Jaunted

Booze Travel / Airport Lounges / British Airways / Glasgow Travel / GLA / Whisky / → All Tags

Savor One Last Sip of Scotch at British Airways' New Whisky Bar

Flying through Glasgow? Like Whisky? You're in luck! Thanks to a match-made-in-heaven partnership between British Airways and Pernod Ricard, some travelers passing through Glasgow International Airport who prefer a scotch on the rocks (or served any other way) will be treated to special Whisky Bar and Snug.

Located in BA's Executive Lounge, passengers lucky enough to gain entry to the lounge can settle back with a stiff one in the special section devoted to the national drink of Scotland. The Glenlivet Whisky Bar is just part of the $1.2 million the airline forked over to refurbish the lounge.

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Scotland Travel / London Day Trips / Glasgow Travel / Britain Travel / London Travel / Get Out of Londontown / History Travel / → All Tags

Get Out of Londontown: And Into Glasgow (Some More)

Heading to London this summer? Yeah, so is everyone else. This week, Jaunted's London embed, Lilit Marcus, will share some definite destinations for getting out of town and out of the crowds.

Read Part 1 here

PART 2:

After exploring the university area, see the more urban, up-to-date side of Glasgow by heading downtown. Unlike central London, downtown Glasgow is easy to navigate by foot, and most of the main attractions are quite close together.

The place to start is George Square. In the square itself is the famous statue of Robert Burns, the unofficial poet laureate of Scotland and a beloved national icon. Although his birthday is celebrated as a holiday, you’ll often find flowers and notes left for him all year round. Also in the square is the Cenotaph, which was originally built to honor Scottish soldiers who died in World War I and was later updated to include soldiers killed in World War II. The square also boasts a new attraction: the Wheel of Glasgow, a white Ferris wheel with enclosed seats that offers beautiful views of the city.

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Scotland Travel / London Day Trips / Glasgow Travel / Britain Travel / London Travel / Get Out of Londontown / History Travel / → All Tags

Get Out of Londontown: And Into Glasgow

Heading to London this summer? Yeah, so is everyone else. This week, Jaunted's London embed, Lilit Marcus, will share some definite destinations for getting out of town and out of the crowds.

Q: What do you call people from Glasgow?
A: Glaswegian.
Q: What do you call people from Edinburgh?
A: English.

This old joke sums up the way that Scotland's two main cities compete against each other. While a daytrip from London to Glasgow might be too difficult to pull off, it's absolutely worth a long weekend. Easyjet offers cheap fares to Glasgow from Gatwick, Luton and Stansted airports, and there are also daily trains from Euston and King's Cross stations.

Rest assured that Glasgow has plenty to offer for even longer than a weekend, but let's just address what we consider the highlights.

Part 1:

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Airport Shop / Shopping Travel / Airport News / Glasgow / Glasgow Travel / Airport Layover Attractions / → All Tags

Glasgow Updates Airport Shopping With Snazzy 'Planeshop' Concept

Everybody loves a good pop-up shop, but the possibility of limited-edition goods gets even more tempting when we're talking about travel products. Very soon, as the shop is due to open yet this year, "Planeshop" will debut inside of Glasgow Airport as a rotating retail concept. The shop will be permanent, but the brands for sale inside of it will alternate every so often to constantly keep the airport concessions fresh and interesting.

We love love love stuff like this because it helps to make an airport a destination in itself, giving you something to look forward and possibly counteracting the frustration experienced during the rigamarole of air travel. In addition to the limited edition items, Planeshop will provide travelers with Planemix, "a downloadable selection of global digital music tracks that rotates each month," and Foodflight, "a selection of tapas and sangria for takeout or in-store dining."

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Airline Delays / Airline Travel / Flight Delays / Airport News / → All Tags

Mathematics Might Be The Secret To Fixing Airline Delays

We’ve all been there, and we certainly have done our share of complaining about them: the dreaded delayed airplane. For the most part it has just become one of the many fun features that are now part of the travel experience. However, there are some researchers trying to crack the code behind these inconveniences, and the smartypants scientists feel that a little math might help everyone out. If academics can help aircraft land on time and leave on schedule, we just might head back to school.

Computer scientists at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland have created a system to use runways efficiently to reduce delays and to conserve fuel use. Their plan uses the size of aircraft, fuel efficiency of the plane, and number of passengers aboard to figure out the most effective way to move the birds around the airport. Their new math also looks at the amount of suitcases on the planes to ensure baggage handling delays are kept to a minimum. Unfortunately, there’s no mention of preventing baggage loss—too bad.

