Pocket Blog

Free or not?

2009-02-04T11:11:00.003+02:00

Looks like Chris 'Free' Anderson might have got it wrong. As he wrote in the WSJ at the weekend, you can't give everything away.

(This coming shortly before he publishes a book called 'Free', about how all content should be free. It will be interesting to see if he charges for the book or not...)

Ryan Air's Latest Charge

2009-02-04T10:13:00.003+02:00

Now, it seems, Ryan Air are charging for hand baggage.

Whatever next? Charging people for sitting down?

(Actually, hang on, isn't that called 'an aeroplane ticket?').

Facebook

2009-02-03T13:25:00.005+02:00

From Twitter In Your Pocket to Facebook In Your Pocket in one full swoop...

Studying our latest web traffic figures, Facebook is now one of our biggest referring sites, bringing inyourpocket.com a great deal of traffic. And to think that for sometime we didn't get what Facebook was about.

Personally, it's a pain. Used professionally, we're getting to like it.

Twittering Celebrities

2009-02-03T13:10:00.003+02:00

The Times publishes a fair random list today of the top 50 Twittering celebrities. All very well, we like Twittering ourselves, but we do have a question...

It's all very well Lance Armstrong telling us about his weekend with a houseful of kids, but if Ordinary Joe was to try and carry on the conversation at an airport, in a bar, restaurant etc., how keen would Lance be to get all close up and personal then?

Not very, we think. Armstrong may have more than 53,000 'followers,' but what if they all turn up at Alpe d'Huez in July?

Besides, how long will these celebrities keep it up? Can we expect Armstrong to be Twittering as he climbs the Alps?

"Valverde's looking strong, hope he doesn't attack..."

Cornwall: Like Wales, next to England.

2009-01-19T12:06:00.004+02:00

Having seen Belfast In Your Pocket reap the dividends of the Northern Ireland peace process, battle now rages between our Berlin editor and a Cornish nationalist over the exact location of Cornwall.

Who'd have believed that writing about a meat pie could cause such a fuss...

Eastern Europe is not about to explode...

2009-01-19T11:16:00.002+02:00

Fair enough, there were a few street protests last week in and around the Pocket Empire. Riga, Sofia and Vilnius all saw colourful scenes as malcontents revolted against various belt-tightening measures.

However, for the Guardian to suggest (as it did at the weekend) that much of Europe is headed for a 'spring of discontent' is just appalling journalism. As one Pocketeer put it yesterday "there will be more public order arrests in Britain this year than in Romania."

Strangest of all was how - after predicting social unrest all over Eastern Europe - the Guardian then went on to suggest Brits take their holidays there this year. "Jurmala, Latvia - the largest resort city in the Baltics - has a 33km beach, is perfect for children, and the proximity to the shops and cafes on pedestrianised Jomas Street means there's plenty to keep teens occupied too."

Shurley shome mishtake?

The Death of Print?

2009-01-09T10:25:00.004+02:00

They wished.

Two recent articles in the press about the never-ending Print vs. Web battle grabbed our attention over the holidays. The first told the sad story of the death of jpg magazine.

Now, while we doubt not the fact that there are tough times ahead in print, we do still find it annoying when web-only journos do down print. As the article claims:

"8020 Media was founded upon the belief that a print magazine publisher could be viable if it stripped out most of the costs and created a community of readers to help in its production. Perhaps the flaw was in sticking to a print magazine as its final product. In reality, the print magazine was nothing but an artifact of the Website and the community that created it."

Now, as any fule kno the reason it created such a big community was because photographers wanted to see their work... in print.

The other side of the coin is this article about cuts in web-only output at major US magazine publishers.

Both articles are more than interesting and raise far many more questions than answers.

Press

2008-12-22T10:22:00.005+02:00

Two bits of press to catch up on...

First, The Guardian called In Your Pocket 'one of the web's best travel resources' while the Irish News picked up on our video of the Mayor of Belfast giving us an impromptu tour of West Belfast...

In Your Pocket Does Belfast (1)

2008-12-15T10:19:00.001+02:00

In Your Pocket meets Belfast's Lord Mayor.

Prague Highlights: 20,000-up

2008-11-28T09:24:00.006+02:00

It's still only just over a year since we opened up a channel at You Tube and began posting proprietorial videos both there, and incorporating them onto our website at www.inyourpocket.com.

We never set out to change cinema history: all we want to do is bring a bit more colour and quirkiness to our online content. We think we've done that reasonably well, and we have a ton of new videos coming very soon.

Meantime, just wanted to shout from the rooftops that our most popular video - a short tour of Prague, featured widely on You Tube's UK homepage - yesterday topped the 20,000 views mark.

Well done Heidi & Sinead

2008-11-17T17:39:00.004+02:00

In Your Pocket Ltd., the company behind Belfast In Your Pocket city guide, has won the Excellence in Entrepreneurship award at the prestigious Belfast Business Awards, run by Belfast City Centre Management.

Read the full press release.

And what others are saying.

The all-new inyourpocket.com

2008-10-29T11:41:00.001+02:00

You can see it here:

http://beta.inyourpocket.com

Let us know what you think...

Banja Luka In Your Pocket

2008-10-20T08:45:00.005+02:00

Hardly has the first In Your Pocket guide in Bosnia (a Mini-Gide to the city of Banja Luka; BL) hit the newsstands than the press in the Republika Srpska (that's the Serb bit of Bosnia to you) is all over us:

We'll have a rough translation of the article a little later.

Needless to say that the appearance of an IYP in BL has been greeted with much enthusiasm: another sign that the Republika Srpska's return to the international fold is all but complete.

Check out our Banja Luka guide at our new-look website here.

Moscow In Your Pocket

2008-10-17T08:39:00.001+02:00

It went to the printer, finally, today.

We will have a PDF version for download on the website shortly. Watch this space.

Save the Athens News

2008-10-02T12:23:00.002+02:00

Slightly off topic, news reaches us today that the legendary Athens News, one of the oldest and most respected English-language papers in continental Europe, is to close.

The Athens News - which has been a fan of Athens In Your Pocket from the beginning - has been around for 57 years and is faced with immediate closure, as soon as the end of this week. The editorial team is trying to put together a rescue package: read about or even contribute to their campaign here: http://saveathensnews.wordpress.com/

Moscow. Go.

2008-09-22T15:48:00.003+02:00

News reaches me today that the final hurdle in the race to Moscow has been safely negotiated. Expect to see the first issue of Moscow In Your Pocket very, very soon.

Meantime, you can get your Moscow guide fix on our website.

Next? Vienna

2008-09-18T10:08:00.005+02:00

We this week concluded a deal with a Canadian publisher who will very soon begin work on Vienna In Your Pocket. Austria has long been a hole on the IYP map we were eager to fill, and given the outstanding credentials of our man in Vienna, we are certain that it will be one of the best and most successful in the In Your Pocket family.

Expect to see the first issue around May 1, 2009.

And remember, if you think you have what it takes to publish an In Your Pocket, or want to find out a little more about how it's done, get in touch with us. Send an email to:

publisher@inyourpocket.com

A Little Hard to Read...

2008-09-12T12:25:00.004+02:00

But some tremendous press all the same. News of our brilliance reaches down under...

Click on the image for a bigger (and slightly easier to read) version.

Night Train to Prague

2008-09-12T10:50:00.006+02:00

In Your Pocket's founder: never afraid to make a fool of himself for the cause of bringing you the most in depth travel reports...

