A Zeppelin airship will be casting its giant shadow over London this summer.
A German company is planning to offer five sightseeing flights a day for six weeks from July 10th. The airship will take off from east London, reach 2,000 feet and take in landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament. Details at www.staroverlondon.co.uk
Tours will last between 30 minutes and an hour, with 12 passengers per flight, each enjoying a window seat in the 35-foot long cabin.
According to its manufacturers, the latest Zeppelin NT07 is much safer and more advanced than earlier models such as the Hindenburg, which famously crashed in flames in New Jersey in 1937.
Airships are increasingly being touted as an eco-friendly form of flight. Their climate-changing impact is about 80-90 per cent less than conventional airliners, they’re quiet and don’t need runways.
The only problem is that they’re somewhat less than supersonic. They typically travel at about 125 mph (about as fast as a high-speed train), so the journey between London and New York, for instance, would be about 43 hours.
However, if you had the best part of two days to spare, it would be an extremely comfortable journey, with a roomy and relatively quiet cabin – a bit like a luxury cruise liner, although twice as fast.
by Andy Moreton
The horse race in the Tuscan city of Siena is quite unlike any other in the world.
The Palio, as it’s called, is a colourful and enthralling spectacle that takes place in the Piazza del Campo on two days in the summer – July 2nd and August 16th.
Bareback riders representing Siena’s seventeen contrade (city neighbourhoods) have to make three circuits of the square. This generally lasts only about ninety seconds, but the rivalry is intense and the racing fast, furious and dangerous.
The build-up to the races has been given extra spice this year because a group of feminists have mounted a legal challenge against one contrade which, by tradition, has never allowed women to take any part in the organisation of its team.
The main event is preceded by elaborate pageantry, which includes traditional flag-throwing. The best places to see the action are on well-placed balconies; failing that, you’ll need to be there very early to secure a ringside seat.
Luxique can offer you a choice of three fine luxury hotels for your stay in Siena - the Certosa di Maggiano, the Relais La Suvera and the Fonteverde Spa and Hotel. This last one, voted in 2007 one of the best spa hotels in Europe, was once a holiday villa for the wealthy and influential Medici family.
by Andy Moreton
Tibet has re-opened to foreigners, three months after the Chinese authorities banned such visits in the face of violent anti-government protests.
A Swedish couple, 77-year-old Kurt Persson and 62-year-old Eva Sandstrom, were the first tourists to arrive in the capital, Lhasa, after the stoppage. They were presented with hada, a long piece of silk used in Tibet as a traditional gift of welcome.
“We’ve been looking forward to visiting Tibet for many years - its monasteries and landscapes are fascinating,” said Ms Sandstrom.
Tibet has been under disputed Chinese administration since 1951. There will shortly be more talks between China and representatives of the exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who wants autonomy for the region.
by Andy Moreton
Dubai is one of the most innovative places in the world, but I was still staggered to read of the latest planned addition to its skyline – the world’s first moving building.
The Dynamic Tower is an 80-storey apartment block with revolving floors, giving it a constantly changing shape. “The building never looks the same, not once in a lifetime,” said the architect, David Fisher, at a news conference in New York.
The tower is made up of 80 pre-fabricated apartments, which will rotate independently of one another, offering residents a 360-degree panorama. Each will take between one and three hours to make a complete rotation.
The building is equipped with horizontal wind turbines on each floor, so it will generate its own electricity. And because many parts are pre-fabricated, it could be up as early as 2010.
A room with a view always costs a bit extra, and these apartments with many views will set you back between £1.8m ($3.7m) and £18m ($36m).
Another of David Fisher’s moving tower blocks is planned for Moscow and there’s also talk of putting one in the skyscraper capital, New York. As Reuters’ New York correspondent, Fred Katayama, put it, that would give the city that never sleeps a building that never rests.
Luxique can offer you a moving experience at a number of Dubai luxury hotels, including the world-renowned Burj Al Arab and the Jumeirah Beach.
by Andy Moreton
What sort of aroma on your hotel pillowcase and sheets would transport you into the most comforting sleep?
That’s the question the UK budget hotel chain, Travelodge, recently asked some of its clients and it’s now smell-testing a few. Four of its hotels are offering a choice of:
• The sea (the most popular)
• Freshly-cut grass (‘a reminder of summer’)
• Baby powder (‘the ideal comforter for doting parents’)
• Home-baked apple pie (‘to bring back memories of childhood’) and
• Chocolate.
And clients can even take the sheets home with them.
Travelodge sleep director (no, really), Leigh McCarron, said: “Interestingly the top scents that would help Brits to drop off to sleep easily are those associated with partners, children, home and holidays rather than the traditional lavender and vanilla.”
There were a few less appealing, not to say gross, replies to the Travelodge survey such as vapour rub, curry, the scent of a pet and a partner’s natural body odour.
by Andy Moreton
With the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games just 40-odd days away, officials in Beijing have announced plans to try to reduce the smog that’s been causing athletes real concern.
One measure to take a million cars off the road will be enforced from July 20th to September 20th, a period that includes the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It will restrict owners of private cars to driving on alternate days, depending on whether the last number of their licence plate is odd or even. Operating hours for public transport will be extended during the two-month period.
Another measure will forbid lorries and other vehicles with high emissions from entering Beijing during this time. They will have to re-route around the city.
A spokesman for the city’s traffic committee said: “We hope to see a bluer sky.”
by Andy Moreton
Luxique offer a comprehensive Beijing guide along with its unique selection of luxury hotels in Beijing.
Cyprus is a beautiful holiday island and one of the most popular destinations in the Mediterranean.
Sadly, the island has now been divided on ethnic lines for 34 years. It was in 1974 that Turkey invaded and occupied the northern third of this former British colony. The Greek Republic of Cyprus in the south is the internationally recognised state and a member of the European Union; the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognised only by Turkey. Nicosia is the last divided capital city in the world.
Of the 2.4 million tourists a year, most travel to the south. Because the north is not internationally recognised, flights there have to be through Turkey.
Many attempts at reunification have been made over the years, but a recent visit by a top UN official has held out the prospect of real progress. It was announced last week that the leaders of the two sides would meet on July 1st to try to push forward the peace process.
Experts from both sides have been discussing a range of reunification issues from power-sharing to complex property disputes (many Greek Cypriots say they lost their homes when they were driven out by the 1974 invasion).
There has been agreement on some measures, but it’s agreed that much still needs to be thrashed out.
by Andy Moreton
There’s talk of building an upmarket hotel on the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco, the site of one of the world’s most notorious prisons.
‘The Rock,’ is the city’s second most popular tourist attraction after the cable cars, and the US National Park Service is eager to offer visitors the chance to spend a night there.
Guests wouldn’t sleep in the cell blocks that once housed notorious criminals such as Al Capone, George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly or Robert Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz). Instead, the hotel would be housed in another part of the famous penitentiary: Building 64 - the guards’ quarters, which boast impressive views across the San Francisco Bay.
Not everyone agrees with the idea, so the plan will have to be approved by city residents. Concern has also been expressed by San Francisco firefighters, who would have to race over to the island in the case of a fire or another emergency overnight.
So the hotel idea seems a long way off yet. But if you have a particular fascination for staying in hotels that were once prisons, try the Four Seasons in Istanbul, Turkey or the Malmaison in Oxford, UK.
by Andy Moreton
The major UK-based consumer group, Which? has just voted Singapore Airlines the best in the world.
What is it about Singapore Airlines that makes it a consistent favourite among passengers and the industry alike? Well, Which? researchers gave it top marks for the helpfulness and efficiency of its cabin crew, its check-in arrangements, the cleanliness of its aircraft, its in-flight entertainment and general comfort. And if all that wasn’t enough, its food was rated second to none.
Singapore Airlines has had an exceptional year, becoming the first to use the new Airbus 380 superjumbo. The airliner began flying from Heathrow to Singapore in March and the A380 fleet should be up to five by the end of June.
Air New Zealand and India’s Jet Airways also reached the final shortlist, but the most remarkable achievement in the top four was that of the tiny British airline, Palmair European. The airline has just one plane – a Boeing 737 - and flies only about 60,000 passengers a year (compared with Singapore’s 18 million). The flights go from Bournemouth on the south coast of England to fourteen European destinations, mainly in the Mediterranean.
Palmair’s clients receive a very individual service. An airline employee draws up a seating plan on her kitchen table every night using special notes she has made for each passenger. Later, she’ll greet them all personally. Flight attendants place fresh flowers on the plane - including the toilets - every day and a row of seats has been removed to give more leg-room. There are no night flights because the airline’s founder deemed them ‘anti-social.’
The managing director of Palmair European, David Skillicorn, said he was delighted. “We are just little Palmair with a little Boeing 737, yet we beat the likes of Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. It’s an amazing achievement.”
by Andy Moreton
A Greek court is considering a request by residents of the Aegean island of Lesbos to ban the use of the word lesbian as a term to describe gay women.
Three islanders brought the case, arguing that the term insulted their identity. Lesbos was the birthplace of the ancient Greek poet, Sappho, whose love poems inspired the term lesbian and the island has become a mecca for gay women from around the world.
The plaintiffs argued that the island’s population were the only true Lesbians – the dispute was over identity, not sexuality. “Gay women have every right to define themselves as they wish, but they don’t have the right to appropriate our national identity,” said one.
In the packed courtroom, one of the islanders wore a badge that read: “I am Paul and I am a Lesbian.” Another unfurled a banner that read: “If you are not from Lesbos, you are not a Lesbian.”
The court will deliver its ruling in the next two months.
by Andy Moreton
