Some of the stories that grabbed our attention this week:

Brussels and Bruges

Back from his trip to Belgrade for the Eurovision song contest, Alex of Spendthrift Shoestring jaunted off to Brussels on the Eurostar to see how the city has changed since his last visit in 2002. We enjoyed his musings on the city’s neighborhood and vibe, having just visited Brussels in March.

And yes, Alex, we also have a fondness for the Use-It fold-out maps to Brussels (and five other Belgian cities). These map-guides are, according to their creators, “no-nonsense, non commercial, made by locals,” and thus offer some candid (and amusing!) advice. When we visited Bruges, we “Used-It” nightly to find the city’s cool restaurants, bars, and cafes. You can print your own guide off from their website.

European Ferries

BudgetTravel.com reminded us yesterday to consider taking ferries between European cities. Ferries offer a fun and cheap transportation option around much of sea-lined Europe, including the Mediterranean, destinations from London, and around the Baltic. Overnight boats can also provide a savings, shaving off one night’s hotel bill. An overnighter from London to Amsterdam, for example, can be had for €59, including your own private bedroom and shower.

See also: our article on budget cruises in the Baltic.

Free concerts at Notre Dame

Olivia, in “High Culture on a Low Budget,” emerged from her studies this week to note that Notre Dame’s 7,800-pipe organ is revved up most Sunday afternoons (around 4 PM), for free concerts. It is, according to Olivia, “the opportunity to hear some ultimate organ jams” for nothing. We be jammin.’

Ryanair’s extra baggage

Thank the skies for Hilary at “Less than a Shoestring” for straightening out those pesky Ryanair fees this week… again. After all, no week is complete without a Ryanair pricing shift! The airline’s baggage fee structure is enough to scare you away from bags altogether (which could be their intention, but isn’t very practical when you, you know, travel!).

Highlights include: Priority boarding is no longer gratis for those who take advantage of online check-in. Checking one bag will cost you €10 (and you still have to pay the €5 check-in fee as well), and then an additional €20 per bag thereafter (max three). Oh well, at least the ticket was “free.”

Have a great weekend, Cheapos!

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Sebastien Tellier is representing France in Eurovision this year.

It’s sunny again today! Here are some of the things we’ve taken a shine to this week:

On Wednesday, Amsterdam became the World Book Capital for one whole year! Thanks to Trippist for reading up on this, and getting us excited about the city-wide book fair scheduled for May 18th!

Meanwhile in Paris, Heather Stimmler-Hall recounts in her “Secrets of Paris” blog her tale of wine dating on the 56th floor of the Tour Montparnasse. What is “wine dating,” you ask? It involves tasting three types of wine, mingling with available Frenchmen, cold cuts, and a towering view. Sign us up.

And then there’s the flight news! Less Than a Shoestring got us all knotted up about UK and Irish airports charging surprise, unavoidable airport taxes. And from a vending machine, no less!

Meanwhile, BudgetTravel alerts us to Cheapo-friendly fares in May from NYC to Rome, Naples, and other Italian cities on Eurofly. Fares are from $499 and don’t include $75 in taxes.

And finally, thanks to Alex of Spendthrift Shoestring for swinging by the office to play us some official entries in the Eurovision 2008 contest. We’re especially excited about Sebastien Tellier (pictured above on a boat), Jelena Tomašević, and, of course, No Angels.

What a way to kick off the weekend!

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Photo by iam5

Congratulations to Serbia’s Marija Serifovic, who won the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday with “Molitva” (”Prayer”)—a grand candle-lighter of a ballad. Serifovic received a hero’s welcome on her return to Serbia.

We’re pleased for Serifovic and we’re pleased for Serbia, a country that can use some old-fashioned good news.

Much has been made of the fact that nine of the top ten televote-getters in this year’s Eurovision final represented countries from behind the former Iron Curtain. We say: stop whining, Westerners, and start sending higher quality acts to Eurovision. In the meantime—let’s see if we get this right—čestitam, Serbia!

