The Norwegian Family :90 Open our Skies! openourskies.com

Open our SKIES

NAI’s U.S. Flight Attendants Rally at the U.S. Department of Transportation

   This morning about fifty flight attendants from Norwegian’s U.S. bases united at the steps of the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, DC. They took action to voice their support for Norwegian Air International’s (NAI) application for a foreign air carrier permit application and urged the Department to approve it without further delay. The application has been pending for over a year.

“We´re here in the Nation´s capitol to once and for all tell our government that it´s time to approve Norwegian Air International´s application, which is in full accordance with the Open Skies Agreement. I represent 300 cabin crew members at our U.S. bases in New York and Fort Lauderdale and we want new routes that will provide more jobs for pilots, crew and local municipalities, while also providing more choices and lower fares for the U.S. traveler,” said Joseph Gabriel, Base Chief Cabin Crew at Norwegian´s Fort Lauderdale base.
Norwegian’s U.S. based crews have also written a letter to President Obama and Department of Transportation Secretary Foxx, linked here, expressing their support for the “swift approval” of the foreign air carrier permit. Members of the U.S. based crew attending the event will deliver this letter to the Department of Transportation at the morning rally.








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Santiago, Spain

   In this occasion we are going to be taking you through one of the sections of the amazing Camino de Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia, north-west of Spain.  There many routes all across Spain and also France, the longest route you can possibly do leaves from Paris, crossing France to enter Spain and crossing all the north of Spain, Navarra,  La Rioja, Burgos, Palencia, Leon, Lugo and finally La Corunha.

   This is the ultimate experience to meet new people while finding out about everything about the culture, way of life, gastronomy etc of the places you will visit. Every year thousands of people cross the globe to find themselves surrounded by nature, and enjoy of a once in a life journey.

   This time we have done only the last part of the camino due to the lack of time available for the trip. We have started from a place called Noia and then we have walked all around the coast stopping at Fisterra, galician name for "the end of the Earth". Its a magic place where you can have almost 360 degrees of sea side and not even a single sign of land. Many years ago, when it was believed that the Earth was flat, Fisterra was believed to be the last part of earth before falling down the edge at the horizon line. There we could enjoy of a fulfilling  peace accompanied by fresh breeze and the sound of the waves crashing at the bottom of the cliff. The mixture of feelings will transport you to another world, your Tibetan experience in Europe.

"Galicia, Culture, gastronomy and hospitality"

Galician people are considered all around Spain as one of the most welcoming of the country. Along the route we could find any locals and we could have the pleasure to meet them, get to know a bit more about their traditions and also we were lucky enough to get to try their typical cone cheese, home made and smoked in a stone oven, apparently a must have in every house in the village.

   Along the route you can find several hostels ruled by the locals. Normally the prices round 10 Euros per night in a shared room or if you prefer it, you can also stay in one of the hotels available in the route. In our case we took one o those hotels. The room was very nice, twin bed and fantastic views from the window, for only 25 Euros per night (2 people), good price and comfort for a good rest after many hours walking. The morning after, early in the morning it was time to get up and get ready to go. Usually the locals hostels do not provide breakfast, but you can find local bars, cheap and nice! This time the chosen one was Mariquito Bar.


   Once our belly was full and a big coffee to start, we started our final walk to the capital, Santiago de Compostela, the end of an amazing journey to end up in front of the cathedral of 800 years of age surrounded by a place where modern and ancient arquitechture meet up in a single place. Down below we will drop some pictures of our journey, we hope you like it and we recommend that, if you have thought about doing the Camino de Santiago, do not hesitate anymore as it is an experience you will not regret, that will fill you up with load of feelings that for sure you will not forget!

 

 

 

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Brighton by the sea

   Brighton, British city located on the south-east coast counts at the moment with 115.919 habitants and it is considered as one of the most sunny and full of live cities in the country. We have had the pleasure to jump over there for a couple of days to discover what it is all about and, of course, it is our pleasure to share with you all our experience, pictures and recommendations, so keep reading!


   The city of Brighton is located at approximately 20-35 min by train from London Gatwick Airport. Trains depart very often from the airport, having one every 20 min more or less and prices round the £10 for a return ticket. As you approaching the final destination you can feel how the temperature start changing and it is getting sunnier. It is the believing of many people that Brighton has a special micro-climate, and that combined with the fresh breezed coming from the sea, make the perfect combination for a relaxing and enjoyable ambient.

   The place is known for being all the time full of life on streets, pub and shops and you can also find several street markets full of colours, noise and good atmosphere. It is also recognised for being not only an important GAY friendly community but also cosmopolitan, it is very nice to see how homophobia or racism barely have place to coexist, which in our opinion, this fact makes out of the city a very modern town.

   The principal attraction falls onto their Brighton Pier, which is full of souvenir shops, restaurants, ice cream shops and also attractions like rides and many other entertainments. A curious fact is that all around the pier you can also find many deck chairs, perfect for having a beer or an fresh ice cream while you are laying  in front of the sea taking the sun, but BE CAREFUL!! it is good to relax, but watch out for the seagulls! As a sea side city, the place is under the seagulls domain, so you'd better keep them under vigilance at all times or you may end up loosing your food or something a bit more uncomfortable, with an undesired and smelly gift from them. On another hand we have the Brighton Wheel from where you can have a privileged sight of the city for the price of  £8, very recommendable.

   Just opposite to the Brighton Wheel you will find the Brighton Aquarium, a highly recommendable experience, specially for the kids, they will love it, 100% guaranteed and on the other side of the aquarium the Brighton Royal Pavilion, is a former royal residence. It was built in three stages, beginning in 1787, as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, who became the Prince Regent in 1811, beautiful building, specially at night when different colour lights decorate its walls.

