Hamburg, Germany has a popular tourist attraction called the Miniatur Wondurland. It offers visitors the largest model train exhibit in the world, a miniature carnival, several countries in miniature and, now, the Knuffingen Airport, which is being billed as the world’s largest miniature airport.
It cost about $5 million to create and has more than 100 aircraft (many move around – and take off), 15,000 figurines, 500 cars, and 10,000 trees. It’s adorable and incredible.
Here’s a video:
Mother’s Day is Sunday May 8th and volunteers at Jacksonville International Airport will once again be on duty handing out about 1000 red, white and pink carnations to moms passing through the terminal.
This flower thing has become a tradition at JAX airport. Back in 2009, volunteers handed out carnations on Valentine’s Day and again on Mother’s Day and the response was so positive that they decided to keep going.
(From the George Eastman House collection, via Flickr Commons)
Jacksonville International Airport offers travelers some other nice perks year-round. There’s an art gallery that hosts a variety of temporary exhibitions and permanent art that includes the work of Gregor Tuck, who cataloged the wide variety of gendered pictograms and glazed them onto the tiles surrounding the restroom entryways on Concourse C.
And if your mother was here, you’d know what she’d say… “Go before you get on the plane…”
If you’re traveling to or through San Diego International Airport on Thursday, May 5, 2011 from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., head over to the Terminal 2 West baggage claim area to catch the Cinco de Mayo performance by Ballet Folklórico de Chula Vista.
“Dressed in authentic and colorful costumes of varying regions, the young dance troupe will present traditional folk dances of Mexico. This performance serves to commemorate the historic Battle of Puebla, which took place on May 5, 1862, at Puebla, Mexico.”
The Kentucky Derby takes place in Louisville, Kentucky on May 7 and the Louisville International Airport is ready.
According to the airport’s Trish Burke, from Wednesday May 4th through Friday May 6th (9 a.m. to midnight) arriving passengers will be greeted with live music and by volunteers wearing springtime dresses and Derby hats and offering the traditional Kentucky treat: bourbon balls.
The airport terminal will be decorated with roses and jockey silks and many food and beverage outlets will be offering special Derby dishes and drinks.
When Derby fans head home on Sunday, May 8, the Louisville International Airport will send folks off with music, complimentary bottles of water and special exhibits of Kentucky-made crafts.
And, here’s a nice touch.
During Derby Week, many people will be buying souvenir bottles of Kentucky bourbon and some of those people will forget that you can’t take those bottles through the security checkpoint.
To help make sure that a lot of those bottles don’t have to be left behind, the Louisville International Airport will have a “Liquor is Liquid” campaign in place, with volunteer Airport Ambassadors at the ready to wrap glass liquor bottles in packing material so that the bottles can be put into checked baggage.
Not invited to the Royal Wedding?
Don’t worry –Heathrow Airport is rolling out the red carpet for everyone and there are a jolly lot of attractions, museums and special sights that are very inexpensive and many where admission doesn’t cost a penny.
A must-see for most every London visitor, the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square has more than 2,300 Western European paintings from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, including work by Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Georges Seurat and many others. Admission is free, although there is a charge for some special exhibits.
The Museum of London delivers a punch with galleries exploring the archeological history of London, Roman London, Medieval London and the ever-popular display of fire-fighting equipment, paintings, films and objects relating to the September 1666 fire, the Great Fire, that is London’s most famous disaster. Admission is free.
Napoleon Bonaparte's Toothbrush
Courtesy: Wellcome Library, London
Sir Henry Wellcome, of the successful pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome & Co, was a world-class philanthropist and a voracious collector who collected more than million items relating to health and medicine. The Wellcome Collection, opened in 2007, has intriguing changing exhibitions, unusual artwork inspired by modern-day health and medicine, and more than 1500 objects from Wellcome’s collection, including a shrunken head, a guillotine blade, a brass corset, Florence Nightingale’s moccasins, a lock of hair said to be from the head of King George III, and Napoleon Bonaparte’s toothbrush. Admission is free.
It’s possible to spend an entire week at the British Museum, which houses more than 7 million items from cultures around the world. So pick a few exhibits and rooms you want to see before you walk through the door. The Egyptian mummies are among the most popular exhibits, so put them on your list, but consider visiting some of the smaller and less-visited rooms, such as the Clocks and Watches gallery, which holds hidden treasures such as this automated brass clock in the shape of a galleon. Admission free; there is a charge for some special exhibits.
Duck decoys, a hunting tool designed to lure wild birds into the open, are the subject of the latest exhibition at San Francisco International Airport.
According to the SFO Museum:
From coast-to-coast, various regions of North America developed distinctive types of decoys. Bodies of water, hunting methods, and predominant species differed in each area. Materials, styles of carving, and painting techniques also varied locally. Salty, rough waters typically required sturdy, solid-bodied decoys that required frequent repainting. Freshwater decoys, on the other hand, allowed for hollow bodies and detailed paint patterns, which lasted through many seasons. Master craftsmen developed local styles that were emulated by and passed onto generations of carvers. Artisans also brought their own individual creativity to the birds they crafted, making each one unique.
Today, decoys are not only functional, many carved decoys are prized pieces of folk art.
More than 70 examples of work by the best decoy craftsmen are on display in The Allure of the Decoy, located pre-security in the International Terminal Main Hall at San Francisco International Airport from April 29 through November 6, 2011.
Can’t make it to San Francisco International Airport before then? The SFO Museum has put a slide show featuring 24 of the decoys online.
(Photos courtesy SFO Museum)
Traveling on a fuel-gobbling airplane on Earth Day?
Don’t worry – you can still be green on the ground at many airports.
Boston Logan International Airport is reminding travelers that is has added GobiCab, a fuel-saving, taxi cab ride-sharing app (for iPhones) to the eco-friendly transportation options listed on its website.
BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport is celebrating by christening eight new electric car charging stations.
Wichita Mid-Continent and several other airports will be holding earth day fairs at their terminals
San Francisco International Airport is having a little Twitter contest.
If you tweet to @flySFO between 8 a.m. PDT and 8 p.m. PDT with ideas on how to reduce your environmental foot print when traveling, you may win one of the recycled SFO banner luggage tags they’re giving away.
And Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport kicks off its First Annual Garden Show on Friday, with displays from four area organizations: Openlands, Trees That Feed Foundation, The Conservation Foundation and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Look for the green beyond the security checkpoints in Terminal 3, between concourses H/K and L through May 13.
(Flower photos courtesy Robin Carlson, Chicago Botanic Garden)
Yes, you should eat well when you’re on the road, but if you’re you’re stuck at the airport, you deserve a little something sweet.
And now finding that sugary treat just got a lot easier at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
A candy-filled store called Sugar Pop recently opened in mall area of Terminal 1-Lindbergh, and the offerings include retro candy such as Sugar Babies, Pop Rocks, Runts and Lemonheads (remember those?) as well as specialty items such as these giant rainbow lollipops.
It’s Souvenir Sunday; the day we take a look at some of the fun, inexpensive and local souvenirs for sale at airports.
This week’s treats come from Zurich Airport, where there are plenty of things made of chocolate.
And plenty of other souvenirs that a similarly Swiss, but less likely to be nibbled on during the long flight home.
Souvenir Sunday is a regular feature here on StuckatTheAirport.com. So if you find a great airport souvenir that’s inexpensive (around $10), “of” the city or region and, ideally, a bit offbeat, please snap a photo and send it along. If your photo is featured on Souvenir Sunday I’ll send you a special aviation-related souvenir.
When I walked into this bright playroom at Zurich Airport, it was hard to tell who was happier:
Two-year old Mattia, who was happily playing with the toys and stuffed animals in the room, or his dad, Stefano Schiavon, who was sitting quietly watching his son play.
“We flew in from Washington and have a long layover before our flight to Venice,” said Shiavon, “When I found the airport had this play area, I almost cried.”
Who could blame him?
Lots of airports have small play areas for children. In the United States, these spaces range from a corner with an activity table or two to larger spaces, such as O’Hare’s Kids on the Fly center, with aviation-themed climbing structures.
Zurich Airport not only has special play areas for children, the free facilities have lockers, lots of toys and dolls, books, computer games, painting supplies and building sets.
A separate room is a nursery, with diaper-changing tables, baby care products, cribs and rooms for breastfeeding. There’s also a kitchenette with a hotplate, microwave oven and cutlery so parents can fix a snack for their kids.
The staff on duty is multilingual and there to make sure to make sure everyone is playing safely and to help out with flight information and assist with minor problems.
“Parents must stay with their children. It’s not a daycare,” my airport guide told me, “People can’t leave their kids here and go off shopping or on a 10-day trip.”
Although you can see how they may be tempted….
Zurich Airport has two Family Service areas:
In the Transit A area, between the entrance to gates 60-69. Hours: daily, 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m;
and on Pier E, level 3, above gate E45. Hours: 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
