When you're traveling, there are a million reasons to stay in a hotel—the most obvious being a guaranteed place to lay that pretty little head of yours. But these days, when Airbnb and other alternative stays offer at the very least that same thing, it's important to take into account the wonderful amenities hotels have to offer on top of the bare necessities. Consider the hotel breakfast, for example. Writing generally, if you're staying in one of the best hotels in the world as our editors often do, you can count on some sort of solid-if-not-outright-sumptuous spread to see you out the door ahead of a day spent doing whatever it is you've traveled to do. While every meal is a privilege, we have some opinions about which breakfasts went above and beyond.
Sicily and mainland Italy could be linked by the world’s longest suspension bridge in 2030
23.10.2024 - 12:09 / euronews.com / Benito Mussolini / Giorgia Meloni / Rebecca Ann Hughes
Italy has long toyed with the idea of building a bridge between the island of Sicily with the mainland.
The hugely ambitious engineering project was in preliminary stages for decades before being shelved in 2013.
In 2022, Italy’s newly elected right-wing government announced it wanted to revive the plans for what will be the world's longest suspension bridge.
Prime minister Giorgia Meloni said she would ask the EU to help fund the multi-billion euro proposal.
This week, the bridge's construction company Società Stretto di Messina and the Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency of the European Commission (CINEA9 signed a new funding proposal.
The Grant Agreement will see the EU cover 50 per cent of the executive design costs of the rail infrastructure amounting to around €25 million.
Currently, you can go by plane, boat or a train that is carried by a ferry from mainland Italy to the island of Sicily.
However, as far back as Roman times, the idea of a bridge to connect the two land masses was debated.
In fact, according to some historians, the ancient Romans did actually build one made of barrels and boats.
Dictator Benito Mussolini revived the dream of linking Sicily with the mainland, but it wasn’t until the government of Silvio Berlusconi in the early 2000s that the scheme gained funding from Brussels.
In 2009, a contract for the construction was awarded to the Messina Strait Company.
The proposed rail and road connection was to link the Sicilian city of Messina with the region of Calabria on the mainland.
But plans were scrapped in 2013 after former premier Mario Monti closed the construction company in a series of austerity cuts.
The plans for a suspension bridge between Sicily and the mainland have not been unanimously supported.
Advocates claim the connection will help boost the island’s stagnating economy and lessen the gap between the country’s wealthy north and poorer south.
Supporters also say that it will allow cargo ships arriving down the Suez Canal to transfer their goods onto trains in Sicily.
This would then enable them to be transported quickly up to the north of the country, saving money on lengthy sea voyages.
The rail and road connection would also ease the pressure on the overcrowded ferry services that shuttle cars, lorries and trains over the Strait of Messina.
But critics maintain that the gigantic bridge would be a waste of public funds and a risky undertaking in an active seismic zone.
Environmentalists also warn of the risk to local ecosystems and the aesthetic damage to the landscape.
In her first budget as PM in 2022, Meloni reinstated the company that would oversee the construction of the Strait of Messina suspension bridge.
"This is the government and legislature that have
Around the world by luxury train: This 59-day adventure passes through 12 countries
Have you ever wanted to travel around the world by train, but in ultimate luxury rather than in cramped couchettes?
France ramps up Schengen border checks. How will travellers be affected?
France has announced it will extend internal border controls until April next year.
I quit my stable 6-figure job to travel the world. It was lonely, and I worried I'd made a mistake, but I learned to forge my own path.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nabila Ismail , a 30-year-old from New York who quit her corporate job to travel. It's been edited for length and clarity.
I knew nothing about boats before buying one on a whim. I've now spent 4 years living on it while traveling the world.
In 2020, I was lying in bed in Torquay, England, trying to figure out what to do with my life.
Dollywood's Sister Park — Home to the World's Tallest Spinning Rollercoaster — Is Getting a $500M Expansion
Big things are coming to award-winning theme park Silver Dollar City.
My first-year journey into the world of cards and points: From baby steps to maximizing rewards
Before I joined TPG in early 2022, my knowledge of credit cards and the world of points and miles was limited, to say the least. Authorized users ... what are those? Free night awards? Don't know. Chase's 5/24 rule — never heard of it.
New credits and benefits: Why changes to the Amex Gold Card made me love it even more
There's a lot to love about travel credit cards, including lucrative welcome offers, enhanced earning rates and value-added perks. But when you combine all these features in a single card, it's a package that's hard to beat.
For some wealthy travelers, fall is the new summer
Planning where to go for your next summer Euro trip?
When I moved abroad, my mother was fearful and jealous. It strained our relationship, but I had to chase my dreams.
At 20, my parents were not thrilled about me studying abroad. They encouraged personal growth but were aware of the potential consequences of traveling alone. I believed that growth required stepping out of my comfort zone, and my naive ambition couldn't be deterred.
24 Best Airbnb Experiences to Book Around the World
There’s so much that goes into traveling (especially the journey itself), you want to enjoy and make the most of the time you have while you're there. Sorting out the trip itinerary can be stressful when you don’t know the destination well or your group has a lot of ideas to narrow down.
Alexander Smalls on Bringing the Best of Africa’s Cuisines Into Homes Around the World
“As far back as I can remember, I knew I was different,” says Alexander Smalls. Growing up in a Gullah Geechee household in Spartanburg, North Carolina, the chef says he recognized the implication of those differences—in appearance, history, and cuisine. “I discovered early that my friends did not eat any of the foods that I ate. My foods were more akin to West Africa, you know, and very much pronounced in that way,” he says. It wan't until he moved to New York as an adult, that he assimilated the value of that diasporic connective tissue. “Food was a big part of cultural expression and identity of the African diaspora,” he says.