June Calendar Available for Download

This month’s desktop calendar preview at left.

As usual, the image and download instructions can be found under the “For Your Desktop” tab.

Enjoy!

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May’s Calendar Available for Download

This month’s image comes from Granada, Spain.  Preview here:

If you’d like to download, grab the image and follow the instructions in the “For Your Desktop” tab.

Enjoy!

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Free Ben and Jerry’s Today

Once a year, Ben and Jerry’s gives away ice cream at its scoop shops free.

TODAY’S THE DAY!

In the U.S. and Canada, find your nearest scoop shop here.

Overseas, give one of these two links a try:  1, 2.  (You’ve got a chance if you’re in Aruba, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, or the UK.)

Enjoy!

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Coming Soon: Relaunch of Less Than a Shoestring

What’s going on at the blog? Inquiring minds want to know!

There are lots of good changes coming soon — check out the beta version of the new site here.  How do you like the new look?  Something broken in your browser?  Leave a message in the comments.

For the next couple of weeks, continue to check this page while everything gets sorted out at the new domain.  When it’s time to change your bookmarks and your rss feeds, I’ll let you know.

Since I was hoping to launch at the beginning of March, I’ve been sitting on this month’s desktop calendar.  No longer!  Download a piece of spring for your computer by clicking on the “For Your Desktop” tab above.

Finally, I will be at the ITB here in Berlin for the next five days, making contacts with fellow travel bloggers and travel professionals.  If you’ll be there, do send me a message via the contact tab.  Let’s network!

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New Airport Bus to Berlin Schönefeld

A new “express” bus service now links Südkreuz train station in Berlin with Schönefeld Airport.  Price:  6 euros, 4 euros with any BVG ticket, 3 euros with a weekly or monthly ticket.  For those flying into Berlin, the ticket remains valid for further transit on public transportation in Berlin ABC.

This bus represents no monetary savings to Shoestring travelers.

• Berliners with a regular AB ticket need only purchase an “Anschlussticket” for 1.40 euros to take the RE train, the S-Bahn or a BVG bus to the airport.
• Visitors coming into town for a few days will most certainly be better off purchasing a 2-, 3- or 5-day tourist card or a weekly ticket and traveling by one of the aforementioned methods.
• If you’re still weighing your options, a single Berlin ABC ticket will get you into town and beyond for just 2.80 euros!

I’m posting about the service nevertheless, as you may find that it will save you transit time, depending on where you are staying/living.  For less than 2 euros more (with my monthly ticket), I may cut up to 30 minutes off my route to the airport — and that’s something worth writing about!

Related Posts

• Additional Travel Time and Cost to Low-Cost Carrier Airports, Part I
• Picks and Pans: From Low-Cost Airports
• More Tips for Low-Cost Fliers

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Thursday Photo Friday #19

I love capitols – can’t get enough of their marble halls, gilded domes, dark wood paneling and hundreds of tiny desks (at least they always *look* tiny from the viewing gallery) with multicolored voting buttons.  They capture a regal era removed from our own with a permanence found rarely in modern architecture.

While in DC at the beginning of January, my destination of choice was the new visitors’ center at the U.S. Capitol.  On the way, I passed the inauguration grounds with stage building in progress, pictured on Tuesday.  (Where did you spend your inauguration day? Share your stories in the comments.)

In sheer contrast to the classical American dome is that of the German Reichstag, whose glass dome by Sir Norman Foster was added to the building after reunification.  The overarching theme of Germany’s new governmental architecture is transparency, with buildings and offices as visible as possible.  From the visitors’ area of the dome, it is possible to look down into the plenary room below, as pictured here.

A visit to the Reichstag is fun and free — check all the details for making yours a smooth one in this previous post.

Follow other Photo Friday participants here.

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Don’t Lose your Booze! What You Need to Know When Making Airport Connections

Some friends of mine made an unhappy discovery when departing the Czech Republic with a long-sought bottle of wine (or two):  their duty-free purchase was confiscated when making a connection in another EU airport.

As much as I complain about the security theater Americans abbreviate TSA, there is one upside to the system:  once you’re in (and don’t connect in a stupid airport [ahem, JFK] where you have to exit and reenter secured areas when changing flights), you and your liquids are in.  Put that chapstick back in your pocket, enjoy a long swig from your refilled water bottle — no one will bug you about those items again.

Unfortunately, if you are connecting onward through a European airport, you will be subject to repeated searches – necessitating the return of your chapstick to your 1L ziploc, the dumping of your secure-area beverages and, for the unlucky, the confisciation of your duty-free liquids, creams and gels.

How do you avoid this expensive dilemma?  Find out after the jump.

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2009 Travel News No One is Talking About

With the focus on staycations and naycations, there’s little reporting on important nuts-and-bolts issues affecting thousands still on the road.  Expect to hear about these only when they start causing major snarls for casual tourists unaware of the changes.

