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The Beetle
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Meeting News from Texas
The first meeting of 2003 for the Texas branch of the Globetrotters Club had 8 new people in attendance. What a way to start the new year off! It was especially exciting as it was a cold and rainy day, not what Texans are accustomed to. The scheduled presenter was unable to attend, which meant…
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The Beetle
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UK Low Cost Ryanair to buy Buzz
UK low-cost airline Ryanair announced recently that it has put in an offer to buy smaller rival Buzz for £15.6m; $25.7m. Buzz is currently owned by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, flying to 21 destinations in France, Germany, Holland and Spain, and, like Ryanair, who currently operate a network of 100 routes across 15 European countries…
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The Beetle
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London Markets: Brick Lane in the East End
As its name suggests, Brick Lane gets its name from the local manufacture of bricks. By the early 18th Century it was a long well-paved street frequented by carts fetching bricks into Whitechapel from brick kilns. The other industry in the area was beer, which was brewed in the Truman Black Eagle Brewery, founded in…
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The Beetle
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Be Careful Out There: Zanzibar
LONDON (Reuters) – The government says an “international terrorist group” might be planning to carry out an attack on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, and warns visitors to be careful. “We have received information that an international terrorist group may be planning an attack on the island of Zanzibar,” a Foreign Office spokeswoman told Reuters.…
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The Beetle
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Madeira by Olwen Cox
Madeira, Garden of the Atlantic: this is an island of incredible natural beauty. Everywhere you go roads and paths are lined with plants: bird of paradise, agapanthus, orchid, and hyacinths. The mountainous interior rises steeply from the coast, broken up by ravines and gorges with the sides covered in trees or terraces for agriculture. There…
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The Beetle
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Free London Museums:
Gunnersbury Park Museum Dating from 1835, the former country residence of the Rothschild family is now a local history museum with exhibitions charting local history from prehistoric times to the present. The grounds are lovely to walk in, with Japanese and Italian gardens cultivated by the family in the nineteenth century, as well as the…
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The Beetle
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Write for the Globetrotters monthly e-newsletter
If you enjoy writing, enjoy travelling, then why not write for the free monthly Globetrotters e-newsletter! The Beetle would love to hear from you: your travel stories, anecdotes, jokes, questions, hints and tips, or about your home town or somewhere of special interest to you. You don't have to be a professional writer for other…
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The Beetle
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Armed Guards to Accompany Flights
The UK government has just given the go-ahead for specially trained under cover armed police officers to be placed onboard civil aircraft. This is a part of a range of security measures to prevent attacks by international terrorists. In addition to the UK move, undercover armed guards are to be allowed on flights between Australia…
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The Beetle
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Three faces of Venice by Jonathan Hollow
Venice inspires devotion and madness. I should know: I went there for a last-minute holiday four years ago and have ended up buying two properties. What is it about this city? I think there are three faces to Venice, and you can’t always be sure which one you’re seeing. We all know the first face…
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The Beetle
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Fave Websites of the Month
The Beetle likes the Aussie slang website spotted by our eagle eyed webmaster. Having just come back from Australia, she noticed a propensity to end as many words as possible with “ie” as in, being asked by an air hostess, would you like “brekkie” i.e. breakfast. A barbecue is a barbie, football, footie and so…
The Globetrotters Club
The travel club for independent travellers.