Summer is here and it�s time to travel! Let BRAIN_blog be your guide! This week we feature helpful travel resources:
1) Die Bahn: Book tickets and hotels online
2) Universal Currency Converter
3) BBC Language Lessons: Essential, n�est pas?
4) Free Frommer�s Travel Guides @ The BRAIN
1) Die Bahn
Planning a European trip? Then this site is just what you need! Die Bahn is a fantastic database allowing you to find rail travel between practically any two points in Europe! Click on �Travel Service� and enter the date you wish to travel as well as your starting and destination points, and this database takes over to find you your trip! You can even specify the time of day you want to go, and whether you want to travel first- or second-class! Tickets can be ordered online, and you can find hotel information for the area you are travelling to � book it all online! Use the �Advanced Search� screen for great features such as route maps and the arrival and departure schedules for a large number of stations. Once you�ve chosen the trip you want, click on Personal Timetable, to have Die Bahn email you a PDF of the details of your journey � what could be better? Now if you�ll excuse me, I don�t want to be late for my train from London, departing for Florence…..ah, if only….. But if you are lucky enough to actually be heading there for real, give this site a try….and happy trails!
2) Universal Currency Converter
This is a handy site to bookmark, especially if you plan to take in more than one or two countries in your travels! The Universal Currency Converter allows you to perform interactive foreign exchange rate calculations on the Internet, using live, up-to-the-minute currency rates. Choose the currency you have, enter the amount you want to convert then select the new currency and presto � you�ve got your new currency value! Every currency imaginable is included, making this the most comprehensive converter around.
3)BBC Offers Language Lessons
There’s nothing like ordering your cafe au lait in Paris or your cappuccino in Rome while impressing the cute waiter with your language skills. If you fancy really communicating with the locals on your next trip rather than merely pointing and making odd faces, why not drop by the BBC? The Beeb provides a wealth of online tools for learning more than 30 languages, from Welsh to Italian to Japanese. The site offers printable phrase books, sign language advice, the history of some of the tongues, news broadcasts in 43 languages, learning through sports and music, and even a language gauge quiz to help you work out what level you have reached. The courses are broken down into short lessons and include practical items like how to use the language for work or where it is spoken.
4) Free Frommer�s Guides
Did you know that you can access the popular travel guide, Frommer�s, for free from The BRAIN? Just travel on over to the Databases page, select netLibrary, the popular database containing full and complete electronic books, and you�re on easy street! Type in �Frommer�s� (without quotation marks) and select the �title� radio button. A list of Frommer�s guides will appear, all of them up-to-date 2004 guides! See a guide of interest? Select the �view this book� link. The table of contents appears on the left hand side and the book�s contents appears on the right. You can even print out maps directly from the guides!
Other interesting travel titles in netLibrary include The Complete Idiot�s Guide to Planning A Trip Online (not that any of us need that particular title!), The Companion Guide to Paris and of course, Gulliver�s Travels!
