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En las estribaciones de los Alpes, cerca de Francia, existe una ciudad italiana alejada de las hordas turísticas. ¿Y por qué? Quién sabe, porque Turín, la capital del Piamonte, es un lugar donde la arquitectura barroca y modernista sorprende a cada paso y en sus cuidadas plazas se respira ese aire feliz de ciudad de provincias. A la mayoría de la gente le suena por su poderío económico, por ser sede de la Fiat y por el equipo de fútbol Juventus. Pero no es eso lo mejor. Esta urbe bañada por el r

Located within the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Provence in France, the Var is sandwiched between the French departments of the Bouches-du-Rhône to the west and the Alpes-Maritimes to the east. Offering both the splendour of mountains, famously superb beaches and a host of must-see wonders tucked in-between (including many fine examples of Romanesque and medieval architecture), the Var with its sunny Mediterranean climate remains one of the top tourist destinations in France.

One of the

Johannesburg is the most visited city in South Africa, yet it is not the most favored destination among travelers on holidays. This is because of the popular belief that there is not much to see in South Africa’s biggest city except plush hotels, trendy bars and swanky restaurants. Travelers generally use Johannesburg, also called Joburg or Jozi, as an ideal transit point to visit their final destination, be it Durban, Cape Town or Kruger National Park.

The general perception about the city shoul

There are plenty of beaches covered with shells in Costa Rica. The beaches near Nosara, Costa Rica, however, are spread with a different kind of shell – that of nesting sea turtles.

This time of year, from July to December, hundreds of thousands of Olive Ridley sea turtles swim to these remote beaches of the Nicoya Peninsula on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast. They arrive en masse at the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge, slowly hauling their heavy bodies out of the surf and up the sand to dig their n

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My mother is a great Ernest Hemingway fan.  Her favorite book of all time is The Sun Also Rises. When I found out he was born and raised in Oak Park, IL, I thought she might enjoy a trip to the Ernest Hemingway museum and his birthplace. So my aunt, my mom and I took a field trip. It turned out to be better than we expected.

Only about a 45 minute drive from where we live, we were lucky enough to find parking right across the street. The museum is housed in a former Church – an imposing structu

Going to the pub is one of the pleasures of a visit to the English seaside. Whether you have been for a bracing walk along the seafront with a fierce souwesterly hurling seaspray across your path, or have spent a pleasant interlude pottering around a harbourside, dodging the waves crashing over the harbour wall, there's nothing like heading to a cosy pub for a cold one, the heady aroma of hearty pub food and a clutch of local characters of varying degrees of eccentricity putting the world to rig

Decisions, decisions. When in doubt, restaurant hop, or as I like to call it “food-hop”! After all, who says you can’t have it all, or that life is too short? If you can’t decide between or among several great recommended places to eat when you are traveling, then don’t decide. Group them by neighborhood and go to them all! That’s how we spent our 2nd day living life in the footsteps of Woody Allen – we just ate a course at one restaurant and then moved on to another for the next course. And let

We discovered Yal Ku Lagoon, in Mexico’s tiny, ecologically protected town of Akumal, quite by accident.  Driving down the bumpy, pot-holed main road of Akumal we were on a mission to explore.  As we drove, the road branched to the left, leading away from the ocean, rambling through thick jungle brush occasionally interspersed with beautiful villas.  Suddenly we could see water once more, glimmering between blossoming shrubs & landscaped yards.  Pulling over, we grabbed water bottles, snorkel ge

Jeremy Keith

Traveling to Greece means traveling back in time, to its invasions and great battles, to the great empires of the past.  To do so on its islands is to relive great moments reflected in the history books and in the ruins of the ancient buildings sprinkled around each and every one of them.  But to set foot on Kos is to enter a world that mixes all the great cultures that have inhabited the Mediterranean over thousands of years, and visit landmarks that help form the basis of human knowledge today

Nithin Coca's first book, Traveling Softly and Quietly, is now for sale on Amazon and Createspace. This is an excerpt from that book. 

We were waking down an alley in the albaicin, the old, Arab quarter of Granada, a maze of brick walls, enclosed, classical white Arab compounds with lovely courtyards, small hidden city squares, all built upon a twisted, steep hill. We were walking through a curved, rock-paved pedestrian street that started in new Granada below and waved up the mountain. The smel

For those of you celebrating a joyous occasion whether a birthday, an anniversary or just a night out to chill with friends, there can be no better place than The Rock Bar at Ayana Resort & Spa in Bali. Built in 2009 and situated on natural rocks 14 meters above the Jimbaran Bay, it was truly a breath-taking view and the ultimate way to usher in my big 3-0 celebrations.

This innovative open-top bar is perched at the base of Ayana’s towering cliffs and is definitely Bali’s most glamorous sunset a

Starting in August, the tranquil blue waters of the Golfo Dulce, between the Piedras Blancas National Park and the Osa Peninsula in southern Costa Rica, will witness one of the most amazing spectacles in the animal kingdom – the thousands-of-miles-long migration of Pacific Humpback Whales.

The annual migration of endangered Pacific Humpback Whales is a remarkable journey of nearly 10,000 miles from near the North and South Poles to warm tropical waters to breed and give birth. As winter turns the

por Cristóbal Ramírez 

Es el río más vitivinícola de España, aunque no por eso tiene un tono rojizo. El Duero dibuja una ruta por los diferentes hitos bodegueros, pero también por pueblos de piedra, iglesias, museos, paisajes tranquilos y fiestas populares. Y todo regado por esos tintos y rosados que nos traen (no se sabe cómo) paz de espíritu. La denominación de origen Ribera del Duero recorre el corazón geográfico de Castilla y León y el corazón geográfico de la Península Ibérica a lo largo de 

There it was, high up inside the 12th century bell tower of the church of Saint-Emilion...evidence that there are some things that never change. Names and dates are carved into the ancient limestone, where people throughout the centuries have left their mark and, thereby, have become a part of the history of a medieval village.

http://objectsblog.com/

Many of us occasionally yearn for a quiet ride into the countryside “far from the madding crowd” to escape and just breathe for a bit. Sometimes something different and unique is found along the way and we discovered just such a find in Bacon’s Castle. Getting to Bacon’s Castle is quite unique as you can follow each shore of the historic James River and arrive there. Follow picturesque Route 5 along the north shore to Wiilliamsburg or via Route 31 on the south shore. Ah one might say how does o

We didn’t stay very long in Narvik. No sooner had our cruise ship tied up, than we were on to a bus to the railway station. Our objective was a scenic ride on the Otofen Railway. . It doesn’t seem to receive as much publicity as other scenic routes in Norway, probably because it’s operated by Swedish Railways.

The port and the railway owe their existence to the discovery of iron ore in 1902 in Kiruna, in Sweden. It was a convenient port from which to ship the ore, rather than convey it all the wa

When you think New Mexico, do you think skiing?  Georgia O’Keefe?  Hatch chilies?  Sunsets over red rock? John Wayne in the Rio Grande?  Or, perhaps, Tempranillo, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Riesling?  Visit a New Mexico Winery, and you just may forget Mr. Wayne, or at least, enjoy him with a refreshing Riesling.  

Franciscan monks began growing wine grapes in New Mexico around 1630, just a decade after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth a continent away.  By the late 1800’s, New Mexico had more

You’ve no doubt been to or at least have heard about the Yucatan Peninsula’s wondrous Maya archaeological sites like Tulum, Chichen Itza, and Uxmal. But did you know that Mexico’s most famous beach resort, Cancun, boasts a mini-me version of these mighty sites? Las Ruinas del Rey ("the Ruins of the King") are easily accessible right off the hotel zone’s main drag, Boulevard Kukulkan, just south of the hotel zone on the way to/from the airport.

Dating to around 300 BC and now open daily during

There's no doubt that Budapest is a magnificent place: a city of contrasts, of beautiful bridges and medieval architecture. But Hungary is of course far more than just its capital. There is a lesser known side of the country which, if you can, you should not miss the chance to explore.

For example, in northeast Hungary is the Pannonhalma Monastery, a World Heritage Site founded over a thousand years ago.  You can see deep marks left by the passage of time upon its facade, which is an eclectic