Cruise with murder.

Here another way to spend a vacation out of the ordinary: a cruise with the admiral Cruise Barcelona of Grimaldi Lines. You may wonder what there is of unusual about passing four days and three nights aboard of a luxury ship, sailing from Civitavecchia directed to the capital of Catalunya.
The fact is that as soon as the Cruise Barcelona detaches from the wharf, the scene of a crime unfolds in front of the passengers’ eyes and their aim will be to sort the case out.
It's the classic formula of Murder Party, except that the frame is that of a ship that crosses the night of the Mediterranean. Divided into teams, the 300 players will enjoy all the excitement of living a live investigation, cradled by the waves. The goal is to find the murder reassembling the tracks of the intricate mosaic created for the occasion by the Neapolitan Theatre Il pozzo e il pendolo. There will be witnesses to track down, clues scattered between cabins and corridors of the ship, hidden meanings to be perceived between words and hidden identities behind the smiling faces of fellow passengers. The ship becomes the scene of interrogations and intrigues in which every passenger is a detective and a suspected at the same time. And the adventure begins immediately. The Participants to the Cruise will receive the first clues by email as soon as they register. Then the game starts to run fast. It won’t never stop, even at night, even in Barcelona.
All on cruise then: the next weekend of mystery will be that of Halloween, so there's plenty of time to get information and to reserve. The cost should be around 250 euros per person, including: roundtrip journey by ship, full board during the voyage, an evening and a full day in Barcelona, four days of game and entertainment.
Thrill-seekers, lovers of crime novels, cases unsolved and mysterious stories, here is an opportunity that you can’t miss to get involved showing off your skills of investigators.

Spectacular views in aeroplane

You are going to face a long flight journey, what would you prefer? The comfort, the possibility to stretch your legs in the passage, the freedom to get up and go to the toilette without asking permission to the person seated next to you or you would like better not to miss the breathtaking view that opens out beyond the window even at the cost of remaining locked in your sit during the whole flight? For the second type of travellers, the New York Times lists the destinations for which we should not renounce to a seat "with view". They have been suggested by an intercontinental pilot, who can boasts a collection of ecstatic landscapes seen during his journeys from his cockpit.
San Francisco is one of the winners, with the vision of its beautiful bridges, the Golden Gate in the lead. Staying in America, New York can definitely not be missing from the ranking, a real dream landing to the La Guardia airport. Coming from the south, on the left side amazing buildings come one after the other: the Statue of Liberty, the skyscrapers of Downtown, the Brooklyn Bridge, the lower town, the Skiline dominated by the Empire State Building and the National Headquarters. A show even more impressive when evening falls and the lights turn on.
Finally, Los Angeles, but only if you land at night. In darkness, in fact, its highway "become hypnotic wakes and its grid of streets is like an advertising of a computer chip, a dynamic vision of light and energy that springs out from the edge of the continent": the first taste of a Hollywood movie experience.
The best show in Europe, according to the pilot, it's offered by London. Landing in the capital are clearly visible the Tower Bridge, the St Paul Cathedral, the Tate Modern Gallery, the London Eye, the Big Ben and just outside the town the Windsor Castle.
Even Lisbon with its April 25 Bridge enters in the ranking, while in Italy, is Milan to be on top. Indeed, fog permitting, the Lombard city is so close to the Alps peaks, glaciers and blue lakes, that offer a breathtaking vision.
You just pick your seat on the right side.

Beijing airport surpass Heathrow.

In the first two months of the year, Beijing airport recorded 5.3 million of journeys, compared with 4.6 in London Heathrow. An overtaking that has even more significance considering that ten years ago China did not even appear in the ranking of the first thirty airports in the world. The world record appertains still to Atlanta with 6.4 million journeys, but it is a datum characterized as a predominantly domestic traffic.

South Africa, that train to Durban.

Aboard finest cars of the past. From fine woods of Rovos Rail to rail facilities of the Blue Train. Until a more informal Shongolo Safari Express. The first of five tours to discover the country of the world.
Waves of Port Elizabeth, a paradise for surfers on the tour of the fun in Sun City, the Las Vegas of Africa. And yet in Hermanus, to sight the great whales. Five routes, one each week starting from today, South Africa Experience the less predictable and known. Five ideas for those who, during the next World Cup, a game between the Blues and the other wants to take a flight from the city stadium.
It's called Pride of Africa (African Pride)...



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New international airport in Tunisia.

Tunisia will soon have a new international airport. The terminal of Enfidha, distant about an hour time from Tunis, would open this month indeed. The airport cost 600 million dollars should manage up to 7 million passengers annually. It was produced in partnership with Turkish Airports Holding and international financial institutions.

Increases and decreases for Ryanair.

Who will leave in July and August with Ryanair will pay 20 euros per suitcase. Ryanair takes advantage by the high season and plays to the price rise. For all the bookings made after midnight of April 7th, in fact, the fee for checked baggage in July and August will increase to 20 euros per item, from the current 15. The rate will be kept unchanged in June and September. This is another carrier's “move” done to push the use of hand luggage only and to focus on its other ancillary revenue on the other side.
However Ryanair and Axa Travel Insurance announced a reduction from 75 pounds to 15 pounds of the costs related to cancellations and disruptions of travel service on their own policies.
On one hand gives while the other takes.

Air fares increase in USA.

Fares start to rise, at least in the United States and at least for the high season. As Travelocity reported, in fact, for the summer, carriers such as Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and others have increased their business by 13%. Last year, rates had fallen by 11%. This year, we register a recovery led by the increasing of the demand but also by the fact that the offer had been reduced due to crisis: as fo the Olta, in fact, over the past two years the companies had left at the ground about 500 aircrafts.

Signed the British Airways-Iberia merger

The signing for the British Airways-Iberia merger has came: the two companies announced it.
The new entity will be publicly quoted in the British and Spanish stock exchange. The civil aviation authorities of both countries confirmed to the two carriers that the structure of both will allow them to maintain the current licenses and national traffic rights. Now the process continues: British Airways and Iberia aim to present the transaction to the shareholders for their approval in November and completion is expected for about a month later.

Special rates for the U.S. with Air France.

Till April 15th, it will be possible to buy Air France’s promotions to travel to Usa in economy-class. The special fares are valid for departures until 26th of June. Some of the destination available are Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Destinations in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean are on special offer as well.
What are you waiting for? There's no time to lose.

Around the world in 80 seconds

I have found a nice video on Youtube: the photograph Alex Profit and the director Romain Pergeaux covered 32.600 kilometres in 21 days going from London to London passing through the Cairo, Bombay, Hong Kong, Tokyo, San Francisco and New York. They took 640 pictures with a digital camera, at a time of eight shoots per second, and assembled them in stop motion.
This is the result:

The first plane solar powered take off.

After the solar power high speed in Morocco, arrives the plane too.
The aircraft altitude-Solar Impulse HB-SIA has indeed made its first flight. The Swiss solar powered plane landed after 87 minutes, after reaching 1.200 meters altitude. The test now opens the way for the next stages of the ambitious project of the first solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel or polluting emissions. The ultimate goal will be to take a trip around the world, probably in 2013.

New strike for Alitalia.

A new 24-hour strike of Alitalia’s pilots and flight attendants is going to take place on the 3rd May. To proclaim the stop are FILT CGIL and professional trade-unions of pilots Ipa and Anpac and of the flight attendants aviation.
At the base of the protest, the CGIL said in a statement, there would be “the persistence of problems, caused by the company policy that seems not to be facing them but is pursuing on unilateral actions instead”. The new stop follows those of 16th February and 22nd March.

Holiday seized

A special French travel agency organizes kidnapping, manhunt, experiences from drug trafficker or nights morgue. You are very bored? Here is served on weekend thrilling for you.
Have you tried everything: from nights in an igloo in safari tent, from climbing extreme to stay in huts suspended on the trees, the taste of snakes and insects for survival courses in the Amazon? Think nothing can more upset, surprise and give you a jolt of adrenaline? Console yourself, the answer is no: a new French tour operator is ready to arrange chills of real fear.

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French rail on strike

The strike is beginning tonight at 8 pm and will last for a period yet undetermined. It is the third strike since the beginning of the year. The unions announced that its duration will be related to the opening of negotiations and to their results. The direction of the railway company, however, provides for tomorrow the circulation of 70% of TGV and a regular service for Eurostar and Thalys.

The Couch Surfing.

A few days ago I told about “home exchange”, a new way to enjoy holidays and also save a bit of money.
Today I will discuss another “alternative holiday”, the Couch Surfing, a project of free hospitality for travellers and tourists. The idea was conceived in 2003 by founder Casey Fenton, a young 25 year old programmer with a great passion for travelling. It consists in the possibility to connect people willing to offer a free accommodation, on the couch of their home or in a tent in the garden, with travellers who need a place to stay. The only thing to do is register yourself on the website www.couchsurfing.com and begin the search for a “couch”. But would it be really safe?
Get to the house of a stranger, leave all the bags in a corner, make a small talk and go out for a stroll (with him or not). Will you find all your stuff when you go back? And who can ensure you will spend a night unhurt? After all, we would be alone, in the house of a stranger, on his couch.
Don’t worry! The whole Couch Surfing project is based on the mutual trust of the members of the community and that guarantees a great attention to the safety rules.
First of all, you can register and access to the hospitality service only if you have come of age. Second, the program is developed so that when the registration takes palce, several personal data are required. Furthermore, the answers are tested in three different levels. Finally, a further system to protect the community: the personal assessment, a feedback mechanism, issued both by the guest and the landlord at the end of the experience. In this way, users can determinate in advance whether the person is or not indicated to their availabilities and needs.
So why wait any further? Couch Surfing is not just a low-cost vacation. It is an experience that gives the opportunity to meet people around the world, relate to different cultural contexts, make links and friendships.
Besides the savings, in fact, the Couch Surfing aims to a more noble purpose: “to promote friendships, enrich our lives and help to create a better world, safer and more peaceful.”

