Trip Around - travel guide (travel destinations, hotels, restaurants, culture, history)

A week in Dublin

Freelancer — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:44:23 +0000

Me and a couple of mates really wanted to get away in the summer, but to be honesty none of us had the sort of cash that was going to get us very far. WE had just finished our A levels and none of us had anything more than a part time job. It was pretty difficult to try and find somewhere that was hot and affordable so we thought to ourselves that we might well be able to find something a little bit different which would be just as fun. Earlier in the year we had vowed that we would head to somewhere on the continent to hit the beaches and the bars, but to be honest, as much as we all wanted to get a bit of sun, the main part of the plan was to go somewhere with plenty of great bars.

It occurred to us that we didn’t necessarily have to go somewhere too far afield to find that, and one of my friends suggested going to Dublin. A quick check online showed that there were some pretty cheap Dublin flights out there and we knew we would be able to stay there pretty cheaply. We decided to go with our instinct and book the tickets, and it turned out that Dublin was one of the most fun places we could have hoped to go to! The atmosphere in the city centre at night was amazing and we met so many great people!

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London for the Kids

Freelancer — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 04:53:32 +0000

London is known as a bit of an adults playground, what with the amount of pubs and clubs, the regular availability of adult entertainment and the number of live music events going on all across the city, but it can also be a great place for kids.

I know that whenever I take my children to London there are several things that they like to do. First of all, they love a trip to Madame Tussauds. This has always been a family favourite, and they never tirew of seeing the waxworks both new and old. After a trip to Tussauds, we always trade it off with something as bit more educational and take them to the Natural History Museum. Having said that, now that they are seven and eight, they both love the museum. It is ideal for us as parents because there is a certain amount of nostalgia for us both, and it is also free!

After this we normally opt for a family evening out. There are lots of Italian Restaurants in the West End which seem to cater extremely well for children. After our meal out we normally head to the theatre. This year this should run more smoothly than ever, given that there is now a stage show of The Lion King showing. The lion king musical is starting to look like a bit of a smash at the box office though, so make sure that you book your tickets well in advance!

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Playing golf on holiday in Spain

Freelancer — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 04:51:41 +0000

If you are anything like me, you probably take every opportunity to make sure that your family holiday is somewhere at least near to a golf course! I don’t know what it is about family holidays – I enjoy them enormously – but I know that at some point on that holiday I will need to get away from the wife and kids and hit a few balls.

I was actually not a keen golfer before I started holidaying in Spain. I used to play a few times a year at most, and the reason for this was normally the weather. Of course, if you are playing golf in Spain this doesn’t really come into the equation.

If you decide tolook into golfing in Spain, you are best to stick to the coastal locations, such as the Costa De La Luz, the Costa Del Sol, the Costa Almeria, and the Costa Blanca. These are all great coastal tourist locations in their own right, and the whole family will love a holiday in these spots. There is something to do for everyone in all of these locations, and culture, sun, fun and activity are never far away. For me though, the best thing about all of these areas is the golf. Prepare to stand in awe as you see the design and condition of the courses out here – they are all state of the art and looked after wonderfully. All I will say is it is best to leave the golf until one of the last days of the holiday – otherwise you will want to play every day!

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A stag do in Tenerife

Freelancer — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:03:13 +0000

As the best man at my mates upcoming wedding, I have the tricky task of arranging the Stag do. I’ve never done this before, and for a while I was pretty worried, but I found out that the groom only wants about five of us to go on his stag do, so it’s made things a bit easier. I decided that since everyone who is meant to be coming has got a bit of spare cash floating around we should head abroad for the stag do. We all wanted a big blow out to really send him off, so I started to investigate places that we could go. I had a look at the prices of Tenerife holidays and the prices were pretty manageable. I also checked out the climate over there, because we would definitely want somewhere which was nice and hot. I managed to find a website which had lots of information on Tenerife weather and it seemed like I had found the perfect venue!

Playa de Las Americas seemed to be the place to be. It had a great area where the nightlife was focused and there seemed to be an enormous amount of pubs and clubs within close proximity to each other. Just what we would want when we were staggering from bar to bar!

I Quickly double checked an information site called Tenerife News and there seemed to be plenty of things happening there. I told my best man what I had planned and he was thrilled! We were all so excited, it was going to be the best stag do ever!

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Beautiful Bulgaria – The Smolyan Lakes

Freelancer — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:53:29 +0000

Most keen skiers in Europe most probably have at least heard about one of the ski resorts in Bulgaria – Pamporovo. Those of them, who had the experience to ski in Pamporovo surely know the town of Smolyan, situated just a few kilometers away from the ski-resort. And at the same time, very few of the winter tourist in Pamporovo have seen, or at least heard about the Smolyan Lakes. The beautiful Smolyan Lakes are situated on the left bank of the Black River, right in the heart of Rhodope Mountains. The Orpheus rocks rise above them giving the valley mysticism and uniqueness.
At present only seven of the former twenty Rhodope lakes have remained. The highest constant lake is called Matnoto (the turbid) lake, as its name comes from the dense coniferous wood, the shadow of which makes the water look dark, almost black.
The biggest Smolyan Lake is Milushevski dol (Milushevski glen), and it is 178 m long and 4 m deep. Most of its surface is covered with a thick layer of turf, and exuberant grassy vegetation overlays the lake during the summer. Pictures with courtesy of Evgeni Dinev (evgenidinev.com)

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The Best Quality Alarm System in a Cheap Price

Freelancer — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:05:02 +0000

The high quality alarm system is the only thing you need if you want to secure your home. But you probably always postpone buying it because you think that it is quite expensive. It is actually not as expensive as you think.

Alarm System is really affordable if you buy it at Alarmsystemstore.com. It is your only place if you want to buy the cheap alarm system. This website offers special discount for all its products. There’s even special sale at this website in this month. Please don’t worry about the quality of this website’s products. You can be sure that they are all really good in quality. You will only find the number one brands of alarm system at this site. So, buying a high quality alarm system in a cheap price is not a joke at all. You also have a chance to get free bonus for some products you buy at this site.

Please remember that this special offer is limited in time so you really need to get hurry or you will miss it. This month is the perfect month to shop for alarm system or security system equipment at this website because there are special offers for you. It is only available in this month.

The Best Quality Alarm System in a Cheap Price

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Prospects for 2010 Tourism Season in EU

Freelancer — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:41:32 +0000

Some 80% of Europeans continue to travel for their holidays according to a new Eurobarometer survey on ‘The attitudes of Europeans towards tourism 2010’. Only 20% of over 30,000 randomly selected citizens were almost certain that they will not travel in 2010, which is significantly below the proportion of non-travellers in 2009 (33%). EU citizens increasingly prefer to spend their holidays in traditional tourist destinations (57%), while 28% would rather go “off the beaten track” to emerging destinations. Tourism is one of Europe’s most important service industries, accounting for 5% of Europe’s GDP and 6% of employment.

Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship, said: “The 2010 surveyresults are encouraging for the tourism industry. We need to work further on developing the tourism industry, which ranks third in terms of GDP and employment in Europe. The Lisbon Treaty now gives us the opportunity to tackle this sector from a European perspective. Nearly 50 % of EU residents have already decided that they will go on holiday in 2010 and their perceptions about being able to finance their holidays have also slightly improved.”

The most important findings are:

Continuing trend towards discovering Europe and own country: again in 2010, 50% of Europeans intend to spend their holidays in their own country or in another EU country.
More confidence to be able to finance their holidays: about half of EU citizens who are planning to take a holiday in 2010 felt they will have sufficient funds (46%) – this is 5 percentage points higher than in 2009. However, as in 2009, 10% said they have serious financial problems that could impact their holiday plans.
Travelling remains popular: about two-thirds (65%) of EU citizens travelled for leisure in 2009, and travelling is most popular amongst residents of Norway (84%) followed by Finland (83%), The Netherlands (79%) and Ireland (78%).
“Local attractiveness” is cited as the major factor (32%) when choosing holiday destinations, followed by “cultural heritage” (25%) and “entertainment possibilities” (16%).
Seeking “rest and recreation” (37%) is the main motivation for EU citizens to travel, followed by “sun and beach” (19%) and “visiting friends and relatives” (17%).
Arranging holidays themselves: the number of EU citizens who organise their main holiday themselves further increased in 2009 to 58%; Candidate Countries Croatia (83%) and Turkey (82%) lead in this respect.
The most popular choices: Spain (10.4 %) was already the most popular destination in 2008 and 2009 and dominates also the current plans made for 2010. It is closely followed by France (9.9%) and Italy (9.2%). However, 17 % of EU residents planning to go on holiday in 2010 have not yet decided on the destination.

Over 30,000 randomly selected citizens aged 15 and over were interviewed for the Eurobarometer survey in February 2010 in the 27 EU Member States as well as in Norway, Iceland, Croatia, Turkey and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It is for the third time in row that the Commission has done such an extensive survey, which offers to all tourism stakeholders a wealth of information, presented analytically in country and demographic categories.

The Commission intends to conduct this kind of survey once a year in order to closely follow short and medium term travel and tourism trends of European citizens. These surveys will allow tourism stakeholders of the countries surveyed to react to changing trends in tourism demand, and so will constitute an important instrument for tourism policy.

Full report on the Eurobarometer survey on ‘the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism 2010’

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Discover Puerto del Carmen

Teguise — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:33:19 +0000

Puerto del Carmen is the oldest and largest holiday resort on the Canary Island of Lanzarote. And there’s never been a better time to visit – as local tourist authorities have just invested over €16 million on improvements here to ensure the resort remains competitive well into the 21st century.

Lanzarote is one of the seven Canary Islands – which are owned by Spain but which are situated off the coast of West Africa. Tourism has long been the islands economic mainstay and Puerto del Carmen was the spot where package holidays first really took off. Transforming what had been until then a small fishing village called La Tiñosa into a bustling and modern holiday resort.

Holidaymakers first started arriving in Puerto del Carmen in earnest during the early 1970´s – as at this time Lanzarote was a new and novel destination. Initially visitors found accommodation in and around the Old Town harbour area – which remains the organic heart of the resort to this day. But over the years the resort itself exploded and now extends almost as far as the islands airport located just outside the capital city of Arrecife.

Indeed such as is Puerto del Carmen’s scale today that it is now split into two main zones. The Old Town – which revolves around the harbour. And the New Town which runs parallel with the main beach of Playa Grande and the seafront thoroughfare of the Avenida de las Playas.

Tourists will find a good selection of apartments and villas in Puerto del Carmen to rent in both areas. Whilst the resort is also home to some of the best value four star hotels in Lanzarote.

Beaches are one of the resorts chief attractions but many visitors will be unaware that most of these playas are in fact man made. Created using sand imported from the Sahara desert which is located only 100 miles to the east.

The most popular stretch of sand is Playa Grande but there are a number of small and more atmospheric beaches for those in the know. Such as Playa Chica, which I located close to the Fariones Hotels and which is ideal for snorkelling and diving.

Last year the resort underwent a facelift as local authorities pumped €16 million in improvement to the infrastructure and amenities. Much of which was spent on improving the main seafront promenade – which is now a much more enjoyable place to stroll thanks to the addition of new trees and plants and the removal of much of the traffic that used to clog this road up. Money has also been spent on transforming the harbour into a marina with plenty of moorings for luxury boats and craft.

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Do We Waste Our Time With ‘Environmentally Friendly’ Living?

Freelancer — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:28:42 +0000

All your personal efforts to live more sustainably do not make any difference to the world’s environment.

That’s the assertion environmental writer Derrick Jensen makes in his recent article “Forget Shorter Showers,” published in Orion magazine.

The industrial economy is so large, and so much the source of our planet’s environmental woes, Jensen argues, that even if all individuals reduced their carbon footprint to zero, climate change and other catastrophes would still ravage the earth due to industry’s large-scale harm. If industry is the one clear, hulking threat to our species’ – and all species’ – future survival, then why on earth do we all content ourselves with recycling, composting and taking shorter showers?

Jensen believes this is insanity: “Would any sane person think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery or brought about the eight-hour workday…?” his article begins.

Yet this “insanity” is something to which most all of us subscribe. We teach school children to turn off lights when they’re not using them, run public awareness campaigns to stress no lawn watering during droughts, and our governments offer tax incentives to individuals who buy energy efficient appliances. Quite comically, a recent public service announcement produced in Brazil urges everyone to pee while showering so they won’t waste water flushing the toilet afterward.

But despite all these efforts to make individuals change their ways to save the planet, the fact remains that a vast majority of energy, water and other resources are consumed by bigger players: corporations, agribusiness, governments, militaries, and industrial transportation. And in turn, these big players also emit the vast majority of greenhouse gasses, Jensen states.

Why do we believe we can make a difference?

Jensen thinks our capitalist, consumerist societies have duped us into believing all our power lies in the dollars we spend and the individual actions we take as consumers. If you buy low-flush toilets, for example, you believe you are encouraging production of more low-flush toilets and increasing the likelihood that more consumers will also choose low-flush toilets and thereby save the world a lot of water. While consumer trends can and do sometimes direct the tide of a particular industry, such as the recent surge in organic food products due to customer demand, oftentimes this is simply not enough to halt an industry’s irreversible and widespread environmental damage.

In truth, individuals are capable of affecting change with far more than just their wallets. Voting, protesting, lobbying, and boycotting are just a few such actions that Jensen points out. But at the end of the day, aren’t we all looking for tangible and easily accomplished ways to make a difference today? Isn’t that why individual acts of sustainable living appeal to us all – and why we sometimes forego the more aggressive or radical acts that can require years of time and energy to accomplish even modest gains? While personal acts might make us feel better now, Jensen’s bottom line is this: “Personal change doesn’t equal social change.”

Be the change you wish to see in the world?

Those who would oppose Jensen’s position argue that living sustainably is an extremely important act, and that every large-scale social change begins at the grassroots level with individuals who are willing to change their own behaviors as a model for others. For example, Rosa Parks and the many other opponents of American racial segregation didn’t begin by directly attacking the large-scale social system that enabled discrimination; rather, both black and white opponents of segregation began by living their values of equality every day and leading by example. In time, the movement grew – as will the sustainable living revolution.

While some may agree with Jensen that industry is certainly a large-scale enemy of the global environment, they are equally adamant that change must begin with each individual deciding to live by the values to which they plan on holding others (such as industrial leaders) accountable. And yes, in the face of such large global problems, there is some comfort in taking your own daily actions, however modest, to help save the world.

What do you think?

Are personal decisions to live more sustainably worth the effort? Should we instead focus our environmental efforts on affecting widespread changes to the industrial economy?

– Jennifer Colletti

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Lanzarote Villa Holidays 2010

Teguise — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:31:06 +0000

The Canary Islands are one of the most popular holiday destinations in Europe. Thanks to their great year round climate and fantastic beaches. And at just four hours flying time they are also the closest winter sun destination to the mainland.

Lanzarote is the fourth largest of the seven islands and is located closer to the coast of West Africa than the rest. With a dry and arid climate and very little in the way of rainfall.

Tourism on the island is concentrated in the three main holiday resorts of Playa Blanca, Puerto del Carmen and Costa Teguise. Although rural tourism is also growing in popularity too – as more and more visitors return seeking to connect with the ‘real Lanzarote’.

The growth of the internet has led to a substantial increase in both the demand and supply of privately owned holiday accommodation on the island. With Lanzarote villas available for rent in all areas – including the countryside.

Where are the most popular locations for villa holidays on Lanzarote? During the winter months Playa Blanca in the south really comes into its own. Thanks to its pronounced microclimate and excellent beaches. Such as Papagayo and Playa Dorada.

There’s a larger concentration of villas in Playa Blanca for rent than anywhere else on Lanzarote. And this is the fastest growing town on the island too. With two bedroom properties with pools available from as little as £350 per week. And more expensive rentals with more bedrooms and facilities available as well.

Puerto del Carmen is also a very popular destination for a villa break. As this is the largest and liveliest resort on the island – boasting excellent beaches, great nightlife and a huge choice of restaurants. Most of the best villas in Puerto del Carmen can be found in areas such as Risco Prieto – which is situated just above the Old Town harbour. With great views down to the sea and across to the island of Fuerteventura.

There are a lot of attractions on the island to tempt visitors away from their villas. As Lanzarote is home to some unique volcanic scenery – as well as an abundance of pretty towns and villages.

The most historic of these is the former capital of Teguise, which is located in the heart of the island. This was the first Spanish settlement estblished in the Canaries. And there are still buildings here that date back as far as the 1450´s.

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