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Above a Giant Port City on a Tiny Airplane

May 24, 2012 at 6:26 PM | by | Comments (0)

Rotterdam in the Netherlands isn't usually a city over which you fly in a plane. If you arrive, you'll come into Rotterdam-The Hague International Airport, or via train into Rotterdam Centraal Station. But...BUT if you happen to fly out Hamburg, Germany and to a place like London, and the sky is clear and you've got a window seat, keep watch for the distinctive huge maritime city.

While it's very cool to see the layout of this legendary port from the above, we think it's even cooler that leaving from Hamburg (called "The Gateway to the World"), means having a chance at flying over Rotterdam at all, as it's called "The Gateway to Europe."

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any superhuge supertankers in port on the way we snapped this, but hats off to the pilot for announcing the view out the window!

[Photo: Jaunted]

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Wish You Were Here: Hamilton Island in Australia's Great Barrier Reef

May 18, 2012 at 1:16 AM | by | Comments (0)

There are very few things that can beat a tropical island. Today we came to you from a tropical island in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. More specifically, a group of islands called the Whitsundays. The exact island name is Hamilton Island, also known as the home of the Best Job in the World.

The group of islands were discovered by Captain Cook right after he "found" Australia. The infamous explorer's detour around the giant barrier reef led him smack dab into the middle of these palm-covered volcanic islands. The primitivity of the Whitsundays has long since disappeared, replaced by a whole crop of tasteful luxury resorts, but it's still very much paradise.

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Wish You Were Here: A Boat in Aberdeen Harbour

May 1, 2012 at 10:32 AM | by | Comments (0)

Just a moment. We don't mean we're on a boat in Aberdeen, Scotland. Nope—this boat and the quiet harbour and the 84-degree nighttime temperature are found in the Aberdeen Harbour of Hong Kong Island.

If you're familiar with Hong Kong at all, you'll know Aberdeen as the home of the floating "Jumbo" restaurant. If you're not familiar with Hong Kong, well...add it to the top of your to-do list.

So how did we end up on a boat in Aberdeen Harbour? Well, as the cost of living in the downtown parts of Hong Kong continues to shoot skyward, more enterprising folk are turning to the many harbours for residences, buying or renting vessels as homes. We've ditched hotel rooms to instead spend several nights on one such boat, and it's a pretty big boat—not the one pictured above.

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Have You Ever Forgotten an Entire Country Existed?

April 30, 2012 at 5:12 PM | by | Comments (0)

Embarrassing admission: we kinda, sorta forgot about Brunei. Like, we forgot it was still a country and instead thought it had gone the way of "Burma" (now Republic of Myanmar) or something. That is, we had forgotten about Brunei until it popped up on our seatback television, on the Airshow map of what we were flying over, going from Hong Kong to Denpasar-Bali.

There it was, in all its itty-bitty glory, in all its 400,000+ population surrounded by Indonesia and Malaysia and we were flying through its itty-bitty airspace.

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Wish You Were Here: Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

April 20, 2012 at 10:37 AM | by | Comments (0)

Selamat pagi! For those in the know, you know that's "good morning" in Bahasa Indonesian. Naturally this can mean only one thing. We're in Indonesia! To be specific, we're in Bali; even more specifically, the town of Ubud.

After a few flights and even more fun in a few airports, we arrived on the tropical island and it was all worth it. First, we began in the beach town of Seminyak, which was everything you dream of when Bali comes to mind. Infinity pools, luxury hotels, black sand beaches, cocktails, and sun have all played a major role in this trip. We even sampled kopi luwak, a rare coffee of origin in Indonesia basically made from mongoose poop. More on that later.

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Checking Out Casablanca from 35,000 Feet

March 14, 2012 at 5:20 PM | by | Comments (0)

Casablanca. Has ever a city sounded so exotic? More to the point, has ever a city had a better advertising campaign than the 1942 film?

Casablanca is so ingrained in our psyche that when we found ourselves powering across the Mediterranean on our BMI flight to Marrakech last week, and found that we hit Africa at Casablanca rather than Tangier, as we’d expected, we felt a massive stomach lurch.

And how pretty did it look? The white city in comparison to Marrakech’s red city. The seaside town on the startling Atlantic, like Essaouira but closer to your heart. You can practically see the art deco buildings and the waterfront mosque!

