Finding it harder to find useful information from American carriers, but info from EU carriers as follows…
AirFrance announcing partial reopening and plans for flights starting 20th. BA, latest news on flights tomorrow. KLM also resuming some flights on 20th.
Lufthansa posting schedules. Currently listing a fLight from ATL tonight. Delta’s number to call 1-800-707-5177.
BBC reporting: Lufthansa grants permission for 50 planes to fly back to Germany, Northern England/Scotland airspace to reopen Tuesday 7am.
British Royal Navy developing plans to return Britons home.
Offer of hotel $75 USD per night, I just spoke with the owner of the hotel, they can accomodate 40 people (with different room types) http://www.thelighthousemotel.com/lighthouse_002.htm
Central resource for people stuck in Atlanta as a result of the Volcano.
Updated review of European Airports and their flight status w.r.t to closure, partial opening, next review.
For British nationals (apologies, I am a British National), the Guardian is reporting FCO advisory. And the consulate in Atlanta is 133 Peachtree Street Northeast Atlanta, GA 30303-1808 (404) 954-7700 …
Other consulates as i could find them:
German Consulate in Atlanta 285 Peachtree Center Avenue Northeast Atlanta, GA 30303-1221
French Consulate is here.
I read in my “EU handbook” that if there was not one for your country in a place you were in, then you were supposed to be able to seek assistance (what ever that means) from another EU country’s consulate/embassy.
Hi,
For those of you stuck in Atlanta after CHI and thanks to a volcano, here are some suggestions. I am sure that comments would be welcome to this post.
You’ve been in Downtown, conventioner center… great if you want that, but at this point you probably would like a change of pace. I can recommend midtown. There are several hotels, the Georgia Tech hotel, the Palomar, The Hotel Midtown, and the Regency Suites. The Suites may be a bit cheaper, it also has kitchenettes.
Food. Hotel food does get boring after a while. If you have wheels then there’s Whole Foods on Ponce, epicentre for prepared healthy organic foods. Of course they are expensive. But probably not as terrible as hotel prices.
The two main grocery stores in the area are Publix and Kroger. Both offer fine sushi, and a selection of things that are prepared, sandwiches for example. There are also some salad and health oriented restaurants in Midtown. Fresh 2 Order is one, Tin Drum is also right by TSRB (where the GVU tours were and is cheap and tasty Asian food).
From the midtown area, several other walking options present themselves. You can walk towards Piedmont Park and along 10th until you hit Monroe, a t-junction. Turing south you head towards a strip mall, not very pleasant you might say, but there are a number of restaurants in there that I enjoy (and one that I want to try, MetroFresh) also pitched as a healthy eat out option. Sorry, perhaps the over focus on non-restaurant food is overkill, I just know I always have a hankering for salad after a week of conference food.
I also like Apres Diem, The Highlander (a bit of a dive bar, but good food and good beer) and there’s the Midtown Arts cinema for an evening or an afternoon of films. And the Midtown serves wine and beer during the films, always a plus.
Just next door to the entrance of TSRB there’s a small newsagent. In addition to purveying Kim Bap I’ve ever seen, the lady also takes dry cleaning. I am not sure whether they offer a laundry service also, but it’s probably worth asking. She’s always done a lovely job with my clothes, so that’s just a “put it out there sort of thing.”
There;s also Midtown Wash, I’ve not been there but it seems to get good reviews.
Cash. I bank at the RBC on the corner of Spring and 5th and there’s an ATM machine right at that corner facing Spring street. There are others around. One reason I like this ATM is that I can take amounts larger than 200USD out which is useful for minimizing the amount of fee charges.
OK that’s it for now. Please use comments to add recommendations and ask for other types of suggestion. We’re sorry you’re here, but we’ll try to do our best to help.
For those of you who would like a pharmacy, the dominant chain around here is CVS. There’s one at the corner of Peachtree at 6th but type CVS into Google Maps and you’ll get others. Another chain is Walgreens, I don’t think it’s as common in the parts of Atlanta I live in, but it’s another option to try.
From Erika Poole (thank you Erika)
-you can see super cheap movies on weekdays at AMC fork ‘n screen in buckhead (movie theater + bar/food sort of thing)
-if you’re around buckhead, there’s tons of shopping at lenox mall & phipps plaza. filenes basement is a higher-end discount store.
-dialog in the dark/bodies at atlantic station can be a nice afternoon
-silver comet trail offers great running+biking (you can rent bikes at the shops located at e/w connector & south cobb drive as well as mile 4). you can take the trail all the way to alabama, should you be stuck in the area for quite some time… i’ve also been told that kennesaw mtn park offers nice hiking. both require cars to visit.
-GT campus recreation center has a fantastic swimming pool (used in the olympics), fitness center, and rock climbing wall. Any GT student can sponsor you as a guest for a small fee.
From Mynatt via Twitter
Have a beer & listen to fun talks tonight! #chistuck2010 http://bit.ly/2yX1st Marta: train to Midtown station, #12 bus 2 howell mill, walk S
17 minutes ago via TweetDeck
#chistuck2010 Regency Suites: $109/night (GT rate). Washer and dryer on property. Free internet; full kitchen. Next to Midtown MARTA
about 1 hour ago via TweetDeck
#chistuck2010 $9 tickets (and up) for the Braves baseball game today at 1:30 at Turner Field. Great day for a ballgame.
