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Posts Tagged ‘destination’

Montreal

Montreal is unique in North America, combining the New World modern with the romantic charm of historic districts and a European air Gallic lifestyle, evident in the cafes and the city’s dynamic nightlife.
Although skyscrapers downtown are testament of the economic influence of the second largest city of Canada, visitors are most likely attracted by the promise of rides in a cart on the cobbled streets of old town near the St. Lawrence River.
Montreal is on an island between Rivière des Prairies and Saint Lawrence River. When Jacques Cartier discovered the island in 1535, it was already inhabited. Until Paul de Chomedey arrived in 1642 to found the Ville-Marie, the first European colony has been already abandoned. Cross on the Mount Royal, which is visible from most of the city, marks the place where Maisonneuve planted a wooden cross to thank that the city was spared by the floods in the first winter.
French revolt against the British in the economy led to the “silent revolution” between 1950 and 1960, culminating in the crisis of 1970 and the referendum about royalty from 1980 to 1995.
As a result, French became the predominant language at work and a number of companies in Quebec have become active in global market forces. Approximately 65% of people claim that French is their native language, making Montreal the second most populous French-speaking city after Paris.
But in Montreal there is a cosmopolitan mix of immigrants around the world, who contributed to the rich cultural heritage and lively atmosphere in the city. This is most evident during one of the largest festivals in Montreal, International Festival of Jazz in Montréal, when tens of thousands of music fans fill the streets of every day.
Elegant buildings of Old Montreal, which was the heart of the city until the late nineteenth century, are now full of shops, bars, hotels and restaurants.
The best time to visit Montreal is summer, when even the nights are muggy and the whole city seems to spend. Autumn that reveals the leaves color is the right period to visit the Laurentians forest.

Posted on June 27th, 2010 by admin  |  1 Comment »

Vive la France

If you decide to spend this year’s holiday not in a luxury hotel but on an adventurous camp site, there are lots of interesting places waiting to be explored. Especially France has a lot to offer in regard to outdoor holiday.  A lot of different provinces of France, some of them directly at the seaside, some of them located in the heart of the country itself leave a great choice. To help you find the perfect destination for your holiday, this article gives a short summary of places to set up camp, all over the beautiful country of France.

The Bretagne (or Brittany), one of the most famous parts of France considering holiday destinations, offers a stunningly beautiful coastline, especially in the region of Finistére. While part of Finistére, the Cotes-d’Armor and Ille-et-Vilaine are bordering the English Channel, the southern part of Finistére as well as Morbihan and the two islands Ile-de-Groix and Belle-Ile are situated along the Atlantic Ocean. In north France, not too far from Calais, the province of Normandy offers a long stretch of coastline along the English Channel. Probably the most famous part of Normandy is the island of Mont-Saint-Michel with its enormous Benedictine monastery which is named a UNESCO world heritage site. Situated more at the heart of the country, Burgundy is a province with lots of cultural and historical background. Cultural highlights in Burgundy include a wide variety of very old monasteries and churches, as well as impressive castles.

But not only beach holidays and sightseeing can be the destination of a camping trip. A variety of camp sites can be found located near to the city of Paris, so by setting up camp on one of these sites, one can enjoy the magnificent capital of France while keeping the accommodation costs considerably low. Not only the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre or Montmartre are worth seeing while in the French capital, but in close proximity to Paris and always worth a visit, the famous castle of Versailles can be another highlight on a camping trip to France.

Posted on June 17th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments »

A holiday in Turkey

A tourist region par excellence, with a lot of sights that await you beyond the gates of all hotels in the all inclusive system. Tens of thousands of tourists choose each summer, for many years, holidays with no worries and rain in Antalya, Turkey.
A day in the city of Antalya runs smoothly with the sun disappearing into the sea and the history that comes alive as you descend from the new to the old port in the Mediterranean. Among the traditional houses carefully restored by new owners, shops and craft bazaar with goods that undulate in waves, the heart of the city hides even the heart of fun in the region which is supposed to be the coolest club outside the hotels where you can white your nights during holidays, the well known Ally Club .

Belek, situated in the Antalya region, has the most luxurious, but the most expensive too, five star resorts in the Antalya valley and the Side-Alanya area has low prices and is full of historical monuments, a paradise for fans. You make your choice as you like it, after your budget or passions.

Beyond Belek, toward Alanya, which is also located 140 km away from Antalya, is a few miles of coast and it lies one of the best preserved ancient buildings in the world, the amphitheatre in Aspendos, built by Marc Aurelius. Travel agencies offer daily trips here, and the money you will pay are going to be certainly well spent. Millennium Theater had also periods in which it abandoned the cultural mission. Seljuk from Turkey turned it into a caravanserai because it was an important trade route. Then, a sultan made palace for himself in a strange ancient construction. Meanwhile it was returned to its original form, of a theater. Performances are held at dusk, especially music. From Aspendos you can get to Side in a few minutes, also called the old Antalya, an abandoned city, with remnants of Greek, Roman and Byzantine, who once was one of the most prosperous ports in the region. On Side, the Temple of Apollo is still raising its trunks to the sky, and the trade history with slaves comes alive in guides stories.

Posted on June 16th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments »

Bermuda Triangle

Bermuda Triangle is known to be a triangular area bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the extremities of Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Legend says that many people, boats and planes have disappeared in a mysterious way surrounding. Its size varies from 500,000 sq. miles to three times more depending on the author’s imagination. As some people say, the mystery is known to date since Columbus times. Even so, estimates vary between 200 and 1000 incidents in the last 500 years. Howard Rosenberg says that in 1973 the U.S. Coast Guard has answered over 8000 requests for assistance in the area and that more than 50 ships and 20 aircraft sank in the Bermuda Triangle in the last century.

Many theories have been given about Bermuda Triangle to explain the extraordinary mystery of the disappearance of these vessels and aircraft. Evil aliens, residue crystals from Atlantis, evil men with other weird technologies are the favorites among writers of fiction prose. Strange magnetic fields are the favorite explanations of technical minds. Weather conditions such as hurricanes, tsunamis or earthquakes and many other natural causes are the explanations given by skeptical investigators.

There are skeptic persons who say that the facts in the Bermuda Triangle don’t confirm the legend, that there is no mystery that needs solving, and nothing to be explained. Number of wrecks in the area is not huge considering the size, location and traffic in the area. Many of the ships and planes that have been identified as missing in the Bermuda Triangle were not there at all. Investigations have not shown yet any scientific evidence of the existence of an unusual phenomenon involved in disappearances.

The modern legend of this place appeared shortly after five military aircraft have disappeared on a mission during an awful storm in 1945. The most logical explanation for this disappearance is that the Charles Taylor pilot compass has been damaged. Training planes were not equipped with navigation tools that should have worked well. The group was disoriented and simply ran out of fuel. No mysterious forces were involved except the mysterious effect of gravity forces on the aircraft without fuel.

So, the Bermuda Triangle mystery has become a real one just because of the mass-media who has passed without investigating speculation related to something mysterious that is happening in the Atlantic Ocean.

Posted on June 15th, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments »

Why To Choose A Motorhome

If you want to take a motorhome insurance, for example in the United Kingdom, you should know this is the cheapest form of  a car insurance.
You have to make your insurance not only for not being stolen, but also for winter if you have your own motorcaravan. The local autorities have often revealed that the salt levels are critically low because of the icy conditions. As the icy conditions continue to take hold, you should not waste your time and make your caravan insurance to cross the country if you want to relax during your holiday. mh
In this way, your camper van has relatively low risk of being stolen. There are even companes which will will give you benefits such as paying you some extra money. So that, don’t risk you motorhome and get one of it.
Otherwise, if you don’t have any vehicle and you want to take a time off, then you can also rent one. The best choice you can do is motorhomes, only if they are being driven by experienced drivers.
The best thing campervans have is that they can be used as an accomodation. You can relax during your journey. Even tough this vehicle is driven less than a car, it offers people much safety and better conditions.
Of course, you have less chances of theft in a motorcaravan rather than in a usual car. If you put together all prices you must pay in a holiday, you will realize this one is cheaper than any other and how cost effective the motor insurance is going to be.
Inside a motorhome which is equipped as a general house, you will have a large kitchen, a bedroom, and also a kind of living room, all of them being equipped. The basic does not miss of course. You will also have a proper toilet and a shower. Just exactly like a house. If you choose some of the best campervans, probably in the kitchen you will have an upscale galley. The furnishings in the kitchen look good and rezist things and scratches such as the stainless steel stove. Right on top you may have a microwave oven and a dish washer below too.
In the bedroom you will have a large queen bed, a TV and even a washing machine, if the campervan is at least a 2007 type. It’s a non-traditional styling. Depending on what you choose, you may have a full wall slide that opens up the inside.
Refering to the instrument panel we can say it is integrated with a steering column. There is also a pioneer navigation system that supplies data updates and entertainment as well.

Posted on February 21st, 2010 by admin  |  No Comments »

Bora Bora Island

Bora Bora, the island in the middle of the Pacific, was called by many as the most beautiful place on Earth. The island is a mixture of shades of blue, from azure to dark blue of the ocean after the barrier reefs, all surrounding emerald mostly conferred by abundant vegetation of the Otemanu volcano.

The island of volcanic origin, Bora Bora, is actually a complex of small islands, formed along a barrier reef around the main island.
Bora Bora is the main favorite destination for honeymoon and also a visit in family which will be a unique experience.

Bora Bora is part of the French Polynesia and is located to the tropics, near Tahiti, from where air you can arrive in about 45 minutes. One trip here from Romania for example takes about 24 hours, and requires a stop somewhere in the United States of America.

Bora Bora Island, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean 225km northwest of Tahiti, has 6.5 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide. Bora Bora is an island of volcanic origin which was formed about 3 million years ago.

The climate is tropical, pleasant at any time of year, sunrise and sunset of the sun are impressive, and water’s clarity crosses the limit. Certainly, this would be one of the most splendid holiday ever happened to any of us. Those who had the opportunity to visit this land remained with a strong nostalgia even if this was just a visit, but it remained in memory the most beautiful place on earth, the so called Heaven on Earth.

In 1977 this island was named by Captain James Cook, Bola Bola which means “First Born”, and then, after the Americans arrived, this place was named Bora Bora, an island which is now visited by people from the most remote corners of the world.

Posted on December 11th, 2009 by admin  |  No Comments »

Etna Volcano

On the eastern shore of Sicily are rising three large rocks, caressed by the waves. They have volcanic origin and they don’t seem to be like the other rocky formations from the shore. Rocks, they are said to have been thrown by a monster in the footsteps of Odysseus’s ship, the hero of the Trojan wars hero of the Greek mythology.
Homer, the Greek poet of the seventh century before Christ said in Odyssey that the hero of Ithaca and his comrades were held in Sicily by some giant man eaters. Their leader was Polifem more hideous than the others because he had only one eye, sitting in the middle of the crowd. While Polifem was sleeping, Odysseus and the others have sharp  a piece of olive wood, then they flushed into the fire and burning, stuck it into the only eye of the monster, then they fled to the ship with which they came.

Blind and tormented by pain, Polifem tore rocks from the mountains coast and threw them on the tracks of the fugitives. He did not hit them, but even today boulders are still being there where he throw, thing which still remember the terrible power of the monster.
As for the legend’s truth, if we look carefully to the inside of the island at about 20 km, we can see the conical tip of the Etna volcano. Its single crater, blind and deep, is like the monster’s eye.
Not once, but many times during the centuries Etna has demonstrated its ability to spout boulders on large and long distances, and it still gives today such dramatic proofs of its anger from depths.
Its eruptions are fed by a reservoir of lava, of 30 km long and 4 km deep, located under the mountains and fed by huge quantities of molten material filled with gas, located in the depths of the Earth. You might think that place is not at all favorable for human settlements. However, the Etna slopes makes one of the most densely populated regions of Sicily. The rivers of lava that flow are slow and not very numerous, rarely killing someone. People collect even five harvests of vegetables per year and fruits are growing in abundance.

