Jetsettersblog

Beyond the usual tourist routes, the Treasure of Gon is hidden somewhere in Berlin and it awaits the clever and fast hunter. “The Treasure of Gon” is a paper chase offered to groups and individual travelers.

The treasure hunter needs to follow clues and solve riddles to get to the finish. The treasure hunt is offered in two different variations: The longer one (five hours) leads through Berlin by subway, bus and foot, the shorter one (three hours) takes you through the historic Mitte-district by foot. The chase touches the main tourist attractions, but also leads to more hidden locations and secret sites of Berlin.

Travelers can register at the “Treasure of Gon” website. Group Tours can be arranged for every day, individual joining pre organized hunts have to look for specific dates. www.der-schatz-von-gon.de

Virgin America and Barclaycard US, the credit card business of Barclays PLC in the U.S., have announced the launch of the new Virgin America Visa Signature Card ? a co-branded credit card that offers guests premium Visa Signature services, rewards, and amenities, with no annual fee. Cardholders can start earning points on Virgin America?s first-of-its-kind no-black-out date loyalty program, Elevate, beginning Oct. 23. The Virgin America Absurdly Simple Visa Signature Card rewards cardholders with triple Elevate points on all Virgin America purchases, enabling them to quickly earn free travel on the airline that has captured a list of travel industry best-in-class awards, including most recently Best Domestic Airline in Travel + Leisure’s World?s Best Awards.

As a special bonus, customers who apply by Nov. 30, 2008, will have an opportunity to earn a free one-way ticket. Once guests are approved and use their card they can earn bonus Elevate points after their first purchase and bonus points for balance transfers. Members can use their card to earn three points for every $1 spent on Virgin America flights and on all purchases, such as films, snacks, and cocktails on the airline’s RED in-flight entertainment system. Members will also rack up points for all other purchases at the rate of one point for every dollar spent. Cardholders will receive 2,500 Elevate bonus points after the first purchase, one point per dollar spent on everyday purchases and triple points on Virgin America purchases. For more information, visit www.virginamericacreditcard.com.

Lufthansa is now offering passengers flying Business Class on many European routes eight newly created menu variations will be offered as part of the Discover Flavor concept, with each based on a specific theme and changing weekly.

On flights from Germany, all the menus will revolve around four fruits and vegetables — apples, grapes, potatoes and tomatoes. Each menu will highlight a different fruit or vegetable, interpreting it in a novel and varied way. On flights to Germany, Lufthansa will be presenting regional specialties from four of the country?s regions: Hesse, Saxony, Baden and Frisia.

Typical dishes from Hesse are Frankfurter Gr?ne Sosse (green herb sauce), Schneegest?ber (camembert mixed with cream cheese) and Frankfurter Kranz (a rich, creamy layer cake). From Saxony come Leipziger Allerlei (a medley of vegetables) with crayfish and Dresdner Stollenmousse (a rich cake-and-caramel cream dessert). Baden is represented by such delicacies as mushroom salad with walnuts, guinea fowl terrine and mini Black Forest cherry gateau, while traditional dishes from Frisia include North Sea shrimp, sweet-and-sour cucumber salad, North Sea smoked cheese, slices of cured mettwurst sausage and red berry pudding with vanilla sauce.

New 5 star hotel for Belfast ? is a real smasher!

THE fitzWILLIAM HOTEL
Located in the Heart of Belfast this Design Hotel opens March 2009. It is individual, Classic with a Twist, Authoritative and speaks of Timeless Values and Character. It enjoys an enviable location beside the Grand Opera House facing the Spires Convention Centre. As Belfast?s only Design Hotel this 130 bedroom property offers guests the promise of being put instantly at ease. With innate courtesy, effortless charm and good humour, guests are welcomed to its boldly handsome stronghold, designed in a style that?s often startling and always strikingly original. There is a clear invitation to the guest to establish a relationship that?s based on enduring values and an innate sense of good taste, meaning that the type of service offered is assured, grown-up, thoughtful and intelligent. The resulting bond means that the hotel serves as a welcome and idealised ?home from home?, an inner sanctum where the needs and wants of the guest are anticipated and fulfilled. Website: www.fitzwilliamhotelbelfast.com

