In case you haven't heard, there's really good news about airline safety in the United States -- we've had yet another year without any fatal accidents aboard our commercial airline fleet. This record comes even though our scheduled airline carriers flew ten million flights last year, with more than 700 million passengers on board. That's some record, indeed.
Analysts attribute this amazing safety record to improvements made throughout the system, with everyone from diligent flight crews keeping their eyes open, their systems alert, and their common sense working on overdrive, to the hard work of ground crew mechanics and other skilled workers. All have made this kind of remarkable safety record possible.
Most of the time, we don't recognize our good fortune until we hear some bad news. Let's hope the scary news about air safety remains the exception to the good work of our splendid air carriers' crews on the ground and in the air.
Note: I blog here exclusively on travel health and safety, backed by my work as pro bono vice president of the not-for-profit charity, the International Association for Medical Assistance toTravellers, www.iamat.org.
You'll help keep your peace of mind if I give you a piece of mine, and add that of a travel expert. I learned from my sister that I should draw up a packing list and keep amending it so that it is ready when I had to start getting ready for a trip. My sister and her late husband owned their own airplane, a sailboat and an RV, and she had a separate packing list for trips in each, since each had a different amount of space, not to mention the kind of clothing and supplies that each type of transportation required. (They carried a folding bike on their plane, for instance.)
Well, travel expert Anne McAlpin, too, says to create packing checklists so that you are ready to get ready whenever you feel like a trip coming on.
She also says you should consider getting the right kind of credit card or frequent flier card, pointing out that American Express makes it easier for Delta Sky Miles cardmembers to pack since it gives you a free checked bag on every Delta flight, up to a $50 savings per person on a round trip.
That and more packing and travel tips, including how to pack liquids, how to keep wrinkles out of clothing, how to maximimze suitcase space, and more, can be found on Anne's website at www.packitup.com.
Note: I blog here exclusively on travel health and safety, backed by my work as pro bono vice president of the not-for-profit charity, the International Association for Medical Assistance toTravellers, www.iamat.org.
Upper Class Clubhouse, London Heathrow: Virgin Atlantic
Satellite Golden Lounge, Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Airlines
First Class Lounge, Munich: Lufthansa
International Lounge, Tokyo Haneda: Japan Air Lines
U.S./Canada:
Emirates Lounge, NYC-JFK: Emirates
Porter at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport
Presidents, Houston: Continental
OneWorld, Los Angeles: British Airways, Qantas and Cathay
BA Terrace Lounge, Seattle: British Airways
We produced the list by polling editors, contributors, authors, and frequent travelers in the extended Frommer's family. If it had simply been a top ten, we realized that there would have been little room for North American entries -- with the exception, perhaps, of Canada' cunning little Porter Airlines. We found that a little depressing, so we had our stalwart Fly Smarter contributor Sascha Segan hunt down the best the U.S. and Canada have to offer in hope that we could encourage a better class of service. We also had him find out how non-high flyers can get access when they need it. You can read his story, "Top Airport Lounges in North America" here.
Oman's January temperatures of around 27°C make a welcome change from ice and snow flurries (although only 2 days before they had had rain, so timing was everything).
Stepping off Omanair's (www.omanair.com) overnight direct flight from Heathrow to Muscat at 9am (with a 4-hour time difference) did feel very early and I'd hardly slept on the 7-hour flight. The Costa coffee just outside arrivals shimmered like an oasis, so I queued for a latte to keep me going for the busy day ahead.
We stepped out on to the tour bus, which was going to take us on a whistlestop tour of the main sights of Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, before taking us to the hotel.
First stop was the Sultan Qaboos' Grand Mosque, not far from the airport. This huge modern mosque with a gold dome and five minarets was completed in 2001. While the subject of how much it cost is not discussed, you can imagine that thousands of Omani Rials were spent on the construction when you see the 10-tonne, 15m high chandelier made of Swarovski crystal and gold with 1,122 bulbs -- that alone must have emptied a few pockets. The 'magic carpet' inside the men's prayer room, which can take up to 7,000 people, weighs 21 tonnes and was handwoven in place by 600 Iranian women. The rest of the vast expanse of flooring is high-quality Carrera marble.
As a woman, I was required to cover my head with my pashmina on entering the mosque, to avoid sheer fabrics or white trousers, and to ensure my shoulders, ankles and wrists were covered. Outside of the Mosque, I was still required to cover my shoulders and dress respectfully with no leggings, no low-cut tops, no short skirts and no strappy T-shirts.
Omanis still wear traditional dress, with male government workers required to wear the white dishdasha robes while working, although any colour is acceptable out of work. The fashion statement piece for men is the kuma (Omani hat). These beautiful woven or embroidered hats are worn by many Omanis. Apparently the latest trend is to push out the top and then dent one side of it--I guess it's a bit like wearing your jeans at half mast.
Our next stop was Muttrah souq, in the old part of Muscat. Here next to the harbour, along the Corniche, you'll see families out strolling, shopping or taking coffee in one of the coffee shops. One thing to remember as a visitor though is to ask permission of a local man to take his picture, and never take pictures of local women.
The souq, however, is where visitors head to try out a bit of bartering for an essential Omani souvenir. Here you can buy your own kuma or dishdasha, or pick out a silver trinket from one of the baskets filled to the brim with unpolished silver pendants or bracelets made from melted down Austrian silver coins -- the Maria Theresa Taler -- used as currency here until about World War II. Some original Omani souvenirs included a salt and pepper pot husband and wife dressed in traditional dress, while one of our group bought an Omani version of Russian dolls, made up of a family of 10. For me, I was after a pashmina and some candle holders.
The standard rate to pay is normally about 35% of the original price offered, but different shops will offer different prices for the same article, so it is still worth shopping around. The lovely thing though is that although they were quite keen to get us into their shops, there was little hassle.
What I love about the souq though is the smell of burning frankincense, sourced from the frankincense trees in the Dhofar region of southern Oman. This adds to the atmosphere of bartering. Frankincense burning is so important that at the end of the Corniche, they have constructed a large white incense burner sculpture.
Look out for other sculptures of everyday objects throughout the city and on roundabouts, such as a pouring Arabic coffee pot.
Everything sparkles in Oman, and Muscat is considered one of the cleanest cities in the world -- even the cars have to be clean and a dirty car can incur a hefty fine.
This helps contribute to the hospitality the country has to offer. Oman promotes itself as the country where the people are important and this certainly seems so and I found the Omanis to be friendly and very hospitable -- this is a country where even if they only want one banana, they're likely to buy a whole box just in case someone might pop round. This is also where most people have a bowl of dates and a pot of Omani coffee flavoured with cardamom and saffron at hand for visitors. But remember, if you are ever offered a cup of coffee here, never leave the cup (finjan) on the side as that would be considered rude -- always return it to the person who gave it to you. And don't forget to shake the cup as you hand it back otherwise you could be being topped up all day.
Hospitality is as important for the Omani tourism industry as the natural scenery and history. One advert I saw, said that you might have to pay for the tour, but the chitchat is free. I certainly look forward to coming back for just that.
Note: This trip to Oman courtesy of Omanair and Oman Ministry of Tourism.
It hasn't happened yet, so far as I know, to an American journalist working for an American publication, but a US citizen working for an Arab news website has been fired for posting information about safety violations committed by an Arab airline in that part of the world. The airline in question is the official air carrier of the United Arab Emirates, and the airline is Emirates Airlines, a big outfit that flies to New York, and uses several of the giant Airbus A 380 super-super jumbos, the largest in the world.
According to that excellent website, www.airsafe.com, the story of the firing of Courtney C. Radsch, an American journalist working for Al Arabiya (www.alarabiya.net), headquartered in the UAE, the story was issued last October by Reporters Without Borders, noting that Radsch had reported safety violations by Emirate Airlines on the site. It was published online in early October, but Radsch took it down about six hours later, in part out of pressure from Al Arabiya and also "out of fear of being arrested and fined by the government of the UAE." After being fired, she had her work visa canceled and has therefore left the UAE.
The accident she wrote about concerned a March 2009 landing accident in Melbourne, Australia by an Emirate A 340. You can find further info on this subject at www.airsafe.com.
I guess they do things differently in the Arab world, at least in the United Arab Emirates. Here in the USA, however, with sites like www.airsafe.com, you can be sure this kind of thing gets noticed and reported on.
