Archive for August, 2007

At first it seemed like another internet hoax. A co-worker forwarded a link to this website, SMINTAIR.com, which has an unusual claim to fame. SMINTAIR is the world’s first 100% smoking airline (SMINTAIR stands for Smoker’s International Airline).

That’s right — all smoking all the time, at 35,000 feet.

Design á la mode, with cigarette

Here’s how their website describes this revolutionary new service: “SMINTAIR reinstates the liberty of smoking in all seats. Non-smokers will find the cabin air more refreshing than on any other flight with any other airline, as SMINTAIR adds fresh outside air to the conditioning system! This is more expensive, as it burns more fuel, but it is seen as an additional service to our guests.”

Wow! Love the attitude (carbon footprint? bah humbug). But wait, there’s even more:

“SMINTAIR spends more than three times the amount usually invested on passenger’s nourishment. Signature recipes created by internationally renowned chefs will make each meal a feast. Charming and beautiful flight attendants in uniforms designed by famous couturiers are there to take the very best care of you. Every two years, a new designer will be elected to keep the uniform design á la mode. Everything from caviar to clothes and smoker’s utensils to jewellery will be offered for free consumption or at special duty free prices during our flights. Main sponsors will also be able to host events aboard our third aircraft, displaying their latest fashion or merchandise, thus taking SMINTAIR in-flight entertainment and service to new levels.”

What an excellent internet hoax. But get this — it’s not a hoax! It is for real. According to an article posted on the BBC website, SMINTAIR is the brainchild of a German entrepreneur, Alexander Schoppmann, who clearly misses the 1960s golden era of airline travel. All he needs is 40 million euros (US$54 million), and his smoke-filled vision will become a reality. Their goal is to start international flights between Germany and Japan next year, according to the Washington Post.

Is this a brilliant idea? The worst idea ever? Hard to say. Certainly it makes for great comedy. Case in point from the SMINTAIR website: “Mr. Schoppmann [now] refrains from taking part in live ‘talk-shows’ which are staged right from the start with ‘claqueurs’ in the audience, paid by the broadcasting station, making a thorough discussion impossible.”

–Scott ‘claqueur’ McNeely

When I was about six, my mother took me to the cinema for the first time. I remember it so well. Or perhaps it’s just that I then passed that cinema every day for the next 12 years or so years. Who knows where the image imprint comes from. But I do remember the movie, and I remember the posters of the movie on the walls outside the cinema and I remember that I loved that movie. It was a schmaltzy romance and I went on to make a living by writing schmaltzy romance; I owe that movie a lot, not least a visit to the place of it’s birth: Salzburg. For that movie was the one that ‘saved a studio’: The Sound of Music.

Beautiful Salzburg (ignore the clouds)

Salzburg is a beautiful city. Filled with elaborate churches, ornate coffee shops, and narrow cobbled streets full of shops, it sits against a craggy cliff adding drama to its beauty. It is also the birthplace of Mozart. But, to the locals’ chagrin, possibly its greatest claim to fame is the von Trapp family and the movie made about their escape from the Nazis. And, if all the tours on offer are any guide, a lot of the tourist dollar that comes into Salzburg is directly attributable to The Sound of Music.

Everywhere you turn in Salzburg, there’s another location from the movie. Having seen the film as often as I have (yes, I confess to that), it is quite exciting, and also somewhat surreal. I was travelling with a friend who is far more obsessed than me and he had all the facts and figures in his head having just re-watched the DVD including the commentaries. We also did The Sound of Music bus tour, which was an easy way to see a lot of the locations, and learn a lot of truths behind the Hollywood fictions – some of which would be quite upsetting to the truly devout fan. (Did you know that Christopher Plummer hated the movie and called it ‘The Sound of Mucus’??)

The tour bus we were on had the family von Trapp painted on the side; if you are going to do something as wonderfully kitsch as this, why be coy? So many of the places we stopped had car parks filled with buses on Sound of Music tours. And all the buses were full. No wonder the film continually makes the top 10 lists of all time favourites.

The bus!

Sitting in front of us on the bus was a little girl of about five or six, pink cardigan, pigtails, glasses. She knew the words to every song and happily sang along as we travelled. Totally delightful and so nice to see one kid not at home in front of the computer or the television. Oh, hang on, she probably knew the film so well from watching the DVD over and over. Still, at least she loves a classic story like this, and is learning some history as well, sort of.

Behind us on the bus was a young American guy, about 19, broken arm, jock. I overheard him telling someone that he was there because his mum makes the whole family watch the movie every Thanksgiving so he kind of had affection for it. Sadly he and the little girl never did a duet.

Our first stop was Schloss Leopoldskron, used for the exteriors of the back of the von Trapp house. This is where the children and Julie Andrews fell in the lake, nearly drowning Kym Karath who played Gretl and couldn’t swim. It’s now an American study centre of some sort, so you can stay there if you have the right enrollments. We peered at it across the lake and considered the height of the walls for scaling potential. The glass rotunda used for the film was in this garden but so many fans were breaking in at night and re-enacting ‘I am Sixteen going on Seventeen’ that it had to be moved to Schloss Hellbrun, which is open the public. There, it huddles under some trees in a corner, door firmly locked. Mind you, it’s not the original as that fell apart – after all it was only built for a couple of scenes in a film in 1964, not to become an icon.

The tour took us past the house used as the front of the von Trapp family house, different houses for the back and front – the magic of cinema. Also past Nonnberg Abbey which was used for lots of scenes and which is where the real Maria went to become a nun. The bus didn’t stop at either of these places, nor did it take us to the real von Trapp house, respectful of the fact these places are not open to the public. Of course, fans that we are, we walked up to Nonnberg Abbey later, went to the church where the real Maria married her real Captain, walked the gardens and imitated the sadness of the children coming to the gates to visit Maria when she flees her love and returns to the abbey. Sigh. Too much fun.

One real advantage of doing the tour — aside from our fearless guide Peter’s dreadful jokes, which sadly did make us all laugh — was that they took us out to Mondsee, a small town in the lakes district outside Salzburg. Mondsee church was used in the film for the wedding and has great souvenirs: a golf ball with the church printed on it! For all those golfing Sound of Music fans. I bought one for my mum. Mondsee also has excellent apple strudel with vanilla sauce. It was great to see some of the countryside and something we wouldn’t have done independently.

Returning to Salzburg, the tour finished at the Schloss Mirabell, where they shot the learning to sing sequence: ‘Doh a Deer’. We wandered round here for hours, along with hundreds of other people. But we were the only ones who attempted to re-enact the choreography of jumping up and down the staircase while singing. And you know, those kids were really talented because it’s scary jumping backwards downstairs.

Philippa relives her childhood

The only real disappointment came later in the day when we finally found Salzburg Festspiele, the Salzburg Festival’s home, where the von Trapps’ famously sang. And they really did although it was years before the war and because the Captain had lost all his money on the stock market. It’s unclear just how many of the kids sang because Maria and the Captain actually had three children together, so, does that make ten kids total or were three of the seven in the film hers? Confusing.

Oh and Liesl was really a boy, Rupert, a doctor and it was the Nazis requisitioning his services that was the final straw for Captain von Trapp, making him decide to get his family out of Austria. In fact, their butler, a devout Nazi but even more loyal servant, tipped the family off to when the borders would be closed and they caught the last train out of the country. No hiking over mountains. Which is lucky because if they’d walked over the Untersberg as they did in the film, they’d have landed themselves in Hitler’s second headquarters in Bavaria. Oops.

Anyway, the reason it was disappointing was that we didn’t get into the Festspiele arena. A live television transmission was being set up. We could have just walked in behind the Schwarzeneggers carrying lights, past the young security guys who clearly had no idea who was who, but, too polite for our own good, we asked and were turned away. So, no reliving ‘Edelweiss’.

Later, The Sound of Music out of our systems, we went to a great little outdoor bar at the Art Hotel for a well-deserved drink, and my travel companion started to laugh. He pointed over my shoulder and I turned to look: another location from the film, the murals the singing children walk past with Maria. In Salzburg, you can run from The Sound of Music but you can’t hide.

–Philippa Burne

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s things to do in Salzburg, tours in Vienna and things to see and do in Austria. Or dive straight into the deep end with the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg.

I had the good fortune of marrying a Midwesterner. My wife, Aimee, is from Indiana. Before we met I didn’t know much about her home state. Purdue, Larry Bird, the Colts — that’s pretty much all I could tell you about the Hoosier State before we were married. (Note to self: what’s a Hoosier? I must ask Aimee.)

Martha eats corn

Each spring Aimee and I have a version of the same argument: to visit or not to visit Indiana in summer, in order to spend time with her family. We already trek to Indiana each Christmas holiday, and let me tell you, Indiana is not a recommended travel destination in December.

So I’m always hesitant to commit to an additional summertime visit, especially when we could travel instead to Spain, Turkey, France, Italy, Thailand… to anywhere BUT Indiana.

This year I relented and decided we could go to Indiana for a summer holiday. (Note to self: explain to Aimee that I feel better using words like “relented” and “decided”, even if I didn’t actually have a say in the matter.) So we packed up the family and headed to Sweetwater Lake, about 45 miles south of Indianapolis.

And after a mere week in Indiana, I gained a new appreciation for the season of summer.

Isaac & Drew go fishing

Much to my surprise, summer in Indiana is a blast. I’m talking about swimming in a lake for hours on end. Little kids catching worms for bait and then fishing off a dock for bluegill. Eating sweet Indiana corn until your taste buds explode. Cooking pulled-pork on a barbecue grill in 90-degree heat. Water skiing. Tubing. Wake boarding. Sitting on a porch with four generations of the same family. Coolers overflowing with cans of ice-cold beer. The blaring of cicadas at dusk, outboard motors at dawn, air-conditioning pumps all night long.

For a city kid like me, all these experiences transformed a run-of-the-mill vacation into a near-perfect summertime experience.

Megan eats corn

What’s the secret? I’ve decided to make a list, I’m calling this one “Scott’s 4 Essential Summer Ingredients”.

1. First, you need the great outdoors. We had a lake surrounded by 100-foot-tall ash and maple trees. But you could be anywhere as long as you have easy access to the outdoors
2. Second, you must do things. No televisions, please, not in summer. Instead play cards, tell stories, run around in circles, walk the dogs. Go to the store for groceries and chitchat. Eat some ice cream. Go swimming. Clean up the shed. Take the boat for a joy ride. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you’re doing something.
3. Third, you need family. Ironically I’ve spent my adult life taking family-free vacations. Yet there’s something to be said for having dinner on a lake with 18 of your cousins, spending quality time with aunts and uncles who tell the same funny stories over and over again. I don’t want all of my holidays to revolve around family. Yet I’ve decided that summer vacations and families are made for each other. I’ll save my trips with friends for winter or spring.
4. Finally, you need a big barbecue and some of that sweet Indiana corn…

–Scott McNeely

You can see more photos of summer in Indiana over on the Viator Flick site. And if you’re looking for summertime inspiration, be sure to browse the thousands of things to do available on the Viator site.

A lot of people only get to view Barcelona through the bottom of a sangria glass (since it only seems to come in half and full litre sizes with metre-long straws, it must be a wide-angle lens).

Me? I hit the museums, sights and galleries in such a way that I didn’t have the stamina to see the Barcelona after dark in a big way. But I heard it. The hostel where I was staying was not that far away from Barcelona’s party street - La Ramblas - and I know that the party only seems to end at 7am.

Barcelona’s Casa Mila

The trouble is there is a lot to see in Barcelona even in the day. There’s the Picasso museum, which includes painting from his teenage years. There’s Gaudi’s intricate and organic architecture, where the Sagrada Familia church must be his best known and most photographed creation. But this is a man who has really left his fingerprint on the city, from Parc Gruel with its world’s longest park bench and a mosaic lizard (it’s design on steroids, and it could only work in Barcelona!) to his organic apartment block, Casa Mila. In this instance organic means curves. There aren’t too many straight lines in his buildings. It must make finding furniture that fits a nightmare!

The surprise for me was the Funacio Joan Miro, with its modern art showcase with works by Catalan Joan Miro. His art is abstract (three enormous white canvases with a black squiggly line is abstract!), but the audio guide wasn’t, and with explanations from the artist those simple-looking paintings started to make sense!

On top of all that there’s the city itself which is brimming with life. There can’t be many cities where a fountain draws a huge crowd. On certain nights, the city’s “water feature” on one side of Mont Juic comes alive as sprays of water dance and weave in sync to music. For a guy who used to build his own fountains in the backyard as a (very young) kid with the garden hoses and a variety of sprinklers, I knew this display was no mean feat!

–Peter Hall

Planning a trip? Browse all of Viator’s Barcelona things to do and tours in Spain.

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles about Darwin, Alice and the quirkiness that is the Northern Territory of Australia by Jack Brown. You can read Jack’s first post here.

Those first few miles south of the Berrimah Line are pretty packed with things to be and places to do. Now we’re clear of such obstacles to driving progress we can take the pace back a notch. Wending our way south, Hayes Creek marks the first point where the landscape really stands up and does anything since leaving Darwin – that is beyond just lazing around and occasionally undulating in an effort to try and pass for “not flat” over that first 140kms. The Hayes Creek Wayside Inn is situated opposite a grand escarpment that does nice things to the eyes after so much horizon and the tucker (food) is not bad either, as is a banter with the old chap often found at the bar sporting the white beard down past his nipples (a proper beard).

