Table Talk
No sluggish response from Customs men
British customs officers at Heathrow had a shock when they came across a whopping 16-stone haul of edible snails hidden in an airline passenger's luggage. The 42-year-old female passenger from Nigeria was detained after admitting she had a "small item" to declare. But when staff became suspicious, her bags were searched to reveal hundreds of sacks filled with the snails - already deshelled and cooked. "This was quite surprising," said a spokesman. "Even with legitimate baggage, it's a very heavy weight to be carrying." The snails are believed to be the giant African variety, a growing export to the UK which has successfully undercut the more expensive French escargot. Considered a great delicacy, they can fetch up to £4 per kilogram.
Little white lies - on a big black website
Fed up with arriving at hotels to find your so-called "de luxe" room is the size of a broom cupboard and the hi-tech shower is more of a slow trickle? To tackle business sector hotels which stretch the truth, global reservations brand Supranational has come up with a "fib-busting" campaign that will name and shame the worst offenders. Typical examples include hotels near railways or airports that claim to be "quiet", and "executive" but which fail to provide desks or telephones or even soap, and in one case, a "superior business class" room which was an exotically decorated honeymoon suite with heart-shaped Jacuzzi.
Details of exaggerated claims will be posted on Supranational's website. And if that isn't warning enough, names of hotels will be sent to appropriate tourist boards and hotel associations for them to take further action.
Parking's not expensive, it's just deer A new hotel in Siberia has come up with a novel way of pleasing its guests - by providing free parking for their reindeer. The animals have been allocated their own special parking lot, right next to one for snowmobiles. The 15-bedroom hotel plans to open in time for a major sports competition that includes reindeer racing.