Note: I blog here exclusively on travel health and safety, backed by my work as pro bono vice president of the not-for-profit charity, the International Association for Medical Assistance toTravellers, www.iamat.org.
If you're a theater fan, your mantra might be: "So many plays, so little time," with the corollary of: "So many plays, HOW much for tickets?"
With Broadway ducats heading well north of the $100 (or even $200!) mark for good seats, and off-Broadway tickets often listed at over $50, savvy NYC theater lovers are skilled at ferreting out discounts and deals, and once again, the buzz is about the return of last fall’s big bargain: $20 seats to "20 at 20" through Feb. 6. (http://www.20at20.com), offered by the Off-Broadway Alliance.
If you've got twenty bucks...and can get to the theater 20 minutes before curtain...you can see one of (you guessed it) 31 off-Broadway shows. At 7:40 each night, all the remaining tickets to the shows go for $20. If it's a sellout, you stand a chance of being turned away...but the reason these shows are participating in the deal is because they feel like they have the room to sell tickets for just a Jackson. (It’s mid-winter…only the biggest hits sell out, MOST of the time).
Shows offered run the gamut from long-running favorites, like "Stomp," (http://www.stomponline.com) the all-dancing, all-noisy romp that’s been at the Orpheum Theatre since 1994; to the premiere extended run of Charles Busch’s new farce, “The Divine Sister” (http://www.divinesisteronstage.com/).
You'll find new plays, long-running shows, musicals, children's theater, solo shows, and audience participation shows (like "My Big Gay Italian Wedding.")
For $20, producers hope that New Yorkers might take a chance on an older show they haven't yet seen, and that out-of-town visitors might take a detour from high-end Broadway spectacles.
Other offerings include:
"Freckleface Strawberry," a children's musical based on the book by Julianne Moore, also running at New World Stages. (http://www.frecklefacethemusical.com)
“Molly Sweeney,” by Brian Friel at the Irish Repertory Theatre, directed by Charlotte Moore, on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage (132 W. 22nd St.) (http://www.irishrep.org/).
For a complete list of shows, visit the website at www.20at20.com, which offers details on showtimes and theater locations; and, if you end up going theater-mad and seeing 7 or more shows, you'll receive a free dinner at a local restaurant (and there are some pretty good ones participating in the offer!)
Budget hotels in London can be hard to come by, so when I heard about a new Malaysian hotel chain that had opened up in London last year, I thought it was time to pay a visit.
I nearly missed the entrance to the six-storey Tune Hotel, Westminster, squeezed between a Costa Coffee and The Horse pub, but inside the doors I was greeted into the latest no-frills budget hotel. I was reliably informed by the receptionist Elly that the concept behind the hotel is basically that you book "room only" via the internet (www.tunehotels.com).
I had a nose in a number of the 79 rooms, and the concept seems to me to be quite simple. Most of the time when you are staying in a hotel, you really only want a clean bed and a decent shower -- and this hotel provides exactly that.
Each room is equipped with a UK-size double bed (think Queen-size). Elly informed me that the mattresses are of a 5-star hotel standard, and giving them a quick squeeze (I didn't want to jump on the bed for fear of messing up the newly made bed) I could certainly believe this was the case. The beds are then made up with white cotton sheets and a duvet. The bathroom pod has a power shower, toilet and small sink. Other facilities in the room may be few with only a few hangers and no wardrobes, but this seems sufficient for a quick stay. You can slide your suitcase under the bed and pull out a little table for your laptop.
Rooms start at £35 (including taxes) and go up to £80 depending on availability. Like many budget airlines, the earlier you book the more likely you are to be able to secure the lowest-price deal. However, on the day I visited, there were still rooms available for that evening at £60.
Eleven rooms are without window, and offer the cheapest deal. If you're not worried about a view (and to be honest there's not much of one) then opt for the cheaper rooms without windows. These are perfect for single travellers--most of them tend to be smaller than the rooms with windows and you may only be able to jump into the bed from one side. Even the slightly larger rooms with windows tend to be a little tight to squeeze around the bed. Those with limited mobility really should think about booking the specially adapted rooms--there are 4 in total in the hotel. The company's motto of "Less Waste, More Earth" means that other extras, from towels to hair dryers and TV, come at an additional price. But, at £1.50 for clean towels this is hardly going to affect your sightseeing budget. Other costs: Internet in reception (£1/50/hr); Wi-Fi £3/24 hr; Hair dryer £1; TV £3/24 hr.
