Travel Desk: get in line to visit New York's new landmark

Top of the World

Tickets are now on sale for the viewing platform of New York’s One World Trade Center, the tallest skyscraper in the western world. Situated on the northwestern corner of the 16-hectare site in downtown Manhattan that occupied the towers destroyed in the 9/11 attack, One World Observatory is on the 102nd floor of the 104-storey building. It opens to the public on May 29th, with tickets priced at $32 (¤30) for an adult and $26 for a child.

While there has been some controversy around the building, mostly over its dual role as a 9/11 memorial and powerful commercial entity, there’s no debate over the views: the platform is perched at 380m (the same height as the Empire State Building) with stunning panoramic views of the whole city.

[ oneworldobservatory.com ]

Bulgaria in Bloom

More than 30,000 rose lovers from all over the world will converge on the Bulgarian town of Kazanluk in early June for the 112th Rose Festival. A dozen international folk ensembles kick off the festival on June 5th, while 3,000 performers (including male mummers known as koukeri) will take part in the carnival parade on June 7th. The town is in the heart of Rose Valley, which has been cultivating damask roses since the 15th century and is one of the world’s most important producers of rose oil. Roses are typically picked before the morning dew: attendees can participate in a rose-picking ceremony on June 6th in Rozovo village. Ryanair flies to Bucharest from ¤76.99 each way; Kazanluk is a four-hour drive. See

[ ryanair.com ]

and

[ rosevalleybg.com ]

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Cuddle up in Boeing

Boeing has just filed a patent for what might prove to be the answer to the perennial problem of how to sleep comfortably on a plane – without shelling out for a first-class ticket. The “cuddle chair” is a backpack that folds out into attached head and chest cushions. You attach it to the back of your seat and lean forward against it, your head resting on the cushion which has a convenient hole in it (like a massage table) that allows you to breathe.

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