See the Vienna - Prague night train video here

See Our New Look Website First

2008-09-01T09:39:00.005+02:00

We are in the closing stages of developing our entirely new look website, designed to offer our unrivalled content to as many people in whatever way they want to view it. It will be far easier to use, browse, and will signpost special content more clearly. Downloading PDF guides will be easier too.

More than six months in the making we are hoping for great things, and we hope our website users will like it too. We will be moving into private beta stage very soon, so anyone who wants to take a look before the general public get their mucky hands on it should sign up to follow us on Twitter: we will be posting the address of the private beta there.

Great bit of press

2008-08-22T14:10:00.005+03:00

http://www.dz.com.pl/?tekst,2818,powieksz

Here's a rough English translation...

How English People See Us

Katowice: Where was Katowice when God was dishing out the looks? Bill Bryson once wrote of the English town of Bradford, ‘its role in life is to make every place in the world look better in comparison’.

Bryson obviously have never been to Katowice. - this is the way how free of charge, English language, 74 pages guide, published by In your pocket starts. Author of it is Alex Webber who starts the story about Katowice in a perverse way and with an English sense of humour and finish noticing that the town is not beautiful but obviously fascinating.

How English man see Katowice? - There is nothing to hide that town you are in looks pretty unhealthy - he writes.

Tourist standing in the middle of the rynek and trying to find the Rynek, Mariacka is one of the ugliest streets in the city. But Katowice is the only one town in the world that you may live in stars or corns and where Martians left something.
Fans of Steven Spielberg’s 1977 blockbuster Close Encounters of the Third Kind will be delighted to learn that some clever clogs with a smashing sense of humour has installed a system that plays a variation of the classic five-note alien encounter tune from the film whenever the building’s lights go on. - he is delighted
Sometimes there is more to tourism than exploring medieval crypts and cobbled courtyards. And here’s the evidence; where else are you going to find Flying Saucers, museums dedicated to sewage, prototype housing schemes, communist masterpieces.

If you’re wanting to explore a completely bizarre, unexplored, and some would say unexplainable, corner of Poland, then you’ve hit the bullseye. - explains the author
Katowice are not the first city that has such as guide. In the whole Europe there is 50 published. In Poland cities that have such a guide are Threecity or Krakow (here 53 number is published already). Beside the fact that on the cover there is a Katowice’s emblem, workers of city council didn’t move a finger to do the guide but they like the text.

This kind of city is not charming on the first sight but it can surprise in very positive way. - claims Martin Stańczyk from Promotion and Information Department of City Council. - we know foreign tourists like the guide.

In the first issue that was published in November last year Stadion Śląski was described, in Second - Spodek, in third postindustrial monuments Nikiszowiec nad Giszowiec.

Webber is a native English and how publishing house claim he is very experienced writer. He describe 18 cities in Poland.

Before he starts writing he travels to each city he describes. In each venue he drinks at list glass of wine. The other job is done by researchers - says Karolina Montygierd-Łojbo.

Guide can be picked up from Tourist Information or from hotels. And even though there are other Guides for foreigners (in Tourist Information Centre there are three more English language guides published by city) they are far behind the freedom of style of In your pocket. They are stereotype and boring. We can find in them just little bit of history and few important addresses.

Brilliant

2008-08-22T12:31:00.003+03:00

In Your Pocket in the Guardian

2008-08-18T11:46:00.002+03:00

Alex Webber's description of a British stag night in Krakow In Your Pocket becomes the Guardian's own - at least they had the decency to credit us having copied it straight out of the guide. Which isn't always the case.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/17/poland.poland

nrc.next

2008-08-14T16:14:00.002+03:00

Just spoke to a very friendly journalist from the Dutch daily newspaper nrc.next.

Hopefully she will get the Editor-in-chief's name right, unlike our friends over at the Irish Times.

We're Twittering

2008-08-13T14:22:00.005+03:00

I never really got Twitter until recently. I mean, having just 160 characters to say something doesn't give you much rooms for expressive or informative dialogue. It also begs the question as to what's next? 'Twit.com?' (express yourself in ten characters) or just 'T.com' (express yourself by typing one letter...)

Still, seeing as the world now appears to be Twittering en masse, we've signed up.

You can follow us here.

Some Great Press for In Your Pocket

2008-08-11T13:08:00.002+03:00

In Saturday's Irish Times:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2008/0809/1218206255904.html

But who the hell is Craig Unger?

Quested Does Vilnius

2008-08-06T12:54:00.003+03:00

Who needs Quest when you have Quested? Our intrepid reporter gets out on the streets of Vilnius and gets himself featured on You Tube. Hence our most popular video ever...

Guca Goes Bananas

2008-08-04T14:19:00.003+03:00

If there is one word to describe the annual Guca trumpet festival it is 'deafening'. Fifty brass bands compete for the coveted Golden Trumpet award while many more liven up the make-shift bars and restaurants. Over half a million visitors descend annually onto this small town near Cacak, a four-hour bus-drive south west of Belgrade.

An important part of the five day festival is the food. Little piglets and even entire cows are roasted over open fires and swilled down with local beer. The Brass Band Festival in Guca is definitely one of the quirkiest music festivals in Europe. The next Guca madness will be held from 06 -10 August 2008.

More at the Guca website here. More video from us here.

Around Bucharest On A Bike

2008-07-31T17:15:00.009+03:00

Around Bucharest on a pushbike? We must be mad, but as we've always been keen cyclists we couldn't help attending the launch of Cicloteque, an initiative designed to convince Romanians to leave their cars at home.

Now, there is no question that it is a great idea. Alas, the execution, at least in these early days, is a little lacking in finesse. For a start, to hire a bike you have to first become a member of Cicloteque, which costs 100 lei per year. Secondly – and this is the part that really does not make sense – you can only pick up and return the bikes from one location in the city, at B-dul Kogalniceanu 29-45, Bucharest University’s Faculty of Law. At least that is the situation as we write. The organizers of the endeavour, MaiMultVerde, have assured us that in the not too distant future we will be able to pick up and return bikes from a number of locations all over the city. When that happens this initiative should really get off the ground.

Visitors to the capital who want to rent a bike should note that they are free to do so but are not excused the annual fee, making it not all that attractive to visitors in town for just a day or two. If you are around for a week or more, it could be a good way of seeing the city. There are now plenty of cycle tracks (though the city’s notorious drivers do not like them, and use them more often than not as car parks), and as you will no longer be alone (until now cyclists on the city’s streets were a rarity) we would like to reassure you that as long as you keep your wits about you cycling in Bucharest can be fun. For more details check the Cicloteque website at www.cicloteque.ro.

She's Got Talent

2008-07-28T11:57:00.001+03:00

In her pocket, apparently...

http://www.channel4.com/4talent/feature.jsp?id=12606

It's Backpacker Season

2008-07-25T15:56:00.002+03:00

Appalling haircuts, stupid hats, goatee beards, sandals, confused Brits and earnest Yanks: it can only mean one thing. It's backpacker season.

Armed with Inter Rail passes and carrying rucksacks the size of Bristol, this tribe set about the continent's railway stations last weekend en bloc. Ordinary passengers, such as the Pocket Blogger - on a routine Pocket hop from Budapest to Vienna - could barely move unmolested by chaps called Harry, Charlie, Josh and Alex. I barely made it off the train alive.

Budapest Keleti - that station which perfectly sums up Hungary (imperial on the outside, chaotic within) - now appears to be the center of the backpacker world, the new Berlin Zoo. Budapest itself - a city in which we hope to be relaunching In Your Pocket very soon - now has more hostels per head than Prague, Berlin and Krakow put together, with an astonishing 2.1 hostels per backpacker (or something like that...).

