Really, how can we not smile about this year in travel?
A passenger jet crash-lands in the Hudson River — and the next night David Letterman can joke about new air service to midtown Manhattan. "Hiking the Appalachian Trail" becomes the punch line to a thousand jokes. A couple of pilots are too busy playing on their laptops to notice they were supposed to land 150 miles ago — and passengers ask for extra frequent-flier miles.
In that spirit, let's take our annual look back at some of the year's more curious developments in the world of travel, along with our hope that wherever you roam in 2010, you'll be able to think back and smile.
AT ANY ALTITUDE, WE STILL DON'T GET IT
British cricket enthusiasts played a match on a sandy pitch near the base camp of Mount Everest. A group of 50 cricketers trekked to a plateau nearly 17,000 feet above sea level for a 20-overs game, whatever that means. Bikram Neupane, chief of Himalayan Rescue Association Nepal, which provided medical backup, announced to the world, "It is not easy to play at that altitude."
< class="boldText">>PUNCH THIS INTO YOUR GPS
Officials in Webster, Mass., have agreed to fix spelling errors in road signs pointing to Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg. Nobody is sure where the 45-letter word came from, but one popular myth suggests it means, "You fish on your side, I fish on my side, and nobody fish in the middle."
DON'T SAY WE DIDN'T WARN YOU
—A South Korean court refused to allow authorities to prosecute Seoul taxi drivers for one of their scariest habits: watching TV while they drive.
—The British firm Miles Morgan Travel has chartered the cruise ship Balmoral for the Titanic Memorial Cruise, departing April 8, 2012, from Southampton, England, the 100th anniversary of you-know-what. The Balmoral plans to retrace the Titanic's path, serve Titanic food and play Titanic music, hopefully mimicking the original voyage in every way except one.
—With the Commonwealth Games slated to bring tens of thousands of foreign visitors to New Delhi next October, an informal academy is teaching Indian children to beg for money in many languages.
—Charmin toilet paper hired "restroom ambassadors" to banter with people using public bathrooms it sponsors in Times Square. Part of the job is to blog and tweet about it, and upload videos to the Internet. "We're going to connect the world with the Times Square Charmin bathrooms," said ambassador Cody Melton.
ASK YOUR KID TO EXPLAIN
The Wisconsin Tourism Federation changed its name to the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin. The WTF was founded in 1979, long before those initials became a text message. The folks who want you to visit beautiful downtown Racine are now the TFW.
A STAR-CROSSED MARRIAGE STARTS HERE
The Italian city of Verona opened the 13th-century mansion of the Cappello family, believed to be the basis for Capulets of" Romeo and Juliet," for couples who want to get married there. The first customer was local soccer star Luca Ceccarelli, who exchanged rings with Irene Lanforti on the famous balcony and said, "We hope that this brings us a lot of luck."
IT WAS JUST A TEASE
A Chinese businessman built a sexually explicit theme park called Love Land, featuring giant genitalia sculptures, suggestive exhibits and sex technique workshops. Pre-opening publicity, including pictures of a giant pair of woman's legs straddling the main entrance, apparently prompted the government to reconsider the proposition. Love Land was demolished before its scheduled October opening.
DON'T MESS WITH YOSEMITE, EITHER
The Journal of Mammalogy published a study examining why black bears in Yosemite National Park break into minivans more frequently than any other vehicle. The scientific conclusion? Family-friendly minivans leave behind a trail of juice boxes, Cheerios and other bear-baiting snacks.
IF YOU'RE FLYING AN IRANIAN AIRLINE, YOU PROBABLY DON'T NEED THIS ADVICE
Iran's news agency reported that a domestic jetliner had a glitch during the flight, prompting the pilot to tell passengers, "The plane is facing a technical problem and has to return. So please pray."
