Tag: Edinburgh Field Trip

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This is How British Fish and Chips Ought to Look

Where: 4 High Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, EH1 1TB
February 26, 2010 at 3:39 PM | by | Comments (0)

For Americans traveling to London, or really anywhere in the United Kingdom, there is one stereotypical English meal that must be sought out: fish and chips. It's a comfort food, so it doesn't matter if you find yourself in the UK all the time or if you've been saving up for years for a London vacation, because fish & chips is just one of those things.

We found this perfect juicy specimen of fish & chips (the chips are behind the fish, effectively propping it up) at the inexpensive and cozy pub restaurant called The World's End in Edinburgh, Scotland recently. Sure it's right on the Royal Mile and surrounded by shops that try to sell tartan to tourists, but you can't deny that it's a damned good place to settle down for a hearty meal, and perhaps sample haggis with one of their appetizers (so you're not stuck with a whole dinner of it). Forgive us for not devouring some fish & chips wrapped up in newspaper, but that gets greasy messy.

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How to Climb 'Arthur's Seat,' Edinburgh's Awesome Dormant Volcano

February 12, 2010 at 9:40 AM | by | Comments (3)

What activities do you typically think of when planning a trip to Scotland? Well, there's trying haggis, maybe flirting with the idea of buying a kilt, and perhaps enjoying some nice highland scenery. But when we went to Edinburgh recently, we looked out the window of the hotel only to see a looming, misty dormant volcano in the distance; this is "Arthur's Seat" and it was calling our name.

A quick visit to the wiki page on Arthur's Seat verified that it is easily climbable, so we set out for what would become a most exhilarating—and at times, most dangerous—hike. We cannot stress enough the importance of appropriate footwear!

After the jump, how to climb and what to see on Arthur's Seat

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Free WiFi On Trains Already Exists! In Britain.

February 11, 2010 at 9:40 AM | by | Comments (2)

We're only one month away from the start of free WiFi on Amtrak Acela trains in the US, but like usual, the European train system has it beat.

Last month, we sought to take a train down to London from Edinburgh, and desperately wanted a train that offered a WiFi signal, so naturally we turned to book with Virgin Trains, which touts free WiFi in first class and paid access in coach. However, it turns out that their website will book any available train running the route and not just Virgin ones, so we were dismayed to find ourselves stuck with a ticket on an East Coast train, even though a Brit friend assured us that it would be nicer than if we had gone Virgin.

So was it nicer? Find out after the jump!

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Going Through Guidebook Withdrawal: How to Travel Lighter

January 28, 2010 at 11:27 AM | by | Comments (0)

Over the last year, we've slowly chipped away at the size of our luggage on trips by peeling away guidebooks and maps. And now that we're down to the absolute minimum, we thought we'd share the steps which led us to traveling sans clunky extras.

First, we went to Hong Kong and Macau and hauled a TimeOut guidebook, the small Wallpaper guidebook, the Luxe fold-out guide (to find the hip places), a Moleskine City Notebook to HK, and a fold-out map. On top of that, we were still packing a laptop, phone, camera and Flip video cam with all of their chargers and accessories. We didn't use half of them!

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What Is The Best Way to Exchange Your Money?

January 27, 2010 at 9:37 AM | by | Comments (2)

Help! This is for all the travelers out there who confront a currency exchange booth at the airport or on the street and shake their heads at the unfavorable rates, only to give in anyways because they just need more cash.

We're wondering what is the best way to exchange your money? We've been through it all—ordering foreign currency from American Express, shuffling up to the Travelex booth in the airport arrivals hall, taking and taking more from foreign ATMs, and even making the walk of shame to a booth in tourist trap. But our indecision really worked against us last week in London, when we discovered that by choosing to exchange cash at a booth rather than just withdraw from an ATM, we had lost something like $30 that wasn't the fault of the high value of Sterling.

Currency exchange is one of those unavoidable, frustrating tasks that must happen during travel, and it can quickly reach eye-gouging annoying levels when you're pressed for time or facing shady dealers.

So please, help out us and everyone who reads this, and share you best tips for currency exchange in the comments. Care to take this remaining 15 pence off our hands for your time? No, we didn't think so either.

Related Stories:
· London Field Trip [Jaunted]
· Money travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: ganessas]

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We Just Got Off a Ryanair Flight, and This is What We Thought Of It

Where: Belgium
January 25, 2010 at 6:08 PM | by | Comment (1)

On Friday, we told you that you'd never believe what we did the day before, and to tell you the truth, we still can't believe it ourselves. Who flies from Brussels-Charleroi in Belgium up to Edinburgh, Scotland for less than 20 Euro for two people? It would be impossible if we weren't talking about notoriously low-cost European carrier Ryanair here.

They're the airline we love to hate, what with their hidden fees and an insane CEO, but although it seems like a mess to the outsider, all's quiet on the western front.

See what we mean, after the jump.

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You Won't Believe What We Did Yesterday

January 22, 2010 at 9:35 AM | by | Comments (4)


Boarding our plane at Brussels-Charleroi Airport

Tangoing with the enemy?! Yes, it's true—yesterday, after a few years away (since 2006!) from them in which time much has changed—we flew on Ryanair.

Our flight was only two hours long, but that's the mean flight time for this European low cost airline, which is so low cost that they're notorious for two things: selling flights for 1 Euro and brainstorming all sorts of hidden fees. Since we scored this one-way flight for two people for exactly 14 Euro total and then bragged all about it, we were fully expecting to get what we paid for—the worst flight of our life. Instead, we experienced one of the most eye-opening flights of our life, in both good and bad ways.

We're kind of still fully processing our thoughts on the flight, so be prepared for next week when we unleash fully on what went down and what makes us both fearful of and optimistic for the future of air travel. But we will leave you with this: we actually did the flight with no extra fees levied!

Related Stories:
· It Can Be Done! We Booked a Ryanair Flight for Under $25 [Jaunted]
· Ryanair news [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]

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