Fear of Flying? We Have the Cure

2008-07-07T11:48:00.004+03:00

Flying is part of the job here at In Your Pocket. Indeed, thinking about it, the last calendar year has seen the Pocket Blogger take off and land at least 100 times. And yet, and yet, we hate flying. God we hate it. Taking off, landing, every bump, every wobble. And every time we get on a plane it gets worse. Irrational, I know, but at the same time perhaps understandable.

At least that was the case until last Tuesday, when Pocket Blogger got to ride in the cockpit of an Airbus A320 flying from ***** to ********** on a ******* flight.

We have had to delete any details to protect the identity of the pilot, a friend of ours, who would almost certainly be fired if the powers that be found out he was carrying his mates in the cockpit (one of whom was sitting on the dashboard as there were no seats).

Having seen first hand how very little pilots actually do (in a flight of just over an hour they were 'at the wheel' as it were for less than ten minutes) and how relaxed pilots are, flying now holds no fear for us. Every bump that used to make us shudder with fear is now ignored, safe in the knowledge that far from struggling to keep it all together up there in the cockpit the pilot is in fact sitting with his feet up drinking copious amounts of coffee.

To anyone who may be scared of flying, I implore you to find yourself a pilot willing to take you in the cockpit. Your fear will evaporate in an instant.

Money back guaranteed.

Around St. Petersburg on a bike

2008-06-23T10:06:00.000+03:00

No, really. Take a look:

Guide to the Smoking Section

2008-06-23T09:53:00.006+03:00

"Somewhere in the late 90s, during one of my intermittent and always doomed attempts at holding down a 9-5 job, I typed “Travel Writer Wanted” into a now defunct internet search engine, and unbelievably, an advertisement came up with a guidebook company called In Your Pocket."

The rest - as they say - is history, this time as told by one-time Pocket legend and founder of Krakow In Your Pocket, Scott Alexander Young, now telling his story live and direct (almost) from near earth orbit (he's in New Zealand).

Dismissing the ridiculous notion that working at In Your Pocket is anything like a 9-5 job (we never stay that late...) his new blog, Guide to the Smoking Section will no doubt lift the lid on a few Pocket myths, a legacy of some very long Krakow nights.

When you're done reading his blog, check out his take on the earliest days at Krakow In Your Pocket, written late last year as part of Krakow's 50th issue celebrations, and which includes some of the best reviews from the first issue of KIYP.

A Publishing Tragedy

2008-06-19T12:43:00.004+03:00

It might not have been everyone's idea of a good read, but there is no doubt that The Exile, Moscow's utterly independent, and politically incorrect (in every sense of those words) fortnightly paper was a publishing legend.

Every English-language, expat newspaper in the world wanted to be the Exile, though few, if any, ever made the cut. Who remembers the Prague Pill?

News reaches us today via The Daily Telegraph however that The Exile is no more.

Dead, gone. This paper is an ex-exile.

A recent raid by the Russian authorities, ostensibly to scour back issues for op eds that mocked Russian tradition was enough to have invetsors scrambling for cover. So the printed fortnightly paper is no more. Only the website remains, and it appears they need cash to keep that going too.

Donate here.

Be a travel film maker

2008-06-16T09:21:00.002+03:00

If you're more serious about making travel videos than we are (which wouldn't be hard) then you may be interested in this scholorship/competition thingy from World Nomads. Basically it's a competition, the winner of which will spend some time in India helping poor people look pathetic and then have their film making efforts screened on the National Geographic Adventure channel. Could be your big break.

In Your Pocket @ Flickr

2008-06-12T11:55:00.005+03:00

We are big fans of Flickr.com here at In Your Pocket, not least because it is becoming an increasingly fruitful source of photography for our guides. It is also a great place to show off our own photography skills, and to parade our covers.

The latest In Your Pocket guide to procure a cover from Flickr was Belfast. You can see how much of a stir and not little excitement it has caused here.

Fan Mail

2008-06-11T09:43:00.002+03:00

Not wanting to blow our own trumpet too much, but it's fair to say we get lots of mail from readers and website users, and most of it is generally positive; people appreciate what we do, it seems. This morning we got a particularly laudatory email, from a reader in the US, which, if I promise not to name him, I am sure he will not mind me sharing with all and sundry:

"Being a dutiful Baby Boomer, I spent hours researching and reading prior to our almost 4 week Baltic States/Helsinki marathon trip. While I had used your website, I had no real appreciation for the value of your guides. I had both the Bradt guide and the "new" 2008 Rough Guide. The Bradt guide was OK for the large cities but the "new" Rough Guide was a joke - out of date, places that had been closed or changed over two years ago, things mentioned that might be available in 2006 (it is now 2008, are they available or not???). It was pretty obvious that the only updating had been some internet searches and little of the "boots on the ground" info. It was so frustrating and often hours wasted. Our saving grace was finding In Your Pocket in Riga. From then on, we bought In Your Pocket wherever available in our travels. They were life savers - always current, information rich, and accurate (even enjoyed the "humorous" insights). My only sadness was that there was no Helsinki In Your Pocket!
What a great concept for the US. Most tourist guides are nothing more than advertisements, with little, if any, evaluation or recommendations. Give it a thought! Thanks again - your work is an invaluable service to travelers!!!"

In Your Pocket in the US? Who knows. If you think you can hack it, get in touch.

St. Petersburg at 50

2008-06-09T12:41:00.004+03:00

St. Petersburg In Your Pocket is 50 today. You can read all about what one of its founder's, Bonnie van der Velde, has to say right here, including the 50 best things about this great but much misunderstood city.

One of the original In Your Pocket founders, Matthias Luefkens, has taken time out from his busy schedule to fly in and will be taking a few reels of video at the private SPIYP 50 bash tonight.

Look out for a short video here in the next few days.

And look out for Moscow IYP in the near future too...

The Vice Guide to North Korea

2008-05-20T09:50:00.001+03:00

No, not a guide to the naughtier side of Pyongyang nightlife, instead a cracking 14 part guide to getting in to, getting around and simply being blown away by the weirdness of the living hell that is North Korea.

You really ought to watch this...

The Vice Guide to North Korea

Manly Reporting

2008-05-05T12:36:00.001+03:00

In Your Pocket's very own Andrew Quested continues to provide the Times Travel Section with half its content... See his latest scribblings here:

Across Sydney Harbour

It's official: You can trust In Your Pocket

2008-04-16T14:55:00.004+02:00

A little self-congratulation...

In the wake of the Lonely Planet scandal at the weekend, the Times today publishes an article about guidebooks you can trust, and comes up with a list of the top ten guidebook publishers. The good news is In Your Pocket made the cut, at number nine.

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/article3752483.ece

http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/article3753787.ece

Why?

Because WE DO visit every place we review... and not just once either. All listings in our guide are checked each issue for accuracy.

That is the Pocket difference.

Lonely Copy It

2008-04-14T16:05:00.003+02:00

So, not all guide books are written in the way they would like us to believe?

If the outcry over a Lonely Planet writer admitting he blagged a little of his Colombia guide was anything to go by, you would think not.

Here are a few more thoughts we found while trawling the web today:

http://www.gadling.com/2008/04/13/thoughts-on-the-lonley-planet-scandal-guidebooks-are-a-sham/print/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/apr/14/10?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
http://www.gogirlfriend.com/travel-news/thomas-kohnstamm-scandal-are-lonely-planet-books-still-trustworthy-10080

In Your Pocket guides do not have Lonely Planet's problem (sending writers to a country they do not know at all well). All of our writers are residents of the guides they write about.

