Letter from London: Great British dining

London’s food scene is heating up. Jane Eggington reports…

Spotlight on San Francisco

Ahead of the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th birthday on May 27, San Francisco has never looked more golden writes Kaye Holland. Read her guide to the city with its head in the clouds, here

Air passenger advice

Tthe new user-friendly pages from the CAA provide advice before and during your flight as well as what to do if something isn’t up to scratch!

Seeing in the New Year

New Year’s Eve and the first day of the New Year have become tourist attractions in their own right. Television has magnified it by capturing the moment when the New Year begins in a number of places. Around lunchtime on New Years Eve, the new year is heralded in Sydney in Australia with a huge firework display and winds down about 24 hours later with the display from Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. In between, there is the traditional gathering in London at Trafalgar Square, in Princes Street in Edinburgh, the swinging of fireballs in Stonehaven near Aberdeen (quite a sight if you’ve never seen it) and the counting in of the new year in Times Square in New York. As well as that a large number of towns and cities such as Nottingham and Carlisle will have firework displays.

Ski Update: Nevis Range

If you can’t beat the snow, join it!

Thats what lots of people decided to do last weekend and, this weekend, even more may venture north. A Nevis a week ago, over 800 Skiers/Sledgers/Snowboarders opted to “Go with the snow” taking to the slopes which opened for snowsports a fortnight earlier than planned on 4-5 December 2010.

Marian Austin, Nevis Range MD commented, “We hadn’t planned to open until Saturday 18 December as we were, and still are, in the midst of our maintenance period. However, with the early snowfall the conditions had been improving steadily and a good base of snow has now built up across most of the ski area. We were all delighted with the weekend and the conditions were described as being brilliant for so early in the season, with hardly any queuing.”

So it looks as though this weekend many are opoting to do the same judging by the number of last minute bookings that are being received. For those it’s a chance to get some practice earlier than usual and without the hassle of having to dig out a passport. Be aware though that due to the ongoing construction work there will still be no Equipment Hire or Snowsports School. Thereafter Nevis Range plans to open fully for its winter season on Saturday 18 December.
On the other side of the country in the Glencoe area, they are also reporting a surge in last minute bookings having has a good weekend last week.

Coming to London During the Olympics

The government, the Olympic authorities, many consultants and academics say that the Olympics will be a terrific opportunity for London and the UK to showcase its tourism appeal. Ordinary mortals like you and I wonder what to do. Should we avoid London during the games and a week or two either side when hotel rates will be expensive, transport could be crowded and the streets will be clogged. Or should those sporty types amongst us say that this is a once in a lifetime event (almost since the last London games was in 1948) and attend we must.

Celebrate an Alternative St. Valentine’s Day

In most parts of the world, Saint Valentine’s Day on the 14th of February, and is the celebration of Love and Affection. Traditionally (and commercially!) it is marked by the exchange of flowers, chocolates and greeting cards, but is now also used as an excuse to have a romantic weekend away.
There are many facts and figures about the history of St Valentine’s Day, which I am not going to bore you with, however I would like to offer a few alternatives for this over-commercialised day: Forget the gifts and flowers, the weekends away and the social obligation of a romantic meal out in an over-priced and over-flowing restaurant this Valentine’s Day, and stray from the norm.