This week’s roundup of travel articles: Istanbul’s time-travel hotels, a slow eater’s guide to Hong Kong, and aristocrats opening their homes to guests.
Gone are the days when the duties of an Italian princess were only to wave with dignity to guests and play the piano.
Legal recognition of the country’s nobility was suspended in 1946, and for aristocrats like Princess Jacinta Ruspoli, maintaining their ancestral homes does not come cheap.
So Jacinta and her mother, Princess Maria Pia, a former Miss Sicily, rented the Villa Ruspoli Bonaparte, a 16th-century palace in Rome, to greet paying guests.
A night in one of the property’s four suites (each measuring more than 1,000 square feet and including several halls, ceiling-high stone fireplaces, and marble décor) starts at about $470, including butler service and breakfast.
Guests will also receive an “admission ticket” to another aristocratic mansion, Castello Ruspoli. Ruspoli Castle is a former hunting estate in a village 30 miles north of Rome that has recently been renovated into a 10-suite boutique hotel.
“We see ourselves as simply custodians of assets,” Jacinta says. “Times have changed. My family wants to share with others all the beauty we have been given.”
Everyone knows about leap years. Leap years are when February 29th is added to synchronize the calendar with the Earth’s orbit around the sun.
Since the 1970s, leap seconds have also served to correct the imbalance between astronomical time and the ultra-high precision atomic clocks that are now the global standard. But this week, the International Timekeeping Commission voted to abolish it and introduce leap times, the first of which may not occur for thousands of years.
Our concept of standardized time is a modern concept, fostered by the advent of rail travel in the 19th century and the need for agreed timetables.
The Orient Express was a pioneering international rail service launched in 1883, but its terminus in Turkey did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until more than 40 years later.
The country’s first New Year’s party was held at the legendary Perak Palace Hotel. Turkey abolished the Rumi calendar, which had been fixed in 1341, and immediately adopted the Western Gregorian calendar in 1926. It was literally a 585-year leap in calendar time, and it happened overnight.
people partying before breakfast
London’s financial district is not a place you would expect to find a rave. But on Wednesday morning before work, hundreds of people gathered for a party before eating breakfast.
There’s no need to wait until night for the fun to begin.
Hundreds of people gathered in London’s financial district for a pre-work dance-off Wednesday morning as the world’s appetite for daytime raves grows. It’s a healthy wellness trend that lets you channel just the morning air and good vibes into your boozy fun.
In London, morning ravers get the party started quickly before work, but in Hong Kong, it’s the diners who value speed. In this city, eating fast is not only practical, but also a virtue, an art, and a way of life. But CNN’s Maggie Wong was raised in Hong Kong by her father who taught her to never rush a meal. This is a guide to restaurants in the city for leisure eaters.
Rare sighting of North Korean flight attendant
CNN’s Will Ripley has visited North Korea 19 times and has flown on the national airline, Air Koryo, many times. He spoke to flight attendants to find out more about the job. The job gives her the ability to travel, a rare opportunity for North Koreans.
In “Christian Amanpour: Sex and Love Around the World,” CNN journalists explore global attitudes toward intimacy and relationships.
CNN subscribers can watch here.
They were “crawling all over our belongings.”
The plane was grounded after a bed bug infestation was reported.
Roller coaster tragedy. White House schedule. CNN City Hall.
What do you remember about that week?
“London pizza” is all the rage right now.
And some say it’s the best in the world.
