Nice hump

Camel Carravan
Originally uploaded by *Iqbal*.

"The nose should be long and droop down, that's more beautiful. The ears should stand back, and the neck should be long. The hump should be high, but slightly to the back."

That's what it's going to take to get anywhere in the Miss Camel beauty pagent, according to Sultan al-Qahtani, one of the organisers quoted by Reuters. See the full article here.

Miss Camel takes place this week, hosted by the Qahtani tribe of western Saudi Arabia. It seems its big business, involving lots of camel jewellry, and valuable prizes. Seventy two SUVs are up for grabs, but we're not sure what the winning camels will do with those.

Via Reuters.

The World's 50 Best Restauarants...

None of the 50 places listed this year (see the full list here) are located in current Pocket cities. However, Enoteca Pinchiorri, in Florence (a city in which we once published, many moons ago), is at number 41.

Back in the Feb-Mar 2002 issue of Florence In Your Pocket your correspondent (for it was I) wrote of Enoteca:

With two Michelin stars and a legendary wine cellar, L'Enoteca Pinchiorri is considered by the cogniscenti the finest restaurant in Italy. The restaurant is housed in a Renaissance Palazzo, with splendid entranceway, a scented courtyard, and a series of elegant dining rooms. Absolutely a must in Italian fine dining.

It is no longer the finest restaurant in Italy. Upstart Gambero Rosso (in San Vincenzo) now takes that crown...

Cucumbers foil uranium run

Lithuanian cucumbers, aka 'the police', have apprehended two Belarusians who they believe were trying to smuggle uranium into Belarus.

"An iron box with 'uranium' inscribed on it in Russian was found hidden in their car," a spokescucumber is reported to have said. Such a discovery would make one suspicious. They should have written 'biscuits' on the box. Anyway, the so-called uranium has been sent off to see whether it is in fact uranium.

Anyway - I'm wondering what Belarusians want to do with uranium. They don't have any nuclear power plants (that we know about), and even in Belarus uranium is no longer the item de rigueur for making dentures. So what the hell were they going to do with it? Suggestions welcome.

Kryptonite turns up in Siberia. Or Serbia.

The never-ending battle for "truth, justice and the American way" is under threat from those pesky Russians, or Serbs or someone. Kryptonite has been found in Siberia claims the Ananova headline - while the body of the story say it was found in Serbia.


Kryptonite, of course, is the only thing that can bring Superman--externally-underpanted defender of above-stated ideals--to his blue-stockinged knees. Although this might also do the trick.

Recently sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide, aka kryptonite, has turned up with no small measure of irony, in Siberbia (or wherever). Unfortunately it isn't green and doesn't glow, but it goes a sort of pansy-pink if you put it under the dandruff lights in a nightclub.

Expect kryptonite mining tours of Siberbia to offered to budding Lex Luther types shortly.

Source : Ananova
Laugh and point : Yes, I originally wrote this story thinking that the alleged kryptonite had been found only in Siberia. I fell for Ananova's incorrect headline. Thanks to Dan for bringing the Ananova anomaly to my attention with the first comment.

ANZAC Day : Vilnius

Aussies and Kiwis in Vilnius are welcome to come along to the Dubliner on ANZAC Day. I've heard rumours that there will be meat pies and Vegemite. If anyone knows of other ANZAC events happening in other cities, please just add a comment below to let us know.

The outstanding ANZAC photo, from Perth, 2006 is from Devar on Flickr.

Vilnius In Your Pocket on Lithuanian radio

Here's a recent radio interview about Vilnius In Your Pocket.

This was broadcast recently on LRT's english language radio programme. LRT--Lithuania's National Radio and Television--are the national (state funded) broadcaster here in Lithuania. I have to say that the interview is edited quite a bit, but not unfairly.

English language programmes can be heard at 21:00 each weekday evening. 102.6 FM if you're in Vilnius, otherwise you can listen online: high bandwidth low bandwidth. (Those links are copied from the LRT website, so don't blame me if they don't work.)

New Kaunas In Your Pocket coming soon

The latest edition of Kaunas In Your Pocket has recently been completed, is whirring off the presses, and will be hitting the streets soon. If you're in Kaunas, planning to visit Kaunas, or just want to see what Lithuania's most wacky city is all about, grab a copy. You can already buy online, and it won't be long before you'll see the guide in bookshops, kiosks, on tables in cafes and bars, and so on.

Some of the new bits include a swanky new hotel in the Old Town, a great new Latino style bar and a place where you can sizzle bits of dead cows and chickens on chunks of lava stone. It's also nice to see some of the classic Kaunas favourites and quirky bits haven't changed. Of course, this is Kaunas, and not all places are so great, which is why we're happy to be able to guide you.

Reliants to Russia and other Extreme Trifles

I just came across the rather amusing Reliants To Russia story on the Extreme Trifles website. It's a good read. Basically the Extreme Trifles are a bunch of utter nutters who combine travel, insanity and motorised mayhem. In this instance they took a bunch of three-wheeled Reliant Robins and drove from London to Jurmala (Latvia), via France, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland and... well, not all of them got into Russia. There's a hint at the end of the story that there may be some souvenirs of the journey in the Jurmala Motor Museum.

Note that one of the requirements of participation was that the vehicles be 'pimped' to look like some kind of famous vehicle from television. (There was Thunderbird 4, The De Lorean, and General Lee, for example). A general lack of reliability, of the sort that would require impromptu repairs using beer cans, was also highly regarded.

Future Extreme Trifles will include an attempt "break [the] sound (of music) barrier at Nurburgring". That will be happening on Honda C90s--known to Australians as postie bikes, and to everyone else as crappy but somehow indestructible--in July.

Found it via Gadling. Pic from the Extreme Trifles website.

Aussie Polly Wally

Apart from a Mr. Claude Balls (owner of an angry cat), this Australian politician would have to be one of the most appropriately named people I have ever heard of.

Starbucks Comes to Romania

BUCHAREST, Romania-(Business Wire) - April 18, 2007 - Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ:SBUX) and its European joint venture partner, Marinopoulos Holding SARL, today celebrated the opening of the first Starbucks store in Bucharest. The coffee shop is located in Plaza Romania one of Bucharest's premiere shopping malls, on Timisoara Boulevard.

"Bucharest is an ideal location for Starbucks entry into Central and Eastern Europe," said Martin Coles, president of Starbucks Coffee International. "We're looking forward to sharing the Starbucks Experience with our Romanian customers who have a deep appreciation for great coffee and a rich coffeehouse culture."

"We are delighted to open our first store in Romania," added Cliff Burrows, president of Starbucks Coffee Europe, Middle East, and Africa. "It represents the first step of our strategic expansion into Central and Eastern Europe, and demonstrates our commitment to growth in the region."

Starbucks has extended its successful relationship with its Greek joint venture partner, Marinopoulos Holding, to create Marinopoulos Coffee Company III SRL, which will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the business in Romania.

"We are thrilled to share the Starbucks Experience with Romanian customers at our first stores in Bucharest," said Panos Marinopoulos, president, Marinopoulos Holding SARL. "We are confident that our quality coffees and unique coffeehouse offerings will be welcomed by the people of Romania." Marinopoulos already partners with Starbucks in several other markets including Austria, Cyprus, Greece and Switzerland, and operates world-class brands like Carrefour, Marks & Spencer, The Beauty Shop/Sephora, FNAC and Dia.

Customers in Bucharest will now have an opportunity to enjoy Starbucks high quality coffee, legendary customer service and the comfortable "third place" environment. "We are delighted to open our first stores in Bucharest which will bring new career opportunities for Romanians with one of the most recognized brands in coffee. We will feature premium-quality coffees, beverages and food, and a sophisticated, welcoming environment where customers can connect with friends and family,"said Yannis Kalfakakos, managing director for Marinopoulos Coffee Company III SRL.

