Despatches
René Magritte returns to Brussels; Swiss sci-fi; London straps on its cycling helmet
Return of René
ON 2 JUNE, 2009 Brussels’s new Magritte Museum opens in Place Royale – 80 years after the painter inscribed his picture of a pipe with the caption ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe’. As part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the Magritte Museum will be housed in the neo-classical building once known as Altenloh Hotel, bringing the world’s largest collection of Magritte works into the heart of the city. Let’s hope the new museum’s signage is more accurate than René’s own inscriptions.
1 Place Royale; buy tickets from 9 Rue du Musée, www.musee-magritte-museum.be
VOYAGER OFFER
Double points for your business
IT’S 30 YEARS since American airline execs realised that, if you can work out a way to reward frequent flyers, they’ll view your flights more favourably next time around.
To celebrate bmi is doubling their Company Rewards points. Join Company Rewards this month and as a special joining offer for Voyager readers, you’ll earn double points on all bmi-operated flights taken before 31 July 2009.
The Company Rewards scheme can help your company travel budget go that extra mile. Each time a member of your company flies with bmi, they’ll earn points, which can be exchanged for rewards. Membership is free and there is no minimum spend before you start earning points.
Make your business travel twice as rewarding with this month’s Voyager joining offer. Visit www.flybmi.com/companyrewards and complete the application form, quoting VM001 in the ‘invite code’ section to receive double points.
Turn to pages 87-88 to find out more about Company Rewards as well as bmi’s other loyalty programmes, Diamond Club and Highflyers.
LONDON
Chain gang
Can the Big Smoke be turned into a cycle city?
“I PLEDGED TO DELIVER a cycling revolution across the city,” said London’s mayor, Boris Johnson (pictured), “and there is now a growing excitement about our cycle hire scheme, which will give all Londoners the opportunity to hop on a bike and experience the joys of cycling.”
The venture, outlined earlier this year, sounds racy: 400 cycle stations housing 6,000 bikes, dotted about the centre of the capital. Yet, compare this to Paris’s Vélib which, while catering for a smaller city, has 20,000 bikes for rent, and London’s two-wheeled ambitions are put into perspective.
However, Mayor Johnson remains a keen cyclist, the victim of a number of bike thefts and even an advocate of looser road rules for fellow bicyclists; his scheme has been greeted with cautious optimism by bike fans.
“The Parisian one has been a great success,” says Mike Cavenett, the communications officer from the London Cycling Campaign. “No doubt ours will take off too.”
Cavenett cautions that the British capital still has some way to go before it becomes truly bike friendly. “We’re a middle-ranking city; not bad, but nothing like as good as the best, such as Amsterdam or Copenhagen. Our cycle path network is still much too piecemeal.”
Still, there are reasons to think that more and more Londoners are reaching the same ‘two wheels good, four wheels bad’ conclusion as Mike, Boris and co – the number of cyclists has almost doubled since 2000.
Alex Rayner www.london.gov.uk, www.lcc.org.uk
ZURICH
Ch-Fi
Swiss cinema makes for the final frontier
SWITZERLAND’S FIRST SCI-fi film, Cargo, is scheduled for release this autumn. It’s one of the biggest projects in Swiss cinematic history and has attracted an unprecedented amount of media interest there.
Often a headline story on Swiss TV news, it’s also generating a buzz on a number of German and American sci-fi fan websites. Set aboard an intergalactic freighter, Cargo is about as far from Switzerland’s most iconic movie moment – the Von Trapps crossing the Alps in full song – as you could imagine.
In a country with a relatively small film industry, the film’s director Ivan Engler says it was quite a challenge to design the spaceship setting.
“In Switzerland there aren’t any film studios that were suitable for building the 20 sets we needed so we built most of them inside a huge industrial space in Winterthur which we transformed into an entire film studio,” he explains. “There is visual effects knowledge here but nobody that specialises in it, no-one here had ever built a set for a sci-fi film, so we had to do everything ourselves. So many people put so much energy into it and we were all on a very limited budget for such a big production. It’s been blood, sweat and tears but in the end it has incredible detail in its design.”
Celeste Neill www.cargoderfilm.ch
Quotes & Votes
THIS MONTH, THERE’S a presidential election in Iran, parliamentary elections in Lebanon and EU Parliament elections across Europe. With all that campaigning, can you tell which of the following candidates issued the following sound bites?
Iran’s Hussein Moussavi
Lebanon’s Nabih Berri
Britain’s Daniel Hannan
“To place constabularies under locally elected sheriffs.”
“To pursue an active foreign policy to achieve détente.”
