A/C comes to the London Underground

Fourteen of Ryanair's 166 airplanes will let passengers place calls and send text messages mid-flight, starting in October, reports Jaunted. The service will cost between $3 and $3.65 a minute for making or receiving calls and about 75 cents per text message, adds TechRadar. The service will roll out fleet-wide on European routes over time. EARLIER Airplane etiquette: Is cell phone use out of control? Use Ryanair, but watch the fees

Florence is hugely popular with the study-abroad crowd, which makes it tough to break away from packs of fellow American students. It’s easy to get by speaking English; bars ply foreigners with drink specials and hip-hop nights (pronounced rather comically as “ip-op” by Italians); and low-fare airlines tempt students to zip off to a new European city each weekend. But with some extra effort, you can begin to live like a local. To help others hit the ground running, The Florentine, a bi-weekly English-language newspaper, has enlisted former students to share advice for making the most of a semester or two abroad. One useful column covers how to navigate the city’s library system, buy a bike, and get bargain haircuts. In others, writers recommend becoming involved in community service and offer tidbits like theories behind the city’s classic unsalted bread and ways to blend in. #1: Ditch the flip-flops. Curiously, the Supermarket Smarts column leaves out some key differences that surprised me when I arrived in Florence as a student: There are scales for weighing and pricing produce before you get to checkout, there’s a minimal charge for each plastic bag (busta), and many supermarkets are closed on Sundays and cash only. Learn from my mistake! I was mortified years ago when a cashier at La Coop by Piazza Beccaria tallied my purchases—only to call a coworker to restock them when I discovered I had 5,000 lire (worth only about a few dollars) in my pocket and credit cards that didn’t mean a thing. Have any study-abroad tips of your own? PREVIOUSLY IN BUDGET TRAVEL What to Ask Before Studying Abroad A Pre-Departure Checklist for Parents (opens as a PDF)

We love a good deal, so naturally National Geographic Traveler's list of free things to do in Prague hit a chord. Along with the worthy-but-not-shocking days and hours when museums are free, the capital of the Czech Republic also offers walking tours, music performances, and even a few places with free snacks. If you like to multitask your vices, head to the Golden Prague Poker Room in the Hilton—gamblers get free drinks and cigarettes as well as a free buffet after 9 p.m. [via Cheapest Destinations]

No matter how you like your blues (Chicago, Texas, Delta, Electric), you'll find something to like at the 36th-Annual San Francisco Blues Festival, which is widely considered to be the longest-running blues festival around. This year's edition kicks off on Friday with a tribute to the late John Lee Hooker. The music continues on Saturday and Sunday in the Great Meadow just outside of Fort Mason Center. Some of the show's 15-plus performers are The Delta Groove All Star Blues Revue, accordion legend Buckwheat Zydeco, singer Denise LaSalle, and guitarist Johnny Winter. The blues comes from a long oral tradition, and there will be plenty of your blues brethren at this event doing call-and-response with the artists. (Upwards of 20,000 visitors are expected.) In addition to the music, you can munch on barbecue, oysters, and rice and beans. So bring a cooler and a lawn chair for a little blues by the bay. If you arrive early, you may snag a great spot to view the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. Friday's event is free, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Justin Herman Plaza, 1 Market Street. Saturday and Sunday's events are at the Great Meadow at Fort Mason, Marina Boulevard, and Laguna streets. Tickets are $35 per day in advance, $40 per day at the gate. Gates open at 10 a.m.; the festival hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. sfblues.org