SeaFrance ferries go belly up (from London Independent)
Orthodox Christmas Mass in Russia (from Russian news)
Russian artworks recovered (from Russian news)
Taste Florence, a new personalized tour of this wonderful city (from Deutsche Welle)
If you’re seeing Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen for the first time, night time is magical. And to see Tivoli after dark at its most sparkling, Christmas time can’t be beat. Fairy lights are on year-round, but the park outdoes itself during the winter holiday season with more Continue reading
Back to work!! Tube outages for the weekend of January 7-8, 2012
Click on the Facebook link on this page for videos from Deutsche Welle showing the new year being welcomed around the world.
from the London Independent…
After a huge expansion and updating, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery is open to visitors again.
The other European Capital of Culture in 2012? (There are two each year).
Say hello to Guimaraes, Portugal.
from Deutsche Welle…
saving the spoon-billed sandpiper
returning a rare bison species to Czech Republic
the threat of species loss in Africa
the effect of animal species on food production
from Prague Post…
60,000 signatures have been collected and the name Václav Havel airport has been trademarked in hopes it will be the new name of Prague’s Ruzyně airport.
from Deutsche Welle…
Maribor, Slovenia is preparing for its closeup as a European Capital of Culture in 2012.
Now here is something that probably would not appear on any cable channel anywhere in the U.S. Our loss.
The night before I left Copenhagen, I was packing my bag and finishing my trip journal. It was after 11pm. As is my habit, I had the TV on. Doesn’t matter what country I’m in or even what language is coming out of the tube. I’m always curious to see what’s on, whether there’s anything in English or subtitled in English. Sometimes I find a sports program that I can enjoy without any commentary.
night-night 1, sleeping with a straw reindeer
night-night 2, sleeping with a disco ball and wearing antlers?
This time, it was different. A series of video clips showed people sleeping. It was always an individual and, being so close to Christmas, each person either was wearing some kind of Christmas hat or there was a tree or lights or candy Continue reading
I recently found this great blogsite with an amazing look at Spanish cheeses and the best pairings with Spanish wines.
Où sont les truffes? Truffle season is here. From the London Independent.
From Deutsche Welle a couple of weeks ago … sad news from Paris. But the shop is still doing well.
A few weeks ago, needing to make a 6.30 am (ridiculous, I know) flight from London’s Gatwick airport, I booked a single room at the Yotel there. They are located inside the South Terminal, a short elevator ride below the shopping concourse. The AirTrain-style robotic rail link to the North Terminal departure area is only a one minute walk from the elevator. Staying here probably allowed me to get at least an extra Continue reading
Czech carp farming going strong.
Sorry, folks. The closest I came to consuming any oversized goldfish was to buy and eat a couple of fishy-shaped gingerbread from a stall at the Prague Christmas market.
Cheap London listings from London Time Out
Specialty beers are coming to even the large Czech breweries (from Prague Post)
These are a few of my favorite places in Covent Garden, a frequent shopping destination in London. There are loads of places there for food, drink, clothing, toys and gifts, both in the buildings and outdoors at the artisan stalls.
Tea Palace is doing well, with lots of new products for the holidays. Luckily for me, they had just restocked one of their best-sellers, Spiced Pear. Yummy.
Whittard’s of Chelsea, a long-standing tea purveyor, is hanging on. Their range of teas, coffees and gifts also includes 17 different flavors of hot chocolate, Continue reading
From the London Independent…
checking out Maribor in Slovenia
a possible end to smoking dope for tourists in Amsterdam
what’s up in Cologne, Germany
and in Vienna, Austria
… and from Deutsche Welle …
check-in with Skype for Estonian Air
London cabbies and brain growth
Info on London Tube outages for December holidays. Weekend of 17-18 December, 2011 through 2 January 2012 is explained.
Note that the Tube does not run on Christmas Day.
Some holiday happenings in Prague – from the Prague Post
A new type of Xmas market in Prague
Handmade Nativity scenes
Anyone for carp soup???
Something to ward off the chill
More ”market” updates coming soon
Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum has more plans for expansion on the board (from Oxford Mail)
Here are the closures and service interruptions for the London Tube this coming weekend
Remember – all Tube lines will be IN SERVICE during the December 10-11 and 17-18 weekends, EXCEPT for Northern (Sunday outages), Waterloo&City (Sunday outages) and partial service on District Line on Dec 10 and 11 (full service on Dec 17-18 weekend).
Most Tube lines will have outages during all of Christmas week, SO PLAN ACCORDINGLY.
Time to shop for your Czech doggy
Christmas market info for Copenhagen 2011
Information for Malmö, Sweden Christmas markets 2011
More ”market” updates coming soon
London Tube outages weekend of 26-27 November 2011
Also, all Tube lines will be in service during the December 12-13 and 19-20 weekends, except for Northern (Sunday outages), Waterloo&City (Sunday outages) and partial service on District Line on Dec 12 and 13 (full service on Dec 19-20 weekend).
Most Tube lines will have outages during all of Christmas week.
Complete outage info here through February 13, 2012 from Transport for London
news of a Fabergé museum in St. Petersburg, Russia (from Russian news service)
video of Bratislava Christmas market is on this blog’s Facebook page
Tube closures this weekend in London *
* Either there’s an error in this announcement, or else the Circle Line has a new path between Edgware Road and Hammersmith! Last time I looked, this was part of the Hammersmith and City line.
A desire to experience Scandinavian midnight sun drew me to Helsinki last July.
My magpie approach to discovering Europe combines my desire to go everywhere with selecting a destination when I find an interesting event to I can build my trip around. This time, for my first trip to Scandinavia, Finland just sounded interesting – out of the way and out of the ordinary. I chose Helsinki because I really love cities and because there is ferry service to Tallinn, Estonia; I could include that country as a day trip (See my previous blog post on Tallinn).
Getting to Helsinki was simple. Icelandair flies direct from JFK Continue reading
An Oxford-wide welcome for the holiday season (from the Oxford Mail)
SuzanneTheTravelMagpie 