Mobissimo

Gastronomy can dictate where you want to live, perhaps for the lobster lovers out there, it's time to put you heart where your palate is, Maine lobster is $6 a pound in the heavy season, more here via the NY Post.

 PORTLAND, Maine - It's peak season for lobster in Maine, yet consumption has fallen to the point where it costs no more than sliced turkey in parts of New England.

A solid harvest and diminished demand amid the weak economy have pushed the retail price of lobster in Maine below $6 a pound.

One of your more travelled friends has already probably been here, the Arequipa route through western South America, but here are some great pics for you to whet the appetite.

The Altiplano, or high plain, of South America is a place of superlatives: It holds the world's highest navigable lake, Titicaca, and the largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni. It is the second largest mountain plateau in the world, after that of Tibet—a landscape of ice and fire, wind and salt that stretches from northern Argentina to the harsh flatlands of Peru. Higher than many peaks in the Rockies, the Altiplano formed when an earthshaking collision between the Pacific Ocean floor and the South American mainland heaved up two Andean ridges flanking a mostly flat, high basin.

Ah, the Brits, get smashed, turn to violence.  And that's the women, a little more here via BBC.

A plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Germany after two British women tried to open a cabin door mid-flight, police have said.

The women, aged 26 and 27, were drinking heavily and had to be held in their seats by security staff until the plane landed in Frankfurt.

They were arrested and released after two hours, Frankfurt police said.

The XL Airways plane was flying from the Greek island of Kos to Manchester when Wednesday's incident happened.

Showering onboard an airplane is now possible on the new A380 on Emirates Airways.  Check more here via the Telegraph.co.uk.

Emirates, which took delivery of the massive aircraft in Hamburg, has decided to offer its premium customers the chance to refresh themselves.

Such luxury is reserved for the 14 people in the first class cabin, who will have access to the two showers during the trip.

The passengers will book their 25-minutes slots, which will include five minutes in the shower itself and some extra time to dry themselves off and get dressed again.

Laos is often overlooked as a destination for travelers, losing out to high profile Thailand and Vietnam.  Yet, the vibe is much more laid back, the people truly friendly, and after a secret war during the Vietnam war, much more peaceful.  Read more here via Divine Caroline:

Laos is one of the last “off the beaten track” destinations for tourists and travelers who have become jaded with the creeping homogenization of global culture. This has much to do with the Southeast Asian nation’s historic inaccessibility, modern politics, and the legacy of warfare that continues to haunt this faraway land.

Cycling in SE Asia has been a big trench, plentiful refreshment stop, rolling countryside, lack of major hills.  But riding a bike around SE Asia has its precautions, read more here.

If you haven’t experienced a Vietnam cycling trip, then you’re missing the holiday experience of a lifetime. The beautiful cascading rivers and lush landscape makes the country a jeweled treasure in the world, and one which should not be overlooked. If a Vietnam bike tour sounds appealing, there’s only one way to go. With Asiana Travel Mate you can get an exclusive tour of the country on your bicycle. With a carefully selected team of travel consultants combining experience and knowledge, you’re assured to receive the best Vietnam cycling trip and experience a Vietnam vacation like none other.

Yes, the economy is touching the airlines again.  In efforts to cost cut, airlines are cutting down on international flight service.  While counter intuitive, the cuts will, in effect, increase capacity on existing routes.  Read more here via USA Today.

Runaway fuel prices and a weakening economy are forcing airlines to taper international expansion this fall, reducing the growth of new flight options from the USA to the slowest rate since 2003.

For October, airlines increased seats on non-stop flights from the lower 48 states to foreign destinations by just 1% compared with last October, a USA TODAY analysis of flight schedules shows.

Any longtime airline loyalist will say that repeated use will return great rewards, but are the airlines becoming so strapped they are losing their die-hard fans?  More here via Gadling:

With all of the recent cutbacks in the airline industry, frequent flyer programs are taking a beating. While passenger loyalty rewards are a great perk to air travel, any freebies given away by the carriers cut into the bottom line -- a mark that has fallen under intense scrutiny over the last six months.