• Flying to the United States this year?  As of January 12, 2009, all travelers to the U.S. from Visa Waiver countries (that’s Andorra, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom [and in the near future, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Poland  and Romania too]) will be required to submit their travel plans online 72 hours prior to travel.  Failure to complete ESTA authorization before travel may result in denial of boarding or entry.  Read the details about this change in the post U.S. to Require Online Registration for Visa-Free Travelers.

• After January 16, 2009, you’ve got to use Euros when traveling in Slovakia.  They’re the 16th EU country to switch to the currency since its introduction a decade ago.  Later this year, expect the Czech Republic to finalize a date for their switch (expected early 2010).

• Travelers transiting or changing planes within Mexico will now be subject to customs inspection before continuing to their next flight.  International travelers to the United States will be familiar with the drill:  claim checked baggage and proceed through customs, then drop off baggage again before heading to the connecting gate.  Flights from the Caribbean, Central and South America have already begun the procedure; February 1 is the date for flights from Canada, Asia and Europe; flights from the U.S. have until September 1 to comply.  Be aware and avoid tight connections.  And don’t forget to lock that luggage!

• Starting June 1, 2009, it will no longer be possible to travel by air, land or sea without a passport to destinations in the Western Hemisphere, such as Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean.  Children under 16 may use a birth certificate in lieu of passport.  This requirement also applies to Americans attempting to reenter the United States.  Details here.

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Thursday Photo Friday #15

Tuesday is discount day at one of the largest English-language (i.e. not dubbed) cinemas in Berlin.  On tap this week was Woody Allen’s newest, Vicky Cristina Barcelona.  Though a sadder movie than I expected, what disappointed me most was the portrayal of one of those three title characters — can you guess which one?

The film is set in — surprise! – Barcelona, and while every review you’ll read will extol the gorgeous sweeping views of the enchanting city, it felt more like they spent a few days shooting at spots around town before retreating to other locations.  Would that Spain had been more influential in the plot.  As written, the film and its romantic intrigues could have easily been set in any other number of romantic, European, Mediterranean locales. 

One of the first things Vicky and Cristina do upon arriving in town is a pilgrimage to La Sagrada Familia, the masterwork-in-progress of architect Antoni Gaudi.  Vicky is pursuing a master’s in Catalan culture (without, I might add, much ability to speak Spanish), inspired by the works of Gaudi and the dulcet strains of the Spanish guitar.  If you’re not familiar with his work, Gaudi’s style was influenced by art nouveau and his whimsical architecture, like that of Hundertwasser, is usually fiercely loved or hated.  For lovers, it is easy to take in a great variety of his works in just a short visit to the city.

Making La Sagrada Familia unique is that it remains under construction, over 12 decades since breaking ground and eight decades after Gaudi’s accidental death; work continues despite setbacks from a civil war, two world wars, and the near-complete destruction of Gaudi’s models and plans.  Workers hope to finish by 2026, the centennial of Gaudi’s passing, though with any construction project of this magnitude, it is unclear whether or not they will achieve this goal.  If you could ignore the modern equipment, it would be like stepping back a thousand years, when many cathedrals across Europe were built, each taking hundreds of years to complete.

The church, open at 9 a.m. daily, is located near the subway station bearing its name.  Admission fee:  10 euros adults, 8 euros students.  Included in the admission price is entrance to the church and two on-site museums.  The site has two excellent gift shops with a variety of reasonably-priced Gaudi gear and a wide selection of postcards.

• Follow the rest of the Photo Friday crew here.
• Read about my nine-day, 150-euro (strictly G-rated) Spanish adventure in Baring my Budget:  Madrid and Barcelona
• EuroCheapo explores cheap, tacky and Gaudi Barcelona souvenirs

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Thursday Photo Friday #14

At the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine rivers in the lovely city of Koblenz, Germany, stands a large monument called Deutsches Eck (German Corner).  Originally dedicated to the empire of Kaiser Wilhelm I, its partial destruction in WWII led the remnants to serve as a memorial to German unity until 1989.  It was rebuilt by Koblenz in 1993.

Climbing inside the central structure (below the statue) affords views along both river banks and of the town itself.  Koblenz is a well-maintained city with abundant plantings and whimsical fountains and figures sprinkled throughout.  The center of town is dominated by pedestrian shopping areas, though it’s easy to find refuge from inclement weather in the indoor (and partially underground) Löhr Center mall at the edge of this area.  The monument is at most a 15-minute walk from the central bus or train stations.

Given its location, the area is popular with river-cruising tourists.   You don’t need to commit a week, however — one- or three-hour boat trips are readily available at standard rates.  In the summer, it is possible to make a leisurely daytrip all the way from Cologne or Bonn by boat.

The monument (admission: free) has many details to be discovered by visitors.  Each of the German states are represented by a plaque in the rounded area while their flags grace the waterfront.  I’m a sucker for reliefs like these giant carved stone snakes above the benches at the base of the monument.  For younger visitors, there is plenty of open space for running, climbing and jumping.

Koblenz can be reached by bus from Frankfurt/Hahn airport and, if the timing is right, is an enjoyable day out for any passengers connecting on low-cost carriers with a long layover.

Find (and join!) other Photo Friday participants here.

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