Although the hotel has no restaurant facilities, there is a drinks machine in reception, where you can buy a coffee or tea for no more than £1, and you can order a breakfast voucher from reception to use at Costa Coffee next door for just £4.95.
For those concerned about safety and security there is a 24-hour manned reception, CCTVs throughout the hotel, and nobody can enter the hotel without a key card after midnight.
The only gripe I would have about the hotel is the name. Tune Hotel, Westminster implies the hotel is Westminster when in fact it is just across the road from Lambeth North tube. Saying that, the location is also only a 5-minute walk from Waterloo station (use exit 2, and head towards The Old Vic, then turn right on Baylis Road, and it is at the far end, just round the corner from Costa Coffee), and only 5 minutes the other way to the London Eye.
15 more Tune Hotels are due to open in the Greater London area over the next few years, with the next one due to open near Liverpool Street station in 2012 with 180 rooms.
For more information on Budget hotels in London, and low-cost meals out check out Frommer's London Free & Dirt Cheap available from Amazon.
Halfway through my dinner at Luna I look across the table at Melissa and lose myself. We're in Ann Arbor, where we first met years back, suffering through one of those strange non-dates and we're gossiping about local personalities and how they fit awkwardly into our lives. Wait -- no, that's not right -- we're in Bogota, it's six years later and I'm eating one of the best meals that I've had this year. How could I get these two places confused?
It's hard to believe, but Bogota has come a long way from the days of kidnappings, drugs and high crime. From where I sit in Zona T, I could be in a boutique restaurant in Miami, Chicago or Kuala Lumpur, white crisp linens covering all of the tables, bottles of fancy wine lining the walls and a debonair, aristocratic seam threading through the entire composition. Here and outside, the atmosphere is rich and vibrant -- two young, Colombian women sit chatting at the table to one side of us and a pair of sharply dressed couples carouse on our other side, sharing a bottle of Italian wine. Had I not a wad of Colombian Pesos in my back pocket there would be no sign that I was in South America, let alone a city that was written off as dangerous by most travelers over the last twenty years.
My expectations for this country have been shattered. Sure, as a travel writer I've read and written enough about the culture to know that Bogota is a safe, friendly place to visit, but this level of elegance I had not expected. Carlo, the host at our boutique hotel in La Candelaria speaks often of it in his deep, velvety, accented voice, warmly greeting us every time we're buzzed into the front lobby. Talking to Carlo is like talking to a Latin Tony Bennett after he's smoked four cigars and had a bottle of Glenmarange. It's intoxicating, and adds layers of rich, creamy frosting to the confectionery we find in Bogota.
As we ask for direction on Saturday, Carlo folds his hands over his purple wool sweater, patiently listening to our preference in cuisine. He pauses, for effect I think, and suggests that for the real cutting edge gastrofare, that we need to head to Zona T.
Against the rest of Bogota, Zona Rosa and Zona T in Chapinero are two of the fanciest, most visited parts of town. Here, young Colombians roil through the streets in sharply dressed suits and elegant evening wear, high on the thick, rich culture oozing from the streets. Sheaves of restaurants pour out into the pedestrian streets filed between H&M's, Massimo Duttis and Starbucks. It's as if someone took the buzz of the Santa Monica Promenade, the quaintness of Georgetown and the climate of Portland, put them all in an oven and baked a sultry, South American casserole.
Everywhere we turn there's a national park to discover, a public square to photograph, a new cafe to visit or a shopping mall to explore. Soon, we understand that Bogota is not just another growing destination in South America -- rather, it's a destination at its peak, with experiences, class and culture comparable to a visit to the beaches of Rio de Janiero or the European streets of Buenos Aires. It is brief, but our time in Bogota is full of experiences like that at Luna, and as a friends and travelers we vowed to one day soon return.
