It's definitely trendy these days for airlines to do a bit of merging. The latest one's taking place over the Spanish skies, and we highly approve because it's bringing together two low cost carriers that we actually like.
Spanish LCCs Clickair and Vueling Airlines have agreed to shack up together--with Vueling taking the top bunk. (Sadly, that means Clickair's cool name will disappear.) The two airlines have been negotiating details of the merger for months but just this week agreed that it's the best way to deal with rising costs.
The deal's not a sure thing quite yet: The Spanish authorities have to decide whether this merger goes against competition guidelines. We say go for it, in the hope that we'll get the perfect LCC with on-time flights and luxury leg room.
This Sunday is the annual start of Pamplona's Running of the Bulls, and just like in past years, we are totally not going to be there.
If you're crazier than us, then you need to know that the festival lasts for nine days (it's always July 6-14), and if you're happy to risk being gored by a very annoyed bull, you have to assemble by 7:30 am, ready for an eight o'clock start.
Also important to know: The bulls can get through the streets faster now thanks to some anti-slip surfacing one of the trickiest parts. Faster, we said. We're not sure that's a good thing. The last time a tourist was directly killed by a bull was in 1995, so perhaps it's all not as dangerous as we thought. But how about you guys report back: We'll be sitting this one out at home.
Spain's oldest town, Zaragoza, has been on the lookout for a tourism boost. And they're hoping to get it with the 2008 Expo which starts on Saturday and runs until September 14.
While the "water and sustainable development" theme doesn't sound too sexy to us, the 60 acres of exhibitions from 100 countries are meant to be focused on entertainment and education--only 20 percent of the space is allowed to be about selling stuff--and we're open to a bit of edu-tainment.
If you're one of the estimated 7 million visitors to Expo 2008, you'll get to see stuff like the multimedia iceberg show every night, the "air bound theater" of Hombre Vertiente and the midday Awakening of the Serpent parade. It's kinda like Disneyland with an environmental conscience.
Spain is not the first country that comes to mind when we think of fast and efficient train service. (It's not even the second.) But apparently they've been hard at work developing a comprehensive bullet train network which is going to totally alter the way people are traveling around Spain.
By 2010, the trains zipping around the country will form the most extensive train network in the world, and airlines usually busy with domestic flights around Spain--Iberia, Spanair and Vueling especially--are getting worried.
The completed Spanish bullet train system will be five times bigger than Japan's, and already you can travel between Madrid and Barcelona in two and a half hours. LCC Vueling simply canceled this entire route for the summer. Are we really seeing the demise of European budget airlines? Or perhaps the Spanish are just taking a siesta from flying.
Your cinematic summer vacation is really starting to take shape. The Festival de Cannes is in early May, the Venice International FF starts in late August and in June we insist you head to Almeria, Spain for the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema's Rolling Roadshow. This one-time-only "spaghetti western" event will feature Sergio Leone's legendary "Dollars Trilogy," screened in the movies' original shooting locations.
In case you've been living under a tumbleweed, we're talking about the big guns: "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." All three featured (then) up-and-coming actor Clint Eastwood and scores by Italian composer Ennio Morricone.
Let's just recap: It's summer, it's the south of Spain, it's Clint Eastwood, it's free and after each screening there's a party to celebrate the life and times of Sergio Leone. Epic.
Before you skedaddle, saddle up with Tuca Tours for an extended trip through some of Leone's most famous filming locations in Spain. If you and your buddies all pile into one car, it's a modest $350 for a nine-hour tour.
Fresh off his visit to Paris, the ruler of Libya moved his Bedouin tent and band of lackeys to Spain, where he signed big-Euro business deals for his newly open nation. He met with both Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and King Juan Carlos on his first official visit to the country that included stops in Madrid and Seville.
Muammar al-Gaddafi set up his tent in the gardens of El Pardo, the palace outside Madrid that Francisco Franco occupied after the Spanish Civil War. (Must be classic dictator chic!) The Libyan leader also visited Andalusia, where he probably felt at home: The region takes its name from Arabic and everything from the architecture to the food is still heavily influenced by centuries of Moorish control.
Our Eat 'n Sleep feature profiles a restaurant in a random city and a hotel nearby. It's kinda like that old show "Dinner and a Movie" but you know, with restaurants and hotels. And better jokes.
Tourists go to Granada, Spain, to see the Alhambra (one of the new seven Wonders of the World) and hurry off to the next destination. Real travelers linger a while in this corner of Andalusia, where they can see the Mediterranean from the peaks of the Alpujarra Mountains.
You may not find racks and racks of "authentic" gypsy shawls and toys in Cáñar, but the stunning views and warm hospitality of this town southeast of Granada should more than make up for it. Plan to tarry at least a night at El Cielo de Cáñar, a five-room hotel on rambling grounds complete with pool, gardens, fruit trees and vineyards.
The on-site restaurant takes full advantage of the bounty, using the locally-grown produce in the nightly set menu, shared in the hotel dining room. Being such a small place also makes this a thrifty alternative for families or hostel-averse groups. Just think of it as a full-service villa rental: A full week will only set you back a paltry €530 ($750) per room.
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by amandak
