Travelers Tips

Theaters in London

By Katie Davies | October 10, 2008

Wanna see a show but don’t want to pay rip off prices then read the below information.

1. The Half-Price Ticket Booth in Leicester Square has a number of cheap tickets for most West End shows. These are sold on a first-come, first-serve basis (cash only). Nearest tube is Leicester Square.

2. Matinee performances are much cheaper than evenings but in some instances understudies replace the stars. Seats for Mon - Thurs. Evening performances in the West End are cheaper than Friday or Saturday nights.

3. Pay for a restricted-view seat in the stalls (not all theatres have them), then move to a better seat when the lights go down. This is only possible when the show isn’t sold out.

4. The cheapest seats are usually in the ‘gods’ at the top of the theatre, but you’ll need a pair of binoculars to see the show.

5. Buy tickets direct from the box office to save on credit card charges, telephone booking fees (usually 10%) and agency commissions.

6. Go to previews of West End and Off-West End shows. The tickets are considerably cheaper if the critics haven’t had a chance to pan the show yet.

7. The National Theatre sells a number of tickets for shows on the day from 10am at the box office: 40 for the Olivier; 40 for the Lyttelton; 20 for the Cottesloe. Queues start at 8am for the popular shows.

8. Some theatres have reduced-price ticket nights: at BAC there’s a ‘pay what you want night’ on Tuesdays; at the Royal Court all tickets are £5 on Monday nights; and the Theatre Royal Stratford East has the lowest concessionary rates for students, seniors and the unemployed.

9. Many theatres, like the RSC, the Donmar and the National , sell standing room tickets at vastly reduced prices. It’s well worth enquiring about these if the show is either sold out or you’re very poor.

10. Look out for special offers in the back of Time Out Magazine, a weekly magazine, brimming with info on how to enjoy the city and sold everywhere in London.

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Snorkeling at Fujairah, United Arab Emirates

By Tony Morgan | October 9, 2008

This is Indian ocean side….if you like to swim in the middle of the fishes this is the place…

There is a little island named Snoopy, here there are great beach facilities of a Motl where you can find fins and doodle so you can discover the paradise underwater.

If you don’t want to pay the ticket for the beach facilities u can reach it from the other side of the beach and ask to the beach desk only the equipement!

Enjoy

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Mysore, Karnataka, India

By Melanie Barwick | October 9, 2008

Escaping the heat of Hampi, we figured our next best bet would be Mysore. Yet once again, the trains sent us for a loop. With a plan to head over to Hubli a few hours away and connect to a comfy, 2nd class AC car all the way to Mysore, we were set. But the first train arrived minutes after our connecting train left. So we had 24 hours in Hubli.
Not a major tourist destination - in fact, not even on most maps - Hubli is a small national buisness hub. But with our amazingly cheap hotel room, and lifted spirits, we decided to explore. We found a large market with odd-old school posters with wonderfully quirky english lessons, picked up a tiny magnetized travel chess + backgammon set, and found strange voodoo doll-like good luck charms (and purchased many). We also visited the miniscule but impressive Muslim meat market, with requisite animal innards and goats’ heads thick with a layer of flies…
But on to Mysore, a beautiful, bustling city with the magnificent Mysore Palace. In the evening we wandered the grounds with every square inch afire with the light of some 100,000+ light bulbs…
We wandered around the famous Devaraja market enjoying the various blocs of sellers hawking flowers, tikka, bananas, incense, etc…
We explored Mysore Zoo, which compared to other animal enclosures we’d seen, was virtually idilic… We met African + Indian elephanta, gigantic storks, mating lions, massive tigers (some white!), a torpid tapir, and stunning Guar, which are Indian buffalo-on-steroids…

We even both had our first “Mysore” yoga class. . . Mysore-style yoga is based on the Ashtanga primary series sequence but allows students to proceed at their own pace, with an instructor walking around to make adjustments. Even going at our own pace, this was most certainly the most difficult class we took in India, with the little Indian instructor adjusting the crap out of both me and Lex… Yet we both felt fantastic afterwards!

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Garden of Gethsemane

By Diane Williams | October 8, 2008

The garden identified as Gethsemane is located at the foot of the Mount of Olives, in the Kidron Valley. Overlooking the garden is the Church of All Nations, also known as the Church of the Agony, built on the site of a church destroyed by the Sassanids in 614, and a Crusader church destroyed in 1219. Nearby is the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene with its golden, onion-shaped domes, built by Russian Tsar Alexander III in memory of his mother.

Right next to the Church of All Nations is the Garden of Gethsemane, the place widely accepted as the spot where Jesus spent his last night in prayer and where he was arrested. What I found interesting is that there are a few olive trees within the fenced garden that date over 2000 years. They are among the oldest trees in the world…silent witnesses in a beautiful garden.

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Travelers Stories

Walking around Norway

By Sana Sharafeddin | October 9, 2008

Today was our first day in Norway - woke up to the best view ever. The summer house is on the lake and we are staying upstairs so the first thing i did was opened the curtains to see the view … all I could see was lots of cute little town houses - loads of water and boats.

Dad would love it! Went down stairs where Ahmed’s mum had given us a nice morning coffee and lots for breakfast - I tried some Norwegian Apple Marmelaide and it was sooo yummy. His parents are so sweet - I get along with them both really well and can see where John gets his boyish cheekiness fomr (His father!) hahaha. We sat in the “Sun Room” and had coffee then showered. Ahmed took me down to the pier and saw his dad’s boats and motorbike. His dad said I could have a sit on it as long as I washed and polished it for him - I responded by saying “Nei Takk” which is - No thanks! haha

Both of his parents are very fluent in English so no problems at all understanding them which is so easy - after breakfast we all went for a drive to 3 different islands which had amazing views. We then headed to Fredrikstad which is where his family live for half of the year - in winter. Dropped off the car at his parents apartment and walked along the water. It was exactly Read the rest of this entry »

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Netherland’s Windmills

By Kat Aman | October 9, 2008

Today we went to Zaanse where they have maintained windmills and a village from the mid 1800’s. We first visited a demonstration of cheese-making with yummy samples included. Then off to the windmills, which were used for many purposes back in the day, such as making paper, wood, helping produce oil and grinding seeds. The day was very windy but no rain so we enjoyed walking through the village.

There were many wooden shoes to try on… in every color and shape you could imagine. There was even one huge shoe that you could sit in. It was nice to see how the Netherlands worked in the past, and it helps make sense of how it is today.

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