Explore
Serious relaxation There’s more to the new mySpa at the Fairmont Chicago hotel (200 North Columbus Drive, Chicago, +1 312 565 8000; www.fairmont.com/chicago) than just fluffy towels. “If you feel like you need to balance your chakras or want to learn more about your inner self,” director Greg Hobbs tells voyager, “our massage therapists provide [...]
Serious relaxation
There’s more to the new mySpa
at the Fairmont Chicago hotel
(200 North Columbus Drive,
Chicago, +1 312 565 8000;
www.fairmont.com/chicago)
than just fluffy towels. “If you
feel like you need to balance your
chakras or want to learn more
about your inner self,” director
Greg Hobbs tells voyager, “our
massage therapists provide that
for you with our ‘aromaharmony’
treatment.” And as for using the
cardio machines, forgetting your
gym kit is no excuse: mySpa
provide workout clothes and
trainers, courtesy of Nike.
They’ve got the brains
Scotland has produced “a disproportionately high number of Britain’s
geniuses”, claims the new edition of Eyewitness Travel: Scotland (£12.99,
Dorling Kindersley). “Despite its relatively small size and population,
Scotland has produced a remarkable number of inventors over the
centuries” says the guide, which goes on to list Scottish inventions,
including continuous electric light, penicillin, television and the telephone.
Want to feel as smart as a Scot? At the Glasgow Science Centre
[50 Pacific Quay, +44 (0)871 540 1000; www.glasgowsciencecentre.org],
there are lively demonstrations of the laws of physics and chemistry, and
you can brush up on your astronomy at the planetarium.
Page turner
The digital age has given a new lease of life to the
audiobook, and there’s also something charming
about these dinky Mi-Vox audio cartridges.
Packaged with the jacket artwork to give more of
a ‘reading a book’ feel (see the example below), the
palm-sized players come with headphones, and
they digitally bookmark your place as you go.
From £9.99; www.mi-vox.com
Picture this
Travelling to Tel Aviv? Then have your camera at the ready. You have until November 2008 to take a picture for the national photography competition, Israel Photo Tour Cup. Winning entries will
feature in a spring 2009 exhibition. Open to both amateurs and professionals, the contest welcomes
images taken in Israel of anything from landscapes to tourist sites, architecture to wildlife. Photos
submitted so far include bobbing boats at the Old Jaffa port, and the Tower of David as reflected in
a pair of sunglasses. Think you can do better? Visit www.phototourcup.com
Work it
Paying money to carry out oldfashioned
chores in a remote
part of Russia might not be
everyone’s idea of a good time,
but it’s now being marketed
as a tourist experience. The
‘Day in a Siberian Village’ tour
is a chance to experience
the Russian countryside near
Ekaterinburg and includes
transport to and from any
hotel in the city. The traditional
tasks include chopping wood,
fetching water and spinning
yarn, and it pays… sorry, costs
about £63; www.isango.com
Get The Gherkin
New York has Wall Street and
London has the City, home to 30 St
Mary Axe or ‘The
Gherkin’ building.
Now a new book
from finance
expert Richard
Roberts, The City: A
Guide To London’s
Global Financial
Centre (£20, Profile
Books) provides a
comprehensive guide to how the
City works, why it matters so much,
and how it will change in 2008.
There’s plenty of trivia, too. Did
you know that when Barings Bank
went bust in 1995, it
was acquired by
Dutch bank ING
for just £1?
