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All Aboard The Oprah Boat: A Free Cruise For Winfrey's Employees

June 23, 2009 at 10:02 AM | 3 Comments

It pays to work for Oprah. The second most powerful celebrity in the world is treating 1,700 of her employees and their families to an all-expenses-paid Mediterranean cruise this week, estimated to be setting Oprah back about $5400 per person, totaling $9.2 million.

The trip began on the mainland in Barcelona, where Oprah celebrated her 55th birthday in Poble Espanyol, a popular tourist destination featuring shops, restaurants and bars. During their three day stay in the Barcelona, Oprah and her staff toured the city, taking in sites like the famously incomplete Antonio Gaudi church La Sagrada Familia.

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Abuse the Barman, Get Free Beer

June 19, 2009 at 12:53 PM | 0 Comments

Economic crisis time has brought us plenty, really: cheap airline tickets or staycations, just to name a couple. A surprising bonus out of the global recession is the fact that you can now abuse bar staff in a pub in Spain and get a free beer out of it.

The Casa Pocho bar in Cullera, near Valencia, offers free drinks for "original or hilarious abuse". The owner Bernard Mariusz figured that in these difficult times, people need an outlet for their frustrations and his bar was as good a place as any for it.

Mariusz also says that the Spanish language is full of fantastic abusive phrases, so the challenge to come up with drink-worthy slander shouldn't be too hard. Our limited Spanish doesn't yet extend to too much abuse, but for a free drink, we'll learn anything.

Related Stories:
· Gimme A Beer, Imbecile [Reuters]
· Beer Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: IanKershaw]

Barcelona Bulldog Attempts Popular Skateboard Maneuver

June 10, 2009 at 5:21 PM | 0 Comments

Remember the popular YouTube video of the English bulldog hopping on the skateboard and taking off? Well, it looks like this French bulldog in Barcelona is trying to get his own shot at fame. Although, it doesn't look like he (or she) succeeded.

Still, the Flickr member who took this snapshot, Marni Rachel, dropped in a ton of great travel shots from Barcelona and abroad into the Jaunted Flickr Pool. Trust, us. We probably spent a good half-hour just looking at them all. And wishing we were traveling some place right now.

Got your own travel snapshots to share? Drop them in our pool here!

A Dip At The Foot of Barcelona

June 2, 2009 at 3:17 PM | 0 Comments

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

One guest's dealbreaker is another's delight: The Hotel Arts Barcelona's website barely mentions its pool among luxury offerings like the deluxe suites and the "Spa By Six Senses," but we think this gorgeous seaside tower's got something to shout about.

This Ciutat Vella skyscraper operated by Ritz-Carlton opened in 1994 and was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the architects who brought us the US embassy in Beijing and the Sears Willis Tower in Chicago. The neighborhood, the oldest part of the city currently holding the FC Champions League title, includes La Rambla, the long boulevard which is both tourist trap and exuberant artery of Barcelona street life.

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Don't Get Too Lost In Seville

April 23, 2009 at 2:07 PM | 5 Comments

It's hard to know whether the experts are giving you useful information or just the same old song and dance. That's why we're introducing Guidebook Says to commend or correct other travel media. Feel free to commend or correct us in the comments below! This week, we head for the sol in Seville, Spain.

Sevillemay have just been killed 4-0 in football by FC Barcelona, but it's still a major tourist destination for first-time visitors to Spain who want to get a taste of the countryside. At just a train ride away from Madrid, it imparts a vastly different sense of the country -- but what's as real as a bullfight and what's as fake as the flamenco fans they sell in gift shops? Just in time for the Feria de Abril beginning next Tuesday, we make the call with the help of a few travel authorities, below:

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Helicopters, Jet Skis, And Ibiza Can't Slow Down Bridget

April 17, 2009 at 9:17 AM | 0 Comments

Thursday (well, Friday now) has arrived, and we're off to another location with Bridget Marquardt and her crew of global crusaders. Too bad once again we are alone on the couch, wishing that we were right along side her on the shores of Spain.

Our host is again going it alone in her exploration missions—no outsiders trying to steal the show from her like last week. She meets up with locals one way or another to enjoy the sights, sounds, and tastes of Spain.

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US Airways Begs You To Go To Europe This Summer

April 2, 2009 at 2:26 PM | 0 Comments

US Airways knows what you did last summer: Sat around bemoaning the soaring euro and toiled with the idea of going to Toronto just to be able to say you left the country. (No offense, Canada.) 2009, you vowed, would be different.

After enticing us with fare sales to the UK, Sully's favorite airline has widened the net to include other destinations like Dublin and Madrid. Eat your frites in Brussels or, and this has us intrigued, get 5,000 miles with your trip from Philly to Oslo. Now if you'll excuse us, we've got some currency to change.