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Scotland Travel / Music Travel / UNESCO / Creative Cities / → All Tags

Music Travel: Glasgow's Officially a Creative City

We're big fans of UNESCO's Creative Cities program which so far has quite rightly crowned Berlin as a City of Design and let Santa Fe don the cap of City of Folk Art. This month a new creative city has stepped up: Glasgow has been official christened a UNESCO City of Music.

Being a City of Music, according to UNESCO, is meant to help Glasgow preserve its music culture as well as make it an extra-attractive tourist destination. Home to great indie bands like Franz Ferdinand and Belle & Sebastian, and with a typical week of music in the city totalling 127 different gigs, you'd be hard pressed not to find something musical to entertain you on a night out in Glasgow.

Related Stories:
· Glasgow's Music Scene Recognised with Rare Honour From UNESCO [The Independent]
· Take Me Out to Glasgow [Jaunted]
· UNESCO coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: turquoise boy]

Animals / UK Travel / dolphins / → All Tags

Scottish Dolphin Swims Through Glasgow

A dolphin popped up in the polluted waters of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland over the weekend. The unlikely animal sighting has experts worried because the dolphin appears to be badly injured and emaciated. Officials say they don't expect it to survive, but they may be able to help the dolphin if it beaches itself on a sandbar. In the meantime, we clearly have to name him Clyde.

Clyde has been identified as a Risso's dolphin. The species is found all over the world but it's rare for them to be seen outside of deep ocean water. That said, these dolphins do have a bit of a history of seeking out human attention. One named Pelorus Jack became legendary after spending nearly forty years escorting ships through a dangerous stretch of Cook Strait in New Zealand.

If Clyde survives and has a similar craving for animal stardom it would be the biggest windfall for the Scottish tourism industry since Braveheart. Go, Clyde, go!

Related Stories:
· Concern Grows for Injured Dolphin in Glasgow River [Guardian]
· Search Resumes for Clyde Dolphin [BBC]
· Animals coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: BBC]

Transportation / Seaplanes / Airlines / → All Tags

Glasgow Gets Seaplane Service

A seaplane that lands in a city center? Sure it sounds odd, but Glasgow is excited to be getting the first city-center seaplane service in Europe. The Scottish city will be serviced by Loch Lomond Seaplanes who will land their 9-seater Cessnas on the River Clyde starting next week.

From Glasgow, the seaplanes will fly into the Scotch-happy Highlands which traditionally take ages to reach. The first destination will be Oban in the Western Isles, but the islands of Mull and Skye are expected to be on board soon. So if you're a transportation freak and want to try something new, book your Scottish seaplane flight soon. A rocks glass will be waiting for you on the other side.

Related Stories:
· Loch Lohmond Set To Launch Seaplane Services [Flight]
· Glasgow Airport To Get Rail Link [Jaunted]
· Loch Lomond Seaplanes [Official Site]

[Photo: N and L]

Airports / Transportation / Public Transportation / Trains / Scotland / → All Tags

Glasgow Airport to Get Rail Link

Glasgow is about to join the list of smaller European cities that put New York (and many other American metropolises) to shame in the airport transportation department. The Scottish Parliament just approved the Glasgow Airport Rail Link Bill, which covers construction of a direct train link between Glasgow's city center and its international airport.

The airport link, expected to be operational by 2010, will run between Central Station (where a new platform will be built) and Glasgow International Airport. Additional stops should include the Paisley Gilmour Street and Paisley St. James stations. Glasgow International is currently serviced only by public buses.

A similar project is currently under review for Edinburgh.

[Photo: COLIИ]

Related Stories:
· Glasgow rail link gets go-ahead [BBC]

Themed Tours / Podcasting / → All Tags

Take Me Out to Glasgow

IToors is a company getting ready to roll out MP3 audio tours of various major cities. The first one out is an easy-going walk through the music-haunted streets of Glasgow, where Franz Ferdinand, Belle and Sebastian, and lots of other indie-pop names got their start. Narrated by DJ Jim Gellatly, the 90-minute walk by and into bars, clubs, and (on one occasion) thrift shops is entertaining and fun, as long as you don't mind the periodic product placements of its sponsor, Tennant's Lager.

Related Stories:
·   Glasgow -- Sounds of a Music Capital [MP3 tour]
·   iToors Glasgow tour map [PDF]
·   iToors Press