Next week not one, but two of Madrid's most prominent symbols are going to disappear from its central square. One is the statue of a bear licking (or sniffing) a tree (el oso y el madroño) currently installed a few steps from the Puerta del Sol. The other one, which we wrote about last year, is the Tío Pepe sign perched atop one of the building surrounding the plaza.
The LA Times reports and the NYPL confirms the opening of another
Wi-Fi hot spot at the library's main building on Fifth Avenue.
Now, visitors with laptops can go online at the Edna Barnes Salomon Room
(Room 316), in addition to the Bill Blass Catalog Room (315), the Rose Main
Reading Room and the DeWitt Wallace Periodicals Room (108).
Starting this month, diners in Paris and, more generally, in continental France, will see the sales tax (TVA) on their meals lowered from 19.6% to 5.5%. This Brussels-endorsed measure is supposed to stave off restaurant closings in France which have been become rampant in recent years, and create new employment in the industry. And, obviously, make dining more affordable to both French citizens and tourists.
But things are never quite simple in France: the discount rate doesn't apply to everything and the restaurants are not obligated to lower the final price on every single item on the menu. Read on for details and examples...
The moment has finally come! After many months in the making, the much-talked-about Montreal public bike rental system, Bixi, has launched. Over the past few weeks the city has installed a number of automated
bike rental stations
and launched a web site allowing users to see availabilities in real
time (both the number of available bikes and available docking slots).
Although the system is geared mainly towards residents of the city,
tourists can take advantage of it as well, with monthly and even daily
tariffs available.
The mayor of Lisbon announced the beginning of a 700 million euro renovation of the historic neighborhood of Baixa. The central Lisbon neighborhood, built after the 1755 earthquake, consists mostly of 4-to-5-story neo-classical walk-up buildings.
Once considered one of Europe's most elegant districts, Baixa has been on the decline for decades. Over half of its residents have left since the 1950's.
A host of Italian politicians and businessmen became on Saturday the first passengers of the newly launched high-speed
Milan-Bologna
line dubbed Frecciarossa (red arrow). The inaugural crowd (which consisted, as would be expected, almost entirely of middle-aged men in suits) talked cheerfully to journalists and didn't even try to contain their excitement. "The country's longest subway line" was just one hyperbole coined during that amicable chatter.
One can easily understand the reasons for their enthusiasm. After 99 months of work and almost 7 billion euros of investments, the high-speed Milan-Bologna line is operational and they are probably going to be its most loyal customers. The new line promises to radically improve travel times between Italy's industrial centers..
The Waldorf=Astoria brand seems to be on a roll, financial crisis be damned. It was only a few months ago that we
announced
the planned Waldorf=Astoria hotel in Montreal and now we're adding Chicago to the list of lucky cities.
The hotel tower, designed by DeStefano & Partners is projected to reach 1,100 feet (that's over 100 floors!), but unlike certain other landmarks planned for Chicago, it will not surpass the height of the Sears Tower...
Next week not one, but two of Madrid's most prominent symbols are going to disappear from its central square. One is the statue of a bear licking (or sniffing) a tree (el oso y el madroño) currently installed a few steps from the Puerta del Sol. The other one, which we wrote about last year, is the Tío Pepe sign perched atop one of the building surrounding the plaza.
After two years of construction, Le Bristol, one of the swankiest hotels of Paris, will open a new wing with 26 rooms, 5 suites and a new restaurant.
The LA Times reports and the NYPL confirms the opening of another
Wi-Fi hot spot at the library's main building on Fifth Avenue.
Starting this month, diners in Paris and, more generally, in continental France, will see the sales tax (TVA) on their meals lowered from 19.6% to 5.5%. This Brussels-endorsed measure is supposed to stave off restaurant closings in France which have been become rampant in recent years, and create new employment in the industry. And, obviously, make dining more affordable to both French citizens and tourists.
The moment has finally come! After many months in the making, the much-talked-about Montreal public bike rental system, Bixi, has launched. Over the past few weeks the city has installed a number of automated
bike rental stations
and launched a web site allowing users to see availabilities in real
time (both the number of available bikes and available docking slots).
The mayor of Lisbon announced the beginning of a 700 million euro renovation of the historic neighborhood of Baixa. The central Lisbon neighborhood, built after the 1755 earthquake, consists mostly of 4-to-5-story neo-classical walk-up buildings.
A host of Italian politicians and businessmen became on Saturday the first passengers of the newly launched high-speed
Milan-Bologna
line dubbed Frecciarossa (red arrow). The inaugural crowd (which consisted, as would be expected, almost entirely of middle-aged men in suits) talked cheerfully to journalists and didn't even try to contain their excitement. "The country's longest subway line" was just one hyperbole coined during that amicable chatter.
The Waldorf=Astoria brand seems to be on a roll, financial crisis be damned. It was only a few months ago that we
