Portuguese doesn’t often come to mind as a place of great gastromic repute. Yet sampling the regional cuisines of this small country yields a satisfaying epicurean expereience - from seafood soups to roast suckling pig, as well as a hot dogs to make New Yorker proud.
My first evening in Lisbon found us milling with animated [...]
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admin on August 26th, 2008
Vermont, United State, a northern New England state. It is bounded on the north by Canada ( Quebec ); on the east by the Connecticut River, which separates it from New Hampshire; on the south by Massachusetts; and on the west by New York the border for some 100 miles passing through Lake Champlain.
Vermont has 34 state parks and 32 state forest. State parks date from 1924; state forests, from 1909. In Addition, there is the Green Mountain National Forest ( 231,901 acres ), extending from Bristol south to the Massachusetts line except for an interval in the Rutland area.
Beside has Green Mountain , Vermont has also nice resort areas - ski areas abound, especially on Mt. Mansfield at Stowe, “Suicide Six” at Woodstock, Madonna Mountain in Jeffersonville, Pico Peak in Sherburne, Mt. Snow in Wilmington, and Jay peak. Basin Harbor, near Vergennes, is a popular Lake Champlain summer resort. The Long Trail ( 261 miles ), threading the summits of the Green Mountains for the length of the state, presents a challenge and a delight to hikers.
If you visit Vermont in Autumn, you’ll see local celebrations such as the various maple sugar festivals and the Tulip Festival in Hardwick may be mentioned which taken place at Rutland, Essex, and Tunbridge ( “World’s Fair”) attract your attention.
admin on August 25th, 2008
The most extensive parks and forest of Virginia are west of the Piedmont. The Shenandoah National Park extends along the blue Ridge from Front Royal in the north to the vicinity of Waynesboro. The Skyline Drive runs along its crest. The park has extensive camping, recreational, and hiking facilities. The Blue Ridge Parkway links the Shenandoah National Park with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Caroline and Tennessee.
The Valley of Virginia lying west of the Blue Ridge, contains some remarkable natural formations. Among the many caverns are the Grand Caverns, the Luray Caverns, and the Endless Caverns. But the most famous natural phenomenon is the Natural Bridge, south of Lexington. Near Mt. Solon are the Natural Chimneys, seven limestone pillars that resemble a ruined fortress. Bath country in the west is noted for its mineral springs. The historic mountain pass in the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park in the southwestern corner of the state.
The major resort areas in eastern Virginia are Seashore State Park in Virginia Beach and Westmoreland State Park on the Potomac. Two wilderness seashore parks are located at Back Bay, Virginia Beach, and Assateague Island, a long narrow island off the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland.
admin on August 24th, 2008
Venice has a physical site which few cities in the world can rival. Lying between the Alps on the northwest and the Adriatic on the southeast, the small islands of Venice are the creation of rivers and tides. On these small islands has arisen the almost magical city of Venice-its churches, palaces, and public buildings resting on piles buried beneath the lagoon’s water.
The largest square in Venice is the Piazza San Marco, one the most beautiful squares in the world. Enclosed on three sides by the arcades of the Procuratie and on the fourth by magnificent façade of the St. Mark’s Basilica, it is the center of the city’s activities. To the south of St. Mark’s is a smaller square, the Piazzetta extends, with the Palazzo Ducale on the east and the Old Library on the west. The Piazzetta extends to Canale di San Marco, and from this spot can be seen some of the outlying islands and, across the open lagoon, the Lido, one the world’s most famed bathing resorts. At the northeast corner of the Piazza di San Marco is a clock tower erected in 1496 – 1499, which serves as a portal to the Mercerie, a narrow, winding street of shops leading to the Rialto and the Grand Canal. So enjoy the best view of the Queen of the Adriatic.
admin on August 23rd, 2008
The Ancient City, or Muang Boran as it is known in Thai, has certainly made an impression worldwide. More than one Thailand guidebook with a famous name states it to be of truly astounding proportions-covering some 500 sqkm and “amounting to one-thousandth of the surface area of the whole of Thailand”. How these misconceptions arose is hard to tell, but most likely they came from misinterpreting the fact that the Ancient City’s ground are formed in the same shape (roughly) as that of Thailand on a map, fancifully viewed as an elephant’s head with a long, hanging trunk.
