Travel

In a sea of jewels, one particular stone has been stealing the show.
A rare 10-carat Mediterranean blue diamond from South Africa was on display in an exhibit featuring $100 million worth of the world’s rarest diamonds.
The Sotheby’s exhibit showcased eight diamonds totaling a weight of over 700 carats in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), as The Associated Press (AP) reported.
BEACH WALK BY MAN, WOMAN YIELDS ANCIENT WEAPON DISCOVERY BEARING 'SECRETS' FROM THE PAST
Sotheby’s is expecting to auction off the massive blue stone for around $20 million in May.
Also on display were red, yellow, pink and colorless diamonds.
Quig Bruning, Sotheby’s head of jewels in North America, Europe and the Middle East, said the exhibit’s location was intentional, as the nation is known for its high interest in diamonds.
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The UAE took the title as the world’s largest trade hub for rough diamonds in 2021, accordi..

Many travelers who visit Rome, Italy, find themselves at one of the most iconic architectural marvels in the world: the Colosseum.
And now tourists visiting the famed Colosseum may have an easier time of it, as Italian authorities have concluded a crackdown on ticketing policies that made it more difficult for visitors to access the landmark.
The Italian Competition Authority found that agencies were exploiting tourists by using practices that made it harder for regular visitors to buy basic online tickets, according to The Associated Press (AP).
ITALY BANS AIRBNB SELF CHECK-INS AS ROME BRACES FOR INFLUX OF TRAVELERS FUELED BY HOLY YEAR
The Colosseum was Italy’s most-visited landmark, attracting over 12 million travelers in 2023 alone, according to AP.
“The investigation was launched in July 2023, after the Authority gathered information indicating that the online purchase of tickets to access the Colosseum Archaeological Park was essentially impossible,” the organization said ..

One traveler is drawing attention from many others to a particular airport policy.
Posted in the “r/unitedairlines” forum on Reddit, the post was entitled, “What do you think of SFO's ‘Quiet Airport policy’? Should other airports take note?”
The user then shared a photo of a monitor screen at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) that says, “This is a quiet airport,” along with a speaker crossed out.
FLIGHT PASSENGER SAYS MAN DELIBERATELY SQUATTED IN WINDOW SEAT, IGNITES SOCIAL MEDIA DEBATE
“Flight announcements are made only [at] the boarding gates. Please refer to displays or your airline's app for real-time status,” the screen says.
Reddit users took to the comments section to debate whether or they supported this travel change.
“I LOVE IT! There are so many ways to get notified (email, text, airline app push notifications) that you don’t need loud announcements across the airport,” said one user.
Another person commented, “The only announcements neede..

Some commuters in a cosmopolitan European city may be shocked to learn they've been walking over ancient skeletons for many years.
Officials in Brussels, Belgium, announced on April 9 that public works projects have led to the discovery of at least 30 skeletons in the heart of the city – and there may be more still to come.
The archaeological excavation began when workers recently stumbled across the skeletons while working on tram tracks.
ANCIENT SETTLEMENT REVEALS REMAINS OF 1,800-YEAR-OLD DOG, BAFFLING EXPERTS: ‘PRESERVED QUITE WELL’
Pictures show sharply dressed locals walking about the charming European city as excavators dig deep into a pit full of skeletons.
Ans Persoons, secretary of state for Brussels, shared details about the excavation in an April 9 Facebook post written in both Dutch and French.
Persoons identified the mass grave as the remnants of the old Saint-Jean Hospital, established in 1195.
“Thanks to preventive excavations, 30 skeletons have..

The sighting of an extremely rare animal wasn't a hard nut to crack.
A resident of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, recently spotted an albino squirrel hanging out in a tree near the Prairie Green Golf Course.
Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation officials announced the sighting in a Facebook post.
EXTREMELY RARE 'ALBINO' DEER SPOTTED BY FAMILY DRIVING HOME ON BACK ROADS
They also shared a video of the woodland creature.
“Spotted in a tree just off hole 1, this little guy was taking in the incredible views of our beautifully mowed grass and watching you go to battle with the sand trap,” according to the post.
Officials joked, “We're pretty sure he's only judging your swing, but in a cute, albino squirrel kind of way.”
“Word on the street is that these little guys are SUPER rare, about 1 in 100,000,” the post also mentioned.
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Albino squirrels have pink or blue eyes and no dark pigments anywhere on their bodies, according ..

