From Bretislav, in the Czech Republic:
A guy is flying to London checking in at the airlines counter with 3 suitcases. He tells the lady there: “I want the first suitcase checked through to New York, the second to Paris and the third to Bombay.” The lady says, “I'm afraid that won't be possible sir.” The guy says, “Why not? That's what you did to my luggage the last time.”
Forget the romantic notion of Captain Hook and Cap'n Kidd – piracy is alive and well in the modern world!
Just last week, coastguards in Falmouth, in the south west of England picked up an SOS call almost 4,000 miles away from the Princess Sarah, a Greek owned ship off the Horn of Africa. The British alerted the French army based in Djibouti and Somalia who had a warship in the area. The French ship, Floreal, sent a helicopter to assist the Princess Sarah and scared the pirates off.
Incredibly, this is the second time that the Princess Sarah has been helped by the same coastguards, only a month earlier whilst off the coast of Somalia.
On a more positive note, contrary to popular belief, US citizens are allowed to visit Libya! This is good news as the Beetle is trying to persuade one to join her on a potential trip to Libya!
And on the flip side, just two days after the US government eased its warnings to US citizens not to travel to Pakistan, following the abduction of a US Wall Street journalist, the warnings are back in place.
Gabrielle wants to hear from you! She is a Producer for an American website/independent TV company called CameraPlanet.com CameraPlanet takes viewer video (amateur video from all over the world), edits the tape into short pieces (four minutes) and posts the stories online for viewer enjoyment.
The videos follow certain themes that correspond with channels. Gabrielle is in charge of the site “Freefall” Channel, dedicated to extreme sports and thrill seeking in general.
If you are interested in creating a short video (shot by yourselves, they can provide a video camera if you don’t have access to one) about adventure holidays etc, contact Gabrielle on: 212.779.0500 ext.240) or to e-mail click here.
Maiasmokk is the most charming restaurant with a café overlooking the street on the ground floor where you can sip coffee or have drinks and watch the world go by. It’s tucked behind the main square but is easy to find. The best dinner the Beetle had whilst in Tallinn – and the competition was tough! Address: (1-2) Pikk 16, tel: 6464-070.
Want to tell us about your favourite coffee corner or watering hole? Then e-mail: the Beetle
In about 200 AD a famous Greek astronomer named Claudius Ptolemy believed that the earth had to be balanced or it would topple over. He figured that there had to be a land yet unknown to Europeans somewhere below the Indian Ocean. Over time this yet to be discovered land came to be known as Terra Australis Incognito that means the Unknown Southern Land.