“To make democracy a lifestyle and not just an election process.”
MANCHESTER
Fresh legs
Lanky striker Danny Welbeck is the latest youngster to come through the Manchester United talent factory
THEY MAY SPEND lavishly on overseas talent, but Manchester United’s youth set-up remains one of the most envied in football.
The next local player expected to successfully bridge the gap between junior ranks and the big-time is 18-year-old Danny Welbeck. Just over 6ft 1in, this willowy centre-forward announced his arrival in style by scoring on his Premier League debut in the 5-0 home defeat of Stoke City in November last year.
“Being a Manchester boy, growing up in Longsight,” says Welbeck, “playing for United is just a dream.”
Looks as if the feelings are mutual. On as a substitute, Welbeck – Manchester-born of Ghanaian parentage – unleashed a brilliant, arcing 30-yard drive past the despairing clutches of the Stoke keeper in scoring his side’s fourth goal.
Not that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is feeding the hype yet. “He’s only young,” said Ferguson after the Stoke game. “He needs time, but he’s got a lot of marvellous things about him.”
A languid approach to the game belies Welbeck’s overall work ethic – despite his attacking skills, his defensive qualities have also been praised by United backroom staff.
Not that such prodigious talents have earned Welbeck – who Ferguson has likened to Nigerian international Kanu – any favours. He’s already incurred the wrath of the renowned disciplinarian.
Welbeck celebrated scoring the final goal of a 4-1 FA Cup win at Derby County in February by ambling, in arrogant Eric Cantona style, towards the United fans. Ferguson, it is believed, took exception to the England Under-19 international’s cocksure celebration and promptly dropped him from the next squad.
You sense, however, that with his talents, it won’t be long before the name of Danny Welbeck will be one of the first names on Sir Alex’s teamsheets. Stephen Worthy
ALMATY
Five things to do in Almaty when the football is on
The England team will be hoping to make it six wins in a row when they play Kazakhstan in a 2010 World Cup qualifier this month. If you’re going to Almaty, why don’t you:
Go to the Circus
[50 Abai Ave] This funfair and entertainment complex is housed in a big concrete yurt – or traditional Kazakh tent. What’s not to like?
Boil off your hangover at the central banya
[corner of Ayteke Bi street and Qonaev street] Arasan is the city’s main bathhouse, offering Russian, Finnish and Turkish-style steams. You get a great massage here too.
Visit The Green Market
[corner of Pushkin St and Zhibek Zholy Ave] The largest of the city’s bazaars (Kok Bazaar in Kazakh, Zelyoniy Rynok in Russian) sells everything from wedding confetti to live turtles.
Eat local at Dastarkhan
[75 Shevchenko St] Fancy shabat (a fermented camel’s milk aperitif) or shalgam (a paprika and radish salad)? Book in here.
Take a walk in the Tien Shan foothills.
This mighty mountain range is best viewed from the Ili–Alatau National Park. A 30-minute cab ride will get you to Medeu, the ice-skating stadium at the park’s base.
This month: HAIR
SPEND
LONDON
GENTLEMEN’S TONIC
For men who feel they’ve graduated from the high street barbershop, but aren’t ready for the flouncy ebullience of the styling salon, we recommend Gentlemen’s Tonic.
Launched in 2004 by banker turned entrepreneur, Olivier Bonnefoy, this grooming venture turns down the poodle-haired volume, and instead offers masculine treatments in a refined setting. The decor has more in common with Edwardian gentlemen’s clubs than Toni & Guy, as do the services. A haircut and wet shave costs £64, though GT really comes to life with its packages. Try the bullish ‘Hemingway’ – Bloody Mary, aromatherapy facial and massage for £150 – or the slightly more demure ‘Valentino’ – hand and foot treatment, rejuvenation facial and a revitalising and refreshing eye treatment. You can book into either their original barbershop on Bruton Place in Mayfair or their great new treatment rooms in Selfridges. Getting pampered has never seemed so chappish.
… OR SAVE
BEIRUT
A CLASSIC BARBERS
While the treatments you’ll receive sat in a Lebanese barber’s chair might seem as luxurious as its upmarket London rival, the price is a lot more affordable. Head to the Hamra area, near the university, or more specifically, to the appropriately indulgent sounding Bliss Street. Here you can get a great cut, a shave and perhaps a little local gossip for no more than 10,000 Lebanese pounds, or less than £5.
TRAVEL SPY
Voyager’s visual guides
Swiss playing card suits
The deck used in Switzerland’s most popular card game, Jass, doesn’t feature spades, diamonds, hearts or clubs designs. When you’re over there, look out for these suits instead:
