baghdad

Luxurious Weddings up in Baghdad

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Events

There are many ways to measure progress in Iraq. Most of them tend to involve unpleasant and horrifying metrics, with the goal to keep them as low as possible. But, every now and then, it's possible to find something to celebrate. These days, it's an increase in upscale Iraqi weddings. More than mere nuptials, the country has seen a spike in elaborate and well attended ceremonies.

During the week following Ramadan, a holiday called Eid al-Fitr, approximately 630 couples tied the knot in Baghdad's six most luxurious hotels, according to the Tourism and Antiques Ministry. This rivals the number of weddings at these hotels conducted in both July and August.

In past years, the high volume of weddings, particularly during Eid, wouldn't have been possible, as potential celebrants would have feared insurgent attacks, suicide bombers and other threats to safety. Though precise data isn't available, September is estimated to be the busiest wedding month since the war began in 2003.

Tags: baghdad, celebrate, celebration, celebrations, eid al-fitr, EidAl-fitr, iraq, iraq war, IraqWar, nuptials, ramadan, wedding, weddings

Austria, Switzerland Top World's Best Places to Live

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

vienna Europe – the same corner of Europe, actually – claims the first three spots in Mercer Consulting's annual Quality of Living Survey. Vienna, Austria and Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland lead the list, followed by Vancouver, Canada and Auckland, New Zealand in a tie for fourth.

Little has changed for the top half of the top 10. Last year, Zurich nabbed the top spot, and Vienna and Geneva shared the #2 spot. Vancouver is unchanged year-over-year, and Auckland's #5 finish last year is roughly the same as its tie for fourth in 2009.

Not only are the top places to live ostensibly enjoyable, you're more likely to be there for a while. Life expectancies in these cities start at 79 years. It's better than living a nice long life in a dump, I guess.

The United States doesn't appear until the bottom of the top 30, with Honolulu and San Francisco. From Asia, only Singapore picks up a spot in the world's 30 best places to live. South America and Africa are not represented at all. It's strange, I half-expected to see Mogadishu on this list.

Of the 215 places listed, Baghdad has the distinction of finishing last. Sometimes, common sense prevails.

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Tags: africa, asia, auckland, austria, baghdad, california, canada, geneva, geneva switzerland, genevaswitzerland, hawaii, honolulu, iraq, iraq war, IraqWar, mogadishu, new zealand, newzealand, san francisco, SanFrancisco, singapore, somalia, south america, SouthAmerica, switzerland, vancouver, vienna, vienna austria, viennaaustria, zurich, zurichswitzerland

The Iraq National Museum Reopens

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

After a nearly six year wait, Iraq's National Museum has reopened. The museum which was rich in antiquities, many illustrating the long history of the region, was grievously plundered. Thousands of antiquities were looted and vandalized and only about a quarter of them have been retrieved. Around 15,000 artifacts and antiquities were stolen in the aftermath of the 2003 ousting of Saddam Hussein and around 7,000 of them are still missing. The push to open the museum is part of Baghdad's push to return toward normalcy. According to the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad some locals think this move is coming too quickly, before the museum's collection has been properly cataloged or displayed.

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Tags: art, baghdad, iraq, museum

New Five-Star Hotel Planned For Baghdad

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Back in May I wrote about the plans to create an international village inside the U.S. embassy complex in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. Now a new five-star hotel is planned for the Green Zone. Rotana Hotels has signed an agreement with Summit Hotels to manage a five-star hotel that will open in early 2012. The new Rotana property will have 250 rooms and suites, Club Rotana Executive floors, several restaurants and bars, banqueting and conference facilities, a fitness club and a swimming pool. Rotana is a Middle Eastern brand based in the United Arab Emirates with a wide variety of properties across the Middle East.

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Tags: baghdad, five-star hotel, Five-starHotel, hotels, rotana

The Ambitious Plan For Baghdad Development

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Will Baghdad be reborn as a tourist destination? That's the dream of some developers who plan to create an international village inside the U.S. embassy complex in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. ABC News reports that the U.S. military is pushing a five-year, $5 billion development plan to turn Baghdad's Green Zone into an area with a shopping center, condos and a soccer stadium. Navy Capt. Thomas Karnowski says a deal already has been completed for Marriott to build a hotel in the Green Zone.

Obviously a lot needs to be done, Baghdad's infrastructure is in serious disrepair. There are also some significant questions as to land ownership as well as worries over who decides what businesses in are allowed to come in to the area. And as you might imagine, the issue of security is a huge concern. Certainly there is so much work to do that a five year trajectory doesn't seem like nearly enough time.

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Tags: baghdad, development, tourism