U.K./Ireland Travel
- Venice Guidebook Expert Wanted
- How to Avoid Lost Luggage Misery!
- Florida Wildlife Beats Theme Parks
- The Best Things to See in London
- My Top Orlando Attractions
- Termites Are Eating Our Garage
- 1000 Places to See Before You Die
- London's River Thames Cruises
- Six Nations 2008 Home and Away
- Liverpool: Capital of Culture 2008
Venice Guidebook Expert Wanted
Posted by
Mike Gerrard
Mike Gerrard
Lonely Planet author admits he didn't visit destinations, didn't eat in restaurants, so is the expert guidebook writer on Venice, Athens or anywhere really an expert?
This week I'm wanted as a Venice guidebook expert. A few months ago it was Amsterdam. Before that it was Paris, and before that Athens. Given the recent storm caused by the Lonely Planet writer who claimed he wrote about Colombia without setting foot in the country, you might like to ask if I've actually been to all these places. Well, yes I have. Frequently.
It's a shame Lonely Planet took the flak, because it seems the author concerned only wrote the History section of the guide, and you don't need to travel to a country to do that. The fact that he had a book to promote, about writing guidebooks, means it should all be taken with a pinch of salt, to use one of those clichés we guidebook writers are meant to love so much.
There are several sides to the story, and one of them is that, yes, some publishers pay guidebook writers very little. But there are also guidebook writers who abuse their publishers by not doing a professional job. I know several who take the money and run - though not to the destination concerned.
For the Venice guide I'm updating, the publishers (the AA) not only write it into the contract that I have to go, they are also paying a reasonable sum in expenses. Not enough to stay at the Gritti Palace and dine Michelin-style, but enough for basic living expenses.
Last year I updated my Essential Athens guide and turned it into Essential Spiral Athens, the new-style AA series – after ten days in the city. So yes, most guidebook writers do go to the places we write about. That's the best part! I don't need asking twice to go visit Venice, and maintain my credentials as a guidebook expert.
It's a shame Lonely Planet took the flak, because it seems the author concerned only wrote the History section of the guide, and you don't need to travel to a country to do that. The fact that he had a book to promote, about writing guidebooks, means it should all be taken with a pinch of salt, to use one of those clichés we guidebook writers are meant to love so much.
There are several sides to the story, and one of them is that, yes, some publishers pay guidebook writers very little. But there are also guidebook writers who abuse their publishers by not doing a professional job. I know several who take the money and run - though not to the destination concerned.
For the Venice guide I'm updating, the publishers (the AA) not only write it into the contract that I have to go, they are also paying a reasonable sum in expenses. Not enough to stay at the Gritti Palace and dine Michelin-style, but enough for basic living expenses.
Last year I updated my Essential Athens guide and turned it into Essential Spiral Athens, the new-style AA series – after ten days in the city. So yes, most guidebook writers do go to the places we write about. That's the best part! I don't need asking twice to go visit Venice, and maintain my credentials as a guidebook expert.
How to Avoid Lost Luggage Misery!
Posted by
Mike Gerrard
Mike Gerrard
Lost luggage is a travel nightmare, but a Global Bag Tag helps ensure frequent flyers never lose their checked-in baggage by giving online access to a special website.
Lost luggage is one of the worst fears that frequent flyers face. Waiting at the luggage carousel while everyone else's bags arrive, but not yours, is something that we all have a chance of facing at some time in our travels. Yet most lost luggage is not in fact lost. It's more often simply been parted from its owner and its luggage tags, and most baggage is eventually fund and returned to the right people.
The problem with most lost luggage is in finding the right people. Many travelers use a flimsy luggage tag, which can easily be ripped off leaving no owner's details in the bag. If the airline's own barcoded baggage tag also comes off – and it happens – then the bag is unidentifiable. The lost luggage could belong to anyone, anywhere in the world.
There are about 250,000 reports of lost baggage in the United States alone every month. And rising. Six years ago a traveler named Chris Truelove and his wife lost one of their cases. They had to survive a three-week trip on what they could buy locally, and were disappointed by the compensation the airline offered them.
So Chris and his wife set up www.globalbagtags.com. For £9.95 you get a pair of sturdy luggage tags, each of which has a unique code on it. You also get a year's access to the online database. Here you can record your itinerary and contact details, every time you travel, and if your luggage is lost the airline can track you down and get it back to you by going online and finding you. You should also, of course, write the information on a card and put it inside your luggage, for double security. I use them myself and hope I never find out how well they work.
