Three Man Crush

~ During the whole seven months I was travelling in 2008, I only experienced one incident which had the potential to spoil what had up until that point, been a fantastic vacation. Just days before I was due to leave Greece and fly to London before my return to Australia, a team of pickpockets tried to steal my wallet.

It was the classic 'three man crush' routine (that's the name I am given it anyway), which goes like this: a team of three thieves unobtrusively surrounds you just as you are about to board a train - as in my case - a bus, or while you are caught in a large crowd.

One person stands directly in front of you while the other two stand on either side of you. Depending on where your wallet or purse is being held - mine was in my left-side pants pocket - the team moves in for the steal. Just as I was about to board the train, the man on my right bumps into me, knocking me slightly off balance into his accomplice in front of me. In the few seconds that I am distracted and trying to regain my balance, the man on my left is putting his hand into my pocket trying to lift my wallet out.

While this routine was being put into effect, I was thinking: Hey, there's no need to push and shove! Let the disembarking passengers get off first. But I could also feel something tickling my thigh! It was not until I was in the carriage that I realised what had taken place, and that the thing tickling my thigh had been someones hand.

Thankfully, the trousers I was wearing that day had deep pockets. Literally. And the thief was unable to steal my wallet. The bizarre thing is, that since we were all in the process of boarding the train when all this was happening, the three man team had to enter the carriage as well. Of course, they pretended they didn't know each other, but I couldn't help notice the little sidelong glances that passed between them before they left the subway train at the next station.

To this day, I regret not confronting the three thieves in some way, or alerting authorities, but then I hadn't lost anything, and they of course, would have denied everything.

I'm pretty certain they were not Greek nationals themselves, and I'm also sure that this type of thing probably takes place every day in every major city in the world.

The lesson here is to wear trousers with deep pockets, and keep your wits about you - you never know when you might be caught in a three man crush.

The Week That Was #6

Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.

The Odd: Sinks Canyon, Wyoming. At Sinks Canyon State Park outside Lander, Wyoming a major river just disappears. The Middle Fork of the Popo Agie rushes out of Wyoming's largest mountain range, the Wind River Mountains, and into Sinks Canyon. It flows merrily along for quite some time until it suddenly turns into a large cave and, as the name of the park and canyon suggest, sinks underground. It isn't until ¼ of a mile later that the river re-emerges at a large, calm pool called "the Rise." Read more here…

The Useful: 10 Incredible Hotel Art Collections. What’s the first thing you see as you walk through a new hotel? You might say you’re simply looking for your room number but truth be told you’re seeing much more. Hotel halls and rooms around the world are lined with some of the most beautiful artwork available. So beautiful, in fact, that you might be just as entertained roaming the halls of your hotel as you would have been had you gone out and paid admittance to a local art museum. Not every hotel, of course, is famous for the artwork adorning its halls. Some, including those featuring works by Picasso, Warhol, and other famous artists, are obviously more well known. So in which hotels should you book your room if you want to see some incredible artwork? Read more here...

The Downright Bizarre: 21 of The World’s Most Bizarre Hotels. Sometimes the hotel is as much a destination as the city or attractions you’re planning on visiting. Hotels such as the Daspark Hotel in Austria which has rooms inside drainpipes (see image above). Apparently, you can name your own price for staying in this hotel, which offers three mini guest rooms that include a bedside table, a lamp, and a double bed. To see a collection of 21 strange and bizarre hotels click here... http://blog.ratestogo.com/bizarre-hotels/ and here... http://blog.ratestogo.com/most-bizarre-hotels/

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And just for laughs: The RVer's* Fishy Story

An RVer named Stanley was stopped recently by a game warden in Northern California as he was returning to his motorhome with a bucket full of live fish. "Do you have a license to catch those fish?" the game warden asked. The man replied, "No, sir. These are my pet fish."

"Pet fish?" the warden asked. "Yes, sir. Every night I take these fish down to the lake where I'm camped and let them swim around for awhile. When they hear my whistle, they jump right back into the bucket and I take them back to the motorhome."

"That's a bunch of baloney," the game warden said as he reached for his pad of citations. The man looked at the game warden for a moment and then said, "If you don't believe me, then follow me back to the lake to see how it works."

Still suspicious, but curious, the game warden agreed. And so they walked to the lake. There, the man poured the fish into the water, where they disappeared. "Okay," said the game warden. "Call them back."

"Call who back?"

"The fish," replied the warden.

"What fish?" asked the man.

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*RV = Recreational Vehicle

Found online at RV Jokes.Com…

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Wherever you are, whatever you are doing – enjoy the rest of the weekend.

The Week That Was #5

Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.

