various points. That’s it. I have so much more to see this year and the two places on my itinerary so far, Mexico and Williamsburg, Virginia aren’t even mentioned.

When picking from such a list, here are my suggestions for making a choice based on the places I’ve gone. I’ve linked the destination suggestions with past Gadling posts. If you click on the links, you’ll go to posts with a variety of angles.

2. For a culture different from your own, but one that is affordable and accessible to tourists, I’d head to Vietnam. I’ve been here five times and have never been disappointed. If I were you, do not stay in a top-tiered hotel, but in a family run place. Much more interesting. Sitting downstairs visiting with the family who owns it is a cultural treat.

3. Laos is on this list though, as a place more edgy than Vietnam. I’ve never been to Laos, but know people who have and they’ve also had great experiences. If you want a place not so tourist ready, this would be more of an adventure.

4. If you want to be wowed by history, art, landscape and architecture, plus a sensual delight in food, I’d pick Tuscany, although according to some reports I’ve read, it’s getting filled to the brim with tourists. Still, if you rent a car and can drive out into the countryside, that might help offset the crowds.

5. For a place where you can easily see pomp and circumstance and a sweeping sense of a country that has had a huge impact on the world, head to London. The last time I was there, we only had a day. I was traveling with my husband, my then 9 year-old daughter and 1 1/2-old son. We walked, took a double-decker bus, took the Underground and took a taxi to make tracks, but managed to have a lot of fun and see what we wanted to take in without wearing ourselves out. I remember hitting the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, the Thames River, The Tower of London, The British Museum and Trafalgar Square.

6. For a place that evokes images of traveling on top of a wedding cake, go to Prague. It is stunningly beautiful. If you do go, take some time for Josefov, the old Jewish Quarter.

7. Munich was another place I breezed through when I didn’t have much money. The beer hall was fun, and a contrast to the other things I did. I spent some time at Olympiapark thinking about the Israeli athletes who were killed here and seeing the pool where Mark Spitz swam. I must have been woozy on beer, bratwurst and a period of life when I was eating mostly bread and cheese to make the traveling dollars stretch. My shoes were taped together with electrician’s tape. Okay, this feels depressing and not why Munich made the places to see list. If you have wonderous Munich experiences, do tell.

8. Old Town in San Diego is a shoppers heaven. I’m not much of a shopper, but I love the shops here and the history of the buildings. We visit relatives in San Diego, so we don’t hit it up as a tourist destination. One thing I would like to do is take a fishing boat ride. We’ve only fished on a pier. If you go to San Diego, don’t miss Neiderfrank’s Ice-Cream. It’s special indeed.

9. San Francisco was probably my favorite city in my across the U.S. sweep after the Peace Corps. The most memory producing activity I did was the tour of Alcatraz Island. Highly entertaining and informative. The bonus is the chance to see San Francisco from the vantage point of across the water.

10. New York City, though, is my most favorite place in the world. If you don’t take the time to walk several blocks, say from 42nd Street to the East Village, your missing out on an interesting time.