More on this to follow. Watch this space.

A week is a long time In Your Pocket

2008-04-11T08:59:00.002+02:00

Two brand new In Your Pockets are currently in the final throes of preparation. Belgrade In Your Pocket is all but done and dusted - look out for a free PDF version to download any day now, while Ljubljana In Your Pocket will not be too far behind.

We are also, finally about to get some more original video content online. This should happen over the next ten days or so, while a new look for our website is also just weeks away from going into public beta testing.

You will find out first about any new Pocket developments right here.

In Your Pocket is Hiring

2008-04-04T09:02:00.002+02:00

Skopje In Your Pocket - Researcher

Skopje In Your Pocket is looking for a part-time researcher to handle a number of research-related duties. Based in Skopje, applicants should be enthusiastic, independent-minded, outgoing, resourceful and preferably have some experience in the travel, research or publishing industry. A good knowledge of spoken and written English is also required.

The successful candidate will also be involved in other related publishing projects in the future. Candidates should email CV, covering letter and two references to Jeroen van Marle.

Oh dear...

2008-03-28T11:54:00.001+02:00

Europe's Top Motorbike Rides

2008-03-24T15:41:00.003+02:00

The Guardian places Romania's Transfagarasan at No. 3:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/mar/24/europe.top10motorbikerides.

There's more on this great road here.

In Your Pocket is Hiring

2008-03-18T12:25:00.004+02:00

In Your Pocket Area Sales Manager
Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro

In Your Pocket city guides is looking for a full-time Area Sales Manager to handle a number of sales and management duties. Based in Tirana, but required to liaise with, and occasionally travel to, other offices in Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro, applicants should be enthusiastic, independent-minded, outgoing, resourceful and have some experience in advertising sales in the region. A

A good knowledge of spoken and written English is also required. The successful candidate will also be involved in other related publishing projects in the future. Candidates should email CV, covering letter and two references to Jeroen van Marle, jeroen@inyourpocket.com

Travel Writer
Central & Eastern Europe

One of the largest publishers of In Your Pocket guides is currently looking for a new writer. If you think you have what it takes to write witty, informative and fresh content under great pressure, send an email with your CV to editor@inyourpocket.com.

While experience is good, it is not always necessary. Indeed, some of our best writers had little experience before joining us.

What you will need is: a commitment to relocate to, and a knowledge of, Central and Eastern Europe; a love of cigarette smoke and railway stations smelling of stale onions; a disdain for anyone who carbon offsets their flights and generally worries about climate change; a desire to spend long nights trying out every grotty student bar in town.

You also need to be a native English speaker.

A Victory For Us All!

2008-03-12T09:31:00.001+02:00

From The Times
March 11, 2008

Newspaper that slated ‘joyless’ restaurant wins appeal over libel

David Sharrock Ireland Correspondent

Restaurant critics, and newspaper proprietors, were celebrating yesterday after a judge upheld their rights to publish unflattering reviews of bad food and lousy service.

Sir Brian Kerr, the Northern Ireland Lord Chief Justice, overturned the award of £25,000 to Goodfellas pizza restaurant in West Belfast against The Irish News.

Ciarnan Convery, the pizzeria owner, sued the newspaper for libel over a highly critical review of his restaurant in August 2000.

Sir Brian’s appeal court decision had been keenly awaited, with implications around the world for publishers of restaurant reviews. Sitting with two appeal court judges, he ruled that the jury that decided that the restaurant had been defamed had been misdirected by the trial judge. He ordered a retrial, adding that while he thought a properly directed jury would have found in favour of The Irish News he could not be certain. It will now be up to Mr Convery to decide whether he wishes to pursue the case farther.

The newspaper’s restaurant critic, Caroline Workman, criticised the quality of the food, the staff and the joyless, smoky atmosphere of Mr Convery’s premises. The jury, hearing the case more than a year ago, agreed with Mr Convery that her review was defamatory, damaging and hurtful and he was awarded £25,000 in damages. The newspaper appealed, claiming that Workman’s report had been fair comment.

Lord Lester, QC, an architect of the Human Rights Act, fought the appeal on behalf of the newspaper, saying that it would be “perfectly ludicrous” if libel proceedings could be issued every time a critic wrote a bad review.

Overturning the jury’s decision after a two-day hearing in January, the Lord Chief Justice said: “I have decided that there was misdirection in the present case. I would allow the appeal and quash the order made in favour of the respondent.”

He added: “Although I consider it likely that a properly directed jury would conclude that sufficient factual substratum existed for the comment which constituted the preponderance of the article, I cannot be certain that this is so and I would therefore order a retrial.

“In any event, the question of malice has not been decided by the jury and this therefore remains an issue that requires to be determined, if it is concluded that the defence of fair comment is otherwise available.” The judges said that they would rule on the issue of costs after Easter.

Mr Convery declined to comment. Noel Doran, the Editor of The Irish News, said: “We are delighted. It is a great victory for The Irish News. We came here to prove a point of principle and we have been vindicated.” He said that the original verdict was perverse and added that if Mr Convery wanted to take the case back to court, he would fight it. “We will go as far as we have to to get the matter fully resolved,” he said.

He said that the judgment sent out a strong message that newspapers were entitled to publish fair and accurate reviews. The case covered not only restaurant reviews but the work of film, theatre and music critics, he added.

Workman, who is based in Cork, said: “I am very relieved. I think it is a good day for the restaurant trade of Northern Ireland.”

Irish News review of Goodfellas

After one ring of squid . . . it became clear the dishes were made with the cheapest ingredients on the market”

“Our main courses arrived in as much time as it took the chef in view to rip open three blue industrial-size bags of processed cheese”

“The staff have no more time to be involved with their customers than those in a motorway cafe”

Lost in translation?

2008-03-05T10:49:00.003+02:00

The Travel Channel last week aired an enjoyable romp around Romania with Anthony Bourdain, whose No Reservations show is one of the most popular on the network. Alas, his tongue in cheek humour, brutal honesty and disdain for kitsch did not go down well in Romania itself: he has been the subject of a media attack for days.

You can watch the show in six parts on You Tube. Don't forget to read the comments posted by rabid Romanians underneath each video.

Travel Writer Wanted

2008-02-27T12:28:00.006+02:00

One of the largest publishers of In Your Pocket guides is currently looking for a new writer.

If you think you have what it takes to write witty, informative and fresh content under great pressure, send an email with your CV to editor@inyourpocket.com.

While experience is good, it is not always necessary. Indeed, some of our best writers had little experience before joining us.

What you will need is: a commitment to relocate to, and a knowledge of, Central and Eastern Europe; a love of cigarette smoke and railway stations smelling of stale onions; a disdain for anyone who carbon offsets their flights and generally worries about climate change; a desire to spend long nights trying out every grotty student bar in town.

You also need to be a native English speaker.

NOTE: WE HAVE NOW FILLED THIS VACANCY. THANKS TO ALL WHO APPLIED.

How Does an In Your Pocket (IYP) Come About?

2008-02-26T10:30:00.004+02:00

Easy.

Someone who likes our products gets in touch with us at the email address publisher@inyourpocket.com, and after a brief exchange of mails and a phone call or two, we send out a full information pack that gives people an idea of what it takes to publish an IYP guide.

