Discounted Awards to Tahiti, and Half Off Business Class to Europe!

Air France KLM’s Flying Blue program should be interesting to U.S. frequent flyers for several reasons. They offer one-way awards, which Delta won’t have until next year. They are an American Express Membership Rewards and a Citi Thank You points transfer partner. They have access to award space that Delta won’t let you have. They […]

The post Discounted Awards to Tahiti, and Half Off Business Class to Europe! appeared first on View from the Wing.

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2014/10/31/discounted-awards-tahiti-half-business-class-europe/

Royal Jordanian 787 Flights To The US

Back in the day, redeeming American AAdvantage miles to the Middle East was really tough. The only airline partner that American had in the Middle East was Royal Jordanian, which in terms of quality certainly isn't in the same league as the "big three" Gulf carriers (Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar).

Over the past few years American miles have gone from being among the least valuable for travel to the Middle East, to being among the most valuable:

-- In 2011, American started a partnership with Etihad Airways, whereby American flyers could redeem miles on them

-- In 2013, Qatar Airways joined the oneworld alliance, meaning AAdvantage members could redeem miles on them

That means you can now redeem American miles for travel on two of the "big three" Gulf carriers.

The post Royal Jordanian 787 Flights To The US appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/10/31/royal-jordanian-787-flights-us/

Wednesday: #CityTravel Twitter Chat

Love exploring new cities around the world? Join @NatGeoTravel's Urban Insider and Orbitz travel editor Sarah Gorenstein for a live Twitter chat on Wednesday, November 5.



from Intelligent Travel http://intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com/2014/10/31/wednesday-citytravel-twitter-chat/

Danvers Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Danvers, Massachusetts

Danvers State Hospital for the Criminally Insane opened in 1878 to serve some 600 mental patients under its imposing gothic spires. While it was built with a surprisingly caring and modern attitude toward the mentally ill, by the 1930s the site was crowded, falling into disrepair, and was using shock therapies and lobotomies on a regular basis. The addition of criminals, alcoholics, and the mentally retarded to the overcrowded hospital made it very difficult for the hospital to help cure any of its mental patients. The hospital was shut down in 1992.

The building, with its gothic style and series of underground tunnels, inspired H. P. Lovecraft's Arkham Sanitarium, in turn inspiring Batman's Arkham Asylum. In 2001, Brad Anderson chose the abandoned Danvers State Hospital as the primary location for his terrifying film, Session 9.

Besides the horror of H.P. Lovecraft there is yet another more modern horror story here. As of 2007 the beautiful, if decaying, building was mostly torn down and turned into bright and shiny condominiums. "Avalon Communities" is complete with swimming pool and barely a reference (there is a small plaque on the grounds) to the site's fascinating past. While, thankfully, some of the facade remains the rest of the beautiful building has been replaced with chintzy condos, elliptical machines and Ikea furniture. It would scare even H.P. Lovecraft.

However, there is one piece of the former insane asylum that still exists: its cemetery. This is where the previous residents of Danvers were laid to rest, or as one visitor put it the "cemetery of the dead insane." At least there is a little bit of Danvers left where Lovecraft could still feel at home.

from Atlas Obscura http://atlasobscura.com.feedsportal.com/c/35387/f/665719/s/4007bf89/sc/10/l/0L0Satlasobscura0N0Cplaces0Ccemetery0Edanvers0Ehospital0Ecriminally0Einsane/story01.htm

The Monsters of Bomarzo in Bomarzo, Italy

The Park of the Monsters, or "Parco dei Mostri," in the Garden of Bomarzo was not meant to be pretty. Commissioned in 1552 by Prince Pier Francesco Orsini, it was an expression of grief designed to shock.

The Prince, also known as Vicino, had just been through a brutal war, had his friend killed, been held for ransom for years, and come home only to have his beloved wife die. Racked with grief, the Prince wanted to create a shocking "Villa of Wonders" and hired architect Pirro Ligorio to help him do so. Ligorio was a widely respected architect and artist and had previously completed the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Rome after the death of Michelangelo, as well as the Villa d'Este in Tivoli. This was to be an unusual, but interesting job for him.

