Fuzzy Bus

Rail travel is a more sedate and serene way of exploring the world. Instead of flying over things or driving on crowded highways, trains offer a more scenic and unencumbered view of the landscape between destinations as well as a comfortable and, many argue, more civilized mode of reaching those places.

Canada is a destination that seems tailor made for train travel. Because the country is so vast and offers a variety of different terrains, taking a leisurely train trip through a specific state or region is a great way to absorb the wilderness and beauty of this great northern nation . Some visitors choose to make the train the focus of their vacation, stopping at destinations simply for overnight accommodations. Others plan travel itineraries that use the train as a delightful mode of transportation to get them to their ultimate destination, where they will spend time exploring the local attractions and sights.

Options for a train trip in Canada range from dedicated train travel to packages that combine trains with bus tours. Travelers can explore the Canadian coastline, traverse the plains, or travel the rocky mountain region. They can even sign up for special trips that highlight natural attractions, like national parks or specific wildlife, like polar bear watching.

Visiting the US? Make sure you look into getting a good visitor health insurance before you leave home. Many people consider health insurance to be a luxury, but the fact is that thousands of visitors are injured or become ill while visiting the United States and, without insurance, that can create a multitude of problems.

It is no secret that the American health care system is one of the most expensive in the world. The out of pocket costs for dealing with a broken bone or other injury can quickly become tens of thousands of dollars of debt. Few travelers have the funds necessary to cover such an expense. Insurance can cover much of those costs.

You may think that such insurance is fine for students or immigrants who will be in the States long-term, but you’re just coming to visit family for a few weeks or making an extended business trip where you’ll be sitting in conference rooms and living in a hotel. Don’t kid yourself. Accidents happen anywhere and anytime. Car accidents, slips in the shower, even catching a virus or bacterial infection can result in hospital time. Losing prescription meds or having a dental emergency can also happen anytime. Visitor insurance covers all these things and much more.

A good policy for visitor insurance may seem a bit costly, but all it takes is one accident or illness to make a traveler realize just how vital it is.

Pioneer Square Park in Seattle is a popular stop for tourists staying in Seattle hotels . Visitors who want to get the most out of the park will make sure to check out the Waterfall Gardens. Located at 219 Second Avenue South, the Gardens feature a two-story cascading waterfall and offers a calming oasis in the urban center of Seattle.

One of the unique features of the Garden is a plaque commemorating the United Parcel Service. Local legend has it that American Messenger Service, which later became UPS, was formed in a saloon that used to stand on the site. Jim Casey, one of the UPS founders, used to tell the story of how early messengers would deliver laudanum to the brothels and saloons in the neighborhood. In 1977 the Annie E. Casey Foundation built the Waterfall Garden Park in honor of Jim Casey and all UPS workers.

The Park was designed by Masao Kinoshita and features Japanese maple trees, bistro tables and benches that provide a Zen-like respite from the bustle and noise of the city.

The idea of the Biennale, an event held every two years where international artists present works in one city, based on a common theme, is ubiquitous in the contemporary art world. Every city that has aspirations to enter the global art world’s map is creating a biennale for themselves, and occasionally there doesn’t seem to be much reason beyond a purely opportunistic one. However, there are some magnificent exceptions, and the Biennale of Sydney is one whose focus consistently enters into a realm of excellence.

There are more reasons than art to spend time in the hotels Sydney offers, but art is a pretty good one. It’s had a fairly splendid history of performance and visual work, not to mention the incredible musical experimentation, in the past few decades, but the past year’s Biennale was another high water mark.

The theme of this exhibition was distance. It refers to a kind of physical as well as metaphorical distance, marking the space needed for an artist to communicate a deep truth to the viewer or spectator. In life, there is no distance between the subject and the objects, and experience works its way into the being in a very direct way. Art can be direct, but there is always space for the viewer to reflect, and this is what guests can find when touring Sydney’s fantastic art scene.

Montreal is the heart of French Canada. Its sophistication and flair for culture is something that is absent from most of the huge cities in Canada and all of North America. Montreal is the 2nd largest city in Canada and offers its tourist plenty of attractions and sights. Its historic and cultural landmarks are one of the most visited by thousands of tourists every month. Even the luxury hotels Montreal offers its guests are worth a visit and some give guided tours.

Old Montreal is known for its historical hotels; this part of the city has been preserved in all its historical majesty. The oldest buildings in section of town date back to the beginning of the 17th century. This area is very alive and vibrant despite how old it is. Shopping in Old Montreal is one of the better activities tourist enjoys before dinning in one of the better restaurants where fine dining is brought to a high-art.

For current culture, the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art is the place to be. With more than 7000 works of art by more than 1500 artists, makes this one of the grandest galleries in Canada. Plus, the MMCA offers free admission and guided tours every Wednesday evening.

The above attractions are only a beginning of all the activities one can get involved in Montreal, which thriving city life is rich in culture and with a continuing living history that is guaranteed to please any tourist tastes.

In the whole arena of the Where are they now? questions, some of the hardest celebrities to find are from the music business. It has a way of making people run far away, especially after a couple of good years when international renown sparks but never catches fire. It’s probably arguable at this point as to whether the Del Fuegos reached it, or if the flame burned quickly, or even if they’re still on the way.

The 80s outfit from Boston had a very loyal following and some heartening successes, but disappeared for awhile. For quite awhile actually, because two of the members went on to get their PhDs, in Environmental Engineering, and in Visual Culture. This brings up the answer to that big question of Where? and in Boston, rock and roll stars, upon their departure from the limelight, go into academia.

It was probably suspected, because the culture here is very much one devoted to the life of the mind. Visitors to Boston hotel s will more likely come into contact with the celebration of the senses, however, where the live music is still a very strong scene, and there’s pretty much anything else anyone could ask for culturally. It’s a city that misses the Del Fuegos, perhaps, but they always come back in a different incarnation.

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra has announced their 2010/2011 season, which begins September 25, 2010. This season will be packed with exciting concerts right through the end of June 2011. World renowned musical artists and emerging talents will take center stage with the VSOs 140 performances this season. The VSO 2010/2011 season will present a diverse range of great classical repertoire, both new and old, matinees and concerts for children and families.

Matinee traditions continue to be a favorite among regular season ticket holders and tourist staying at a Vancouver hotel . Symphony Sundays presents classical concerts in the afternoon, which draws from the main series classical series; and Tea and Trumpets, featuring VSO Assistant Conductor Evan Mitchell and narrator Christopher Gaze. The tea and cookies served in the lobby one hour before every concert, including light classics mixed with narration.

Concerts for children and families are the most popular, with Tiny Tots for the little ones from toddlers to age 4 to 5, performed at the Playhouse Theatre in Vancouver and the Terry Fox Theatre in Port Coquitlam. Kids’ Koncerts will feature the full orchestra and is for children from 4 to 5 and 10 to 11 years of age.

San Francisco seems to be uniquely situated with all the right conditions for some great ghost stories. The city by the Bay has rolling mists and unpredictable weather that is capable of producing unusual sights and sounds. Many of these can be easily accounted for, and have natural explanations that are perfectly reasonable. There are other factors, too, that influence the amount of unusual activity. One of these is the age of the city, whose history and old buildings make it ripe for haunting tales. There’s also the presence of Alcatraz prison nearby.

The Rock, as it’s called, is one of the most famous prisons in the world. Known for its stern treatment of prisoners, and extreme challenges for escape, it provokes many ghost stories. Many people who plan vacations here will include a tour of the prison along with the San Francisco hotel on their itinerary.

One of the most famous inmates here was Al Capone , the infamous gangster. Here, the man who’d been treated as a celebrity his whole life found himself to be nothing more than a number. He took to playing the banjo in order to fight against the loneliness that would inevitably come. The ghost part comes about recently, when caretakers of the prison museum have been hearing banjo music playing softly from the cell he once occupied.

Today, more than ever, people are wanting to be reeducated on how the world works. They want to know how the water, land and sky interact together to create such a beautiful planet to live on. They are looking for ways that they can contribute to keeping Earth clean and fruitful.

While you are staying in one of the Montreal hotels you may want to head over to the Biosphere and see what you can learn. This is a world class facility inside an architectural masterpiece that is housing all the secrets the Earths environmental issues. They offer up many programs to the local children to attend during the school year. There are also special events and short classes to enjoy learning about how we can change our day-to-day habits today that will promote a cleaner planet tomorrow.

There are exhibits on renewable energy for both adults and children. It is fascinating to see how scientists are coming up with renewable sources of energy. There is an exhibit that focuses on sustainable transportation. As humans, we are not going to turn our back on our automobiles and airplanes but there are ways to modify them to be more friendly to the planet and at the Biosphere the learning is wondrous.

If you’ve come to the Phillipines with your family, and you’re staying in the hotels of the capital city, Manila , you may wish to check out the Museo Pambata, the fulfillment of a dream for mother-of-four Nina Lim-Yuson, who wanted to bring a hands-on museum home to her native country after experiencing the Boston Children’s Museum in the United States.

Working alongside the former Department of Social Welfare and Development secretary, Estefania Aldaba-Lim, Yuson and Aldaba-Lim proposed a dream museum to the mayor of Manila, Alfredo Lim, who had returned from a meeting from Mexico City with other UNICEF Mayor’s about the Rights of the Child. He approved of the project, leading to the museum’s opening in the historic Elks Club Building on December 21st in 1994, a little over 15 years ago.

The Museo Pambata , which translates simply as Children’s Museum, contains eight themed rooms, all with hands-on exhibits encouraging exploration and the discovery of a variety of concepts as the kids play. The rooms include the following themes: Environment, Old Manila, Children in the Global Village. There is a theme room for career options and a craft room, a market place and a hallway dedicated to the Rights of the Child.

Your children will find a room dedicated to Body Works, where they may take a trip inside the human body in the form of a tunnel maze, helping them to understand how our various organs help our bodies function. Finally, there’s Science Through Discovery, where the kids may take a look at scientific principles. In this room, they will find one exhibit behind glass — an actual Moon rock from the historic expedition of Apollo 11, the first manned landing on the lunar surface.

Last year alone, over 541,000 visitors from approximately 50 countries took a look at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden . It’s a destination that any nature lover in Texas should attend. The Arboretum itself has been named among the top three arboretums in the United States. Not only was this facility named one of the top ten places to visit in the country, it’s also one of the 14 best places in the world in which to see spring flowers.

Take your choice of any hotel Dallas provides its travelers, and then make your way to White Rock Lake and the 66 acres of the Arboretum, where you’ll find in progress a kind of life science lab, which provides educational and cultural opportunities to all its visitors.

The gardens opened to the public for the first time in 1984, just 26 years ago, but the idea for The Arboretum began in the early 1930s, when Everette De Golyer was the chair of a committee in which to find a land-site for a botanical garden in Dallas. In 1982, the City of Dallas and the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Society signed a contract to create the internationally renowned gardens. The Arboretum is a perfect place to educate families and kids about horticulture, or to simply indulge in nature and relax.

Miami couldn’t bet hotter than it is during the summer, and while that might sound like an obvious reference to seasonal temperatures, it is actually a comment on the incredible popularity the city enjoys. And while this is true for Miami throughout the year, it is even more so during these beautiful summer months. And right now the news associated with their professional basketball team, the Miami heat is also heating things up, and it’s not even NBA season .

So what all is there to do in Miami during the summer? Of course that’s one of the most silly questions a person could ask and it was rhetorical in intention. But there is no harm in bringing up some of the great summer options in Miami. A pops concert with one of the symphonies is a great option and there are plenty of pops oriented performances that usually kick off the mid spring into early summer season. Of course spending an afternoon or two on one or more of the beautiful beaches is also a great idea. And if you’re really searching for something special, you should check out the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the Homestead Miami Speedway . And of course there are numerous other special events, attractions and places to visit while you’re in Miami. To enjoy a great summer vacation, simply check the hotel rates Miami and make your plans.

Austin, Texas is one of the state’s most vibrant and progressive cities. And although it is the capital of Texas, it is has the atmosphere of a large college town. This is not a criticism of the community but rather a testament to the progressive energy and dynamic atmosphere of the city. In addition, a large amount of the cultural establishments and attractions are associated with the university, which makes it active in the community and an overall part of the city’s culture. Of course another main aspect of the city is its music scene and in addition to be the capital of Texas it happily boasts that it is the music capital of the world.

All three of the above mentioned dynamics contribute to the overall energy and cultural atmosphere of Austin. It is the capital of Texas and the capitol building is an impressive example of architecture. It is one of the major landmarks in the city and is a popular place for tourists to visit. Of course many of the guests in a luxury hotel Austin also enjoy the wildflower garden on campus and number of other university features. And the fact that tourists and residents alike love the music scene in this city is one of the most obvious features. But when all three are combined you are left with a city that has the vibrancy and dynamic atmosphere of Austin.

Many of the people who visit this city are interested in all of these aspects. Paying a visit to the capitol building and other important city landmarks is a common agenda feature. And experiencing some of the live music scene is almost always a priority. Whether this is done through the numerous clubs and open mic venues or by attending on or more of the great music festivals that occurs there is up to the individual, but a trip to at least one of those places is bound to happen. And many people are interested in touring the University of Texas campus , even if they have no other association to the university while they are there. On their own, each of these features is something to celebrate and be proud of, but taken together you have a city as unique and special as is Austin, Texas.

Garland, Texas has Hawaiian Falls! Rides are:

The Torpedo – the launch is sudden, the acceleration is intense and the landing is explosive; Waikiki Beach – 16,000 square foot Wave Pool, designed especially for families with young children, including an entertainment stage; Splashwater Harbor – a great place for kids and mom, lots of shade, water umbrellas, swimming pools and rope ladders; Pineapple Express – a 4-lane raceway where riders go headfirst competing for the fastest time; Kona Kooler – a massive interactive water rain-forest with pulleys, rope ladders, water buckets, geysers, three 40-foot slides and a 1,000 gallon dumping bucket; Waikiki Wipeout – a 65 foot high free fall body slide that takes riders through a tunnel and over the edge; The Flyin’ Hawaiian – a daring, undulating speed slide from a 65 foot high tower; The Pipeline – 2 twisting, turning, enclosed inner-tube slides for 2 to 3 riders from a 45 foot high tower; Hawaiian Half-pipe – a 3 person over-the-edge inner-tube ride that propels riders straight-up, then backwards from a 40-foot drop.

