Government Says Airlines Must Refund Canceled Flights—Eventually
Posted on 04/06/2020, 2:45 PM
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued an "enforcement notice" reminding airlines and the "traveling public" that passengers whose flights are canceled or significantly delayed should receive refunds regardless of the "unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 public health emergency on air travel." The agency reports having received an "increasing number of complaints and inquiries fro...
Governor of South Carolina Bans Hotel Guests from NY, CT, and NJ
Posted on 04/06/2020, 11:30 AM
On Friday, Henry McMaster, the Governor of South Carolina, updated an executive order to include a new prohibition. As of April 3, the state's hotels, motels, campgrounds, and rental properties may no longer house guests from New York, Connecticut, or New Jersey. In addition to questions of constitutionality, this move raises the question: What will happen to those tri-staters who are staying in...
WATCH: Penguins Run Loose in Chicago Aquarium, Meet Beluga Whales
Posted on 04/02/2020, 11:15 AM
The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago continues to host the world's most adorable quarantine. While the facility is closed to visitors during the coronavirus pandemic, staffers have been taking resident penguins on "field trips" to various exhibits, allowing the birds to check out the underwater scenery of the Amazon River, the Caribbean Sea, and other parts of the world ordinarily off-limits to flightle...
TSA Says You Can Fly with an Expired Driver's License
Posted on 03/31/2020, 8:00 PM
In an announcement overlooked by many amid the coronavirus hubbub, the TSA has said that for a limited time passengers may use expired driver's licenses to get through airport security. Licenses can be expired for up to a full year and remain eligible. The agency made the temporary policy change public in a single tweet. Not many of us are traveling right now, but the allowance will extend for tw...
Matterhorn and Eiffel Tower Lit with Messages of Hope and Gratitude
Posted on 03/30/2020, 2:15 PM
Two of Europe's most iconic sights are being illuminated each evening with words and symbols of encouragement amid the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. In Zermatt, Switzerland, projections designed by artist Gerry Hofstetter will be beamed onto the face of the Matterhorn each day starting at sunset and lasting until 11pm. Symbols such as hearts and the Swiss flag as well as simple messages like "#ho...
Theft of a van Gogh Devastates Two Dutch Museums
Posted on 03/30/2020, 11:00 AM
March 30, 2020, marks Vincent van Gogh's 167th birthday. Coincidentally, in the early hours of March 30, thieves broke into the Singer Laren Museum in the Amsterdam suburbs to steal one of the Dutch painter's works. The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring (1884; detail pictured above) was on loan from the Groninger Museum in the northern Netherlands. The painting was that museum's only piece by v...
Visit Kentucky Horse Farms with New Virtual Tours
Posted on 03/26/2020, 1:15 PM
The Kentucky Derby, usually held on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, has been postponed to September 5 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But you can keep tabs on the state's equine goings-on in the meantime, thanks to a new slate of virtual tours and social media events organized by the farms, medical clinics, and other businesses that make up Kentucky Horse Country near...
Spring Breaker Who Vowed to Party Despite COVID-19: I Was Wrong
Posted on 03/24/2020, 9:00 AM
Remember that die-hard spring breaker who went viral on the internet last week for saying he wouldn't mind going viral in a literal sense for the noble cause of partying? "If I get corona, I get corona," he said in a TV news interview from Miami, making us all want to do a real-life interpretation of the face-palm emoji, if only that wouldn't involve, you know, touching our faces. "At the end of ...
This Strip Club Has a Novel Take on Social Distancing
Posted on 03/20/2020, 3:00 PM
On March 17, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak issued an executive order closing all casinos, bars, gyms, restaurants and other non-essential businesses to help keep citizens a safe distance apart. But that doesn't mean the show at Little Darlings will go dark. Starting this Saturday, according to director of operations Ryan Carlson, the club will offer a drive-through strip show. Customers will stay in t...
A Frommer's Intern Travels Home from Spain During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Posted on 03/19/2020, 8:00 PM
Last Monday, my coworkers at the schools in Spain where I was employed as a teaching assistant told me not to worry about the coronavirus. The next day, I was told I wouldn't be working for at least two weeks. Since September, I had been living in La Rioja, the northern region best-known for its red wine. I was helping with English classes at three different schools in the small town of Nájera—tw...
