- (108)

800px-ViolonSurLeToit.jpg?width=500


From Stage to Screen

Best known as a Broadway musical, Fiddler on the Roof has been delighting audiences for almost half a century with its blend of boisterous and mournful melodies. The Tony award winning story of Tevye, the humble milkman with five young daughters and a feisty wife, has played out thousands of times on the stages of Broadway, London’s West End and in theatres all around the world.

With such a popular stage play it was inevitable that a movie version would be made and in 1971

Read more…

CR-Prov-bs-T-m-300x276.gif?width=292

¿Sabe usted dónde se concentra la mayor cantidad de bosque tropical seco de América? Podrá encontrar la respuesta en la provincia de Guanacaste, en Costa Rica. Valga la ocasión para describir grosso modo en qué consiste este tipo de foresta. Se compone de una vegetación que sobrevive con mucho menos agua que el bosque tropical húmedo, pues tiene una temporada seca que se extiende por aproximadamente 8 meses. Sin embargo, esta característica no le resta magnificencia a la flora y fauna que la hab

Read more…

800px-Moulins_La_Mancha-edit.jpg?width=800


The name of Don Quixote is known around the world, even if the story behind the name is perhaps not so familiar. Written 400 years ago by Miguel de Cervantes, the novel describes the colorful adventures of Don Quixote of La Mancha, a retired country gentleman from the western La Mancha region of central Spain, who lives out a fantasy life based on the many romantic books he has spent his years reading. He battles imaginary enemies (famously including the windmills of La Mancha) and fights for t

Read more…

As NASA and the part of Florida known as the ‘Space Coast’ is trying to reshape its selfimage after the permanent grounding of the Space Shuttle program, the agency’s last surviving vehicle, Atlantis.

During NASA’s heydays, the agency drew crowds from all over the world to every new rocket launch at Cape Canaveral. But the days of government organized and financed space adventures are long gone, and as the Traveling Reporter discovered during our visit to the Space Coast, some people seem to bel

Read more…

9296572655?profile=original

PHILADELPHIA: THE STRANGE ADAPTATIONS OF JEWS TO AMERICA

 

Unlike most other Jewish museums, Philadelphia's National Museum of American Jewish History really is about American Judaism, not biblical history, the Holocaust, or Israel. And this being a museum about an ethnic group in a country where people could forge new paths, one of the themes that touches me in the NMAJH's four floors of exhibitions is American Jewry's 350-year tug-o'-war between traditional practices (e.g. keeping kosher, obs

Read more…


Like most wine regions, there’s always a favorite or more publicized area of a state’s wine region. For Washington State it’s been Eastern Washington. Well…Ok, and fine….but in my quest to find the fun, the fabulous, the unique parts of a particular wine scene, I organized an 8-day wine trip to Western Washington – specifically gorgeous Seattle with all its water views, and the two-hour (driving or flying ) area west of it. I had such a good time, I am handing out awards. See who got what and wh

Read more…


Summer Splash and SpongeBob Make Grand Cayman Grand

The Cayman Islands have come up with a popular, value-driven, summer program for families that’s fun and educational.
Appropriately dubbed the Cayman Summer Splash package, the program runs until September 6 and features a weekly appearance of everyone’s favorite squishy hero, Nickelodeon’s own SpongeBob SquarePants.
The highlights of the Summer Splash program include:
• Stay five nights, pay for 4 at participating hotels and condos. These are l
Read more…

9008716276?profile=original

The B&B industry is out to bust some myths, and are taking advantage of the election-year thinking to do it. With a totally tongue-in-cheek approach, it’s poking fun at the very symbol that has haunted them for years: the doily.

According to research conducted by the Professional Association of Innkeepers International(PAII) in conjunction with TripAdvisor, only about 12-percent of travelers on average choose to stay in B&Bs.
Anyone who has never tried a B&B tends to think that  B&Bs are the sa

Read more…

New: NYUNGWE FOREST LODGE*****

Nyungwe Forest Lodge is nearing completion and will be
fully operational in 2010. The lodge is an amazing addition to the tourism offering in Rwanda and can now be used to showcase to international travelers, the unbelievably beautiful Nyungwe Forest.

The lodge will operate as half board
including Breakfast, Dinner and selected beverages. The lodge offers a relaxation retreat, infinity pool with Bistro lunch dining, Board room for 18 delegates, Luxury rooms, Exclusive

Read more…

9008692857?profile=original

Whether you love grand architecture, great art, animals, scandals, generosity, or damn-the-torpedos eccentricity, you've got to love Doris Duke and Rough Point, Duke's seaside mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. Known as “the world's richest girl,” Doris Duke inherited her wealthy father's estate when she was 12 and ended up suing her own mother for control of the properties. (And you thought your family had spats?) Judging by what happened later, it's a good thing she did.

Duke grew up to be a

Read more…

9008692857?profile=original

Whether you love grand architecture, great art, animals, scandals, generosity, or damn-the-torpedos eccentricity, you've got to love Doris Duke and Rough Point, Duke's seaside mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. Known as “the world's richest girl,” Doris Duke inherited her wealthy father's estate when she was 12 and ended up suing her own mother for control of the properties. (And you thought your family had spats?) Judging by what happened later, it's a good thing she did.

Duke grew up to be a

Read more…

Gay-Friendly Rosario, Argentina

 

9008685260?profile=original

 

By Roy Heale

Rosario is a radiant city on the move with a tolerant and gay-friendly population. The city is nestled in a gentle twist of the mighty Paraná River about 300 km northwest of the city of Buenos Aires. Due to this close proximity to the Capital City, it is often overlooked as a potential gay vacation destination by first time LGBT travelers to Argentina.

However, Rosario freely displays its natural ‘water-world’ of the Upper Delta with its magic islands covered by lush vegetation and

Read more…

This is something I wrote for The Travel Doc:


 While traveling cross-country a few times last year, I experienced something I suspect that a lot of travelers out there can relate to. All of the travel pillows I tried were more uncomfortable than not wearing one at all.

I tried numerous travel pillows, and more often than not, I would arrive tired and with a sore neck that would last for hours or even days. My head and neck just weren’t being supported properly.

A little research helped me iden

Read more…

Gay-Friendly Argentina?

9008679859?profile=original

 

 

Not surprisingly, when any country or territory takes the bold step to legalize same-sex marriages the business community subsequently decides it is acceptable to adopt a gay positive attitude. Such was the case in other countries like Canada following the 2005 Same-Sex Marriage Act and it now appears to be the circumstance in Argentina since the passing of the new law in 2010.

While this is a positive outcome of gay marriage there are also some precautions for the LGBT community to observe. Wh

Read more…

A New House for Classical Music in Florence

Hello everybody!!

In Italy last December 21, for people who are keen on classical music but in general for all who like art and culture, there were a big and emotional event because of the celebration of the “New House of Music Theater” in Florence. I followed the opening concert on TV, directed by Zubin Mehta in a wonderful ambience and excellent acoustic.

If you'll be interested in to know something more around the “New House” you could find out more details in my Blog at, http://bbtarussio.blog

Read more…

5 Musts on a Weekend in Rome

Every year millions of tourists from every corner of the earth flock to Rome. The city enjoys a never-ending stream of visitors, simply because there is so much worth seeing. It might take you weeks and weeks to see and do everything in this open-air museum, but if you are going for a short weekend break, there are 5 must-dos in Rome!

Rome1.jpg?width=600

#1. Watch the sun goes down over the city

Borghese.jpg?width=600

The best spot for sunset watching is probably the Pinciana Hill. It is part of the park of Villa Borghese and close to Piaz

Read more…

Oh sure, there's Shakira, Paulina, Thalia, Camila, Juanes, Marc, Ricky, and other popular poppers, God bless 'em. But ay,  bendito, the sensation of the 12th annual Latin Grammy Awards earlier this month -- as it was at the same awards in 2009 -- was the Puerto Rican duo Calle 13, nominated for ten awards, and bringing home nine, breaking Colombian singer Juanes' lifetime Latin Grammys record. This pair of 33-year-old stepbrothers, tattooed René Pérez (aka "Residente") and bearded Eduardo Cabr

Read more…

Why Is Hotel Web Content so Boring?

9008664080?profile=originalWhy Is Hotel Web Content so Boring?

There was an interesting round table  discussion recently sponsored by visual content management powerhouse, VFM Leonardo  .

The basic question the panel was asked to consider was this: Why is hotel web site content so boring, and how can it be made more engaging for the traveler?

It so happens, that the initial  stage in travel decisions is the all-important  “Planning Stage,” the tipping point, so to speak.

So if content is almost exclusively transactional and
Read more…

The “Winter Beach Sale” promotion is valid at Pacifica’s most beloved beachside hotels and inns and is bookable by visiting http://www.pacificahotels.com/ and entering promo code BEACH2011. Travel must be booked by December 15, 2011 for stays between November 27, 2011 and February 2, 2012.

Rate details are as follows:  

Sandcastle Inn – Pismo Beach

Located right on the sand in Pismo Beach overlooking the world-famous pier, Sandcastle Inn is the perfect escape for California Central Coast beach love

Read more…

Wonderful Weather in France's Cathar Region

For those people who are interested in history now is the time to visit the Cathar region with the highlight of the visit being the medieval city of Carcassonne. The summer months are great if you are wishing to get a good tan and spend your time fighting all the other tourists off. But now is really the time to visit when all the grapes are being picked and the flora and Fawna are beginning to come out again from their summer hiding places. The accommodation gets cheaper and easier to find and

Read more…