Opera Ireland Winter Season :15th ? 23rd November
Opera Ireland?s winter season at Dublin?s Gaiety Theatre, combines the great familiar classics Madama Butterfly and Don Giovanni with two Irish premi?re productions: the less well known but equally wonderful Midsummer Night’s Dream by Benjamin Britten and Mazeppa by Tchaikovsky. There is something for everyone to enjoy, from the novice to the dedicated opera fan.The bicentenary of the great 19th century Irish opera composer, Michael William Balfe, is celebrated this year with an historic concert performance and world premi?re recording of his great ?Italian’ opera Falstaff. New Irish opera also features with a workshop performance of Fergus Johnston’s The Earl of Kildare. Another innovation this season is Opera Ireland’s presentation of The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD at cinemas in Dublin and elsewhere. Now an international phenomenon, this is the first time these spectacular high-definition live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera in New York have been seen in Ireland and they are sure to be a great addition to operatic life there. www.operaireland.com

For the Grand Opera House in Belfast events please see: http://www.goh.co.uk/default.asp?id=39&sC=page10

The Dublin Pass Welcomes its New Participants
The Dublin Pass is delighted to welcome its new Attractions & Special Offer Participants! The new participants include Skerries Mills and The National Aquatic Centre offering free entry. Historical Walking Tours of Dublin, The Irish House Party and Railtours Ireland, Mercer hotels, Saba Restaurant and Taylors All Irish Cabaret each offering substantial discounts or added value offers to all Dublin Pass holders. The Dublin Pass includes over 27 top visitor attractions and fantastic special offers as well as the free luxury Aircoach transfer from the airport to the city. Be a VIP and skip the queues with a prepaid Dublin Pass! Check the tour banner below.

Get spooked in Derry and Dublin this Hallowe?en
Hallowe?en is celebrated throughout the Western World but its origins are Irish. Derry City hosts the biggest free street costume party which sees the city transformed into the premier destination for ghosts, ghouls, witches and warlocks from 27th ? 31st Oct. www.derrycity.gov.uk/halloween

Join in the spooky hallow?en fun at Hallowfest in south county Dublin (25th-26th October). There?ll be games, fun walks, spooky storytelling and a spectacular Fireworks display!! www.hallowfest.ie

And the ghostly games go on

Put yourself at unease on the world’s only Ghostbus, and introduce yourself to the dark romance of a city of gaslight ghosts and chilling legends. The Dublin Ghostbus, a unique attraction, is a mobile-theatre decorated in the gothic style and features a live storyteller who takes you on a spellbinding trip through Dublin. Once onboard, you will be spirited away to a world of felons, fiends, and phantoms who will both charm and spook you at the same time. www.dublinsightseeing.ie

Founded in 1095, St. Michan’s Church was, until 1686, the only church on the north side of Dublin city. Little remains of the original church but it was reconstructed in 1686. The peculiar dry atmospheric conditions in the vaults have resulted in the mummification of the corpses and visitors may see the result of this mummification process on their guided tour. Also on display in the vaults are the death mask of Wolfe Tone, the Irish revolutionary and the coffins of the 1798 rebels John and Henry Sheares. www.visitdublin.com

Malahide Castle is said to be haunted by a number of different ghosts. On the morning of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, 14 members of the Talbot family breakfasted together in the Great Hall. All 14 were dead by nightfall! Set on 250 acres of park land in the pretty seaside town of Malahide, this romantic and beautiful structure was both a fortress and a private home for nearly 800 years and is an interesting mix of architectural styles. The house is furnished with beautiful period furniture together with an extensive collection of Irish portrait paintings, mainly from the National Gallery. www.malahidecastle.com

Learn all about the fascinating life of Bram Stoker the Irish writer who created this legendary Un-Dead creature of the night ? Count Dracula at the The Bram Stoker Dracula Experience. This haunting walk-through interactive experience takes the visitor on a heart-pounding journey through Castle Dracula. Terrifying enactments recreate the unique spine chilling story of the Count and his victims.
www.thebramstokerdraculaexperience.com

For more information about Ireland visit http://www.discoverireland.com ?or for a free vacation planning kit call the NY office at 800/223-6470. Read Ireland feature stories from Jetsetters Magazine at this link:

The George, the newest member of Design Hotels, will open in November in Hamburg, Germany. Bringing a ?New British Style? and attitude with a modern and light-hearted twist to English tradition and design, the 125-room hotel brings the tradition-rich social clubs of England, to Hamburg.

