Tchaikovsky Restaurant

We were lucky enough to discover the Restaurant Tchaikovsky whilst we recently visited Belgrade (Beograd).

This eating place links the Terasije Square and Balkanska Street in the Stari Grad region of Belgrade. The restaurant is a part of the Hotel Moscow, one of the iconic accommodation venues in the most interesting part of old Belgrade.
For more information about the Tchaikovsky Restaurant and the Hotel Moskva, we recommend that you visit their website at: http://www.hotelmoskva.rs/en/ .

Here, you’ll be able to discover a lot of information about the hotel and many of the celebrities who have stayed at the hotel over the last 100 years, and also download a copy of the menu for the restaurant, so that you too an drool over some of the great dishes on their list.

We succeeded in eating at this establishment twice in the two nights that we were visiting Belgrade (it was simply so good on the first night that we had to return).

We must acknowledge the great work of Executive Chef Stojkovic Kata and his team for putting toegther such a great selection and maintaining a consistent quality.

The range of selections on the menu is excellent. We counted 8 cold appetizers, 8 soups and 8 hot appetizers before we got to mains and desserts.

We tried a number of the soup choices, and have to say that each of our selections were absolutely delicious, each with a range of unique flavors, beautifully presented and a wide selection of breads to enjoy with the soup.

For mains, we sampled the grilled marinated squid, stuffed pork fillets and turkey breasts with gorgonzola sauce. Each of these were accompanied by delicious fresh vegetables.

The salad we selected, Sopska Salad, was just magnificent, with tomato, cucumber, ground black pepper and topped with grated fetta cheese. Following the first night, we had become aware of fine slices of hot chilli carefully disguised to look like cucumber.

Although we didn’t manage to sample the desserts, we must say that they also looked absolutely magnificent.

On our second night at the restaurant, we also asked the waitress about a possible choice of wine. Having explained that we enjoyed a dry red wine without too much bite, we were recommended to try a Serbian Cabernet Merlot variety that she personally enjoyed and believed would suit our tastes. She was exactly right! The wine was one of the best that we’ve experienced out of Europe, with a subtle complexity and nose that we found very enjoyable.

In terms of costing, we found that this restaurant didn’t break the bank. The bill for the second night (with our bottle of wine) came to just over 5,100 rsd (which equates to around ? 50). We consider that this is extremely good value for a meal of this quality served in lovely surroundings, complete with background accompaniment of a pianist on a grand piano.

Whatever you do, when you visit Belgrade, don’t miss this opportunity.

TripIt travel planning tool

TripIt (http://www.tripit.com) is a travel planning and support tool that offers great services and support for the traveler.

The founders of TripIt are frustrated travelers who have worked in both travel and technology for a long time.

They know firsthand (as we do) that using the Internet to make travel plans and organizing the details can be both difficult and time consuming – particularly when plans change at short notice.

The problem is getting worse as more people choose to make their own travel plans and as online travel options continue to proliferate.

With today’s myriad of travel sites, even the most experienced traveler has their hands full managing all the details of a typical trip.

Booking airline tickets, hotels, rental cars and restaurants leaves you with lots of separate pieces of paper. Throw in maps, directions, things to do, and weather and the chaos multiplies.

TripIt turns chaos into order by making it easy for anyone to:

• Organize trip details into one master online itinerary — even if arrangements are booked at multiple travel sites
• Automatically include maps, directions and weather in their master itinerary
• Have the option to book restaurants, theatre tickets, activities and more right from within the online itinerary
• Safely access travel plans online, share them, check-in for flights, or print an itinerary

Any traveler can create a free account with TripIt from the home page. Once the account has been set up, all that is needed to begin to create your itinerary is to simply forward travel confirmation emails to TripIt from the email address you used to set up your account.

We’ve begun to use this ourselves, and are blown away with how quickly and accurately the TripIt application is able to process our bookings and combine them into a fully detailed itinerary, but also to include travel directions, maps and weather detail for our destinations.

It appears that many UK based passengers have reported problems in terms of claims for the additional costs incurred as a result of staying much longer on the continent than was originally planned.

EU air transport regulations do provide an obligation on airlines to provide a level of support for travelers as a result of delays in return travel. However, these obligations appear to be a little vague, and are based on “reasonable” expenses.

