Thursday 11 June 2015



Are you planning to visit Abu Dhabi? If yes, then you must contemplate a few significant stuffs before you fly to Abu Dhabi, such as accommodation and conveyance. Both of these things are quite imperative and the deciding factor of the enjoyment and satisfaction level of your vacation. You can arrange for the transportation in two different manners. The first one would be to seek help from the relatives or family members if they are living in the city. The second is the most commonly used method - rent a car in Abu Dhabi.

The airport is one of the first places where you will need a car that can pick you up. If budget is not an issue, you can make use of airport Limo car hire service as well. Otherwise, there are dozens of economy car rental service and solutions available readily. In view of that, you will need to rent a car at Abu Dhabi airport. The best way is to use online car rental booking service before you arrive to the airport. You will need to tell the precise time of your arrival while booking so you don’t have to wait unnecessarily at the airport. The car will then be waiting for you at the airport and you will be picked as soon as your arrive, thus saving your valuable time.

Using the online platform to rent a car in Abu Dhabi is quite easy. A few clicks can get the job done. From the endless choices you can easily on the internet, you can select the one which suits your requirements the best. And yes, availing both economy car rental service and airport Limo car hire service is possible as well.

One thing that you should keep in mind is to fill the correct information while processing the booking form. After that, you can take your time to select a vehicle, which is most suitable for your trip or purpose of visiting Abu Dhabi.

You can even save your money. Before you rent a car in Abu Dhabi, make sure you check for the discounts or offers that can be availed online. After all, who does not like to save some hard-earned cash? http://www.indigojlt.com/
The heat is on and so is the search for a summer getaway. Estonia, a tiny north European country, could be a 'smart' choice. With its thick forests, vast seas and 1,200 lakes, the tech-savvy nation has a lot to offer to adrenaline junkies as well as nature lovers. Ten reasons why you should explore the country:
1) 20 degrees of separation: Surrounded by the Baltic Sea and proximity to the Atlantic, keeps Estonian summers cool. An average summer day's temperature is around 20 degree celsius and can go up to 30 degree celsius, but that doesn't happen too often. The hottest this country has ever got is at 35 degree celsius -- a breeze for most of us. In the capital Tallinn, the Baltic is never too far for a walk. Summer is the time when flowers bloom in city's numerous parks, a nice place for a lazy picnic. Shopping is a stroll. There are plenty of malls in the city's hotel district and most of them are open from 9am to 9pm.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/popup/2015/6/park1.jpg

