This winter, you might be headed out on an escape to the the tropics, where the icy winds and unforgiving snow are a distant memory. While you might be dreaming about jumping into that over the top pool at your resort, you might want to make sure that you have a clean beach at your destination as a backup, as some holiday swimming pools are NOT what they seem.
While the colors of fall and the mosquito-killing cold weather is proving to be a refreshing break from the muggy days of summer, soon you’ll be pining for when the top of thermometer shattered and you spent most of your time lounging in the pool because spending any appreciable amount of time outside of it would have turned you into a puddle of sweat. You’ll also miss long Sunday brunches at your favorite sidewalk cafe, which is an activity that doesn’t tend to be very enjoyable when the snow is pelting down outside. With the daylight hours dwindling and your...
Many folks dream of the stereotypical tropical paradise beach, prodded on by the perennially bad weather in many parts of the temperate world throughout large tracts of the year. They dream idealistic dreams of an empty beach, delightfully fruity drinks delivered by friendly locals and a general atmosphere of relaxation, only to be let down by the reality that most tourist areas find themselves in these days. Aggravating touts, throngs of people crowding onto a shrinking strip of sand like sardines in a can, and jaded service industry people is the sad state of affairs in many places, leaving many...
You enjoy a great beach holiday, as do most people. As your contemporaries happily ship off to the same standard sun spots year in and year out though, you have started to become jaded at going to the same old sterile beach resort tucked cosily behind the secure walls of an all-inclusive compound. You long for the spice of exoticism that accompanied your travels earlier in your life, when you traipsed the underdeveloped tropical countries of the Americas, Asia and Africa like it was no big deal. After passing the halfway marker of your mortal existence in recent years, a...
The toughest part of being a beach snob is finding new places in the globe that blow you away. You have been to all the heavy hitters on your extensive travels … Florida in the United States, Thailand, Greece … you name it, and you’ve lain on their heavenly sands. After picking all this low-hanging fruit, you have had to work harder to find diamonds in the rough, keeping your ear to the internet grapevine for rumors of the next below-the-radar beach destination. Well, the chatter for 2014 has already begun, so get that pad and paper (or smartphone slide-out...
Although Gaudi is the most important architect of this movement in Barcelona, he is not the only one. Montaner and Cadafalch were two other important architects. Apart from Modernism, Barcelona has other interesting attractions. The Gothic quarter, the port, the beach, Montjuic, the Ramblas, etc. Also, if you are a football fan, you can visit the Barcelona Football Club Stadium. After seeing Barcelona, you have probably enjoyed so much that you want to see more. Luckily, if you are on a cruise you have more cities to see. What is next? Palma de Mallorca is a good option if you like beach...
For a continent as small as Europe, the weather can vary drastically from region to region. Some areas, like the British Isles, get copious amounts of rain throughout the year, only letting up slightly in the summer. Other parts, like the Eastern and Northern sectors of Europe, get mighty cold in the winter time, with heavy falls of snow, long dark days and frigid temperatures the norm across the region. Then there are places like Spain, located in the warmest, driest region on the continent. Here, the summers are bright and sunny, and even in the winter time, temperatures are...
For anyone looking for a great holiday, Mauritius is one of the iconic ‘holiday of a lifetime’ venues and it would be hard to imagine how it could possibly be improved. But between the 28 October and the 10 of November, the Kite Jam festival is in town and it will be spectacular! Watching expert surfers is amazing enough, but watching kite surfers is out of this world and this year the line-up is truly international, with riders from Australia, Germany, Spain and many other countries. Based in Le Morne, the festival isn’t only about watching the kite surfers perform...