For immediate release

MILTON,VT - March 26, 2008 - Adirondack Towels and Scrubs, a national supplier to the hospitality industry, announces their selection of the most outrageous travel stories of winter 2008.

Adirondack Towels and Scrubs keeps their customers up to date on important industry developments with daily news links posted on their web site's home page as well as weekly newsletters sent via email. Every 3 months the company issues their most outrageous travel stories for the previous quarter.

This quarter's most outrageous travels stories are:

“Slave for a Day” Theme Park Planned
An American couple, Ron and Carla Bluntschli, announced plans to build a theme park where visitors can play the role of slaves. Visitors to Memory Village will be bound and tortured at a resort in Haiti, which was a slave nation before becoming the world's first black republic. Tourists would play the part of slaves for 12 hours, during which they would experience and better understand the hardship endured by slaves over 200 years ago. Participants will be given traditional African clothing and then 'kidnapped', chained and forced to march to a slave ship. They would endure a mock crossing of the Atlantic after which they would be taken to a slave market, sold, and put to work on a plantation. At the end of the experience, they would take part in a recreation of history’s only successful slave rebellion which eventually led to the establishment of Haiti in 1804. The couple, who have lived in Haiti for 22 years, have set up a foundation to get Memory Village off the ground and have already raised enough money to buy half the land they need.
 
Travelers Riot at Argentine Airport
Stranded passengers at Buenos Aires' Ezeiza airport rioted in early January, attacking airline ticket counters, throwing computers and shoving security guards because of delayed and canceled flights. The dispute centered on Aerolineas Argentinas, which attributed its flight problems to a "labor conflict" with its unions for both pilots and ground workers. Union officials say, however, the problems were caused by overbooking. The disruptions and passenger frustration began onm Thursday, January 10. By that Saturday, Aerolineas Argentinas passengers had reached their limit. They began smashing ticket counters and throwing objects at airline staff. Ticket counters were damaged in the main hall of the Aerolineas Argentinas terminal. Airline workers abandoned their counters, and flights were canceled after a check-in agent was allegedly assaulted by a passenger. ”There’s no one from the company, no one is showing their face or telling us when we're going to fly. We're stranded with children and the elderly," said one woman whose flight to Venezuela was canceled. Delays and cancellations spilled into a fourth day, but by then order had mostly been restored thanks to police reinforcements. About 5,000 fliers in all were affected.
 
Eyeball Delivered to Hotel Guest
An eyeball being transported within Australia to a hospital for transplant was instead delivered to a shocked hotel guest. The organ, sent from Queensland to Hobart in January, was packed in a foam box marked ``Live human organs for transplant'. The box was mistakenly delivered by an unwitting taxi driver. The hotel guest received and signed for the delivery in the middle of the night. "I thought this is just too weird. I went and put it in the fridge because I didn't know what else to do with it. It was more than a little disconcerting,” he later said. The agitated guest brought the package to the reception desk the next morning. A courier arrived shortly after and took the package away. An Australian Air Express spokeswoman confirmed a "failure in an internal handover process,'' which means the taxi driver was given the wrong package to deliver. She said the company sincerely regretted the incident, saying, “As soon as we discovered the error we quickly rectified that and delivered the consignment within the appropriate timeframe.'' Queensland Health spokeswoman Penny Geraghty added that the tissue from the eye was recovered and successfully transferred to the patient. "Nobody missed their operation. The tissue wasn't compromised,'' she said.
 
Get Interrogated at a Soviet-Era Theme Park
Don’t expect lush accommodations at this theme park in Lithuania. Visitors to Grutas Park get an idea of the harsh life under Soviet rule and the brutal Gulag system. Visitors journey back to 1984 and experience KGB interrogations and even belt whippings inside a bunker located in the woods. Organizers call it Gulag Tourism, and they believe visiting the park can be therapeutic. “There are still many in Lithuania who are sick with Soviet nostalgia," says one organizer, "so we've started this show to help them recover." After an amiable introduction, visitors are quickly transported back 25 years. They’re ordered to stop smiling or thinking and are chased through an elaborate labyrinth of corridors. The smallest infraction can bring about a violent encounter with angry KGB agents. The experience lasts two hours and costs about $50. The park can serve as an interesting history lesson for younger visitors. "It was scary indeed the way they treated people," said a young woman who had visited the park. "And people didn't know what to do. They would do whatever they want with people and that was frightening."
 
Racy Soap Opera Upsets Thai Air Crews
Female flight attendants in Thailand demanded the government remove a steamy new soap opera from television schedules after just three episodes because they say it demeans their profession. “The Air Hostess War” shows flight attendants scheming for the affections of a suave and handsome married airline captain, who embarks on an affair with one of the women. Angry cabin staff say the love triangle portrayed in the show, which leads to fighting in the aisles and scenes of passionate sex on stopovers, bears no relation to real life and portrays them in a bad light. "This soap opera is insulting and damaging to the reputation of flight attendants," says Noppadol Thaungthong, a Thai Airways cabin crew member. "It's all about sex and air hostesses beating each other up in the cabin because of love and jealousy. This kind of thing never happens." Somsak Srinual,acting president of the Thai Airways labor union, says, “People will be afraid to fly with us if they see these scenes with flight attendants slapping each other.
 
Live Rocket Found in Museum
A rocket on display for two years at a veterans' museum in Maryland was discovered to be live on January 23. It was quickly rendered safe and removed. The Allegany County's Combined County Criminal Investigations unit and the State Fire Marshal's Office said the ordnance was on display at the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 172. The ordnance was a 48 inch by 2.75 inch Mark 1 Rocket similar to those used on helicopter gun ships during the Vietnam War. The rocket was donated to the museum at the chapter building by a local Vietnam veteran about two years ago. Allegany County law enforcers were notified that the rocket might be live, so bomb squad officers from the fire marshal's office and the FBI went to the museum to examine it. Technicians then rendered it safe.
 
Co-Pilot Handcuffed on Flight after Mental Breakdown
The co-pilot on an Air Canada flight from Toronto to London on January 28 had to be forcibly removed from the cockpit after suffering a mental breakdown. The first officer began shouting, crying and "invoking God" while at the controls of the Boeing 767, and was restrained by other crew members and a passenger who was an off-duty member of the Canadian armed forces. The man had his wrists and ankles bound in front of stunned passengers. He was then handcuffed to a seat. The plane was diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland. Sean Finucane, a passenger on the flight, said the co-pilot "just wanted to talk to God", adding: "He was yelling loudly but didn’t sound intoxicated. When they tried to put his shoes on later, he swore and threatened people. He was very, very distressed." According to the airline’s regulations, the pilot, flying solo, had to wear an oxygen mask for the remainder of the flight. The 149 passengers were taken to nearby hotels while a replacement crew was flown in.
 
German Travel Firm Offers Naked Flights
A German travel agent has come up with the ultimate in no-frills flying - a charter flight for passengers who want to fly naked. Naturist holidays are particularly popular among east Germans, who like nothing better than to stretch out on a naked beach. "The flight can be enjoyed as God intended," says OssiUrlaub, a company specializing in selling vacations to travelers from the former east. Enrico Hess, head of OssiUrlaub, said his business plan was inspired by the enthusiasm for naturist holiday breaks back in the days of communism. The chartered plane will fly from the city of Erfurt to the Baltic island of Usedom, returning on the same day. All passengers must board and exit the plane clothed, but will be able to get undressed aboard the flight. Pilots and cabin crew will remain clothed "for security reasons".

The Versace Murder Tour
It's become common for tourists in South Miami to stop in front of the former Versace mansion to take a picture. Tour operator Diego Caiola believes visitors want to know more about the life and death of Gianni Versace, so he's created the Versace Murder Tour. The two-hour walking tour of South Beach focuses on the fashion designer's life and 1997 murder on the front steps of his oceanfront mansion. The tour begins at the Ocean Drive cafe where Versace often hung out and ends at the parking garage where Andrew Cunanan planned to steal a car before hearing police sirens. Some residents of South Beach, however, cringe at the thought of a Versace Murder Tour. One of them, Dona Zemo, says, “I'd never do that. What a horrible idea!.” But Caiola insists he only has good intentions, saying, “I look up to Versace.'' Caiola says he met the designer in 1990 while working as a 15-year-old attendant at the Fontainebleau Hotel, where Versace's family stayed. ``He worked his way up from the bottom and made it to the top.” One area visitor, Brittany Cohen, says, “''It would definitely be something I'm interested in. I want to know about the lifestyle he led in Miami Beach and the back story of his life.”
 
Asian Investors Plan “Casino in the Sky”
European plane manufacturer Airbus said they are in talks with casino operators over the possibility of converting a Super Jumbo A380, the world’s biggest plane, into a flying casino. "We have had interests from customers who would like to do something like (casinos)," said David Velupillai, marketing director for Airbus's executive and private aviation division. "We had discussions with several customers about it." Francois Chazelle, who heads the Airbus executive and private aviation division, has said that discussions are “now looking a lot more concrete”. If discussions are successful, the flying casino could be delivered between 2012 and 2017 and would target the Asian market. Despite gambling booming in Asia, the activity is largely curbed throughout the region. However, with the casino being in the sky so to speak, there's a legal loophole that could be circumnavigated.
 
Frat Boys Arrested for Trashing Super 8 Rooms
Apparently it’s not just rock stars who like to trash hotel rooms. Nine pledges of the Delta Chi Fraternity at the University of Colorado were arrested on February 17 for allegedly trashing two Super 8 motel rooms. Police found a 3 foot hole in one wall, ceiling fans pulled down, phones smashed into pieces, broken furniture, blood and vomit splattered around the rooms, and a coffee pot filled with urine. Bottles of liquor and a keg of 'Keystone Light' beer were also found. The freshmen pledges were dropped off at the motel by "older fraternity members and told to get to know each other," according to the police report. The pledges were charged with felony criminal mischief and underage drinking. Delta Chi's national headquarters has suspended the fraternity's University of Colorado chapter pending an internal investigation.
 
Leap Day Snafu Delays United’s Check-Ins
February 29, was a problem for passengers using United Airlines' "Easy Check-in" system. The Chicago-based carrier blamed the service interruption on software problems caused by this year’s leap day. The nation's No. 2 airline said the date fouled software that allows passengers to check in at airports, although online check-ins and traditional agent-assistance were not affected. Other carriers reported no problems with the leap day. United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said customers couldn't get Easy Check-In kiosks to confirm they had been checked in or print out their boarding passes for several hours. According to United, the problem was fixed by 10:55 a.m. and they apologized to customers for any inconvenience. McCarthy said no flights were delayed because of the problem, and added that United didn't have any problems with their software on February 29, 2004.
 
NYC Pub Bans “Danny Boy”
“The pipes, the pipes” weren’t calling at one New York City Irish pub for St. Patrick’s Day. In fact they banned the song "Danny Boy" for the entire month of March. Foley's Pub owner, Shaun Clancy, says he gave Danny Boy the boot because the song is too depressing and is more suited to a funeral. On top of that, its lyrics were written by an Englishman who never set foot on Irish soil. English lawyer Frederick Edward Weatherly composed the song's lyrics in 1910 based on an Irish song his sister-in law sent him titled "The Derry Air". One pub near Detroit, however, took a different tack. A.J. O'Neill, owner of AJ's Café, hosted a nonstop Danny Boy marathon from Saturday afternoon through Monday.