Grant Martin is the Editor-in-Chief of the travel blog Gadling.com
Running the TSA gauntlet at the airport is difficult enough for ordinary folks, but people with disabilities and certain medical conditions have it even tougher. It's a good idea, then, if you have some kind of disability or medical condition, to check out the TSA rules and regulations before you go to the airport, so there will be no unpleasant surprises for you or the people at TSA themselves.
Not only will you learn about which prescription and over-the-counter medications can be carried through the security line, but there are lists of disability-related items permitted through (e.g. wheelchairs, canes, service animals, etc.) and information on visual disabilities, hidden disabilities (diabetes, pacemakers, etc.), assistive devices and mobility aids (orthopedic shoes, for instance), and on children with disabilities. There is even a section on programs for severely injured military personnel, and how to get a Disability Notification Card for Air Travel.
Your mother and the Boy Scouts had it right: Be Prepared, and you've already won half the battle, or perhaps even more.
Note: I blog here exclusively on travel health and safety, backed by my work as pro bono vice president of the not-for-profit charity, the International Association for Medical Assistance toTravellers, www.iamat.org.
The Christmas and New Year break have come and gone so quickly, and now I'm back in to the swing of work.
Last week, I was strolling along the Champs-Elysées drinking vin chaud (mulled wine) from one of the sparking white huts of the Christmas market (Nov–Jan) that stretched along past the Grand Palais. And all this after visiting the sold-out Monet exhibition (www.monet2010.com) at the Galeries Nationales (3, avenue du Général-Eisenhower; www.grandpalais.fr). Even on the cold wintery day, the queues of hopefuls without tickets stretched around the block. Hordes of visitors from around the world had flocked to Paris for this one-off exhibition that showed a glimpse of some of Monet’s 2,000 artworks collected from museums and art galleries across the globe.
I first fell in love with Monet’s work when I lived in Paris as a student. I love the Musée d’Orsay which houses some of his art as well as that of his contemporaries. The Musée de l’Orangeriein the Jardin des Tuileries was built specifically to house a collection of his Waterlilies (Nympheas), and a visit to Paris should include a trip to Giverny, where he lived in his final years and where he painted the waterlilies.
But what I had forgotten as I wandered around the exhibition with tour groups, schoolchildren and families was that he had also painted a foggy London, drew wonderful seascapes from Le Havre in Normandy to the south of France, and landscapes and woodlands from numerous locations along the Seine outside of Paris.
This was the only time I was going to be able to see so many Monet’s in one place and I have the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais to thank for that. It was not the only event on at the Grand Palais as there were a number of other exclusive exhibitions on, and had I had more time I might have visited, but I had also been lucky enough to be in Paris earlier in the year and visited the Yves Saint-Laurent Retrospective, which I think was one of the best curated and displayed exhibitions of fashion I have ever seen.
As you can tell I have visited and lived in Paris quite a number of times, and it always pleases me to discover something new each time. So if like me, you have been to the city on numerous occasions, and can tell people exactly where to see Buren's humbug sticks (at the Palais-Royal) or where to get the best view of Paris without it being spoilt by the Tour Montparnasse (think taking the lift up to the 56th floor of the Tour itself) then the next best thing is to see the streets from the back of a Citroën 2CV. The classic cars operated by the company 4 Roues sous 1 Parapluie (literally 4 Wheels under 1 Umbrella) (www.4roues-sous-1parapluie.com) have a sporty Herbie-like number on the side, all have their own names, and their own beret-clad driver who is ready to take you hurtling down the side streets where tour buses can’t go. They’ll take couples, or even put on a convoy if you’re in a large group.
Guy our driver of our car, named Jules, swerved in and out of the Paris traffic, nipped down one-way streets up and down the hills of the Latin Quarter near the Sorbonne and Panthéon, scooted across the Seine, around the Ile St-Louis, into the Marais, back over the river passing Serge Gainsbourg’s former home in the Rue de Verneuil, and ended up crossing the river once again and dropping us at the Madeleine just in time for tea and macarons at Ladurée (16rue Royale; www.laduree.fr).
Oh well, back to work as I have just finished that last macaron, and the New Year’s resolutions had better start now.
4 Roues et un Parapluie tour arranged courtesy of Paris Tourism. Monet Exhibition courtesy of Les Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais.