Kadriorg Park
2) Stay connected: The next best thing to the beautiful summer is connectivity. With 97% cellular penetration and extensive 3G and 4G coverage, Estonia is as connected as it gets. And, it doesn't cost a bomb. Wi-fi is largely free. Hotels, restaurants and even fuel stations, Wifi hot spots are widely spread, covering most public spaces. Guide maps, hotel reservations, museum tickets - anything under the sun is available online. You are never lost in this country.
3) Sea kayaking: Sea kayaking, and canoeing are popular summer sports in Estonia, which is surrounded by the sea on almost three sides. For the beginners, short trips around Tallinn and other coastal towns are recommended. Day-long trips or even longer expeditions are possible along the northern and western coasts. The towns are well connected to Tallinn through rail and bus. Many tour organisers arrange transport on request. Packages normally include equipment and guides. Tour operators can be contacted online. Dugouts, or a long boats carved out of a single log, are a treat. They go back to Stone Age and are worth a try.
4) A jungle out there: It truly is. About half of the Estonian land is forests. Estonians have always been close to nature - an oak tree, in keeping with tradition, is still held sacred. In 2011, Estonian air was voted the cleanest in the world. Take a deep breath and you will know.  Hiking, nature walks and bird and wildlife watching come with the territory.
June 24 is the most important summer day in Estonia. St John's Day, or Midsummer Day, marks the end of spring sowing and beginning of the hay-making season. Bonfires are lit on the night of June 23 and people gather around them with families and friends, singing and dancing. Lovers head for forests looking for the elusive fern flower that is said to bloom only that night - a ritual rooted in the fairy tale of Koit (dawn) and Hämarik (dusk) who see each other only once in a year and share a briefest kiss - a symbol, perhaps, of the fleeting moment when dawn meets dusk.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/popup/2015/6/bear1.jpg
Estonian wildlife.
5) Beaver safari: Beavers, the largest of the rodents, burrow on the banks of rivers or lakes. Second only to humans when it comes to reengineering their environment, beavers were once found across Europe until they were hunted close to extinction. Conservation efforts have paid off and Estonia is one of their homes. Beaver-watching trips are held during the day as well as night. Soomaa national park in south-western part of the country is popular for night safaris where these nocturnal animals can be seen by the river.
6) Hook, line and sinker: Fishing is a year-round hobby. Hundreds of rivers, thousands of lakes and 3,800km-long coastline has enough for anglers of all vintages. Anyone can fish with a simple hand line, provided season, sites and restrictions are kept in mind.  A brown trout, sea trout, pike and eel are among the fish you will net. Some places and equipment need fishing permits that are easily available online, so is the information on gear and fishing possibilities.
7) A toast to history: For almost all Estonian cities, there is an old town. Swedes, Danes, Germans and Russians, who ruled the Baltic country at different times in history have left their mark on cityscapes. In the heart of Tallinn is the Mediaeval Old Town, a Unesco world heritage site. Gabled houses, gothic spires and cobbled streets, the old town, layered in history, is an architectural maze and gem at the same time. History and modern world make for a delicious combination. Gourmet restaurants, pubs, pizzerias and even dancing clubs operate out of what were once merchant houses and even barns. It is not at many places that one gets to go up an ancient stone-carved staircase leading to a café. Wrapped in a blanket, sipping mulled wine, Tallinn is laid out in all its glory with the sparkling blue of the Baltic lining the horizon. In the university town of Tartu, the oldest of its streets is a pub line, catering to both -- broke students and the posh set. Weekend is a buzz at the country's intellectual capital.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/popup/2015/6/town1.jpg
Tallinn, the mediaeval old town.
8) May your bread last: That is unlikely if it is the delicious dark rye bread. The Estonians greeting for bon appetite is throwback to days of frugality but the local cuisine has been enriched by the influence of neighbours and ruling powers. Fish is plentiful. Pork remains the favourite meat, with a side of potatoes and sauerkraut, a German influence but with a distinct Estonian taste. Dairy is one of the biggest exports. Supermarket shelves groan under the weight of cheese, yogurts and milk products. Farmer markets are good place to shop for local meat, meat products, vegetables and fruits. Estonia's forests produce a lot of honey. Kama flour is another staple. A mix of roasted cereals and legumes, it has a nice nutty taste and is best served mixed with yogurt and a layer of fresh plum or strawberry jam.
Beer-brewing has been a serious business for larger islands for a while now. The best beer comes from there, their recipes remain a secret to mainlanders till date but a glug and your in heaven, or at least close to it. Cheers!
9) Song and drama: What is a good holiday without some song and drama? Estonia has plenty on offer. Summer makes otherwise reserved Estonians sing. Choir competitions song festivals and outdoor concerts are held throughout the country. Go online and you are bound to find something to sing about. In Tallinn, they even have a song ground and in Tartu, impromptu gigs, student festivals are a regular feature. Theatre holds a special place. Each year, hundreds of new productions go up on the stage and are very well attended.  By the number of theatre-goers, Estonia is one of the leading countries in Europe.
10) Bog-shoeing:  If you can walk, you can bog-shoe. Typical to northern hemisphere, a bog is a wetland, loosely a marsh where layers and layers of peat-- remains of tree and plants, and moss, capture small lakes and make walking possible. A bog shoe is like a snow shoe or a miniature boat which is clipped on to a walking shoe. Pick berries on edges of bog or just walk or even take a hike in what otherwise would be inaccessible slushy forests. Bogs are spread widely but the most walkable in Soomaa and Lahemaa national parks. You can even bog-shoe to the Russian border on the south. From a few hours to cottages for overnight stay, tours are available across the country.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/popup/2015/6/bog1.jpg
Bog-shoeing at Soomaa national park.
Getting there: Tallinn is connected by air to all Scandinavian and most European capitals. Tallinn, which sits on the southern shore of Gulf of Finland, is also a popular cruise destination. Finnish capital Helsinki is just 83k away from the city and a ferry trip takes just two hours.
Staying there: Top-of-the line hotels to budget accommodations - there is something for every pocket. Tallinn has a hotel district close to the city centre. Old Town, too, has hotels and youth hostels. It is possible to stay the night for €13-16. Same for Tartu. B&B are quite common in Estonia and are largely family run. If planning a long stay and travelling in a group, it is better to rent a flat.  Camps and caravans, spa hotels and even manor houses are other options.
SpiceJet may have just struck gold with its news Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) partnership. The low cost airline has seen sharp swings in its fortunes in the last six months. From briefly shutting down its services in December 2014, it reported its first profitable quarter in January-March, after seven straight quarters. Now with the IRCTC tie-up, SpiceJet is looking at a significant rise in passenger volumes and hopefully many more profitable months.
The railways have entered into this tie up with both SpiceJet and GoAir. The partnership enables a train traveller, who is on the wait list to cancel the train ticket and get onto a flight of either airline by paying a small incremental fee.
The partnership started one month ago, and in that time all tickets passed on by SpiceJet and GoAir have been sold to wait-listers.

Source: bangaloreaviation.com

However, it is not all as perfect as it sounds, there are some riders attached. The scheme only applies to tickets booked at least three days prior to the date of the journey, the tickets can only be cancelled on a specific website, and the flight tickets are only available for the day of the train journey or the day prior.
There are no fixed sectors to which the scheme applies, no fixed number of tickets either airline must make available to IRCTC, and no fixed rates. The incremental payment for a flight (over and above the train fare) depends on the sector and prevailing prices.
This helps both the railways and SpiceJet - long wait lists of train travellers gets reduced and they get to fly with SpiceJet for a small incremental fee instead. It is not clear if SpiceJet will have to pay a commission to IRCTC or vice versa.
SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh pointed out that this tie-up is promising for the airline and he expects "significant" passenger volumes to be generated through this scheme.

Passengers waiting around in train stations | Source: The Hindu

In an interview with FirstpostSingh said, the airline is not solely banking on IRCTC to improve business, he mentioned several other initiatives that are currently in process. 
Fleet expansion - As of now, operational fleet of 20 Boeing 737 aircraft and 15 Q400s. No plans to phase out Q400s as of now, may add 6-7 aircraft by October. Claims all issues with aircraft lessors resolved.
Headcount - Already down significantly, from 5200 when he took charge of the airline to 3800. Keeping headcount down and simultaneously re-negotiating supplier contracts has helped in significant cost reduction for SpiceJet.
Shrinking operations - When Singh took charge of the airline in January, it was flying to 39 destinations. It is now only flying to 30. According to Singh, for a low cost airline, it is more important to increase the frequency to existing stations instead of adding more stations. The stations which have been shutdown, were either very close in distance to others or had a low flight frequency.

SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh | Source: Business Today

Investment - In Singh's revival plan for the airline, which he submitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in January, he committed Rs 1500 crore investment. Of this Rs 800 crore has already been paid to the airline. Singh said there is no need for the remaining Rs 700 crore to come in right now, as he would rather fund SpiceJet's expansion than its losses. However, he was unable to provide a plan as to where the money would come from in the future.
New Logo: SpiceJet has a new logo and slogan ‘SpiceJet is different. It is Red. Hot. Spicy.’ The airline has also unveiled a mobile app for Android and Apple iOS smartphones. The app allows customers to book tickets, get real-time flight status, manage their bookings (change, cancel, refund), add optional products such as meals, SpiceMAX and advance seat selection.
Strategic Investors: Singh said a lot of people, including Private Equity Investors and foreign airlines, are interested in funding the airline.
In the end he is hopeful that Financial Year 2016 will prove to be profitable for the company.  If the IRCTC partnership works, it is highly likely they are heading in that direction.
Frequent train travellers, who are whimsical about their travel destination and book at the last minute, will hopefully be seen with broad grins as IRCTC has now announced that customers may be able to avail 'upto a 50%'  refund on cancellation of Tatkal tickets.
RAIL STATION
Source: ankitshah082.wordpress.com


July onwards, Indian Railways will have a new timing set for Tatkal customers. For those who wish to travel in AC class, their Tatkal ticket will be available from 10 am to 11 am and for those who wish to travel in Non AC class can book their tickets from 11 am to 12 noon.
It is also toying with the idea of giving refund on cancellation of tatkal tickets, the percentage of which would be calculated based on a time frame. The public transporter has decided to rechristen premium trains as “Suvidha” trains with an overhaul in the fare structure, cancellations and bookings, Railway Member (Traffic) Ajay Shukla said.
At present, no such facility is available, making such services unpopular among a segment of the customers.

Thursday 4 June 2015

Three silent minutes of swooping, swirling shots over Alpine peaks and lakes, the rush of wind, a distant bird song and a tiny figure spinning across meadows to then burst into song ... 'The hills are alive ...' You know the rest. We all do.

The Sound Of Music was the soundtrack of my childhood. I wanted to be Julie Andrews - to the point of having my hair bobbed like hers, learning all the words to all the songs, forcing my blonde, short-trousered twin brothers to march like the von Trapp family and only stopping short of fashioning Austrian costumes for us from the bedroom curtains.
Actress Helen Atkinson-Wood has a Maria moment while visiting Salzburg
Till you find your dream: Actress Helen Atkinson-Wood has a Maria moment
Now, for the first time, the original musical is being produced in its homeland of Salzburg and, dirndl skirt or not, I had to be there for the opening night at the Salzburg State Theatre. The real von Trapp family story began in 1911 when an Austro-Hungarian navy officer, Baron von Trapp, lost his wife, the mother of their seven children, to scarlet fever at just 31.

Maria Kutschera, a novice in the nearby Nonnberg Abbey, was hired as a governess and, as we all know from the film, would end up staying with the family for ever.

Maria and the baron were married and produced three children of their own. In 1935, the bank where the von Trapps deposited their money went bankrupt and their entire fortune was lost. But as Maria herself later put it, 'God opened a window' when the family's talent for choral singing was discovered after winning a competition at the Salzburg Festival. 

As opponents of Adolf Hitler, for whom they were to perform, the Trapp Family Chorus left Salzburg and emigrated to the US in 1938. Extensive concert tours as the Trapp Family Singers followed, and in 1942 they settled to run an Austrian-style hotel in Vermont.
A view of the old town and fortress Hohensalzburg, seen from Kapuzinerberg
Star of the show: Salzburg is now a Unesco World Heritage Site and provided the perfect backdrop for the film
Maria von Trapp wrote The Story Of The Trapp Family Singers, published in 1949. She described the family arriving at New York's Ellis Island with just $4 to their name.

She sold the rights to her autobiography for only £5,730 to the producer Wolfgang Reinhardt in 1956. Then, in June 1964, 20th Century Fox obtained the rights to the musical for £796,000.

And the result was the third most successful Hollywood film ever, winner of five Academy Awards.

Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer gave the performances that defined their careers, but the real star is Salzburg itself. Now a Unesco World Heritage Site, Salzburg provided the perfect backdrop, and the best way to see the city has to be the Sound Of Music tour, an opportunity to recreate your personal version of the film.

