Archive for May, 2008
29
I am rather in love with Stuttgart. Moni’s apartment looks like it came out of an IKEA catalogue, and her friends’ apartments are much the same: clean and bright, simple and uncrowded. The city is full of nice-looking buildings, beer-gardens spilling into the streets with cheery car-workers taking their lunch out amongst the sun and the passersby. You can’t go two blocks without finding an organic food store, and the bakeries have the most wonderful loaves imaginable, full of pepitas and flax and oats and rye, so that the bits on the crust tumble to plate in delicious crumbs — they even have multigrain croissants beaded with seeds.
The city is home to several car companies, but several years ago they did an unbelievable thing: they redeveloped the center of town to be less car friendly. So that even though you see a few more shiny Porsches than usual, there are little pedestrian streets and stairs all over. Stuttgart is also in a valley, surrounded by miles of forest and well-kept trails. The woods have flame-red squirrels and blackbirds in them, and chartreuse chestnut trees that dapple the sunlight and frame the blue sky. You just have to get up the formidable steps, which are even more numerous than Altea’s. The first full day I did a short tromp through the closest parts, and discovered a zip-line to my endless childish delight. And a few days ago I did a four-hour “tour” to the nearby Castle Solitude and back, joining hundreds of Germans at some points, all walking and picnicking and enjoying a day of perfect clarity and humidity. On my second full day, I borrowed Moni’s brother’s bicycle, and together we toured the city from top to bottom (literally), through parks and Epcot neighborhoods.
Moni herself is quite remarkable. I worried I wouldn’t recognize her, but I knew her at once, short-sighted though I am. Her hair is short and dyed red, her skin is freckled and thin like mine, and she dresses and moves and lives in what seems a totally relaxed fashion. She works with a few colleagues to produce short science videos for TV — she does the 3D animations. It’s been nice, the little routine we have going: I wake up to the sun in my eyes and go out for a run… or just climb the stairs, since even that takes half an hour… and I’m back in time to shower and break my fast with Moni. She works while I go exploring (Bauhaus architecture, check; Chinese Garden, check) or stay in her living room cum office to read; or else we go out to do errands, stopping every once in a while to look for good stuff in the inorganics (already some shellac records for a friend).
That’s another thing I like about Moni, she resourceful, and prefers old things — like her crafty manual drill, or the old cash register her dad fixed for her birthday, and her mom’s sewing machine which helped me make a new bag. But it’s not just her, I think, as the recycling bins on every block hint at a general consciousness about being friendly to the environment. Between that and the praise Moni’s friends give to the city, I’m practically ready to move!
Now, there is one more essentially important thing about staying in Germany right now, and staying with Moni in particular, and it is football. Not rugby, not tell-me-when-the-Superbowl-ads-are-back-on-ball, but soccer. Back in Japan, when my dad and I first met Melanie and Monika, we bonded over the World Cup final. Germany versus Brazil. So fittingly enough, it’s currently the European Championship, with a game on every night. And the most exciting match by far has been the one that pitted Germany against Portugal, two teams with exquisite ball control and team coordination. It twisted and turned until the end, when the whole bar leaped out of their seats with cries and hugs and flags — Germany won! Germany’s going to the semi-finals! And tomorrow night, they’re probably going to kick Turkey’s butt, because they’ve got a way better team, and because I’ll be there with Moni in a beer garden cheering them on.
Ole Ole Deustchland!
27
Recipe for a Happy New Year
Published by admin, under Cooking. No Comments.
This past New Year’s Eve the wife and I toyed with the idea of celebrating New Year’s Eve in a restaurant. Between us we have worked probably 25 New Year’s Eve galas in various restaurants, and thought it might be nice to have someone else pouring the bubbly for a change. An online-search revealed interesting tasting menus offered at both Refectory and Handke’s, both priced around $90.00/person, food only. Adding the price of cocktails and wine could easily boost the tab between $75-100, bringing the grand total to well over $300 with tax and tip.