Interest in publishing a guide usually collapses at this stage, when the realisation of what it takes to publish a city guide becomes apparent. However, those who have been completely bitten by the Pocket bug and who are committed to publishing a guide bite the bullet and go ahead and produce business plans. If the In Your Pocket Council (known as the Pocketburo) is impressed with what it sees, we give the nod and the applicant signs up with us as a licensee for five years.

So what kind of people sign up with us?

First and foremost a publisher of IYP guides has to have a genuine love for their city, and a desire to share both its best and its worst with a wider audience. IYP guides are respected for their insider knowledge and their accuracy. Fierce standards - as laid down in the Editorial Style Book, whose rules and regulations are strictly enforced - have to be maintained. Fact checking and researching can be tiresome, but they are jobs that have to be done. Publishing an IYP is not all about writing witty restaurant reviews (though that is a big part of it...).

If you have a desire to tell the world more about your city, and have the commitment to help us spread our brand worldwide - we ultimately want a guide in every city - then maybe you could be the publisher of the next In Your Pocket. You will need dedication, entrepreneurial spirit, some start-up capital, supportive friends and family, and to realise that publishing of any kind is no get rich quick scheme. As somebody once said, "if you want to make a small fortune in publishing, start with a large fortune."

For more information, contact us at publisher@inyourpocket.com. It could be the beginning of something big.

We've had some abuse in our time but...

2008-02-20T14:03:00.003+02:00

Writing a city guide often means annoying the hell out of restaurant owners. We've faced down libel threats, won two libel cases and remain as committed to being as impartial today as we were when we began back in 1992.

In all our days though we have never come across abuse like this...

Though we will be checking our bills a bit more thoroughly from now on.

Don't Spare Romania's Horses

2008-02-18T11:33:00.004+02:00

'End of a way of life' says the reporter. Damn right, a poverty-stricken one.

It is astonishing that all those who bemoan the disappearance of this 'way of life' don't actually live that life.

I think you will find most people, given the choice, would take car over horse and cart any day.

The Belfast Media Frenzy Goes On...

2008-02-08T15:19:00.000+02:00

Let Them Build Mud Huts!

2008-02-01T14:31:00.001+02:00

Claudia Ciobanu doesn't live in a mud hut. I mean, I do not know that for a fact, as aside from the fact that she writes for Inter Press Service (IPS), a mouthpiece for various environmental groups and their supporters, I know nothing about Miss Ciobanu. I would imagine, however, that like most Romanians she does not live in a mud hut, despite her latest article which puts forward the case for mud huts as a solution to Romania's housing crisis and to climate change. I would also guess that she doesn't want to ever actually live in a mud hut either.

So quite why she feels able to suggest that Romanian peasants start building mud huts en bloc is beyond me. I mean, if a mud hut is not good enough for her, why should it be good enough for anyone else?

I visit the Romanian countryside a lot. And yet in all my travels I have yet to come across a single peasant who actually wants to give up his or her wooden/brick house and exchange it for a mud hut. In fact, even those who do are pretty keen on moving into something a bit more modern, with heating, air conditioning, running water and reliable electricity.

As Rob Harris put it so well late last year on Spiked, let's ditch this nostalgia for mud.

This media whoring has to stop, now the kid's in on it

2008-01-17T14:14:00.000+02:00

From the Irish News, January 12th 2008:

More From The Belfast Press

2008-01-15T11:00:00.000+02:00

Belfast News Letter:

Daily Mirror:

Belfast's Mayor Just Loves Us!

2008-01-14T11:59:00.000+02:00

It's nice to be wanted. Here is Belfast City Council's press release of last week announcing the location of this year's In Your Pocket AGM...

Merry Christmas in 21 Languages

2007-12-20T09:40:00.000+02:00

But can anyone identify them all?

Dublin? Done.

2007-12-14T16:10:00.001+02:00

It's all done. It's at the printer. The first issue of Dublin In Your Pocket.

What's that? Can't wait until the ink's dry?

Go on then, get it here.

The Winners Are...

2007-12-14T14:05:00.000+02:00

Best Review - Martins Zaprauskis
(Alpenrose, Riga In Your Pocket):

"It’s like having dinner in the von Trapp’s summer cottage. Black and white photos of the Alps line the walls of this charming restaurant whose rustic interior is the perfect backdrop for a meal of fondue, raclette or delicious Bavarian sausages. Unfortunately the wait staff dressed in Heidi outfits meet queries about the cuisine the way Swiss bankers talk to the homeless. In case you’re not sure, Alpenrose is the medieval building with cows painted on the façade."

Best Cover - Poznan In Your Pocket

Pocket Person 2007 - Tomáš Haman

There's a short video of the Champagne being handed out on the In Your Pocket Staff Facebook Group.

Berlin In Your Pocket Video

2007-12-10T12:08:00.000+02:00

In Your Pocket founder Matthias Lufkens and I had a day to spare after the IYP get together in Berlin, so we zipped around the city with a toy-like video camera and no preparation and came up with this:

Berlin

2007-12-06T09:24:00.001+02:00

Le Tout In Your Pocket assembles in Berlin today for the annual jamboree that is our AGM. After a full day spent around the conference table tomorrow, all will head off to a restaurant for a good supper and the announcement of the winners of this year's Pocket competitions:

In Your Pocket Cover of the Year
In Your Pocket Review of the Year
In Your Pocket Person of the Year

There is no cash reward for the winners, just the recognition of his or her colleagues and a good bottle of champers.

I will let you know who wins next Monday. Now I have a plane to catch.

Bucharest In Your Pocket is 50

2007-11-28T14:12:00.001+02:00

Packed with stories funny and tragic (and some which are outright bizarre) of the early days at Bucharest's best city guide, from encounters with high class hookers to encounters with low class dogs, the latest issue of Bucharest In Your Pocket looks back at the first 49 issues, the first eight years of blood, sweat and dog bites.

You can download a PDF version here, or pick up a copy of the real thing in Bucharest from December 1st.

Capital Mistakes

2007-11-21T11:55:00.001+02:00

We may have lost Kaliningrad, but at least we didn't move Moscow, or any other capital city. Flybe did...

Airline Commits Capital Error

Rail travel: Now with added inconvenience

2007-11-15T09:44:00.000+02:00

News yesterday that Britain will be introducing baggage checks at railway stations as part of tough new anti-terror legislation should strike fear into the heart of every rail traveler. For while some are abandoning air travel in a misguided attempts to embrace environmentalism, others are abandoning the air because of the increasing amount of inconvenience air travel involves. Tighter security at airports all over Europe has made air travel (always stressful) a genuine pain in the rear. Asked to check-in earlier and earlier to ensure that we make it through security in time for our planes, many people are looking for hassle-free alternatives, and in some cases the train can provide one.

If the same nuisances that make air travel living hell however suddenly become an unwanted feature of train travel, then there will be no alternative other than jumping in the car and driving.

Or staying at home and going nowhere: The green lobby will be delighted.

The Offending Map

2007-10-19T09:13:00.001+02:00

Now, what did we do with Kaliningrad?

I have to admit that according to the map we published in our latest guides it does rather look as though the enclave that was once Königsberg has been flooded.

Something which many - though not us of course - would say greatly improves the place.

Kaliningrad... Gone...

2007-10-18T10:08:00.000+02:00

Oh dear. It appears we have caused something of an international incident...

We've lost Kaliningrad.