Marinopoulos Holding SARL is one of Greece's leading retail, commercial and industrial groups, representing Carrefour Marinopoulos S.A. (joint venture with Carrefour), Sephora Marinopoulos S.A. (joint venture with LVMH) and the Marks & Spencer franchise. Marinopoulos Holding SARL is also active in the industrial sector, through FAMAR S.A., one of the biggest European pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies.

Shock: Poland and Ukraine get Euro 2012

UEFA have just announced that the 2012 European Championships (that's a football tournament, folks) will be held in Poland and Ukraine. Host cities will be Gdansk, Katowice, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw in Poland, and Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kiev and Lvov in Ukraine. Five of those cities are In Your Pocket already: expect the others to be so by kick-off.

Road safety rage

Car wreck Donegal
Originally uploaded by Danny McL.

Next week is the first United Nations Road Safety Week. Furthermore, there is a planned crackdown in speed in European countries from 23 to 29 April.

Given that some of the countries that In Your Pocket covers have terrible road accident rates, I thought it would be worthwhile pointing this out.

Latvia was cited, in 1997, as having the highest rate of road-accident deaths in the world. Estonia was second. Things haven't changed much since then. A map showing the countries that have the worst road safety records (such as the one seen on the second page of this 2mb PDF) seems to resemble the In Your Pocket map, as seen on our website.

Much of the problem comes down to new, fast cars on crappy old roads. But there are also driver attitudes. I can certainly say that Lithuanians drive like a**holes. Rudeness, insane overtaking, ... don't get me started...

Serbs + Stones = Horses + Drugs

Serbs say they will drug horses to help them cope with The Rolling Stones. The horses live and perform at the Hippodrome in Belgrade. On July 14, however, their prancing will be postponed while The Rolling Stones play a gig (unless all the band members die before then, of course).

The horses, according to Ananova, will be doped up to help them tolerate The Stones. Other audience and band members may use similar strategies.

Baltish

I'd like to recommend a visit to a German Pub in Narva, Estonia. Or at least to their website.

Cover Shots Wanted!

Fancy seeing your photos on the cover of a future issue of an In Your Pocket? Here's your chance.

We will soon be launching a new module on our site www.inyourpocket.com allowing our readers to upload their best shots of Pocket cities. The best of the month will go on a cover of In Your Pocket and will win some coveted In Your Pocket-branded merchandise.

To see what kind of standard we require, take a look at our cover gallery at Flickr.

Country Life

There was a time in my life when I used to occasionally buy Country Life, that printed guardian of English tradition and privilege. Many years ago polo was still a minority sport (the Queen's Cup Final not being televised on Sky Sports, heaven forbid), and reports of top games were found in just a few publications. Country Life was one of them.

In those days, when I was just a student, I often thought of what I might do with my life; what tasks and endeavours might wait in my path to some kind of achievement.

Of all the things I ever thought I might have to do, or be asked to do, however, I never, ever, for one moment considered the possibility that I might be interviewed by the mighty Country Life.

Well yesterday, it happened. Country Life came calling (on questions of buying property in Romania and Croatia).

Like most In Your Pocket editors I have answered my fair share of questions from journalists: it comes with the job. IYP is ahead of the game in most cities and so we are often called on for our insider knowledge.

But of all the publications I have ever spoken to (or written for), from The Times to La Republicca, I have never felt quite so gratified as yesterday: the lovely, polite girl from Country Life made my day. She has promised to quote me and give IYP a plug. Now I simply can't wait to see the magazine. I mean, my name, my name, in Country Life!

What a super Easter surprise.

IYP Experts in The Guardian

Belfast In Your Pocket's Heidi McAlpin was this weekend called upon in her capacity as Northern Ireland travel expert capacity to provide the Guardian with tips on Belfast's Great Outdoors...

The full article is here.