Uruguay’s Coastal Resorts Are Great

Uruguay may be pint sized, but its certainly big hearted when it comes to attractions. It contains one of South Americas most interesting capitals, charming colonial towns, the hilly interior and a cluster of internationally renowned beach resorts.

Although there is pronounced seasonal change during the year, the winter months from June to August are fairly mild, with average temperatures ranging between 6 and 15. Summer is comparatively cool at this latitude, with average highs peaking around a pleasantly warm 28. Add to that the abundant sunshine and this is a great time to visit. Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed over the year and tends to fall quite moderately in just a few days.

The majority of Uruguayan restaurants are grill rooms. Table service is usual in restaurants. Cafes or bars have either table and or counter service.

National drinks include wines of good quality, beers and local spirits.

Theatre, ballet and symphonic concerts are staged in Montevideo from March to January. Tango is nearly as popular as in Argentina. There are discos in the Carrasco area. There are several dinner dance places in Montevideo. Large Montevideo hotels have good bars. When there is music for dancing, the price of drinks increases quite considerably. There are also several casinos.

Special purchases include suede jackets, amethyst jewellery and paintings. The Tristan Narvaja Market is famous for its antiques and there are many antique shops in the Old Town.

Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, has a surprising cultural diversity for such a small population, and is a picturesque blend of colonial Spanish, Italian and Art Deco styles. Many Argentines come here to relax during their summer break and bask on the white sandy beaches.

There are numerous first class hotels in Montevideo and along Uruguays coastal resorts, where rates are usually a little higher. It is essential to book during the summer and during carnival week in Montevideo. There are several lower-priced hotels in the city for more basic accommodation.

Mercado del Puerto is a wrought iron superstructure sheltering a gaggle of restaurants. Saturday lunchtime is a fun time to come this is when the market is crammed with locals and musicians livening up the area.

More of an historical attraction than a natural one, this coastal park contains the hilltop Fortaleza de Santa Teresa, begun by the Portuguese but captured and finished by the Spaniards. Santa Teresa is a humble place, but visitors enjoy its uncrowded beaches. The park gets crammed during Carnival, but otherwise absorbs visitors without much difficulty.

The Museo Didactico Artiguista in Maldonado was set up in honour of Uruguays independence hero. Artigas was a very busy guy check out the maps of his battle campaigns, and dont miss the room with the bronze busts of the Liberators of the Americas.

Family Vacation Fun On Anguilla

It’s possible that you have never heard of Anguilla. It’s one of the Caribbean’s best kept secrets…although several well known movie stars and TV personalities have already discovered it. For anyone looking for a quiet retreat to spend quality time as a family, Anguilla is it!

Anguilla is a beautiful Caribbean island that is ideal for family vacations. What’s so special about this island gem? The combination of remarkably friendly people, 33 turquoise blue beaches, tranquility plus lots of other fun things to do and see, all make this island a great destination for families to enjoy together.

Join the ranks of the many families who have made Anguilla their primary vacation spot, and who keep returning there year after year. There are many reasons for this. Let’s take a look.

The peace and tranquiltiy is second to none, which allows for lots of family fun together in a safe and refreshing environment. The local food is delicious, with fried fish, stewed goat, rice and peas topping the list. The beaches are inviting, for swimming, for boating, for fishing, snorkeking or just beach combing. The people are warm and friendly, which means that you form friendships for life in this “island home away from home”. And so the list goes on.

Activities For One And All

If you think you would be bored an Anguilla, then you are in for a real surprise. There is so much to do, both during the day hours and after sundown. Fun activities such as snorkeling, fishing, hiking, trail walking , bird watching, boating, horseback riding, biking, and touring the miniature rainforest are fun, wholesome and educational activities which the entire family is bound to enjoy.

Places To Stay

If budget concerns threaten to dampen your family vacation plans, then we have good news for you. Anguilla offers a variety of vacation accommodations that are ideal for families and won’t break your family vacation budget. From vacation rentals, to family resorts, there is a broad range of possibilities to match every budget. There are even 6 bedroom vacation villa’s that can be used by two or more families in order to double the family fun while at the same time splitting the accommodation expenses. The villa’s come fully furnished, and some even have large pools.

Explore Anguilla with the Heritage Bus Tour

Even though the primary attraction of Caribbean islands is the “sun, sea, and sand”, you will discover that Anguilla is much more than a beach. This is a truly special and unique place. It has a rich history and ambitious and hardworking people. The locals are eager to share their island, their culture and their history with you, and there is a lot to share. One very unique way to explore and discover Anguilla is by experiencing the Anguilla National Trust’s Heritage Bus Tour.

The two and a half hour tour extends to the Eastern part of the island and makes several stops at the East End Pond Conservation Area and the Big Spring Heritage Site. This tour will truly enrich your knowledge, experience and appreciation for the island. Expect a high quality tour experience that you and your family will remember long after you have left the shores of the exotic family vacation spot.

Backpacking Trip – Planning Your Next Adventure

“Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing.” – Helen Keller

For a while now I’ve wanted to travel and see the world. I have to believe that life has to be more than about spending it slogging away 9-5 at a job so that you might be able to accumulate more stuff. Many people don’t travel. Many simply can’t, for whatever reason, but I didn’t want that to be me. I don’t want to be that person that wakes up after decades of sweat and toil only to discover that traveling is no longer an option.

For me the appeal of traveling is about learning and appreciating other cultures and countries. It’s about sharing in the joys and wonder that traveling brings. It’s about seeing the world in real life instead of through picture. It’s about appreciating all that you have. The list can be endless.More…

As Mark Twain says “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

It’s all well and good to have an intention to travel, but all to often our thinking isn’t conducive to making it a reality. We start to think about the if’s and but’s. We think about the negatives like not having enough money, the dangers of traveling or we start to take note of the negative feedback we get from those around us.

If you are still focused on making your next big travel adventure a reality then here are a few tips that have helped me.

1. Set a time line to make it happen.

If you just keep saying to yourself that you will travel one day then chances are it will never happen for you. Your procrastination starts to take hold over your life and before you know it your dream of a travel adventure is all but a distant memory in the past. Rather than leave your travel adventure to chance take control and set yourself a time line to make it happen. Set a date that you are comfortable with and make a commitment to yourself that you will stick to it. This then enables you to start thinking about the milestones that need to be achieved prior to that date by working backwards to the present.

2. Decide on your objectives for your trip.

The clearer you are about your trip objectives the greater your ability to stay motivated and focused. Travelling is such a personal endeavour. What one person calls travel might be total foreign to what someone else deems to be travelling. In many ways, there are as many ways to travel as there are people on the earth.

Once you know the destinations you will want to then develop a rough idea about what things you want to experience or see. For example, do you want to see tourist sites or go to more rural locations, do you want to travel in organised tours or be an independent traveler, are you going to settle in one sport for a period of time or are you going to be going from one place to another. This doesn’t have to be set in stone and certainly doesn’t need to be planned to the last detail but by knowing your objectives for the trip you will be better positioned to focus your research and planning.

3. Make your trip intentions public.

Now that you have yourself a time line and an idea about your trip objectives, what better way to make you accountable then to tell your close family and friends. This will bring a sense of reality to the whole idea and the people you tell may well be in a position to give you advice (welcomed or not). You will also more likely take your travel planning more seriously now that people close to you have a vested interest in seeing your dream come true.

4. Create a no fail environment for yourself.

You want to have as many things in your life positioned to make your travel adventure a success. Any aspiring traveler will tell you that saving up is the hardest step. To make saving for your travel easier you want to start to modify your lifestyle and environment that encourages you to save for your trip. At the end of the day your family and friends are in a prime position to support your change in lifestyle.

Instead of the regular night outs, dinners, drinks with friends you will probably better served saving that money for your more important goal. Think about what that night out would represent in your travel destination, what could you have experienced with that money. It’s not about totally living a hermit life until your travel date, it’s about adjusting your priority to a sensible medium that you are comfortable with.

The Mystery of Chinese Royal Architecture

With vivid characteristics, Chinese royal buildings, especially the most popular tourist attractions in Beijing, are mysterious to today’s people.

Nearly every small part of the architecture is different and has some symbolic value! Here we take the Forbidden City as an example and collect something interesting about this imperial palace. If explore it without a guide, you will never know the secrets. Let’s feel it more than just watch it!

The Ornamental Pillars (Hua Biao)
A pair of marble pillars, decorated with exquisite clouds and entwined dragons carvings, can be often found in front of most large royal complexes. They were originally made of wood and used to solicit public opinions from the people. They were also treated as landmarks or road signs. But later they were only used to decorate important buildings.

The most famous Huabiaos are located at Tiananmen, two in front of the gate of Tiananmen and two behind the gate. On top of the Huabiaos, there sits a mythical animal called Hou. It is believed that the positioning of the Hous’ heads was a reminder to the emperor of the hopes of the people. The two behind the gate looking at the palace (north) mean expecting the emperor to go out often and to understand the life of the people better. The two in front facing south express longing for the emperor’s return to run state affairs when he was absent from the palace for too long.

Stone/Bronze Lions
Lion is a special animal to Chinese people. A pair of stone or bronze lions, a male and a female, can often be seen in front of the gates of traditional buildings. The male lion is on the left with his right paw resting on a ball,
and the female on the right with her left paw fondling a cub.
Marble Terrace
Most of Chinese ancient royal buildings stand on marble terrace. The white marble terrace can not only support and magnify the single building on it, but also protect the wood structure from dampness. It also has a deeper meaning. It reflects the rank of the building.

Grand Roof
Roofs are very important to Chinese architecture. Palaces had particularly impressive elaborate roofs. The distinctive roof of Chinese architecture involves a great deal of symbolism. Symbolism is present in the colors and tiers of the eaves, roofing materials and roof top decorations.
Yellow, regarded as an auspicious color, was exclusively used by the imperial families of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Imperial roofs are certainly brilliant gold or imperial yellow.

Tunjishou (the ridge-devouring beast)
Watch carefully, you will find the ridges of each roof are topped with figures of mythical creatures. Fierce and formidable, it looks as if it were ready to devour the whole ridge; so it is also known as tunjishou or the ridge-devouring beast.

What were they used for? For decorative purposes only? According to architects, these strange-looking creatures can prevent the roof from sliding. Moreover, the number and the size of the creatures on the eaves indicate the importance of the building. When visiting the royal palace, it can be very interesting to count the animals on the eaves and get to know exactly how important the building was.

Taihe Dian
Now, it is very easy to figure out that the Hall of Taihe Dian is the main hall of the Forbidden City. First, the building is raised on a triple marble terrace, 8 m (26 ft) high, enclosed by marble balustrades, whilst those around the same courtyard were kept lower so as to set off the magnificence of the hall. Second, it has a roof with double eaves and is decorated with carved dragons and phoenixes, most of which are gilded. Third, don’t forget the little mythical creatures on the eave. There are 12 in total, the most of all! The Hall of Taihe Dian was the place where emperors in the Ming and
Qing dynasties held.

Colors in the Forbidden City
The Forbidden City is a complex painted in just two colors, yellow and red, which can be seen throughout the city. The color red signifies happiness and yellow signifies earth. In ancient China, the color yellow in particular, was most extensively and exclusively used by the emperors, who were regarded as the Sons of Heaven and the supreme rulers of humanity. Therefore, yellow became the dominant color in the Forbidden City. Roofs are built with yellow glazed tiles; decorations in the palace are painted yellow; even the bricks on the ground are made yellow by a special process.

There is much more in the Forbidden City waiting for you to discover. Why is it that no trees in the grand courtyard of the Hall of Taihe Dian? Hundreds of gilt bronze vats are scattered in the Forbidden City. What were they used for? Only when you get there can you reveal its mysterious veil!

What are you waiting for? Discover yourself!

Above articel provide by China Odyssey Tours

I Love Touring Paris – The Second Arrondissement

The 2nd arrondissement is located on the right bank of the Seine River. It is Paris’s smallest arrondissement, covering less than 0.4 square miles (slightly under a square kilometer). While its population is under twenty thousand, this district provides over sixty thousand jobs, the highest job density in the city. It is home to all of Paris’s remaining glazed commercial arcades; pedestrian passages open at both ends with a glass and iron roof. This Parisian invention, actually an adaptation of Oriental bazaars and souks, forms a miniature city free from the noise of horse-drawn carriages, speeding taxis, and inclement weather. When these arcades were built mostly in the 1820s and 1830s sidewalks were a rare commodity. In these arcades window-shopping developed into yet another Parisian art form. They evolved (degenerated) into the suburban shopping center. Make sure to visit at least one arcade to get a taste of Paris in the good old days.

The Passage des Panoramas running off Boulevard Montmartre is of the earliest arcades, dating back to 1799. This was the first Parisian public area with gas lighting. On the other side of Boulevard Montmartre you’ll find the more upscale Passage Jouffroy, restored about twenty years ago, a lovely mall that includes two very special stores for young children.

The Opera-Comique (Comic Opera) is a world-famous opera company located in the Place Boieldieu, near the Paris Stock Exchange. In the year 1714 it was established to promote French opera in competition with the prevailing Italian opera of the day. In spite of its name, not all the productions were comic opera, especially during the Nineteenth Century. The current building was built in 1898, making it the oldest standing opera house in Paris. Two previous buildings burnt in 1838 and 1887. Among its great composers were Berlioz and Bizet. The Opera-Comique was the site of the first production of Bizet’s Carmen in 1875 initially considered quite a failure. It was also the premiere of the only Debussy opera, Pelleas et Melisande in 1902.

The Avenue de l’Opera (also known as the Passage de l’Opera, or as Le Rue Peletier or Le Peletier) is a street named after the Theatre de l’Academie Royale de Musique, known more commonly as the Paris Opera, which burned down in 1873. In 1875 this theatre was replaced by the Palais Garnier, a theatre which is now known as the Paris Opera.

Built on the site of the city’s old ramparts, the Grands Boulevards extend in a long arc from the Eglise de la Madeleine (Church of the Madeleine) in the west to the Bastille in the east. They were once the hangout for Paris’s upper crust and jet setters (more precisely Boulevard strollers) and still form a distinctive, often lively part of the city. The actual street name changes from Boulevard Madeleine, to Boulevard des Capucines, to Boulevard des Italiens, to Boulevard Montmartre, to Boulevard Poissoniere, to Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle, and finally to Boulevard St. Denis from west to east. As you proceed from west to east the boulevards tend to get poorer and perhaps more interesting. Of course with all the redevelopment the situation is constantly changing. What other city boasts a given street, avenue, or boulevard with seven names?

Of course you don’t want to be in Paris without sampling fine French wine and food. In my article I Love French Wine and Food – A Red Beaujolais I reviewed such a wine and suggested a sample menu: Start with Andouillette (Pork Tripe Sausage). For your second course savor Poulet de Bresse (Bresse Chicken). And as dessert indulge yourself with Ile Flottante (Floating Island Meringue). Your Parisian sommelier (wine steward) will be happy to suggest appropriate wines to accompany each course.

Luxurious Guest House in Fes, Morocco: Riad Fes

Riad Fes

Where tradition and beauty meet luxury and comfort. Riad Fes is a beautifully restored traditional Andalusian riad. This charming and stylish riad has all the facets of a traditional Moroccan home, including intricate mosaics, carved plasterwork, and heavy cedarwood doors

Features

In addition to its luxurious atmosphere, Riad Fes also boasts many contemporary features that will further add to the comfort of your stay. These include a swimming pool, Jacuzzi, library, and a business center with internet. The riad also features a roof terrace with panoramic views of the medina, 2 patios, a solarium, 3 dining rooms, an Alhambresque basin, and a traditional hammam. For the convenience of its guests, there is an elevator to the upper levels and roof terrace.

Rooms

Accommodation at Riad Fes includes 6 suites, and 7 double rooms. All rooms have bathrooms and are fitted with air-conditioning, heating, satellite tv, mini bar, and phone.

Services

Riad Fes has a reputation for the excellent and professional services it offers to its guests. Services at Riad Fes include complimentary breakfast and tea throughout the day. It also provides a laundry service and wireless internet access. In addition, it can host 10-60 people for professional meetings.

Dining

Riad Fes offers a lovely fine dining restaurant with an extensive menu of Moroccan cuisine. Every dish is fresh and individually prepared for each guest.

Location

Address: Derb Ben Slimane, Fes, Morocco
Riad Fes is located in the area of Batha, close to the hub of the old medina.

Rates and Reservations

Riad Fes Rates-

Standard Room: 154 Euros

Deluxe Room: 182 Euros

Junior Suite: 408 Euros

Royal Suite: 544 Euros

Reservations can be made at:

http://www.riadfes.com/en/riad-reservation/riad-rates.php

Contact Information

contact@riadfes.com

http://www.riadfes.com

Phone: 212-(0)35-94-76-10

Volunteer on a Gap Year in Thailand

The top gap year destination in Asia is definitely Thailand. Thailand has so much to offer to the traveller and in particular to the gay year traveller. Taking a Gap Year in Thailand is amazing! There is no other word that would better define the experience of Thailand.

Many travellers will be doing volunteer work in Thailand during their gap year. There are lots and lots of volunteer opportunities in Thailand. Lets take a closer look.

The Kingdom of Thailand lies in Southeast Asia. To its east lies Laos and Cambodia; to its south, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia; and to its west Myanmar. For well seasoned travellers Thailand would for sure be in the top three travel destinations in the world. Thailand is the world’s 49th-largest country. It is comparable in size to France, and somewhat larger than the US state of California.

Most of the Thai people are Buddhists of the Theravada tradition. Muslims are the second largest religious group in Thailand at 4.6%. Buddhism is central to modern Thai identity and belief. In practice, Thai Buddhism has evolved over time to include many regional beliefs originating from animism as well as ancestor worship.

In areas in the southernmost parts of Thailand, Islam is prevalent. Several different ethnic groups, many of which are marginalized, populate Thailand. Some of these groups overlap into Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia and have maintained a distinctly traditional way-of-life despite strong Thai cultural influence. Overseas Chinese also form a significant part of Thai society, particularly in and around Bangkok.

The best way to have a meaningful holiday in Thailand is to join a volunteering program. To volunteer in Thailand not only give you great volunteering experiences but it also give you the unique opportunity to get to know the real Thailand and its people.

Doing volunteer work in Thailand can be done on a gap year abroad, a career break or on a short term volunteer vacation. Thailand is a very easy country to travel so even a one week trip can be very rewarding. Many people love the country so much that they stay for much longer then they anticipates.

Thailand can be divided in three parts : the south, central and the north. The south of Thailand consist of holiday spots such as Samui, Phuket and Krabi. The centre is mainly Bangkok and the surrounding areas and the north has great cities such as Chiangmai and Chiangrai. The south is very relaxed and very much tourism oriented. Bangkok is a real hustle and bustle. And the north is the mountainous area with great cultural sights.

Volunteering can be done all over Thailand. The two main volunteer activities are teaching English and conservation.

Conservation work is mostly with animals such as volunteering with turtles and endangered animals. Teaching is done in schools and orphanages.

Taking a volunteering trip in Thailand will offer you the unique opportunity to understand this wonderful country in a very meaningful way. Also it will give you the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the unfortunate ones.

Thailand has a lot to offer for a volunteer and gap year travellers, called The Land of Smiles, Thailand really lives up to its reputation and more!

2008 Olympic Tour Packages: An Experience of a Lifetime

The Olympics represent unique opportunities for sports enthusiasts and cultural ambassadors to come together to dissolve humanity’s differences and unify under the banner of goodwill and sportsmanship. The Olympics are held in even numbered years, with the Summer Olympics celebrated in years divisible by four and the Winter Olympics staged two years later.

Although the Olympics are always an exciting time, anticipation for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing is unparalleled. China has always been an extremely powerful nation, but it is poised to become a true economic powerhouse, one that could well lead the world as the century progresses. The Chinese view the 2008 Games as the opportunity to showcase their development, while the rest of the world is intensely curious about a country, a government, and a people that seem shrouded in mystery.

Because it is largely a closed society, few Westerners have had the opportunity to visit China – until now. Indeed, this year’s Games make 2008 Olympic tour packages extremely popular, as they present a unique opportunity to experience Chinese culture and enjoy the camaraderie that accompanies this gathering of athletes and fans from around the world. For many people who love to travel, golf packages, hunting and fishing vacations, and cruises pale in comparison to the chance to become part of history as China unveils its advancements on a world stage.

When you’ve decided to embark on this adventure of a lifetime, though, how do you decide which travel operator to use? The best 2008 Olympic tour packages can be found online. Look for a travel website that offers over a dozen different China travel packages. For example, you should be able to choose from among seven-day, nine-day, ten-day, and eleven-day tours. Perhaps you’d like to limit your China visit to Beijing, and concentrate on seeing the Olympics and visiting landmarks like Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall. Maybe you’d also like to make your way to Shanghai and Suzhou, a town of canals that has been dubbed the “Venice of the East.” Extend your trip for a few days, and you could visit Nanjing to experience its rich cultural heritage, as well as Hangzhou’s Lin Ying Temple.

Choosing the right travel company is more than selecting your preferred itinerary, though. You should also ensure that the tour provides guides that speak English, and includes accommodations in four-star hotels. All transportation within China should be provided, including transportation to and from Olympic venues. Price is also a consideration, though it probably shouldn’t be the deciding factor. You can, however, expect to book a superb eleven-day 2008 Olympic tour package for under $5,000 per person.

The slogan of this summer’s Olympic games is “One World, One Dream.” If you’ve always dreamt of visiting one of the most exotic, mysterious places in the world, 2008 Olympic tour packages will give you an experience of a lifetime. Let the games begin!

I Love Touring Paris – The Thirteenth Arrondissement

The thirteenth arrondissement of southeastern Paris is situated on the Left Bank of the Seine River. Its land area is relatively large by Parisian standards, and measures more than two and three quarter square miles (over seven square kilometers). This district has a population over one hundred seventy thousand and is home to about ninety thousand jobs. Both population and employment figures are growing, largely due an influx of Asian immigrants.

Les Olympiades is a residential high-rise district built well over thirty years ago on a huge, elevated pedestrian esplanade complete with a shopping mall, the Pagode (Pagoda) at the center. To many people this complex looks like a smaller version of La Defense, Europe’s largest business district, situated just west of Paris. A driverless Metro (subway) feeds the complex, running every four minutes during the extended rush hour. Nearby is the huge Paris Rive Gauche project built on and near old railroad yards. Once again we are talking mostly high-rises. If that’s your bag, be my guest.

The Bibliotheque nationale de France (National Library of France) is another resident of the new thirteenth district. It was founded by Charles V in the mid Fourteenth Century at the Louvre Museum, described in our companion article on the First Arrondissement. Later the library moved to its own quarters in the same district. The new library, said to look like an open book, opened to the public in late 1996. Despite being located in a modest neighborhood, accessing library materials costs money. A famous French historian was refused a library card. Although there are many complaints the library does contain ten million volumes.

The Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital started out as a gunpowder factory and was converted to a dumping ground for the Parisian poor, serving as a prison for prostitutes, the criminally insane, and others of that ilk. During the French Revolution many prostitutes were freed but other residents-inmates were murdered. On the upside the hospital’s reknown professor, Jean-Martin Charcot, nicknamed “the Napoleon of the neuroses” has been considered the founder of modern neurology. Furthermore it was the site of Paris’s first vaccinations, way back in 1800. La Salpetriere has become a teaching hospital. This was where Diana, Princess of Wales, breathed her last. If you are in the neighborhood you should visit the Seventeenth Century Chapelle de la Salpetriere (Hospital Chapel). By the way, the word chapel is misleading as the complex can hold four thousand people.

Unless you are a Princess Diana freak, who can blame you for not wanting to tour a hospital once famous for its rats? Don’t miss the next sight, unknown to many. The Butte-aux-Cailles (literally quails hill) is located in the west end of the district, fairly close to the very busy Place d’Italie. The hill is about 200 feet (65 meters) tall. Cailles was the family name of people who once farmed the land. In 1783 the first hot-air balloon carrying people landed on this little hill. It was one of the strongholds of the Paris Commune in 1871, memorialized in a city square by that name. There has been so much excavation that the hill can’t support the high-rises that mar so much of this arrondissement and so much of the “new” Paris. So you’ll have to be satisfied with the co-op restaurants, trendy bars, and nightclubs that haven’t erased the village atmosphere. The Butte is home to an art-deco public piscine (swimming pool) fed by a natural hot spring. You can even enjoy vaudeville and Brazilian music. If you fall in love with a little house in the neighborhood remember, it was once inexpensive.

The Gare d’Austerlitz (Austerlitz Station) is one of the most important Parisian railway stations. It was named for a small Czech town in which the sorely outnumbered French and allied troops under Napoleon defeated the armies of Austria, Russia, and Great Britain in 1805. This railway station was first built in 1840 and extended a generation later. There are plans to rehabilitate and upgrade Austerlitz station doubling its capacity by 2020. The complex is moderately attractive but if you aren’t a railroad buff, don’t go out of your way to see it.

The Manufacture des Gobelins (Gobelins Factory) makes exceptional tapestries and has been doing so for centuries. It supplied the kings of France starting with Louis XIV. The company founder, Jehan Gobelin, discovered a special dye during the Fifteenth Century. Detractors called his company la folie Gobelin (Gobelin’s folly). I guess he showed them. Some of his descendants purchased titles of nobility and abandoned this unnoble trade. Other family members branched out to the tapestry business and later into carpets and upholstery. The complex includes a museum offering guided tours.

Of course you don’t want to tour Paris without sampling fine French wine and food. In my article I Love French Wine and Food – An Alsace Riesling I reviewed such a wine and suggested a sample menu: Start with Schniederspaetle (Onion Ravioli). For your second course savor Brochet d’I a la creme (Pike in White Wine and Cream Sauce). And as dessert indulge yourself with Strudel aux Pommes (Apple Strudel). Your Parisian sommelier (wine steward) will be happy to suggest appropriate wines to accompany each course.

A Dubai Holiday – The Gold City

Dubai is an incredible holiday destination that has so much to offer. From deserts, safaris, Arab cuisines, manmade marvels, huge wealthy hotels, theme parks to world famous shopping experience, Dubai makes a more than perfect destination for a great vacation.

Below are some of the things you must see when holidaying in Dubai.

Palm Islands

Famous for being visible from the moon, palm islands are three of the largest manmade islands ever. For tourists and visitors the palm Jumeirah features a series of hotels and private residences. While the second of the three Islands, palm Jebel Ali is known for its leisure facilities, you can also enjoy the aquatic theme park on this island. The third island of the palm islands, Palm Deira is more or less a residential area with large number of sophisticated and stylish villas. The palm Deira is also the largest of the three islands forming a great manmade marvel ever. The palm islands are a must visit tourist attraction for every holiday in Dubai. The three marvellous islands are connected by bridges to the main land. A Dubai vacation can not be completed without taking a trip to this breathtaking manmade attraction.

Wonderland

This tourist attraction is for those looking for a family time in their Dubai vacation. Spread in an area of 18 hectares, this fun park is often filled with tourists and visitors enjoying Caribbean cruise, speed slides, wave runners, surf hills and many such amazing attractions.

Magic Planet

Magic planet is fun place for children and is an entertainment centre only for kids. This tourist attraction is great for your kids to have some fun in their holiday in Dubai. You can let your kids cherish their Dubai vacation with attractions like crawling bungee jungle, mini pitch and putt, electronic games and 10 pin bowling.

Art Galleries

Dubai also displays some remarkable and beautiful art galleries for art lovers on their holiday in Dubai. Founded in 1976, the Dubai Art Society is quite a unique tourist attraction in Dubai. The art galleries got their share of fame after being reinvented in year 1980. In the mid of 1980s it was renamed as Dubai International Art Centre. The place promotes skills of young artists and should not be missed on a Dubai vacation, if you are fond of art.

Desert Safaris

A holiday in Dubai is never complete without the world famous desert safaris. Tourist and visitors are taken on desert trip in groups and get to experience Dubai, its culture and deserts. The Dubai safari experience is something you will not get anywhere else and to add to the adventure, you also get an overnight stay in Bedouin tents. Holiday in Dubai gets memorable when you get to taste the traditional Arab barbeque during evening desert feasts.

Best time to have a holiday in Dubai

The ideal time for a Dubai vacation is between November-March, also known as winter time in Dubai.