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The problem with most lost luggage is in finding the right people. Many travelers use a flimsy luggage tag, which can easily be ripped off leaving no owner's details in the bag. If the airline's own barcoded baggage tag also comes off – and it happens – then the bag is unidentifiable. The lost luggage could belong to anyone, anywhere in the world.
There are about 250,000 reports of lost baggage in the United States alone every month. And rising. Six years ago a traveler named Chris Truelove and his wife lost one of their cases. They had to survive a three-week trip on what they could buy locally, and were disappointed by the compensation the airline offered them.
So Chris and his wife set up www.globalbagtags.com. For £9.95 you get a pair of sturdy luggage tags, each of which has a unique code on it. You also get a year's access to the online database. Here you can record your itinerary and contact details, every time you travel, and if your luggage is lost the airline can track you down and get it back to you by going online and finding you. You should also, of course, write the information on a card and put it inside your luggage, for double security. I use them myself and hope I never find out how well they work.
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Florida Wildlife Beats Theme Parks
Posted by
Mike Gerrard
Mike Gerrard
Florida's wildlife, like bald eagles and alligators, is easy to see in Tampa, Orlando and on the Space Coast so go beyond the theme parks and get some natural thrills.
I expected to enjoy Disney World, Epcot, Universal Studios, SeaWorld and all the other theme parks and fun experiences when I went to Florida recently. The Spiderman ride? Fantastic! Go back and do it again. We went Soarin' at Epcot two days in a row. And who doesn't enjoy Pirates of the Caribbean? But what really blew me away about Florida was the wildlife.
We saw manatees swimming at the Blue Springs State Park, and again at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, just a few miles from the Kennedy Space Center. We saw 'gators, bald eagles and wild pigs, right in the Space Center itself. Injured manatees were being cared for at Epcot and SeaWorld, under the excellent wildlife protection programs that many theme parks operate.
Two of the best days we spent in Florida were when we got out and did some wildlife watching with knowledgeable guides. One was with Boggy Creek Airboat Rides, who are just south of Kissimmee, and with our excellent guide Martin Wallace we saw osprey, bald eagles, snail kites... and, of course, 'gators.
The other great wildlife experience was with Brian Faulk, who runs Canoe Escape and was our guide on a canoe trip of a few miles down the Hillsborough River. It was a rich and relaxing experience, getting up-close views of roseate spoonbills, anhingas, hawks, all kinds of herons and ibis, woodpeckers, and, yes, Florida's 'gators. As Brian said to us at the end of the trip: 'That's an experience you don't get in a theme park.'
The wildlife of all of the United States, not just Florida, is wonderful and precious. Protect it and cherish it.
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Read about the Boggy Creek Airboat Rides near Orlando and Kissimmee here.
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Read about the Canoe Escape near Tampa here.
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We saw manatees swimming at the Blue Springs State Park, and again at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, just a few miles from the Kennedy Space Center. We saw 'gators, bald eagles and wild pigs, right in the Space Center itself. Injured manatees were being cared for at Epcot and SeaWorld, under the excellent wildlife protection programs that many theme parks operate.
Two of the best days we spent in Florida were when we got out and did some wildlife watching with knowledgeable guides. One was with Boggy Creek Airboat Rides, who are just south of Kissimmee, and with our excellent guide Martin Wallace we saw osprey, bald eagles, snail kites... and, of course, 'gators.
The other great wildlife experience was with Brian Faulk, who runs Canoe Escape and was our guide on a canoe trip of a few miles down the Hillsborough River. It was a rich and relaxing experience, getting up-close views of roseate spoonbills, anhingas, hawks, all kinds of herons and ibis, woodpeckers, and, yes, Florida's 'gators. As Brian said to us at the end of the trip: 'That's an experience you don't get in a theme park.'
The wildlife of all of the United States, not just Florida, is wonderful and precious. Protect it and cherish it.
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Read about the Boggy Creek Airboat Rides near Orlando and Kissimmee here.
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Read about the Canoe Escape near Tampa here.
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The Best Things to See in London
Posted by
Mike Gerrard
Mike Gerrard
In a list of London's top attractions, would you include Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, or maybe the River Thames, and London's Pubs?
Last week, fresh back from Florida, I tried to pick my top Orlando attractions. It wasn't easy and I couldn't reduce it to the Top Ten that I'd originally planned to do – but then I also wanted to include our side trips to the Space Coast and to the Tampa Bay area.