NOW HERE'S A REBATE PLAN
A British broadband company hired 20 reformed pickpockets to slip money into unguarded purses and pockets in Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden and other London hangouts. The TalkTalk company said it would spend at least 100,000 pounds (about $165,000) on its Putpockets program, surreptitiously passing out cash 5, 10 and 20 pounds at a time. "Every time I put money back in someone's pocket, I feel less guilty about the fact I spent many years taking it out," said Chris Fitch, the head putpocket.
ON RYANAIR, YOU'LL SAVE MONEY, TOO
The CEO of Ryanair, a British budget airline, told the BBC he was considering charging passengers to use the on-board bathrooms. Spokesman Michael O'Leary followed up the revelation by announcing that while the company had discussed the possible revenue stream, "Michael makes a lot of this stuff up as he goes along."
TODAY'S TRAVEL TIP: TRY TO BE NICE
The Daily Telegraph reported that bars and restaurants in Venice have three price lists: one for locals, another for visitors and a third for rude tourists.
AND I CAN'T CARRY ON SHAVING CREAM?
A 22-year-old Norwegian man was nabbed at the port city of Kristiansand with a tarantula in his bag and 14 royal pythons and 10 albino leopard geckos taped to his body. After he arrived on a ferry from Denmark, customs inspectors found the spider, which prompted a full body search. The man had 14 stockings, each holding a snake, taped to his torso, and 10 cans, each containing a lizard, taped to his legs. "Customs officers quickly realized the man was smuggling animals, because his whole body was in constant motion," explained office manager Helge Breilid.
DON'T CHECK A GOOD STORY DEPARTMENT
—The International Women's Air and Space Museum in Cleveland sent what it believed was a lock of Amelia Earhart's hair for DNA testing. The museum exhibit turned out to be a piece of thread. "We've changed the sign," said spokeswoman Heather Alexander.
—Switzerland's National Tourism Board posted an online video to recruit people to clean the Alps. It was an April Fool's joke, but more than 30,000 people in the notoriously fastidious nation filled out the phony application in the first 24 hours. A Swiss ski resort in Engelberg subsequently began offering courses leading to a mountain-cleaner badge.
—Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, better known for its fabulous Rembrandt paintings, announced that a moon rock on display was actually a piece of petrified wood. Spokeswoman Xandra van Gelder said the museum will keep the phony artifact, which was donated by a former Dutch prime minister. "It's a good story, with some questions that are still unanswered," she said. "We can laugh about it."
I'D RATHER SEE FAKE MOON ROCKS
A Belgian artist opened a museum in Brussels featuring framed underpants of artists and politicians. Each has a certificate of authenticity and must have been worn by the donor at least once. Jan Bucquoy said his Musee du Slip proves "we are all equal," adding, "If I had portrayed Hitler in his underpants, there would not have been a war. I think in this way you can contribute to a better world."
ANOTHER REASON TO SEE AMERICA FIRST
A British tourist was locked inside city hall for the night in the French town of Dannemarie after mistaking it for a hotel. The building sign proclaimed "Hotel de Ville," which generally denotes a French city hall. The woman slept on a couch until the mayor arrived in the morning.
THEY SMILE BECAUSE THEY'RE MOCKING US
Faced with slumping tourism figures, officials in Paris launched a public campaign urging residents to smile and be polite.
CAN WE REALLY TRUST ANIMALS?
—Jon Meier, 17, of Eau Claire, Wis., missed his class trip to Peru because Sunshine, his golden retriever, chewed up his passport.
—An Arizona man was stung by a scorpion aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Phoenix to Indianapolis. The culprit hid in the man's carry-on luggage. The jetliner was fumigated after the flight in case the creature had any accomplices.
—A wild parrot in New Zealand snatched a Scottish man's passport from a bag in the luggage compartment of a tourist bus. It flew off into a nearby rain forest, where police said it was unlikely to be recovered.
—An octopus flooded the offices of the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium by tugging open a water valve in its tank, sending hundreds of gallons of saltwater overflowing onto the floor.
NO MORE FIGHTING OVER A WINDOW SEAT
A British design company unveiled plans for airlines to stuff more passengers onto planes by putting the seats in sideways.
