Weird Travel News: Norway, England, Strange Tourism Jobs, Portland
Published 02/25/2011
(Portland, Oregon) – Looking for a different cruise ships experience? Perhaps need someone to tell you a bedtime story at a hotel? Or perhaps you’d like to see the mammoth and strange formations of a massive flock of birds in Brighton. And what has happened to that wacky human statue guy in a city on the west coast U.S.?
All sorts of wacky travel news is in the wings recently.
Norway’s Hurtigruten company has a kind of anti-cruise ship going, No fancy culinary spreads, late night dancing or even upscale cabins. In fact, it’s not a cruise ship at all, it’s a working freight vessel that you can stow away on – for a fee, of course.
If you’re looking for that real “living local” travel experience, the Hurtigruten fleet zips along some of the most beautiful, dramatic and icy scenery in the world, starting at the Norwegian town of Bergen and heading up around the Artic Circle. The trip takes about 12 days. Along the way you visit bundles of tiny hamlets and hug the Norwegian coast amidst striking wilderness scenes.
www.norwegiancoastalcruises.com/
Brighton, England has a startling display of starlings every winter, which will be winding down any minute. It draws gobs of tourists every year, including bird enthusiasts from the United States, who watch these enormous flocks of these birds zip around the skies in rather surreal formations, and sudden, impressive movements. Tens of thousands of the wee beasties hit the skies at the beaches and the pier of the English town, creating quite a stir.
The big show happens at dusk.
They are seen throughout the year, but apparently are much bigger in numbers here during the winter months.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/datewithnature/sites/brighton/index.asp
The Australian newspaper in Australia recently published a lineup of the strangest travel jobs, mostly in the hotel industry.
Among them is a human bed warmer in a hotel in London, who literally hops into the bed about five minutes before the guest does and wiggles around under the covers to warm it up.
Guests at the Hotel Andaz in London can get a bedtime story told to them – no matter what the age.
In India, one hotel actually employs people to chase pigeons away from the courtyard.
The Barnsley Gardens Resort in Georgia (United States) has a Fairy Godmother in residence, who is really just a different kind of party and special occasion planner. Also in the U.S., you’ll find people who polish coins for guests, a duck master in Tennessee, butlers for those in tanning booths in Miami, a hotel falconer in Santa Barbara, California.
Read more at this link
Portland, Oregon has its own weird tourism job, although it’s more of a tourist attraction in the form of one person. The Silver Statue Man hangs around downtown Portland, covered head to toe in silver paint, and stands still, imitating a statue. The uninitiated, especially tourists, are startled by him when he moves, revealing that he is indeed not a statue.
He is known for other occasional tricks, such as a surreal way of juggling.
The word on the street is his days may be numbered, as local media has reported he was looking for a career change.
|
