I am filling in my globe with all of the countries, territories and regions I have visited. With the addition of Russia this week, I have made it to 77 countries. I only count a country if I have left the airport. So while, I have transited through Doha and Johannesburg airports, I do not include Qatar and South South Africa in my tally. I have been to about two thirds of the countries in both Asia and Europe and exactly half of all the nations in the Oceania region of the planet. African exploration…
Italy
Tag Archives for Italy.
Tourist’s Stupidity wins them €20K fine
I hate tourists that damage the buildings or the natural environment. Its a massive bugbear of mine. The question is how much do we want these people to be punished? It seems Italy is getting tough. This week, one such vandal was fined $US25 000 for attempting to carve his initials into the Colosseum. This AD70 amphitheatre built during the Roman Empire stands 48.5 metres high and welcomes over six million visitors a year. I have visited it twice and it still inspires me. The 42-year-old Russian tourist had used a stone to carve the letter “K” into…
The European Peace Walk (EPW)
It is 100 years since World War One. One means of commemoration is the opening of a 550-kilometre (323 mile) trans-national walkway through 6 European countries. The EPW will start in Vienna, the walk moves into Bratislava. It then proceeds along the Danube into Hungary, then Croatia and into Slovenia‘s famous wine region before heading downhill to end at the Mediterranean Sea at Trieste, Italy. On the morning of Monday 28th of July 2014, a group of 50 walkers will set about walking the full trail. it will take them 23 days to arrive in Trieste in Italy. Every day for 2 weeks, 50 new PeaceWalkers will leave Vienna for…
Etihad sets deadline for Alitalia
Etihad announced last Sunday (February 2), that it has set a 30-day deadline to finalise a possible investment in Alitalia. The two airlines in a joint statement said “Any issues that may prevent the establishment of an appropriate business plan will have to be resolved to ensure the plan can be implemented to move Alitalia to sustainable profitability,” The statement was released while Italy’s prime minister, Enrico Letta, was on an official visit to the United Arab Emirates. The announcement came after a month long review of Alitalia’s finances by Etihad. The Italian carrier is…
WindJet Winds Down – and Up
Another closure with no warning. On August 13th, 2012 ENAC, the Italian civil aviation authority, ordered Italian carrier Windjet to suspend all operations and to cease issuing tickets. The low-cost carrier shut down its website and grounded all of its aircraft at the start of the busiest holiday week of the year. 300,000 air travellers found they were stranded and 500 staff lost their jobs. Windjet was established in 2003 by Antonino Pulvirenti, owner of the Catania football team. It grew to be the fourth largest airline in Italy after Alitalia, Air One (now part of Alitalia)…
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