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Thanksgiving Travel Down, Prices Going Up Anyway
Fewer than one in five Americans are planning to cut back on their Thanksgiving spending, but almost one-third are curbing their overall holiday travel this season. That's not going to devastate the airline world, since a lot of that travel would have happened by car anyway. And to be honest we kind of like the excuse: "sorry uncle and aunt so and so—we'd love to come over and have our annual fight about whether Obama's birth certificate is real, but we just can't afford the gas in this recession."
But the scaling back is still going to be enough to take a bite out of the industry:
Tags: Celeb Travel / Rio de Janeiro Travel / Christmas Travel / Madonna / → All Tags
Madonna Touches Down In Rio For The Poor And For Jesus
Madonna landed in Rio de Janeiro yesterday for a week long trip that may include meeting her boyfriend's mother and speaking with government officials about poverty.
Several reports are saying that the superstar is nervous about meeting Jesus Luz' family for the first time and that it may be a sign things are heating up between them. But Madge told Page Six the rumors aren't true and she is "there strictly for fundraising and humanitarian purposes.” We find it suspect that she would visit her boyfriend's hometown with him and not stop by to say hi to his moms. Maybe it's the age difference that is keeping her away, and we're not talking about the age difference between her and Jesus. Madonna also happens to be 14 years older than his mother!
Tags: Adventure Travel / Package Tours / Christmas Travel / Travel Gear / → All Tags
Kijubi.com Offers Holiday Gifts for Thrill-Seeking Travelers
As the holiday countdown begins, it's time to start shopping, like it or not. If you have an adventure traveler in your life, or heck, just want to reward yourself with a present, we suggest checking out the gift certificates for Kijubi.com. The website offers tickets for activities as diverse as bike tours, skydiving lessons and off-road jeep tours.
The drawback is that as of now, the site only caters to travelers heading to California, Nevada and Florida. But hardcore thrill seekers will head to those states just to participate in recreational activities such as air combat. Yes, air combat as a recreational activity. You get to fly real military planes under the guidance of active-duty Marine Corps and Navy fighter pilots. Although the pilots do the flying, you'll get to call the shots for the plan of attack.
Tags: How To Get Tickets To / Christmas Travel / New York City / Holiday Travel / → All Tags
How To Get Tickets To See The Rockettes' Radio City Christmas Spectacular
Native New Yorker or one-time tourist, everyone should see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes once—preferably while you're either old enough or young enough to appreciate the spectacle. The velvet seats in NYC's Radio City Music Hall, the elaborate costume changes, the ridiculous souvenirs—well, those you can enjoy as well at home, but the point stands.
Performances of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular start Friday, November 13 (yes, really, Scrooge) with most days holding at least four performances. Picking a non-peak performance (every day till Nov. 26, then weekdays till Dec. 18) will save you money—$7 off the third mezzanine up to $60-$160 on premium seats—so if you can convince your guests to go on a weekday during the Christmas season, much better. For our money's worth, you can see just fine from the 3rd mezzanine, but some people like being front and center, and we admit, it is awesome to be close enough to hear the dance steps as they land.
Tags: Holiday Travel / Christmas / How To Get Tickets To / Christmas Travel / Washington DC Travel / → All Tags
How To Get Tickets To Witness The National Christmas Tree Lighting
A trip to the local discount store over the week confirmed things: Christmas has arrived. The Halloween candy was marked down to free, and scavengers had already stripped the shelves of the remaining discount pet costumes. We’re kind of ready for the holiday season, as we’ve accepted that it now officially begins on November 1. Now that we understand things, we're eager to get tickets for the National Christmas Tree Lighting.
This week is your only opportunity to enter for a chance to witness the lighting of the huge tree in Washington, DC. If you miss out this week, you’re going to need some good luck or have your Congressperson on speed dial. The ticket lottery opens up this Wednesday at midnight and runs through 11:59 pm on Friday evening. Almost 10,000 free tickets will be distributed, but remember to some bring good shoes, as 7,000 of the tickets will be standing room only.
Tags: Christmas Alternatives / Holiday Travel / Morocco Travel / Richard Branson / Christmas Travel / Virgin Limited Editions / → All Tags
Join Richard Branson Under The Moroccan Mistletoe This Christmas
We're not ashamed to be fans of all things Richard Branson, and with the Christmas season approaching scary fast, we're thinking Richard's ideas on how and where to spend Christmas sound pretty good. If you want to avoid the shopping mall headaches and escape the northern hemisphere cold, Virgin's Kasbah Tamadot Resort in Morocco has some very tempting Christmas deals.
There are five or seven-day packages over the Christmas and New Year period, and they'll certainly be a little bit different from your average gift-swapping, carol-singing festive season. Packages include festive Berber feasts, guided walks in the Atlas Mountains, market excursions and a ride on the resident mules. Booking soon would be a great idea, because these are special, limited-capacity vacations.
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Rockefeller Center Acting A Scrooge
In honor of the holiday spirit, NBC, it seems, has blocked off a great photo spot in Rockefeller Center, rendering your attempts at capturing a snapshot not featuring 87 other tourists utterly hopeless. If you really want a good photo, you'll be stuck buying one at the NBC Experience Store, reports NewYorkology.
But as Peter Greenberg, who happens to work in Rock Center, points out, the tree is up until January 9, when you'll be able to get all the photos you want after Christmas crowds have died down. It's hardly the same to go see the Norway spruce after the holidays, but if you have to have the perfect photo, 2009 is your chance.
If you'd rather skip the scrum entirely for something a bit more classy, HotelChatter has word on the fancy-pants Christmas decor over at The Plaza.