Enough said? Not really, because Hawaiian Falls also offers a ‘Private Cabana’ – located at Castaway Bay near the Kona Kooler, the Waikiki Beach Tiki Village, and the park’s lazy river. But wait! There’s more! The Private Cabana with Cabana Boy! Say Aloha to your personal paradise, you will be pampered all day in your private cabana. Private Cabana with Cabana Boy includes: a cabana boy, cooler with ice, 2 chaise lounges, 2 regular chairs, 8 bottles of water, private shade area with a maximum capacity of 8 people, and your name on the cabana.

There’s only one more thing to say about Hawaiin Falls, that there are several hotels Garland has available not too far away. Enjoy!

There’s something about the place that’s almost secretly perfect, and profoundly collected. Key Biscayne has benefited from its unusual history, because when the discoverers were setting foot here, they found no gold and kept on going. If they had, everything would be different, but things have worked out well for the place. Some geographical areas might feel a little slighted by the rejection at the hands of explorers, but Biscayne never had gold to offer in the first place. Its real treasures were unobservable to their limited vision.

It’s not unseen by artists however. It actually hasn’t been unacknowledged by anyone who’s ever had the pleasure to live or visit here, where the natural beauty is abundant, and the city is fabulous and still manageable. But it takes an artist to see the metaphors, and make them visible in new and unimagined ways. Public art is a way of helping the citizens to enjoy where they live by revisioning the place. It’s not meant to replace daily vision with another way of seeing, but instead is like eye drops. It refreshes the act of seeing, and it is like beginning to look at the world again for the first time.

This is available to the locals who invest themselves in their city, and the visitors staying at the hotels Key Biscayne offers. Coming up soon, and under wraps right now, are new works by one of the regions most famous artists, Miami-based and Cuban-born Jose Bedia .

His extraordinary sense of place and displacement are all at work here, along with a certain gift for making the animal object into a metaphor for a spiritual and existential doorway for the viewer. The Village Art in Public Places board approved two new works that will bring the physical world back to the physical world. Cement platforms are already laid in place so that this art will be encountered by walking on it, a metaphor for a hidden discovery if there ever was one.

While many cities around the country have been doing their own First Night celebrations, these solitary efforts are part of a larger event, bringing together many places for the same cause. The cause is a simple one, and one that a good number of the population can get behind without argument, that of celebrating the calendar turning from one year to the next. In Salt Lake City, this has been a part of its own festivities for a number of years, but 2009-2010 saw something interesting happen.

Based on other models, like the Carnival de Quebec, Jeffrey Berke came in with a new idea, and one that might be the best local version of a winter event this side of the rockies. It’s called Eve , and it marks the coming of the New Year, but the idea is to make this much more inclusive. The earlier years’ parties saw adults participating in something that was able to unite a large portion of the population, but couldn’t include all, and that’s what Eve is setting out to do. It even has the potential to bring in people from out of town, come to enjoy a hotel Salt Lake is famous for, and see what the hospitality is like at a big public event.

It is a reasonable price, too, where $15 buys entry into the whole thing, including free transportation, that takes place over the whole city. There will be the usual counting down at midnight, to be sure, but what makes this one unusual is that party-goers don’t start gathering after dinner on the 31st, it begins on the 29th. It becomes a three-day affair, with lots of events and activities organized to bring together all the diverse communities that SLC contains, attracting people from all lifestyles, backgrounds, and points of view.

Any event that attempts to unite a community as one is worth applauding, but one that has the intellect and foresight to figure out ways to really do it, is one that’s worth attending.

The best way to explore Hawaii is to have a good amount of time to spend on each island. Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe and the big island of Hawaii all have some really beautiful and fun things to see and do accept Kahoolawe, which is in recovery from being a bomb testing island. There are some volunteer groups spending time on Kahoolawe to replant the vegetation and restore it to a more beautiful island again.  

For those who are looking for the most primitive island experience check into a stay on Lanai. The only way to get around is to rent a four wheeler and drive the sometimes unpaved roads around to the uncrowded beaches. There are plenty of places to hike that take you to ancient ruins. There are some golf courses, horseback riding opportunities and enjoying the traditions of the Hawaiian people. Endless time can be spent on the beaches and in the water with snorkeling and diving. The Dolphins love to hang out and the island itself is a really true island experience.  

Find the best resorts hawaii has to offer on the island of Maui. This island has a great mix of island beach time and night life town time. Take a tour of the Maui Gold Pineapple farm there you will learn that even the pros can’t always tell when a pineapple is ready to eat. This is a 100 year old company still producing the best sweet pineapples in the world.  