A tropical oasis is better than gold outside Pine Creek

The Emerald Springs roadside stop is perhaps worth a mention, if only for what it once was. Closed now — its liquor licence suspended — it was once a watering hole (pub) that laughed at vegetarians and was part of the frontier mentality of the north. Rumours say that there were larger forces at work to stop its activities, but now its’ just a spot for trucks to pull off the road in safety - another iconic spot to fall by the wayside.

A little further down the track, Pine Creek offers unparalleled wonders for the intrepid and persistent. This collection of the rare and unusual is home to the Lazy Lizard campground (the sign is one of the true outback artworks) as well as the palatial nature conservation area/wetlands (a flooded gold mining tailings dam), the lake recreation area (a former mine pit – 135 scenic metres deep) and the town Water Gardens (a tap left on which has run kinda dry). The pub itself is anthropological gold with patrons known to throw meat pies into the fans on closing time. My mate lives in Pine Creek and for some reason I reckon he’s a lucky bugger and a brave man at the same time. Umbrawarra Gorge is well worthy a guernsy (look) on the way south – top spot for a bit of kick-back-and-relax in the bush, though access is not so great in either side of the wet season (October to April roughly).

The Katherine Regional Times office underwater

It’s hard for me to be too objective about Katherine since I lived there and felt its slow, hot bite over a wet season (43 Celsius and over 90% humidity), but its nice enough if you’re passing through. The locals like to believe they are hard done by (insert plethora of reasons here) and there’s nothing like a natural disaster to bring out a smile - because then they can say life is truly hard. The town has been moved three times in 100 years and as it sits right on a river, at the lowest point of a basin covering a sincerely large catchment area, the town is prone to the odd flood. The most recent of these was last year, but that wasn’t as bad as the 1998 flood that saw the river peak at 21 metres deep (its usually one metre deep in the dry season) and flooded the main street completely. When the place did dry out, a crocodile was even found in a meat freezer in the supermarket. When dry, Katherine is a quick and convenient spot to refuel and visit Katherine Gorge (stunning) or divert west on the road to Western Australia (big). The bat huge bat population that lives along the river is a hoot (funny) – sounding like a pack of overexcited bonsai dogs on helium in a game show audience. I do a good impersonation – ask anyone.

The other natural wonder of the Katherine area is the foul piece of pestilence known as the cane toad – a creature whose bad manners and poor complexion would have you preferring to invite an army of cockroaches over for dinner. These specimens of decrepitude are often found conducting secret midnight meetings beneath street lights or lying belly up in the gutters following a short friendship with a car’s willing front wheel. They make an excellent popping noise when rubber hits amphibian flesh.

Foul pestilence otherwise known as the cane toad

Next in line, Mataranka is a town way beyond REM in the sleepy stakes. Managing the usual NT blend of slightly racist and expensive, there’s a twinkling of joy to be had at the Bitter Springs at the north end of town: on a full moon, a short bushwalk and swim in the clear blue waters manage to break the drive beautifully. Not to be confused with the Thermal Pools at the homestead at the southern end, referred to by locals as the spermal pools, due to the proclivity for “get to know you action” that often occurs late at night in the warm waters. Avoid this concreted tourist trap. Say hello to open road.

Larrimah marks the first third of the way from Darwin to Alice Springs and is a laugh and a half. If you didn’t fuel up at Katherine then the gentleman with the “wrong” kind of tattoos up to his chin, keeping a watchful eye on the chickens clucking among the petrol bowsers, will tell you with a kind of righteous pride – “No fuel in Larrimah”. Despite the fact that there appears to be two petrol stations and that one still has the price per litre displayed out the front, he has indeed seen to it that there is no fuel. I didn’t trouble him for a name, but this modern day highwayman claims to own both stations and has stopped selling fuel at both, possibly because it caused too much distress to the chickens. I am told a little way up the track that “they’ve run into financial problems.”

The “Green Park” roadside stop was also formerly home to the only saltwater crocodile I ever saw (an unhappy looking specimen in a cage out the back scarcely longer than its own body) and is also a fine vantage point for watching the small civil feud that has absorbed most of this town’s 14 inhabitants. A manifestation of this quiet war can be seen in the signs - one end of the town claims to sell the best homemade pies in town (she took them out of the freezer and their wrappers and put them into the pie-warmer herself, she did – duly qualifying for homemade) and so of course does the little shop at the town’s opposing end. A rewarding stop for the brave, with a lot of time, in search of an outback yarn if ever there was one.

One thing that hasn’t changed much over the years is the Larrimah Hotel, which manages to stay full even when many of the owners of cars hauling caravans stand and scratch their heads while pondering the petrol situation. The Larrimah Hotel sits by the historical museum - the town once marked the end of the rail line that carried supplies during that “damned war” in the 1940s, back when the place was known as Birdum (often managing a mention, for some reason, on world maps). Don’t expect the train to come anytime soon – best to be on your way this century…

–Jack Brown

If you missed Jack’s first installment of Darwin to Alice by road, you can read it here. Planning a trip? Browse all of Viator’s Darwin tours and things to do in Alice Springs.

