Pandemic travel news: Norway lifts all restrictions; Canada relaxes rules

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Hop on board. CNN Travel is back with another weekly whistle-stop tour of world news, from Amsterdam’s Covid-struck cannabis cafes to a snake on a Malaysian plane.

Plus, as always, we have the latest updates on global travel restrictions.

There was mayhem at 30,000 feet this week, as an American Airlines flight attendant reportedly used a coffee pot to subdue an unruly passenger, while a snake slithered on board an AirAsia flight in Malaysia.

The UK was gripped by Storm Eunice on Friday, and a plane spotter named Jerry Dyer became a national hero as more than 200,000 people tuned in to watch bumpy aircraft landings on his YouTube live stream from Heathrow Airport.

An aircraft struggles against the crosswinds as it comes in to land at Heathrow Airport on February 18.

Down on ground level, shiny new international train routes are popping up all over Europe – from Vienna to Paris, Brussels to Prague, and more. Here are 19 of the best new routes for 2022.

When it comes to heritage lines, though, you can’t do much better than America’s Coast Starlight. It weaves down the West Coast from Seattle to Los Angeles and offers 35 hours of scenic splendor.

Before Covid came along, the Dutch capital’s biggest problem was overtourism. Amsterdam’s streets were often thronged with hedonistic hordes drawn by the city’s infamous red light district and liberal drug laws.

Dutch cannabis-vending coffee shops were deemed “essential businesses” during Covid and, unlike bars and restaurants, never completely closed. But without the tourists many rely on heavily, how have the capital’s 167 cannabis cafes fared during the pandemic? Here’s where things stand.

<strong>Watkin's Folly: </strong>In 1890s London, British politician and railway tycoon Edward Watkin had a vision to build a gigantic structure that would eclipse the Eiffel Tower. It would stand 1,200 feet above the northwestern suburb of Wembley.

Photos&colon; London’s failed rival to the Eiffel Tower

Alamy

Watkin’s Folly: In 1890s London, British politician and railway tycoon Edward Watkin had a vision to build a gigantic structure that would eclipse the Eiffel Tower. It would stand 1,200 feet above the northwestern suburb of Wembley.

<strong>Railway to the sky: </strong>Watkins held a contest to design the tower, offering a prize equivalent to $80,000 in today's money. One proposal had a train running up a spiraling railway on the outside of a 2,000-foot-tall tower.

Photos&colon; London’s failed rival to the Eiffel Tower

The Public Domain Review

Railway to the sky: Watkins held a contest to design the tower, offering a prize equivalent to $80,000 in today’s money. One proposal had a train running up a spiraling railway on the outside of a 2,000-foot-tall tower.

<strong>Pyramid power: </strong>Another unrealistic proposal had a 1:12 scale replica of the Great Pyramid of Giza on its summit.<br />

Photos&colon; London’s failed rival to the Eiffel Tower

The Public Domain Review

Pyramid power: Another unrealistic proposal had a 1:12 scale replica of the Great Pyramid of Giza on its summit.

<strong>The winner:</strong> Designed by London architects Stewart, McLaren and Dunn, the winning proposal was similar in structure to the Eiffel Tower, albeit more slender.

Photos&colon; London’s failed rival to the Eiffel Tower

The Public Domain Review

The winner: Designed by London architects Stewart, McLaren and Dunn, the winning proposal was similar in structure to the Eiffel Tower, albeit more slender.

<strong>First leg: </strong>Construction began in 1892, and the first stage -- approximately 150 feet tall -- was finished three years later.

Photos&colon; London’s failed rival to the Eiffel Tower

London Stereoscopic Company/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

First leg: Construction began in 1892, and the first stage — approximately 150 feet tall — was finished three years later.

<strong>Opened to the public: </strong>Once completed and fitted with elevators, the first stage was opened to the public, but there was something wrong with it.

Photos&colon; London’s failed rival to the Eiffel Tower

Alamy

Opened to the public: Once completed and fitted with elevators, the first stage was opened to the public, but there was something wrong with it.

<strong>Sinking feeling: </strong>It transpired that the tower was starting to subside and any attempts to built it higher, adding to its weight, could have been disastrous.

Photos&colon; London’s failed rival to the Eiffel Tower

Alamy

Sinking feeling: It transpired that the tower was starting to subside and any attempts to built it higher, adding to its weight, could have been disastrous.

<strong>Shut down: </strong>When Watkins died in 1901, so did his grand vision. A year later the tower was declared unsafe and closed down. England's national football and rugby stadium now stands on the same spot.

Photos&colon; London’s failed rival to the Eiffel Tower

Herbert Barraud/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Shut down: When Watkins died in 1901, so did his grand vision. A year later the tower was declared unsafe and closed down. England’s national football and rugby stadium now stands on the same spot.

France’s Eiffel Tower is arguably the world’s most recognizable landmark, the wrought-iron lines of “La Dame de Fer” (“Iron Lady”) standing tall in our collective consciousness.

But did you know that at the end of the 19th century, construction began on a London rival that would have been 100 feet taller than the Parisian original?

Read the story of the doomed Watkin’s Tower and where its remains can be found today.

It’s all looking good on the reopening front, as more and more countries announce that they’re easing travel restrictions.

There are Mongolia and Papua New Guinea, finally open to vaccinated travelers. Canada, which will relax Covid testing rules from February 28. Austria, which will lift most restrictions by March 5. And Vietnam, which is eyeing a full reopening from March 15. (You can listen to Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” podcast from Vietnam here).

Most countries have different rules for jabbed and unjabbed travelers, but not Norway, which has lifted all restrictions for all travelers, and Lithuania, which has free entry for visitors from the EU, the US and selected other destinations.

And while more than half the world’s travel destinations are still classed “very high” for Covid-19 risk by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency has at least lowered its risk advisory for cruises from “very high” to “high.”

And at US Disney Resorts, the mask requirement has been lifted for vaccinated guests.