Oahu is were the famous Waikiki Beach is located and it happens to be the most populated island. This is the island were visitors can see the Lolani Palace in Honolulu as well as the world famous Pearl Harbor which is the grave to the crew members still trapped in the USS Arizona Memorial ship that was sunk in the harbor in 1941. They have prepared a nice exhibit explaining the attack on the island by the Japanese.

St. Simons is the 2nd largest of Georgia’s 18 barrier islands and encompasses 31 square miles. This barrier island is the mid-portion of the sandy barriers running from South Carolina to the mouth of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. As you walk along the beaches of St. Simons, you’ll get to discover many changes. Look inland from the surf, you’ll see several interdependent, and unique natural communities, each with its own animal and plant life.

The active areas at St. Simoms are between the beach and the offshore sand bar is called the ‘surf zone’. It’s best to prepare spending a whole day or even a week in order to witness what is called ‘Sand Sharing’; this happens when a storm wave break on the beach and as the wave washes back out, it takes sand with it, depositing that sand offshore on the sand bars and shoals. Then, as the shoals build, waves break over them before reaching the beach, the weakened wave carries sand back to the beach, hence the term ‘Sand Sharing’.

The inter-tidal beach is where the ocean meets the beach. Inter-tidals are usually made up of hard-packed, wet sand, which is covered during high tied and then becomes exposed during low tide . You could spend hours, at low tide, watching all the activity happening in a tidal pool, and each tidal pool will have its own dynamic activities, because they all have some different sea-creatures making for fascinating observations.

At the St. Simons Island, you’ll also get to explore the primary Dunes , which are considered the ‘deserts’ of the beach. These dry and sandy areas are located between the inter-tidals. The dunes build-up, shift, then become stabilized by sea oats. The primary dunes protect the beach meadows, which nurture a variety of woody plants, flowering weeds and grasses. In addition, the all the natural activity on the beach, St. Simons has a Salt Marsh, the Maritime Forest, a Fresh Water Slough, and when in season, you’ll get to see the Loggerhead Sea Turtles and Whales. You can contact a hotel St. Simons offers it’s visitors to find out the best time to come for whale watching and Loggerhead Sea Turtle observation.

Tuscaloosa is a gorgeous place. A big city with a lot of heart, and even though there’s a pretty delightful metropolitan atmosphere here, there are also plenty of reminders that it’s always Alabama. In that way, it can provide a sense of home while also being a gateway to the world at large, which really is the best of both worlds.

For those who work in the television industry, especially in any kind of creative capacity, there are more worlds out there than could ever meet the eye, and this kind of spirit is fostered in the place. That’s how it worked with Tom Cherones, born here in 1939 and raised here, and after a little time away, it’s where he returned.

During the time away, he did some work on General Hospital and My Sister Sam, and eventually landed a gig directing News Radio. That show is considered to be a kind of holy grail in some circles, one that was under-appreciated in its life on the small screen, but had its fans that were absolutely wild about the show. Then Cherones went on to produce and also direct more than 80 episodes of Seinfeld . Perhaps you’ve heard of it.

It’s a wonderful life, and he’s been there for some of the most iconic moments of this new media generation, and it’s a wonderful thing that he’s back. Now he’s teaching at UA , where students can learn from someone who’s certainly familiar with the ropes. His teaching style is very much oriented on the students, and helping them to fulfill their visions, which demonstrates a great generosity of spirit.

In a city where there are some very old houses, and at the same time some very contemporary hotels, Tuscaloosa shows that many things can exist simultaneously, and that the blend of old and new, past and present, and student and teacher, can make for some very lovely times.

There are few places in the United States that are really dedicated to sculpture and artwork the way Santa Fe is. One of the few places that might that might come close however is Houston. It isn’t just one or two exhibits that you have to go see if you are interested in seeing all the great sculptures there are in Houston, or even all the types of sculptures that there are to see in this town. If you are staying in one of the best hotels in Houston the first place to go in your art journey is along Gallery Row which will have in it artists of all types and all mediums, but still has a healthy number of sculptures. Thornwood Gallery in particular has a number of nice sculpture pieces, with a little bit of something for everyone. They do a new exhibit every month, so things are always changing. Overall, Gallery Row may be one of the best places to get a glimpse of great Southwestern artwork which takes some talent to fall into that category.

When you are done there you will want to make sure that you don’t miss the Monumental Sculpture exhibit presented by the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts it is a nine month exhibit in Hermann Park. The pieces are not all together so you will have to walk through the park to see them all, but it is more than worth it. Each piece is no less than 2 times the size of a person and for the most part they are abstract pieces. On average they are around thirty feet tall and being made out of steel they weigh around twelve tons.

If there is still more time in your trip, try to get down to the Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery. This gallery is mostly a garden and a small cottage that has been converted into a gallery. Darryl Lauster and Dean Ruck, two famous Texans show some of their work here.

One thing about the city of New Orleans, okay there are actually endless points of interest about the city of New Orleans, which is actually the point of this sentence, there is never a dull moment to be had. And while in recent years the city has been making news primarily due to the devastation caused by hurricane Katrina, and other smaller hits, oh and the Saints recent Super Bowl win, the standard cultural aspects of this city continue to go on in spite of it all. New Orleans is well known for its great southern Cajun food and the numerous jazz and blues clubs that are found throughout the city. The French Quarter is one of the most famous neighborhoods in the country and it is also the location of some of the great clubs and restaurants that were just mentioned.

So, if you plan to visit this southern Louisiana city, regardless of the specific neighborhood or hotel in New Orleans in which you will be staying, you will definitely want to experience some of the great jazz and blues clubs and of course some of the home style cooking that the city is equally famous for. And once you have that covered, there are many other attractions and city elements that you’ll want to explore while you are there. The Contemporary Arts Center and the New Orleans Museum of Art should satisfy your artistic palate, as should the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.

If you’re more of a nature lover then you will definitely want to explore the Audubon Nature Institute. This incredible organization is a series of institutes that were established for the purpose of park and nature preservation in the area. Some of the main attractions of the institute include the Audubon Zoo, the Aquarium of the Americas as well as several parks and recreational facilities.

London has some great night life going on all the time. There are lots of great theatre productions to see and many restaurants to enjoy. One of the hot spots for a good night out is Piccadilly Circus. There are so many clubs with different themes to spend your time dancing and drinking in. You will find clubs celebrating different cultures such as Salsa This club not only has hot salsa music and dancing going on at night, it also has salsa classes. You can get a ticket on a Thames Salsa Cruise here and they have special events for corporations hosting parties.  

For a great bit of entertainment and fun head over to Sound . Each night there is a different kind of party going on from Disco to RnB and Hip Hop. They also have some comedy shows and their happy hour goes until 9 pm. There are different areas to hang out in and they have some VIP packages to get for a group.  

For some serious Jazz music find your way to Ronnie Scott’s . They have live performances of the greatest jazz musicians in the world nightly. There is even a Sunday Jazz lunch. The rest of the week, there are three act shows each night and you will want to check the times before you go. This is one of the oldest Jazz clubs in the world and a must experience for the true lover of Jazz music.  

Piccadilly Circus clubs are only a subway, taxi or brisk walk away from your great London hotel and plenty of people and maps to show you the way. Save up some energy for the nightlife in London because it will take you for a fun ride.

Seoul is a travel destination that has traditionally offered a spectacular way of getting to know this amazing country. Now more than ever, it’s an exciting time to visit. The usual attractions are here, with excellent restaurants and very lovely Seoul hotels that meet the standards of the most discerning travelers, and there are also a number of other exciting things in the works.

In terms of art and culture, Seoul is uniquely positioned to demonstrate a vast archive of thoughts and ideas in new forms, and one of the places where this can be seen in very clear light is the Media City biennale. This edition of the art expo, coming this year in the fall, is the fifth edition of something that started in 2000. It’s a perfect moment to capture the amazing work that’s being done at the junctures between art and technology, and will demonstrate what the artists in South Korea have been up to these days.

There is also a very cosmopolitan curatorial team, selecting works that are local as well as work by international artists. This year there is more of a focus on Japanese work, including work by Japanese artists working in Korea presently. There is a lot of discussion in the contemporary art world about using new media in general, and in a local context, the global development truly finds its revelatory power.

Art and technology have merged traditionally, and very comfortably, but it was often the case that these works were considered more elitist than others, because of the question of access to means of production. Now, where teenagers often have access to amazing technologies that previous generations only dreamed of, it’s become a much more democratic form. In fact, constructing work on a laptop can be even more accessible than paint supplies. This will be reflected at the event, where the best minds in art today will be using the advantages of media along with their own expertise, to make an event that is like none other.

Manhattan is home to four of the most famous women in television history. Carrie Bradshaw, Charlotte, Samantha and fiery red head Miranda stomp through the city as they live the ups and downs of middle aged women trying to find love and life in the big apple. The hit HBO series was the inspiration to women everywhere. Sarah Jessica Parker played New York columnists Carrie Bradshaw. Carrie’s stoop on 66 Perry st became a historic part of the lower east side. Many tourists and fans of the show fly to Manhattan and just to stand ion the stoop where Carrie and Big had so many of their most famous scenes. The number of tears shed on that stoop between Carrie and her many men are countless. It is amazing that one doorstep can hold so many memories. Manhattan is a place to make memories indeed. The opening scene of the series is of the gal pals walking the streets in their stiletto sandals and experiencing the fashion and energy that is Manhattan. Pack a bag and bring the most fashionable clothes and highest heels to spend the night in manhattan hotels new york . Manolo Blahniks were made the must have shoe by Carrie Bradshaw herself. Charlotte even had an entire episode of her trying on shoes for a shoe salesman who had a foot fetish and would give her a discount on shoes just for trying them on and modeling them for him. The streets of Manhattan and the various eateries and night clubs seen in the series highlight the very best of the city. The women share life experiences in dating, loss, happiness, career milestones and of course, friendship. The ups and downs of being a friend are not masked. One episode has Miranda following Carrie several blocks in Manhattan, just to make sure she arrives home o.k., even though they are not speaking to each other.

