Wacky world - weekly offbeat travel and transport roundup

(AFP PHOTO / PATRICK PLEUL)

A roundup of recent offbeat travel stories.

The Ryanair School of Travel

Ryanair hit back this week following a much-publicized showdown between a group of Belgian students and its cabin crew which occurred February 5. A statement from the airline called for Belgian authorities to add "packing light" to the national curriculum following the group's behavior, which resulted in 100 students being thrown off the aircraft.
Watch Ryanair's recommended packing tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klNLqDpdYLI

Gearing up for Eurovision

Everybody's favorite song contest Eurovision returns in May and already Germany is getting prepared - cycling fan and inventor Didi Senft has even created a special novelty bike for the occasion - see it here: http://www.moz.de/artikel-ansicht/dg/0/1/283121/

Bogged down

Some Loews Hotels have installed new high-tech toilets capable of flushing ten golf balls to combat the problem of clogged-up bathrooms. Loews said that often guests were too embarrassed to report it, so the chain is pre-empting the problem with its new high-tech facilities.
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/18/hotel-introduces-super-strong-toilets-able-to-flush-golf-balls/

Worthless flight coupons

One Continental sales agent is looking at a long time behind bars after making over a million dollars by fraudulently selling phony vouchers compensating for cancelations and other travel nightmares, which were in reality worthless pieces of paper.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/travel/airline+agent+made+million+cheating+flyers/4293931/story.html

Only in New York

A new site dedicated to reclaiming the title of America's Rudest City for New York launched this week, filled with stories that would make most travelers cringe. One resident was so outraged by Travel + Leisure's decision to award Los Angeles the dubious honor of being America's rudest city that they started to collate incidents to prove the point - like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZUW8yIvRkQ
See the blog here http://rudenyc.tumblr.com/

Cows4Kate

Discount airline Kulala.com has its wedding gift to Prince William and Kate Middleton all sorted - it's planning to deliver a herd of cows. The South African tradition of Lobola requires the groom to make a payment to the bride's family in cattle, although to bring things right up to date, Kulula is running a "Cows4Kate" Facebook competition to decide how large the herd should be.
Join in, if you must: http://www.facebook.com/iflykulula