Taking off Travel blog

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama in terms of population. The county seat of Jefferson County, the city has a population approaching 1.2m (according to 2007 estimates). The major airport is Birmingham-Shuttleworth International Airport (BHM). This link tells you more than you may want to know about its runways, but I’m going to focus on some of its other amenities.

The airport is located 4.5 miles east of downtown Birmingham, making it a breeze to get to, as well as putting the city within easy reach of travelers on a layover. It’s well served for parking, including our Birmingham airport parking lot and a cell phone lot. If you’re not driving yourself, then the major car hire companies are all easy to get to from the main terminal. The airport is fully accessible for disabled travelers too. Last year, BHM carried more than three million passengers.

Other facilities in the airport include:

• a food court
• two ATMs between concourses B and C on the upper level
• free WiFi
• shops
• a business centre
• international medical assistance

Venturing out of the airport, there’s lots to see in and around Birmingham itself.

Birmingham, Alabama Attractions

See lions, gorillas, rhinos, geckos and more at the Birmingham Zoo. You can tour the zoo on the Zoo Express train and enjoy a range of educational activities. There’s even overnight camping if you choose to pass up a stay in a hotel.

It stays warm in Birmingham, which means that plants really thrive at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Check out the tropical plants in the huge glass greenhouse and visit themed gardens to enjoy the sight and aroma of thousands of plant species. There are more than 10,000 to view on this 67.5 acre site.

Get a taste of Birmingham’s industrial history by visiting the Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark. The furnaces date back to the 1880s when they were a major part of the city’s steel industry. There’s a park and sculpture garden to see as well and, unless there’s an event on, admission is free.

The McWane Science Center is an interactive science museum, where visitors can experiment with the laws of physics, explore space, construct machinery and more. Whether you’re interested in coral, dinosaurs or robots, you will find something of interest here.

Combine shopping with sightseeing by visiting the Riverchase Galleria, which boasts the western hemisphere’s largest skylight. The huge glass atrium adds to the appeal. You can shop, eat and enjoy indoor fountains and gardens.

Finally, find out about Alabama’s contributions to jazz history at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. It’s amazing how many jazz greats got their start here.

Time for another round up of posts that caught my eye on the travel blogs. First, a short post on Family Travel Guide called The Vacation Departure Maniac (with a title like that, how could I resist looking at it). This post extols the virtues of the list, in which I’m a firm believer. What about you? Next, the LA Times travel blog has another eye-catcher on Following Elvis Presley’s Ghost Around. Not quite as spooky as it sounds, it’s about a tour of Memphis.

European Highlights

Gary talks about his visit to Amsterdam in Brussels, Amsterdam and the Green Fairy. I loved his description of drinking absinthe as ‘doing a shot with cough syrup mixed in’. Not too far away (well, on the same continent at least), there are great pictures of the Guggenheim Bilbao on the Soultravelers3 blog. I’ve seen this building from the outside and it is fabulous.

Rants And Weird Things

Thinking of booking travel insurance? Then maybe you should read The View From The Wing’s post on why it may not be such a good deal. (You might as well read the NY Times article that inspired the post too). On the lighter side of travel, check out the list of weird airport names on The Independent.

Galavanting points to the fees to be imposed by United and US Airways when paying baggage fees at the airport. I wonder if those airlines have been talking to Easyjet in the UK. That airline also has some interesting fee policies.

Wrapping Up

The Location Independent blog has a detailed post on the ultimate mobile office setup for that lifestyle. Even if you’re just a frequent traveler you will find something useful here. And finally, Nomadic Matt has a list of free things to do in Washington, DC, complete with great pictures.

There’s a lot happening at Indy Park Ride & Fly, which is still the only off airport parking service to have relocated to the new terminal. A few months ago, we announced that the facility was offering complementary recharging of hybrid cars. Now there’s another benefit for Indy PRF customers - a rewards program.  It’s called Speedy Rewards and if you join the program you can earn 400 Speedy Rewards points per paid self-park or valet parking day. The program is run in conjunction with a major convenience store, which means that you can redeem your points to pick up all kinds of great rewards. These include fuel savings, gift cards to Applebee’s, Radio Shack, or drinks and snacks at participating convenience stores.

“We know our customers are looking for great value, and that’s exactly what we’re offering,” says Amy Strohmeyer, Indy Park Ride & Fly’s General Manager. “We want to offer our airport parking clients a great experience. Our customers asked for valet parking – so, we brought it back. We’re doing our part to help the environment too, with complementary recharging for hybrid vehicles. Our new Speedy Rewards program is just another way we’re providing value to our customers.”

If you’re an Indy parking customer, all you have to do to get started is pick up a card from a participating Speedway convenience store. When you’re ready to make airport parking reservations online just quote your card number during the reservation process. Alternatively, present it in person at Indy Park Ride & Fly. Points will be credited to your account within 14 days of leaving the parking facility. Full details on the new Speedy Rewards program are available online. For more information on Indy Park Ride & Fly, visit Indy PRF or contact the location directly at 317-486-8000.

About a year ago we wrote about strange celebrations from around the world. Now it’s time to add to that list.

Camel Wrestling

I’ve always been fascinated by camels - they have a certain sort of lumpen elegance and the fact that they can survive in harsh conditions makes them worthy of respect. However, I certainly wouldn’t want to wrestle one. But that’s just what happens in the Aegean region of Turkey. It seems the camels spend a lot of time pushing and shoving before heading for the crowd, which is when it gets really exciting. I’d certainly pick up my heels to avoid a ton of overexcited camel, wouldn’t you?

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I was interested to read this item on USAToday about British Airways’ grand plan to save money after posting a $595 million loss for the past financial year - asking employees to work for free. Head of the company Willie Walsh is leading the way by foregoing his salary for the month of July, though the gesture seems less magnanimous when you realise that his salary must be well over the million dollar mark.

Years ago, I remember getting quite irate when after delivering excellent work and being punctual and efficient for a whole month, I presented my paycheck at the bank and it bounced. That was just one month and the issue was sorted within a couple of days, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

With redundancy and job losses affecting people in the travel industry and beyond, BA’s move of asking people to volunteer for a pay cut is perhaps better than the alternative. However very few of us can afford to work for less than we already do and no one is likely to be happy about it, a point made strongly by the union which represents BA employees.

What’s your view? Would you work for free to save your employer’s company?