How much can a koala bear? Well, based on the strict handling guidelines set out for them in Australia, apparently much less than we humans can! If you thought Aussies had the perfect lifestyle then you should ask us who we would rather be. Many of us think that the koala, sorry, the cute and cuddly (?) koala, has perhaps the best job in Australia, that is to simply sit back, look cute and rake in the tourist dollars from those who wish to cuddle you - despite your hidden dangers. Your reward for actively supporting the Koala union is that under no circumstance is anyone to come near you or harrass you with excessive attention. Being a koala, you are totally within your rights to sit completely oblivious to the fuss and pay no attention to the visitors who made the pilgrimage to cuddle you. So when you come to Australia beware when planning to cuddle the hard working koala ‘on the job’ as it were. Be sure not to disturb.

Weapons of mass destruction

So let’s set the record straight about the lovable koala (don’t call them bear!) - yes they are cute and cuddly, but their soft, lovable exterior hides a mean streak like no other in the animal kingdom. Unlike a goanna or a crocodile, the much-loved koala is deceptive in it’s threat to humans. Have you seen the claws on a koala (let alone felt them!)? No, you are distracted by the dozy eyes, teddy bear soft fur and leather button nose, mesmerized by its cuter than cute appearance. Hiding under that fluffy exterior is a set of claws that can slice through flesh like a knife through butter, just waiting for the opportunity to strike! Experts say these claws are for climbing and grooming, but we know a weapon when we see it…

Talking of dozy eyes, you do know why koalas sleep for so much of the day don’t you? Stoned on Eucalyptus leaves! No other living creature can live on a diet consisting purely of these poisonous leaves, but the koala has evolved to tolerate the poison and such is the extent of their “habit”, they will turn their nose up at any other type of food. Again, experts say koalas are slow moving and sleep alot before they have such slow metabolism, we say they have everyone fooled and just can’t kick their addiction! Do you really want to get to close to an animal in a permanent state of hallucination which owns a serious set of sharp claws? Then again, when you consider their sharp claws, this might not be such a bad combination of characteristics. A slow responding koala has probably saved many from a near scrape with real pain!

Undeniable evidence of a nasty drug habit

Another charming feature of the koala is its formidable mouth. Sharp incisors at the front of the mouth, supposedly for grabbing leaves but we know better, are backed up with even sharper molars allowing the koala to grind the leaves into pulp. How adorable - don’t forget to count your fingers as you walk away!

So this brings us down to the whole inspiration for this blog. Why are koala’s know as ‘cuddly’ and where can one go to ‘cuddle’ a koala.

The Australian state of New South Wales long ago introduced tough koala handling rules which basically prohibits any zoo or wildlife park allowing visitors to handle the animals under the guise of “animal welfare”. Protection of tourists is more appropriate, something had to be done to stem the increasing frequency of koala induced human injury! It’s a matter of time before the rest of the states follow suit, so if you want to hold a koala, you better sneak across the border quick smart. Like smoking pot in Amsterdam, soon there will be a whole industry for the “touching of koalas”.

Now we realize visitors to Australia want to see koalas, touch koalas and have photos taken with koalas, but we think it’s only fair that you have the facts and understand the dangers first. Forget about man-eating sharks, deadly snakes, sneaky spiders and limb tearing crocodiles, it’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for. The only thing more dangerous than a koala is its cousin the drop bear, the rogues which couldn’t even be bothered to pass the basic ‘cute and cuddly’ koala exam and are destined to stay wild forever… visitors beware!

–Kerrie O’Mahony & Brad Atwal

If you are not traveling to Australia anytime soon but want to tempt fate on a close encounter with a koala, check out the Australian Koala Foundation for information on koalas living overseas, but please note handling of koalas by the public is not permitted in any zoo or wildlife park outside of Australia.

Sequoiadendron giganteum

I’ve been to San Francisco many times, I back-packed around the US years ago on the Greyhound buses and went to many national parks in the US, but I’ve never been to Yosemite. Until last Sunday that is. People who live in San Francisco looked at me as though I was a bit mad to be doing a day trip to Yosemite – and to be fair I was a bit concerned at a 14 hour day trip myself, but it was the only day I had free so it had to be better than nothing, right? Absolutely right, this day was awesome, even the long hours in the minivan with 13 other people. It’s a really early start for me – I usually try to pretend 7am Sunday morning doesn’t exist. By the time I arrived back at 9:30 pm I was a very tired and very happy traveler.