To mitigate some of the loss from award mileage and ticket redemptions, airlines are making it harder and more expensive to use to earn and use your miles. Just last month, Delta Airlines instituted a fuel surcharge for booking an award flight; now in addition to taxes that you pay for that ticket you'll have to pony up up to fifty dollars for the privilege of booking it. Others, like American Airlines, are increasing the number of miles that you have to redeem for certain tickets and charging an additional fee to upgrade your seats into a higher class.

Since launch just a few days ago, MobiFriends powered by Thingfo has become an internet phenomenon. Thousands of users have joined in 130 cities and 29 countries around the world. The first MobiFriends meet up will be taking place soon, sign up and find out when and where. Join now and find out what the buzz is all about.

Times are tough for Americans traveling, the dollar is weak against the Euro, so you need to stretch that dollar.  Here are 10 fine dining choices in Paris via the Guardian.

The term "bistronomiques", coined in a recent restaurant guidebook by Arthur Deevs, refers to a new generation of Parisian bistrots that are offering creative, gourmet cooking at reasonable prices. These days you can find a host of places in Paris to eat inexpensively and extremely well – just two of the 10 selected bistrots below were featured in the book.

If you haven't joined MobiFriends, you don't know what you're missing. Forget about stale reviews, we're giving you favourites from actual users of Mobissimo. Actual travel plans, real itineraries, real experiences, all here. Sign up now for Mobissimo's MobiFriends powered by Thingfo.

Spas can be a good time or a tough workout, they can be what you put into them.  Here are 10 spas that will keep you fit and happy.  More here via Times Online.

For those who pale at the thought of putting on swimwear, don’t fret so – we’re here to help. Before you bare (almost) all, what you need is a short, sharp session of intensive training.

Obviously, we’re not talking about running up hills, or lifting anything so hazardous as a dumbbell. No, our training takes place... in a spa. And only the hottest, most glamorous ones, mind, where you’ll be honed, toned, rubbed, scrubbed, wrapped and slapped into shape – for beach, barbecue or just drinks on the terrace.

While competition is high for NYC-LON and PAR routes, the 'luxury business' routes, the larger airline entities like British Airways and Air France have started to focus on this route.  British Airways has ushered in Open Skies, a new spin-off that focuses more on the experience.  The prices remain somewhat reasonable, a little more via Gadling.

For the extra one or two hundred dollars over the competition to fly in Economy, passengers can enjoy a smaller cabin, comfortable seats and superior In Flight Entertainment, food and service. Another investment beyond that gets you the wide, luxurious, deeply reclining seats in Prem +, in seat power and enough space to have a miniature party around your seat. Further investment gets you the supreme luxury of Biz: mouth watering catering, lie flat seats and astonishingly articulate service. Add on top of that the comfort of working with the concierge program, airport lounges and friendly ground staff and you have a winning combination.

Perhaps because of, or owing to, or being the result of, the demise of SilverJet, MaxJet, EOS, all business class flight between New York and London or Paris, Open Skies, the British Airways entry into upgraded flights has a complement with French company L'Avion, read more here.

British Airways has announced an agreement to acquire French airline, L‘Avion and integrate the company with its new subsidiary OpenSkies at the cost of 68 million euros.

This was disclosed in a statement from BA on Thursday.  OpenSkies recently inaugurated daily flights between Paris Orly Airport and New York John F. Kennedy Airport. L‘Avion operates two Boeing 757-200 with 90 Business Class seats only. L‘Avion flies between Paris-Orly and New York-Newark twice daily, 5 times a week.

The statement said, ”The combined airline will operate up to three daily flights between Paris Orly and the New York area using Boeing 757 aircraft. The value of the acquisition is Euro 68 million, which covers the purchase of the airline and Euro 33 million of cash in its business.”