According to the Russian media, which has been bombarding us with phone calls this past week, those cheeky Lithuanians (that would be us) have finally gone and done what they always wanted to: wiped Kaliningrad off the map. That being our, In Your Pocket map as it appears in our print guides (download the latest Vilnius issue here to take a look).

Indeed, it does appear that our graphics team was a little over zealous in the 'delete bits of Russia' department, but given that several hundred islands off the coast of Croatia are also missing, as are some bits of the UK, not to mention a couple of German islands and a large portion of Albania we do not have room for... we think our Russian neighbours are over reacting.

Now, if we had shown Kaliningrad as part of Lithuania... that would have been a story.

Maybe we will do that in the next issue. Or maybe we will just put Kaliningrad back.

Until then you can be certain that we will be avoiding sushi.

London 'Pub Crawler' - Inspired by Vilnius?

2007-09-11T15:00:00.000+02:00


London	Vilnius

A pedal-powered beer bar as now plying the streets of London and, we suspect, it may have been inspired by a similar contraption that does the rounds in Vilnius each summer. The Evening Standard of London spills the beans on the Pub Crawler, including the fact that it was introduced to London by Luke Robertson after he saw a similar contraption "in the Baltics".

We suspect that Luke may have seen the Cycle-Beer Bar in Vilnius (and covered in Vilnius In Your Pocket some years ago). Top marks for ripping-off a top idea, Luke. Even more points for getting it through the maze of red tape that London City and British authorities must have tossed about. And, most of all, we hope you don't get any visits from Lithuanian heavies wishing to protect their intelekshul property.

100 Photo Tips in 100 Days

2007-09-11T10:10:00.001+02:00

Today is day one of a hundred during which 100 photography tips will be offered in 100 days at the Adorama website. Tip one suggests that you should look down. (Mopey, depressed loners can skip this tip because you're probably already following it.) Conversely, we'd like to suggest that you look up, especially if you are in Vilnius.

Oh - and, photo fans, don't forget that we're always on the lookout for top-notch photos for In Your Pocket covers. Details of how you can submit your pics are here.

Happy snapping!

The Times Loves Us...

2007-09-03T10:30:00.000+03:00

Having last month been named as one of the best 100 travel websites by The Times, on Saturday we were simply called "the best guides to Eastern Europe," in a survey of the best 'Alternative city guides and websites.'

You can see all our press clippings here.

AQ in NYT

2007-08-06T16:17:00.000+03:00

As he's too modest to post it himself... Here is a link to our very own Andrew Quested's article on Druskininkai that appeared in the NYT this weekend...

A former Soviet retreat grows up.

Europe's Best Airport

2007-07-24T09:47:00.000+03:00

Baia Mare airport in the north of Romania is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the world's busiest. One small plane from Bucharest lands each night at 10pm; it leaves for the Romanian capital again at 6am the next morning. That's it.

As a result, the staff have plenty of time on their hands. This could in most cases lead to negligence of duty, laziness, or worse. Not at Baia Mare.

In fact, given the level of personal service, I have decided to rate it Europe's best airport. I mean, where else do airport security staff look after your baby daughter while you pop off for a coffee? Where else do you receive hand written boarding passes?

Where else is your luggage carried to the plane by friendly, joking baggage handlers?

All airports should be like this.

Minsk In Your Pocket out now

2007-07-12T16:11:00.000+03:00

A spanking-fresh Minsk In Your Pocket is now available. You can spy online, or download your very own Minsk In Your Pocket PDF (5.6Mb) so you can print it out and read it on the bus, on the toilet, or when you're supposed to be reading the latest memo-missive from the boss or whatever.

We are especially proud of the fact that we bothered to create a map that has street names in English, Russian and Belarusian - possibly making it the only map to Minsk with which you won't get repeatedly and irrevocably lost. Or at least not so often, anyway. Of course you'll need to download the Minsk In Your Pocket PDF (5.6Mb) to see the map.

Those of you who have been to Minsk, or will be going, might like to remember that you can add comments to the listings on our website. So you can share your Minsk experience with other IYP readers.

O Gore, deliver us from evil

2007-07-06T11:27:00.000+03:00

Essential anti-hot air reading ahead of the Live Earth concerts tomorrow. It's all on Spiked.

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/issues/C113/

Read by all the right people in all the right places

2007-07-04T09:33:00.001+03:00

Miss Belfast Rebecca Hughes - from the Style Academy model agency - reading her favourite city guide in the newly-revamped £500,000 public loos at Belfast's Winetavern Street.

Pic courtesy Belfast City Council. More from Belfast In Your Pocket here.

We Are Two

2007-06-25T14:27:00.000+03:00

Photos from Belfast In Your Pocket's second birthday bash...

Belfast's Lord Mayor Jim Rodgers is presented with a framed cover of the second anniversary issue by publishers Heidi McAlpin and Sinead Faulkner.

Belfast In Your Pocket second birthday party guests set on their bus tour of the city.

Belfast In Your Pocket's Heidi McAlpin and Sinead Faulkner with Childline NI's Corporate Fundraising Manager Leona McEvoy

Heidi and Sinead with the Kopparberg Premium Cider girls.

Radisson SAS's Lisa Scott with Sinead Faulkner.

Belfast In Your Pocket Managing Editor Heidi McAlpin presents BBC Radio Ulster's Alan Simpson with a framed photo of the H&W cranes won at the auction.

In Your Pocket on Radio Ulster

2007-06-25T14:03:00.000+03:00

As part of the celebrations for Belfast In Your Pocket's second birthday, founder Heidi McAlpin along with Martin Kitson and myself were invited onto the Alan Simpson show last week on BBC Radio Ulster.

You can listen to our mumblings here:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

We look good on Radio.

Putting Albania on the Map

2007-06-13T09:41:00.001+03:00

George Bush - though it cost him his watch - might well like to think that he put Albania on the map this week, with his historic visit to Tirana.

In Your Pocket begs to differ. We've been publishing city guides in this terrific Adriatic country for more than seven years. You can download the latest issue of Tirana In Your Pocket here, while we also have Shkodra In Your Pocket for you too. By the end of the summer Korca, another wonderful Albanian town, will also be getting the Pocket treatment.

For some further reading on Albania, follow the Economist's Albania Diary all this week.

What do you think?

2007-05-31T12:51:00.000+03:00

You no longer have to take our word for it... users of www.inyourpocket.com can now make comments on the places they eat at, drink in, or on the hotels in which they stay. Just fill out the comments form found below every venue on our extensive site, and let us know what you think.

Comments will be moderated...

Romania's Poor Deserve Better Than This

2007-05-18T14:18:00.000+03:00

First off, read the article, which appeared in the Guardian (where else) last week:

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2007/may/12/saturday.romania

Then tell me, have you ever read a more condescending, patronising and downright insulting article in your life?

A couple of choice quotes:

'Not much happens in the village. Depending on the season, most people are in the fields tilling or harvesting small plots of hay, oats and potatoes with horse-drawn implements handed down through generations. The most common form of transport is the horse and cart, designed to carry crops, logs, people, sheep, tools, and pretty much anything else that needs to be moved.'

'One English visitor who had a room to himself is Prince Charles, an enthusiastic patron of the trust who has bought a property in the village to be donated as a guesthouse. Following one of his visits, he wrote: "The area represents a lost past for most of us - a past in which villages were intimately linked to their landscape."'

What the area in fact represents is pitiful poverty. Most of the old Saxon villages of Southern Transylvania lack almost every basic amenity that we take for granted: running water, sewerage, reliable electricity, telephones, paved roads, good schools, public transport... the list is endless. The reason that such a past has been lost for 'us' is because we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to drag ourselves out of such poverty and move on. For reasons many (war and communism being just two) much of Romania has not had this opportunity, until now.

Alas for Romanians, groups like the Mihai Eminescu Trust have plans for them that do not involve sewerage, running water, paved roads; indeed, anything that may involve growth, and development, is a no-no:

'Patrick Holden of the Soil Association, a patron of the Mihai Eminescu Trust, suggests the old Saxon ways of Transylvania could be a model for the development of green agriculture throughout Europe.'

Notice that Patrick Holden is not a local. Patrick Holden (nor the author of the article, Gavin Bell) does not live in a house that lacks running water. I doubt he has to make do with a horse and cart either. Most Romanians in the region are not so lucky.

The irony of this is that people like Holden and Bell (no doubt both from very comfortable backgrounds) can take such a mystical view of poor rural villages precisely because of the development they now want to desperately prevent taking place in Southern Transylvania.

The realisation that the 'happy peasants' whose lifestyles they now seek to preserve may actually not particularly enjoy subsistence farming has yet to hit them...

That's Rough

2007-05-14T13:49:00.000+03:00

I have attacked the anti-travel, anti-human environmental lobby on this blog before, but it has to be said that while their motives maybe sinister and their means illiberal, the environmentalists do at least have convictions, which they firmly believe in: human beings are evil and the planet must come first. Right or wrong, that's their opinion and few would deny their right to it (even though climate-change deniers such as myself would be the first up against the wall in a world led by them...)

Last week however the budget airlines that attract so much wrath from the environmentalists were attacked from another angle: the travel industry. Mark Ellingham, the founder of the Rough Guides series, called for an end to 'binge flying' and for 'green levies to be placed on overseas plane trips.'

Ellingham wants no less than a £100 green tax on all European flights, and a £200 tax on long-haul flights. He said "If there was just one thing I could change it would be to stop this new British obsession with binge flying. We now live in a society where, if people have nothing to do on a Saturday night, they fly to Budapest for 48 hours."

The devil is in the last sentence. Ellingham's worries may on the surface be about saving the environment, but they also betray a disdain for the kind of people who fly to Budapest for 48 hours. This middle-class student, backpacker travel snobbism, which turns its nose up at people who go abroad and - shock horror - stay in nice chain hotels, drink imported beer, eat in McDonalds and generally neglect the culture of the places they visit, is fashionable in travel writer circles.

Well, not at In Your Pocket. We think that any society that is egalitarian enough to facilitate almost anybody access to cheap air travel is a successful one. That people can quite literally go to Budapest if they have nothing to do is wonderful. Quite how stopping people doing so would make the world a better place is difficult to comprehend.

It seems doubly ironic that the people of Central and Eastern Europe - discovering cheap travel after decades locked behind the Iron Curtain - are now taking part in an activity that some very comfortable people in Western Europe consider beyond contempt.

Keep flying.

Keep offsetting the offsets.

In Your Pocket in Tourism Review

2007-05-03T10:15:00.000+03:00

Belfast In Your Pocket editor Heidi McAlpin gave an interview to the March 2007 issue of influential trade magazine Tourism Review. Download the interview in PDF format here.

The World's 50 Best Restauarants...

2007-04-26T13:03:00.000+02:00

None of the 50 places listed this year (see the full list here) are located in current Pocket cities. However, Enoteca Pinchiorri, in Florence (a city in which we once published, many moons ago), is at number 41.

Back in the Feb-Mar 2002 issue of Florence In Your Pocket your correspondent (for it was I) wrote of Enoteca:

With two Michelin stars and a legendary wine cellar, L'Enoteca Pinchiorri is considered by the cogniscenti the finest restaurant in Italy. The restaurant is housed in a Renaissance Palazzo, with splendid entranceway, a scented courtyard, and a series of elegant dining rooms. Absolutely a must in Italian fine dining.

It is no longer the finest restaurant in Italy. Upstart Gambero Rosso (in San Vincenzo) now takes that crown...

Cover Shots Wanted!

2007-04-11T14:48:00.000+02:00

Fancy seeing your photos on the cover of a future issue of an In Your Pocket? Here's your chance.

We will soon be launching a new module on our site www.inyourpocket.com allowing our readers to upload their best shots of Pocket cities. The best of the month will go on a cover of In Your Pocket and will win some coveted In Your Pocket-branded merchandise.

To see what kind of standard we require, take a look at our cover gallery at Flickr.

IYP Experts in The Guardian

2007-04-02T11:26:00.000+02:00

Belfast In Your Pocket's Heidi McAlpin was this weekend called upon in her capacity as Northern Ireland travel expert capacity to provide the Guardian with tips on Belfast's Great Outdoors...

The full article is here.

In Your Pocket Mums....

2007-03-30T13:45:00.000+02:00

Read about the adventures of In Your Pocket's mumtrepreneurs, as reported in the Belfast Telegraph, right here.

15 years of In Your Pocket

2007-03-19T13:26:00.000+02:00

In May, In Your Pocket will be 15 years old. The first Vilnius In Your Pocket was launched in May, 1992.

The next Vilnius In Your Pocket, due to be released in early April and covering both April and May, will carry a feature looking back at the 15 years. As a part of that, we'll re-print some of the classic reviews and letters that we've received from our readers. (Like the reviews, not all the letters are positive - but we print them anyway.) There will also be covers from some of the old In Your Pocket guides so you can see how things have changed over the years.

You can also get involved - add your comments and quips to this post and we may run them as a part of the 15th Anniversary feature. What was your favourite review? Can you remember the fist time you found In Your Pocket? What would you like to see in future In Your Pockets? We welcome all comments, congratulations, complaints and interesting In Your Pocket anecdotes.

We'll send a copy of the next Vilnius In Your Pocket to anyone whose contributions are printed. (If you don't want to add a comment to the blog with your email address, send it to vilnius@inyourpocket.com.)

Looking forward to hearing from you.

The new-look inyourpocket.com

2007-03-02T10:35:00.000+02:00

So, after months of intensive labour and nights so late and long that our children must have almost forgotten who we are, on Monday this week we launched our new-look website. Comments on it are welcome.

Designed to offer the web user a better navigation experience, and the advertiser a higher impact product, the new look is just the first of many innovations inyourpocket.com will be carrying out this year.

For the first time, and uniquely in travel publishing, we are offering free, PDF versions of our full city guides. They can be downloaded here, alongside our existing range of mini- Instant Guides, of which more than two million have been downloaded since we began publishing them in 2000. Look out soon for videos and podcasts.

Our next project is the revolutionary In My Pocket, which will allow users to create and publish their own content. Sign up here to be one of the first to beta test the project.

We're updating Minsk In Your Pocket

2007-02-23T16:56:00.001+02:00

Minsk Library
Originally uploaded by Kritta.

I've just returned from the capital of the... a-herm... 'Republic' ... of Belarus. Yes, we're updating Minsk In Your Pocket, and it seems there's plenty of change over there on the other side of the linen curtain. The building you see here, for example, was only recently completed - it's the new National Library. It was paid for by various contributors including schoolchildren and Saddam Hussein. Other new bits include an Irish Pub where they serve Australian beer, and a new yet-to-be-opened hotel that seems to have been decorated by someone who used to work on 1960s James Bond films. There's also a railway system operated by and for children. Yep, it's a wacky kind of place, and we look forward to sharing its many interesting facets with you in the next Minsk In Your Pocket.

Coincidences

2007-02-20T10:21:00.000+02:00

It is said that imitation is a form of flattery, so we at In Your Pocket have become somewhat philosophical about the ever-increasing number of lesser companies who blatantly steal and re-use our content. The internet - as wonderful as it is - has made it so easy for people to copy and paste our reviews, features and even contact details (complete with mistakes, usually) that is difficult to keep track of them all.

Fortunately there are now tools available to publishers that make finding the culprits just as easy, and with a good legal team behind us we can in most cases nip any copyright theft in the bud before it becomes a serious problem.

In the past we have successfully taken action against a number of publishers, from Mickey Mouse outfits such as Bucharest Cream of the Crop (a guide to the Romanian capital whose very name was stolen from our guides!) to major international publishers such as Le Petit Fute (one of whose writers back in 1999 stole vast swathes of text from one of our guides).

Less easy are dealing with the 'moral thieves,' who are clever enough to rewrite the content they steal in order to prevent legal action. Such moral theft is common in the travel publishing industry, where armchair travel writers abound. Many of us old timers long for the pre-internet days, when being a travel writer meant actually having to do some traveling.

Now, putting to one side all talk of plagiarism and moral theft, I would like to bring to your attention some coincidences.

A travel-publishing start-up, Fastcheck Arrival Guides, recently began offering PDF guides for download on the internet. We were flattered, having been the first company to offer such guides, back in 2000.

Browsing a couple of the Arrival Guides, and being familiar with our own content, I was amazed by the coincidences that occur. For example, the Arrival Guide review of Deja-vu, a popular cocktail bar in Bucharest, reads:

"Order Deja-vu's most exotic cocktail to make the most of the extensive drinks menu. If you're feeling risque a Russian barmaid will obligingly squeeze lemon into your mouth with her teeth, to accompany whichever concoction you choose."

The Bucharest In Your Pocket review of Deja-vu reads:

"Not a place for a quiet night out. This is the best cocktail bar in Bucharest, with the best bar staff this side of the River Prut. They serve a few cocktails here involving fire, as well as a few which involve wearing a World War II Russian army helmet. They also serve at least one which involves a young Russian girl squeezing lemon into your mouth with her teeth. At weekends it is packed and the small dancefloor is the sweatiest place in Bucharest. The music is as bizarre but enjoyable as the drinks."

What makes this such a coincidence is that the 'Russian' girl in question is not actually Russian - the reviewer from Bucharest In Your Pocket made a mistake. It really is incredible that the Arrival Guides reviewer made the same mistake! Still, innocent coincidences do happen...

Take a look at the Arrival Guides write-up for the Bucharest metro:

"Bucharest's metro has four lines and 45 stations..."

A previous (now corrected) entry for the Bucharest metro in Bucharest In Your Pocket also claimed that:

"The metro now has four lines and 45 stations..."

What is incredible here is that the Bucharest metro has 39 stations... What a coincidence! Both the Bucharest In Your Pocket writer and the Arrival Guides writer have similar arithmetic issues, miscounting 39 as 45. Really quite spooky.

Oh, here's another one.

Arrival Guides:

"Bucharest's Triumphal Arch remembers Romania's Great War and its reunification in 1918."

Bucharest In Your Pocket:

"Raised in 1922 to commemorate Romania's Great War dead..."

What's strange about this is that only Britons use the phrase Great War, and on the evidence of the rest of the guide, the Arrival Guide to Bucharest was not written by a Briton.

I could go on. Arrival Guides are full of such crazy little coincidences.

Coincidences. Nothing more, nothing less, and I would never suggest otherwise.

Keep checking back for more.

IYP Writer Jeroen van Marle in The Guardian

2007-02-12T11:25:00.000+02:00

Paris-Stuttgart - now 6hrs; from June 3hrs 50.

It hits you as soon as you emerge from the cavernous Hauptbahnhof. There on the roof, a massive three-pointed Mercedes badge revolves against the skyline: welcome to Germany's Motor City, birthplace of the car industry, home of Daimler, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. The next thing you'll notice, however, is not blocks of brutalist factories, but a city defined by its museums (admittedly, two are for Porsche and Mercedes), pristine parklands, leafy hillsides and neighbouring vineyards. And also the rewards for all this industry: smart shops, weinstubes and restaurants.

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg (think Black Forest, wooded hills) and is Germany's third largest metropolitan area, but feels more village-like than Berlin and Munich, with districts spread over several cosy valleys.

The historical centre, partly reconstructed after the war, is a few hundred metres south of the station along Königstrasse, the pedestrianised main shopping street. The tangle of streets and squares around here are nice enough to wander through, but just across busy Holzstrasse lies the Bohnenviertel (Bean Quarter), which is Stuttgart's prettiest and oldest surviving district, built outside the city walls in the 14th century for the town's craftsmen, wine growers and Jewish community and named after the staple food grown in the gardens at the time.

Stuttgart is at the centre of a wine region and it's possible to do vineyard walks in the hills immediately around the city centre. If you're feeling lazy, though, sample some of the local rieslings in the Ratskeller, below the city hall at Marktplatz 1, where you can also try authentic regional Schwabian food including the ravioli-like maultaschen. The Alte Kanzlei at Schillerplatz 5a serves everything from late breakfasts to salads and steaks.

Once you've refuelled, hit the bars on Theodor-Heuss-Strasse and the surrounding streets such as Mezzanin (Bolzstrasse 8b) and Scholz (Marktplatz 12). The younger, wilder crowd is to be found in Bar Waranga (Kleiner Schlossplatz) with its fantastic interior design. Even hipper is the hotel Der Zauberlehrling (Rosenstrasse 38, zauberlehrling.de, from €145), which translates as The Magician's Apprentice. Whatever gets your motor running.

Jeroen van Marle
Editor of Stuttgart In Your Pocket

New In Your Pocket guides available

2007-02-02T16:12:00.000+02:00

The latest issues of In Your Pocket are hitting the streets as I hit the keys to type this sentence. (Or at least they should be.) If you're living or travelling in any of the cities covered by our bi-monthly guides you'll be able to nip out and grab a copy to ensure you're up to date with the latest list of cultural and seasonal events, as well as new cafes, bars, restaurants, pubs, clubs, tourist attractions, and so on.

No matter where you are, you can get the latest copies with the Click And Buy feature on our website, otherwise known as an online store.

Plane Stupid

2007-01-16T15:06:00.000+02:00

Strictly on the premise of 'know your enemy,' I recommend taking a look at this site, the work of a ragged band of student, liberal types who see human development and progress as a bad thing.

Amongst their more crackpot proposals are a ban on all short-haul flights operated by budget airlines, which they claim are a 'perk of the rich.'

We at In Your Pocket love flying, love travelling and frankly agree with Josie Appleton, who today writes on Spiked! that 'life's too short to be carbon neutral.'

Hand-drawn travel guides

2007-01-08T10:35:00.000+02:00

At In Your Pocket, we love to tell you where to go. And we reckon we're pretty good at it. Here, however, is another take on the guide book idea. Photographer Ami Sioux has created guide books that combine photography with hand-drawn maps. She asks people with pencils (and the cartographic prowess of goats, by the look of it) to draw a map that shows how to get to some place with a nice view. And then she goes there and photographs the view. She's done books on Berlin, London, Paris, New York and, most recently, Reykjavik.

It's all very charming, but probably not very practical and more likely to get you lost than get you to some nice sightseeing place. This, therefore, is a picture book, not a guide book. For guide books, we find proper maps, with grid references, work quite nicely.

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