An airline traveler said he or she recently encountered a seat swapper on a flight — and claimed a family “guilted” the person into switching seats.
In the forum “r/delta” on Reddit, the post was titled, “Yep. Happened to me,” as the person was heading out on a ski trip.
“Checked in early, got my seat by the window. And I really like seeing snow out from the window plane,” the user wrote.
FLIGHT PASSENGER SAYS MAN DELIBERATELY SQUATTED IN WINDOW SEAT, IGNITES SOCIAL MEDIA DEBATE
“And [at] the last minute, I was pulled aside by the attendant.”
The person said the flight attendant “asked me if I can change my seat with a family traveling with an infant — and they asked [for] my window seat. Flight attendant told me they have paid for my seat, to which I replied I paid for mine, too.”
The flyer initially refused, but then “walked past a family with a baby only a few months old. And I just thought, what if that family had a similar situation? Maybe the parents are obnoxious but the ..

A retail store in Scottsboro, Alabama, is giving new life to lost luggage by reselling items left behind by travelers.
Unclaimed Baggage has released “The Found Report,” detailing unique and valuable items left behind while also sharing trends the group has noticed.
Sonni Hood, senior manager of PR and communications, told Fox News Digital the report “provides a platform for us to share culture shifts we are seeing year after year.”
RARE 10-CARAT BLUE DIAMOND AMONG $100M WORTH OF GEMS GOING UP FOR AUCTION
Among the list of odd items left behind by flyers: a freeze-dried chicken foot, a toilet seat, a full sheet of uncut $2 bills, a preserved rattlesnake in a jar of whiskey, and silicone butt pads.
The retailer takes possession of unclaimed bags only after an “extensive” 90-day search for the owners — then prepares the left-behind items for sale, the group says.
Some historic items have also found their way to the store in Alabama.
A movie script from the 1985 film “The Goonies,..

A pair of pedestrians recently stumbled across an ancient deadly weapon in a peaceful and most unlikely location: a beach in Poland.
The artifact, a 2,500-year-old dagger, was found on March 30.
Poland's Museum of the History of the Kamieńska Land announced the discovery in a Facebook post later that day.
ANCIENT SETTLEMENT REVEALS REMAINS OF 1,800-YEAR-OLD DOG, BAFFLING EXPERTS: ‘PRESERVED QUITE WELL’
The weapon was found in clay gravel on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The museum credited Jacek Ukowski and Katarzyna Herdzik for the discovery along with recent storms that helped bring the weapon to light.
“Not often does nature reveal to us the secrets of the distant past,” said the organization’s post, which was translated from Polish to English.
“And yet, this is exactly what happened over the Baltic Sea.”
Pictures posted by the museum reveal the intricate details of the weapon, which include crescent moons and crosses that resemble stars.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER LO..

President Donald Trump is expected to plant a young sapling from a historic White House Southern Magnolia tree on Tuesday.
The sapling is 12 years old and was grown at the offsite National Park Service Greenhouse in preparation for the removal of its parent tree, the “Jackson Magnolia.”
On Monday, the rain did not stop the chopping down of the tree, considered one of the oldest on the White House complex.
FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP OPENS WHITE HOUSE GARDENS TO ALL AMERICANS
The Jackson Magnolia sat on the South Lawn Grounds along the west side of the South Portico.
Peter Hart Consultants LLC did an assessment of the tree, concluding in its report that the tree has “surpassed the time of serving as an aesthetic and historic landmark due to the potential harm it may cause because of the risk of structural failure.” Hart is a board-certified master arborist.
The report also recommended the tree’s removal.
“To eliminate the risk of personal injury and/or property damage, this tree should b..

Archaeologists recently made a colossal discovery: an ancient Roman mass grave, dating back to the first century A.D., underneath a soccer field in Vienna.
The necropolis was found by construction crews working in the Vienna neighborhood of Simmering last October. The discovery was unknown to the world until the Vienna Museum announced it on Apr. 2.
The 129 bodies, which were likely a mix of Roman soldiers and Germanic tribesmen, were found in total. Dislocated bones were also found at the site, meaning that as many as 150 victims’ remains were found, The Associated Press reported.
ANCIENT SETTLEMENT REVEALS REMAINS OF 1,800-YEAR-OLD DOG, BAFFLING EXPERTS: ‘PRESERVED QUITE WELL’
The discovery, which dates back to between 80 and 130 A.D., is the largest of its kind in Central Europe.
It is also the first-known mass grave of Roman soldiers and Germanic tribes in Vienna.
What made the discovery particularly unusual was the fact that any Roman soldiers were found at all, the ..