What is “reasonable” to an airline confronted with massive losses due to the recent volcanic ash events in Europe may not seem so reasonable to a stranded passenger.

Another issue that has become quite significant is that of relying upon limited forms of insurance. Many travelers make use of the travel insurance offered as part of the package for those with premium credit cards. Whilst this coverage certainly does offer a level of protection, you should still look at the fine print attached to this cover to ensure that it will meet your needs.

An example of this is that one well known credit card provider has a travel insurance policy that allows for “Travel Inconvenience Cover”, defined as cover for:  delayed flight departure, flight cancellation, denied flight boarding, missed flight connection. Unfortunately the limit for this coverage can be less than $US200.

Many travelers consider themselves to be covered if they purchase coverage that is offered at the time of purchase of a flight ticket.

Again, such policies have very limited coverage for flight disruption, since they are limited to a specific pricepoint and are primarily aimed to protect the purchaser against losses relating to the specific air travel components of the trip.

Travelers wishing to cross the English Channel did have a number of transport options available, including Eurostar, other train services and ferries. Unfortunately the options were not as great for those passengers wishing to travel to or from the Americas, Asia, Australia and other locations outside Europe.

The basic message here is that travel insurance is a matter that travelers should carefully consider the terms and conditions that are offered, and not simply jump in unprepared.

John Kumm, Author,

Discover more informative information relating to travel at http://onlinetravelconsultant.com

The ash cloud that disrupted European air traffic - (Xinhua Reuters photo)

The recent worldwide travel chaos that resulted from the volcanic eruption in Iceland emphasizes just how fragile our technology hold over the forces of nature really are.

The amazing thing about this is that Iceland is fairly remote from most of the European airspace that was closed down for many long days.

It seems that the prevailing winds were at the time traveling in an unusual direction, and this resulted in the ash cloud’s spread over much of northern Europe, and in fact across well into Russia as well.

I seem to remember that this particular volcano’s last eruption was recorded from 1821 to 1823, with substantial explosive eruptions (similar to this year’s activities) happening between late June and Early August in 1823. Had such a string of eruptions occurred this month, then the skies may have been closed off to aircraft for 6 weeks or so.

It is perhaps a good thing that we didn’t have Jumbo Jets and other similar flying objects around in those days!

The result of an event resulting from “natural causes” cost many billions of dollars to the travel sector as well as resulting in massive disruption to the travel plans of many travelers.

Of course the other side issue of all of this that escapes attention in that of freight transport. Many businesses (particularly those with contracts to supply highly perishable goods like fresh seafood and cut flowers) suffered very heavy losses as a result of being unable to deliver their produce.

The flight disruption was also a timely reminder to all of us who travel to carefully read the wording on our travel insurance policy. Many of the people who were caught out this time found out (too late) that their policies had exclusions which prevented them from making a claim.

The other aspect of this event is that the “blame game” has now begun. Passengers are complaining that their airline held up flights for longer than some others. In turn, airlines are tending to say that the national air travel regulators in many countries closed off their airspace too early and were overly cautious in the time that the airspace was re-opened. In their defence, regulators have claimed that the advice that they received from vulcanologists and meteorological bureax were not sufficiently detailed and accurate.

We can be sure that this is now an issue that has managed to come to the front of the queue for issues that need some better organized process of measurements and decision making, so that dangerous situations are avoided, whilst nevertheless reducing the level of disruption to an absolute minimum.

There will definitely be more to come on this issue. Stay tuned!

John Kumm, Author

For other interesting and informative travel related discussions, visit us at: http://www.onlinetravelconsultant.com

The reason we decided to stay at The Quincy was its claim to offer Singapore’s only all-inclusive accommodation experience – and what an experience it was!

Not only is limousine pick-up from the airport or Singapore Cruise Centre included, but the genuine friendliness that is extended when you first arrive signals that this will indeed be a different experience.

We were booked in to The Quincy for 2 nights, and could only wish that our stay was longer.

The Quincy hotel should be seriously considered by both corporate and holiday visitors since it is able to offer you a range of quality accommodation and support options with friendly and helpful support and a great experience for your time spent in Singapore.

We have certainly noted this hotel as one we will be sure to visit on our next visit to Singapore and strongly recommend to others.