Posted on December 2nd, 2009 by admin  |  No Comments »

Kalahari Desert

Beyond the gray plains of pebble, in northwestern South Africa, land is slightly inclined to lay open one of the timeless masterpieces of nature: a large  old sand appearing as a baked apricot, which stretches like forever. This is the Kalahari, a vast territory on the African plateau. Surreal beautiful in its immensity, prehistoric culture and structure, the Kalahari Desert covers almost the whole Bostwana, continuing to the west in Namibia and north in Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe. People who live here call it Kgalagadi, meaning “wilderness” – a region so vast, so impenetrable, as it hides secrets of ancient civilizations that disappeared a long time ago. Its sands are home and hunting territory of the oldest populations in the world, the tribes of Bushmen or San, who live today as they did 25,000 years ago. Their amazing adaptations in scorching heat, to the lack of the water and insufficient food, allowed people to survive where others would surely not. Although there is currently no longer than a few thousand bushmen in the Kalahari , their ancestors have left behind them numerous paintings in caves and on rocks in the region. For example in caves and on cliffs of the Tsodilo Hills, in the north-western desert, there are no fewer than 2750 pictures in 200 sites. These subjects vary from simple geometric designs to various groups of people and animals.
Even today, large groups can be seen as marching along the dried  rivers of Auob and Nossob, throwing gold dust in the air. Here, lions are often hidden under the foliage of trees, waiting for night to start hunting.

Posted on November 30th, 2009 by admin  |  2 Comments »

Congo River

Innumerable tributaries feed the Congo river along the arc of a circle which is being crossed from its sources, to the border between Zambia and Democratic Republic of the Congo, until flowing into the Atlantic. On the road or 4700 km, the river winds through dense jungle and mangrove forests accumulating so much power that flows into the sea 41,700 tons of water per second, its  debit being exceeded only by the Amazon’s one.
When the river estuary was discovered, in 1482, by the portuguese explorer Diogo Cao, he could not cross the cataracts upstream of the river mouth, today named Livingstone Falls, so the river has remained unexplored for nearly 400 years. For Europeans of the nineteenth century, this area was known as the “darkest Africa”.
The upper Congo River is partially navigable. Initially, it flows to the north through a narrow, steep and rocky gorge, then winds through swamps covered by reeds and flowing into Lake Kisa, a paradise of egrets and seagulls, but the fishermen in the area. Further, navigable portions alternates with thresholds before Nyangwe, where the river enters into the dark jungle which frightened Livingstone in 1871, preventing him from going forward to the north. The river crosses 7 waterfalls along the 90 km, with the largest flow of water in the world, approximately 166,850 tonnes per second.

Posted on November 25th, 2009 by admin  |  No Comments »

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the sovereign United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and was first opened to the general public in 1993. The entrance to the Buckingham Palace is through the Court Street Ambassadors of Buckingham Palace. The Great Hall of the Palace is the place where the old reception room is situated. This room is dominated by the imposing stairs and railings in bronze floral ornaments. In the Guard Room visitors can admire on the walls the upholstery and decorations. Colored green silk on the walls of the room shows perfectly the beauty of the molding ceiling. This is the place where the room of Queen Charlotte is situated.The Bal Room is almost 40 meters long and was inaugurated during the reign of Queen Victoria in 1856 to celebrate the end of the war in Crimea. Among the collection of paintings at Buckingham Palace you can find artistic treasures by Rubens, Rembrandt, Canaletto, Vermeer and many others. This selection of paintings from the Art Gallery of Buckingham Palace is found in entrusting the Queen for her successors and for the nation and it is part of the national heritage of Great Britain. The History of Buckingham Palace began in 1702 when the Duke of Buckingham built it as his residence in London. Son Duke sold the Palace in 1761 to George III and was renamed the “Queen’s House” in 1744 because Queen Charlotte lived there. When the Palace has passed into the possession of George IV in 1820, Nash was hired to redecorate the Palace. The main part was kept but a new wing of flats was built in the west, garden. Since 1837, when Queen Victoria was established at the residence in Buckingham Palace, a lot of changes took place. One of the most important changes was the removal of huge portions of marble which today is found in the area called Tyburn. Nowadays, the Buckingham Palace is used not only as a residence for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh but also for the administrative affairs of the monarchical institution.

Posted on November 16th, 2009 by admin  |  No Comments »