   Accommodation wise, we stayed at Legends Hotel, a gay friendly hotel situated at a couple of min walking from the pier. We have to say that we really enjoyed our stay there, all staff are very friendly and for £35 per night, double room and breakfast included you can have a good time there and enjoy a beautiful sunset on the sea from the comfort of your room. At night, downstairs, you can fin a karaoke bar and sometimes you can also live night shows. Although it is a very popular meeting point, we have to say that noise was not a problem when we were trying to rest as the room are very good noise insulated. In the morning, breakfast is served in the same room where the bar is and you can also go out to the terrace in you want to enjoy your full English Breakfast in the sun and taking the morning breeze from the sea, quite relaxing experience, or if you prefer it, you can also order room service.

   The promenade along the sea its full of bars of all types, spanish, english... and they are open until quite late in the evening. For dinner you have a huge selection of restaurants all in the nearby area and also from different types of food, our recommendation,  Aguadulce Restaurant, very friendly staff and good price and quality of food! Once the belly is full you can head straight away to the local discos which are normally open until 7:00 in the morning. After a good night out there is nothing like being laying by the sea watching the sunrise and have a hot chocolate with churros.

   We certainly have had a great experience and we fully recommend it to you all, if you have the opportunity, do not hesitate to visit Brighton, you will love it!

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Travelling to...

"Fuerteventura, the land of strong winds, like its name establishes and also land of gold and white sand, blue sea and clear skies"

 

   FUERTEVENTURA, one of the 7 islands that the archipelago consist of, is located at only 100km from the Morocco's coast. With an average temperature of 25-27 Celsius degrees and almost 350 sunny days per year, this island can be literally considered paradise for those who are looking for beautiful beaches, landscapes.

   THINGS TO DO...
   We stayed at RISCO DORADO HOTEL, located in Costa del Fuste. Double room with sea sight and all inclusive, 2 people, for approximately 295 Euros. Being honest, the hotel needs a few improvements, specially regarding buffet and night life.

                                                                                       (In the picture, views from the room balcony)


    Near by though, we can find a great selection of restaurants of different specialities, like local food, Indian, Thai among others. Our personal recommendation is an Indian restaurant located just at a few min walking from the hotel, El Taj. We were totally amazed with the quality of food, serving a great and flavoured food, generous portions and above all, a great customers service! The restaurant is located at the corner of  Alcalde Juan Evora Suarez street and Maestro Juan Cabrera Cabrera street.


   OASIS PARK...
   Oasis Park, located at 48.9 Km from the hotel, it offers a great fun for all the family, including, camel ride, bath with sea lions, feeding lemurs, giraffes, elephants among other animals. Inside the zoo we can also find a restaurant providing a great menu of locals food including fresh sea food and fishes caught in the islands area.

   You can enjoy the ride on camels for only 10 euros, taking you to the top of a hill from where you can admire the mountains and also the sea landscape, a mixture of colours, going from green and brown to the bright blue of the sky and see and also you can have a good fun.

      The activity with Lemurs cost as well 10 euros and during almost 1h you can be surrounded by these amazing creatures, learn about their way of life, eating and communal behaviour. At the beginning they could appear a bit scary but at the end of the day they end up being very cute and loving animals. During the activity you can have the chance to feed them and if you get a bit lucky you can get one of those creatures jumping on your shoulder, perfect time to take amazing pictures for your personal memories.  Also inside the park there are little shops where you can buy animals food. There are packs for giraffes, elephants and zebras for only 1.50 euros, great value for great fun!

   AND OF COURSE... THE BEACH

      One of the best beaches we can find in the island is located in Jandia, at about 1h drive from Caleta del Fuste. Kilometres of gold sand, bright blue skies and calm seas. The perfect place to relax and get a great skin colour to make all your friends jealous. For great relax, choose Costa Calma, you wont regret it, if you go, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Travelling

VISITING COPENHAGEN...

     Copenhagen, capital od Denmark has a special charm, great food and very welcoming people. We have started our journey flying from London Gatwick airport with Norwegian Air (we recommend it, not only because of how easy it was for us to book the tickets but also because of the great customer service, catering and of course, FREE WIFI ON BOARD). On this occasion we have stayed at the Quality Dan Hotel, located at only 10 min from the airport, it offers great accommodation at a reasonable price, big rooms and good quality breakfast, specially the famous Full English Breakfast. It is surrounded by locals shops and pubs very convenient for stocking up for your city trips and, the most important thing, very good price, surprising aspect for a Scandinavian country. At only 5 min walking from the hotel we can find the metro stop, and for only £3,6 you can get one way trip to the city centre!


   WHAT TO DO...

    Once you get to the city centre there are plenty of places to go like local restaurants beside the canal where you can enjoy the great local gastronomy under the influence of the french food. But one thing you really have to try is the ice cream. It may sound strange, but they have one of the amazing ice creams we have tried. In every shop, they make their own ice cream cone using the same ingredients than a waffle and you can even see how they make it.

"With more than 20 different flavours, you can remember your childhood"







    BOAT TRIP AROUND THE CITY...
  
 

Not so far from the ice cream shops, you can buy an amazing boat trip around the city for only £6 or £8 if you want to accompany your trip with a tasty coffee. During the trip you will discover all the secrets of the city and also curiosities, like the place where Eurovision was held!


     Almost at the end of the journey, you will have the pleasure of seeing, from a privileged point of view, the famous LITTLE MERMAID, one of the city symbols.


    With no doubts we can say that, Copenhagen is a city with a special charm that will make you want to go back soon. We hope you like the pictures we would like to share with you all!

                                                    (Where Eurovision was held)