“McDonald’s is planning to this year create 12,000 jobs and open 240 new restaurants across Europe, it emerged on Friday, as the fast-food chain shows signs of being one of the few global companies to benefit from the financial crisis.
In stark contrast to the multinational groups announcing record job cuts and losses, McDonald’s plans for expansion in Europe are its biggest in five years.
‘We’re certainly not slowing down,’ said Denis Hennequin, president of McDonald’s Europe as he outlined to the Financial Times his plans to hire 50 people at each of the 240 new restaurants, mostly in Spain, France, Italy, Russia, and Poland.”
McDonald’s defies downturn (via Financial Times)
[The only good news, as I see it, is the increased number of clean public toilets that tourists and locals will now be able to utilize. During various overseas travels, in need of a public toilet, I have been directed to the nearest McDonald’s which locals called “The American Embassy.”]
In the years since the felling of the World Trade Center towers, the 
We’re off tomorrow to Philadelphia, via DUMBO, to attend our niece’s graduation on Monday from PENN. On Tuesday, we fly from JFK to Budapest to begin a 15-day trip that will take us from Budapest to Eger to Vienna to Cesky Krumlov to Prague.
The 'Not-So-Rough' Guide 