Spendthrift Shoestring

Ukraine Gets Cheap Flights

Back at the end of December, I predicted that 2008 would see further low-cost carrier expansion in Eastern Europe, with more routes into Romania and Bulgaria and the tentative development of routes into Ukraine and Moldova. I thought that we might see SkyEurope and even Ryanair beginning some routes to Kyiv by the end of the year.

But the first serious move comes from Hungarian Wizz Air, who will be launching seven Ukrainian domestic routes in July. Wizz Air's Ukraine hub will be Kyiv; they'll fly between the capital and L'viv, Kharkiv, Odessa, Simferopol, and Zaporizhia, and will also fly routes between Simferopol and both L'viv and Kharkiv. Details are here. The airline is not running any international routes in or out of Ukraine.   

Servas: No-Cost Accommodations

The weak dollar has prompted emergency newspaper travel section articles suggesting alternative forms of accommodation. All sorts of options, including hostels and apartment rentals, are being floated as ways to deal with the terrifying exchange rate. This is all well and good, but if such options are acceptable when the dollar is tanking, keep in mind how cheap they'll be if (when?) the dollar returns to a less shocking rate of exchange—and keep in mind how cheap they are for people whose currencies are flying high. These alternatives, which cut against the model of aspirational travel that characterizes most U.S. travel magazines, should be a much more established part of the terrain.

There are even cheaper options than hostels and apartment rentals. This past weekend I was reintroduced to a family friend who belongs to Servas, a hosting service that pairs travelers with hosts. Servas understands itself as a peace organization devoted to the goal of bringing people from different cultures together. The organization has a pretty extensive list of hosts in many countries; these hosts are expected to spend some time with travelers, introduce them to their locales, and ideally eat dinner together. Joining Servas is not expensive.

Servas isn't for everyone, but for those who crave a little local contact and an insider's introduction to a culture, it's a great no-cost accommodation option.

Nylon Thoughts: NYC's Rain; London's Cultures

Burgertastrophe! Today's rain has forced a change in dinner plans. Because it's no fun to eat your burger in the rain, Shake Shack is off the table.

Among this past weekend's reading materials, Bob Sherwood's article in the Financial Times on the London mayoral election stood out. It looks at how "London's racial diversity and its attendant tensions" may drive voting patterns on Thursday. Were I closer to the flame—in a few weeks, happily, I will be—I'd be able to submit the article to a finer analysis. As a shameless lover of truly cosmopolitan cities, however, I can say that London's diversity is pretty thrilling to me, and is more or less what's driving my excitement to be spending a few months there. A fascinating note in Sherwood's article: of the possibly 400,000 Poles in London, 65,000 were registered to vote locally by February. How will they vote? Apparently, nobody really knows.

Three Telephones, of which Two Presumably Work

Card-operated telephone. Belgrade, Serbia. July 2007.

Out of order telephone. Pointe-du-Bout, Martinique. February 2008.

Hotel telephone. Stockholm, Sweden. August 2005.

Monocle's Exciting May Issue

The May issue of Monocle is a thrill a minute. As far as I can tell, the magazine's broad focus on business, politics, fashion, and brands is without parallel in the English-language media sphere. No other magazine makes me itchy to get out of my chair and onto a plane the way that Monocle does, and I think this is due to the fact that it's not a magazine about travel. It's a magazine about objects and places and phenomena and money.

There's a feature on the effort to rebrand the Faroe Islands as a more modern, more forward-thinking spot. There's an interesting pairing of Nicosia and Beirut, which notes efforts toward Greek-Turkish reconciliation in the former and laments continued volatility in the latter. There's a piece on Finnish healthy fast-food chain Sis. Deli+Café, which made me recognize for the millionth time that I'm a complete sucker for tight, crisp café interiors. There's a business report on the southern Brazilian city of Florianópolis. And then, in the final of my favorite pieces, there is a profile of property, shops, restaurants, and hotels in Phnom Penh.

So exciting, all the way through.

FT on Green Travel

It's amusing, and also heartening, to see the hippieish line "The world in our hands" on the front page of yesterday's Responsible Traveller Financial Times special report. It does feel as if we've moved into a different place as far as green concerns go, with ever-smaller circles offering recalcitrance to an increasing sense of environmental urgency.

My favorite parts of the special report were Rohit Jaggi's piece on aviation industry movements toward greater environmental responsibility and Robert Wright's article on increased interest in train travel, which quotes Mark Smith, a.k.a. The Man in Seat Sixty-One. The report also has an article on cruise ship industry efforts to go greener, as well as a longish list of eco-friendly hideaways in India, the Gulf, Greece, and Latin America. Very good stuff. It's wonderful to see it in the FT.

Spring Color

I've had the hardest time blogging this week, and I'm not sure why. In the absence of words, here are some quite colorful images to brighten the spring.

Plastic fruit for sale, Singapore. June 2007.

Advertisements on a kiosk, Athens. July 2007.

Paper bag propaganda, Singapore. June 2007.

Countdown to London

Everything is coming together. Matt and I got our tickets for London squared away today. We're arriving on May 17 and staying through July 12. I have my essential texts lined up: Lonely Planet's Great Britain; Time Out's Country Walks Volume 1 and 1000 Things to Do in London; and Phaidon's Wallpaper* City Guide London 2008. (I bought the last one mostly because it's physically cute, though the architour suggestions are helpful, as is the back flap map. Plus it's made me drool for Peyton & Byrne's baked goods.) My other essential document is a long list of places to see. It's four pages long now and I've been adding to it every week.

