Springfield IL airport
byHere it is, 2014, and we are in the airport of Springfield IL, the capital of Illinois. I’m amused to see the actual, in-use,…
Travel
Handicap stall in ladies rooms
by90% of the times I bypass a long line at a ladies’ room, I find an unused, available, extra-wide, “accessible” cubicle. Trained by parking…
What’s the safest place to carry money?
byThe question we’re most asked is… where should I carry my valuables? What’s the safest place to carry money? And the ambiguous answer is……
Qantas iPad for every flyer to use
byEvery passenger gets an iPad on Qantas. Yep. Even in economy. Mine never worked, but the airline gets an A for effort. With their…
Pickpockets in Prague
byWhen in Prague, Czech your Wallet We hit the cobblestones as soon as we had dropped our bags and admired our room in King…
Banana liqueur
byYou find the strangest things in airport lounges. Fancy banana liqueur? This was in the Turkish Air lounge in Izmir. Let me tell you:…
6 rules for luggage security
byAnother ring of airport luggage thieves has been arrested, this time at Los Angeles International Airport. So? Big deal. I’m not impressed. Not relieved….
Vodka and caviar in Russia
byVodka and caviar in Russia Russian oligarchs suck billions of dollars from the national economy but leave lavish scraps to tease big bucks from…
Turkish counterfeits
byHow one thing leads to another… Bob and I were enjoying a delicious dinner in a small Turkish resort town. It was a balmy,…
Tokyo Narita Airport comfort
byThe weather was terrible when we visited Japan last month. There was a whole inch of snow on the ground, and slushy puddles to…
Hotel speak — Hotel Oddity #42
byHotel speak “Welcome! We have a lovely room for you in our resort wing, overlooking the pool!” Reality: Yeah, directly opposite the looming parking…
Three-card monte expert Rod the Hop, R.I.P.
byThey’s ony three kinda men I won’t play with: That’s a po’ man, a blind man, an a police-man! Rod the Hop, my Las…
Street crime in Guatemala City
byParque Central Before I speak about the horrendous street crime in Guatemala City, I’d like to dwell on the pleasant aspects of the city….
Free Wifi! Filtered!
byFree WiFi! Some things are better filtered. Water, for one. Do you like unfiltered sake? Apple juice? What about your internet? I saw this…
United Airlines’ boorish clientele
byJust wondering: what kind of clientele does United Airlines have? I mean, is it really necessary to place a formal request on each coffee…
Hotel drink-drugging (Hotel oddity #41)
byThe Mysterious Case of the Uninvited Hotel Room Night Visitors “UNBELIEVABLE!” our friend Donny said when we unexpectedly met in the morning. “Bizarre! I…
Guatemala City Pickpockets
byAlmost gone for good, finally. Our lucky wallet, our favorite thief-bait, would have been stolen in Guatemala City by a stone-faced woman backed by…
Hotel room gripes
by8+ hotel room gripes that shouldn’t exist but are all too common. As a hotel-dweller (some 200+ nights per year for the past 20…
Bag Snatch Cafe
byYou can hardly call it bag-snatching when a handbag is left hanging on the back of a chair, free for the taking. We regularly…
A Pickpocket in Athens “kicks the poke”
byThe moments you’re boarding public transportation are your riskiest in the world of pickpocketry. A pickpocket in Athens shows us just how slick, and…
Fake jewelry doesn’t thwart pickpockets
byAlmost all of the opportunist pickpocket’s dirty work is preventable. I agree, it’s not practical to live in preparation for the worst at any…
German menu
byIf you just keep your eyes open, travel is full of laughs. This German menu, translated into English, amused me. “For salads we reached…
Baggage carousel ETA
byWaiting at airport baggage carousels can be stressful. When will your bag come? Will your bag come? Baggage carousel extra info Copenhagen’s airport has…
Devil’s Breath robbery/rape drug, aka burundanga
byDevil’s Breath drug, aka burundanga Hard to tell fact from fiction when researching “the world’s scariest drug” called Devil’s Breath, burundanga, and scopolamine. The…
Hotel oddity #40 – Masterknocker – Radisson USC doorknocker
byRadisson USC doorknocker Masterknocker knock-off University of California’s official hotel for the parents of its college students is run by Radisson Hotels. Each room…
Luggage self-check at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam
byLuggage self-check Luggage self-check? There’s nothing new about self-checking in and getting boarding passes from an airport terminal. The KLM check-in machines at Amsterdam’s…
“Ghost pickpockets” – or white-dressed beggars?
byAre they just white-dressed beggars? White-painted, white-draped “ghosts” are picking pockets in Stockholm’s most beautiful district, the national paper blared. Police are quoted: “The…
Do not hold your child’s hand
byStrange signage in Norrtälje, Sweden. We all know what the red diagonal means. What do we make of this combination? • Do not hold…
Pickpockets in Pisa
byPickpockets in Pisa are so active we don’t even have to go looking for them. They’re right there. Are they everywhere? It seems so!…
Hotel Oddity #39
byWe had a huge suite at the Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel in Barcelona. Surrounding the spacious bedroom, there was a sitting room, an office,…