You don’t have to be an expert to see that the current economic crisis is affecting tourism in Europe. What is amounting to a disaster for merchants, hotels and airlines is a pleasant surprise for tourists who are finding traveling conditions better than recent years.
Most of my European travels take place between September and May. I rarely fight the high-season summer tourist crowds. But I just sent my niece across to Europe with a Eurailpass to backpack across the continent like I once did.
None other than Queen Elizabeth II came calling on Heathrow Airport’s gleaming new Terminal 5 last Friday — a first step toward reviving the dingy, overcrowded facilities at the world’s busiest international airport.
U.S. security officials are at odds with some of their European counterparts over a disputed U.S. visa-waiver program that would allow Washington to negotiate with individual countries on some matters while dealing with the 27-nation bloc as a whole on others.