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How Morocco's Marrakech Airport Celebrated International Women's Day

March 9, 2012 at 4:49 PM | by | Comment (1)

Yesterday, we got on a plane from London-Heathrow to Marrakech. Reading the papers on the plane, we noted that it was International Women’s Day, and thought no more of it. That is, until we got off the plane and noticed a line of women at the entrance to the airport, dressed in pink and holding bunches of pink roses. OMG, we thought, either we’re on the plane with someone who merits a pink carpet arrival, or this is to do with IWD.

And so it was. Each and every woman disembarking the plane was handed a pink rose and told, “Happy International Women’s Day, Madame." Once everyone was off the plane, the pink ambassadors came out to baggage claim to prowl around the carousel in case they’d missed anyone. As an introduction to Morocco, they did their country proud.

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After a Weekend in Amish Pennsylvania, We Too Love Intercourse

February 24, 2012 at 2:10 PM | by | Comments (0)

Why yes, this rather dapper mug does say exactly what you think it says. And no, it’s not rude. Because it’s a souvenir from our trip to Amish country, Pennsylvania. And yes, we thoroughly enjoyed Intercourse.

Yes, not only is Intercourse, PA, a real town; the fact that it’s in the middle of the Amish-inhabited Lancaster County gives it that little extra kick. Apparently, the origin of the name is not clear, but locals told us it either comes from the “intercourse” where the two main roads cross in the center of town, or it’s from the old word for conversation: “intercourse”.

None of which innocent explanations, of course, stops the local “English” (as the Amish call the non-Amish) from raking in the profits. We’ll bring you plenty more Intercourse next week; for now, hopefully this is enough to whet your appetite.

Photo: Juliab for Jaunted

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Wish You Were Here: 39,000 Feet Above the Snowcapped Alps

Where: France
February 22, 2012 at 1:03 PM | by | Comments (0)

Ah, la belle France. We flew to Provence for this Presidents’ Day Weekend but without the sunflowers and lavender out, the landscape lacked a little je ne sais quoi.

What totally blew us away, on the other hand, was flying down across France, passing flat plains, rolling hills and then, finally, lapping the foothills of Les Alpes on the left as we approached the palm trees of Nice.

Here they are from 39,000 feet. Tres jolis, non? The view was enough to make us covet an immediate ski trip. And no, we don’t even ski.

[Photo: juliab]

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Sometimes, You Just Gotta Take the Bus

February 20, 2012 at 9:43 PM | by | Comments (0)

Black & white? Vignetting? A barren landscape? What decade is this exactly? Santiago, Chile and Mendoza, Argentina. The trip—through the Andes and down into the vineyards of wine country—really makes for some of the most juicy travel porn ever. Surprisingly, we opted to use our iPhone and the Hipstamatic app to capture the magic almost the entire time.There's just something about a long road that calls for photo filters.

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British Airways' Unexpected Adult Film Selection

February 15, 2012 at 1:03 PM | by | Comments (0)

As we found out on our flight to New York last week, British Airways takes its holding-onto-children’s-innocence policy very seriously. For a start, it’s the only airline we know of where the crew announces that it’s possible to block some of the channels, if parents don’t want their little darlings watching things like Crazy Stupid Love.

And in case you missed the announcement, there's still time to hold on to their innocent—BA is also the only airline we’ve recently flown that flashes a warning when you select adult films. On this flight, What’s Your Number scored it; on our last one, it was Friends With Benefits.

Interestingly, uber-violent Drive didn’t come with a warning. Because nudity will scar your kids for life, but Christina Hendricks’ brain splattering across the camera totally won’t. How reassuringly British.

Photos: Juliab for Jaunted

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Chihuahuas on a Plane!

February 14, 2012 at 2:47 PM | by | Comments (3)

As much as we loathe the forced lovey-doveyness of Valentine's Day, we love doggies. We especially love doggies who get to hop cross-country flights in search of a new and loving home, as chihuahuas have been doing on Virgin America for a couple years now.

Today marked the fourth ever Operation Chihuahua in partnership with Animal Care & Control San Francisco. It's all a case of supply and demand...and having a little heart. Shelters on the west coast are overpopulated with the tiny dogs, but homes on the east coast can't get enough of them. Thus, every so often the airline flies a bunch of the pups from shelters in San Fran to loving arms in NYC. They even get to wear little red hoodies.

"Awww" over more pictures of them in flight here.

[Photo: Virgin America on Facebook]

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