What city in the world has at its center 843 acres devoted to nature, to trees and lakes and animals? Central Park in New York is the only one that comes immediately to mind, a place so large that it’s possible to visit New York and spend most of your time either in the park or on its periphery, considering that it’s ringed also by some of the finest museums and restaurants on the planet. It makes sense then to book a nearby room , in order to take full advantage of the natural world inside an immense rectangle of skyscrapers.

To orient yourself to the park, you might try a Central Park Walking Tour , which combines a number of features, such as maps and podcasts, and interactive guides, which will take you to specific features of the park. You’ll be given information about how the park was conceived and built and pointing out the best places to take pictures. There are also downloadable PDF maps and MP3 files which means you can carry your guide with you as you lose yourself in this gigantic public space.

The tours offered vary from Family Tours to an Arts and Architecture Tour. In the Family Tour, you’ll learn about such sites as the zoo (and children’s zoo), statues of Hans Christian Andersen, Alice in Wonderland, and Balto, Alaska’s heroic sled dog, and Conservatory Water, which you’ll find next to Fifth Avenue amid the journeys of miniature sailboats. The Arts and Architecture Tour includes the Belvedere Castle, which serves as a weather station, the Swedish Cottage, a marionette theater, and the Obelisk, known as Cleopatra’s Needle, a 3,500 year old monument from Egypt in the middle of a park that is itself 151 years old. If you go on this walk, you’ll be entering a national historic landmark, which was declared as such in 1963, and joining the park’s 25 millions visitors a year.

It takes a special group of people to foresee the future in preserving special places and things knowing that they would be valuable some day. The Mecklenburg Historical Association has seen to it that sites in Mecklenburg County NC with historic significance are preserved, visited and celebrated in the present and into the future. This association was founded in 1954 but there were other organizations similar to it that go back as far as 1875. This is were some can go to find out about their ancestors who came from this area of the country. The city of Charlotte was founded in 1769 and there are many interesting sites that have been preserved for our generation and beyond. Visitors book the best charlotte hotels they can find and dive into the history that came before them.  

Charlotte today is an important city but it wasn’t always that way. It started as a small back country town who claims to be in a county that was the first to declare independence from the English royalty in 1775. The famous Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence is the famous document and it is celebrated each year with a festival. The Charlotte Museum of History is a great place to start learning about the founding people and their experiences. There is a lot of information from many centuries from the 18th century to present day. It is located inside the Hezekiah Alexander House that was built around 1774 and is the oldest surviving building in Charlotte. It also is the home of the American Freedom Bell as well as the Back country Patriot Statue in the historic gardens. Also in Charlotte area there is a restored plantation building that was built around 1800. Near by there is also a replica of the birthplace of James K. Polk out of Pineville. Sitting on a hilltop in Charlotte not far from the Square of Trade and Tryon Street visitors will find the oldest cemetery in the city. The Old Settlers’ Cemetery is were the remains of the most prominent citizens who lived in Charlotte from 1776 to 1867.

Living in a city where it’s possible to move in all directions, and find coffee in every one of them, is one of the great things about Los Angeles. It’s a city that’s built for travel by car, surely, but there are ways of working around that. The street laws for a bike say that you can split lanes, which means the pole position at every light, and this means travel is faster for those who are careful, and lucky. Riding a motorcycle in a city this size takes a little bit of sense and a lot of reflex. Espresso offers both.

Cafe racing is a perfect sport for the urban crawler, especially the ones who never much liked sports anyway. Anything related to pack behavior is anathema to the lifestyle of the care racer, and that’s part of the whole package. To spend a day moving from one coffee shop to another is a reasonable way to live a life, it’s full, and there are plenty of conversations in every place, and sometimes there’s even a little romance. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to get there, eventually, but it’s important to try to get there fast.

The trying is everything. It’s a thing that works with obsession, in all the right ways. Looking at a city from a hotel room , and wondering what it would be like to live in it. Living in a city and wondering what it’s like to be living in the world. Wondering about the streets that get you from here to there, and thinking that there’s a challenge in trying to get back and forth between songs on the jukebox , and it might not matter that this time is short, and these moments are fleeting, because at some points when the afternoon turns into the evening, something in L.A. says that this is all worth it.