You can sing sotto voce How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria at the Nonnberg Convent where the young Maria was a postulate, then dance and sing your way round the fountains of the Mirabell Palace and gardens before swooning at the balcony of the Leopoldskron Palace, where the baron and Maria first danced.

Polka on to the Hellbrunn Palace for a swirling performance of I Am 16 Going On 17 and the Here I Am Standing Here Loving You moment between the baron and Maria.

Sunshine-yellow Mondsee Church is the setting for their wedding. The Summer Riding School featured as the Festival Hall where the von Trapps first perform as a family in the film. Strum your way through what has often been mistaken for the Austrian national anthem, Edelweiss.
Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music
Career-defining moment: Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music
If you have an ounce of emotional energy left to Climb Every Mountain, head for the towering Untersberg peak, over which the von Trapps fled to find freedom.

Curiously, the film is not widely known in Austria. Dr Carl Philip von Maldeghem, artistic director of the Salzburg State Theatre, plans to change that by bringing The Sound Of Music home. With a cast of locals, it's clear Austria's got talent when it comes to singing in lederhosen.

Currently running until September 2012, the show can be enjoyed in tandem with an exhibition titled The Trapp Family at the Salzburg Panorama museum, where original family artefacts bring the true story to life. But if you feel in danger of being trapped by the von Trapps, you can always head into the mountains.

By road, you can reach the Salzburg Lake District in half an hour. Surrounded by spectacular scenery, the villages of St Wolfgang and St Gilgen are worthy of the opening aerial shots of any Hollywood blockbuster. And then there's Schloss Fuschl, the only resort hotel in Austria. Luxury like this does not come cheap.

A 'basic room' is so basic it has floor-to-ceiling lake views, including the bathroom. Or you can push the boat out quite literally from your own secluded lakeside chalet or book an individual suite complete with Old Masters on the walls.
A view of Schloss Fuschl from the lake
Luxury in a stunning location: The Schloss Fuschl is the only resort hotel in Austria
Of course, Salzburg itself isn't short of luxury hotels. Christopher Plummer sang in the piano bar at the Hotel Bristol. Meanwhile, Julie Andrews was across the square at the Hotel Sacher, where its famous Sacher Torte chocolate cake may well have been one of her Favourite Things.

We were perfectly happy with Hotel Stein and its spectacular rooftop restaurant overlooking the Salzach river, the old city and the monumental medieval fortress Hohensalzburg.

Just a walk from the hotel, across the bridge, brings you to Mozart's birthplace. It was Mozart who originally put Salzburg on the musical map. St Peter Stiftskeller is the oldest restaurant in Europe, dating back to 803 AD, and we enjoyed a dinner and the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the knowledge that he had dined there too.

Rolling back to the hotel, I found myself singing The Sun Has Gone To Bed And So Must I. Now where have I learnt that? 

Getting there

Kirker Holidays (020 7593 2283, kirkerholidays.com) offers three nights in Salzburg from £619 including return flights, accommodation at the Hotel Stein and a Sound Of Music tour. For further information on Salzburg and the region, visit salzburgerland.com and salzburg.info/en.

Tickets for The Sound Of Music (with English surtitles) at the Salzburg Landestheater (salzburger-landestheater.at) range from €16.50 (£15) to €51 (£43) per person.

To book for future performances on selected dates up to June 2012, email service@salzburger-landestheater.at.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2103356/Holidays-Salzburg-At-Im-Sound-Music.html#ixzz3c5RdyTE1 
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The mood music in the ski industry is pleasingly more upbeat than in recent years.
Tour operators offering ski holidays across the budget spectrum say that they are feeling more chipper after last winter, when many lapsed skiers returned to the sport they love.
Improved confidence in the economy and a bumper season for snow – especially in the Alps – are the key reasons behind the sudden halt in the four-year-long decline in ski numbers.
A study conducted annually by leading winter sports tour operator Crystal Ski goes one step further by reporting a 'return to growth'. 
Skier on the slopes
Top runs: Last year was one of the best on the slopes
Managing director Simon Cross claims that the number of Britons taking ski holidays increased by 5,000 last winter – a one per cent rise year on year, making up a total of 899,700 skiers and snowboarders. 
Another good snow season – on top of the global focus on all snow and ice sports that the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia (February 7-23) next year will bring – should encourage even more of us to hit the slopes.
I cannot remember hitting one patch of ice last winter, it really was an epic snow season – long may the low temperatures and regular snow storms continue. If they do, here's a few treasures you might wish to consider: 