The Odd: The Floor of The Standard Grill, New York City. Their website is nothing to shout about, but apparently the floors are! The image shows a photograph of one of the floor areas of the New York City eatery, The Standard Grill. Located under the High Line, on the corner of Washington and West 13 Street, at 848 Washington Street. The floor is covered entirely in pennies. (Note: click on the image to view full size).

The Useful: Capturing great photographs of your vacation or family holiday has never been easier if you own a digital camera. However, if you want to improve your photographic skills higher than the usual ‘happy snaps’ that pass for most holiday photos, take a few minutes to read through the tips on the following two Microsoft At Home pages, here; 8 tips for better holiday photos, and here, 8 tips for super vacation snapshots.

The Downright Bizarre: The World's Worst Travel Gear. Spot Cool Stuff is a website that examines products and places of interest for the most discerning traveller. Sometimes, though, a product can be so mind boggling terrible that there is something good about the horribleness of it. Like the Shenis, a device that let’s women urinate while standing up - in public. You can even see a photograph or watch a video of the Shenis in action if you are game! Warning: Adult content. Not for the fainthearted!

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing – enjoy the rest of the weekend.

The Week That Was #4

~ Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.

The Odd: (but interesting) Bird Nest Bonanza. Ultrasonic humidifier? Check. Swiftlet Bazooka Tweeter? Check. Feces powder? Er, check. All you need now is a multistory house with no doors or windows but plenty of holes, and you're almost ready to join one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing cottage industries: harvesting edible birds' nests. You'll also need birds, of course — lots of them. That's the tricky part. Read more…

The Useful: Healthy Cruise Ships. Anita Dunham-Potter writing for Tripso has some timely advice for staying healthy on your next cruise ship vacation – or on any vacation for that matter. Anita reports how poor sanitation turned a ten-day cruise of a life-time into a one-day nightmare, when the 400-plus passengers and crew were stricken by a suspected norovirus outbreak on a German cruise liner. Her advice: Wash your hands (just like your mother always told you to). Noroviruses can cause severe diarrhea, nausea and vomiting over a 48- to 60-hour period. The American Center for Disease Control estimates that 23 million people, or 8 percent of the U.S. population, develop symptoms of norovirus each year. Less than 1 percent of cruise passengers are affected by norovirus, but you don’t want to be one of them, do you? Read more here…

The Downright Bizarre: 20 stupid questions asked by tourists. Yes, as a follow up to last weeks The Week That Was, where we highlighted some of the most bizarre complaints uttered by tourists, this week comes 20 of the most stupid questions asked by tourist, including, "Are there any lakes in the Lakes District?", "Why on earth did they build Windsor Castle on the flight path of Heathrow?", and this doozy from a tourist at Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire, "Why did they build so many ruined castles and abbeys in England?" Read more…

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing – enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Image courtesy of the Telegraph Online.

The Week That Was #3

~ Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.

The Odd: San Fermin ‘Running of the Bulls’ Festival. Yes, it is that time of the year again, when thousands of Spanish citizens and international visitors try their luck, and risk their lives at the nine-day San Fermin Festival.

More popularly known as the Running of the Bulls Festival, the event is currently underway in Pamplona, Spain. Each year dozen of participants are injured and occasionally some die as a result of their involvement in the daily runs. In fact, since 1924, 15 people have died and over 200 have been seriously injured in the event.

The Useful: Trip Advisor Forums. Sometimes, even I can be a bit slow on the uptake. So when I discovered the Trip Advisor Forums on the Trip Advisor website recently, I knew I was amongst friends. I have no idea of the number of forums on the site, but certainly there must be thousands, since every major region in the world has its own section on the site, and those regions are subdivided into smaller sections, which are in turn subdivided into smaller zones, which ... well, you get the picture. If you are planning a visit to Paris, France (or Paris, Texas for that matter), you will find a forum with members willing and able to answer your questions and provide useful advice. Highly recommended.

The Downright Bizarre: Bizarre Travel Complaints

Travel agents must have thousands of stories to tell (both hilarious and horrifying) about their clients. Like the holidaymaker who said he felt inadequate after seeing an aroused elephant, which in turn ruined his honeymoon. Or the tourist who complained that “the beach was too sandy,” and another upset when they discovered fish swimming in the sea. Huh?

In another complaint a British guest at a Novotel hotel in Australia said his soup was too thick and strong, not realising he had been supping from the gravy boat. In an even stranger twist, one traveller blamed a hotel for her pregnancy. "My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant,” the guest said. “This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."

Other complaints included “there are too many Spanish people in Spain” and “too much curry served in restaurants in India”.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing – enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Click above image (if you dare) to view full size…