about 1 hour ago via TweetDeck
#chistuck2010. $199 weekly InTown Suites http://bit.ly/ccLpWI #chi2010
about 1 hour ago via TweetDeck
Stuck in ATL and need help? GVU will provide support starting at 10:30am Mon . #chistuck2010 See http://bit.ly/cvFqct #chi2010
about 1 hour ago via TweetDeck
#chistuck2010 GVU is trying to figure out who needs housing help. http://bit.ly/bPb1TT
about 3 hours ago via TweetDeck
Stuck in ATL and need help? GVU will provide work space support starting at 10:30am Mon . #chistuck2010 See http://bit.ly/cvFqct
about 3 hours ago via TweetDeck
#chistuck2010 Here is the MARTA guide to get to fun places in Atlanta. This weekend is full of festivals. http://bit.ly/9wUaCT
Suggestions from FB friends
Randy Carpenter Free bluegrass shows every Sat night in suwanee at renowned Everette Bros Music Barn. 3 hours ago ·
Gilbert Cockton @Beki, if you’ve not seen the laser show at Stone Mountain, it’s impressive, even with more than enough Tea Party grade content. Be very selective if you eat in the (to me) new park village though, better to head out to one of the upscale lakeside hotels (where I had a great brunch in 1997) 2 hours ago ·
Ed Price $9 tickets (and up) for the Braves baseball game today at 1:30 at Turner Field. Great day for a ballgame 2 hours ago ·
Randy Carpenter Oh yeah…GT Baseball is free admission with ID and is quality baseball. Q 2 hours ago ·
Marcela Christina Musgrove The hostel on ponce is decent and there’s also a good couchsurfing community in atlanta including an “last minute emergency” group. 2 hours ago · (Beki, I think this is the link to the group)
Randy Carpenter Hike to top of Kennesaw mountain. Make sure to see museum and Union Memorial site. 2 hours ago ·
From Andrea Thomaz whose Simon robot you saw at CHI.
Go see robots sort money at the Fed. Yes, at the corner of 10th and Peachtree there’s a free museum of the Federal Reserve where robots sort out the money….
Beki's Blog 
Thanks for these tips! Seems like a lot of people have the pleasure to stay at least 4-5 days more, leaving quite some room for activities. Do you have any suggestions on what one could do on a free day in a, say, 100 mile radius around Atlanta (car available)?
Within that radius, and depending on what your preferences are 🙂 There’s an outlet mall: Google North Georgia Premium Outlets which are brands for less. If you would like to get some “culture” there is New Echota which is a State Park where the Cherokee Nation had its capital until they were driven out on the trail of tears. Another Indian site is Ocmulgee Mounds just outside of Macon Georgia. I’ve not been to Macon but it has a good wikipedia entry. CLoser to home there is the Martin Luther King jr. NHS which focuses on the life of MLK and the Civil Rights movement. Athens Georgia is home to the University of Georgia. It has a small but fun downtown area, and it’s also where bands like REM and B52s got their start.
Also see http://vulchino.wikispaces.com/ a wikipedia set up for people who are stuck here in Atlanta due to the Volcano.
And, sorry, one more thing 50 fun things to do in Atlanta
http://www.atlanta.net/50fun/
I would put Trader Joe’s on the list of places to get cheap non-hotel food. They will have better prices than whole foods and the one in Midtown is almost across the street from Piedmont Park. There are a ton of ways to pass time in Midtown this weekend. Atlantic Station is a good place to hang out. They have the artists market on the weekends and the movie theater is perfect if you just want to watch a movie and zone out. If anyone stuck here has zipcar membership, there are zipcars in the neighborhood as well.
Stuck in Atlanta and need help?
GVU will aim to provide work space support starting at 10:30am Monday morning plus a space for tips on housing, medical support and more. Come on by. http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/directions Tell the security desk that you are headed to the GVU “Cafe” on the 2nd floor. First right, off of the stairs.
http://www.gvu.gatech.edu
Here is the MARTA guide to get to fun places in Atlanta. This weekend is full of festivals. http://bit.ly/9wUaCT
Hello! Anyone who’s interested is invited to Atlanta Pecha Kucha night at Octane Coffee! Pecha Kucha is a presentation style where a presenter has to tell us something interesting using 20 slides which are each on screen for 20 seconds. These are usually art/architecture/music talks and the whole evening is a lot of fun. There’s one happening tonight, April 18th, at 7:40pm at Octane Coffee. More details here: http://www.atlantapechakucha.com/ Octane is easily MARTA-able. Take the train to the midtown station stop, then the #12 bus along 10th to Howell Mill. Octane is near Howell Mill & 7th.
I would like to help. I am sorry that people aren’t able to go back home. If anyone is interested, I can make time on Tuesday or any other day this week, and take them to the very exotic side of Atlanta. Atlanta is known for the international farmer’s market, which may jsut be fun to look around as well as great to shop good quality and cheap food. I can take them to dumpling house or tofu house depending on people’s desire, ending up with delicious dessert place. If anyone is interested, I can change my route and go to North 400. My email is jsung at gatech dot edu.
For the long-distance fun, check out tallulah gorge. It is one of the few places that I know that allows you to cross the fall and even slide down the fall. The weather is just perfert for it. About 50 min drive from school.
Feel free to contact me. I am also at 336 TSRB next to Beki’s office.
love this!
The Atlanta Dogwood Festival is in Piedmont park today (http://www.dogwood.org/).
Lake Lanier is about 50 miles north.
Also if anyone needs a mac store or anything you typically find in malls – you can take the MARTA train (red line) to perimeter mall. It literally drops you off in the mall parking lot. You can do a little shopping or head to the Genius bar if your apple is broken.
I always like this option since it is a full mall without touching a bus or cab.
Sorry, I should have pointed this out in the comment – its at the Dunwoody station
I definitely recommend a quick visit to the Museum of Design Atlanta – around the corner from the conference hotel http://www.museumofdesign.org/ – the Love Nests exhibit will give you some insight into local interesting and quirky Atlants