I grew up in Long Beach, California and spent a lot of my teenage years, well my free time and weekends really, in Los Angeles. I had a cousin who lived there and I would stay with him as often as I could. I really loved Long Beach, as it was my home town, but thought I would move to Los Angeles as soon as I graduated from high school. Well, after I finished school I didn’t move as quickly as I thought I would. My parents continued to pressure me into going to school, but to be honest I hadn’t even thought about where I would like to apply. I played the guitar since I was nine and all I really wanted to do was spend some time traveling around and play my guitar in different places. It’s not overly ambitious I know, it just felt like the only time in my life I would have this opportunity. So, when I was nineteen, another cousin of mine invited me up to spend a week with him in Santa Barbara. I had never been there and thought I’d give it a try. Plus it sounded fun to spend the time with my cousin.

I couldn’t believe it. Once I arrived in the city I was struck not only by how beautiful and clean everything seemed, but also by how nice it was. It wasn’t that far from where I was from and not to knock my hometown, I’m not, but Santa Barbara seemed like a sort of paradise to me. I fell in love immediately and knew I wanted to live there. My cousin and I spent a lot of time on the beach and I brought my guitar with us on most days. One afternoon I casually mentioned that I really needed to make a change and I thought I might move to Santa Barbara. My cousin suggested I check out the Music Academy of the West , though its in Montecito, which is really close, and thought I might want to study there. He said they put on a music festival every summer and it should begin in just a few weeks. The entire trip felt almost fateful to me. I looked into the academy and decided that is definitely where I want to study. I looked out at the great beach resorts and knew that I would be back to stay.

Imagine yourself located along the sandy lined beach of the Gulf of Mexico with the towering hotels filled with the best amenities standing behind you as you take in the warm sun. Start off by just simply grabbing a towel, book, snack and some sunscreen and head down to the calm waters edge for the chance to do absolutely nothing. Nothing accept feeling the cool breeze on your face. Splashing the refreshing water all over and hopefully loosing your mind to a nice quiet nap. Fight off those worries that you aren’t doing enough because spending time in this paradise is all about just relaxing and taking it all in. Yes, now you would be at a tranquil hotel on Marcos Island with plenty of time to spread your toes out in the sand and catch up on some much needed down time.  

When your mind finally gets a hold of you again and you are ready to explore some of the things to do and some of the near by areas, no worries, there are plenty of things to do. In between nap cycles you could find yourself out for a nice tour through the hundreds of mini islands on a canoe or kayak. The Conservancy of Southwest Florida offers guided and self guided tours and it is a great way to get some exercise and feel like you are on some tropical adventure. If you like the water you may also try some deep sea fishing or off shore snorkeling. When you are in need of some grounding you may want to find your way to the Marco Town Center Mall for a stroll in a very charming Spanish courtyard like outdoor mall area that is filled with lots of boutique shops. Surrounded with Spanish brick walkways, palm trees and flowerbeds nettled in with awnings and umbrellas over lunch tables it is a nice chance to integrate in with the locals and find a few treasures.

Where on this planet can you find a place that brings together two passions at once — art and shopping?  Singapore provides the answer to this question in the form of Vivocity in the Harbourfront Precinct.  Travelers in the hotels of Singapore will discover a building designed by world renowned architect Toyo Ito, in his first major project outside of Japan.  Vivocity’s design is meant to evoke the idea of sea waves, and its home to entertainment and shopping businesses, providing an excellent environment in which to relax.  As the largest retail center in Singapore, the shopping practically takes care of itself, but what about the art?  There are six major works by international artists at Vivocity for its patrons to enjoy.

On the Harbourfront boardwalk, you’ll find a twenty foot tall sphere of flowers by Korea’s Choi Jeong-Hwa.  Set among the Promenade’s trees, it brings a great deal of color to its setting.  The Flower Tree causes people to stop and almost literally smell the flowers.  From the Netherlands, Marc Ruygrok has created Gogo, a thirty-three foot tall rocket, colored a brilliant red, that greets patrons as they enter the parking area of Vivocity.  It resembles a rocketship one might find in a science fiction B-movie from the 1950s.  Then there’s an elongated Snowman, another tall work at forty-three feet, also on the Promenade, rising high above the second story terrace and looking into the third story Sky Park.  Inges Idee from Germany has provided Vivocity with gigantic Snowflakes, each about three feet wide, sitting atop the Sky Park.  Combining this art work with that of the Snowman, there’s a curious comment on nature, snowflakes and snowmen sitting in the tropics, the man-made version of these items lasting even in the warm 80 degree heat of Singapore.

If you’re of a more romantic frame of mind, you’ll discover Aphrodite’s Roses, a series of four giant rose blooms that serve as seating for the patrons, designed by Hiroshi Yoshimiza from Japan.  The sculpture, There, by Netherland’s Henk Visch, depicts a gymnast going through a work out on a horizontal bar some twenty feet above the water.   Finally, you have Vivo Punch, work created by Hong Kong’s Michael Cheung, also known as Punchman.  His human-like figures are playful and colorful and add an extra level of energy to the Sky Park.  For those engaged in the eternal struggle between art and commerce, they may find a merger of the two at Vivocity.