Tripadvisor donating $1m to good causes

Check out http://www.tripadvisor.com/Causes

I am registered with TripAdvisor, so I was able to choose which cause TripAdvisor should give money to. They are giving away $1m, and the money is spread out according to how people vote.

The causes are:

• Conservation International
• Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières)
  
• National Geographic Society
• The Nature Conservancy
• Save the Children

More Ryanair news - You can't make this stuff up

Three quite bizarre Ryanair news items, courtesy of Bernd Biege at About.com:

- A can of mushroom soup, being stored in overhead luggage on a Ryanair flight, spilt down on top of someone who happened to be allergic to mushroom soup. According to the Guardian, "a passenger on a Ryanair flight from Budapest to Dublin needed medical treatment after a jar of soup leaked in an overhead locker, dripping onto his face. The man suffered swelling to his neck and struggled to breathe, forcing the aircraft to be diverted to Frankfurt, in Germany."

- And not only did Michael O'Leary make an off-colour reference in a news conference to the kind of "B&B" service to be offered on potential transatlantic flights (and I don't mean "Bed and Breakfast" service), but then Ryanair put out a press release about how it was a most-watched clip on YouTube.

- And, least bizarre of all, there was suspected hanky-panky in the cockpit of a Ryanair flight, as reported in the Sunday Times and relayed by Bernd Biege.

Ronda, Andalucia, Spain

The Postcard a Day blog featured Ronda on Sunday. Ronda is in Andalucia, reachable via a very windy (and occasionally scary) road from Malaga. I'm sure there is another road, but that was the road I took anyway.

As people told me before I went there, Ronda is "all about the gorge", the 100m-deep (328ft) El Tajo gorge. In the photo below you can see the parador (a hotel) perched on the side of the gorge:



Here you can see another view of the gorge, looking down far below:


This part of Spain was one of the last Muslim strongholds of Al-Andalus during the Christian re-conquest (Reconquista) of Spain. The building below was the minaret of a mosque, and was made into a bell tower instead by Christians.



Ronda is also home to a spectacular bull-ring, whose entrance you can see below:

Apple stores in London and Boston

Even with the strengthening dollar and weakening pound, the difference in price between these two Apple Stores is significant.

London (Regents Street):



Boston (Boylston Street):

Yummy Yummy

Who can resist a Vietnamese restaurant in Sunset, San Francisco, called "Yummy Yummy"

The girls of Ryanair

Can't see a US airline promoting a calendar of their stewardesses like this (well, maybe Hooters Air, but they ceased flying).

Flying for free (but paying for luggage and taxes)

Last night I booked a flight from Dublin to London Heathrow with Aer Lingus, departing two weeks from now. The flight was free. As you can see, all Aer Lingus flights from Dublin to London are free, all that week. I paid for taxes (just under 23 pounds sterling, or $40 at today's exchange rate). And, I paid 8 pounds to check a bag ($14).



Just to show this is not an Aer Lingus only thing, Ryanair does the same thing. Take a look at the front page of their site.



Cheap flights are something I really miss from living in Europe. Let's say you live in Dublin and want a quick break to London (or France, or Spain). You can do that with Aer Lingus or Ryanair. But, living in Boston and thinking "how about a break to New York City sometime in the next few weeks", there simply are no flight options as cheap as this. And, further afield, what about a really cheap break to Quebec or Florida? Not as cheap as the European equivalent, no matter how early you book (unless I am missing something?....)

Shopping at the Mall of the Emirates, Dubai

One of the major sights in Dubai is the Mall of the Emirates.



The Mall of the Emirates is often said to be the largest shopping mall in the world. It is certainly the only mall where you will see a sign which points to both an indoor ski slope (Ski Dubai) and Muslim prayer rooms (more about that indoor ski slope in a future blog post...).



It includes a great mix of shops, including the high-end shops which you would expect. Here is Harvey Nichols:



... and here is Louis Vuitton:



But also medium-end shops such as Benetton:



and Kenneth Cole:



Plus the obligatory Starbucks:



and McDonalds:



The mall also has a "souk" section, which, though of course not an actual souk (such as the Mutrah Souk in Muscat or Dubai's many souks) does contain some good shops for the souvenir hunter, like this one where I bought many predictable gifts such as oil lamps:



Prices in Dubai are linked to the dollar, so they do not vary for American visitors, but have recently gone up for British and Euro-spending visitors. Overall, i found it a little bit cheaper than what I'm used to in the US or Europe.

It is a massive mall. If you put the high-end Tyson's Corner mall in Virginia back-t0-back with the Westfield mall from San Francisco, then added a full-size Carrafour and a Ski-slope, you would have an approximation of the Mall of the Emirates. It is that big.

Flying from Havana to Miami

Somewhat surprisingly, there is an American Eagle flight MQ9513 from Havana, Cuba to Miami, Florida. Here is a photo I took of an arrivals monitor in MIA showing the flight has landed.



And, checking Flightstats.com, I can see that the same flight came in today to Miami from Havana:



So how do you book this flight?

If I do a search for a flight from Havana to Miami on Google, I see this:



So far, so good. So, what happens if I click on the Expedia link near the top there?

I see this:



When I click on the Orbitz link, I see "We're sorry, Orbitz does not support flights that originate from Havana, Cuba(Message 1031)".



Travelocity says "Unfortunately, no flights met your search criteria for the airports you selected. Possible Causes: * This could be a peak travel time for your destination. * Your search may have been restricted by airline, stops, fare class, or fare type."

When I click on Priceline, even the PriceLine Negotiator has to give up and says "We are unable to find flights that match your exact criteria. We recommend that you try another search using different dates, locations or options if you can."


So is it possible to book that flight? Hmm.....

Oman Air

Ynotoman ("Why not Oman", gettit?) is flying from London Gatwick to Muscat, Oman today, and reports on the tasty on-board food (lamb, tamarind sorbet).

Gatwick sounds like a better option for Oman than my usual choice, Heathrow. The BA flight from Heathrow to Muscat departs at 9:40am, which makes for a tight connection if you're arriving into Heathrow from somewhere else that morning, as I usually am.

Oman Air recently rebranded their planes (more rounded imagery, more green) and revamped their fleet. This coincides with Oman's rise as a tourist destination.

I've posted my own tourist tips for Muscat, Oman here:

• Muscat, Oman - Day 1: Orientation, First Impressions...
• Muscat, Oman - Day 2: Mutrah Souk
• Muscat, Oman - Day 3: A walk along Mutrah Corniche
• Muscat, Oman - Day 4: The Sultan's Palace
• Muscat, Oman - Day 5: Beach and Mountains