The trip to Yosemite was broken up by a caffeine stop once we got out of the urban environment, a further stop in the Central Valley to stock up on all the fresh organic produce and sandwiches for lunch, the driver’s very eclectic music collection – and then we were at the park. First stop was just inside the park for a hike into Tuolumne Grove – a stand of the gigantic, stunning Sequoia’s. We could feel their velvety trunks, pose inside the old burnt out one which had a road go through it for years, crawl through the inside of a huge old one that had fallen over, get a crick in our necks peering up to the top of them –it is a veritable nature’s playground. We also had our picnic lunch, which gave us the energy we needed to hike back up the relentless path in the relentless 97 degree sunshine – but it was worth it. Make certain to check the weather forecast before you go to Yosemite, any time of the year – I assumed if anything it would be cooler than San Francisco because it is in the mountains. Wrong! – it was 20 degrees hotter, and I’m wearing dark denim jeans – ouch!. And in the middle of winter Yosemite is covered in snow – so check the forecast before you go!

The stunning Yosemite Valley

The stunning views as we drove down into the valley, watching these iconic views that Ansel Adams captured so well. We stopped in the middle of the valley by the Visitor’s Center which is handy if you want to stock up on water, find a bathroom or maybe just some shade. And a valley it is, it made me feel like I was in Jurassic park – flat green meadows flanked by tall stands of trees surrounded by the most amazing rock faces towering over me in every direction. Yes, I am going to have to use the cliché – it was stunning. There are so many things you can do for the next few hours: shuttle buses every ten minutes that run around a loop in the valley and you can jump on and off to get to view points, trail heads or swimming holes (or campgrounds if you’re staying over). There are walking trails everywhere, flat and steep, short and long, waterfalls to see and even swim in (although they’re all dry this time of the year), beautiful swimming spots on the river, and the option I picked – a bike to rent. There are bike trails throughout the valley, they are dead flat, and on a hot day they are mainly off the roads and under the forest cover; the coolest spot to be. We went off looking for the Apple Meadow to increase our chances of spotting a bear, but given our complete inability to tell the difference between an apple tree and a pine tree we somewhat failed at this task. But we did circumnavigate the valley loop and loved every minute of it!

Black bear in the wild

Tired, sunburnt, sweaty and grinning insanely we were gathered up and plonked back into the minivan and went to have a closer look at the famous climbing mecca that is El Capitan. Unfortunately it was such a hot day there were no climbers mad enough to be up there but it was a stunning (sorry) rock face towering over us. Then we headed on the road out of the valley and as we were stopping on the side of the road one last time to look at Bridal Veil falls (more “Bridal Wisp” falls this time of the year) a black bear walked towards us from about 30 metres away. Ignoring our driver’s instruction to stay still and not approach it, we tripped over each other scrambling towards it to get the best shot, screaming loudly with excitement. The 2 – 3 year old bear very sensibly decided to exit gracefully and jumped into the river behind him, swam over to the other side of the river and paraded up and down to give us more photo ops – what a star.

Now we’d been told all day that we might see a bear, and told how we shouldn’t run away, what to do etc, but to be honest none of us believed we would actually see one. So we were now the most excited, tired, sweaty and grinning bunch of people in a minivan you could hope for, which meant we sensibly all fell asleep and woke up in time to see the San Francisco lights as we were crossing the Bay Bridge – a perfect end to a great day out.

–Vicki Potts

Planning a trip? Browse all of Viator’s Yosemite tours and things to do in San Francisco, to make the most of your visit to the City by the Bay.

Having recently changed my area of responsibility at Viator, I’m now a proud member of team USA. Not sure why but every time I say that I feel the need to chant U-S-A … U-S-A and start waving a flag.

Are words really necessary?

It’s my great pleasure, and I mean GREAT pleasure to announce my very first new addition to the Viator site - The Chippendales at the Rio Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Now being new to the region I had to do plenty of research about the show, and searched high and low for just the “right” photos to display. It’s really important in my job to thoroughly understand the tour or activity, so I left no corner unturned in the quest for knowledge. I am a professional after all!

Personally I’m yet to see a Chippendales show, however I admit to seeing an Australian equivalent - Manpower - many years ago when Jamie Durie was part of the team (a well known name to Australian girls, but for the benefit of my American friends, he has recently joined the Oprah Show as a guest gardening consultant, or something like that?).

Even if semi-naked men bathed in baby oil writhing about the room in cowboy outfits is not your thing, the shows are worth checking out just to watch the audience. Keep your eyes open for the giggling girls out on a bachelorette night party, or the enthusiastic group dragging along their recently divorced, and somewhat reluctant friend - well worth the price of the ticket!