This week it set me thinking – could I choose a Top Ten list of London attractions? That would be even harder, as I lived in London for almost 15 years, and we'd only been in Florida for a month! But I decided this time I would definitely keep it to just ten, and try and come up with a list that everyone should absolutely not miss when on vacation in London, whether you're there on a family holiday, honeymoon, business trip, solo vacation or whatever.
Whether you're 17 or 70, there are certain things in London you really have to see, and then you can add some more depending on your personal preferences, whether nightclubs or theatre visits. And I did come up with my own personal London Top Ten, though because of the space restrictions on Suite101's pages, I had to divide it into two. But that made me realise that half of London's top sights are right on the river, and I'd already chosen the River Thames itself.
So here they are, London's Top Ten Attractions, divided into:
London's Top Five Travel Attractions
London's Top Five River Attractions
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This week it set me thinking – could I choose a Top Ten list of London attractions? That would be even harder, as I lived in London for almost 15 years, and we'd only been in Florida for a month! But I decided this time I would definitely keep it to just ten, and try and come up with a list that everyone should absolutely not miss when on vacation in London, whether you're there on a family holiday, honeymoon, business trip, solo vacation or whatever.
Whether you're 17 or 70, there are certain things in London you really have to see, and then you can add some more depending on your personal preferences, whether nightclubs or theatre visits. And I did come up with my own personal London Top Ten, though because of the space restrictions on Suite101's pages, I had to divide it into two. But that made me realise that half of London's top sights are right on the river, and I'd already chosen the River Thames itself.
So here they are, London's Top Ten Attractions, divided into:
London's Top Five Travel Attractions
London's Top Five River Attractions
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Posted by
Mike Gerrard
Mike Gerrard
Orlando and Central Florida are more than just Disneyland. Attractions range from museums to manatees, from Salvador Dali to astronauts, and from galleries to gators.
We've just returned from a month in Central Florida, where my wife was researching a new guidebook to Orlando, with excursions as far as Tampa and St Petersburg on the west coast, and the Space Coast in the east. It was a hectic non-stop trip, and my first visit to the Sunshine State. It was an eye-opener, showing me there's more, much mre to Florida than just Disneyland and the other theme parks. Here's a quick run-down of my personal Florida favorites:
See what my wife thought was Walt Disney World's Best Ride.
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- Boggy Creek Airboat Rides: an exciting ride on Lake Tohoe, seeing gators, snail kites and many more.
- Salvador Dali Museum: one of the biggest and best Salvador Dali collections anywhere.
- Bern's Steakhouse: the best steak I've ever eaten, and the biggest wine cellar in the world.
- Ybor City: the historic Cuban quarter of Tampa, and America's cigar capital.
- Soarin' at Epcot: convincing hang-gliding simulator over the California landscape.
- Discovery Cove: swimming with dolphins, the highlight of the whole trip.
- The Silver Spurs Rodeo in Kissimmee: real cowboy skills and thrills.
- Sea World: dolphins, killer whales, manatees and other wonderful wildlife.
- Kennedy Space Center: the Space Shuttle Endeavour was on the launch pad, and we had lunch with an astronaut.
- Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge: seeing gators and hawks, and watching an otter feeding for about 15 minutes.
- Cocoa Beach: laid-back beach resort. We'll go back.
- Spiderman: best theme park ride of all, at Universal Studios.
- Downtown Orlando: great art galleries and impressive restaurants.
- Canoe Escape: a relaxing float down the Hillsborough River near Tampa with an expert naturalist, seeing spoonbills, hawks, woodpeckers, herons, egrets, anhingas and simply enjoying the peace and quiet, and Florida's breath-taking wildlife.
See what my wife thought was Walt Disney World's Best Ride.
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Termites Are Eating Our Garage
Posted by
Mike Gerrard
Mike Gerrard
There's a leak under the sink, rips in the roof, the ficus tree has fallen down, the car engine's leaking and now termites are eating our garage. Welcome to Arizona!
When we left our home in England we had been battling a plague of carpet beetles. These creatures fly in your windows during the warm summer months, lay their eggs in some dark corner, and the first you know about is when little holes start appearing in your carpet or your favorite clothes as the larvae start munching away. They'll continue to gnaw at your clothes – even cotton and artificial fabrics – till the spring comes when they fly out to the garden and the whole cycle starts over again.
But carpet beetles are wimps compared to the pests we find when we come to Arizona. Bugs eating our clothes? That's nothing. We'd only been here a few days when it was time for our annual termite inspection, and the guy called us out to look at something in the garage.
One of the wooden jambs on the garage door was rotten from the inside, eaten away by the termites. They'd come up from under the concrete garage floor and gone straight into the middle of the wooden support post, and chewed their way up. They're an invisible menace, impossible to detect until the wood and the paint start crumbling, looking like they do when rot sets in. The guy punched several holes in the wood with his screwdriver, showing that the blind little creatures had eaten their way up by a few feet. The post was going to need replacing, after treatment.
So back in England the carpet beetles are probably still tucking into our clothes, while here in Arizona termites are eating our garage.
But carpet beetles are wimps compared to the pests we find when we come to Arizona. Bugs eating our clothes? That's nothing. We'd only been here a few days when it was time for our annual termite inspection, and the guy called us out to look at something in the garage.
One of the wooden jambs on the garage door was rotten from the inside, eaten away by the termites. They'd come up from under the concrete garage floor and gone straight into the middle of the wooden support post, and chewed their way up. They're an invisible menace, impossible to detect until the wood and the paint start crumbling, looking like they do when rot sets in. The guy punched several holes in the wood with his screwdriver, showing that the blind little creatures had eaten their way up by a few feet. The post was going to need replacing, after treatment.
So back in England the carpet beetles are probably still tucking into our clothes, while here in Arizona termites are eating our garage.
1000 Places to See Before You Die
Posted by
Mike Gerrard
Mike Gerrard
1000 Places to See Before You Die is a New York Times Number One Bestseller and offers a life list of 'must see' travel destinations. How do the UK and Ireland rate?
One of the Christmas presents my brother gave my wife was 1000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz. This hefty book provides a traveler's life list of places you really must see. Not content with a Top Ten Travel Destinations, the author attempts to provide us with, well, what it says on the tin: 1000 Places to See Before You Die.
The wrapping was hardly off when we were checking how many of those Top 1000 we'd enjoyed.
And the UK and Ireland? Click here.
The wrapping was hardly off when we were checking how many of those Top 1000 we'd enjoyed.
- San Sebastian in Spain – we were there three months ago.
- The Pulitzer Hotel in Amsterdam – we stayed there!
- Vail in Colorado – yes, on the 4th of July.
- Kennedy Space Center – we're going in February.
And the UK and Ireland? Click here.
Posted by
Mike Gerrard
Mike Gerrard
A boat trip along the River Thames is the best way to appreciate London's history, its atmosphere and its buildings, whether by day or on a romantic dinner cruise.
As a travel writer who has written a lot about London, and lived there for about 15 years, I've got to know the city pretty well. I lived in Notting Hill, have been up Big Ben, been invited to the Houses of Parliament and dined at some of the best restaurants, like Gordon Ramsay, Nobu and The Ivy. But there's one thing about the city that always excites me, and gets me jumping up and down like a little kid: a cruise on the river.
Lots of PR companies know this, when they want to get travel writers to attend their events. Organise a London river cruise and you're sure of a good turn-out. One of the publishers my wife and I write for, Insight Guides, hold an annual summer party on one of the Thames river cruisers, and they always have a waiting list to attend. They go down the river as far as the Isle of Dogs and views of Canary Wharf, and up the other way to Hammersmith past the Houses of Parliament. To see London lit up at night, especially the buildings along the river banks, is an experience you'll never forget.
That's why I've written a short piece about London river cruises, with links to several of the tour companies offering them. If you're planning to visit London soon, or even if you live there and have never been on the river, take a look at Sail on London River Cruises.
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Lots of PR companies know this, when they want to get travel writers to attend their events. Organise a London river cruise and you're sure of a good turn-out. One of the publishers my wife and I write for, Insight Guides, hold an annual summer party on one of the Thames river cruisers, and they always have a waiting list to attend. They go down the river as far as the Isle of Dogs and views of Canary Wharf, and up the other way to Hammersmith past the Houses of Parliament. To see London lit up at night, especially the buildings along the river banks, is an experience you'll never forget.
That's why I've written a short piece about London river cruises, with links to several of the tour companies offering them. If you're planning to visit London soon, or even if you live there and have never been on the river, take a look at Sail on London River Cruises.
