The beautiful Post Oak Hotel in Houston has perfectly executed every detail from lobby to rooms, despite the incessant noise from the 610 freeway. Can’t imagine the sound level if I were lower than the 18th floor.
The shower is perfect. Lovely products, excellent hardware, beautiful marble mosaic floor. And note the city-view window!
But what is that little shelf way down at ankle level?
Puglia, Calabria, and a little of Basilicata regions in the very south of Italy, explored on a leisurely car trip. Wonderful, unique, and mostly crowd-free, I say visit NOW before big-travel discovers (and ruins) the region.
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Scottevest jacket road-tested and reviewed by Thiefhunters Bambi Vincent and Bob Arno. Bonus: Scottevest is a great carry-on solution for flights with limited carry-on.
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The Aescher Restaurant is a challenge to reach, but what an experience! A glorious hike and cable car journey to a magical destination. Watch the video
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The lately so-prevalent hotel coffee pot that could be a cesspool of germs. And these days I say… so what?
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Don’t be fooled into booking the “apartment.”
Ahhh, Tropea! that’s what all the Italians said when they heard that beach town would be the last stop on our journey through the sole of Italy. So beautiful!
It sure is. So popular is Tropea that the B&B I wanted to stay in was fully booked six weeks before our visit. This is the story of a “sister property” switch, a mean step-sister that does not live up to her sterling siblings, and false claims made by the property owner. There’s also a TripAdvisor mystery, which I’ll save for another post.
Bottom line first: when you go to book a room at Residenza Il Barone in Tropea, don’t be fooled into booking the “apartment”, as I was. Let me tell you about the apartment. Its location is excellent, over a restaurant at Piazza Tre Fontane, a few blocks away from the advertised location. You unlock a heavy door and ascend 14 steep stairs. This brings you into a drab and charmless room with adequate furniture: a dining table and chairs, a sofa, and a sideboard. There’s a mini-kitchen, too, with fridge, sink, and stove.
Poor lighting: In all this space, there is ONE lightbulb. The lamp, hanging over the table, was barely enough for me to do my paperwork.
No Air conditioning: The apartment claims to have air conditioning. And yes, it had a portable unit on wheels standing in the room, with an extension cord nearby. (See my photo.) It was 85° (see photo), so we turned it on. Cool air came out the front; hot air came out the large exhaust hose, which was loose on the apartment floor—inside! We went to visit the owner, Roberto. Yes, he said, you have to open the door. So we stuck the wide exhaust hose out the door, leaving the tall door open a good six inches—through which came plenty of heat. In actuality: the apartment does NOT have functional air-conditioning.
No Balcony: The apartment claims to have a balcony. It does not. It has a four-inch ledge. (See photo.)
No toiletries: The apartment claims to have “free toiletries.” It does not. Not even a single bar of soap.
Climb up to bed: The bed is up a very narrow spiral staircase. (See photos.) There are 14 stairs, each 15” wide. If you are anything larger than slim, if you are elderly, if you have the slightest problem with stairs, you will not make it up. You cannot bring a suitcase upstairs. In fact, it’s difficult to carry anything up the tight stairs. Think about this if you usually get up during the night. The bathroom is downstairs.
Hot sleep: There is no air conditioning upstairs. (Not that there is any downstairs, either…)
No breakfast: This is not a B&B. There is no breakfast.
Residenza Il Barone gets consistently good reviews. Watch out if you are routed to this B&B’s apartment as an alternative. It’s not in the same league and is sold with false claims.
Even more strange is TripAdvisor’s response to my review. I’ll write about that next.
Castellers build human towers of intricate design, topped by little children—called angels—who scamper up five or more levels of adults, raise a hand to the sky, then slither down the other side of the tower. Human tower-building is a 200-year-old Catalan tradition, and one the Catalans are particularly proud of.
Can you even imagine standing on someone’s shoulders? Without holding on? And while fighting to maintain your balance, allowing another adult to climb up your body and stand on your shoulders? And again, and again? Castellers are not professional acrobats. They’re ordinary people of all ages, all sizes, and they’re all members of human tower-building social clubs based on neighborhood.
Two or more clubs meet up and take turns building their towers, each carefully designed and rehearsed. Members of one club help strengthen the base of the other club’s tower. Tower-building is a collaboration, not a competition. Human tower-building clubs are built on teamwork, integration, solidarity, and democracy—values the Catalans hold dear.
Our thiefhunting mission in Barcelona coincided with the confusion, protests, demonstrations, and celebrations over Catalonian independence. We were smack in the middle of it, our hotel being opposite the national police building. The tiny, one-lane street our hotel was on was flanked by armed officers 24 hours a day, probably the safest hotel in the city. During demonstrations the street was blocked off and we couldn’t easily get into our hotel.
One day, Bob and I were rushing across town to pick up our translator (for interviewing pickpockets) just as independence was declared. Plaça de Sant Jaume, usually empty, was mobbed with joyous, singing people. We didn’t realize just how mobbed it was, how tight the pack, and how far into the feeder streets it reached. We dove in. I mean, we had to get across! Bob was carrying multiple camera bags and an ungainly camera sprouting a microphone and accessories. I was toting a large tripod. We burrowed and tunneled and pushed our way through the crowd. It took about 40 minutes instead of three. Half way through I realized just how stupid it had been to press forward, and got in a panic about the potential of a stampede. A single firecracker could start it. Headline in my head: “86 trampled to death, 2,000 injured!”
As always, I checked for Casteller events and was thrilled to find one happening during our stay. I’d only been to one long ago, in Plaça de Sant Jaume, which was as crowded as on the recent independence celebration day. I couldn’t get close to the towers. Now, on our second to last day in Barcelona, we trekked across town and arrived in time to see two Castell clubs gathering, members twisting into their black sashes, tying on their bandanas, and finally organizing a strong, jigsaw-like base for the first tower to be built.
I was excited, but the Castellers seemed nonchalant. Probably due to their constant rehearsals. This was to be an exhibition of what they’d designed and practiced. Each club would build three towers of increasing complexity. Watch in my video (below) how the first human tower morphs into a “pillar” as it is dismantled, and how three Castellers per level, way up there, gracefully step down, backwards and blindly, without using their hands. Incredible!
I interviewed a team member, who explained the Casteller’s long Catalonian history, lull, and recent surge in activity. The tradition of Castellers is now considered an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
I asked my Barcelona-based friends once, would you let your 6-year-old climb way up there? Sure, they said. All the people forming the base make a soft mattress if the child should fall.
The music, too, is unique, and I can’t get it out of my head. High-pitched wind instruments and drums play specific tunes at different stages of the tower-building, and set the pace for its construction.
I was right there, at the edge of the base, as the towers rose. So close I couldn’t capture the entire height of them. So close I actually stepped back when one tower appeared to be unstable, its members shaking, intense, trying desperately to keep the structure together.
The informative Castells website explains that only about 3% of attempted towers fall. I didn’t know that as I watched, but I knew that this tower was doomed. The three smallest children managed to slither down; then seven layers, or levels, or flights, or stories of humans came tumbling down. You have to see it in the video posted here. See it on the biggest screen possible. Look at their faces, their concentration, their sweat.
Here’s the video:
I wrote about this ages ago, way back in Hotel Oddity #6, but back then the idiotic installation was in the Miami Radisson Mart Plaza Hotel. I thought it was a unique display of incompetence, a one-off, a singular example of the Peter Principle, combined with management negligence. And look! Here it is again!
This time at the historic Millennium Biltmore Los Angeles, the art deco beauty whose lobby is a show set and whose rooms are pretty ordinary. Our room wasn’t ordinary though. At least I hope not. Could all the rooms have “security” like this?
Need I point out the upside-down installation of the chain receptacle? It doesn’t matter if the door has other security measures, a deadbolt for example, because a guest may choose to use the chain and not the deadbolt, believing himself secure. (No comments on the insufficiency of that particular guest…)
The Millennium Biltmore security lapse does not take away from the beauty and drama of its downstairs lobby and rooms. It’s definitely worth a visit. But management? Would you please fix this?
Slogging through endless airports, hoping for a nice lounge, or at least a seat near a power outlet.
Occasionally, delightful surprises are discovered. For example, the sign I saw at Cagliari airport (Sardinia) over the baggage conveyor belt:
ATTENZIONE AL SEGNALE ACUSTICO LUMINOSO DI PREAVOISO MOVIMENTO MASTRO.
PAY ATTENTION TO THE ACOUSTIC AND LUMINOUS SIGNAL FOREWARNING TAPE MOVEMENT.
If you haven’t read it, Nigerian Nightmare is a fantastic airport story. See my other airport observations.
Regular readers of Thiefhunters in Paradise know that I recommend hard-sided luggage and avoid zippered bags as checked luggage. I’ve seen way too many exploded zippers on the baggage carousel with their guts strewn around, some most likely lost for good.
We all know that baggage handlers are tough on luggage, but airport baggage-bowels are much worse. Have you heard of airport baggage kickers? They route bags through the labyrinth of conveyer belts with a swift kick to the side, the corner, the zipper—wherever the blind mechanism happens to strike. They give checked bags more of a beating than I imagined. No wonder my aluminum suitcases emerge more scratched and dented after every flight.
David Cameron, a reader who pointed me to the top two brutal videos below, has assembled a nice compilation of hard-sided luggage. He describes many brands and models on his site, SafeSuitcases.com.
If you travel with checked luggage, you have to see the videos below!
And an actual rollercoaster for luggage, Mr. Baggage’s Endless Ride: