Palin's New Europe

Heavily touted by the BBC (hell we even prepared a special Palin's New Europe page!), Michael Palin's new series has been received by viewers and critics alike as, well, a bit crap. From the man who brought us such great television as Around the World in 80 Days, the new series indeed a disappointment.

Comparing Albania to a turd is not the wit we have come to expect from Palin.

Read Patrick West over at Spiked, who has some suggestions as to why Palin has lost his touch.

Latest Issues Ready For Download

The latest PDF versions of our guides to Krakow, Warsaw and Prague have just been uploaded to www.inyourpocket.com/downloads.

These guides do not appear on newstands until Monday! Download your PDF copy today.

For free.

Cricket Comes to Romania

British cricket team The Effigies were in Bucharest last week to play two matches against the Transylvania Impalers. The event marked the first time a foreign team has played members of the Transylvania Cricket Club (TCC) - formed by Romanians, Australians, Brits and Indians who are living and working in Bucharest.

The main game, on Sunday, was played at the grounds of the Romanian Rugby Federation in front of a packed-out crowd of 50 or so men and their dogs. The TCC made it a winning start for Romanian cricket, winning thanks to a fine 50 from captain Andrew Begg, and a five-wicket haul from Charlie Crocker.

Baboon has relationship with chicken

According to a Reuters report, a baboon in Lithuania has struck-up a loving relationship with a chicken. I don't think we need to add anything to the original report, so just follow the link.

USA and AUS Swap Travelling Workers

If you're one of the many Aussie or North American readers of In Your Pocket -- and cor blimey, crikey, golly-gosh, damn tootin' there's a lot of you -- you'll be pleased to know that a new agreement is in place that will allow young Aussies and Americans to work in each others' countries from October 31 this year. For two countries with notoriously tight borders, this is a step in the right direction. More info from the Herald-Sun (a Melbourne-based newspaper).

London 'Pub Crawler' - Inspired by Vilnius?

London	Vilnius

A pedal-powered beer bar as now plying the streets of London and, we suspect, it may have been inspired by a similar contraption that does the rounds in Vilnius each summer. The Evening Standard of London spills the beans on the Pub Crawler, including the fact that it was introduced to London by Luke Robertson after he saw a similar contraption "in the Baltics".

We suspect that Luke may have seen the Cycle-Beer Bar in Vilnius (and covered in Vilnius In Your Pocket some years ago). Top marks for ripping-off a top idea, Luke. Even more points for getting it through the maze of red tape that London City and British authorities must have tossed about. And, most of all, we hope you don't get any visits from Lithuanian heavies wishing to protect their intelekshul property.

100 Photo Tips in 100 Days

Today is day one of a hundred during which 100 photography tips will be offered in 100 days at the Adorama website. Tip one suggests that you should look down. (Mopey, depressed loners can skip this tip because you're probably already following it.) Conversely, we'd like to suggest that you look up, especially if you are in Vilnius.

Oh - and, photo fans, don't forget that we're always on the lookout for top-notch photos for In Your Pocket covers. Details of how you can submit your pics are here.

Happy snapping!

Palin's New Europe - Starts Sunday

Michael Palin's newest travelling tv-series, Michael Palin's New Europe, hits the small screen in the UK this coming Sunday night (September 16, 21:00, BBC1). This series covers many of the countries that In Your Pocket have been writing about for quite some time, such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and more.

I reckon Palin has a way of getting in touch with the spirit and pulse of a place that is humble yet real, and I look forward to seeing the series. Of course, I live in Lithuania, which means I won't be able to see it on the telly and will have to wait until the series is released on DVD and sold for a small fortune (rathan than downloading it for free from the internet the day after it is broadcast).

Meanwhile, travel agents and various self-declared experts are predicting that the 'Palin Effect' could impact Eastern Europe in the same way that it has affected regions covered by his previous programmes: more tourism.

An interesting interview-write-up-sales-piece is available on the BBC Press Office website.

Airports: Making Connections

With a lot of visitors to the countries that In Your Pocket covers coming from regions outside Europe, and with a lot of expats now living in such countries and wanting to take holidays without going anywhere near London, Paris or Frankfurt, I found this article in the New York Times quite interesting. It identifies some handy air traffic hubs that are not Heathrow-horrible de Gaulle appalling or Frankfurt-%&*@ed.

Thinking of Offsetting? Think Again

For many people the 'guilt' of traveling can be bought off by buying 'offsets,' whereby the carbon generated by travel is 'offset' by funding eco-friendly projects in the not-so-developing world.

If you are thinking of offsetting however, you might want to read this article on Spiked. It asks if offsetting isn't in fact doing far more harm than good, in preserving poverty in the name of saving the planet.

The Times Loves Us...

Having last month been named as one of the best 100 travel websites by The Times, on Saturday we were simply called "the best guides to Eastern Europe," in a survey of the best 'Alternative city guides and websites.'

You can see all our press clippings here.

Ticketless Travel

Not usually one for nostalgia, I shall miss the airline ticket when it retires next year...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2007/09/01/et-airline-tickets-101.xml