Departure Lounge | Viator Travel Blog

Another Day that the Music Died

6. September 2007

It’s been a sad week in Sydney. Starting with the 10th anniversary of the passing of Diana, Princess of Wales, closely followed by the 1st anniversary of the death of “crocodile hunter” Steve Irwin. Next adventurer Steve Fosset has gone missing and then today, the sad news that the great tenor Luciano Pavarotti has losing [...]

SMINTAIR - Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em

14. August 2007

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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 [...]

Guest Blogger: Laura from Blurb

2. August 2007

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Baja California Dreamin’ Editor’s Note: The following post is by Laura Z, the online marketing guru at Blurb; Laura also writes about her voracious book consumption on a different site. We think the concept of Blurb is very cool, so we asked Laura to tell us about her recent trip to Mexico and how she created [...]

Elvis Presley is Dead, Long Live the King

31. July 2007

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Editor’s Note: August 16th marks the 30th anniversary of Elvis’ death. I was a week shy of my 8th birthday when Elvis Presley died, and I still remember being in the playground at school with my friends when I heard the news. Even at that young age, I was shocked that such a prolific singer was [...]

The Venice Biennale

27. July 2007

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Venice brings to mind a glorious past of glamorous parties in Palazzo lining the Grand Canal: champagne flowing, voices chattering, rich fabrics rustling. This year, I was lucky enough to be in Venice during the opening of the 52nd Venice Biennale. There were parties, there was champagne (fabrics, sadly, do not rustle much these days). I was privy to the glamour of it all from a lumbering vaparetto on the Grand Canal. But even getting a glimpse of people mingling on the rooftop of the Peggy Guggenheim Gallery, gossiping in the party-dressed Rialto Market and networking at the Palazzo Giustinian Lolin made me feel I was in Venice at a special time.

Harry Potter Mania Worldwide

26. July 2007

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Let me start off by saying I am not a huge Harry Potter fan. I’ve read the books, but until recently I’d never bought any of them (all borrowed from friends). I mostly have seen the movies on tv. Of my friends and colleagues, I am the exception not the rule. I am not going [...]

A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man

24. July 2007

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Just a quick note to celebrate the launch of a new attraction on Viator.com: the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, Ireland. Whether you call it stout, the black stuff or a pint of plain, Guinness is a wonderful brew. And the brewery at St James’s Gate in Dublin offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Guinness brand [...]

Places to stay (and save money) in New York City

16. July 2007

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Its the summer tourist season in New York City. New York is not a cheap city to start and with hotel occupancy levels and prices at record highs, your hotel costs can really take a big out of your Big Apple Vacation, leaving you less money for the real fun stuff – things to do! [...]

Live Earth Sydney Concert

9. July 2007

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Ok, so technically it’s a bit of a stretch to make Live Earth a travel related event, but let’s just say it was a global event and we are a global company. Viator are proud partners of Carbonfund.org and try to educate our customers of the impact which travel can have on the environment. Is [...]

New 7 Wonders of the World

7. July 2007

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Congrats to the Colosseum in Rome If you’ve been following the news about the ‘New 7 Wonders of the World’, you’ll know that today was the BIG day, the day that the final ‘winners’ were announced at a star-studded gala in Portugal… you know, performances by Jennifer Lopez and Chaka Khan, hosted by Hilary Swank, Ben [...]