Eat on Florence's Streets and You Could Be Fined $580
Posted on 09/06/2018, 4:00 PM
Lots of people choose to visit Italy because they respect the cuisine, but now, eating it with dignity is the law. On September 4, Florence instituted a new penalty for tourists who are caught loitering as they eat. On the narrow lanes of central Florence, local shopkeepers are fed up with visitors who linger in doorways and on stairwells to have a snack. The biggest complaint, it seems,...
Real-Life Version of "Simpsons" Convenience Store Comes to Myrtle Beach
Posted on 08/21/2018, 9:15 PM
Fans of The Simpsons have a new place to satisfy their cravings for Buzz Cola, Squishee frozen drinks, Heat-Lamp Hot Dogs, and Lard Lad Donuts (what, no Duff beer?). A full-size, three-dimensional Kwik-E-Mart, the convenience store that frequently appears on the long-running animated sitcom, has opened in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Part of the Broadway at the Beach retail and entertainment c...
Nuts! Southwest Airlines Stops Serving Them on Flights
Posted on 07/10/2018, 9:30 PM
If you were on Family Feud and Steve Harvey asked you to name a snack served on an airplane, it's a cinch that peanuts would be on the board, probably as the number-one answer. Which is odd because peanuts aren't served on the planes of major airlines anymore, with only one or two exceptions. Delta is one—though according to Travel Weekly, that airline will "refrain from serving peanuts on a spe...
A Return to Northern Michigan With No Repeat Experiences
Posted on 06/14/2018, 12:30 PM
I’ve always taken the stance that when you return again and again to the same place for vacation, you’re only setting yourself up for ennui. I figured there were a few exceptions to this rule—namely, cities like Paris and Tokyo that are so huge and varied that you'll never exhaust the possibilities. But for the most part, I believed that vacations should be about the stimulating, the new, the un...
Polish Vodka Museum Opens in Warsaw
Posted on 06/12/2018, 8:00 AM
There's some dispute about where vodka was born. Both Poland and Russia lay claim to having produced the first batch of the transparent spirit from distilled grains or potatoes more than five centuries ago. Since the stuff has become so deeply embedded in both countries' cultures and economies—not to mention their citizens' bloodstreams—we're content to call it a tie. Poland has arguably la...
This Summer's Stupid Food Fad Has Arrived
Posted on 06/04/2018, 12:00 AM
Following in the tradition not only of gimmicky dishes made with absurdly expensive ingredients (which is how we ended up with monstrosities like the $1,000 omelet and the $25,000 taco) but also in the tradition of gimmicky dishes made for Instagram rather than taste buds (looking at you, rainbow bagels), a restaurant chain in New York City is now serving 24-karat gold chicken wings. ...
Bavarian Vegetarian: Germany's Sausage Central for People Who Don't Eat Meat
There's more to German dining than bratwurst. These meatless Franconian staples ensure that no vegetarian has to go hungry.
Florida's SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Will Give Away Free Beer Again This Summer
Posted on 05/17/2018, 12:00 AM
This post, originally published May 1, has been updated below. When the all-American brewer Anhueser-Busch opened Busch Gardens amusement park in Tampa, Florida in 1959 (other locations preceded and followed it, but only the Tampa park and another in Williamsburg, Virginia remain), the main focus was, naturally, marketing the brand's products. To that end, "hospitality houses" (Tampa's is pictu...
Avocado Museum Coming to San Diego
Posted on 05/04/2018, 9:00 PM
Even fruits and vegetables are subject to trends—need we remind you of the Great Kale Craze of 2013? One of the hottest green things in recent years has been the avocado, which has at least one significant advantage over kale: It doesn't taste bad. Now, California avocados are getting their own trendy pop-up museum in San Diego. Named The Cado, it will open June 16 at Liberty Station, a waterf...
What Will Be New at America's Theme Parks This Year?
Posted on 05/01/2018, 3:30 PM
Amusement park season is around the bend—and that bend could be a loop-de-loop of a high tech ride. For our weekly Frommer's Travel Show on WABC Radio, Jason Cochran and I interviewed Susie Storey, the Director of Communications for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions to learn what new thrills, chills, and services would be available to theme park visitors in 2018. Pa...
