ThereArePlaces

Paris and The Parisians

Paris is many things to many people. Tourists consider it one of the most popular cities on earth. Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, the Louvre, the Latin Quarter and other sights make visiting Paris a chance to see some the best attractions the world has to offer. However, many travelers (and, indeed, the French outside of Paris) consider the Parisians to be haughty, impolite and cold.

We have found difficult people around the world and do not think that there are more of them in Paris than elsewhere. However, Parisians are matter of fact, reserved and choose not to participate in small talk. In addition, when they think you have made a bad decision, they are likely to tell you. However, they do not discriminate against travelers; they will tell anyone when they have made a bad decision.

Once, when coming from Orly Airport to the city, we took the Airport Transport Bus to its station in Paris and planned to take a cab to our hotel from that location. When the cab driver eyed our bags, he raised his voice and seemed to be berating me. It took me a second to translate and realize that he was telling me that I had wasted my money on the bus, since I had to buy two tickets and now a cab fare and that I could have traveled from Orly to the hotel by cab for less. He was right and I was not offended at his response, since I had learned something.

Some travelers feel differently about the Parisians and there is an excellent article on the topic of “service” in Paris published by the BBC.

Negotiating Airport Security Checkpoints When Traveling With Kids

ThereArePlaces has added two important articles to our section on Things Travelers Need to Know about air travel. The two articles cover how to prepare for airport security if you will be traveling with kids, while the second is how to do the same when traveling with children with disabilities. ThereArePlaces based both articles on information provided, in part, by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

We hope these articles will help parents and kids get through the security checkpoints with less aggravation than seems to be the norm.

Click for the ThereArePlaces article on Parents, Kids and Airport Security Checkpoints

Click for the ThereArePlaces article on Children With Disabilities and Airport Security Checkpoints

Stikes and Travel in Greece

Greece has been unusally hard hit by the current economic downturn and the problem is reflecting itself in strikes, border stoppages and other unrest. See this article from the BBC on the current strike.

At present the budget deficit in Greece is over four times higher than Eurozone rules permit. The government of Greece is responding to these measures with an austerity budget that will limit governmental spending, increas the retirement age and add a higher gas tax. It is likely that further measures will be needed to rectify the situation and, if this is the case, the citizens of Greece will likely respond with wide-spread strikes that influence both the public and private sectors.

The 2010 travel season in Greece might be a little rocky. In normal years, strikes in Greece seem to pop-up frequently, although most do not last long. It is possible that this season will be the exception, with more and longer strikes. Farmers have already closed roads to Bulgaria as a show of their unhappiness with the government’s lack of financial subsidies and we suspect other strikes will occur this spring and summer

If you are going to travel to Greece this year, be prepared. If your travel is interrupted by a strike, well, we can’t think of a better place to be stuck for a few extra days. Perhaps the best way to try to avoid the influence of strikes on your next vacation in Greece, is to take a cruise of the Greek Islands and let the cruise line worry about the strikes.

Speeding Through Airport Security

Last week we were passing through a major U.S. airport after an extremely long flight. Of course, we were looking ahead to a three-hour layover followed by a flight to the West Coast. Freezing rain had been predicted for later in the evening. What a day.

Well, it got even worse when we entered the security queue and found ourselves behind a group that had apparently never heard of security restrictions, how to pack luggage with security checks in mind, or acceptable behavior when in a security line. They slowed everyone down and didn’t make any friends in the process.

We thought about that a bit and decided that maybe we should write an article on how pass through security with the minimum of hassles. You can find it by following this link to article at our website ThereArePlaces.

Our advice comes from the Transportation Security Administration and if they don’t knowthe best way to speed through a security checkpoint, no one does.

Britain Raises Terror Threat Level

The goverment of the United Kingdom has raised the country’s Terror Threat Classifcation from Substantial to Severe. The Severe ranking indicates that an attack is highly likely. The reason for the increase in classiciation is that a government meeting on Yemen and Afghanistan is being held in London next week. Although there is not intelligence that an attack is being planned, the government is being cautious and indicating that an attack is likely. See this article in the Gulf Times for more information.

Air France’s Seating Policy For Larger Travelers

Air France has been reported by CNN to charge an additional fee for passengers who need to occupy two seats to travel comfortably. The Air France website has more detail about seating for passengers with a high body mass.

It appears that Air France, starting February 1, 2010, will require those passengers with a high body mass the option to choose an extra seat with 25% discount in their Voyageur cabin. The airline indicated that it would completely reimburse the fare for the extra seat if the flight departed with unoccupied seats. Although the wording of the Air France website appears somewhat equivocal and in one place describes the “…option to choose an extra seat”, the “hammer” can be found at the end of the page, where it is stated “In the interests of safety, if the flight is full and you have not reserved and additional seat, you may not be allowed to board if your build does not permit you to sit comfortably in a single seat.”

Just so you know, United Airlines appears to have a similar policy.

More Freezing Weather For Europe

The BBC reported today that freezing weather in Europe will continue for two weeks. The BBC also reported on the chaos that the weather is causing in Airports across Europe. The weather in Europe has been very cold this year due to the prevailing winds changing direction to come from the North and Siberia rather than the usual flow from west to east. In the UK this is being called the worst winter in 15 years and it appears that natural gas supplies are very low, so if you are planning a trip be sure to bring heavy clothing.

New TSA Air Travel Security Measures

On January 3, 2010 the TSA announced that it had issued new security directives to all United States and International air carriers with inbound flights to the United States, effective January 4, 2010.

The TSA statement continued “The new directive includes long-term, sustainable security measures developed in consultation with law enforcement officials and our domestic and international partners.
Because effective aviation security must begin beyond our borders, and as a result of extraordinary cooperation from our global aviation partners, TSA is mandating that every individual flying into the U.S. from anywhere in the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced screening. The directive also increases the use of enhanced screening technologies and mandates threat-based and random screening for passengers on U.S. bound international flights.”

Although the TSA announcement did not specify particular actions, we understand that passengers arriving from Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Lebanon, Iraq and Cuba will require pat-down body searches and have carry-on baggage hand-searched.

New Airline Security Rules - Post 12/25/2009?

As many of you know, a terrorist attempted to detonate an explosive device onboard a Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day. At this point, the design of the explosive device is under investigation, but it appears clear that the terrorist, who described himself as working at the direction of Al Qaeda, attempted to ignite an incendiary device that would have involved the plane’s fuel system, resulting in a conflagration and explosion capable of bringing down the aircraft.

As of today, December 27, 2009, the Transportation Security Administration has NOT issued any specific new directives, as a result of the situation. The only information available on the TSA website was this “Passengers flying from international locations to U.S. destinations may notice additional security measures in place. These measures are designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see the same thing everywhere. Due to the busy holiday travel season, both domestic and international travelers should allot extra time for check-in.”

Several international airports have been conducting increased security checks, including more frequent use of “pat-downs” to check for concealed devices that may be inert until mixed with other elements. In addition, many airlines are once again restricting carry-ons to one bag, which may not be accessed during the final hour of flight, if the flight is landing in the United States. In addition, these same airlines are requesting that personal items not be placed on the lap during the final hour of the flight. It appears that other airlines are restricting the use of blankets as covers during the final hour of flight, due to the terrorist covering himself with a blanket before he attempted to ignite the device he was carrying. Finally, many airlines are restricting passenger movements in the cabin during the final hour of flights (better head for the bathroom before this period or you may be stuck in your seat).

We will report more details on the potential for increased airline security when it happens. For now, it seems prudent to arrive at the airport early if you will be boarding an international flight for the United States.

As always, we recommend prudence when flying or when traveling away from home. While we cannot speak for others, in our opinion, the rest of the world is too important to ignore and too beautiful to disregard. We will continue to travel, as we believe that knowing more about other cultures is the best road to understanding and, eventually, peace.

Forget Paris – It’s Vienna Next Spring

Laguna Hills, CA (ThereArePlaces) December 26, 2009 – ThereArePlaces, publisher of www.ThereArePlaces.com announced the availability of its new, online Guide to the best places to visit in Vienna, Austria. Field researched throughout November, the guide provides photos and up-to-date details on what you will see when you visit Vienna’s leading attractions in 2010, as well as detailed maps showing the locations of Vienna’s best places to visit. In addition, the Vienna Guide provides details on the Imperial City’s best sightseeing, its best cafes and sweetshops and a wonderful daytrip to Austria’s beloved Wachau, including visits to the Abbey at Melk and the medieval towns of Krems and Durnstein.

“During the last half-year, ThereArePlaces noticed a significant change in our website traffic, indicating that our visitors were focusing on researching travel information for Austria. In response, ThereArePlaces sent an editorial team to Vienna and canvassed the city, gathering the most up-to-date information on Vienna and its many attractions for tourists. The editorial team at ThereAreplaces thinks it has presented the best places to visit in Vienna in a format that will make it easy for anyone to get started planning a trip to the Imperial City, the former home of the Habsburg Empire,” said company President Mike Dobson, a seasoned travel industry executive.

Dobson continued, “Vienna has a number of interesting attractions and most travelers would be hard pressed to see even a fraction of these during a visit. ThereArePlaces has done the hard work for you and present recommendations on the best places to visit, including the best: palaces, museums, art galleries, churches, music venues, shopping, and other categories of sightseeing that might be of interest. In addition, the ThereArePlaces Vienna guide is highly illustrated with great photographs that will let you see the detail of the attractions we recommend. The detailed information we provide should allow you to decide on exploring the attractions that best meet your travel interests.”

The ThereArePlaces Guide to Vienna can be found here at ThereArePlaces.

About ThereArePlaces
ThereArePlaces is a property of TeleMapics, LLC, a business focused on travel, tourism, and other location based services. Through its website http://www.thereareplaces.com the company publishes up-to-date, detailed, illustrated guides to the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Its coverage areas include: Europe, Asia, the Pacific and North America. ThereArePlaces is a travel information publisher whose commitment is to provide travel advice that might help its readers to take the journey of a lifetime.