While we’re on the subject of museums, I see that New York has just launched a new high-tech one that’s dedicated to professional sport.
The $100 million Sports Museum of America (www.sportsmuseum.com) is in Lower Manhattan and has on its Honorary Board of Trustees Joe Frazier and Martina Navratilova among others.
This is what the museum blurb promises: “From the moment you step through our doors, you will be immersed in an intimate, multi-sensory environment where you can relive your favourite goose-bump moments in sports history - thrilling athletic feats, record-setting triumphs and heartwarming and heartbreaking stories that transcend sports.”
Other US museums hail the achievements of particular sports – the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, NY, for instance – but organisers say this is the first to cover all professional sporting achievement under one roof. Most of its rotating collection will be on loan from non-profit museums and individual athletes.
New York’s Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, says the city’s newest tourist attraction will also play a key role in the continued recovery of the area following the devastation of 9/11. “This museum is important for the rebirth of lower Manhattan. I predict one million will visit it the first year,” Bloomberg said.
by Andy Moreton
* If you’re heading to New York, Luxique can offer you a unique selection of New York luxury hotels.
On my travels I’ve seen museums dealing with everything from sex to lawnmowers, but until now I’ve never come across one devoted to the French fry or, as we say in the UK, the chip.
Yes, it’s here – and where better to house it than in Belgium, where its fries are already world-renowned?
The Frietmuseum (www.frietmuseum.be), in the beautiful city of Bruges, was founded by Eddy Van Belle, who has already set up museums devoted to lamps (he collected 6,500 of them) and chocolate. He said that when he Googled ‘chip museum,’ he couldn’t find one anywhere, so he did what any of us would have done – he started his own.
In words, pictures, film and potatoes, the Frietmuseum tells the history of the French fry. The legend has it that in the 1700s, Belgians would catch small fish, fry them and eat them whole. During severe winters, however, the rivers froze, so they fried fish-shaped potato pieces instead. The French might contest this version of events, but it sounds convincing.
The museum also offers advice on creating the perfect chip and the Belgians, it has to be said, are rather good at it. Travel writer Patrick Barkham says: “In size, Belgian fries are halfway between chunky British chips and spindly American/French fries. And they taste even better with local moules and washed down with Bruges Zot, the city’s latest award-winning beer.”
by Andy Moreton
Luxique offers a unique selection of award-winning Bruges hotels.
The Luxique city guide to Copenhagen calls the Danish capital ‘a major gourmet destination,’ and there’s proof this month that it’s living up to that description.
Michelin-Starred Kong Hans Kælder Restaurant
The 2008 edition of the food-lover’s bible, the Michelin Guide, has awarded a total of 12 stars to Copenhagen’s restaurants – more than any other city in Scandinavia and a better return than Rome, Madrid, Berlin or Vienna.
Copenhagen’s official tourist guide says Danish cuisine as a whole has changed radically over the past twenty years. “It now blends southern European influences with the richness of Denmark’s natural produce, such as its traditionally excellent dairy produce, its organic fruit and vegetables, and fish from its surrounding waters.”
The new Michelin-starred restaurants tend to be smaller and owned by younger people who work in the kitchens themselves or as waiters.
Here are the restaurants that made the list:
• Ensemble
• Kommandanten
• Kong Hans Kælder
• Kokkeriet
• Era Ora
• Godt
• Noma
• The Paul
• Formel B
• Restaurant Rasmus Oubæk
by Andy Moreton
In addition to the city guide, Luxique offers a selection of unique award-winning Copenhagen luxury hotels and boutique hotels.
Venice is planning to take action to clear its main canal-side streets of beggars.
The proposed law – which awaits full council approval – would see beggars fined up to 500 Euros (£400/$770) and their day’s takings confiscated if they are caught in certain areas of the city, especially the well-trodden tourist routes around St Mark’s Square.
The action is aimed at cracking down on organised begging rackets, which involve large numbers of people taking to the streets asking for money. It’s thought that in the central zone of Venice, about 30 people work on about three shifts a day – in all about 100 people, both men and women. They are mainly Bosnians, Kosovans and Romanians.
The authorities acknowledge that it’s going to be hard to secure the fines or to trace the individuals once convicted, but they’re determined to ensure Venice stays clean and maintains its charm despite the presence of 20 million visitors a year. They say the genuine homeless are well catered for, with a network of assistance that includes food and a place to sleep.
by Andy Moreton
Campaigners in Berlin seem to have failed in their final attempt to prevent the closure of the city’s Tempelhof airport, planned for October.
A new international hub is under construction at the edge of the city, but Tempelhof supporters argue that the airfield deserves to stay open because of its historic significance and its proximity to the centre of Berlin (it’s only about a 20-minute drive from the Brandenburg Gate).
The airport opened in the 1920s and was then expanded by the Nazis with the construction of a huge terminal building. It became a symbol of West Berlin’s resistance to the Soviet blockade during the Cold War: a non-stop airlift kept the city going with supplies of food and fuel during 1948 and 1949.
But the fall of the Berlin Wall and unification spelled the beginning of the end for Tempelhof. By 2007, its traffic was down to just 350,000 passengers - a small percentage of the 20 million who use Berlin’s three airports. Most of the passengers are business travellers on quick flights around Germany or to nearby Belgium.
A recent referendum failed to produce the necessary support to prevent it from being closed by the city authorities.