The long list of complimentary items on offer at The Quincy includes:

• limousine pick-up
• three lovely meals every day (with daily dinner menu changes)
• minibar selection
• wireless and wired high speed internet
• magnificently equipped gymnasium
• sauna and steam room
• 2 hour daily cocktail hour with wines, beers and mixed drinks
• glass sided swimming pool on level 12
• 2 laundry items per room per day
• Molton Brown amenities, replenished daily
• carparking
• local telephone calls
• robes and slippers

To find out more, visit the Quincy Hotel website at: http://www.quincy.com.sg

However, for those traveling on a budget, access to low-cost carriers at this airport is very limited.

RyanAir, however operates a very large range of flights out of Frankfurt Hahn airport (HHN) into almost every country in Europe, and even as far as northern Africa.

Should you wish to avail yourself of this option, you will need to allow time to travel between FRA and HHN airports.

The travel time is about 90 minutes by bus, and a regular, comfortable and reliable service is offered by Bohr Omnibus (www.bohr-omnibusse.de). This service runs 7 days a week, with 22 services daily, at a adult fare of €12.

The departure point at FRA airport is the Bus-Station, Terminal 1, arrival area in front of hall B – bus-stop number 22

Enjoy this part of the vacation, as the scenery between the two airports is quite typical of the German countryside.

Submitted by John Kumm www.onlinetravelconsultant.com

Sydney, Australia’s largest city, showed a polarised preference, with most respondents listing Sydney as either their most favorite (32%) or least favorite (28%) destination for business trips.

Wotif.com Chief Executive Officer, Graeme Wood, commented:

“Despite these findings, Sydney continues to be Wotif.com’s top-selling destination.”

Melbourne was clearly the nation’s favorite destination for business travelers, with 40% of respondents listing the Victorian capital city as their preferred destination.

When surveyed about their preference for warmer climates, survey respondents also demonstrated a clear preference for warmer climates, with Queensland’s Cairns, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast favored ahead of other regional destinations offering cooler climates.

Business travelers are increasingly arranging their trips online with respondents signaling that price, simple navigation and the ability to make secure online payments were the driving factors for this continuing trend.

Wotif.com Chief Executive Officer, Graeme Wood, commented:

“A large proportion of business travel is organized at the eleventh-hour, making online accommodation bookings the easiest and cheapest option for business travelers.”

“Increasingly, we’re finding that companies, with corporate travel managers encourage their employees to check for a cheaper alternative online, prior to booking their accommodation,”

About two-thirds of the respondents listed a comfortable bed as the most important aspect of their business trip, with location, the inclusion of breakfast, free parking and internet access in rooms, the next most important factors.

At the other end of the scale, well-equipped business centers and complimentary gifts on arrival, e.g. wine or massages, were of little interest to the business travelers surveyed by Wotif.com.

Submitted by Barbara Walsh-Kumm www.onlinetravelconsultant.com

Under the new regulations, passengers will be allowed to carry a limited range of travel-size toiletries (3 ounces or less) that fit comfortably in ONE, QUART-SIZE, clear plastic, zip-top bag. These will need to be declared through security, and will be screened separately to other items.

In addition, passengers will now be allowed to carry on board drinks and other items that have been purchased within the security area.

These changes will definitely help many travelers to feel less restricted in their travel plans. In addition, the ability to carry on your own water will help reduce the chance of dehydration, particularly on long flights.

For further information, go to the TSA website at:
http://www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/9-25_updated_passenger_guidance.shtm

Submitted by John Kumm www.onlinetravelconsultant.com

The Australian flag carrier, Qantas Airways has released a story saying that it will introduce new technology in about four months to let passengers do e-mail, text messaging and cell phone calling. The three-month trial will be done on Australian domestic routes using Boeing 767s.

“Qantas will be one of the first carriers in the world to offer this service,” said Senior Executive Vice President Wally Mariani.

I guess it won’t be long before we’ll need to field all kinds of new problems whilst attempting to “sit back, relax and enjoy the flight”

Submitted by John Kumm www.onlinetravelconsultant.com

They claim that they are worried that should passengers plug the computer into an on-board power source, then a fire may break out whilst in flight.

It seems that the issue may be limited to only Dell and Apple computers, but you should check with your airline to ensure that you don’t get caught out at the check-in gate should you need to send the battery with your checked luggage.

Submitted by John Kumm www.onlinetravelconsultant.com