Mediterranean Cruises

guest post by Gill Cruises Every year, more and more travellers are discovering the convenience, flexibility and excitement of embarking on a cruise ship holiday. While there are cruises sailing around the world, those heading to the Mediterranean are among the most magical and beautiful. Few other cruise destinations offer the cultural wealth and historical beauty like Monte Carlo, Naples, Athens or Istanbul. And unlike a traditional holiday, where you will spend many days of your travel time in transit, on a cruise ship all the travelling is done at night while you catch up on your beauty rest. Each morning you will wake up to discover a new port of call. Athens, Greece is one of the world’s oldest cities, with around 3,400 years of recorded history. On your stop in Athens, there are tours to view a stunning array of ancient monuments and works of art. The Parthenon on the hill of the Acropolis is not to be missed, but you could also visit the Propylea, the Temple of the Wingless Victory, the Erechtheion temple, the Acropolis Museum, the Arch of Hadrian or the Temple of Olympian Zeus. There is also a huge collection of antiquities for you to peruse at the National Archaeological Museum. Naples, Italy is another very popular port of call on Mediterranean cruises. This is another ancient city, dating back more than 2,800 years. Naples is also brimming with extraordinary works of art and architecture. Pompeii should be at the top of your list of tours, one of the world’s most famous excavation sites. Naples is also the birthplace of pizza, so you should seek out an authentic Italian pizza shop before you head back to the ship. Monte Carlo, Monaco is undoubtedly the most glamorous city on the Riviera, and has long been a favourite holiday destination for the rich and famous. The most popular day trips include stops at the casino, the Hotel de Paris, the Oceanographic Museum, and the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, where Princess Grace and Prince Rainier are entombed. Istanbul, Turkey dates back to 800 BC, but is now a modern, bustling city of almost 12 million people. One of the most inspiring experiences you might have is listening to the prayers being broadcast over the public loudspeakers in the morning or evening. There are also amazing day trips to visit the Blue Mosque, Istanbul Archaeology Museum, Basilica Cistern, or the Grand Bazaar, the oldest and largest covered marketplace in the world. Taking a Mediterranean cruise holiday with Cunard Cruises is simply one of the best vacation values for the money. You will be able to sample a wide geographic area of destinations, and see if you’d like to return there for a longer holiday. You will find a non-stop variety of activities, events, activities and meals, and you will be pampered like nowhere else. Plus, most of your shopping can be done duty free! With so much to see and do, every traveller will come home with wonderful memories to last a lifetime.

Monaco the Most Surreal and Strange Places in the Western World.

Some have likened it to the facade of a Disney resort and others to the obscene and visible display of a Las Vegas. But for me it is neither, it is just a very strange place. And unless you are living there for tax purposes it is hard to see why you would want to live there.

The city and country (as at around 2km square it all is the same) largely comprises of uninspiring, large and very unimpressive tower blocks. The very tower blocks from the 50s, 60s and 70s that popped up post was across many European cities. The one difference being they cost outrageous sums of money.

Monaco is jam full of buildings. Space was limited, although some land reclamation and building into the sea helped expand the space a bit - but when they did they threw up more tall blocks.

Underneath most of the city there seems to be either vast parking garages or road tunnels. The whole underneath of the city seems to be a world for cars. This was driven by necessity as there would have had to be valuable building space given up, and also they needed to figure out how to get a lot of traffic in, around and out of the city.

I had never been sure what the difference between Monaco and Monte Carlo was - if anything. I discovered that Monte Carlo is a district within Monaco, with the country and capital both being called Monaco (as they are one and the same). The famous Formula 1 Grand Prix takes place each May in the Monte Carlo district, which is kind of the centre of the most know and visited area of Monaco where the Casino and Hotel De Paris are located.

Monaco is a strange quirk as it is ruled by the Grimaldi Family, who have done so for many hundred of years (since 13th century). It is an independent state, with only the Vatican being smaller. And although they have their own tax and business regime (there is no personal income tax) and run local affairs, the major things like defence and the such are set and guaranteed by France.

It is a place where locals are in the minority by far, with most residents being wealthy foreigners seeking the nil income tax. You have to be wealthy to be allowed to buy property. Apparently though you cannot be a French tax exile as this is an agreement with the French government.

The state is under pressure from many governments to be more open with their financial institutions, as there is a feeling that it is not only a place where the rich are using it for tax avoidance in their home countries, but also that it is used to launder money by organised crime and other illegal organisations.

As there is a lot of wealth, you see spectacular yachts (well more like ships) in the yacht basin, a lot of elderly wealthy people, over dressed over ostentatious people strolling about dressed to display wealth and very up-market stores to serve that all up.

It all is very conspicuous consumption. It is also outrageously expensive, both for hotels and food and drink.

Monaco also is obsessed with security. It has the largest number of police per capital (who are very visible) and the whole place is riddled with CCTV cameras. They literally are everywhere.

The other obsession is cleanliness. The place is kept very clean and very neat!

Council gives $2.5M for tourism promotion of southern Id

Tourism revenues declined slightly in south-central Idaho as the recession prompted visitors to either cut their vacations short or in some cases avoid them alltogether.
Lodging revenues, an indicator of dollars spent in Magic Valley by visitors from outside the valley and the state, declined 3 percent during the 2010 fiscal year ending June 10, compared to the previous year. It marked the second consecutive year of declining tourism.

