New York meetings are having a summer break, Laurie and New York meetings will be back in September.
For details of forthcoming meetings email: newyork@globetrotters.co.uk.
New York meetings are held at The Wings Theatre, 154 Christopher Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness, in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month (except August) at 4 pm.
Los Angeles’ mayor, Jim Hahn has revealed plans to make LAX “the safest and most secure airport in America.” This involves knocking down three of the nine terminals and introducing radical transportation ideas.
If approved, the plan to rebuild the airport would be completed over 11 years and allow for an increase in passenger numbers of more than 20 million.
Amongst the proposals are a passenger check-in linked to the terminals by people mover trains.
Police in Bangladesh have announced new measures to combat the organised gangs who are terrorising transport owners, workers and passengers into handing over money at many of the capital, Dhaka’s bus terminals. The Bangladesh Rifles have combined with a newly formed Rapid Action Team in an attempt to bring the practice to an end. 72 people have been arrested so far, accused of terrorising drivers and passengers into handing over money to criminal organisations.
For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.
Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.
If you enjoy writing, enjoy travelling, why not write for the free monthly Globetrotters e-newsletter! The Beetle would love to hear from you: your travel stories, anecdotes, jokes, questions, hints and tips, or your hometown or somewhere of special interest to you. Over 7,500 people subscribe to the Globetrotters e-news.
To see your story in cyber print, e-mail the Beetle with your travel experiences, hints and tips or questions up to 750 words, together with a couple of sentences about yourself and a contact e-mail address to Beetle@globetrotters.co.uk
US citizens will be issued with “smart” passports carrying a digitally signed photograph by late 2004.
The new passports will include an embedded microchip that stores a compressed image of its owner's face. These microchips will be designed to prevent tampering and each digital image will be cryptographically signed to guarantee its authenticity.
Civil liberties groups fear that the introduction of such international identity schemes could permit governments to monitor the activities of citizens in unprecedented detail.
Here’s a little Beetle quiz based on airport codes. See how many you get right! Go on, have a guess!
Which cities are served by airports with the following codes:
For the answers, see at the end of the e-newsletter.
Globetrotters meeting on August 9th
The Texas Branch of the Globetrotters Club will meet August 9th 2003 at the New Braunfels Public Library – note back to old location.
If you like independent, adventuresome, fun, daring, exciting, “off the beaten path” travel, this club is for you. Our meeting begins at 2 P.M. Come early so you won't be late! Enjoy handouts, travel talk time, and door prizes!
Dates of future meetings: September 13
For more information about the Texas Branch or if you would like to help Christina, please contact texas@globetrotters.co.uk or register for email updates at our website (click here) or call Christina at 830-620-5482.
The Beetle recently visited Munich for shell repairing and discovered that it is a really nice, friendly, pretty and interesting city, easy to get around with some surprising touches – beautiful architecture, outdoor markets, fountains and sculptures.
How to get there: the airport at Munich is vast and well served. From London you can take Lufthansa and British Airways. It’s a short hop – around 1 ¾ hours. To get into the city centre, there are two S-Bahns – the slow one, the S1 and the faster S8. Either journey takes less than an hour. Tickets costs 9 euros and can be used on your next journey to complete your destination, e.g. the bus. You can buy tickets on the platform or from the airport information counter. The S-Bahns are excellent, cheap, clean, completely safe and frequent. Both go directly from the airport via many stations around the city to the central train station where you can make your connection with one of the other many S and U-Bahns.
When to go: well, the Octoberfest jumps out as a good time to visit Munich, which takes place over four weekends in September/October. Otherwise, any time, although July is very, very hot! There are good Christmas markets in November and December. There is almost always a large festival taking place in Munich during any given month.
What is there to see and do: lots and lots. You can stay in the city centre and easily spend a weekend prowling around the baroque churches, museums, art galleries, the town hall, theatres, outdoor fresh produce market, the Residenz, botanical gardens, the Olympic stadium and the English Gardens. One of the oddest sights was muscle-bound tanned men surfing on an artificially made wave of the Eisbach, about 5m wide in the English Garden. For major label shopping, all of the posh shops are rather conveniently concentrated on one street, Maximillian Strasse, otherwise, there’s plenty of high street shopping to do around Marienplaz and some wonderful off beat shops in Munich’s back streets.
Is there more to do than just a weekend? If you want! You can take self guided walking tours around the city, or join one of many walking tours, run in many different languages, or alternatively, there are a variety of day trips that you can do, solo or in an organised group, including one to Dachau, one of many Bavarian palaces, or even the Alps.
Food and Drink? Large portions seem to be the norm. If you like pork, you’ll be very happy here. There is a wide range of restaurants from the usual fast food outlets to upmarket French, Italian, Thai and local Bavarian speciality restaurants. The Hofbrauhaus may be a little touristy, but it’s well worth a visit for a beer and some local food if you are strolling around the English Garden.
Prices? Eating out is generally very reasonably priced, but hotels can be a little pricey. Search on the internet first and contact the tourism agency.
Language: don’t worry if you don’t speak German, a few basic words go a long way, but most people you will encounter speak some English, and menus written in English are widely available.
The UK Government is cracking down on air rage by imposing strict sentences on those found guilty of endangering an aircraft with disruptive behaviour.
Serious air rage incidents have increased during the last year with 648 'significant' in-flight incidents reported last year, a rise of around 16 per cent. 40 per cent of incidents were related to smoking and 42 per cent to alcohol.
Under the Aviation Offences Act, air rage passengers will face a five-year jail term if found guilty, three years more than the previous maximum penalty.