Among the venues are a library, a restaurant with attached English garden, a rooftop terrace, two clubrooms as well as a lounge and bar. Each is available for private hire.

Hotelier Kai Hollmann, of Hamburg?s Gastwerk Hotel and the 25hours Hotel, realized a design with exotic influences dating back to colonial times make a striking contrast to modern classics. Indian saris are colorful highlights as bedspreads, while an oriental Marrakech style reigns in the spa. In the library, modern interpretations of Chesterfield furniture, niches as well as lavish carpets give the space a clubroom feel. Located in Hamburg?s St. Georg district, the surrounding area is characterized by boutiques, restaurants and street cafes.

The 118 guestrooms, five junior suites and two suites are distributed over seven floors.

For more information, call 800-337-4685 or visit www.designhotels.com

Value World Tours is offering a 10 percent discount on all 2009 river cruises to new passengers under deposit by Feb. 1. The company?s 32-page brochure includes cruises on the Eastern Danube, the Adriatic Sea, Russia and Ukraine. The Six-Country Danube Cruise is a 13-day program between Vienna and Bucharest. Fares begin at $2,699 plus $180 port charges per person, twin. The eight-day Five-Country Adriatic Cruise follows the Dalmatian coastline roundtrip from Koper, Slovenia. Fares start at $1,299 plus $192 port charges per person twin. A pre- and post-cruise hotel night package in Vienna is available. The 12-day Russian Waterways cruise between Moscow and St. Petersburg is priced from $1,999 plus $180 port taxes. In Ukraine, a 16-day itinerary between Kiev and Istanbul and a 13-day cruise between Kiev and Odessa are offered. The 13-day program begins at $1,599 plus $180 port charges.

A 16-page brochure offers 15- to 19-day China and Yangtze River programs. Land-cruise packages that include China?s major cities and balcony cabins start at $2,199 plus $80 port charges per person twin. A 15-day Mekong Delta Cruise in Vietnam and Cambodia includes Ho Chi Minh and Siem Reap (gateway to the Angkor Wat temples), and a nine-night Mekong River voyage on the new 48-passenger Indochine. Land-cruise rates begin at $2,799 plus $132 port tax. A Grand Thailand Cruise includes Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and a four-day Kwai River cruise on a 20-passenger barge. The 12-day program begins at $1,899 plus $42 port taxes.

The 16-page Egypt brochure has programs ranging from 10 to 14 days. Cairo with a deluxe Nile cruise begins at $1,099 plus $60. Alexandria and Jordon extensions are available. Two new river cruise programs on India?s Brahmaputra River and Hooghly River, with Taj Mahal extensions, are also available.

?For more information, call 800-795-1633 or visit www.valuecruises.net

Peregrine will venture into Greece and ?Green? Spain for the first time in its European Program for 2009. To launch the 2009-10 Europe brochure, covering walking, cycling and cultural adventures across Eastern and Western Europe, Peregrine is offering an Early Bird discount of 10 per cent off the tour price for all new bookings made and deposited by December 12, 2008.

The eight-day Highlights of Greece tour follows in the fabled footsteps of ancient gods and mortals ? from Zeus to Aristotle. It explores the historic sites of mainland Greece, from the Acropolis in Athens to ancient Olympia, home of the gods and the first Olympic Games. It visits the gravity-defying mountain-top monasteries of Meteora, built by hermit monks in the 14th century, and the Oracle of Delphi, proclaimed by Zeus as the centre of the world. In the Peloponnese Peninsula, there are two relaxing days in the medieval village of Dimitsana, the base for exploring the Lousios Valley ? one of the most beautiful in Arcadia - before returning via Mycenae to Athens.

Prices for Highlights of Greece start at AUD$2750 per person, twin share, land only and include a local tour leader, accommodation, breakfasts, transport and entrance fees. There are regular departures between May and September and the trip can be combined with the eight-day Crete and Santorini Explorer (AUD$2675 per person).

Peregrine has also introduced new tours in Spain, from ?Green? Spain in the north to the mountainous Pyrenees separating Spain from France, and a combination Spain-Morocco trip.

