Dita does Vegas
Dita von Teese, the queen of retro burlesque and former wife of the rocker
Marilyn Manson, will be doing her thang on stage at the Crazy Horse Paris
saloon in the MGM hotel, Las Vegas, from next weekend. Ms Von Teese will
perform her sensual “Le Bain” bathtub act — all in the best possible taste,
of course. Details: www.visitlasvegas.co.uk.
Village people
Manhattan has Chinatown and Little Italy — could it be about to get a Little
Britain? An online petition (www.campaignforlittle
britain.com) has been started to get the neighbourhood around Greenwich
Avenue and West 12th St renamed in recognition of the large number of
British residents and businesses there. No sign so far of Vicky Pollard or
Daffyd lending support, but then he certainly wouldn’t be the only gay in
that village.
Go green
Ecoescape is a new handbook that lists responsible, sustainable getaways in
the UK — covering hotels, restaurants, attractions, public transport and
national cycle networks. You can order the guide, free, from www.ecoescape.org
(p&p costs £3.65). It is, of course, printed on recycled paper using
vegetable-oil ink and water-based seals.
On your toes
Girls, heading to the country this weekend? Will it be heels or wellies? Well,
with these Swedish Tretorn Plask boots you get both in one: knee-high rubber
protection from rain or mud with a 2in wedge to give you that extra oomph at
the point-to-point. From £90. Details: 020-7608 9100, www.tretorn.com
.
Hug a tuna
You’ve dived with great whites and snorkelled with whale sharks — now, get
ready for the tuna. Calypso Star Charter, based in Port Lincoln, South
Australia, offers visitors the chance to swim with the fish, which average
15kg, in an enclosed pen, which means they get close — very close. The
two-hour experience costs around £12. Sandwiches not included. Details:
www.calypsostarcharter.com.au.
Web of the week: www.wmo.int
Just when we’ve got our heads round global warming, that cheeky little minx La
Niña — naughty sister of El Niño — looks as if she might be popping up to
wreak havoc on our weather this year, according to the World Meteorological
Organisation. While El Niño causes Pacific Ocean temperatures to rise, La
Niña makes sea temperatures drop, causing topsy-turvy conditions such as
flooding in drought-prone areas and bone-dry conditions where usually there
is abundant rain.
Virgin move
Passengers flying with Virgin Atlantic can now print boarding passes online at
home and avoid the queue at check-in. Details: www.virginatlantic.com.
Swinging Austria
The Austrian National Tourist Office has issued a free guide, Golf in Austria,
which lists 45 of the country’s best golf courses and places to stay.
Details: www.golfinfo.at.
On the edge
Melbourne’s latest attraction is Edge, a cube-shaped structure that hangs off
the Eureka Tower, the city’s tallest building. Its floor becomes
transparent, designed to terrify tourists walking on it. Details: www.eurekaskydeck.
com.au.
Cheap Turkey
SunExpress, the new budget airline to Turkey, will fly to Izmir and Ercan from
April 28. Fares start at £98 return. Details: 0871 5295292, www.sun-express.co.uk
.
Drive on
Watching Formula One motor-racing abroad is more popular than going overseas
to see rugby or football matches, according to a survey by www.cheapflights.co.uk.
Down on the farm
Cornish Farm Holidays has launched a brochure and website offering places to
stay on farms in Cornwall. Details: 0845 6028843, www.cornish-farms.co.uk.
Oh what a fry-up
A survey of 42,000 customers conducted by Laterooms.com has found that a good
breakfast is the most important factor when it comes to hotels being given a
good review. The average price paid for breakfast was £10.
China eclipse
Astronomer Dr Gill Russell is leading Explore’s 13-day China Highlights &
Eclipse tour to see the solar eclipse in the summer of 2008. Prices start at
£2,599pp. Details: 0870 3334001, www.explore.co.uk.
Golden oldies
The saying goes that things get better with age — and so, now, do room rates.
From this weekend, the Malmaison in Edinburgh is offering discounts for
stays on a Sunday night that vary according to the age of their guests.
So, guests who are aged 25 would receive a 25 per cent discount, while
80-year-olds would benefit from 80 per cent off. Standard doubles are £129,
which means the rate for an 80-year-old on Sunday is now £25.80. A
100-year-old would stay free.
Proof of age is required. But what about guests who are over 100? “I’m sure
we’d buy them a drink,” said a spokeswoman. Details:
Malmaison (0131-468 5000, www.malmaison.com
).
Gatwick Express
The high-speed Gatwick Express is to be kept, but at a cost. The nonstop
service from Victoria faced the axe after rail chiefs argued it took up too
much capacity on the crowded London-Brighton commuter line.
Now, the Department for Transport (DfT) says its future is secure, although
travellers will still have to share the service with commuters. Instead of
running nonstop to Gatwick and back, the service will continue beyond the
airport at peak periods, stopping at stations from Gatwick to Brighton. Does
this mean standing-room only on the Gatwick Express? “To be fair, it might,”
replied the DfT, “but only at busy times.” Marvellous.
ROBOCOP
You can already check in online, collect your holiday cash from an ATM and pay
your car parking automatically — now, the latest addition to the automated
airport is the computerised customs officer. Passengers arriving at Oslo
international airport can now declare imports to a machine, which then
calculates the duty owed. According to officials, the device, which accepts
cash or credit cards, frees customs personnel to “fight more serious
smuggling”.
BAA BAA RED SHEEP
Drivers on a Scottish motorway will be seeing red this weekend after a local
farmer, Andrew Jack, dyed his sheep scarlet “for a bit of fun.” The
54-strong flock is on a hillside between junctions 3 and 4 of the M8 as part
of an art project and is “causing quite a stir with passers-by,” Jack
reports. No sheep were harmed in the stunt, which used animal-friendly dye,
and Mr Jack is “considering replacing them with pink sheep when these ones
have their coats sheared”.
BUSH-TUCKER BOY
A Scottish teenager survived two nights in an Australian wilderness by eating
watercress and using fern fronds to keep warm. The 19-year-old backpacker
sparked a huge search operation after failing to return from a hike at
Sabine Falls in Victoria, but was in “remarkable condition” when found,
according to police sergeant Peter Nichols. “For someone with very limited
bushcraft, he’s done fantastic,” he said.
EL PRADO GOES LARGE
The Prado museum in Madrid has unveiled its most significant extension in
almost 200 years — a new annexe designed by the Spanish architect Rafael
Moneo and described by the Spanish culture minister, Carmen Calvo, as
“extraordinary news in our country’s history”. The red-brick and granite
structure, built over the cloister of the 15th-century San Jeronimo church,
cost £103m and increases the area of the museum by more than 50%.
BAD KARMA
A man has been arrested in Croatia after customs officials found 175
chameleons hidden in his luggage.
Dragos Radovic, 25, had flown in from Bangkok and was stopped after officers
noted wriggling movements in his luggage. Radovic admitted he’d bought the
lizards in a Thai market and had been assured by the vendor that their
ability to blend in with their background would render them invisible to
inspectors.
EASTER BUNNY SPOTTED
One of the world’s rarest rabbits has been spotted in the Indonesian jungle
for just the third time in 35 years, prompting a celebration among
ecologists, who thought it was extinct. Grainy images shot by a camera trap
show the Sumatran striped rabbit moving through undergrowth in the Bukit
Barisan Selatan National Park, but it is not yet clear whether he was out
delivering eggs.
