Continuing the theme of my recent reviews of Finnair and Finnish capital Helsinki, comes today’s story which caught my attention. Finns are very proud of their Moomins, friendly trolls who live in the MoominValley. Moomins are happy go lucky warm hearted creatures who embrace adventures with gusto. They also face potentially ruinous situations with a positiveness and open ness that can be inspiring. Which is one reason why it makes sense for the new Children’s Hospital in Helsinki to adopt a Moomin theme. The New Children’s Hospital will have eight floors above ground, a basement, and…
Weird or Wonderful
Category Archives for Weird or Wonderful.
Watching the Destruction of Pompei
What is it with my fascination with disasters? For example, I watch Air Crash Investigations the night before going on a long flight! Many of us have been to contemporary Italy and seen the remains of Pompe. I just discovered this time lapse video of 21st August 79, the day Vesuvius erupted and wiped out the town. It is a very clever and gripping re-creation. Have you experienced a volcanic eruption? The Verdict: Slightly Wonderful Each week, I scour the internet for something weird or wonderful that has happened in travel land. if you…
Who drinks the Most Coffee and Tea in the World? The answers may surprise you.
Which countries drink the most coffee? I think Coffee and I think Italy (quality) and the USA (quantity). Well, I was wrong! I came across some fascinating stats about the real state of play with coffee this week. I already knew before I recently went to Helsinki, that the Finns drink a lot of coffee. They even had a Coffee Festival in Helsinki while I was there! I had no idea quite how much coffee Finns drink compared to other nations. According to the International Coffee Organization cited by traveller.com.au, the Finns drink a staggering 12kg per capita…
Your Seat is Never Guaranteed- The Weird United “unboarding”
The world is aghast at the sight of airport security officials hauling David Dao. a passenger the airline described as “belligerent” off a plane at Chicago airport. It is likely you will have seen the videos of the guy being dragged down the aisle of the Embraer. I suspect the travelling world has paid more attention to this incident than the children being bombed to death in Syria or the people starving in Somalia or the gay men being rounded up and put in concentration camps in Chechnya. I suppose because we can all relate more…
The Top 20 April Fools Day 2017 Travel Pranks
April 1 brought a range of gags around the world. Some subtle, some blatantly ridiculous and others funny. In a year of “fake news”, some were wary of participating in the April 1st tradition, however with Ingvar Näslund, editor-in-chief at Västerbottens-Kuriren summing the situation up: “Historically, we’ve had super successful April Fools jokes. But because of debates and discussions about the media’s credibility being connected to fake news, we didn’t want to do it this year” The Montreal Gazette announced that April Fools’ Day has been cancelled, starting today. Here are top 2o travel gags from…
Would you fly with this guy?
Just found these funny videos featuring Sebb Stratta, stunt pilot at Take Flight Aviation in the United Kingdom. He takes his friends up in the air and performs aerobatics with them in small planes. By this, I mean he likes to fly upside down. Amazingly his friends stay friends with him! The pilot almost seems to have a sadistic streak! Enjoy! Here is Sebb’s 2015 video Here is his 2016 video: His friend’s reactions are hilarious. Watch the guy who likes to sing when he is nervous! I wonder if they become more confident about flying…
Crowd funding Plane and Food for Somalia- The Love Army for Somalia
What do these people and Turkish Airlines have in common? Left to right: Casey Neistat, You Tuber Ben Stiller, actor Colin Kaepernick, American football quarterback Juanpa Zarita, YouTuber Jerome Jarre, entrepreneur and Social Media Star You may have heard about the fascinating campaign they have all participated in which has raised two million dollars for food for Somalia and organised a plane to get the food there. Somalia has had a civil war running for 26 years. With a per capita GDP sitting at $274, it is one of the poorest and most tragic of failed states. This year the African…
Quarter Million dollar mouse stops aeroplane
The poor old mouse has had a rough time through history but always seems to make it out on top. I was fascinated/bemused by the announcement that a mouse probably ended up costing British Airways 290,000 Euro last week. Flight BA285, was due to leave London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 at 10:40am on 1st March for San Franciso. Just before push back, a mouse was found on board. Because mice can gnaw through the wiring on aeroplanes, a wide-ranging check had to done before the plane could take off. There are thousands of cables on a…
English vs American English
“England and America are two countries separated by the same language” George Bernard Shaw As an Australian who speaks yet another form of English, it is a constant source of bemusement at how the English speaking world can pronounce and spell words so differently! On top of that, we sometimes name the same object very differently. Grammar Check have put this guide together for 63 words on the differences between “proper English” (as my 3rd grade teacher used to say) and American English. A good marketing tool for the company! There are some additional ones…
Valentines Day Singing on Board by Finnair
A heartwarming story from Finnair in the midst of the doom and gloom of the daily news. Ten of the crew on a recent AY005, Finnair’s Helsinki to New York flight were members of the Finnair Singers Club. They surprised passengers on the flight with a series of serenades and lullabies for Valentine’s Day. The Finnair Singers Club has been operating singing through the skies since 1949. This choir have performed all around the globe: Australia, Canada, India, Sweden and the USA. The singers performed a Christmas flash mob for Christmas 2015 at Helsinki Airport Gate…
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