Travel Wires
Rules relaxed
Planning a Dubai stopover? You’ll be pleased to hear the emirate has decided tourists can buy alcohol from shops. Until this week, visitors could buy and consume drinks only at certain hotels and restaurants. Non-Muslim visitors over 21 can now buy alcohol from MMI or African & Eastern liquor stores. You’ll need a licence but they’re free and can be obtained at the shop by showing your passport and filing out a form declaring you’re not a UAE resident and accepting its rules on alcohol purchase and consumption. Be aware, however, that the UAE still has strict laws on alcohol consumption. It is an offence to drink or be under the influence in public.
Welcome to Melbourne, Queensland
“Don’t just see the sights. See the best,” reads the cover line on Fodor’s yet-to-be-released 25 Best Melbourne guidebook. Unfortunately it’s underneath a photo of the Gold Coast. US-based Fodor’s is one of the oldest travel publishers and its guides are “aimed at a fairly discerning traveller with an appetite for background and the occasional surprise”. Hopefully the surprise is not being in the wrong city. [Excuse me, I’ve just got to go and check all the photos in this edition of ‘Travel’ — Travel Editor]
Unstuck in the middle
A new plane seat design is intended to make the dreaded middle seat less miserable. Molon Labe Seating’s design features three economy seats in a staggered layout, putting the middle seat slightly behind and lower than the aisle and window seats. That allows more space so the middle seat is 21”, rather than the standard 18”. Aisle and window passengers rest their elbows on the higher front of the armrest, leaving space at the back for the middle passenger. The seats are intended for shorter domestic flights; the company is planning a version with more padding and larger screens for longer flights.
Costly cuppa
A London hotel has taken Britain’s devotion to a good cup of tea to new heights by offering the UK’s most expensive cuppa. The Rubens at The Palace is now serving a rare tea blend for a mouthwatering $917.50 a pot, or $295 a cup. Produced in the highlands of Sri Lanka, Golden Tips is hand-picked and sundried on a velvet cloth, which turns the buds from silver to gold. It’s an upgrade from the hotel’s Royal Afternoon Tea menu, which costs around $80 a head. Customers are encouraged to drink it before indulging in any sandwiches or scones, in order to savour its flavour fully. At The Rubens, one can sip it while overlooking The Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace.