Want to know what you can get from a label?  Well, here you can get a little background on wine labels, and the new, innovative, color coded, don’t need to know a bunch of arcane stuff, labels from Uproot Wines, my new favorite cheat sheet. 

How much do I really need to know to buy a good bottle of wine, which will have the flavors I want for my meal or event?  Should I have to know the intricacies of geography, climate, and varietal?  There are umpteen tastes of Zinfandel, depending on these thi

Manila has been boosting up its tourism lately by erecting several casinos that could rival the world-class gaming facilities in Las Vegas and Macau. Last year, two casinos opened in Manila’s Entertainment City: Solaire in March and the City of Dreams (CoD) in early December 2014. 

CoD was first conceived in Macau. It is composed of several buildings in the famed Cotai Strip, which includes two casinos, several restaurants, and a shopping area. CoD Macau has three hotels that are operated separ

Apparently game hunting was all the rage in wealthy Boston circles back in 1914. That's when Cape Cod's Chatham Bars Inn made its debut as a semi-private hunting lodge in the days when sunscreen and bikinis were nonexistent. Early advertisements boasted rooms with plastered soundproof walls, electric lights, steam heat, long distance phones, and private bathrooms with both fresh & salt water baths.

Shore bird hunting soon yielded in popularity to 9-hole golfing across the street. Eventually, s

The incredibly biodiverse area of Tortuguero should definitely be on your “bucket list” of places to see in Costa Rica.

Called the “Little Amazon” of Costa Rica, Tortuguero on the northern Caribbean Coast is an untamed stretch of wild jungle and desolate beaches. You have swamp, lagoons, canals, marshy islands, dense rainforest, black sand beaches, and an amazing abundance of animal and plant life. This is the Western Hemisphere’s most important nesting site for the endangered Green sea turtle,

Even though many people who come to London take in a show, many more forget "Theatreland" is there. Don't believe me?

Those on a business trip to London don’t consider it, yet a night at the theatre is a great way to spend a spare evening on your own or entertaining a business customer that you may not know too well.

Newlyweds don't think about it, but what can be more romantic than seeing a top West End show with your beautiful new wife or handsome husband?

And budget travellers don't but surprisi

The Yumurí Valley, one of the most beautiful landscapes on the island of Cuba, is situated almost in the center of the island, in the famous Matanzas region.  Matanzas is small in size but huge in terms of its natural wealth, because, not only is the Yumurí Valley found there, but also the famous Bellamar Caves and the Varadero beach, one of the most beautiful on the planet.

To give you a little history and situate them for you, it was on Matanzas Bay that the Dutch captured part of the fleet

Dining at a chef’s table should always be a titillating treat of tantalizing tastes. Traditionally, a chef’s table is located in the kitchen – where the guests can watch, and “ooh” and “ahh” as the chef and his/her team work their culinary magic. That was not how it was at the table of Chef Ottavio Bellesi aboard Princess Cruises' Golden Princess – and here’s why.

From the Beginning

Soon after boarding the Golden Princess in San Francisco, we had a meeting with the ship’s maître d'hôtel, Neville

“By their markets ye shall know them.” 

I kinda just made that up - but on my travels I have often found it to be true. After all, what lovelier (not to mention tastier) way to learn the nuances of a foreign culture than rubbing shoulders with the locals, tasting the flavours of their land? Well yes, there is literature and art and music, but we certainly can’t appreciate those on an empty stomach; and so, before heading to the Prado or the pyramids or a voodoo ceremony, you may just find

In search of a pretty, low pressure, moderately priced, two-day escape from the crowds, lines, and auto frustration of everyday life in Los Angeles, I decided to head north, just a smidgen.  As I came down Hwy 101 to the fertile plains poised at the edge of traffic’s snarl, I crossed swaths of agricultural unknowns, looking for warm sands, jumping dolphins, a multi-masted harbor, and unique wineries.  I found them all, and then some, in a town I had always believed was named for a bovine’s lost

by VaDeAviones.com

In 1958, an Australian mathematician, chemist, and aeronautical research scientist named David Warren (right, with a prototype) came up with an invention based on a brilliant idea: recording all the conversations of a flight’s cockpit crew with each other as well as with air traffic controllers, so that in the event of an accident, investigators could use this recording to clear up doubts as to the cause. Amazingly enough, world aviation authorities at first showed little inter

So, you’ve done a guided rappel down a 150-foot gushing waterfall. Ho-hum.

