Photo by SagenVrabel

Attention lovers of the extraordinary! Your world headquarters will soon be set up at Merrion Square Park.

From June 15 through June 17, 2007, this Dublin city center park will play host to the Street Performance World Championship, three days worth of the ordinary, extraordinary, and downright unbelievable. From sword swallowers to bull fighters, this is one competition that will have it all.

Be sure to check out the acts and locate their venues early, as the popular performers are sure to attract a large crowd. And as this is Dublin, remember to bring both your umbrella and your sunglasses—you don’t have to be a fortune teller to know that you’ll probably need both!

Popularity: 8% [?]

Photo by argirl

If you are invited to a Hungarian home for dinner—as you very possibly will be during a visit, since Hungarians are famed for their hospitality and cuisine—here are a few tips.

Take the hostess flowers. Roses are a good choice, but always an uneven number of blooms—even numbers are considered unlucky. A bottle of good quality dry red wine will also be appreciated.

You won’t be expected to help out in the kitchen, but when the food does arrive, eat liberally. Refusing seconds, thirds, or even fourths is a sign you are not enjoying the food! The same applies to drink. Your wine glass will continually be refilled, so go easy! If you are vegetarian, tell your hosts in advance. Vegetarianism is still rare in Hungary, but people do recognise and respect it.

Finally, learn how to say a couple of words in Hungarian. Hungarians are proud of their fiercely difficult language and a foreigner’s attempts to pronounce it are really appreciated. Try thank you (köszönöm – sounds like kersernerm) and this is tasty (finom) and delight your host!

Popularity: 9% [?]

Photo by John Barnabas

The Financial Times’ Weekend section contained two travel articles that particularly snagged our attention.

Our favorite piece: Dan Hofstadter’s ode to Ferrara. We’ve been fans of Emilia-Romagna ever since we ate our way through the region’s exquisite restaurants one autumn not long ago. Hofstadter’s description of misty cobbled streets engulfed by cyclists served as an enticing reminder of the region.

Over a page, Claire Wrathall’s love letter to the Suffolk town of Aldeburgh (see above) also intrigued us, perhaps even enough to prompt us to visit the quiet seaside dorf as a sidetrip.

And, as always, Simon Kuper’s Sporting Life column delivered the goods. This past weekend, Kuper wrote about larger-than-life Surinamese-Dutch soccer player Clarence Seedorf.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Through midnight in Western Europe, Ryanair’s crazy absolutely free flights remain bookable. The airline is now providing a link from their homepage to a PDF listing remaining promo flight availability. We’re not sure how regularly the flight availability list is being updated, but we do like having some of our research work done for us for a change.

Meanwhile, easyJet kicks off its Edinburgh-Milan route today, with a lowest roundtrip fare of £42.98.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Photo courtesy of Room Mate

Offering travelers stylish, modern aesthetics and a collection of bells and whistles you would expect to find in a five-star boutique hotel at mid-range prices, the Room Mate group of hotels is redefining Spain’s hospitality marketplace one city at a time.

So far, the chain has set up shop in Madrid, Granada, Malaga, and Valencia. Each hotel has its own distinctive personality. Equipped with on-site bars and cafes and one-off interior designs, the Room Mates are about as cool and comfortable as you’re likely to find in Spain for less than €100 per night.

Popularity: 9% [?]

It’s funny what Rome can come up with. Just when good old pub nostalgia gets the better of you, low and behold you discover places like Sergeant Pepper’s Pub, where juicy burgers, cold beer, and even baked potatoes are on offer. Best of all, prices barely cross the €10 barrier.

Opened by a pair of avid Beatles fans a decade ago, Sergeant Pepper’s is also the place to go for nonstop Beatles music and a museum-like collection of memorabilia. Located in the Prati-Vatican neighborhood, at Via della Giuliana 95, it’s an unexpected and delicious addition to your next Rome itinerary.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Photo by Killerwurm.de

If Richard Linklater had filmed “Before Sunrise“—his tale of two strangers falling in love in a span of one day, with Vienna providing the setting—today, he could have found a much more enterprising First District that he did in the mid-1990s.

Spending a day on Vienna’s touristy museum-hopping path, we were enthralled with the sights and sounds of the Inner District, from Graben to the end of Kärtner Straße.

Graben’s landmark is the famous Pestsäule (plague column) built in the 17th century at the behest of Leopold I following the Great Plague of Vienna. Next to it are two fountains designed to contain fire. One of them is adorned with the sculptures of Saints Joseph and Leopold.

We found a young Asian pianist on the middle of the street performing from Beethoven’s Spring piano piece to Franz Lizst for tips. Moving on, we saw a crowd clustered in front of Stephansdom. We struggled to see a group of hunky men jumping and breakdancing to the delight of an awed audience. Before we entirely left Kärtner Straße, we realized that the warm weather might have been responsible for the plethora of performers.

You see, we spied yet more street performers. There were a couple of blind gypsies singing a capella, a group of old musicians playing Austrian folk music with their self-produced CD already on display, and young people’s orchestra who couldn’t stop the wind from blowing their notes. Finally, we spied a couple of two pantomimes pretending that they were on the run while Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” was playing.

These are, perhaps, the typical tourist traps, but we don’t wonder why they look good on screen.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Photo by triptothegluefactory

Golf isn’t generally up our alley, but we’re nothing if not suggestable.

Dublin Tourism is now offering a host of great golfing offers from clubs around Ireland. Participating clubs include Malahide Golf Club and St. Anne’s Golf Club in County Dublin.

Until June 30, 2007, Malahide Golf Club is offering greens fees of just €30 for play on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays before 9:30 a.m., and only €40 for play after 9:30 a.m.

At St. Anne’s Golf Club the fees will stand at €40 until May 31 for play before 8:30 a.m. on any weekday.m

Popularity: 7% [?]

Photo by virtualworld360

Sure, beach clubs abound on the Costa del Sol. Finding one that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and that isn’t staffed with snobby waitstaff, however, can be quite a challenge. To find anything with a bit of raw character on the southern coast, it’s usually necessary to head west to the Costa del Luz, where towns like Tarifa welcome those looking for a more laid-back seaside experience.

This is why the Sonora club outside of Marbella was a such welcome discovery. Decked out with furniture and gear brought back from the owners’ annual jaunts to Bali and India, the club provides a decidedly relaxed alternative to the cookie-cutter chringuitoes (beach bars) that line the rest of the coast. Co-owned by a Spaniard who spent much of the past decade spinning tunes in Barcelona, Sonora will launch a series of evening weekend parties beginning later this month.

Give the club a call if you’re in town (+34 619 318 098) or just drop by the club. Tell your taxi driver to take the N-340 to the exit at km 162.5, between Marbella and Estepona.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Sandeman’s New Europe, the travel company whose free walking tours have already taken Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam, and London by storm, has come to Paris. Every day, rain or shine, tours start at 11 a.m. in front of the St. Michel fountain (metro St. Michel, line 4). No sign-ups are necessary. Prospective tourers just need to show up at St. Michel at 11.

Tours last about three hours and are totally free. The only catch is that the guides work for tips only. We trust Cheapos can figure out that tipping a tour guide is much less expensive than paying outrageous fees to a traditional tour company. The tour is hilarious and hugely informative, and the guides are all Anglophones.

We view these tours as probably the most entertaining (and certainly the cheapest!) way to get to know Paris in an afternoon.

Popularity: 14% [?]