Table talk
Blackpool doesn't rock, says Radio 4 vote
In a survey of the most hellish places in Britain, tourism chiefs were surprised to find Blackpool promenade in third place. Listeners to BBC Radio 4's Today programme voted the popular holiday resort the worst place in the country after the M25 and the Millennium Dome. It was deemed even more hellish than Heathrow Airport, Birmingham's New Street station, Manchester's Arndale Centre - and the Sellafield nuclear power station.
McDonald's riled as Belarus gets in the soup
Belarus's president wants McDonald's restaurants to be replaced by a fast-food chain serving cabbage soup. Alexander Lukashenko has ordered the closure of the most popular of the company's six restaurants in the capital, Minsk. He has also told McDonald's it won't be allowed to open any more outlets. Senior official Nikolai Yerokhov said: "Doctors consider this foreign fast food to be unhealthy and even risky." The Sunday Times says the burger giant is threatening to sue over the closure of the Minsk University restaurant. US ambassador Michael Kozac is accusing the Belarus government of failing to protect the interests of foreign investors.
Newlyweds get a pizza the action
When wedding guests arrived for Malcolm and Sarah Small's reception, everything was laid on. The top table was set, the wine was waiting and the guests sat down to choose which pizza they wanted from the menu. The couple had booked the ground floor of the Pizza Express in Bath to celebrate their nuptials. It was during regular dates at the restaurant that love blossomed between the couple. Manager Helen Hughes said: "We set it up like a normal reception with flowers on the table, but they insisted on the normal menu. It's the first time we have had anything like it."
Airs (and graces) of the dog
The phrase "doggy bag" may take on a whole new meaning if an idea launched by posh Scottish hotel Gleneagles catches on. Perthshire's most famous hotel is offering special "doggy packs" to its wealthy guests so that their pampered pooches don't feel left out. The £15 pack contains a place mat, food bowl and water. A special de luxe duvet is also included to help Fido sleep well at night, along with a "poop scoop" for use when taking the air around the 850-acre grounds. Executive housekeeper Sheila Perera said: "We like to treat everyone who stays with us as VIPs. It's important that everyone, including the family pet, receives the luxury of the Gleneagles experience."
Bertie is Bass king in summer
Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern likes his pint - but of Bass, not Guinness. And that poses a special problem for his favourite holiday hotel, Parknasilla, in County Kerry, which doesn't normally serve it. However, when Bertie comes for his summer stay, according to deputy bar manager Brian Foley, the hotel takes delivery of three kegs - about 250 pints - from Dublin, as a special treat for its VIP guest. "We find it goes fairly fast," he says. "People who wouldn't normally drink it suddenly start ordering pints, just so they can say they're drinking Bertie's Bass."