At Muang Boran, you enter the past immediately at the ticket selling Information Pavilliion which takes the form of a teakwood shelter as once found outsidfe the city gate of the old kingdom of Sukhothai. The park gate is a replica of Wat Mahatat Chalieng’s at 13th century Sukhotai, the oldest standing gateway in Thailand. A Charming start. So is this just a historical theme park then, a kind of Thai-style Disneyland? Far from it. The founder, Khun Lek, staunchly supported by his wife Khun Prapai Viriyahbun, specially designed a “living museum” for the spiritual benefit of the locals, and the rest of the world.The purpose of the Ancient City is to gave a sense of history and culture as a guide towards the future, above all to the Thai people themselves at a time when they are experiencng rapid change-industrialisation and westernisation-disorientating processes which cutting the nation from its root. One of the objectives of Muang Boran is to show how Siam was the hub of Southeast-Asian culture. Added to the dominant ‘living museum” theme are specific museum building containing arich collect21:10 19/08/2008in of artworks dating back as much as 1,000 years. Here one can see how the art of Thailand is an inteligent blend f the various cultural forms of surrounding Asian civilisations. Muang Boran also aims to amuse and delight with its pretty sculpture gardens replete with characters and deites from Thai legends and folklore, or t startle and awe with its sculptural deciptions of Thai historical events. Ancient City has never been streongly promoted for its philanthropic founders do not want mass tourism. It is never crowded, for its marketing philosophy is : those who seek shall find.
admin on August 22nd, 2008
The lone piper, dressed in the Royal Stuart tartan, stood alongside the Royal Scotsman train at Edinburgh’s Waverley station and piped the passengers aboard for their six-days adventure of the Scottish Highlands. If Europe has its Orient Express and India its Palace on Wheels then why should Scotland not have its own palatial hotel on wheel? And the train, which accommodates a maximum of 32 passengers in nine coaches, is truly palatial.
As the train briefly made its way through the industrial heartland of Scotland passengers relaxed in the observation coach, sipping champagne and getting acquainted. After about half an hour, it by passed Glasgow and proceed along the northern shore of the River Clyde, past once great shipyards where such giants as the Queen Elizabeth were built. As the Royal Scotsman journeyed on, the scenery changed from urban landscape to magnificent stretches of placid water and green pastures at the foot of soaring, fern-covered mountains. Loch Lomond came into view, with Ben Lomond standing proud in the distance. Soon after passing Crianlarch, just beyond the head of the loch, the train swept over a horseshoe shaped viaduct and entered Rannoch Moor, an area of peat bogs, boulders and stream, tree stumps and roots covering thousand of square kilometers.
At this juncture I was shown my accommodation: a spacious and taste-fully decorated cabin with rich wood paneling that had a single bed and ensuite facilities – these are the only railcars in Europe to boast private bathrooms.
admin on August 21st, 2008
A leisurely meals as you cruise down the river seems like a perfect combination. But trust the Japanese to round off the evening with fireworks. If You like to dine in Tokyo accompany with fire work and a view of Tokyo You can take Yakatabune cruises. Most cruises are three hour evening affairs, usually starting at 6 pm. Many now coast down the Edogawa River, which separates eastern Tokyo from the neighbouring Chiba Prefecture. The scenic cruises though, are still those that follow the original Yakatabune route down Sumida River-itself once delineating the city’s eastern edge but now following right through its heart-and into Tokyo Bay for the fireworks. The trip begin at one of the many Yakatabune docks perched along the Sumida or its tributary, the Kanda River .
The best Yakatabune cruises are evening trips down the Sumida River in the summer and early fall months to watch the Tokyo Disneyland fireworks. It was in fact the opening of Disneyland in 1983 with its nightly fireworks that gave Yakatabune the modern appeal they needed to regain their former popularity. While Tokyoites do enjoy their cherry blossom viewing and moon gazing. It took a good, splashy fireworks show to coax them back on the river.
The Yakatabune cruises leave from docks on the Sumida itself near Asakusa Station on the Ginza subway line ( try the following boats : Amisei, 2-1-15 Kaminariman, Minotoku (3844-1869), and on the nearby Kanda River at Asakusabashi Station in the Chuo line ( a couple good ones are Amiharu, 1-3-1 Yanagibashi, Minatoku (3851-6318). Amisei is particularly good if you’d like to make booking for a small group (four people minimum) and don’t mind sharing a boat. Each company offers three or four set courses ranging about ¥ 8,000 to ¥ 20,000 per person.
admin on August 20th, 2008
‘ve just taken a Marocco tour where I could visit interesting places in Marocco and also Canary Islands. It was one of beautiful place in this world. Ok, the tour start from Madeira, an isle as soft and sweet as her wine. Though on October, there are flowers everywhere …. masses of mimosa and hibiscus.
As I enjoyed breakfast in my room, the Canary Islands come into my view. There are seven of them, born of volcanic fire, now simmering in cool Atlantic waters. And then I decided to visit Tenerife, where snow-capped Mt. Teide overlooks the beaches of bustlng Santa Cruz. And Lanzarote, with its other-worldly lunar landscape. The camel caravan is frming, so you mount up to ride over the lava badlands. Back n town, shop for drawn thread-work, or simply while away the afternoon at colorful quayside cafe. And there’s plenty of it in Cassablanca, where streets in the old quarter twist and turn like cracks in a mirror. In Marrakech, where you can see it all ….. storytellers, snake charmbers, fire eaters, dancers, acrobats. And in Tangier, where markets burst with brassware and hideaway cafes in which to lose the crowds.
admin on August 17th, 2008
The Dalton Highway runs for more tha 400 miles through some of the most remote and spectacular land in Alaska. It was built in 1974 under difficult conditions of climate and terrain to transport materials and workers to recently discovered oil fields of the North Slope.
From Fairbanks, you head north through rolling hills and cross the broad, placid Yukon River. Forge on to the Artic Circle where you may have your picture taken as you step across the line.
You often see the pipeline, sometimes nearby, sometimes gleaming in the distance as it zigzag over the ridge. Overnight at Coldfoot which flourished briefly as prospectors flocked here at the turn of the century.
Next day, the scenery gerts even more spectacular as you approach the Brooks Range. Ascending Atigun Pass – highest highway pass in Alaska – the colors are wonderful. Nonchalant Dall sheep bound about on the precipitous cliffs.
Downs on the vast treeless North Slope, stay for a night at Deadhorse on the Artic Ocean, and you’ll have a tour of Prudhoe Bay to learn the working of this technological triumph. At Pump Station #1, you can see where oil begins its 800 mile journey out to Valdez.
admin on August 15th, 2008
If you go to Columbia Glacier, take a cruise . MV Glacier Queen is one of those. The board sail across incredibly beautiful Prince William Sound to mighty Columbia Glacier. Four miles wide, 40 miles long, it is the mother of those countless icebergs that bob about in the sea. A Thunderclap heralds the birth of another, as a great slab of the ice breaks off the face of the glacier and plunges into the ocean. It’s an awesome experience.
From Gold’s Rush Country and the Yukon to Alaska’s scenic interior, and on to the Gulf of Alaska, this route climaxes with a cruise to Columbia Glacier, Alaska’s , most active tidewater glacier.
Set out from Whitehorse on the famed Alaska Highway. First stop : the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. After your fill of observing and photographing, you travel on toward the Yukon Alaska border.
While you in Valdez which you approach via Richardson Highway, the first highway in Alaska and one of the state’s most scenic. You’ll wind through mountain tunnels, travel rock walled canyons and climb to tundra meadows.
The TransAlaska Pipeline accompanies you much of the way, until you arrive at its terminus, Valdez the “Switzerland of Alaska”.
