Posted by admin on March 19th, 2009 — Posted in Recreation Parlor, Travel Hub
As far back as 1770 the inaugural lodge was opened in Chamonix Haute Savoie. Before this Chamonix village embodied a savage and craggy agricultural hamlet where people caught their own animals and grew their oats.
Chalets then were used to breed dairy cows over the spring and summer. Milk was kept by changing it into cheese and butter and kept in the valley for use over the harsh winters. In the winter season the farmhouses were bolted, and valuables were secured in a tiny mazot.
Who devised the chalet vacation is nameless, it was likely various passionate chaps who acknowledged a set up that worked. For Erna Low it all started when she was a unhappy postgraduate and couldn’t visit her siblings back home as often as she wished. So in 1931 she took a punt and put a small advertisement in the London Times to invite guests on a ski trip. The cost was £15 and they traveled to and from the village, enjoyed food and board in the sole pub lodging, and paid for ski hire and tuition. The trip was arduous , there were no skiing lifts, no quick release fixations, simply heavy leather boots, it was such a hit that she kept on taking skiers on holiday, ensuring she found supreme hotels and skiing instructors.
Catered chalet breaks during the formative years were a long way from the luxuries we can receive today. Hot water was in short supply, the bathrooms would be shared with all of the customers, and there wasn’t a cook; all the punters needed to help out with the chores. It was a real gamble who might be in the lodge for a holiday, you might be surprised to meet fresh acquaintances, or not gel with the group.
skiing holidays were later on marketed on its new bonuses. A chef, who would serve you continental breakfast and a plentiful evening meal and even made you a cake, ensuites hot water.
For more information check out one of the Chamonix official websites.
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Posted by admin on March 15th, 2009 — Posted in Travel Hub
Regardless the fact that PropertyIndex.com is actually a fairly young establishment, established only in March 2007, they have become experts very quickly. On closer scrutiny, they are a incredibly hip establishment entirely focused on guiding every visitor who is determined to sell, buy etc. property in a global environment. Their agreement: to assist you discover just what you require very swiftly plus, even better, straightforwardly.
Property is available for the asking all over the world now, undoubtedly the really elite area being properties available for sale in Portugal. It’s easy as falling off a log to catalogue the good estate available in Portugal, one motivation for opting for properties here being the houses and apartments for sale and the possibility of spending your life right amid such a vigorous and keen people. This is one of the most fashionable property markets now, and in view of the scenic splendor and the agreeable sunshine surrounding you here, how can you say no? Property in Portugal is steeped in history, this geographical region is home to several sophisticated civilizations.
Overseas property specialists Property Index sell a range of properties such as apartments and villas.
Only one generation ago you would find only very few of British people who are looking for estate in Portugal. Ask any individual who has emigrated to Portugal and they’ll tell you the same. Some people would will view it as a short-lived fad and others will view it as a that’s more or less a fixation… Clients that will actually relocate to this region range from young families in search of an exciting new challenge to older people who are looking to enjoy themselves and take it easy. Bear in mind, however, that you may well encounter a few hitches when acquiring estate overseas - as can be expected, there are hundreds of varied, sometimes not very transparent, actions when scheduling, touring or signing up. Even if just a single minor step is missed this will engender wide-reaching hitches plus, critically, a financial hammering.
Naturally, as can be supposed with this fashionable area, estate might well be rather costly in this place and this, of course, is solely because of the top market pressure. Notwithstanding property buyers are truly choosy in such a part of the world so richly blessed by fantastic landscape and happy vista. It truly has all a client might desire and plenty more.
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Posted by admin on January 1st, 2009 — Posted in Regional Resources, Travel Hub
Hotel Galileo is a 4 star hotel in Prague, located in Bruselsk 3
The GALILEO hotel is situated in the Vinohrady historic residential area of the centre of Prague. It has been renovated with care recently, so that our guests can enjoy a stay in the magical atmosphere of the golden city in elegant, comfortable surroundings. The hotel is served by public transport stops close by (underground and tram) and the famous Wenceslas Square is only 10 minutes’ walk away.
The GALILEO Hotel has 5 apartments, 17 double rooms, 5 superior rooms with optional extra beds (for up to 4 guests) and 1 room equipped for disabled guests. All rooms are furnished in Italian style and equipped with every comfort. They all have a private bathroom, direct-dial telephone, minibar, safe and satellite TV. The GALILEO Hotel reception is at your disposal 24 hours a day to meet your requirements, and the hotel offers services including breakfast buffet, taxis, car rental, laundry, the booking of air tickets, excursions and sightseeing of the main monuments, and tickets for cultural and sports events as well as a fax service etc.
