Posted by Andrew Hickey on Sep 25, 2009 in
Travel Each Friday I will be featuring the top travel stories that appeared on tripwolf.com’s blog this past week. If you are indeed hungry for travel, be sure to check out tripwolf.com.
A journey through Jamaica is just one of the featured articles this week at tripwolf.com!
- Yo mon! Be sure to check out part 2 of tripwolf member Colinstlouis’ trek through Jamaica. Missed part 1? No worries just click here.
- Confused on what the phrase “sustainable travel” really means? Want to be a true blue…er green eco-tourist? Adena from tripwolf sits down with Gregor from GlobalBasecamps.com about how you can travel often and leave a smaller carbon footprint in the process.
- All you Americans preparing for a trip to the Emerald Isle might want to click here for a fun Irish-English mini survival guide. As the luck of the Irish would have it, I have my grandmother handy to translate for me when I hit up Dublin, Galway, Belfast, and the rest of Ireland.
- Love yoga? Really love cruises? Want to win a free trip to Fiji? Please click here now and enter another great tripwolf contest!
- Plus much more, so check out tripwolf’s blog and stay hungry for travel.
Tags: belfast, dublin, eco-tourism, england, fiji, galway, ireland, jamaica, sustainable travel, tripwolf, tripwolf.com
Posted by Andrew Hickey on Jul 7, 2009 in
Travel 
Well when you gotta go…you gotta go. So the next time you are traveling in a city like Amsterdam, Belfast, and London, be careful when walking down certain streets at night. That seemingly innocent looking manhole cover might start to slowly rise up from the ground to reveal…a bathroom?!
One of the most ingenious ideas in public restrooms to come down the pipe (sorry) since the porta-potty is the Urilift. This “pop-up urinal” is placed under sidewalks in very busy European cities that suffer from public urination issues.
Yes many of these locales noticed that men, after a few pints in the pubs, were wandering home or to the next watering hole with some seriously full bladders. So instead of holding it in until they got to the little boys room, they instead whipped it out and did their “business” on storefronts, homes, and other unacceptable places.
The smell of urine throughout town is not one that many locals enjoyed, so many cities started to invest in a little company called Urilift. The underground outhouse is only available after 10pm in most places and is basically set up for the hectic nightlife in these popular cities. During the day workers, tourists, and locals have no idea that the manhole they are walking over is actually the top of a hidden restroom. So it keeps the area looking, and more importantly, smelling clean.
To all of the females out there reading this that feel their public restroom needs have been ignored, rejoice! Since the introduction of the Urilift in 2000, the company unveiled a unisex solution in 2004 called the UriGienic. Yup now you can access a toilet (with a locking door) when you “gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now” ladies.
Urilift International BV brags that, “The entire toilet is made from stainless steel and is cylindrical in shape. It is so ingeniously designed that it disappears completely from view during the day by means of a clever hydraulic system.”
Urilifts and UriGienics are currently located in The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, France, and Germany with plans to expand elsewhere soon. So if you need a bathroom break when visiting these countries, don’t fret, look down you are probably standing on a lavatory.
Tags: amsterdam, belfast, belgium, denmark, england, finland, france, germany, ireland, London, Paris, the netherlands, united kingdom, urilift
Posted by Andrew Hickey on Apr 16, 2009 in
Travel 
It has been awhile since I posted a great vacation package on the site. Well low and behold I came across a doozy of a deal from Sceptre Tours today while rummaging through numerous travel sites.
They are currently an amazing 6-night Irish vacation at the 5-star Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt for just $699 per person! This draw droppingly beautiful hotel is just less than 30 minutes from Dublin and 2.5 hours from Belfast. Here is a summary of what is offered with this trip:
- 6 nights at a Ritz Carlton Powerscourt suite w/ 2 Bedrooms & Living Room.
- Round-trip airfare to Dublin.
- Full size rental (manual shift).
- Guided tour of the Ritz-Carlton resort.
- Best of all, you receive a complimentary pint of Guinness!
You can add extra perks to the deal, for example a dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant for $199 per person. You must book by April 24 and travel is good between November 16, 2009 and February 15, 2010 in order to lock in the lowest price. If you plan on staying between December 20 and 31, 2009 it will only cost an extra $100 per person ($799).
For more information and to book your Irish getaway, click here.
Tags: belfast, dublin, ireland, sceptre
Posted by Andrew Hickey on Apr 8, 2009 in
Travel 
The Google "Street View" cars resting after a day of picture taking.
Since its debut nearly two years ago, Google Street View has been both highly praised and loudly damned. The fans of the nosy website love how they can easily jaunt around the globe with a simple click of the mouse. However, the naysayers see it as a major privacy issue. Whatever your feelings might be on the site, it surely has changed the way in which people travel. I mean you can check out a locale you are planning to visit and stroll down its streets. Want to find that restaurant you heard of? Google it! Need to see what your hotel’s surrounding area looks like? Google it! It really has become a tool that I use pretty much on a daily basis to check out places I need to visit.
I am a big fan of the website and love that they recently expanded their street access to many parts of Europe, including cities like Madrid, Naples, Amsterdam, Paris, Belfast and London! Plus at this point Google has covered pretty much all of the United States. It seems like only yesterday that I was only able to scroll down a street in San Francisco and New York.
Now as mentioned earlier, with Google roaming streets around the world, there was bound to be a few “caught in the act” moments. The most popular one would have to be the drunken teen that passed out on his parents lawn in Australia (pictured below). The incident sent shock waves through the web and across Aussie media and eventually the street image was replaced with a black screen. Below are a few more Google Street Views that probably wont be around too much longer, some have probably been removed already, that snap shots of normal everyday people, like you and I, going about there business. Unfortunately some of it is pretty hilarious…enjoy.
One too many.
Google car snaps a shot of another Google car in Coventry, England
Lonely man wandering into sex shop in Amsterdam.
Where's Waldo? Apparently on the streets of London.
Google finds itself in the middle of an impromptu French goat race
Ooh! La-La! French kiss cam.
A good old fashioned Pittsburgh sword fight.
Put 'em up. Apparently this was just a toy gun, as two kids "play" in Chicago.
Ah the red light district in the Netherlands...interesting to say the least.
What? After a day of snooping, even the Google Street View team needs some nourishment.
Tags: amsterdam, australia, belfast, chicago, coventry, google, google street view, italy, London, Madrid, mcdonalds, naples, netherlands, new york, Paris, pittsburgh, san francisco, spain
