About Amy Laughinghouse
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Fear and Loathing in the Sky—and Why You Should Marry the Girl in the Middle Seat
I have a confession to make. I don’t like to fly. I love going places. It’s just the getting there I’m not that fond of.
That might seem like a strange admission for a travel writer—but then again, maybe not. I mean, the more often you’re required to shoehorn yourself into a seat that wouldn’t comfortably accommodate a malnourished hamster, the less likely you are to look forward to it. If I actually enjoyed crumpling my body into a defeated wad of human origami, I’d take yoga, and at least I’d have the skull-cracking thighs and six-pack abs to show for it.
You’re not even awarded the privilege of painful bodily contortion until you’ve already been through the soul-sapping process of submitting to airport security.
Shuffling sock-footed through the metal detector, grasping at your unbelted trousers to keep them from falling down around your ankles, you still have to run the gauntlet of heaven-knows-where-those-hands-have-been rubber-gloved officers who might randomly pull you aside for a pat-down.
Spotted at London’s Luton Airport. If every there was a traveller begging for a strip search…
Every time this happens, I’m tempted to ask them to at least treat me to dinner and a movie first…but somehow, I doubt they would be amused. (more…)
Bloomin’ Beautiful: Egerton House Hotel Blossoms for RHS Chelsea Flower Show
For a taste of London’s famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show–without the tickets–head to The Egerton House Hotel. The well-heeled clientele of this intimate Knightsbridge townhouse will feel right at home in their wellies this May, thanks to a whimsical garden created by Jane Wadham, whose floral fancies are favoured by the likes of Victoria Beckham and the organisers of the Chelsea Flower Show. (more…)
Five Facts You Never Knew About Pompeii, Italy
You wouldn’t expect a city that was buried in 20 feet of ash and pumice nearly 2000 years ago to be making headlines today, but Pompeii has proven that it still has a few surprises waiting to be unearthed.
Thanks to what must rank as the world’s oldest TripAdvisor review–“I had a great meal”—scrawled on the wall of an ancient Italian villa in October 79 AD, we now know that the volcanic explosion that destroyed Pompeii took place two months later than historians have always thought. The graffiti was recently unearthed during new excavations in the ill-fated city, where an estimated 16,000 people perished when Mt. Vesuvius blew its lid.
Previously, the cataclysmic eruption was dated to August 24, 79 AD, according to a letter written by a witness named Pliny the Younger (which would actually make a great name for a rapper). Experts are now chalking the discrepancy up to medieval monks (who were notoriously fond of their mead) who transcribed Lil’ Pliny’s letter. Apparently, they didn’t know their August from their October. Whoops!
Here are five more facts about Pompeii–touching on everything from phallic signposts to quirky personal hygiene–which your high school textbook never revealed…
Every year, 2.5 million tourists make the pilgrimage to Pompeii, to walk among the ruins and tread the same cobbled streets as this city’s ancient denizens. They come to touch the two-thousand year-old bricks and marvel at the wealth of recovered artifacts, including casts of many of the volcano’s victims, frozen in time as they drew their last breaths.
The man who made the city come to life for me is Salvatore Spano, a guide who has been leading tours of Pompeii for more than 40 years. He’s a walking Wikipedia, a master of historical minutia, but I’ve boiled down his wealth of knowledge to a wee list of “Top Five Entertaining Facts,” which you can whip out at your next cocktail party to amaze and delight your friends…or bore them into a hasty retreat if they overstay their welcome and threaten to empty your liquor cabinet.
I’ll let you be the judge. Read on. (more…)