travelwriter

Peruvian-owned airline, TACA , had one of its Airbus A-320 aircraft overrun the runway causing the plane to skid onto a nearby road upon landing at Tegucigalpa’s airport in Honduras mid-morning Friday.

Emergency crews were immediately dispatched to the aircraft that came to a stop down a 70 foot embankment landing on a nearby road and approximately 6 vehicles.  Officials state that the pilot and one person on the ground were killed during the accident.

Many of the 140 passengers onboard were seen escaping the aircraft as they ran for safety and many suffered from smoke inhalation; most injuries were reported as being minor.

Investigators state that the plane, flying under cloudy conditions, touched down too far down the runway which caused the aircraft to over shoot its landing.  It is also noted that the Tegucigalpa airport is one of the most dangerous airports to land/take off in Central America because of its location which is surrounded on all sides by high altitude mountain ranges.

Our thoughts are with everyone involved.

1) Visit the International Marketplace.

What: An open-air shopping market underneath banyan trees with over 130 vendors offering arts & crafts, souvenirs, and an international food court. 
Where: 2330 Kalakaua Ave in Waikiki.
When: open 7 days a week from 10:00 am until 10:30 pm

2) Free Ukulele, Lei Making, Hula or Hawaiian Quilt Making Lesson at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center.

What: Four tiers of shopping with over 100 stores and restaurants.
Where: located at 2201 Kalakaua Ave in Waikiki.
When: daily schedules with most lessons taking place in the late afternoons.

3) Free Evening Entertainment at the Royal Hawiian Shopping Center.

What: entertainment with hula, music and more.
Where: 2201 Kalakaua Ave in Waikiki.
When: Daily except Sunday.

4) Drive up the Old Pali Highway Oahu Scenic Drive.

What: This short road provides a sneak peak of some of the islands most beautiful natural surroundings.
Where: From Waikiki, take the westbound H1, turn off at the Pali Highway Exit. Turn right onto the Old Pali Road, then turn right again onto Nuuanau Road.

Okay, so you’re travelling and you gotta go.  So you whip out your Blackberry or your cell phone, access your mobile browser and voila, you’re on your way to relief.

What a concept.  And I love the name of this website: mizpee.com.  They have both a USA and European site.   You can “add” a toilet or “review” a toilet on their site.

Unfortunately MizPee only provides information to 16 United States and 1 Canadian Province at this point, all user submitted from what I can tell.  So if you’re not in one of these cities, you might just have to go out back.  But not the steak house. 

According to MizPee, Starbucks on Union Square in Manhattan rates poorly enough to appear on their “Wall of Shame” – you really want to avoid using this one.

As a project of the National Continence Management Strategy, if you’re visiting Australia, check out their National Public Toilet Map.  Boy those Aussies really do think of everything, don’t they?  How ironic that their listings include over 14,000 toilets, in cities, towns, rural areas – with complete details as to the facilities offered, hours of opening, etc. -  so in Australia, you’d never have to go outback, get it? Ha-ha.  Okay, not so funny.

So because there is a limited list of cities at this point (except for Australia) I suggest you do what your mother told you – go before you leave.  And definitely before you go to Manhattan as there are two other eau de toilettes rounding out the Top 3.

Enjoy!!

1) Check out the Jean Lafitte National Park Visitor Center

What: National Park
Where: 419 Decatur Street
When: Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The History of New Orleans walking tour is given at 9:30 a.m.; tickets are free to the first 25 persons.

2) Ride the Algiers Ferry to the island of Algiers which is best known for Mardi Gras World.

What: Free ferry ride for pedestrians
Where: Canal Street
When: every half hour starting at 6 AM.
Try a round-trip ride a dusk to see the New Orleans skyline at night.

3) Visit the market French Market.

What: shopping has taken place here since 1797 – for souvenirs, fresh fruits/vegetables & seafood, local products such as spices, hot sauce and praline candy
Where:1008 N. Peters St.
When:Open 7 days per week

4) Visit Jackson Square

What: square block surrounding the St. Louis Cathedral with open-air artists and other vendors/entertainers.
Where:located at Decatur St.
When: open 7 days per week

5) Visit the St. Louis Cathedral.

What: house of worship
Where: 615 Per Antione Alley
When: Tours are offered daily on Wednesday to Saturday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Take care,

Connie

1.)Stanley Park:  Only minutes from downtown Vancouver,  Stanley Park is Canada’s largest park at 1,000 acres - even bigger than New York’s Central Park.  Over 8 million visitors each year come to experience the expansive seawall, the trees, the lakes, and the wildlife.   Best time of day to visit:  in the early morning to avoid the crowds.

2.)Granville Island: Located at False Creek under the Granville Street Bridge, Granville Island gives visitors a glimpse of Vancouver life – fresh produce & seafood at the Market, galleries,  restaurants and shops galore.   Best time of day to visit: in the early afternoon – this gives to time to grab a late lunch and spend the afternoon exploring the market & shops.

3.)Robson Street:  Better known as the Rodeo Drive of Vancouver, this is the trendiest place to shop in Vancouver.  From high end retailers to hip cafes, this street has got it all.  Robson Street is where locals and tourists alike come to see and be seen.   Best time to visit: in the early evening – grab dinner and then stroll along with the crowd.