Related Stories:
· Five Airfare Sales To Get You Out of the Staycation Doldrums [Jaunted]
· US Airways Sale to UK: It Rules [Jaunted]
· Travel Deals coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: travelstar]

U2's 360 Tour Will Kick Off in Barcelona This June

March 24, 2009 at 3:06 PM | 0 Comments

While some music festivals are dying including Spain's popular Summercase, the U2 360 Tour will certainly bring out thousands of fans in Barcelona on June 30th.

The band will play at Nou Camp Stadium, home to the FC Barcelona football team, before continuing on its European leg of the tour which finishes at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on August 22. Then the US leg will kick off on September 12 at Chicago's Soldier Field with surprisingly affordable ticket prices, too.

Tickets for some tour dates are currently on presale today through Thursday but the presale for the Barcelona concert has ended. Similarly, a lot of other shows are already sold-out and random ticket sites have already begun offering tickets for exorbitant prices. Still, we bet U2 will release more tickets as the dates get closer.

If you're planning on seeing U2 in Barcelona, the Nou Camp stadium can be reached from the heart of Barcelona (about three miles away) via the Metro or Bus. And while Barcelona has plenty of cool hotels, we personally have to recommend the Hotel Omm situated along the city's swank Paseo de Gracia. Currently rooms are going for 240 Euros from June 29-July 1.

Related Stories:
· U2 360 Tour [Official Site]
· U2's Secret Gig at Fordham University [Jaunted]

Everyone Goes To The Prado

March 13, 2009 at 11:57 AM | 0 Comments

Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal check out Madrid's Museo Nacional del Prado, a major tourist draw that locals actually visit sometimes. Reese and Jake, in town for her promotional tour for "Monsters versus Aliens," weren't even the highest profile visitors this week: German president Horst Kohler got his own private tour from Crown Prince Felipe yesterday.

Can't make it to Madrid to check out the best of national masters like Goya? You can now visit the museum on Google Earth, and even zoom in on selected works up to fantastic detail. Still, we have to insist that there's nothing like the real thing.

Related Stories:
· German President visits Madrid [Earthtimes.org]
· Fall Culture Travel: We <3 Goya [Jaunted]
· Prado Museum to be featured on Google Earth [Examiner]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: JustJared]

Barcelona Really Wants You to Get Out of The Airport

March 11, 2009 at 4:55 PM | 0 Comments

When we first landed in Barcelona back in October we were bewildered by all the signs leading us out of the Barcelona International Airport. These signs appear in the air and on the ground in three different languages: Catalonian, Spanish and English.

We encountered the same sort of "guidance" on the streets in Barcelona as the signs on the pavement directed us to the underground metro detour. It was actually quite helpful, even if staring down at the cement for your next "clue" was sort of annoying. Can you imagine if New York City actually did something like that? Of course, they wouldn't. That would be borderline helpful.

More Barcelona Exit pics after the jump.

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Share The View (and Your Memory Card) with Photochaining

March 10, 2009 at 1:35 PM | 0 Comments

Losing a memory card at the end of the trip can be tragic. But what if you plan to leave it behind on purpose? The Photochaining project encourages photographers to willingly leave behind cheap cards for others to find and add to. It's like Where's George, but for pictures!

Currently there are 16 memory cards out there, some with people names (Ben, Lola) and others with themes (Gimme, Love, Landscape). Most of them have only been found once in places from Madrid (where a card with the above photo was from) to San Francisco. As much as we like to hang onto our cards, this could work as long as people remember to let their findings go. Yours could be next!

Related Stories:
· Leaving Camera Memory Cards in Public Places! [Photochaining.com]
· O'Hare Airport Stars in Chicago Photography Exhibition [Jaunted]
· TravelMuse Wants Your Vacation Snaps [Jaunted]

[Photo: "Anna" memory card]

Get To Know Madrid-Barajas A Little Better

March 6, 2009 at 10:26 AM | 1 Comment

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero accidentally became an international YouTube star this week when he cursed out a fellow world leader at a press conference. Surely he didn't say that Russia's Dmitri Medvedev and him needed to make their countries very intimate together, right?

Zapatero will be in a tight spot until the country can get over his gaffe, but travelers through Madrid-Barajas International Airport have no need to worry about getting caught out: The terminal wireless furnished by Kubi is so organized, the company even lists all the hot spots so you can find out before you go what restaurant or lounge to park yourself in.

Kubi is the leading provider of wireless Internet in Spain, and if this fanatical organization characterizes all their ventures, we will soon be getting very intimate with their services. (Uh, not like that.)

We promise not to put it on YouTube if you send us a tip on some international WiFi.

Related Stories:
· Medvedev Zapatero news conference [YouTube]
· Find a Hotspot - Madrid-Barajas [KubiWireless.com]
· Airport WiFi Map [Jaunted]