Timing is everything. We’re on our way to Cuba. I won’t say that our bags were already packed, but our tickets were booked when Obama surprised the world (and us!) with his announcement. It has all the intrigue of a best-seller – secret talks for months, even the papacy is involved…and just where is Fidel? […]
Christmas Crackers are such a part of an English holiday celebration, I couldn’t imagine not pulling a cracker and putting a really silly paper crown on my head while eating Christmas dinner. So, where does this Christmas Cracker Celebration and Tradition come from? Its particular to the UK and the commonwealth countries such as Australia […]
Got Jet Blues? According to all those Jet Blue junkies, Jet Blue is heading down the corporate greed path. They’ve taken their biggest single value proposition,” more legroom,” and shrunk it – and all because they want to make more money. Shame on them! Imagine an airline looking for ways to make more money, surely not! […]
He who speaks the most, eats the least. He who eats the most, listens. He who listens, will own the secrets. – anonymous The Senses of San Miguel: In 1810 the revolution started in these hills around San Miguel. The town itself became an inland harbor offering safe passage along the Camino between Mexico and […]
The Rosewood The Roswewood in San Miguel. A friend of mine had stayed at another Rosewood and liked the hotel a lot. This hotel is amazing. We had a great room with a view, Room 303 incidentally, that looked out across the church, La Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, this is the iconic sight of […]
The Road to San Miguel A quick break. A time out. Mexico, in spite of all the bad press seems like a great place to head. San Miguel de Allende is where we headed. Even though it is a little complicated to get there, it’s the kind of place that makes you glad you made […]
Have They Lost Their Elgin Marbles? For the first time in ages, literally, a bit of the now infamous Elgin Marbles is on the move. Back to whence it came? No – it’s been shipped to Mother Russia as part of a temporary exhibition at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. The Greeks will not be […]
Airline Lounges Getting Lazy? Clubs and places to hang out at airports are reaching a troubling intersection. Once the harbor of calm and safety, where you might feel like a million bucks, airline clubs are fast becoming overcrowded and unreliable. Take American Admiral’s Club for example. What Admiral are they referring to? Certainly not Nelson! […]
The Town and the Gown A friend of mine is a Baroness – I have classy friends! Anyhow, she had invited me over for tea at the House of Lords, and I, ever keen to add this to my resume of drinking spots thought no more than a second before finalizing the time. “Meet me […]
Airline Food All this fuss about Emirates and Etihad and how the food just knocks your socks off, I don’t buy it. I was recently lucky enough to be upgraded to first class on British Airways. The food was unacceptably bad – really if I had been paying the price of that ticket, it would […]
Let’s Go Fly a Kite At the recent World Travel Market in London, which is held every year in the Dock Lines area at ExCel I decided to fly with the Emirates Air Line. It was quite a thrill, actually! You take the underground to North Greenwich and it’s a five minute walk from there […]
Bring back the Travelers Checks! I just get really tired of spending money or paying for services that are not there. My credit card bill is peppered with tiny charges per transaction every time I use the credit card overseas. That really irritates me! There are cards that advertise no international transaction fees; if you […]
Belfast My Italian friend insisted that we do something at the end of the Dublin conference. He had concocted an idea that we should drive to Belfast. I had never been, he had never been, so we rented a car and headed off into the unknown. My first mistake was to forget my passport, drive […]
A Day at WYSTC It stands for the World Youth Student Travel Conference. WYSTC is where buyers and sellers get together in the student travel business. It runs every year and the locations read like a bucket list for the world traveler. Last year it was in Australia, this year it’s in Dublin, and next […]
Dublin My grandmother is Irish, she’s from County Clare on the western coast. It’s not really relevant, but every time I touch down in Ireland I feel that somehow I belong to the place. My mate is from Dublin, my neighbors are from Dublin, and on a good night with a couple of drinks inside […]