Jaunted

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The Florentine Vending Machine That Will Cover You Up For Church

It may not be much of an issue in winter, but in summer, in Italy, if you’re doing cultural stuff, you need to watch how you dress.

You probably already know that most Italian churches demand that shoulders and knees should be covered when you enter, and you also probably know that most of the major churches will vehemently enforce that.

But what we didn’t know until this week was that there’s an alternative to buying an overpriced shawl from an entrepreneur standing near the door—or, at least, there is in Florence.

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Good News: It's Not the End of the World

It's Veterans Day today, and it's also 11.11.11 as the date goes. Naturally tourist sites have been preparing for both, but with the major difference that Veterans Day takes place in the US and focuses on looking at history and remembering while 11.11.11 happens around the world, with a focus on the future.

For some however, it's actually a lack thereof (the future) with the belief that the world will end today. Well it hasn't yet, and Egypt's Great Pyramid can attest to this. Fearing negative attention and spiritual ceremonies, the Great Pyramid was closed to tourists. The AP notes that only the pyramid was on lock-down:

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Light My Fire: Diwali on the Square Hits London this Sunday

Ooh, pretty! Trafalgar Square gets atmospheric with this Sunday's day-long Diwali celebration.

Though Paris owns the nickname "City of Light," London will give the city a run for its money this Sunday when the annual Diwali on the Square festival hits the city. Diwali, otherwise known as the "Festival of Lights," is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and others wanting to partake in the illuminated holiday activities.

This Sunday's day-long affair provides Londoners and those who happen to be in town the opportunity to explore the richness of Indian culture without having to trek to the subcontinent.

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Some Travel Logistics Questions We Have for The Rapture

If The Rapture does indeed occur tomorrow, as all the pamphleteers in the Times Square subway station say it will, then don't worry; we aren't going anywhere. The righteous will be swooped up into heaven or wherever, and we've simply cursed too often during flight delays and wished ill of annoying seat mates far too much to be included in that bunch.

Regardless, we do have some questions about the logistical side of having millions of people fly up into the air all at once tomorrow. God wasn't available for questioning as he's probably tidying up upstairs in preparation, so we'll just put our wonderings out there:

· So 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 states "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God." We want to know if Jesus will show up on Air Traffic Control screens as a solid blip, or is he just basically like air?

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Forget the Carnivale Capitals and Pick a Polish Paczki Today

Happy Fat Tuesday...or Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday, or regular old Tuesday depending on where you are and what you're into. Tucking into big meals and giving into gluttony is the order of the day, and in the spirit we've swung by a bakery to pick up a box of Polish Paczkis (pronounced like "poonsh-skee") because this year we aren't heading to New Orleans or Rio or any of the other Carnivale capitals.

If you too can't make it to the Big Easy or even one of our six other, international Mardi Gras celebrations, then Paczkis are a reliable way to join in the fun. The only thing is that whether you're eating a Paczki or revelling in N'awlins, you're gonna get sticky.

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Israel is About to Get Google Mapped So Hard

Israel is finally set to allow Google to map out the country's roads using Google Maps Street View, which is something of a bold move since terrorists routinely brag about using Google Earth to target their missiles and rockets at Israelis. Since we're talking about the Middle East, the decision has naturally engendered a robust debate about costs and benefits. On the costs side: the terrorism and people dying thing. Supposedly on the benefits side: tourism.

We're not really going to belabor the security issue, partly because it's convoluted but mostly because it's way, way too depressing for a Monday morning. You can go here for a will-it or won't-it backgrounder. The tourism debate, on the other hand, seems a little bit more straightforward and a little closer to our wheelhouse.

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Foreign Grocery Friday: Eucalyptus Liqueur from an Italian Abbey

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

This is a rare one we have today; indeed we never knew of its existence until we saw it with our own eyes. For the over 21 group only (or any age, if you're in Italy), we're drinking Eucalyptus Liqueur from the Benedictine Trappist Abbey of Tre Fontane, in Rome. Forget the liqueur for a moment, as the area where it's made is interesting enough on its own. Tre Fontane is so named because it is believed that this is where Saint Paul was beheaded, his head bouncing three times and sprouting three fountains, where there are now three churches.

Because the monks are Trappist, it means they must make their living off the land, so this order specializes in creating chocolate and unique liqueurs, the most notable of which is the Eucalittino, made of the Eucalyptus trees that surround the abbey.

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Westminster Abbey May Cost $25 to Visit, But a Royal Wedding is Priceless

Not only is the Prince William and Kate Middleton engagement for real, but they've already booked their church date, officially claiming the first few months of 2011 for royal wedding fever. The wedding will happen on April 29, and it will be inside the hallowed halls of Westminster Abbey, where Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother were married, but not Prince Charles and Lady Diana, who went for St. Paul's Cathedral.

The da—a Friday—will be a national holiday in Britain, and the royal family have been so good as to make it a four-day weekend for Britons as the following Monday is also already a holiday. That means mini-trips! Or just a long weekend inside watching TV cover the wedding preparations and ceremony.

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Catholic Cardinal Calls Heathrow Airport 'Third World,' but He's Sorry

Last week, the Pope boarded his private Alitalia plane, a Boeing 777, for a quick trip to the UK. But before he could even get off the ground, one of his advisors had already begun controversy around the trip, by likening London's major Heathrow Airport to "a third-world country." The man who put his foot in his mouth is Cardinal Walter Kasper, the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Here's the thing: he didn't even accompany the Pope on the trip to London, but he stayed behind in Rome after making the remarks, using his gout as an excuse.

The remarks were made during an interview he gave to German magazine Focus, and the exact quote is this: "When you land at Heathrow you think at times you have landed in a Third World country." He apparently also hated on British Airways a bit.

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Christian Theme Park to Open in Spain, Complete with 'Live Resurrections'

Europeans are fond of complaining that American imports are ruining their culture, and usually we're like "shut up, we need our Chipotle." In this very specific case, though, they might have a point. Europe's first Christian theme park—modeled after the ones in the American South and South America—is now set to open in Mallorca, Spain. Inexplicably.

We of course usually recommend a different religious travel solution. If if you want to see what the Holy Land looks like, our reasoning goes, you should actually take a trip to the Holy Land and see it. From the United States that might be prohibitive with the cost, but a flight from Spain to Israel on one of Europe's billion LCC's is fairly affordable. When you factor in the Euro/Shekel exchange rate you're almost saving money. We understand there are pluses and minuses—in Israel you can only walk on the "Jesus trail" while in religious theme parks you can actually meet Jesus—but we kind of prefer our way. Even if there are no "live resurrections," as this theme park promises.

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It's Easier Than Ever to Get Banned from the Vatican

In addition to the recent news that tourists and their sweatiness and general humanity are ruining Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, comes the report from Italian news agency ANSA tourists have also flouted the dress code rules of Vatican City so much that the seat of the Catholic Church has had to crack down on it over this summer.

The enforcement began around July, when Swiss Guards commenced stopping individual tourists as they attempted to enter St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro). Says ANSA of what then transpired:

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Could the Sistine Chapel Close to Tourists?

Looks like having 4 million tourists clogging the halls of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel each year is taking its toll. During a regular dusting of the frescoes this summer, crews found alarming signs of wear. Apparently the smog, dust and humidity that all those sweaty people generate is harming Michelangelo's famous work.

Antonio Paolucci, the director of Rome's Vatican Museums, told Voice of America that the continuous hordes of tourists are putting a lot of pressure on the Sistine Chapel and that greater efforts must be made to ensure that maintenance inspections are carried out.

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