Now you’re ready for the next extreme adventure adrenaline fix. How about waterfall jumping?

Waterfall jumping is Costa Rica’s version of cliff diving, but next to a waterfall. Also called “tombstoning” in Europe, waterfall jumping is the newest most extreme adventure tour in Arenal, Costa Rica. The new Gravity Falls Jumping Canyon Rainforest Adventure Course by Desafio Adventure Company is an intense canyoning tour that

If you're looking for a beautiful, sunsplashed island with a marvelous mix of action and indolence, this world-famous member of the Cyclades Islands should be high on your list. Here are its highlights:

Mykonos Town

The island is dominated by a typically Cycladic feel, of sun, sea, and breezes, plus its blue-and-whitewashed traditional architecture, best seen in beautiful Mykonos Town, one of Greece's most attractive and popular travel destinations. Especially during the summer,the town comes ali

As we all know, Dubai is quite an expensive city, especially if we compare it to the other magnificent megapolises. At first it may even seem that there’s nothing to do in Dubai without a great stack of money, but not so. Every city, no matter which, has amazing places which you can enjoy absolutely for free.

Here's a list of my top choices in Dubai (in many cases, you'll need a rental car to reach them). 

1. The Dubai Fountain

Enjoy an incredible show, when thousands of water jets soar up into

I can't figure it out. The reality of having an endless stream of tunes via smart phone/iPod has been with us for years. Yet we cling to remarkably ubiquitous low tech ear buds. Reminds me of those build-your-own crystal radio set ear pieces I played around with as a kid. Tethered by wires, you can never seem to keep them comfortably planted in your ears. Way too high a price to pay for coolness at the expense of quality sound.

Bluetooth is finally making inroads with solid wireless sound via he

Street food of any city gives travelers a chance to partake the local cuisine in its undiluted form. The picture doesn't change in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, capital of Andra Pradesh state. A plethora of choices awaits the visitors in the city and they can try out different options without getting bored. This is surely a must do activity for you if you are coming here in the near future. So which are the must try street food options for you during your visit to Hyderabad? Here below

One of the major tourist destinations of the world - and a must-visit one is - the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the freestanding bell tower of the cathedral of Tuscany's city of Pisa. Prior to restoration work which is said to have started between 1990 and 2001, this tower is said to have leaned at an angle of 5.5 degrees (it's now 3.99 degrees).

The Pisa tower is one of the four buildings which usually make up the cathedral complex, the Campo dei Miracoli or Piazza dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles).

The following story was shared by one of our Voyages Ideal Facebook friends. In order to respect her privacy, we will call her Lori rather than use her real name. Although this is Lori's story, you may be able to relate or reflect upon this as having a similar experience. That is what sharing is all about.

We look forward to sharing your stories, images, videos and travel experiences.

Lori was married to Jack for 40 years. They loved to travel and had taken their son and daughter on various trips

It’s hardly a shocker that in a recent Tripadvisor survey of the world’s most expensive cities for travellers, London came in the top 10 (number 7, to be precise); it has been thus for some years now. But of course there’s no way you can let that keep you away from this magnificent metropolis on the Thames.  Over the years I’ve done travel to London both rich and poor, and while rich is certainly better, there are definitely ways to stretch your pound in a variety of areas. Getting around is q

Like Barrie's character Peter Pan, I won't grow up. Presented with the natal cleft of the man ahead of me, I just had to snap a picture of it with my wine glasses. From the get-go my goal was to write this article, more as a joke than a tome on wine tasting. Then it became real as I got it into my nose.

I was in a group of wine aficionados, all calling out their perception of the 'nose' of several red wines from a popular region in California. Something was wrong, I suspected, because nobody said

In southern Costa Rica, the end of the year is celebrated very uniquely at the country’s biggest indigenous cultural event, the “Fiesta de los Diablitos.” The four-day annual “Festival of Little Devils” takes place over the New Year’s holiday from Dec. 30 to Jan. 2 in the village of the Boruca community on the tribe’s indigenous reservation in the Talamanca Mountains.

The Fiesta de los Diablitos celebrates the Borucas’ historic victory over the Spanish conquistadors. Through their language, leg