Where we are
Prague Centre 0 km
National Museum 0,5 km
Wenceslas Square 0,5 km
Square of Peace 0,1 km
Charles Bridge 2 km
Old Town Square (Astronomical clock) 1,5 km
Prague Castle 3 km
Vysehrad Castle 0,6 km
Wilsonovo Railway Station 0,5 km
Prague Airport Ruzyne 20 km
Other than AccommodationZ.com, our network also includes Reserver.it (where we list more than 2500 Hotels in Italy with secure online reservation) and Siteseeings.com, where you can make reservations for sightseeings in Italy, tours in Rome and also in the Amalfi Coast.
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Posted by admin on December 29th, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hub
Recent precise Global Positioning System readings made on the 15-16th August have demonstrated that Monte Bianco measures 4810.3 metres. Monte-Bianco is covered by a dense ice-cap which has augmented by 2.3 metres in scarcely two yrs moreover more surprising the amount of the ice has nearly grown twofold . At least that’s according to the experts.
The mass of ice and snow was computed for the first time during 2002. It was measured at 14000 metres cubed higher than 4800 m. It amounted to merely 13500 cubic metres in 2003 possibly ascribable to the heat wave with + temp as high as 4950 m elevation. Still the icecap has nearly increased twofold since then and nowadays measures 23000 cubic metres.
Chamonix town’s respected near by weather man Mark Lively said the development in the mass of the ice-cap is among the counter intuitive consequences of global warming: The amount of snow hasn’t increased overall in the Alps simply with climate change we are seeing additional warm prevailing westerly winds which bestow rain at lower altitudes but during summertime this results in significant snowfall that falls at higher altitude than 3600 metres elevation hence the mass bulk of the ice is growing. Compare that to the situation in winter when the snow crystals are exceedingly cold and are moved by wind and so don’t settle on the peak.
Chamonix France is not only renowned for Mont Blanc it is also a world renowned snowboarding area and climbing center with lot’s of ski deals and self catering chalets to be rented. Moreover at only 1 hour from Geneva Switzerland it is unbeatable for a ski weekend.
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Posted by admin on November 12th, 2008 — Posted in Regional Resources, Travel Hub
Original, quiet and safe: it’s exactly what Gladiator Rooms is. Totally new, in an intimate atmosphere, GLADIOS commits itself to make your stay unforgettable. We are located in an ancient building (XIX century), and most of our rooms looks out on high trees and towards the main street (via Principe Eugenio), that connects S. Maria Maggiore Basilica and the ancient Porta Maggiore. All of our rooms are situated on the first floor, and are spacious, bright, and fully & technologically equipped (en-suite bathroom, hair-dryer, TV color and air conditioned). The entire flat is decorated with creativity: the soft and warm colours have been used to represent several scenes of the Ancient Rome, in an original combination of modernity and tradition.
Services
-reception 10am-1pm
- daily room cleaning
- towels
- linen
- baggage storage
- taxi service on request
- tourist tours (organised by Green Line Tours)
- continental breakfast
-Air conditioning is not included in the price.
GLADIOS is located just between S. Maria Maggiore Basilica and Porta Maggiore, 10 min. walk from Termini Railway Station. All of the connections from/to the Airports originate from and arrive at the Station (Intercontinental "Fiumicino - Leonardo da Vinci" Airport by train, and International Low Cost "Ciampino" Airport by bus/pulmann). The Underground service is a few steps from our building (stations: Vittorio Emanuele, Manzoni and Termini) as well as the bus & tram network (105, 5, 14 and night 12 & 50), including the "3" tram line to the archaeological site (Circo Massimo and Caracalla Baths) and Trastevere (restaurant & pubs area). Many of the most relevant sites to visit (S. Croce in Gerusalemme Basilique, S. Giovanni in Laterano Basilica, Coliseum, Fori Imperiali, Roman Ancient Market, etc.) are easily reachable on foot, simply walking thorough the history…
If you think that Gladios is not exactly what you are looking for, click here to visit our catalogue and a run a search for Apartments in Rome, or make a search for a luxury hotel in Rome, or make a reservation for a Rome tour.
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Posted by admin on November 1st, 2008 — Posted in Recreation Parlor, Travel Hub
Chamonix town is a one of a kind holiday destination with the impressive Monte Bianco and majestic glaciers. We love to go parapenting or even taking the tourist train. I sometimes travel from Knoxville and stay at a Chamonix guesthouse for the duration of my break.
My family and I used to visited Embassy Suites Niagara Falls - Fallsview but it rarely met the standards of its description: The Embassy Suites Niagara Falls is a 42-storey building over the Niagara Falls, approximately 100 yards from the water’s edge and 45 miles from Buffalo/Niagara International Airport. Within walking distance are Casino Niagara, Clifton Hills, Maid of the Mist, Skylon Tower and the new Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort. The Hotel offers complimentary breakfast and a complimentary Manager??s reception. Hotel amenities include the 10-storey atrium, dining overlooking the falls, indoor pool, whirlpool, fitness center, valet parking, shuttle to the Casino and attractions, Starbucks, and TGI Fridays. The hotel??s new restaurant, The Keg Steakhouse & Bar, features a ledge stone fireplace and a showpiece 3-level tiered seating, with floor to ceiling windows for panoramic views of the Falls from every table in the restaurant. The hotel also offers valet laundry service.