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Six Nations 2008 Home and Away
Posted by
Mike Gerrard
Mike Gerrard
Rugby's 2008 Six Nations Championship kicks off on February 2nd, and the annual games between England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and France run until March 15.
That was bad timing on my part. The 2008 Six Nations starts on February 2nd with the Ireland-Italy and England-Wales matches, at Croke Park and Twickenham respectively. And will I be staking my usual place on the sofa, glued to the box for the afternoon? Er, no. Three days earlier we fly off to our place in Arizona, where it is safe to say rugby doesn't get a look-in. I know, because I've tried. The USA may have had a team competing at the Rugby World Cup but can you track down any rugby coverage on any of the 4000 TV channels the average household can tune into? Not a chance.
Not that it would help if we could. Less than two weeks after arriving we leave again to spend a month on the road in Florida, researching a guidebook. So on February 23rd, when there are three matches one after the other, we will be – according to my wife's military-style itinerary - in Disneyland. There's a Mickey Mouse joke in there somewhere, given the way one team played in the World Cup, but my Irish friend would never forgive me.
Full 2008 Six Nations Fixture List
Not that it would help if we could. Less than two weeks after arriving we leave again to spend a month on the road in Florida, researching a guidebook. So on February 23rd, when there are three matches one after the other, we will be – according to my wife's military-style itinerary - in Disneyland. There's a Mickey Mouse joke in there somewhere, given the way one team played in the World Cup, but my Irish friend would never forgive me.
Full 2008 Six Nations Fixture List
Liverpool: Capital of Culture 2008
Posted by
Mike Gerrard
Mike Gerrard
For 2008 Liverpool is a European Capital of Culture as Merseyside enjoys a mix of drama, dance, art, events and of course music in the city the Beatles made famous.
I grew up in St Helens, which was in Lancashire at the time, though later someone sneaked in one night and moved it into the district of Merseyside. We all suspected it must have been a Liverpool Scally, up to no good. In those days, if Liverpool was European capital of anything it was more likely to be car crime than culture.
Liverpool was our nearest big city, easier to get to than Manchester, and it was where we went to do our Christmas shopping, or sometimes to go to the pantomime, and later as a teenager to see the Beatles and other pop stars like the Rolling Stones, PJ Proby, Stevie Winwood and the Spencer Davis Group, Mary Wells, The Hollies and many more I've forgotten.
As I grew older and realised that history went back a little bit further than the Beatles' first LP (which was the first LP I ever bought), I discovered that Liverpool did have its own distinct history and culture, like no other city in Europe. The docks and the shipping trade was fascinating, Liverpool had one of the world's first commercial ferry services, going across the Mersey between the Liverpool shore and the priory at Birkenhead.
In the 20th century it produced great comedians like Ken Dodd, Robb Wilton, Jimmy Tarbuck, Tommy Handley, Alexei Sayle, Ted Ray, Paul O'Grady, Tom O'Connor and Arthur Askey, there were playwrights like Willy Russell and Alan Bleasdale, and of course the great 1960s days of Merseybeat – the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer, the Searchers, Cilla Black, The Swinging Blue Jeans, the Fourmost... the list really is almost endless.
So to see Liverpool as the European City of Culture 2008 is really rather special to me. The next twelve months will be - fab!
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Liverpool was our nearest big city, easier to get to than Manchester, and it was where we went to do our Christmas shopping, or sometimes to go to the pantomime, and later as a teenager to see the Beatles and other pop stars like the Rolling Stones, PJ Proby, Stevie Winwood and the Spencer Davis Group, Mary Wells, The Hollies and many more I've forgotten.
As I grew older and realised that history went back a little bit further than the Beatles' first LP (which was the first LP I ever bought), I discovered that Liverpool did have its own distinct history and culture, like no other city in Europe. The docks and the shipping trade was fascinating, Liverpool had one of the world's first commercial ferry services, going across the Mersey between the Liverpool shore and the priory at Birkenhead.
In the 20th century it produced great comedians like Ken Dodd, Robb Wilton, Jimmy Tarbuck, Tommy Handley, Alexei Sayle, Ted Ray, Paul O'Grady, Tom O'Connor and Arthur Askey, there were playwrights like Willy Russell and Alan Bleasdale, and of course the great 1960s days of Merseybeat – the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer, the Searchers, Cilla Black, The Swinging Blue Jeans, the Fourmost... the list really is almost endless.
So to see Liverpool as the European City of Culture 2008 is really rather special to me. The next twelve months will be - fab!
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