Related Stories:
· Rock Center Blocks off Primo Picture Spot [NewYorkology]
· Christmas in The Plaza's Lobby [HC]
· Rockefeller Center Tree Arrives In NYC [Jaunted]
[Photo: J Gutierrez]
Tags: Chocolate! / Food Travel / Italy Travel / Christmas Travel / → All Tags
This Big Ben Doesn't Tell The Time But We Don't Care
Drop everything and get to the central Italian village of Macerata Feltria. Now.
Still here? If you haven't learned to trust us yet, you will soon. We're urging you to head to Italy because they've just made a 17,600-pound chocolate sculpture of Big Ben as part of their local Christmas food festival.
So what, you might say, but we're not suggesting you need to get there in time to see choc-Big-Ben: at the end of the week, the townsfolk are going to slice up the giant sculpture and give out the chocolate to whoever's hanging around. Daytime temperatures in this part of Italy are close to freezing at the moment so the chocolate should still be in great condition for your own sticky fingers. What are you still reading for?
Related Stories:
· 35ft Chocolate Big Ben Towers Over Italian Food Festival [Daily Mail]
· Londoners Are Pigs (When Chocolate's Around) [Jaunted]
· Little People, Big Ben [Jaunted]
[Photo: Ananova]
Tags: Travel Snapshots / Flickr / Christmas Travel / → All Tags
Travel Snapshot: Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree
As long as you can't go see a Broadway show, you might as well celebrate Christmas creep by going to see this year's tree at Rockefeller Center. The Norway spruce from Connecticut settled into place on November 9.
We went to scope the scene on Saturday, while crews worked on the scaffolding around the 84-foot-tall tree. The lighting ceremony is scheduled for November 28.
Have your own travel snaps? Drop 'em in the Jaunted Flickr Pool, and we'll highlight the best.
Related Stories:
· SeaTac: Not Bringing Back The Trees [Jaunted]
· New York City coverage [Jaunted]
· Jaunted Photo Pool [Flickr]
Tags: Christmas Travel / Christmas / Shopping / → All Tags
Jolly St. Nicht
Christmas is fast approaching and one of the best parts of the season is drinking Gluehwein at a German Christmas market or snapping up handicraft bargains in Prague's huge markets. But if you head to Vienna's Christmas markets this year, it won't be a Santa Claus handicraft that ends up in your suitcase.
That's right--there've been mumblings for years and this year it's official: Santa's been banned in parts of Austria and Germany. If you want to be a stall holder at the biggest Christmas markets in Vienna, in front of the town hall, then you must agree not to sell or promote the image of Santa in any way. A pretty strict sounding town hall spokesman said:
Santa is an English language creation, people who want to see him should go to America where I am sure Coca Cola will be happy to oblige.Ouch. We know full-of-atmosphere Christmas markets in central European countries are something special, but will we still take our valuable tourist cash there after this? Next they'll be banning reindeer because they're from Scandinavia or snowmen because they're always male.
Related Stories:
· Anti-Santa Campaign [Ananova]
· St Nick a No-Ho-Ho [Washington Times]
Tags: Christmas / Christmas Travel / Food / Belfast / Markets / → All Tags
Will Meats of the World Return to Belfast?
Christmas is just around the corner, and that means the season for Christmas festivals and Christmas markets has begun. In Belfast, it's time to get ready for the Christmas Continental Market, which takes place on the grounds of City Hall from November 22-December 19.
The market has a cousin, the Spring Continental Market, at which we encountered the above vendor last May, flipping all sorts of weird burgers under the banner "Meats of the World." We were told they'd be back for Christmas...but things like that can change. The Continental Markets draw meat purveyors from all over Europe, and in addition to Meats of the World burgers, you're likely to find things like moosemeat from Sweden being sold this season. The ever-popular Dutch waffle stand is confirmed to reappear.
The Market is divided into "villages," such as German, Irish and European, which have their own related food stands, crafts, and gifts. It's open pretty late for such an event--until 8 pm, Monday through Thursday, and 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
Tags: Tourism Boards / Finland / Christmas Travel / Santa Claus / → All Tags
Next Up: Finland Gives Santa a Blog
Not only does the Finnish Tourist Board want you to spend Christmas in Finland, but they also won't stop until you submit yourself to Santa and place your beating heart in his hands. While we're all for the magic of believing in Santa--he's real, it is not like 5-year olds are cruising tourism web sites in search of the big man's official web site. Yet the Finns are taking Santa's existence very very seriously:
Why does the real Santa Claus live in Finland? You can meet him on any day of the year, without any charge, only in Finland. Santa Claus' own animal, the reindeer, lives in Finland.Good to know!
Santa Claus, Lady Santa and the elves have time to relax in summer. This is when a lucky wanderer can see them angling or picking berries on the fells of Lapland. Sometimes Santa Claus has time for his favourite hobby, gold panning. He and his companions also go to the sauna and dare sometimes to dive into ice-cold lakewater after the intense heat of the sauna.Santa digs the sauna? You don't say. We wonder if he ever visits New York. There's a fabulous gym in midtown we'd like to recommend to him.
The welfare of all animals is close to Santa's heart, not only that of his own reindeer. For instance, in the zoological park in Ranua, Christmas is always celebrated by the animals, too, and all the arctic animals of the zoo participate in the festivities from the lemmings to the lynxes. The bears, though, hibernate during the Yuletide season and cannot unfortunately take part in the Christmas party.Does that mean Santa takes to his lemmings like Hollywood starlets to their yorkies? Someone get US Weekly on line 2; we smell a photo op.
Lest that not be enough for you, the Board also wants you to know that Santa has an internet television channel and private reindeer-herding territories in Lapland. Come on now...all that, and he doesn't have a blog yet?
[Photo: bcostin]
Related Stories:
· Finland and Santa Claus [VisitFinland.com]