Oh yeah, we also added Penn & Teller to our Las Vegas Show range…

If you go to Vegas, you really should see a show. Not to be outdone by Broadway or London’s West End, Las Vegas offers a diverse mix of comedians, magicians, musicals and of course some good old fashioned adults only entertainment. Be it the current Monty Python smash-hit Spamalot, the oddly hypnotising Blue Man Group at The Venetian or reliving the golden days at The Rat Pack is Back, shows are as much a part of Las Vegas as the 24 hour gambling and gawdy lights of the strip.

So if you are heading to Vegas in the near future, don’t forget to check out Viator’s ever expanding range of shows to see what’s on offer. Vegas aims to please all who come, so you are sure to find something to make you smile.

-Kerrie O’Mahony

- Heading to Sin City? Browse all Las Vegas shows.

- Let me take this opportunity to apologise to the male staff members who sit near our team in the office. I take full responsibility for the incessant girly giggling from my colleagues and I on Tuesday afternoon, I needed a second opinion on the right photos to use - ok maybe a third, fourth…eighth opinion?!?

London is a shopping mecca. Foreigners flock there to spend their money on the latest fashions, homeware trends, hard to get books. And the locals seem to spend most of their weekend in the high street buying clothes, knick-knacks and DIY (do-it-yourself).

Which begs the question, why is everyone on Oxford Street dressed in jeans, t-shirts and flip-flops, or, in winter, Ugg boots? Come on people, you have access to the world’s best clothes, make the most of it.

The Marble Arch in London, England

Although money can be an issue. Visiting or living in London is an expensive past-time, but the problem is not insurmountable. Here are a few of my favourite places to shop and not spend a fortune. With a couple of splurge places thrown in. Because you can get away with jeans and flip-flops if the top is really special, or a t-shirt and jeans if your shoes and bag are a statement in themselves. And jewelery can be a bargain at markets and makes something of nothing.

Topshop: There are branches all over the place but the flagship store is in Oxford Street, near Oxford Circus. Allow plenty of time, take a bottle of water and loads of inner strength, especially on weekends. You have to visit often because the stock changes every few weeks, so if you like it, buy it – it won’t be there when you’ve mulled it over for a few days. Topshop has its own designers so it leads the trends as much as following them and things are reasonably priced. And they do the celebrity designed ranges – the most recent being Kate Moss. There’s even a maternity section for the groovy pregnant, a Tall and a Petite range, a vintage section, and a range for men: Topman. They also give space to young designers and new labels. My favourite.

H&M: A Swedish store which can be found all over Europe. It has well priced clothes, both for men and women. Really good basics and they’re right into the whole working with a designer on a cheap range concept. This November it’s a Roberto Cavalli range. Chasing the designer lines is the time to avoid the major stores like Oxford Street and go somewhere like Poland! The Stella McCartney at H&M range sold out in a few hours, I got a skirt a month later in Warsaw. Although, if I hadn’t already been there that would have hiked the price up a bit…

Selfridges: Still on Oxford Street and a bit pricier. But they have sales, especially around Christmas and the prices plummet. 10 pounds for designers skirts which were a couple of hundred. But, like anything in London, it’s a matter of enduring the moody crowds intent on getting a bargain. Selfridges has many floors and the ground floor is divided into little subshops of all the big chains, not just clothes. A good department store with windows which are a work of art themselves.

Office shoes: a great chain of shoe stores with everything from heels to boots to runners. Latest styles and good prices. They do get a bit focussed on following fashion so if you don’t like what you’re seeing on the twenty-somethings on the tube, avoid Office.

Postmistress Shoes, Covent Garden: This is pricier but I love it. Great shoes and a bit unusual. It’s in the Seven Dials area of shopping streets near Covent Garden and the whole area is worth exploring for small shops including the wonderful Kiehl’s lotions.

Markets in London are a great way to buy economically although the quality can sometimes be dodgy. But there are also stalls with handmade things which are worth finding. My favourites are Spitalfields in the East End near Liverpool Street Station – there is a great jewellery store there, artists, good food, and the novelist Jeanette Winterson owns and runs the fruit and veg shop opposite. From here walk through to Brick Lane (made famous by Monica Ali’s Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel) where there are shops and a market on Sundays. Nearby is Petticoat Lane market which specialises in clothes and Asian fabrics.

Further north is Camden Market which is really a few markets next to each other and has lots of clothes. This gets really crowded especially with young backpackers looking for black t-shirts, but there are great things in there too. And further west is Portobello Road market, famous for jewelery, open on Saturdays. Portobello Road itself is also worth a wander as are the streets around Notting Hill which house many of the small designer clothes and shoe shops. This area is definitely more expensive though.

