Man eats 15kg of caterpillars at customs... and other news
Butterfly effect at Basel and other strange stories from the world of travel this week.
Man eats 15kg of caterpillars at customs
The only time you might want to witness someone tucking in to fistfuls of caterpillars is if it’s a washed-up soap star on a TV show. But no, we’re not talking I’m a Celebrity – this happened at EuroAirport outside Basel, Switzerland. A 47 year-old man was attempting to take 15kg of the dried delicacy back from Togo when customs stopped him. However, rather than hand them over, he began to munch his way through as many crunchy critters as he could. The man claimed he was addicted to caterpillars.
Dopey cop in passport mix-up
A police officer in Stoke-on-Trent is sitting some intense geography lessons after he wrongly arrested four suspects he thought were involved in a fake passport scam. The officer confused the names on the passports with the city the men were returning from, Abu Dhabi. The budding Poirot believed these men had all entered the UK on illegal documents with the same name. It took a second colleague to point out that Abu Dhabi was not a false alias created by criminal masterminds, but the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The men were eventually released, and the PC has been given an atlas.
Art attack turns tourist attraction
The sleepy Spanish town of Borja became the focus of international attention after Cecilia Jimenez, 80, decided to give Christ a makeover. The pensioner, and amateur artist, took to the 120 year-old fresco in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church in southern Spain in order to repair it. Believing she had the blessing of the parish priest, Cecilia ended up defacing it beyond recognition. Although local councillors initially criticised her work, it has turned the town in to a tourist spot. Visitors are flocking to see the hack-job and her handiwork has inspired many ‘restoration’ mock-ups shared online. A Twitter account has even been set up in honour of the botched work.
US woman flies to Europe with expired passport
Last month a woman managed to travel all the way from San Francisco to Italy, including a change in Germany, with an expired passport! Having reached her destination and realised her error, the woman, from Nevada City, California, presented herself at the US Consulate, where officials were obviously stunned when she explained the situation.
TripAdvisor reveals Brits are the happiest holidaymakers
According to Trip Advisor, British users of the site, post more positive reviews than nearly any other nationality, while on average Malaysians give the worst reviews. Britons are only beaten by the Canadians in giving more detailed explanations about why their hotel deserved five-star rating, Brazilians coming last after averaging at only 88 words.