Grimentz, Switzerland 

This quaint village, with many of its darkened-wood granaries built on stilts up a steep slope, needs to be seen to be believed for it is a real-life museum, beautifully exhibiting rural mountain life as far back as 900 years ago. 
Modern accommodation has since been added on the village's flanks and a new cable car, opening this season, linking Grimentz directly to the top of the neighbouring Zinal ski area, has boosted the region's appeal. 
Now locals are worried that Grimentz and the other sleepy villages in the Val d'Anniviers region, above Sierre, are about to attract the mainstream crowd.
Publicity still of the group in Austria shooting the film HELP in 1965
Austrian classic: Publicity still of the group in Austria shooting the film HELP in 1965
With its enviable expanse of lifts served, on and off-piste terrain, its snow record and top elevation of nearly 10,000ft, I'm afraid it's just too good to be kept secret. 
Rental Prestige (rentalprestige.com) services a range of upscale, self-catering properties, including Chalet CBC, which sleeps eight for a total of £3,040 (£380pp) for seven nights. 
There are flights to Geneva from Heathrow or London City Airport from swiss.com. Mountain guides charge £380 per day and heliskiing costs from £210. 

Obertauern, Austria 

The comfortable Marietta Hotel, a four-star, spa property, is conveniently located at the foot of the ski slopes and harbours a little-known secret – it was the venue of the only live 'concert' performed by The Beatles in Austia. 
It started as an impromptu gig for a crew member's birthday while the Fab Four stayed in this Salzburgerland resort, filming the snow scenes for their 1965 film Help! 
Head to the Seekarhaus Hotel for cocktails to see all the film memorabilia on the lounge walls and maybe you'll meet owner, Gerhard Krings, who regaled us with stories of when he was a skiing body double for George Harrison. 
Seekarhaus Hotel
Celebrity link: The Seekarhaus Hotel has plenty of Fab Four memorabilia
Most of the ski terrain at Obertauern is tame and dotted around a large natural bowl making it reassuring for families as children cannot easily get lost. 
The Marietta offers seven nights from £603pp. Both easyJet and Ryanair fly to Salzburg. Crystal Ski (crystalski.co.uk 0871 231 2256) offers three-star, half-board hotel packages for a week, including flights from London Gatwick, from £649pp. 
For more information go to obertauern.com

Ischgl, Austria

I saw Deep Purple perform the Top Of Mountain concert here on April 30 – then skied the last day of the season on May 1. The snow was a bit slushy but there was still plenty of it. 
Even in a bad snow year this Austrian area, named the Silvretta Arena after the surrounding mountains and boasting 150 miles of pistes, is a safe bet due to its top station of 9,420ft and snow-making system. 
Ischgl
Music in the mountains: Ischgl hosts an annual Top of Mountain cencert
The village is made up of bold, classic Tyrolean architecture, with some avant-garde buildings intertwined. It feels affluent, though it can get raucous due to its apres-ski scene. Canadian rock band Nickelback are opening the Top Of Mountain concert season on November 30. 
Whether skiing here early, mid or late season, snow and fun are guaranteed. Inghams (inghams.co.uk 01483 791114) offers seven nights' half-board at the four-star Hotel Brigitte for as little as £1,124pp. This includes flights from Gatwick and resort transfers.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2424509/A-bumper-season-snow-Where-skier-slope-.html#ixzz3c5Qkbh4m 
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