It's no secret that Ryanair has translated their "Customers Suck" philosophy into one quarter of breakout profits after another.
It's also no secret that we kind of loathe them and everything they stand for (excepting low airfare), which makes this particular story, about how the low cost carrier is poised to pass British Airways as the largest airline in the UK, as predictable as it is aggravating. Try to contain your shock when we tell you that they're being obnoxiously smug about the whole thing:]]>
We like winning stuff, so we pricked up our ears when we heard that UK-based travel booking site superbreak is running the Build Your Dream Break contest. You could win the chance to create your own short vacation—up to the value of £1,000 ($1,600), anyway.
The contest closes on October 31 and involves describing what your dream break would be like in 20 words or less. It might sound simple, but we think that it'd take us a few more sentences than that to explain our dreams. Although if you check the terms and conditions it sounds like the winner will be drawn at random, so perhaps the quality of your 20 words isn't all that important. ]]>
Hitting the newest rides at an amusement park can sometimes be the whole point of a trip. But if you or one of your traveling companions is just too scared to get on, that can be a total bummer, not to mention time-waster.
In England, the Chessington World of Adventures theme park in Surrey, southwest of London, has got this problem figured right out. Starting from October 9, they'll be providing special hypnotherapy sessions for parents who are too frightened to hop on a ride with their children. The hypnotherapist in charge hopes these anxious theme-park-goers will learn to "sit back and enjoy it," rather than stay on the ground holding the bags.]]>
In case you didn't notice, the annual tennis extravaganza that is Wimbledon started on Monday, but don't fret as the best is still to come. This year's championships culminate on July 5, so there's still almost two full weeks of Wimbledon action to entertain us.
If you're lucky enough to be in London and are keen to head along to eat strawberries and cream (and watch a match or two), the good news is it is never too late. Wimbledon always keeps some tickets to sell on the morning of the match—at least 500 tickets for the three main courts await the firstcomers at the turnstiles each day, apart from the final days. ]]>
We're sorry, sharks. It turns out we've been misunderstanding you all this time. You don't want to attack us – you just want a big hug.
At least that's the theory the keepers at British aquarium Sea Life are working on at the moment. They believe that sharks can be trained to feed one by one when the keeper tells them, and even to roll over and have their belly tickled. With a Pavlov's-dog-style repetitive training system, they say the smarter sharks will get the idea within three months.
There are quite a few advantages of such a system, not least that the keepers are less likely to be gobbled up by the sharks they're meant to be taking care of. Experts also say that it should improve "shark welfare" and make them happier in captivity.
And it could even make feeding time a whole lot cuter for us aquarium visitors. They plan to try banging a gong as a sign for the sharks to queue up for dinner time. We'd pay a bit extra to bang the gong ourselves.
Related Stories:
· Sea Life [Official Site]
· Sharks To Be Trained Like Dolphins at Sea Life [news.com.au]
· Shark Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Wang-Qian] ]]>
We're pretty familiar with flying through the air on Virgin, but less schooled in Virgin Trains, their network you can use to scoot around the United Kingdom in style.
Being underneath the wings of Richard Branson, you can expect these sleek trains to include some very sexy first class carriages; it's as sexy as a train can be, that is. The first class carriage pictured above is actually on a Virgin Pendolino train; a special high-speed train out of Italy that "leans" on corners, enabling it to go faster than regular trains, but on the same tracks. Presumably it doesn't lean so much that the china or napkins go sliding off your first class tray table, or that wouldn’t be so impressive at all.
Apparently there are 52 Pendolino trains being operated by Virgin across Britain, and at 125 miles an hour, they sound like a very comfortable and accessibly alternative to airplanes. That is until you check the prices—a London to Liverpool first class ticket on a Virgin Pendolino could set you back £185 ($280) just one way. But it looks so nice...
Related Stories:
· Virgin Trains [Official Site]
· Keeping the Railways on Track [Jaunted]
[Photo: Train Chartering] ]]>
May Day, it's May Day! Well at least tomorrow is, which means that you might get caught up in some curious activities if you're traveling through Britain, where May Day can mean anything from a rip-roaring spring celebration to a workers' festival. In the English town of Hastings, for example, they've got the Jack-in-the-Green fest with freaky green costumes and plenty of traditional Morris dancing—a traditional rhythmic step dance which occasionally features swords.
Zipping further north to Edinburgh, May Day gets a slightly more political bent with the Edinburgh Peoples Festival—Che Guevara's daughter Aleida was meant to be the guest of honor, but pulled out to be replaced by a Cuban parliamentary deputy. The main May Day event here, however, takes place on Saturday with a march leading to a rally outside the Scottish parliament.
Back in the States (sort of), Hawaii's May Day has been totally mixed into the more locally-flavored celebration of Lei Day. If you luck out and happen to be in Honolulu on Lei Day, you can enter the lei contest or boogie down to some traditional Hawaiian music.
With so many different approaches to celebrating May Day, we're starting to think that the name is the only thing they have in common, but we really don't mind so long as there's a celebration and lots of crazy bacchanal dancing involved.
Related Stories:
· Jack-in the Green Festival [Official Site]
· Edinburgh Peoples Festival [Official Site]
· Honolulu Lei Day Celebration [Official Site]
[Photo: Bushtick] ]]>