The eight-day Green Spain & the Pilgrims? Way begins in contemporary Bilbao, then detours to explore the deep forests, mountains and tiny fishing hamlets of the north western corner of Spain. There are gentle walks in the Picos de Europa National Park and along parts of the renowned Primitivo pilgrim route. There?s time to wander the cobbled streets of the brightly-painted villages along the Cabo de Pe?as coast ? and to sample the local produce. The journey ends in Santiago de Compostela, site of the Catedral de Santiago ? the centuries-old destination for pilgrims from across Europe and the world.

Prices for Green Spain & the Pilgrims? Way start at AUD$3195 per person twin share and include a local tour leader, accommodation, breakfasts, transport and entrance fees. There are five departures from Bilbao between May and September, 2009.

For more information contact your travel agent or Peregrine Adventures on 1300 854 500 or visit www.peregrineadventures.com

Behind this secret curtain, nature has flourished, resulting in a vast and pristine wilderness described by Lonely Planet as ?one of the world?s most beautiful regions?.

Fire-spitting volcanoes cloaked in ice dominate the landscape; remote indigenous tribes live as they have done for centuries, while rivers filled with salmon attract the highest concentration of brown bears on the planet. Teeming with an astounding diversity of wildlife including whales, sea lions, otters and birds, against a backdrop of wildflower-filled meadows, verdant valleys and towering mountain ranges - the Russian Far East is an adventure lover?s dream.

Australian-owned expedition cruising company, Aurora Expeditions, invites you to uncover the majesty and mystery of this remarkable region on one of its three voyages departing in 2009.

Travelling aboard the ice-strengthened 100-passenger Marina Svetaeva, the three expeditions will explore secluded islands and sites that would be impossible by any means other than by ship.

The 14-day ?Ring of Fire? expedition to the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka departs on 11 July 2009 from Sakhalin Island in Russia and travels through the islands that lie like stepping-stones between Japan and Russia ending in the town of Petropavlosk.

The second 14-day ?Bering Sea Explorer? expedition to Kamchatka and Chukotka departs from Petropavlosk in Russia on 24 July and visits the Commander Islands, Karaginsky Island, the Chukotka Coast and Arakamchechen Archipelago, and some of the least visited wilderness areas on Earth.

The final 13-day ?Arctic Ocean Discoverer? voyage explores the Bering Straight and remote Wrangel Island, travelling high above the Arctic Circle where few have ventured. The voyage departs on 6 August 2009 and begins and ends in Nome, Alaska.

Prices for all three voyages start at US$5,490 per person and include accommodation and use of all public areas on board the ship, all meals, guided shore excursions, lectures with expert naturalists and historians, and all port taxes. Sea kayaking is an additional option.

For further information and bookings call 1800 637 688 or visit www.auroraexpeditions.com.au

Icelandair, one of the oldest operating airlines, announces the launch of a new website, new seats, new interiors and a new third cabin. Icelandair has been able to sustain a strong presence in a very complex and competitive global market for over 70 years. The updated Icelandair Saga Class is designed for the business traveler while the economy seating is geared towards the needs of families and budget-conscious travelers. For those travelers in between, Icelandair offers Economy Plus. Economy Plus is for the business traveler expecting more amenities on a fixed budget and offers wider, more comfortable seats, more legroom, complimentary beer, wine and meals, with Business Class check-in and lounge access.

A revised fare structure has also been implemented, based on the additional cabin class and the particular needs and service requirements of each individual traveler. Flexible fares will allow passengers to choose from six different fare categories within three cabins of service. Additional changes beginning Nov. 1 include an updated and more user-friendly website that has been researched and product tested to optimize style and usability. Passengers will be sent pre-flight emails with information and details of their upcoming travels and post travel emails. Online check-in will also be available soon, enabling passengers to check-in, check bags and print boarding cards from their computer. Check-in kiosks will also be available for quick and easy airport check-in.

New ergonomically designed seats have been added with personal in-flight entertainment systems, a roomier interior with a new look. Aircrafts will now bear the names of some of the famous volcanoes throughout Iceland with a brief history of their namesake?s legacy. New uniforms will be worn by all crew members as designed by Icelander Steinunn Sigurdardottir and will reflect Icelandic nature, history and the Icelandic national costume in the fabric and design.

Icelandair offers service to Iceland from Boston, New York-JFK, Minneapolis/St. Paul (seasonal), Orlando Sanford, Halifax (seasonal) and Toronto (seasonal). Connections through Icelandair?s hub in Reykjavik are available to more than 20 destinations in Scandinavia, Great Britain and Continental Europe.