Dialects on board.

EasyJet announced in a press release that will introduce the regional idiom on domestic routes during the safety instructions that are provided before departure. On the link between Milan Malpensa and Naples Capodichino, Italian and English will then be joined, in future, by Lombard and Neapolitan: in this way the passengers will already feel at home at the moment they board on an air craft. The low cost airline has indeed justified the decision with the desire to be closer to their customers’ everyday life.
The news is very curios and I can’t avoid to think what day is today: is perhaps the whole story a nice April Fool?

Mobile phone service suspended on board of Ryanair

Mobile phone service has been suspended on board of Ryanair’s aircrafts. OnAir, the service provider, has decided to cancel the contract after a trial period of 13 months. Ryanair had expressed to the company the intention to extend the OnAir service to the entire fleet, but at the moment OnAir is not inclined to commit itself in this expansion, and exercised the right to terminate the contract at the end of the probationary period of 13 months. The carrier still intends to invite other providers of mobile services to take part at the call for tender in order to restore the service.

Transport - Jamaica, yes to airline surcharge

In order to help the state’s coffer but also the companies, Jamaica has said yes to a tax on airline tickets. It consists in supplementary $8 on round trip flights, and it is established by the Government of the Caribbean island to deal with budget problems. The fee will be levied by the airlines through the ticket but then will be turned to the Exchequer. The revenue should also lead, in the intentions of the Government of Jamaica, to remove part of the taxes owed by carriers to the State for airport operations, so to help airlines in future crises and allow a reduction of tariffs (thereby offsetting price increases due to the tax on pax).

Source: Il Sole 24 ore

Transportation - British Airways, ongoing strike

Homever, the company estimates that will be able to ensure the flight to 75% of the booked seats. The new strike organized by the crew of British Airways, that started Saturday and will last until tomorrow included, is ongoing.
The company said it still plans to assure the flight to more than 75% of passengers booked, in practice 180 thousand to 240 thousand. The 18% of passengers, in each case, were transferred to flights of other carriers.

Source: Il Sole 24 ore

Paris à bon marché

The French capital has always been the pagan temple of shopping. But my wallet is suffering. Unless you follow some simple tips and tricks.
A trip to Paris can mean many things: a full immersion splendid monuments and museums (although soon to the Louvre will spread the "perfume" of MacDonald's hamburgers), walking along the streets or in parks, excursions to discover the diverse neighborhoods, romantic dinners in the bistro or in luxurious restaurant, boat trips on the Seine. But there is an event that rarely travelers miss the one with shopping in world capital of good taste and chic.

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A Social Network for unusual trip

There are hundreds if not thousands of social networks dedicated to travel and travellers. They are virtual meeting places where people can share experiences, photos, tips, reviews of cities, hotels and restaurants.
But there are also people that are not seeking for an ideal vacation, who do not want to spend their two weeks of holiday in a five stars hotel, lying under the sun on a Caribbean beach in front of a crystal sea.
When some people think about a trip don’t get satisfied by the things that everyone else usually likes or wants.
Well, for all these people there is an appropriate social network: Atlas Obscura.
To explain what it is I directly report the words of presentation found in the website: “The Atlas Obscura is a collaborative project with the goal of cataloging all of the singular, eccentric, bizarre, fantastical, strange and out-of-the-way places that get left out of traditional travel guidebooks and are ignored by the average tourist.”
Atlas Obscura is therefore a guide to all the unusual and mysterious places on earth. It is produced entirely by users and divided into geographical areas and categories.
If this summer you do not have a clue about where to spend your vacation, what waiting for? Add another social network to those of your list.

Malpensa is ready to welcome Frecciarossa

For the first time, yesterday, the high-speed train arrived at Malpensa. It was a "test" trip to prove the "commercial relations" which will start this year in some months. From June, in fact, every day a Frecciarossa will run the Florence-Bologna-Milan-Malpensa airport line (round trip), utilizing the line on which currently travels the Malpensa Express. All this has been achieved thanks to the opening of the tunnel of Castellanza which has reduced to 28 minutes the Malpensa Express running time. This summer will be much easier to reach the airport in Milan, a big advantage for everyone.

