Travel Briefs
Retro London tours
The company smallcarBIGCITY (phone +44 [0] 7891 998 328 or +44 [0] 2075 850 399) offers six guided tours of London. Up to three people tour in a Mini Cooper driven by a chauffeur/guide dressed in retro 1960s garb, with ’60s music on the sound system.
CDG tax-refund kiosks
France’s Customs department has placed self-service VAT tax refund kiosks in all terminals at Charles de Gaulle Int’l Airport. The service, PABLO, processes the tax refund forms travelers collect from salespersons.
Avoid taxi scams
The website www.ihatetaxis.com gives tips on how to pick the right taxi, avoid taxi scams and arrive at your hotel safely. The website covers more than 300 international airports, train stations and ports in 85 countries.
Bedbugs, be gone!
Rest Easy is an all-natural, cinnamon-scented nonpesticide that kills and repels bedbugs and other small insects, such as bed mites.
Jolly olde Monopoly
Britain’s National Trust has created a UK version of the board game Monopoly which can be purchased in the US through The Royal Oak Foundation (New York, NY; 800/913-6565).
Cinderella’s store
In Paris, the luxury department store Galeries Lafayette (40 boulevard Haussmann; phone 014 282 3456, www.galerieslafayette.com [French only]) opened an enormous shoe department in July 2009.
Spanish / English-speech app
With the Jibbigo software application (or app), you can speak/record a sentence or two of either Spanish or English into your iPhone 3GS and it will respond with both an audible and written (on the screen) translation. It cannot be used to translate a conversation on the iPhone.
OAT & GCT woo solos
The Grand Circle Corporation companies Overseas Adventure Travel and Grand Circle Travel are offering this Best Price Guarantee: if a solo traveler booked on a 2010 OAT or GCT trip finds a comparable trip at a lower price, the company will match the lower price and take an additional $500 off.
Leipzig Bach Festival
The annual Bach Festival in Leipzig, Germany, is being held this year June 11-20. It will focus on how Bach influenced his musical successors Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms.
Abraham’s Gate reopens
In northern Israel, the 4,000-year-old Abraham’s Gate at the Tel Dan Nature Reserve reopened to the public in March after extensive work by the Nature & National Parks Protection Authority.
Elderhostel’s Exploritas
Elderhostel (Boston, MA; 800/454-5768) has renamed its programs “Exploritas,” though the organization, itself, will retain its original name.
Beatles museum
The museum The Beatles Story (Britannia Vaults, Albert Dock, Liverpool, England; phone +44 0 151 709 1963, www.beatlesstory.com) celebrates Liverpool’s most famous musicians.
Currywurst museum
From exhibitions on ingredients and spices to items such as a sausage-shaped sofa, the Deutsches Currywurst Museum (Schützenstraße 70 10117 Berlin; phone +49 30 88718647, www.currywurstmuseum.de/en) has a number of playful exhibitions about the popular German sausage currywurst.
Globetrotter SOS
For travelers using mobile smartphones (which can access the Internet), Globetrotter SOS, Ltd.
Wine bus from Santiago
A full-day tour of the wine country around Santiago by Vinobus includes the Maipo Valley; tour/tasting at Pérez Cruz Vineyard; Vineyard Santa Rita; the Andino museum, and Vina Santa Rita wine cellars. Lunch at Dona Paula restaurant is not included in the price.
Catacombs closed
The Paris catacombs are closed indefinitely because of damage caused by vandals in September. Visited by over 200,000 people each year, the catacombs are part of a large network of underground tunnels which are stacked with human bones. Photos of the damage showed skulls and bones scattered along the walkways.
‘Super Granny’
Sally Wendkos Olds, a grandmother of five, talked to others about what they love to do with their grandkids, then printed their narratives — with ideas, how-to directions and helpful websites — in the book “Super Granny — Great Stuff to Do with Your Grandkids” (2009, Sterling Publishin
Transportation museum
The Technik Museum Sinsheim (Museumsplatz, D-74889, Sinsheim, Germany; phone +49 [0] 7261 9299 0, fax 1391 6, www.museum-sinsheim.de) in Sinsheim exhibits over 300 classic cars, 200 motorcycles, 60 aircraft, 20 locomotives and 40 racing cars, not to mention the first Air France Concorde and a large F
Steves iPhone apps
Rick Steves (425/771-8303, www.ricksteves.com) has four iPhone and iPod Touch apps for travelers: Historic Paris Walk & Tour, Louvre Tour, Orsay Museum Tour and St. Peter’s Basilica Tour.
BoomerangIt
BoomerangIt (800/226-6648, www.boomerangit.com) offers a global “lost-and-found return service” in which PDAs, cell phones, laptops, luggage and even keys that are tagged may be returned to the rightful owners.