A Trip News

A FRENCH anti-racism group has filed a legal complaint against the Louvre museum, arguing that a policy to allow free admission to European young people is discriminatory.
Earlier this year, French President Nicolas Sarkozy deflected accusations that he was not committed to culture by proudly announcing that EU citizens between 18 and 26 would be allowed free entry to national museums.
The Louvre, which houses one of the world’s finest art collections, is the most visited museum in France and (more…)

NOT long after dawn on my second day in Boulder City, Nev., I was on a rented bicycle heading for Hemenway Park , where I was told I might spy bighorn sheep grazing near the playground. I didn’t find the sheep, but I did run headlong into herds of much bigger game that Boulder City is hoping to catch.
My route sent me to an exit for a bypass that lets those heading for Hoover Dam, six miles away, avoid Boulder City’s business district, and as I waited at a light I watched no fewer (more…)

Lake expectations
Tourism operators in the South Australian outback have their fingers crossed the rare sight of a water-filled Lake Eyre will linger as long as possible. With water still flowing into the lake courtesy of heavy rains earlier this year in Queensland, there’s a tourism frenzy, with an influx of visitors desperately seeking a glimpse of the lake and its suddenly prolific bird life.
At William Creek (population normally three), pilot Trevor Wright has a house overrun with pilots (more…)

A Sydney-to-Gold Coast Virgin Blue flight has made an emergency landing in Brisbane amid fears of an “engineering” fault.
The 160 people on flight DJ523 landed safely this afternoon after a nose tyre burst on take-off in Sydney.
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An Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman said airport staff (more…)

The third proposed link between Malaysia and Singapore has reportedly received good feedback. The new link would connect the city-state with the Malaysian resort area of Desaru. Source: Straits Times.

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A DRIVE down Washington Avenue in Houston reveals mere remnants of the decay that pervaded this three-mile strip just a few years ago — a bail bondsman sign, a lone pawn shop and a handful of vacant lots hint at what used to be. Sites like these once dominated the street, but today, Washington Avenue has been transformed into one of Houston’s most popular nightspots.
Thanks to its location abutting downtown and the trendy but dry Houston Heights neighborhood, the avenue has attracted pricey town (more…)

A Swiss holiday resort is offering mountain-cleaning courses after an April Fools spoof caught the imagination of a nation known for its cleanliness, the tourism board said yesterday.
Authorities in Engelberg, an idyllic ski resort where tens of thousands of skiers come annually, said the April Fools joke had such global impact that they were now using it as a marketing tool to attract holidaymakers.
“We are offering four weekend courses after which participants can call themselves qualified (more…)

AMID the farmland just north of the Ohio River, thickets of sumac and maple trees hem the edge of a one-lane road, just as they might have lined the way to freedom two centuries ago.
Back then, before concrete paving and electricity transformed the countryside, it was along roads like these that runaway slaves were silently escorted through the shadows by kindly strangers. The sound of dogs barking often punctured the silence, signaling that their furious owners had crossed the river from Kentucky (more…)

Signposts take walkers everywhere and deter other modes of transport
CHUR, Switzerland — It was a typical outing on a pleasant Sunday afternoon in Chur, the oldest city in Switzerland and the capital of its largest canton, Graubünden. Friends and I took a cable car and gondola up Brambrüesch Mountain and then hiked across a hillside for several hours, following meandering routes through fields of heidelberries and along ridges with sweeping views of the Alps. The clinking of cowbells (more…)

Shanghai’s Metro operator has announced that air-conditioning systems in all Metro stations will be switched on in about 10 days’ time. While the city’s Metro trains have automatic air-conditioning, the Shanghai Daily reported that there have been many complaints about the temperature at some busy stations, such as People’s Square and Shanghai Railway Station.

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