Blogs

As we travel, we check off places that are on our Bucket List. Being film buffs, many of the things on our list are related to movies we have seen over the years.

We recently checked off another “to do” from our list by skippering the authentic “African Queen,” the boat made famous by Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn in the 1951 Academy Award Winning film of the same name.

The “Queen” is presently docked at a destination also made famous by Bogart in the Florida Keys, Key Largo.

Finding the Qu

El Salvador is a small country between Honduras and Guatemala in Central America. It has a tropical climate with marked wet and dry seasons. Spanish is the official language spoken by all inhabitants.

The capital is San Salvador, a modern city with large boulevards, many monuments, outdoor markets, museums, fun nightlife and other cultural buildings to visit. The only international airport is Comalapa, which is about 25 miles southeast of San Salvador.

Its tourism scenery is kind of different from

Hungry for a spicy taste of Budapest? Go no further than Central Market and try to sort out what paprika to buy – mild, hot, hotter? Your choice. Bev Malzard reports.

Ah, Budapest, we had such a short time together. On arrival in the evening and not in top form, the best way we could connect was me looking through the picture window of my hotel room, as the river at the ‘Pest’ side from my ‘Buda’ side of the mighty Danube River. The beautiful buildings high over the bank lit up, sparkly little b

According to theatrebreaks.co.uk's recent poll studying UK Theatregoers theatre-going preferences, family-friendly shows such as Wicked, Disney's The Lion King and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are what we most want to see in London's West End.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

You can see our colourful infographic at http://www.theatrebreaks.co.uk/top-uk-shows-seen-see/

TheatreBreaks.co.uk asked over 3200 UK theatregoers what shows they have enjoyed and what shows they think they would like to

Central America’s largest country was, not so many years ago, a staple of world headlines pretty much weekly for war and geopolitical intrigue. Yet despite its very flawed ruling régime Nicaragua today is peaceful, stable, and welcomes tourists of all stripes from around the world, with a growing tourism industry and infrastructure – reminiscent of, say, Costa Rica a generation ago, yet already offering a wide range of options from basic backpacker level to five-star luxury.

Capital Managua u

On February 20, as crews were still struggling to raise the fuselage AirAsia flight QZ8501, Indonesia's top transportation official said the aircraft climbed at an extreme rate just before it crashed. The accident investigators have had time to study the flight recorder; we can assume they now know what went wrong on the doomed Airbus A320.

After being initially candid, why have Indonesian officials now decided that the preliminary report, due by the end of the January, will not be made publi

by Cristóbal Ramírez

How do I love thee, Quartier Latin? Let me count the ways: Students. Chilled rosé at a sidewalk café. Students. Reveling in the Bohemian joie de vivre. Students. Chantilly-cream crêpes from a street stand. Students. Browsing fascinating museums like the Orsay and the medieval Cluny. Students. Selecting exquisite hand-crafted bonbons in a side-street chocolatier.  Students.

Repetitive? Well, not too surprising, really: on the Left Bank of the Seine, home to not just theUn

Three of the prettiest beaches on the Southern Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica are Playa Cocles, Playa Chiquita and Punta Uva. That is if you like long stretches of gorgeous picture postcard Caribbean coastline with warm turquoise ocean and graceful tall palm trees.

When you are on the beach on the Costa Rica Southern Caribbean Coast, all you see are sea, sand, sky, trees … and maybe the occasional other person or pretty tropical bird or monkey. There are no high-rise mega-resorts or unending rows

This past weekend I took advantage of the break in the weather to join some friends on a winter hike in Starved Rock State Park. The park is located along the Illinois River, about 100 miles southwest of Chicago, just outside Utica, IL. 
  
I remember going there as a kid. My family would take a picnic lunch and we would hike the trails. I remember the canyons and I remember climbing to the top of the Rock. My mother, fearful of heights, never let me near the edge. These days, it’s a lot safer.

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