The park is filed with bizarre and fascinating sculptures for which only the accompanying inscriptions provide any explanation. Among the pieces are a war elephant, a monstrous fish-head, a giant tearing another giant in half, and a house built on a tilt to disorient the viewer. Perhaps the most frightening piece in the garden is an enormous head, mouth opened wide in a scream. The accompanying inscription reads "all reason departs."

Built during the Italian Renaissance, the garden layout bore little resemblance to the symmetry of other Renaissance gardens, and the art was made in a rough "Mannerist" style, a sort of 16th-century version of Surrealism. It makes sense, then, that the Surrealists loved it.

Salvador Dalí visited the park and loved it. He was so inspired, he shot a short film there, and the sculptures inspired his 1946 painting The Temptation of Saint Anthony. Jean Cocteau was also a fan of the park. Other artists followed, and a novel, libretto, and opera have all been based on the park.

While there is no way of truly knowing how the Prince felt about the park, the final addition indicates that perhaps he was getting over his melancholy. Built 20 years after the park was begun, it is not a monster but a temple, built to honor his second wife.

When you visit the park, be sure to enter the giant screaming mouth (known as "the mouth of hell"), inside which, on the tongue, stands a picnic table and enough seating for a small group to have lunch.

from Atlas Obscura http://atlasobscura.com.feedsportal.com/c/35387/f/665719/s/400761bb/sc/38/l/0L0Satlasobscura0N0Cplaces0Cmonsters0Ebomarzo/story01.htm

Castle Frankenstein in Mühltal, Germany

Johann Konrad Dippel was rumored to create potions, perform electrical therapies, and partake in gruesome experiments involving stolen body parts from the graveyard. Born in the Castle Frankenstein in 1673, it’s disputed whether or not he was the inspiration for Mary Shelley’s mad scientist of the same name, who did some cadaver experiments of his own.

What is sure about Dippel is his colorful career as an alchemist. He attached his name to Dippel’s Animal Oil, which he discovered from the destructive distillation of animal parts and claimed as a universal medicine. The animal oil came at the end of a wave of popularity for Iatrochemistry, which had moved alchemy from the search for creating gold to finding new medicines. The unpleasant taste and smell, as well as the progression of medicine, made Dippel's oil fall into disrepute by the end of the 18th century.

Dippel later helped set up a laboratory in Berlin for making gold and, at one point, he ended up in prison on a Danish island for seven years due to political activities. In 1734, he finally had a stroke and died at the Castle Wittgenstein near Berleburg, although his friends claimed he was poisoned. By his own hand or that of another, it is unclear.

The Castle Frankenstein is now in ruins, with only two towers, a restaurant and a chapel remaining. However, the perhaps mythical connection to Mary Shelley’s novel "Frankenstein" keeps it a popular destination, especially for Halloween. A popular annual party was started there by American soldiers stationed near the castle in World War II. Until it was deactivated in 2008, the US Army's 233rd Base Support Battalion in Darmstadt conducted an annual Frankenstein Castle run which finished at the tower. The castle was featured in an episode of "Ghost Hunters International" which aired in February of 2008.

from Atlas Obscura http://atlasobscura.com.feedsportal.com/c/35387/f/665719/s/400761b2/sc/10/l/0L0Satlasobscura0N0Cplaces0Ccastle0Efrankenstein/story01.htm

Bolivia's Witch Market in Nuestra Señora de La Paz, Bolivia

Located on Calle Jiminez and Linares between Sagarnaga and Santa Cruz in, it's impossible to miss the Witches' Market of La Paz, Bolivia, which is found right in a lively tourist area. Dozens of vendors line the streets to sell a number of strange and fascinating products and the raw ingredients used in rituals to call on the spirits that populate the Aymara world.

Among the many items sold at the market are dried llama fetuses that are said to bring both prosperity and good luck, dried frogs used for Aymara rituals, soapstone figurines, aphrodisiac formulas, owl feathers, dried turtles and snakes, herbs, and folk remedies. Witch doctors in dark hats and dresses wander through the market offering fortune-telling services.