We love to dine out, but a quick glance at our holiday-enhanced credit card statements gave us pause. In the end, frugality and fear of DUI prevailed. We settled on a romantic dinner at home—cooked by yours truly—with wines chosen to compliment the food and buoy the celebration. I figured that for less than half of what we’d spend going out, we could create a memorable meal, and drink more wine than possible if we were driving(and send the money we saved to MasterCard).
There had to be Champagne, of course. But I wanted other wines along for the ride as well, their choice determined by the menu. When I asked Mrs. Wineward what she wanted me to cook, her reaction was swift and predictable. “You know what I want you to make—my favorite,” she beamed.
“Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, isn’t very festive, my dear!”
“Think you’re funny, don’t you”, she replied, whacking me in the arm.
She was actually craving Osso Buco with Risotto Milanese, a dish I make perhaps 2-3 times throughout the fall and winter. I’ve included a link to the Tyler Florence version from Food Network dotcom, but several additional variations of this dish are listed in their recipe archives as well.
Braised veal shanks are one of my favorite dishes, too. Slow-cooking the meat in the wet-heat provided by an aromatic braising liquid yields tender, flavorful results, and the liquid can be strained and reduced to serve as an easy, flavorful sauce. The ratio of bone-to-meat in the shanks adds extra flavor, and offers an additional bounty—creamy marrow. Some chefs add this bone marrow to the risotto; I prefer digging mine out at the table as an accompaniment to the veal.
In my mind, nothing pairs better with this dish than an Italian red from Tuscany or Veneto. I would have loved to splurge on a Barolo with some age, but after budgeting for Champagne, didn’t want to spring for $65-100 for one bottle. Likewise Amarone. It didn’t fit the budget. As I surveyed the Italian wine selections at our local Andersons store, my wife complained. “I hate shopping for wine with you. You could spend an hour staring at those shelves.”
“You can’t just walk over here and grab the first thing off the shelf that catches your eye. You have to study them, analyze the choices.”
“How about this,” she countered, holding aloft a bottle of Valpolicella. “We always like Valpolicella.”
My first impulse was to dismiss her hastiness, but I didn’t want to sleep alone that night, so I reluctantly considered her bottle. She had chosen well, a bottle of Domini Veneti Classico Superiore Ripasso 2000. “This might work,” I admitted sheepishly, silently cursing her ability not to overanalyze every purchase.
The best Valpolicellas are often referred to as “baby Amarones.” During the aging process, the lees from a previous batch of Amarone can be added to the barrels for several weeks to impart extra flavor and richness. The current release of this particular wine is 2004, so this 2000 bottling was a steal at the sale price of $22. Score one for Mrs. Wineward. Into the cart it went.
Those of you in greater Columbus not familiar with the Andersons chain should check them out soon. Part country store, part home improvement warehouse, and part gourmet grocery, Andersons was a welcome surprise when we moved here last December, and deserves a blog post all its own. First-time shoppers adventurous enough to make it past the ubiquitous housewares, kitchen cabinet displays and eye-high stacks of Adirondack chairs might be startled by the discovery of the gourmet oasis within.
In my neighborhood, Andersons boasts the largest selection of fine wine, and specialty beer. It’s also the only place to buy saffron threads (essential for Risotto Milanese) or whole vanilla beans, and contains an in-store butcher shop aptly named The House of Meats. They have the cheapest prices on meat in town. Some examples: Prime Rib is priced at just $7.95/lb, and jumbo-sized boneless/skinless chicken breast is only $1.99/lb. In fact, everything they sell is priced less than the equivalent available at the grocery store, and I have never been disappointed with the quality.
Because the wife had dictated the entrée—and bruised my arm—it was only fair that I decided on the first course. I wanted to do something luxurious and rich, preferably with lobster. Perusing the Epicurious website I stumbled across a version of Lobster Thermidor. The tasting notes on this recipe were intriguing:
“None of us expected to fall in love with this dish when we tested it, but we all did. Most Thermidor recipes yield something that tastes stodgy and heavy, but this version, by 1940s Gourmet chef Louis P. De Gouy, is almost sleek.”
I was hooked. This recipe would provide the richness and luxury I desired, without the heaviness of many “old school” dishes. Risotto is heavy enough as it is. I originally thought the Champagne could serve double-duty, both as a NYE toast and as a pairing with the lobster dish, but was afraid that a single bottle would never last until midnight. A magnum would have sufficed. However, the selection of large bottles in my local shops was negligible. The Champagne we selected, Egly-Ouriet Brut Tradition Grand Cru NV, was available only in 750 ml bottles for $40 at Andersons.
Grower Champagnes such as this have become the darlings of the wine press over the last few years, as more small-production Champagne becomes available outside of France. Instead of selling their grapes or bulk wines to one of the giant houses like Moët or Clicquot, these ambitious growers produce, bottle, and age their own wines. Most growers who sell to the big houses go for maximum vineyard yields at the expense of quality because they are selling by weight. Conversely, many Grand Cru or Premier Cru vineyard owners gambled that they could make even more money focusing on grape quality, retaining control over the entire production process, and selling the product themselves. In theory these Champagnes should express more terroir, and exhibit fuller, more lively flavors due to superior vineyard practices and artisanal winemaking. I was anxious to see if this wine lived up to the hype.
We headed over to Giant Eagle for the lobsters, which are not available at Andersons. To make the Thermidor preparation easier and quicker, I had the seafood counter partially steam the whole lobsters. While we were waiting, we decided to browse the store’s wine selection, as I still needed something to pair with the first course. I entered the “premium room”, possibly to pick up another Champagne, but a sale tag caught my eye. Nestled atop the wooden shelves was a single vineyard, estate Chardonnay from Clos Pegase, the “Mitsuko’s Vineyard” Carneros 2003 for $22. Single vineyard, estate grown Chardonnay can easily triple that in price. I was intrigued, but leery.
The prevailing style of California Chardonnay—overblown fruit lavished in new oak—doesn’t appeal to me. Hell, I’ve got a bottle of vanilla extract up in the cupboard if I wanted to taste that. Instead, I prefer a more nuanced wine. I’ve got nothing against ripe fruit, but there must be equal acidity to keep things lively on the tongue, and the oak must be well integrated. Pine Ridge “Dijon Clones” is one example of this style Chardonnay.
I studied the Clos Pegase label looking for clues to its style. The first thing I noticed was 14.2% alcohol. “Potential fruit-bomb with enough alcohol to sear the palate”, I fretted to myself. Then I saw something encouraging on the back label. It stated that the wine was “aged sur lies for eight months in 33% new French oak”. That sounded like Burgundian winemaking and judicious use of oak to me, and advanced my hopes it would be a worthy dance partner to the Thermidor. Into the cart it went. Retrieving the lobsters, we headed to the checkout. Our culinary quest was done.
The total bill from both stores came to just over $153. Not exactly cheap, but not bad considering all it bought: two lobsters, two veal shanks, saffron, four bottles of wine—including a $17 bottle of Dry Sack Sherry I bought for the Thermidor sauce—and various lesser items needed to complete the cooking. Dinner was delicious, and the wines were great too. But the best part was a midnight kiss from Mrs. Wineward. We skipped dessert.
Tasting Notes
Egly-Ouriet Brut Tradition Grand Cru NV (42 months en cave, disgorged December 2005)$40
Its golden color and warm-fruit nose confirm the high percentage of red grapes in the blend. Full-bodied and mouth-filling, red fruit predominates on the palate with a hint of nuttiness. We weren’t blown away by this wine as we expected to be, but to be fair, we had already consumed two bottles prior. I would like to taste it again, perhaps in a flight with some of our perennial favorite Champagnes for comparison.
Clos Pegase Chardonnay Carneros Napa Valley Mitsuko’s Vineyard Estate 2003 $22
Bottled with a Stelvin screw cap for freshness, this Chardonnay exhibits good balance, with pear and apricot nuances predominating. The oak component is well integrated. Finishes long, with just a hint of butter. This is a Chardonnay I would gladly drink as an aperitif. Despite the 14.2% alcohol, it never felt fatiguing to the palate. It paired well with the Lobster dish, but perhaps a Chardonnay with a bit more tropical fruit would have been even better.
Domìni Veneti La Casetta di Ettore Righetti Valpolicella Classico Superiore 2000 $22
This wine was the star of our NYE, and complimented the veal dish superbly. Black cherry and plum with a hint of spice and cedar. Silky tannins and refreshing acidity balance the fruit. I would definitely by this again. A steal at $22.
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What to Consider When Booking Summer Vacations
Published by admin, under Beach Vacations. No Comments.
When planning a summer vacation, on of the main things that you have to consider is the cost. Once you have decided upon where you want to go, you then have to find the cheapest way to get there.
Staying abroad and going on vacation does not have to be an expensive as you might think. You just have to compare different companies in order to get the best prices.
Researching and Comparing Summer Vacations
When you are researching the different packages and deals available, you are likely to come across summer vacation packages. These packages are designed to tempt you to take a discount holiday with various companies. They do tend to be good value for money and there is quite a large selection of them available too. One of the main advantages of these packages is that they do contain everything that you need in order to have a great holiday. They contain the accommodation, flights, dining and even some activities. So you have everything you need in one package.
Each summer vacation package will be different and so it is essential that you look at your chosen package carefully before you book it. You will need to see exactly what is included. For example is dinner and lunch included or do you have to purchase it yourself whilst you are there? Does it include access to any private beaches? Also what accommodation does it offer you? So many people just book their summer vacation package without thinking as they see it at a good deal. However, when you look closer into a package, sometimes it can be a little deceiving. It could include things that you will not use for example. Or it could exclude something that you really need. So look through the package and see exactly what it includes and what you may need to add.
Overall it is easy to find a summer vacation package. You can find summer vacations literally anywhere around the world and they can be easily booked online. You can also usually find discount holiday rentals in Malaga online too which is helpful if you are on a bit of a budget. If you are still struggling to find a deal to suit you, then you may want to go into your local travel agency where they will be able to find the cheapest deals possible for you. Don’t forget that travel agents aren’t free however and they do not always find you the best deals possible.
Being particularly interested in Javea and Altea, Ray Walberg wrote different summaries in this specific area. You can see his articles on hotels in malaga at different sources for hotels in malaga information.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ray_L._Walberg
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20
A Guide to Luxury Cruises
Published by admin, under new luxury travel. No Comments.
Luxury cruises are an excellent option for vacationers and tourists wanted a quick cruise get away. There are many vacationers who avoid going on a luxury cruise for a vacation because they believe they are always costly. However, luxury cruising is also available at affordable prices in the off peak seasons. It has become an enjoyable way to travel for the young and old alike. The cruise prices can be obtained from travel agencies and can even be done online.
Many luxury cruise lines offer shore excursions that concentrate on combining water sports along with time at the beach. Some hotels sell passes to cruise guests to allow use of the their beach and pool facilities.
The total expenditure of luxury cruises mostly includes all port fees and government taxes, accommodations, meals and snacks, and most onboard activities and entertainment. It is not necessary for cruisers to purchase travel insurance but most cruises recommend it, in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
When booking online, the automated booking system normally shows up any available discounts based on age, especially for senior citizens and children. In online reservations, generally no processing or ticketing fee is charged. Generally, luxury cruises final payment is due 45-90 days prior to sailing but this mainly depends on the policies of the cruise.
Vacationers should be careful while providing credit card information. They need to make sure that the credit card information they provide is accurate as any inaccurate information could result in the booking to be cancelled by the cruise line.
Luxury cruises are introducing new and lucrative cruise packages to attract vacationers, the major attraction being that these packages have a host of activities packed into a single package. Meals and room service are common features of luxury cruises and so are shore excursions and certain onboard social activities. The luxury class cruisers may enjoy additional advantages of lavishly decorated suites with their own private balconies, well-stocked bars and state-of-the-art entertainment systems. They may also have access to multiplexes and discos, and are in most cases entitled to a pick-up and drop-off transportation to and from the cruise.
Luxury Cruises provides detailed information on Luxury Cruises, Caribbean Luxury Cruises, Luxury Cruise Lines, South America Luxury Cruises and more. Luxury Cruises is affiliated with London Luxury Hotels.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Romando
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16
Incorporating Education into Your Summer Vacation
Published by admin, under Quilting. 2 Comments.
If you are a parent, you likely know how important education is to your child. When school lets out for the summer, education is often the farthest thing from your child’s mind. While a break from school is needed, children are still encouraged to continue their education during the summer. If you want to keep the learning experience alive during the summer, you should consider incorporating education into your summer vacation.
Many parents wonder if it is really possible to incorporate education into a vacation. It is possible and many vacations are not only filled with learning, but fun and excitement. If you are interested in scheduling an educational summer vacation for your and your family, you will have to decide on a summer vacation destination. When it comes to educational activities, you have a number of different options to choose form. When it comes to educational tourist attractions, many parents automatically think of a museum. Science museums, history museums, and art museums are located all around the world. If you are interested in scheduling a museum visit, the visit may not fill up your whole summer vacation. Many parents have had success scheduling museum tours.
Museum tours involve selecting a number of museums to visit. These museums are often viewed while on a family road trip. In addition to developing your own tour, it is possible that you and your family can sign up for a group tour. These tours may involve meeting a group of individuals at a specific museum or traveling with them by train or bus. If you want to select multiple museums as your summer vacation destination, you are encouraged to select different museum styles.
If you are interested in scheduling a summer vacation that offers fun, excitement, and thrills all at once, you may want to examine visiting a theme park. Theme parks are amusement parks that focus on a particular theme. Sea World is one of the most well-known, educational theme parks in the world. In addition to fun and exciting rides, you can watch aquatic shows and visit underwater aquariums.
In addition to Sea World, Bush Gardens is another theme park that focuses somewhat on education. Bush Gardens tends to have an animal safari theme. In addition to a number of thrill rides, Bush Gardens is known for their educational animal adventures. These adventures may include onsite zoos or animal safari museums.
Guided tours are another popular vacation choice for parents who are vacationing with their children. Guided tours are available at a wide variety of different vacation destinations. Guided tours are often found in state parks, animal sanctuaries, and at historical landmarks. In the Untied States, educational guided tours can be found at the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, and in the Adirondacks Region of New York.
As more families opt for fun filled vacations, rather than educational ones, the popularity of educational tourist attractions is on the decline. This slight decline may give you privacy and the opportunity to find great deals and discounts. In addition to cheap admission fees, you can often find online coupons for guided tours at many popular summer vacation destinations, museums, and theme parks.
Educational activities do not have to limit your summer vacation destination options. Many popular vacation destinations are within a short distance to a number of facilities that host educational activities and events. With the ability to learn, have fun, and save money, all at the same time, why would you not want to make your summer vacation educational?
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koh samui- chaweng noi beach-チャウエンノイビーチ
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10
How To Travel Smart This Summer
Published by admin, under May 2008. 5 Comments.
Here is one of the best articles we have read on traveling smart. It appeared in the Wall Street Journal, so you may not be able to access the article, but if you can, this has many good tips to make your traveling easier..
How to Travel Smart This Summer
May 27, 2008; Page D1
Don’t leave home without it. In addition to a bathing suit, golf clubs and sunscreen, make sure you take your credit card to the airport for this summer travel season.
The biggest change that vacationers will find at the airport is what it costs to travel before you take off. Changing plans now costs a $150 penalty (up from $100) on domestic tickets at AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, for example, and international change fees can run as much as $300, plus paying any fare difference.
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Last week, American raised the price of carrying a pet onboard a plane to $100 from $80. Reinstating miles to your frequent-flier account costs $150, up from $100. Sending an unaccompanied minor on an American flight — a popular summer-camp option — increased to $100 from $75. And check your wallet when you check your luggage: The more you tote the bigger your note. Baggage fees can cost a family hundreds of dollars at the check-in counter.
The summer travel season kicks off this week with crowded airports, packed planes and nervous travelers. Here are some tips to make it easier. Call it the Middle Seat guide to surviving the middle seat.
Before You Go
Consider shipping your luggage instead of checking it. American also announced a $30 round-trip fee to check one piece of luggage, starting with tickets purchased on or after June 15. Other carriers will likely do the same thing between now and mid-June. But there are plenty of other, more-expensive baggage fees to contend with before then.
Most big airlines — American, United, Delta Air Lines Inc., Continental Airlines Inc., Northwest Airlines Corp. and US Airways Group Inc. — have already begun charging $50 round trip to check a second piece of luggage. Most airlines won’t charge the fee if you bought the ticket before they changed their rules, but you may have to ask for a waiver. Others, such as Delta, will charge you regardless of when you bought your ticket.
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Fees have gone up for checking a third bag, too, and some carriers have raised the fees they charge for overweight and oversized bags. United now charges $200 round trip if your bag is heavier than 50 pounds (over 70 pounds costs even more), and some airlines (American, United, Northwest and Continental) charge $200 round trip to check a third bag. It’s prudent to weigh suitcases before you leave home, and make sure you check your airline’s specific baggage rules on its Web site. (Most have a “Baggage” section.)
Package shippers like FedEx Corp. or United Parcel Service Inc. or luggage shippers like Luggage Forward Inc. or Sports Express LLC may now be an attractive alternative. With FedEx, you can ship three bags — two 40-pounders and one 60-pound bag, from Dallas to Boston and back for about $250 if you use the three-business-day service, and the price might be a lot less if you have access to a corporate account with discounts at FedEx. Put the bags in shipping boxes or just use tags that shippers now have for luggage. Package shippers can track the bags, too — something airlines don’t do. On United, those same three bags would cost you $450 round trip if traveling alone.
Luggage services are generally more expensive, but you get the convenience of pickup and delivery. The same three bags on a Dallas-Boston round trip cost $628 for Luggage Forward to handle, and take several days each way.
Other preflight matters to consider:
Check the weather both for your departure city, your destination and any connecting points on your trip. (Weather.com has good maps and travel forecasts.) If storms are expected, you can sometimes get your airline to reroute your itinerary, or move you to an earlier or later flight.
For current airport conditions and travel slowdowns, check www.fly.faa.gov. That site has good information on any air-traffic-control programs in place to slow down or stop takeoffs for major airports. It’s worthwhile to check wait times at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at www.tsa.gov. TSA doesn’t offer current conditions, but the historical averages can be a guide to suggest what you may be up against. Knowing that the wait at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport’s Terminal 4 at 8 a.m. on Saturday mornings can be as long as 27 minutes, according to TSA, can help you plan for a long visit. (Waits may in fact be longer than the TSA’s Web site indicates. I waited 45 minutes at Terminal 4 this spring and just barely made my flight.)
To stay informed while you’re on the move, sign up for alerts about your flights that can be emailed to your Blackberry or sent to your cellphone. I like FlightStats.com, but most airlines have their own alert systems, too. They can notify you of gate changes, as well as delays — something that’s also useful if you are picking someone up at the airport, too. More importantly, FlightStats gets its data from multiple sources, including airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration, and can often tip you off to cancellations or major problems before you hear about it from airline gate agents. With early warning, you can be first in line to rebook or first to call airline hotlines.
Things to travel with:
Hotel reservation lines can be handy to have in case you get stranded. And have the phone number for your hotel handy if traveling at night — it’s worthwhile to call the front desk and tell them you’re still coming, but delayed, so they don’t give away your room to another guest if overbooked.
The hotline number for your airline for rebooking disrupted passengers, if available. A few airlines now have special numbers to give to distressed passengers — you might want to have them handy if you are flying that carrier. For American, the rebooking hotline is 800-446-7834; Northwest’s hotline is 800-225-2525.
Remember that some airlines — United and Continental — for example, have set up their kiosks to allow rebooking and put some inside security for passengers who miss connections. Also, elite-level frequent fliers get special phone numbers to connect quickly with airline agents — don’t forget to use them if you qualify.
At The Airport
If you haven’t traveled recently, you can expect to see some changes from TSA. Officers now focus more on behavior detection and some roam the airport. TSA also has been conducting some random secondary checks at boarding gates. Some airports have new setups for security lines, such as separate lanes for families, “casual” travelers and “expert” travelers. And TSA has been retraining all its workers, trying to get them to calm down checkpoints instead of barking instructions.
Packing food also requires some planning. It’s a good idea to take a substantial, nutritious snack or even a meal these days — you never quite know if the airline will have anything edible to sell, or whether your flight will be delayed long past dinner. (Most airlines don’t count food bags in your carry-on bag limit.) Remember that you can’t carry drinks with you through security — you can buy those once inside security, fill empty water bottles or just rely on airline soda. And watch out for fast-food salad dressing — some TSA screeners will make you put packets of liquids into your quart-size bag. Rules are rules.
There are some splurges worth considering. Many airports now offer valet parking at terminals, at rates not too much higher than standard close-in parking. In Portland, Ore., valet parking at the terminal is $30 a day; parking in the terminal garage is $24 a day.
Other extras to consider for yourself and your family:
Paying for upgrades or better seating. AirTran Holdings Inc.’s AirTran Airways sells its “business class” seats for $49 to $99 above full coach prices. You get a bigger seat, more legroom and free drinks. United charges $14 to $149 one-way for Economy Plus seating — four extra inches of legroom.
Write to Scott McCartney at middleseat@wsj.com
06
Travel To Suzhou, China
Published by admin, under Travel China Online. No Comments.
Suzhou is one of the most beautiful cities in china and probably one of the most historically significant cities in the country. The metro area including the city itself is home to over 6.9 million people. The major language spoken in the city is Wu, a Chinese dialect. The city is very much like Venice where the streets and canals are winding, and intertwined. The city is famous for its vast gardens and offers quite a variety of sites for the tourist to explore.
The gardens alone can be traced back to 6 BC and all these gardens have been beautifully maintained in their original splendor and glory. The four top gardens to see in the city are Canglang Pavilion (Blue Wave Pavilion), Lingering Garden, Humble Administrator’s Garden and Lion Grove Garden. The garden of Master of Nets is one of the best examples of a small to medium size garden and is also well worth a visit.
The water townships of Suzhou are another interesting set of places to visit. The ancient homes and the lovely views are unlike anything a tourist will have ever seen anywhere else. Three of the most beautiful water townships are Zhouzhuang, Tongli Town, and Luzhi. All are beautiful and once again well worth a visit.
Along with the water townships and gardens Suzhou has a number of other tourist attractions. The Panmen Scenic Area, Water and land city gates, Wumen Bridge, and the Suzhou Amusement Park represent just a few of the huge number of sites that may be if interest to the exploring tourist.
The last major items of interest to most tourists are the famous temples located in the Suzhou area. The Temple of Mystery and the Xiyuan Temple are probably the two most popular tourist destinations though there are many others as well.
The Suzhou area has a vast amount to see and do. It is very rich in Chinese history and well worth the time spent visiting the gardens, temples, and water townships that it has to offer. When planning a trip to china do make sure that the Suzhou area is on your list of things to do.
About the Author:
Criss manages Travel Asia and Angkor Wat.Criss is also the author of Asia Travel Guide.
Article Tags: city, suzhou, water
Read more articles by: Criss Lee
Article Source: www.iSnare.com
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Article published on May 01, 2007 at iSnare.com
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03
A California Beach Rental in Slick, Chic Malibu
Published by admin, under Quilting. No Comments.
Let’s forget this recession business for one minute and pretend our bank accounts are so fat that we never have to check our balances on a daily basis or save up to buy a new pair of Hudson Jeans.
Let’s act like we have movie star friends and jet set between coasts to stay at places like this California vacation rental. Maybe we’re so A-list that Jennifer and Courtney want to come over to our house when we’re in town. Maybe they have house envy.
Alright, I’m not buying it either.
At any rate, it’s not unreasonable to think that you might run into the stars around these parts, given that “This and other neighborhood homes have frequently been rented to some of the most famous names in show business,” according to the listing. Reserving a vacation home rental in Malibu affords you access only insiders have.
The three-bedroom, three-bathroom beach rental is like Scarlet Johannson–it doesn’t need makeup to look smashing. Its understated living room with killer views of the Pacific allows the natural beauty to shine through. Downstairs find a bonus studio with kitchenette, sofa bed, bathroom, sauna and private beach access.
That last component is key, you know, for all the paparazzi trying to snag photos of you.