In the interest of getting cheap advance fares, I've gone ahead and planned some excursions from London. In addition to heading to Belgrade for Eurovision and then around the neighborhood with Marisa (Banja Luka? Novi Sad?), I'm going to quench my long-standing Crown Dependencies fixation with a trip to Guernsey and Jersey and another to the Isle of Man. I also booked a quick visit to Toulouse, both to see the city and to check out Andorra. Outside of those jaunts—and barring last-minute weekend trips, should they happen—I'm going to stick mostly to England and exclusively to trains.

Flash: Eurostar Passenger Numbers Surge

Eurostar reports a 21 percent rise in passenger numbers over the first quarter of 2008—in comparison to the first quarter of 2007—to 2.17 million passengers. Eurostar, which has made all of its journeys carbon-neutral, is clearly benefiting not just from the move to St. Pancras in London, but also an increasing green-mindedness on the part of travelers. Exciting stuff.

Eurovision 2008 Top Tunes

The first Eurovision semi-final is just over five weeks away. I've heard all the songs many times now, and it's time to look at my top ten favorites and make a prediction or two. Note that the below songs are merely my favorites, and not the songs I'd necessarily predict to finish in the top ten.

1. Vrag naj vzame — Rebeka Dremelj (Slovenia)
My early favorite was the Slovenian entry "Vrag naj vzame" by Rebeka Dremelj, and it remains in my personal top slot. There's nothing earth shattering about it; the song just has the perfect build-up to the chorus and the nicest bridge. According to esctoday.com, Dremelj is working with Sasa Mirkovic, who managed last year's Eurovision winner Marija Serifovic. I'm hoping that Mirkovic's golden touch will rub off on Dremelj. (Apologies for the absent diacriticals above.)

2. Divine — Sébastien Tellier (France)
Probably the best song in the competition, and my second favorite, is Sébastien Tellier's "Divine," for France. How France 3 got an electropop hipster to represent the country is anyone's guess, but I'm so glad they did. This is a fantastic song, and a perfect expression of a genre that French artists do extremely well. Could France win? It would shock my pants off, but it would be a happy vindication of the idea that when country delegations go with a local pop music tradition, as Finland did in 2006 with Lordi, they shine.

3. Qele qele — Sirusho (Armenia)
"Qele qele" is standard Eurovision fodder with just the right vaguely Oriental arrangements. Yes, that's a plaintive flute. "Qele qele," which is sung mostly in English, is a sweet pop song. The formula works and the vocal is good and I can already imagine hearing it on the radio.

4. DJ, Take Me Away — Deep Zone & Balthazar (Bulgaria)
I don't know if it's the sheer blend of genres here that does it for me, but I like this one a lot. The beginning sounds like a rip-off of something DJ Jean might have done nearly a decade ago. It's followed by some plodding reggae-ish beats and then proceeds to merge the two styles. There are no vocals until about a minute in, which is a risk.

5. Hold On, Be Strong — Maria Haukaas Storeng (Norway)
The Norwegian preselection delivers a song that sounds as if it was ripped off Ace of Base's second album. So, in other words, it's perfect for Eurovision, a contest that turns on dated pop conventions.

6. Candlelight — Csézy (Hungary)
I've only heard the Hungarian version of this entry. It's a nice disco-y, romantic bit of schlager formula. I'm very happy with it and have already slapped it on my spring playlist for friends. Note: link is to a different version of the song.

7. Hasta la Vista — Ruslan Alehno (Belarus)
The version that will be performed in Belgrade is a pop-rock song, well produced and dramatic. I tend to either love or hate Eurovision entries from Belarus. This one works. 

8. Disappear — No Angels (Germany)
No Angels, who won the German Popstars back in 2000, have possibly the most glossily-produced entry in the entire competition. This song makes me think of vintage Wilson Phillips a little bit. 

9. Casanova — Gisela (Andorra)
This is just a fine Eurovision standard. It pulls all the right strings. Who can resist the lyric "Boom boom boom my heart still goes crazy / when I think of you"? The single Catalan line is my favorite part.

10. Hero — Charlotte Perrelli (Sweden)
Oh, what could have been! The Swedish public again made the terrible decision not to send BWO to Eurovision. BWO, in my mind, have just the right balance between sterling pop sensibility and quirky inexplicability to reign supreme at Eurovision. Instead, we get this otherwise perfect gay anthem sort of entry by Charlotte Perrelli, who won Eurovision in 1999 as Charlotte Nilsson.

Some other songs I like: "Have Some Fun" by Teresa Kerndlová (Czech Republic); "Complice" by Miodio (San Marino); "This is My Life" by Eurobandi∂ (Iceland); "Secret Combination" by Kalomoira (Greece); and "Ke'ilo Kan" by Boaz Mauda (Israel).

So who will win? I think it might just be Russia's year. They're returning with Dima Bilan, who took second place for Russia in 2006. This year, Bilan returns with "Believing," a Timbaland-produced tune. It's an ok song—very anonymous to my ear—and it will surely receive top scores from a record number of post-Soviet states, plus it will receive an inevitable gratitude vote from Serbia and possibly some other countries in the Balkans. Paddy Power has Russia as the current favorite, though, which is not a good omen. Which other entries stand a good chance? Serbia could very easily benefit from an outpouring of support and take the top prize. I'm also going to be watching Armenia and the joke entries from Ireland and Spain.

In getting ready for Belgrade, I'm reading B92 and Blic online.