The dried llama fetuses are the most prominent product available at the market. These animals are fairly large and are used throughout the country, buried in the foundations of new buildings as an offering to the goddess Pachamama. It is believed that the buried llama fetuses keep construction workers safe, but these are only used by poor Bolivians. Wealthy Bolivians usually sacrifice a living llama to Pachamama.

from Atlas Obscura http://atlasobscura.com.feedsportal.com/c/35387/f/665719/s/400761a7/sc/1/l/0L0Satlasobscura0N0Cplaces0Cbolivia0Es0Ewitch0Emarket/story01.htm

Five considerations for hotel companies before buying from a tech startup

There are a myriad of hotel technology startups in the market these days. Times are good, people are traveling and wallets are ...



from Tnooz http://www.tnooz.com/article/questions-to-ask-before-buying-from-hotel-tech-startup/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=guest-article-fri

Review: Le Meridien Cairo Airport

My Cairo layover was a bit interesting. I was landing from Abu Dhabi at 3AM, and was departing the next afternoon at 1PM. So I had 34 hours in Cairo total.

I decided it made the most sense to book Le Meridien Cairo Airport, since it looked gorgeous, and was reasonably priced. I had aspirations of seeing things, though when I landed at 3AM my top priority was being close to the hotel, rather than having to deal with a transfer to the city.

As a result, Le Meridien Cairo Airport was an obvious choice, and at ~$110USD per night, it was quite a deal as well. Since the revolution, tourism in Egypt has more or less ceased to be a thing, so hotel prices are pretty low across the board.

I decided to book the hotel for two nights (including the night before I arrived), because I wanted to be sure I could check in upon my arrival at the hotel.

The post Review: Le Meridien Cairo Airport appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/10/31/review-le-meridien-cairo-airport/

How to piss off someone from Queens

#1) Talk smack about the Mets. If you have a death wish, try getting a "Let's Go Yankees" chant started while you're in Queens riding the 7 train.



from Matador Network » Matador Network http://matadornetwork.com/life/piss-someone-queens/

O’Brien’s Tower at the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

from Everything Everywhere Travel Blog http://everything-everywhere.com/2014/10/30/obriens-tower-cliffs-moher-ireland/

Photo of the Moment: Patiently Waiting for Someone in Buenos Aires

Join Vagabondish on Twitter and Facebook.

© Nicolas Alejandro

The post Photo of the Moment: Patiently Waiting for Someone in Buenos Aires appeared first on Vagabondish.

from Vagabondish http://www.vagabondish.com/photo-waiting-for-someone-buenos-aires-argentina/

T Magazine: Gstaad: The Last Resort

A trip to the snow-capped wonderland reveals postcard-worthy scenery, unrivaled luxury and a growing turf war between the town’s longtime residents and the new arrivals.

















from NYT > Travel http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/642561/s/40069e5d/sc/10/l/0Ltmagazine0Bblogs0Bnytimes0N0C20A140C10A0C310Cgstaad0Eswitzerland0Ehotels0Eresorts0C0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm

HUGE Aeroplan Award Pricing “Sale” BOOK NOW! GO!

Aeroplan has imposed a new, more restrictive pricing system for award travel. But there’s apparently an interesting situation that’s arisen, maybe they want to make things go down a bit more smoothly with the introduction of these new rules! Every award is pricing based on the first stopover you book. If you stopover domestically, you […]

The post HUGE Aeroplan Award Pricing “Sale” BOOK NOW! GO! appeared first on View from the Wing.

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2014/10/31/huge-aeroplan-award-pricing-sale-book-now/

Special Report: U.S. Grand Prix: Austin Offers Broad Range of Events for Fans, on the Track and Beyond

Austin, a city adept at holding international festivals like South by Southwest and City Limits, takes its U.S. Grand Prix entertainment seriously.

















from NYT > Travel http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/642561/s/40060652/sc/10/l/0L0Snytimes0N0C20A140C110C0A10Csports0Cautoracing0Cus0Egrand0Eprix0Eaustin0Bhtml0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm