We thought we'd heard of most airlines here at Jaunted. Hell, we even thought that between all of us, we'd flown them. Alas we were stumped when we recently checked in at Italy's Bari Airport and came face to face with the check-in desk for Carpatair.
What was this exotic-sounding carrier? The cute woman wheeling her carry on looked retro, while the name gave us flashes of Ali Baba and flying carpets, rolled in with a bit of Carpathian mountains. Could it be Romanian?]]>
We've emphasized before that, especially if your travel plans are flexible, you should strongly consider going to Greece. The economic turmoil has caused tourism to plummet, and prices have declined accordingly. But Greece's problems are the Eurozone's problems, which means that there are also macroeconomic issues driving the Euro down relative to the dollar.
Not to be too callous on the point, but Europe's woes are creating some fairly interesting options for American tourists. Portuguese hoteliers have been sending up red flags about the state of their tourism industry, and even government officials have begun to pay attention. The exact same logic holds for Italy: dependent on tourism, and in a broad economic slump that makes it highly vulnerable to fluctuations in the Euro. And by "vulnerable" we mean "welcoming," and by "fluctuations in the Euro" we mean "tourists." ]]>
This must be the best day ever for all you Herta Müller fans! In case you're not caught up on modern literature, Müller is the 2009 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, announced this morning in Stockholm.
Müller lives and works in Germany now, but grew up in Communist Romania under dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, and many of her books describe the plight of young people in a controlling regime. She revealed in an essay penned earlier this summer for the online magazine Sign and Sight that she is afraid to travel in Romania even now because she believes members of the government are still following her. ]]>
How about heading to Romania? It's like Italy, but cheaper! And further east! And they spell "pasta" like "paste!" With all these charms, how can you not give up some Milan action for Transylvania? Now thanks to the Wizz Air, you won't have to decide between the two since you can have both.
The European low-cost carrier, which already offers some tempting routes between Italy and Romania, is adding even more to continue the stream of tourism. Beginning on September 21, you'll be able to hop between Catania, a major Sicilian city, and Bucharest. Then, on October 28, Bucharest will also welcome flights from Bologna-Forli.
Although the flights will only be twice a week, it's a huge improvement over the state of Italy-Romania flights only a few years ago, when we were dying to get from Rome to Cluj-Napoca without, well, dying on government-owned Romanian airline TAROM. That route is also available now on Wizz Air, and even from Rome's main Fiumicino airport and not the dinky, Ryanair-happy Ciampino airport. Anyways, we digress. Get thee to Romania cheaply!
Related Stories:
· Wizz Air Opens New Routes To Italy [Easier.com]
· Wizz Air Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Ati977]]]>
Up there, where the air is blue, that's where Romanian low-cost carrier Blue Air flies. Despite flying since 2006, they've only just popped up on our radar because of a rumor they're starting London Stansted to Brussels flights--a slightly odd route for a Romanian-based airline.
But it's cheap: For the launch of the London route, they're offering some €1 tickets (plus taxes, of course). Other routes are also going cheap--if not for a euro.
Blue Air have got just eight aircraft at the moment with at least two more on order, and passenger numbers are up over 20 percent on the same time last year. But we don't have any personal experience yet, so all we can hope is that flying on Blue Air doesn't leave you feelin' blue.
Related Stories:
· Blue Air [Official Site]
· Blue Air Reports 49 Million Euros in Turnover [Financialrul.ro]
· Low Cost Carriers coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Andrei Dimofte]]]>
It's definitely bear season in the northern hemisphere. Over at HotelChatter they've been spotting bears taking dips in hotel swimming pools in Orlando and Colorado. But in Romania, bears are going beyond cooling off in the pool.
In Sinaia, a whole family of bears recently ambled into a restaurant and, well, sat down at the tables. When they didn't get any service--everyone fled the restaurant--the brown bear and two cubs found the kitchen and ate their fill.
Police and rangers were called out, but the bears had gone before they arrived. They didn't even leave a tip.
Related Stories:
· Bears Sit at Restaurant Table [Ananova]
· Hotel Bears Might Be the Next Hot Trend [HC]
· Romania Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: hasan_e_beton]]]>
Funny, we were just considering buying tickets to an upcoming performance of Swan Lake--it's an attempt to be cultured--but then we read about a Romanian version that's being investigated by the Consumer Protection Office.
In case, like us, you didn't know, there should be 24 swans on stage in the famous Tchaikovsky show. But recently at the Romanian National Opera House in Bucharest there were just 16, and one member of the audience made an official complaint.
As far as our rusty Romanian can translate, the Swan Lake show is still running, under the less romantic sounding Romanian translation of Lacul Lebedelor. If you go, you'll have to be prepared to make do with fewer swans than Tchaikovsky prescribed.
Related Stories:
· Swan Lake's Swan Shortage [Ananova]
· Romanian National Opera House [Official Site]
· Romania Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: rayparnova]]]>