However, help is on the way to promote events and attractions in Magic Valley.
Southern Idaho Tourism, the marketing and promotion arm of the seven-county area, will receive nearly $207,000 in state assistance to promote tourism for the remainder of the 2010 calendar year. The money is part of $2.5 million in Idaho Travel Council grants to fund non-profit organizations that promote tourism.
"We plant use the money to carry us through the rest of the year," said Debbie Dane, executive director of Southern Idaho Tourism. "It will be used to help us market events and attractions with overnight stays to people in neighboring states.
She said overnight lodging, which also generates tourism revenue for restaurants and other services, is important to increasing tourism dollars in the area.
New this year was the regional effort to seek one grant for various entities in south-central Idaho. Grant requests are often made by one or more organizations like chambers of commerce, associations and visitor bureaus. Southern Idaho Tourism worked with the Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerce to apply for one - with the money being distributed among the entities.
"As far as I know, it's the first time anyone in the state has done this," Dane said. "It will help us reduce our auditing costs for the grant, so we can put more of that money into marketing our region."

Tourism is a $3 billion dollar industry in Idaho. Total lodging tax collections for fiscal year 2010 were $6.26 million.

By Joshua Palmer Times-News

Chicago: Thrilling and Awesome Place

Are you planning to spend your honeymoon in Chicago? Then, it is a good idea. Chicago is blessed with superb scenic beauty and the place is all about enjoyment and fun. One can draw up a huge list of popular attractions that helps the newly-wedded couple to spend as much as time together. Furthermore, this place has mind blowing picturesque beauty which will just sweep you off your feet. From natural beauty of the Michigan River flowing across the heart of the City to the spectacular view of the Chicago high rises from one of the tallest buildings of the world Sears Tower, Chicago will treat you with a dream vacation. Now let us discuss what its major attractions are: · Navy Pier: This is one of the well-known attractions in Chicago which offers number of dining options where you can pamper your taste buds with the delicacies of great varieties seafood. · Adler Planetarium: It is located on the lake shore drive and this Planetarium exhibits the first Star Rider Theater and the state-of-the-art computer technology of the world. A tourist will be thrilled to see the excessive artifacts of historical value which is displayed in this planetarium.

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Shedd Aquarium: This is another popular attraction in Chicago which has great collections of marine life. However, it is located by the Lake Michigan and the collection in this aquarium is so enriched that the tourists across the world come and visit cherished with it. · The Field Museum: Field Museum is one of the many attractions of Chicago which reflects the specimen of natural sciences. The enriched anthropological and biological collection of the museum amused tourists from across the world. · The Art Institute of Chicago: In this you can enjoy some of the utmost art collection from around the world. Moreover, you can also catch a glimpse of the Amerindian and African art collection at the Institute. Beside all this, this place has many other spots like museum of Science and Industry, the Hancock Observatory, Sears Tower Sky Deck, Cruise across River Michigan, Millennium Park and many more that offers memorable experience to their visitors. However, talk about the cuisines and hotels of Chicago, visitors can enjoy various culinary dishes, notably the Chicago-style hot dog, the Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich and the deep-dish pizza. There are numerous hotels, resorts and accommodations are available here that allows people of every budget to enjoy and cherished with their services etc

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A Little Switzerland in Luxembourg

The tiny travel wonder of Luxembourg, precariously sandwiched between France and Germany at a European crossroads has a woven web of hiking paths that crisscross the country. While the city features excellent historic walks such as the Wenzel Walk, the northern part of Luxembourg offers a tremendous array of walking and hiking options. With maps available from tourist offices and clear signposts with blue triangles marking the paths, hiking is one of Luxembourg’s most popular leisurely pursuits (after all, one-third of the country is forested). And there is no better place to walk than the grandly named Little Switzerland. While there is nothing alpine about this lowland region, the dramatic landscape gives some credibility to its moniker.

Start from the country’s oldest town of Echternach with its sprawling abbey credited to St Willibrord (a wily Yorkshireman who the locals believed cured epilepsy in the seventh century). With little thought over a strong steaming coffee, I selected E1 (see map), a suitable sounding walk of twelve kilometres. After a short but strenuous climb, a nice viewpoint (Troosknäppchen) offers fine vistas of the abbey and town.

The path follows the Müllerthal Trail (the miller’s path named from the numerous watermills that once existed on the river) quickly leading to densely wooded forests, lush verdant valleys and spectacular rock formations. Left over from the Ice Age, roughly hewn rock steps and ladders weave a narrow, twisting path between towering 20 metre high rock walls at times only wide enough for a single file of walkers.


This ancient landscape generates its own steamy microclimate of high humidity producing vegetation unique to Europe with moss coating everything in a carpet of green and ferns sprouting from small rocky crevices.

The trail leads through the evocatively named Wolfsschlucht (the wolves’ lair - top photo) that apparently sheltered wolves in times past. Continuing along a tiny brook, through the Labyrinth and past the giant single rock of Perekop, the trail leads to Hohllay. This is an old cave where traces remain where millstones were cut. Regular performances still run at the nearby amphitheatre, a wonderful natural location for plays, theatre and music.

Sharing lunch with a couple of hikers, climbers clambered up the sheer rock walls, the occasional yelp of a slipping climber being caught by his ropes breaking the peaceful forest ambiance.





Turning back along a small creek with tiny waterfalls, the path
toured via Zig-zag Gorge (photo below right) and an atmospheric cavern called Räuberhöhle (thief’s hideout - photo left) before tracking the Sûre River back to Echternach.

It seems an accident of history that this tiny country exists as an independent country with its history of battles and wars. Indeed, the castles that litter nearly every rocky outcrop, gorge and small hill is a strong reminder of how many battles have been fought over the years for this scenic centre of Europe. It is a gift as the feisty and proud population of the self-promoted “Europe’s smallest big country” offer superb trekking through well-preserved forests broken only by the occasional muffled greeting of moien in the strange sounding German-like dialect.