I’ve cruise many times and have spent countless hours watching the captain eloquently dock the enormous cruise ship alongside the pier.

Wrong, well at least in this case.  Approximately 2,000 passengers and 1,000 crew members onboard Norwegian Cruise Lines, Norwegian Spirit, hit the curb when the captain crashed into Pier 90 in Manhattan.  After returning from an 8 day Caribbean cruise, apparently the captain was trying to park at Pier 88 but did one of those wide swooping turns that crossed over the yellow line and thus hitting the top of opposite curb.  Nice.

Okay, okay.  Of course it wouldn’t be easy to begin with but geesh, this is the guys job, right?  Sources say that usually cruise ships of this size are actually pulled into place by tug boats but in this case, for whatever reason, this captain was on his own.  Okay, so maybe it wasn’t entirely his fault but I’m sure he’s gonna get one heck of a parking ticket for this one, don’t you think?!

There was damage to bow of the Norwegian Spirit as well as to the upper levels of the parking structure located on Pier 90.  There were no reported injuries to either passengers or crew.  Just a memorable jolt welcoming them back to the real world - no more vacation for them.

Press Release:  May 25, 2008

Michigan-owned cargo airline, Kalitta Air, had one of it’s Boeing 747 aircraft overrun the runway which caused it to crash and split in half upon take-off mid-day at Brussels Airport at Zaventem, Belgium.

Well, it’s not like we hear this one every day and thankfully so.  Emergency crews were immediately dispatched but there were only slight injuries to 4 out of 5 crew members and absolutely no fires were reported.  Amazing.  The end of the runway is apparently close to a railway line and residential housing. 

Investigators are still trying to determine why the aircraft was not able to complete its take-off procedures and then also as to what would cause the aircraft just split into two pieces upon crashing.

An official spokesman for the Brussels Airport has said that “the plane is very seriously damaged” – ahh, yeah, do ya think?! 

I call them ‘fake’ tourists because obviously they weren’t visiting Stonehenge, the ancient circle site located in Wiltshire, England,  for the same reasons the rest of the tourists were – to imagine, to wonder, to be amazed at the 3,000 year old megaliths.

Oh, no.  Last week, these ‘fake’ tourists were there to vandalize and hack away with a hammer until they actually managed to chip off a piece of the central Heel Stone.  Security guards were in hot pursuit but the two men managed to run to their getaway car and sped off – all without getting caught nor with any leads for police to follow at this time.

Why would anyone even consider such a thing?  Destroying a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is appalling. 

This is my only hope for some sort of revenge:  it makes me think of ‘fake’ tourists who visit the Big Island of Hawaii and take home just a tiny little piece of lava rock as a souvenir.  I can only hope that Stonehenge will place a curse upon these people that same way that the fire goddess, Pele, does upon those who steal from her home.  They will be cursed forever unless the stolen rock is returned by those committing the crime.  And I don’t think crazy glue works very well on rocks.

Take care,

Connie

 
I owed my own travel agency for 8 years and it was a struggle everyday just to survive.  We used to make upwards of 11% commission for selling airline tickets, then the commissions were lowered and eventually reduced to zero.   As an agency, we were forced to charge service fees to our clients just to stay afloat.  Let me repeat that – just to stay afloat – not to make money as a business.

American Airlines (AA) announced on May 20, 2008 that they will now be charging passengers, who travel after June 15, 2008, $15 each way for the first checked bag and $25 each way for the second checked bag.

Now this is a tough one because I know where AA is coming from – they are just trying to stay afloat.  With the sky high (pardon the pun) gas prices, what are they supposed to do?  If it takes $56 dollars to fill up my economy car (Nissan Versa, so cute!), what the heck does it cost to fill up a Boeing 747?!

One could argue that AA may have been better off to hide this new cost in the price of the ticket saving themselves the grief they’re going to get from paying passengers.  I would not want to be an AA ticket agent at this time.  However, AA chose to go the route they did to be more honest and upfront with their customers, trying to avoid ‘hiding’ any fees or costs.

I’m okay with the fee, I guess, but you can bet I’ll only be travelling with one bag checked from now on.  My real problem with all of this is the list of ‘exceptions’ that AA is allowing, such as purchasers of full fare economy, business class or first class tickets or elite frequent flyers.  Heck, these are the people that can afford to travel most yet it is the average working class person that has to pay.

And a few last concerns – how long will it be before other airlines are to follow with these new fees?  And when will they start charging for carry-ons?!  Something to think about.

Take care,

Connie

Official Press Release:  New Japan Tourism Ambassador Named

Who could this possibly be?  Someone with years of experience in the tourism industry?  Perhaps government experience?  Or a business degree?

It’s actually someone who has been in the lime light since she was born.  At 33 years old, her face is recognizable world-wide and she may not have a degree in marketing but I’m sure she could get an honorary one – she has over 50,000 products in over 60 countries.   Amazing.  Living in London, England, she’s on the edge of the fashion world and is truly loved by millions.

Who else could this be but our beloved Hello Kitty!  What a great idea as this feline is already well known and promoting tourism to Japan will only add to her repertoire.  Initially she will purr her way into Hong Kong and China and will later meow the world when she goes on tour with her multi-million dollar musical show, “Hello Kitty’s Dream Light Fantasy.” 

What can I say? Hello Kitty is the cat’s meow.