BETTER STOCK THAT GOLF CART
Australian golf nuts opened the Nullarbor Links, an 18-hole, par 72 course that stretches over 840 miles of lonely highway in the Outback between Ceduna and Kalgoorlie. Natural hazards along the scrubby terrain include kangaroos, wombats and camels, and the greens are made of phony grass. Graeme Archer, managing director of The Australia Travel Co., said the new course was a brilliant publicity stunt, "but the reality is that much of the highway is flat as a pancake, straight as an arrow and boring as hell."
NOW THAT'S A SOUVENIR
A 26-year-old American woman hailed a motorized rickshaw in Jaipur, India, and hired the driver, Harish Hotala, to show her the town. "On the third day, he surprised me by popping the question," the woman, identified only as Whitney, told a local newspaper. "I fell in love." They were married the next day.
FOR THE ROVING GERMAPHOBE
The Web site TripAdvisor named the five germiest tourist attractions in the world. So take your Lysol and hand sanitizer to:
—The Blarney Stone in Ireland. About 400,000 people kiss it every year.
—The Wall of Gum in Seattle. Millions of wads of previously owned gum adorn a 15-by-50-foot wall at Pike Place Market.
—St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. Pigeons love it as much as tourists, and you know what that means.
—Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. You don't know who put their hands and feet in those famous hand and footprints before you got there.
—Oscar Wilde's Tomb in Paris. The inscriptions are often obscured by lipstick prints left by fans of the author, who died in 1900. Go figure.
FOR CHIGGERS AND MOSQUITOES, A GREAT YEAR
—German naturists have uncovered an 11-mile hiking trail in the Harz Mountains. The extra-scenic path connects the village of Dankerode and the Wippertal Dam. Signs advise modest hikers that "anyone who doesn't want to see naked bodies may not proceed further."
—Tim Clements, who won a $3.3 million lottery jackpot, opened a nude dude ranch in central Florida. There is one exception: Everyone "must wear pants and boots to ride the horses."
—A 22-year-old man, kicked off a train in Lauenbruck, Germany, because he didn't have a ticket, was mooning the rules-enforcing staff when his pants got caught in the door. The train left anyway, dragging him about 200 yards before dumping him, bruised but not seriously hurt, onto the tracks. "He was full of remorse," a police spokesman said. "And he advised others not to try the same thing."
—Air New Zealand unveiled an on-board safety video featuring a flight crew wearing only body paint.
ON ALL NIPPON, MORE TIME TO PRAY
All Nippon Airways asked passengers to help save the planet by going to the bathroom before getting on the plane. The airline, which flies within Japan and to Singapore, launched a program to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced by its planes. If just half of the passengers left just a little of themselves at the airport, All Nippon calculates, the lighter planes would use less fuel — and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 4.2 tons per month.
WELCOME TO NEW YORK!
Two unlicensed van drivers picked up five French tourists outside the Air France terminal at Kennedy Airport. When authorities tried to intervene, they bolted, taking their passengers on a high-speed excursion through Queens and Brooklyn with police in hot pursuit. The rogue tour guides eventually jumped out of the van and were arrested for assault, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.
SO MUCH FOR TRUTH IN ADVERTISING
Alaskan authorities announced that Rat Island may be rat-free, just 229 years after a Japanese shipwreck spilled rampaging rodents onto the remote Aleutian island, decimating the local bird population. In an effort to wipe out destructive non-native species, authorities dumped poison on the island from helicopters. Bruce Woods of the Fish and Wildlife service said we won't know for at least two years if the effort was a complete success. "We don't know that there's not a couple of happy rats hiding away that are going to spring out and repopulate the island," he said.
SEE IF YOUR WIFE BUYS THIS EXCUSE
A man from Taiwan demanded that the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas cancel his $2 million gambling debt because it used feng shui to make him a loser. He claimed that his luck changed after the hotel chopped a hole in the wall of his suite and covered it with black cloth, put two white towels outside his room and turned on two large fans in the hallway.
(c) 2009, The Dallas Morning News.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.