High-speed Beijing-Shanghai quote in Stock exchange.

The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway is ready to go on the stock exchange. The group builder of the high speed railroad Beijing-Shanghai, whose majority shareholder is the Chinese Ministry of Railways, will conclude the operation, that will be between 30 and 50 billion yuan (between 3.23 and 5.39 billion euros), by the end of the year. Works on the 1300 kilometres of line between the two metropolises will instead be completed by 2012.

Source: Il Sole 24 Ore

A new way to experience the resort.

There are many ways to travel without spending exorbitant amounts. Just being a little more careful, perhaps setting to organize the holiday and having a slight spirit of adaptation.
The latest trend with regard to this subject comes from America and has become fashionable thanks to the famous film by Nancy Myers “The Holiday” with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet: it is the "Home Exchange", an alternative holiday do-it-yourself.
In practice, instead of booking a hotel or rent an apartment, we will make contact, through specialized sites, with other people interested in this type of holiday and we will agree to exchange the houses. You just have to put online some photos of your home and pay a small fee. After that, you don’t need to do nothing more that look for the solution that convinces us the most.
Travelling this way you can not only save up to 60%, but you will discover new places and you will get the chance to live them as a local.
Obviously education and respect for other people’s things is the first condition required, also because you must always remember that what happens to the houses of others, could potentially happen to yours.

Morocco: high-speed by solar power

The 350 kilometres that ran from Tangier to Casablanca will be cover by the first high-speed rail line in an African country by 2014.
Works are planned to begin next June and will be financed by France and European Union, besides by Morocco.
Works have been entrusted to the French transport industry Alstom. The company have committed itself to build power generation plants up on the Moroccan territory, in order to use the energy so produced for the rail network. Some of these plants will be made of solar panels.
The new Moroccan railway is going to be the first clean energy train track.

Trenitalia announces broadband on Frecciarossa.

In few months, even on the trains, we will be able to turn our laptops on and connect to Internet for free, using a WiFi connection. Italian State Railways and Telecom Italy have announced the agreement, reached a few days ago, to provide access to the web on the convoys of the transport company.
The change concerns only the high speed routes and falls within the general plan of restructuring rates.
It will eliminate the distinction between "old" first and second class: seats and fittings will be equal in all the carriages. Differences will concern the on board services and the chance to use cell phones and surf the web which will be just a few of the strong points.
Obviously criticisms from consumer groups haven’t lacked. They accuse the company of worrying about a means of transporting accessed only by a small minority of Italians, while trains carrying commuters have been left in a situation of degradation that sets them apart.

Double sit for fat people in airplane.

Maybe it's a little known fact, but the regulations of different airlines require that overweight travellers must to buy pre-emptively two places to be boarded.
Their size, in fact, makes them exceed the space reserved, causing inconvenience to the unlucky traveller seated on his side, as well as potential safety problems.
Lately, the uncomfortable inconvenient has caught the attention of many surfers on the net (and not only) because the passenger obligated to get off the plane just before the take-off was the movie director Kevin Smith (Mallrats, Clerks-Salespersons ). Once landed the bulky "passenger" has spread the news by Twitter.
Thousands of comments have been arising and the news has quickly become a national case forcing the Southwest airline to clarify its position.
What would have happened if it had occurred to an anonymous fat traveller?

Travel is cheaper if you book in advance.

Modern life is a continuous race against time. Always in a hurry to get the train, to accompany children to school, to respect working deadlines, to be able to cook an edible meal in a decent time.
Today, life is not waiting and we are now accustomed to this.
But there is at least one time of the year when you can put all this bustle aside and enjoy a deserved rest: the holidays.
So why not to take a break from all this distress and start since now to consider where we would like to spend our relaxing and delighting days?
We could have some great surprises. According to market research firm Gfk, in fact, advanced booking and early booking, allow to save since 23% on the average price of a week to sea in August in the high season. Not bad at all! Especially considering that you will be more certain to find place available at the destination and in the structure that you prefer.
According to this research, the best month to get some economic benefit is March.
So why not to move immediately and start with our research without waiting the last day. It is true that even last minute (or last second) formulas let as save a lot, but the discount reaches just the 6% and the choice of the destination in these cases is greatly narrowed.
Hurry up therefore, because, you know, the holidays are quick to arrive.

Source: Il Sole 24 Ore di lunedì 15 Febbraio 2010

The Kiwi Bird: let's save them!

Interesting video about the kiwi bird:

Financial Times on high speed trains

FT.COM / UK / Travel times cut on key Europe railway routes
"The new services slashed journey times on key routes across Europe, significantly increasing competition for short-haul air traffic. They follow the annual, co-ordinated Europe-wide change-over of train timetables."

Our mascot! The Kiwi!

I believe that many of you have seen this famous video already: