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Britain posts
World's quirkiest rental home: The Balancing Barn
Jan 25th, 2012 at 1:00PM:
For travelers who want to have a rustic experience in the English countryside while also experiencing modern innovations, you may want to look into reserving a stay at The Balancing Barn, a unique rental home in Thorington, Suffolk, in England that defies the laws of nature. Created by Netherlands-based architectural firm MVRDV, half of the barn sits precariously over a descending slope with ...
5 train trips everyone should experience
Oct 29th, 2011 at 10:00AM: While some train routes can seem long and boring, there are many that allow for great views of unique landscape or luxury service. Still, there are some train rides that go above and beyond your wildest imagination. Check out these five train trips that everyone should experience in their lifetime.
The Blue Train
South Africa
The Blue Train travels approximately 1,000 miles between Pretoria ...Mystery mound in England turns out to be ancient monument
Jun 2nd, 2011 at 9:00AM:
England's prehistoric landscape has a new addition.
Marlborough Mound in Wiltshire has long been a mystery. The flat-topped cone of earth looks like a smaller version of Silbury Hill, pictured here. The bigger mound was finished around 2300 BC at a time when Neolithic farmers were erecting stone circles such as Stonehenge and Avebury. Now archaeologists have taken samples from Marlborough ...The London homeless thrive as tour guides
Mar 9th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
I have hired some strange tour guides. One was a Balinese man that cackled like a quick fire dub step remix of the word "huh." One was a spy for the Myanmar government whose eyes widened in the car's rear view every time I fumbled with my iPod. One made me promise that I would marry my girlfriend when I returned home. Others still furthered strange agendas upon my explorations.
Never ...Video of the Day: The Difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England
Feb 7th, 2011 at 6:30PM:
Have you been to England? What about Great Britain? How about the United Kingdom? Perhaps you just have no clear idea how to use those terms properly. Lest you tick off an Irishman or embarrass yourself at a pub, you may want to take a gander at the video above that quickly and humorously explains just what England, Great Britain and the UK are.
There's no shame in not understanding the ...
Which country loves to work? See who doesn't take vacation time
Aug 8th, 2010 at 4:00PM: A friend of mine asked me a few days ago when I last went on vacation – a real one. I struggled to remember the last time I went on a trip and didn't write or, before that, keep up with what was going on at the office. After stopping and focusing, I remembered a four-day trip I took to Orlando back in late 2005. Even there, I'm not sure that I didn't work, I just don't remember spending time ...British bear hits the beach
Jul 23rd, 2010 at 2:30PM: The British have given us so much in the way of comedy; from Monty Python to The Office to the newly ubiquitous Russell Brand, funny is their best export. What else would you expect from a country so often bereft of sunshine? Now comes a delightful series of short videos from the BBC starring the hard-drinking, hapless Misery Bear, an English (but Made in China) stuffed teddy bear who never seems ...
Brit travel abroad plunged: blame the business travelers
Jul 16th, 2010 at 1:00PM: The homes in Britain must be incredibly cozy – because nobody left them. Travel from the UK fell to its lowest levels since the 1970s, thanks to the hangover from the September 2008 financial crisis. The number of people crossing a border dropped 15 percent year-over-year, with only 58.6 million visits abroad taking place.
As usual, the business traveler is stuck with the blame for this. ...Brits are worst-dressed tourists in Europe
Jun 7th, 2010 at 10:00AM: When it comes to dressing horribly, the British are the best of the worst. According to a survey conducted by TripAdvisor, Brits are the worst-dressed tourists roaming the Continent. According to the Telegraph, the Germans and Americans are next in line when it comes to fashion-challenged tourists. The survey covered several other topics, as well.
The French may be well-dressed, but they are ...Hang with Hardy at writers' workshop weekend in Britain
Mar 7th, 2010 at 1:00PM:
If you're a big fan of Return of the Native or Jude the Obscure, there's a travel package that's perfect for you. Built around the chance to hang with Thomas Hardy's ghost – or, should we say, Thomas Hardy in ghost form? – Summer Lodge Country House Hotel is bringing four writers under its roof for a unique weekend of literary bliss. Guests will be able to learn how to make it as a ...Winter weather doesn't deter amorous Brits
Jan 8th, 2010 at 3:00PM: Next time you're stuck in a London hotel, with snow falling and few options for getting out on the town, order a little entertainment to your room. It will make you authentically British ... if you take the latest survey by IllicitEncounter.com at face value. The website, which helps married people find a little action on the side, revealed that its traffic increased on Wednesday morning, as a ...Britain says no to alien welcomes
Dec 5th, 2009 at 3:00PM: The visitors traveling the longest distances to Britain will find the phones shut off. Citing the high costs of operation, the British military has shut down its UFO hotline. So, not only will aliens not be welcomed personally, the messages reported via their crop circles will go unreported. This is the end of a half-century commitment in the United Kingdom to helping the nutty find an ...Brits love Thailand, not really France
Nov 28th, 2009 at 3:30PM: More than a thousand Britons can't be wrong, right? An online survey of 1,402 of them, by Zoover.co.uk, found France to be the least hospitable vacation destination. But, to be fair, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia weren't included among the choices. So, it really wasn't that bad for the folks across the channel. The Brits found that Thailand was the top spot, picking up 25 percent of the vote, with ...Explore London with Sherlock Holmes
Nov 15th, 2009 at 2:30PM: In anticipation of the Christmas Day release of the new Sherlock Holmes movie (starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law), Visit Britain has developed a microsite to help guide fans to the London locations used in the film. The site also offers possible itineraries for a Holmes-themed tour of London.
The list of London stops on the Holmes tour includes St. Paul's Cathedral, ...Teenage Aussie set to sail around the world
Oct 18th, 2009 at 12:00PM: Jessica Watson likes to travel, but she approaches the concept a bit differently. The 16-year-old Australian just left Sydney Harbor today, and she wants to take on the world. Her goal is to sail 23,600 miles alone -- through some of the toughest waters in the world -- and become the youngest person in history to do so.
The trek has kicked off some debate in Australia as to whether Watson's ...Travel to Spain suffering
Aug 22nd, 2009 at 4:00PM: It really is a shame: summer travel to Spain is off 6.1 percent this year, as the global economic decline is making the decision to travel tougher for everyone. The country's Tourism Ministry puts the number of July arrivals at just over 6.6 million. For the entire year (through the end of July), arrivals fell 10.3 percent to 30.2 million visitors. This follows a record 33.6 million for the same ...And the happiest place on Earth is ...
Jul 6th, 2009 at 4:00PM: ... not Disney World!
Despite the theme park's claim, Costa Rica actually takes the top spot, according to the New Economics Foundation. This Britain-based independent research firm uses the "Happy Planet Index" to determine and rank the countries with the happiest people. The organization's goal is to build a new economy that focuses on people and the environment.
This year's survey covered ...Cambridge, England honors fallen American soldiers
Jul 1st, 2009 at 8:00AM:
Arlington National Cemetery has no parallel, yet for some families, it's not enough. If yours is not resting in Arlington, then the national treasure takes a back seat to the bit of earth that matters more to you. As many people as Arlington serves, there are large U.S. cemeteries elsewhere that are profound in the numbers they protect. This becomes clear when the enormity of the Cambridge ...Fill your bottles before going to UK ... because you can
Mar 15th, 2009 at 1:00PM: The British government is planning to ease its ban on the amount of liquid you can take into and out of the country. Currently, passengers are only allowed to carry 100 ml bottles. Improved airport X-ray machines are expected to render that limit unnecessary. If all goes well – based on secret technology being tested by German scientists – the ban could be lifted by the end of the ...Britain's most embarassing place names
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Jan 23rd, 2009 at 1:30PM: You tend to think of the British as a smart, buttoned-up lot. We're talking about a country with a history of lots of curtsies, foxhunts and tea at high noon. It's surprising then to learn that the British apparently are not quite so polite when it comes to naming their towns and cities. Yesterday's New York Times takes a look at some of the more unintentionally hilarious place names in the United ...