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Photo by hansspeekenbrink

Eurovision, the brilliantly silly Europe-wide music competition that quickens our collective pulse, is less than three weeks away. Since we regard Eurovision to be possibly the most culturally significant event of the entire year, we are naturally more than a touch excited.

We’ve been busy reviewing the entries and coming up with our own favorites. Among these:

1. “On Top of the World” by Dutch repeat entrant Edsilia Rombley (see above.)

2. “Work Your Magic” by Belarussian hopeful Dmitry Koldun.

3. “My Story” by Georgia’s first-ever representative, Sopho Khalvashi.

4. “Comme Ci, Comme Ça” by Cypriot act Evridiki.

5. “Song #1″ by Russian girl group Serebro.

6. “Flying the Flag” by UK camp masters Scooch.

7. “Ven a Bailar Conmigo” by Norway’s Guri Schanke.

Unfortunately, we won’t be able to attend Eurovision this year. As consolation, we’ve been reading the utterly entertaining Schlagerblog, which is an extended ode both to Eurovision and the largely (but not exclusively) Swedish brand of ultrapop known as Schlager. For a couple of British dudes, the boys behind Schlagerblog know an awful lot about Scandinavian pop. Our flag flies high for them.

Eurovision will be held on May 10 and 12 in Helsinki.

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Photo of BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing”

We. Are. So. Excited. BBC’s recent announcement that they will be hosting a ballroom dance competition “in the spirit of the Eurovision song contest” got our booties shaking with anticipation. Here at EuroCheapo global HQ, we’re huge fans of Eurovision and staffer Alex Robertson Textor has written previous posts covering the event and—dare we say—is a true Eurovision expert. (In fact, he has added several “Eurovision” playlists to the office iPod.)

The Eurovision dance competition will showcase couples from 13 countries each performing two dances, though the second dance must have a “national flavor.” Channelling Simon Cowell, viewers will decide the winner and BBC One controller Peter Fincham promises “an evening full of stars and sequins, and glitz and glamour.” Bring. It. On.

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Photo by Lena Mollergren

Since 1991, the six-piece Swedish glam rock band The Ark have been sailing on a spiritual voyage for the spark of frivolous individuality in the lost and the fallen. We’re not just being wordy. This is more or less their mission. Their 2002 album “In Lust We Trust” was a testament to the ethic of free expression, damn the suppression.

A year ago, no one would have imagined that The Ark could possibly have won Melodifestivalen last month. For the uninitiated, Melodifestivalen is the Swedish national qualifying competition for Eurovision. It’s widely watched—the 2006 final was viewed by an astounding 47% of the population—and this year, the Ark were the clear favorites. They’ll head to Helsinki in May to represent Sweden in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

That will teach them for having the best song. Their entry, “The Worrying Kind,” is a flamboyant exercise of happy pop. When The Ark find land at Helsinki on 12 May 2007, the lost and the fallen of Sweden and beyond will be watching.

–by Adrian Sluzky

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“Why don’t all Athenians walk around talking about Hydra all the time? It’s so beautiful!”

This from an American friend who recently spent a weekend on the Sardonic Gulf island. Yes, in February. Said sage went on about low prices and the absence of tourists.

If your heart is not set on swimming in the Mediterreanean and your idea of a perfect holiday is not about baking on a beach, then any time of the year is great for a trip to Greece. Weather is temperate throughout the year, and the absence of tourist hoards can more than compensate for chilly seas.

It’s not as though the tourist hoards haven’t yet cottoned onto the fact that Greece is a great all-around destination. As this AP article points out, tourism in Greece jumped 10% in 2006. It appears that that the Greek Ministry of Tourism’s “Live Your Myth” campaign—along with the extremely expensive public relations campaign also known as the 2004 Olympics—have really paid off.

The question remains, however: What effect did Greece’s hosting of the 2006 Eurovision contest have on these numbers?

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