The airfield has been used as a location for many movies, including one of the Indiana Jones series. And the German news magazine, Der Spiegel, is reporting that a film studio based just outside Berlin has expressed an interest in transforming the airport into a world-class film location. Two of the massive aircraft hangers could be used for workshops while another could be used to build film sets.
by Andy Moreton
Everyone, it seems, loved Remy, the rodent in the Oscar-winning animated film, Ratatouille.
But Parisians are not so keen on the estimated eight million of his real-life relatives that live in the French capital. According to the city council, there are four times as many rats as humans.
Experts say Paris, with its river, courtyards, cellars and restaurants, is something of a rodent paradise and it’s not surprising that they’re occasionally spotted foraging for treats in some of the city’s finer eating establishments and food shops.
Last week the French capital launched its annual crackdown, known officially as ‘dératisation.’ A city-wide information campaign, followed by inspections, aims to reduce the number of rats ahead of the tourist season. Those who refuse to carry out recommendations on cleaning, correct disposal of rubbish and closing up access holes face fines.
In this age of throwaway fast food, rodents pose a problem in all major cities. In London, mice have been causing alarm among the (mostly female) audiences at the Aldwych Theatre, where Dirty Dancing is having a successful run.
This prompted an editorial in the respected newspaper, The Daily Telegraph: “If the creatures can’t be banished, perhaps the Aldwych should stage a production of Cats, otherwise it could see audiences migrating to St Martin’s Theatre, with its record-breaking run of The Mousetrap.
by Andy Moreton
There’s been a fair bit of publicity here in London about the damning verdict on Heathrow Airport by a senior executive of American Airlines.
Don Langford, AA’s head of Customer Services, Europe, called it “a bit of a dump,” and said it was suffering from a lack of investment. “If you look at the fabric of the building, if you look at where customers check in - missing light bulbs, duct tape on the floor - I would have to say that Heathrow is in many ways the worst of all the airports that my company flies to in Europe,” he told the BBC.
Heathrow’s operator, the British Airports Authority - already reeling from the Terminal 5 fiasco - has hit back, saying it has a $4 billion ($7.9 billion) investment programme lined up over the next five years.
Being one of the most expensive capitals in Europe and having a much-maligned airport, not to mention dodgy weather, it’s sometimes a wonder anyone wants to come to London. A delight, therefore, to read Alexis Glick of Fox Business Network give the city a five-star blog write-up after a recent visit with her husband, Oren, but without their children:
“We were in London almost 10 years ago before we got married and a lot has changed. The city is as beautiful as ever, particularly at this time of year. Everything was blooming! The gardens and squares and narrow streets with unimaginably beautiful architecture were even more spectacular than normal because, believe it or not, the weather was excellent. It was in the mid to high 60s and sunny. Yes, we did experience some of the traditional London rain, but it wasn’t bad at all. We stayed in a beautiful intimate hotel called the Blakes Hotel in the Kensington neighborhood. It was unbelievably charming! We forgot what it was like to stay in an intimate hotel.”
Thanks, Alexis, come back any time!
* If you’re thinking of a UK trip, Luxique can offer you the intimacy of Blakes as well as many other London luxury hotels and boutique hotels.
by Andy Moreton
I went to see Gone With The Wind – the epic Civil War musical that opened in London at the beginning of April to a chorus of boos from the critics.
Trevor Nunn’s production at the New London Theatre is not so much windy as overblown – three-and-a-half hours on seats guaranteed to numb your bum. “Give me strength!” cried Scarlett O’Hara, and we knew what she meant.
But Trevor Nunn shouldn’t despair. His Les Miserables was widely ridiculed at its opening but it’s still running in London 22 years later.
All this reminds me to report that there’s a new Civil War tour of Washington, sponsored by Washington Walks and Cultural Tourism DC.
The three-hour tour, “Civil War Washington: Soldiers and Citizens” includes a visit to the newly restored Lincoln Cottage, the President’s summer retreat on the campus of the US Armed Forces Retirement Home. Other stops include Fort Stevens, which came under attack during the war, and the African American Civil War Memorial.
The tour takes place on six Saturdays from May 24th. For details, see www.washingtonwalks.com
by Andy Moreton
Luxique offers a unique selection of Washington DC luxury hotels for a perfect trip to the capital.
I saw a magazine feature about Madeira the other day and was reminded of one of the unusual tourist attractions in this Portuguese island in the Atlantic.
It’s a toboggan ride, but not as we know it. Instead of travelling on snow, the sledges take a route of about a mile and a quarter down smooth, narrow winding roads from the village of Monte perched up in the hills to the capital, Funchal. The custom goes back to 1850 when the villagers needed a speedy means of transport.
Each two-seater wicker sledge glides on wooden runners, pushed and steered by two men traditionally dressed in white cotton clothes and straw hats.
Readers, I have experienced this tradition and if you think some theme park rides are scary, try hurtling downhill at 30 mph in a glorified beer-crate with a couple of gondoliers using only their rubber-soled boots as brakes.
by Andy Moreton
Luxique offers a unique selection of Madeira luxury hotels.
For some, it seems, even a luxury or boutique hotel is just too boring. They want something entirely out of the ordinary.
And, as you’d perhaps expect in the UK, there are plenty of eccentric choices of accommodation, as searched out by the country’s leading consumer magazine, Which?
The pick of these were:
· A converted 13th century prison in Oxford.
· A windmill on the north Norfolk coast.
· A 19th century fort and lighthouse more than a mile off Portsmouth on the south coast of England.
· A converted Victorian railway station and train carriages at Petworth in east Sussex.
by Andy Moreton
