Top 10 Valentine’s breaks

Boutique hotel experts Mr & Mrs Smith have sifted through the schmaltz to find Valentine’s packages that will really set hearts aflutter (and won’t involve soggy petals clogging the plughole). Here are 10 hot properties that offer something a little bit different…

Explore Shandong

Heading to China in the year of the Dragon? Seek out Shangdong – steeped as it is in myth and supernatural allure

Civil Aviation Authority

From the website:

“The CAA is the UK’s independent specialist aviation regulator. Its activities include economic regulation, airspace policy, safety regulation and consumer protection.”

Scamming Tourists at Bangkok Airport

Tourists are fleeced at Bangkok Airport by some duty free areas who seem to be in league with uniformed people.

Until the authorities clean this up in a country where corruption seems to have become a byword, it is better that tourists avoid the duty free areas.

In the press in the last few days there has been a story about two people from Cambridge who, it was claimed by authorities, were suspected of shoplifting. After coughing up £7.500 they were able to leave the country. The BBC website has a story by Jonathan Head which summarises the background.

Crime Mystery in Torquay

There’s not really a mystery. It is just a rather obvious way of drawing your attention to the fact that this September sees the 120th anniversary of the birth of Agatha Christie. (The actual day is 15th September) She is as well known as her two main characters who also celebrate anniversaries, Hercule Poirot first appeared 90 years ago and Miss Marple, 80 years ago.
So what is Torquay doing to celebrate the fact?

Escaping the curse of modern technology

Remember Ryan Bingham in Jason Reitman‘s dramedy Up in the Air? Bingham –
played by George Clooney – is a man who lives to travel

Jamaican Twist at Notting Hill Carnival

London’s Notting Hill Carnival has its roots firmly in the culture of the West Indian island of Trinidad, but since 2003, Jamaican Twist – the only Jamaican float to take part – has been an integral part, winning no less than six awards in the last three years.