On the other hand in Chamonix town the hotel is always brilliant. Likewise dining out in my families’ preferred cafe, Edamame Cafe, munching pumpkin apple cider bread is a treat. Chamonix Mont Blanc France is a big enough destination to insure that there is lots of things for the skier to do. Including a cross country skiing track and a plethora of shops, Chamonix offers a mix of skiing, alpine charm and sightseeing which barely any resorts can hope to rival.
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Posted by admin on October 2nd, 2008 — Posted in Regional Resources, Travel Hub
You will find C Doge in Piazzale Roma, in the heart of Venice where the roads end and the waterways begin. You may startout by car but you will continue by boat- here is where the Pullman arrives and the water-bus departs- this is where the calli and canals of Venice start…
C Doge accommodation in Venice has been beautifully restored and totally soundproofed, it manages to combine an intimate and friendly atmosphere with a high standard of furnishing and service . Every room offers FREE ADSL Internet connection and a safe for your laptop computer.
Ca’ Doge is perfectly positioned, situated in Piazzale Roma (the Venetian auto-terminal), with its own private CCTV-monitored car park, it’s the ideal solution for those who would like to combine the fascination and prestige of a room offers air-conditioning/heating, TV satellite, mini-bar, external telephone, hairdryer, free ADSL Internet connection, a safe for PC
Services include:
daily linen change
a rapid laundry service
complete range of courtesy toiletries
room service for breakfast on request
AUTOPARK DOGE is a car park run by the conscientious and professional staff of the Coop. Attiva Servizi and is monitored by a 24 hour CCTV video surveillance which is connected directly to the headquarters of the Vigile San Marco.
By foot
2 minutes from waterbuses, taxi boats, gondolas
10 minutes from Santa Lucia railway station
20 minutes from Rialto Bridge and St. Marco Square
By car
15 minutes from Marco Polo Airport
10 minutes from A4 MI-VE-TS motorway and A27 VE-BL motorway
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Posted by admin on September 20th, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hub
For those tourists that have never accomplished a walking safari in Africa might find it hard to imagine the astonishing wildlife you might see. The individuals who come to a safari are regular holiday makers like you and me, some are into photography, some are into animals but all of them are interested in a new phenomenal experience.
The super thing about a safari is the fact it is so different from a package holiday to France, there are very little children. Each business will supply an English speaking tourist guide to take you through the mind-blowing areas of Africa. The most popular African animals you may see are giraffes. These tremendous animals are not tame and of course don?t scare them. If you are interested in taking wildlife photographs of the wolves you should make sure you turn off the flash as you do not want to scare the wildlife. The magnificent animals in Southern Africa can often put a grin on your face.
If you would enjoy to discover more about incredible holidays in Africa you will often use the search engines like Yahoo to see a safari company that offers safaris from the UK, the prices might range from one hundred pounds to seven hundred pounds. See the beautiful wildlife on an African Safari and experience South Africa.
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Posted by admin on August 2nd, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hub
The lovely area of Africa called South Luangwa has been voted the leading place to safari in Africa. The park has been made famous in many years by the countries most influential animal experts. Holiday makers might well be able to notice huge groups of big cats as well as marvellous zebras.
The wildlife region is well regarded for its sensational night safaris and is popular with all British tourists. The changing weather makes the safari region irrestible with a dry season during winter and a green wonderful jungle feel over July and August. During the changes in season the wildlife animals can change giving people a different aspect.
Unearth the allure of Africa with a safari vacation and be at one with the beautiful wildlife. The breathtaking rivers and wildlife might well make you feel alive with energy. Couples will be able to take large volumes of photos and bring back the greatest memories.
Southern Africa comes with a myriad of animals in its regions and folk will easily find the perfect photograph of a giraffe. If you are not used to a walking holiday you will probably go on a driving safari and see large amounts of the country all within a short amount of time. When you have done your walking safari by day you should then go back to your hotel to shower. Numerous resorts are three star and superb.
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Posted by admin on May 4th, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hub
Our skiing had come to an end and I allocated the last full day in Banff to explore some more local attractions while my husband headed into Calgary to do some shopping. We got going at about 11:30 am and Nigel dropped me off at the foot of the Banff Gondola. This historic attraction has been around since 1959 and the gondola was just recently reconstructed and reopened in 1998 and features a state-of-the-art gondola system engineered by a Swiss gondola construction company.
On the parking lot of the gondola you can see a big bus with oversized wheels called the “Ice Explorer”. This is the type of vehicle used to carry tourists onto the famous Columbia Icefields located between Lake Louise and Jasper National Park.
The gondola takes you from 1583 m (5,194 feet) at the base station to 2,281 m (7,486 feet) to the upper terminal on Sulphur Mountain in just 8 minutes. On the way up I enjoyed the wonderful view of the townsite of Banff, looking down at the Banff Springs Hotel.
At the top of Sulphur Mountain is a complex of visitor services that includes a restaurant called the Regal View Garden. No doubt this is a rather appropriate name since the panorama from Sulphur Mountain is truly something to behold. The summit gondola station also features a roof-top observation deck that is equipped with a variety of arrows, indicating directions and distances to major world cities.
The one kilometer interpretive boardwalk takes you over to Sanson’s Peak which is the location of the 1903 Stone Observatory. Norman Sanson observed the weather from Sanson’s Peak for every week for 30 years and recorded his observations. Near the observatory is the foundation of a designated National Historic Site: the Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station that measured cosmic radiation during the 1950s and 1960s. Along this boardwalk there are a variety of informative panels informing you about local fauna and flora in this unique habitat.
The gondola brochure points out that you may actually encounter local wildlife such as Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, Golden Mantled Squirrels, Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles. Although I didn’t run into any major wildlife, I enjoyed the majestic view from the mountain and the peacefulness that surrounds it.
I had a little snack in the cafeteria and sat right next to the picture window and looked down onto the townsite of Banff. It wasn’t a perfectly clear day and Cascade Mountain’s top was covered in mist and cloud, but the view from Sulphur Mountain is one of the most astounding panoramas anywhere.
After my wonderful mountain break, I took the gondola down - although I was debating whether I should take a snowy forest pathway all the way down the mountain which I kept seeing from the gondola. From the base station I walked over to the Banff Upper Hot Springs. The Canadian Rockies limestone mountains have all sorts of fissures and hot springs feed geothermally heated water right up through one of the cracks to the Banff Upper Hot Springs.
The springs were discovered in 1894 and contain steaming water loaded with minerals. Even in the winter people sit in the open-air pool and enjoy the medicinal waters of the Upper Hot Springs. The fully restored bathhouse dates back to the 1930s and also provides day spa facilities offering massage therapy, a steam room, aromatherapy and other facilities. A restaurant and snack bar are also located in the Bathhouse.
For a minute I was tempted to try the Hot Springs myself, but I didn’t have a bathing suit with me. Although the retail shop in the Bathhouse sells bathing suits I decided that rather than relaxing in the hot water I’d get a bit more exercise and I started my walk towards town.
Instead of taking the main road back to town I took a forest path that connects the Banff Upper Hot Springs with the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. It was a beautiful peaceful walk through the trees and it would have been perfect if I hadn’t been wearing the world’s most slippery boots. I had to watch every step on the sloping forest terrain to make sure I didn’t wipe out, and I finally arrived at the bottom of the hill, relieved to be back on a paved parking lot right next to the Banff Springs Hotel.
I strolled by this famous Banff landmark into town and crossed the road to explore the grounds of Canada Place, the home of the Banff Park administration since 1936. During the summer Canada Place offers free admission to an exhibit that celebrates Canada’s land, culture and achievements.
During the winter the facility is closed, but the view from the surrounding Cascade Gardens towards Cascade Mountain is stunning on a clear day. I wasn’t so lucky, for our entire week in Banff we never got to see famous Cascade Mountain completely clear and free of clouds. But never mind, the glimpses that we did catch gave us a feeling for this amazingly photogenic natural feature that is always pictured on Banff postcards.
From Canada Place I crossed the bridge over the Bow River and I visited another important landmark: the Banff Park Museum. It is one of Canada’s oldest and grandest natural history museum, housed in a historic “railway pagoda”, built in 1903, the largest and most elaborate example of early park design, using decorative cross-log construction.
Specimens inside the museum include mountain goats, deer, cougars, bisons, bears, a large variety of birds and mammals and some of these specimens date back to the 1860s. Norman Sanson, the weatherman on Sanson’s Peak, was the curator of this museum for over 30 years, and personally collected thousands of specimens for this museum.
Museum
The museum also holds a library where you can browse through a variety of books and magazines. After I had informed myself about Western Canada’s wildlife I strolled down Banff’s main street, aptly named Banff Avenue, I strengthened myself with a quick late lunch in the food court at the Cascade Plaza Shops, one of Banff’s main shopping plazas. After lunch I headed back out on the street and a very chilly mountain wind had started blowing. This was my last walk through Banff on this vacation and I was mentally saying goodbye to this picturesque mountain town.
Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.
Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.
“Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons”.
The story with photos is published at Travel Stories and Photos (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/banff_sulphur_mountain.htm)
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