If you have a little more to spend, or would like to buy one or two really good things rather than a bag full of pretty good things, head to Marylebone High Street, in the same area as Selfridges, just off Oxford Street and near Madame Tussaud – handy location, no? Here you’ll find lots of great little shops giving an idea of the well-heeled London life; perfumes for the home, expensive corkscrews, books for travellers, French patisseries, jewellery stores, Waitrose, a great but slightly expensive supermarket, Whistles clothes, and the Conran shop for expensive home knick-knacks. Madonna lives around here and I used to – our residences were somewhat different sizes.

A Shopping Gallery in London

Off Marylebone High Street and going through to Oxford Street is Marylebone Lane. Here you’ll find a few boutique dress shops and Tracey Neuls shoes which are beautiful if a bit of a treat. There is also VV Rouleaux which sells ribbons. I love that London is big enough to have shops this thorough and this specific. A beautiful place to dream.

And don’t forget Carnaby Street, not far from Oxford Circus. Lots of designer and quirky other shops, and of course, fashion history. Liberty is nearby, worth a look for its creaky floorboards and famous prints. And Hamleys toy shop in Regent Street, world famous and well-deserved.

When you’ve finished a day shopping, you’ll be exhausted. I recommend a good pamper and soak, although that too can be a day in itself. The best known in London is probably The Sanctuary in Covent Garden, hidden behind a small shop front in Floral Street. But I have to say I think it is overpriced and the facilities not that good. Try the new SpaLondon in Bethnal Green. It only recently reopened and they have kept the old Victorian Turkish Bath steam rooms and added saunas, a hammam and a plunge pool. Divine and about one third the price of The Sanctuary. And for locals it’s really cheap – not all of London is about having loads of cash.

If you prefer coffee to getting hot and sweaty, go to Flat White in Berwick Street, Soho. Definitely the best coffee in London and run by lovely New Zealanders and Australians. I highly recommend you have breakfast at The Wolseley on Piccadilly (great for celebrity spotting). And, if you didn’t buy too many shoes and bags and skirts and coats and feel very wealthy, have afternoon tea at the Ritz also on Piccadilly – a very London experience. And you’ll save money by not needing dinner.

–Philippa Burne

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Left behind in a neon graveyard

As a recent resident of Las Vegas, I was excited by the prospect of visiting the Neon Graveyard. Located on Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip) north of Downtown and the Fremont Street Experience, the Neon Graveyard, Neon Museum or The Boneyard, offers an eclectic mix of old Vegas and new. From pre-WWII signs to the recent Stardust implosion, I glimpsed at a world of ever-changing fonts, ideas, and images.

As I strolled through rows of old signage, visions of Old Style Vegas floated in the day’s hazy heat - you could practically hear Deano and Frank sharing quips over a martini. Ironically, the museum is located in the oldest neighborhood in Las Vegas and is adjacent to the first settled area in the valley – the Old Mormon Fort.

My guide, Erin, regaled us with tales of eccentric millionaires, “atomic packages,” mob-run delis, traveling icons, and more. I especially enjoyed the little tidbit on Howard Hughes & The Silver Slipper. Originally spinning on the top of its namesake, The Silver Slipper so disturbed Hughes that he bought the aforementioned establishment and turned the offending eyesore off! Later, Wayne Newton, during a photo op, cracked it after resting his foot on it.

Costing $180,000 USD to move from The Strip to the graveyard, signs from the newly imploded Stardust rest here amid piles of neon detritus. Surprisingly, I learned that the original font for the Stardust was created to showcase the infamous Atomic Tests – the casino went so far as to create drinks and vacation packages to celebrate this scientific feat.

Casinos, restaurants, pool halls, trailer parks – if there was a neon sign, most likely this place has it. Even a sign from Cedar City, Utah – China Garden Cafe – holds court with Caesar’s Palace & the Coin King. Sadly, the Neon Graveyard does not contain all the famous signs from Las Vegas’ neon past. For instance, only one piece of the Dunes survives – others may exist in the collections of private individuals.

The non-profit cultural center that runs the museum is in the process of building a permanent exhibit and offering structured tours, so I was fortunate enough to be included on one of the last private tours offered. Hopefully, on your next visit to Las Vegas, you might get a chance to see these neon behemoths!

–Sue Warnke

Editor’s Note: You can browse more of Sue’s snaps on the Viator Flickr Site: Las Vegas’ Neon Graveyard.

Planning a trip? Browse all of Viator’s Las Vegas tours and things to do at the Grand Canyon. Viva Las Vegas!