Excellent Vacation Ideas

Wow 6 Months to Go Until Our South Africa Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 18:26:00 +0000

Warren and I were talking about our South Africa trip as we do and were shocked to realize that we only have 6 months to go. When we booked our flights we had almost a year! Time goes by way too fast!

What does this mean? Well since we chose the busiest time of year (Christmas and their summer) things will book up quickly. That means that we better get moving on booking hotels and safaris and activities that we would want to do!

I bought Fodor's See it South Africa and the Eyewitness Travel Guide for South Africa, and have spent some time thumbing through them to get a sense of what we want to do while we are there.

We are flying into Johannesburg, and have friends that live there that have invited us to stay with them for Christmas (Thanx Antoinette and David!). We are really looking forward to a South Africa Christmas!

Other than that we know that we want to take a safari in Kruger National Park, See Capetown and the Penguins (we missed them when we were in Melbourne, Australia as the weather was too bad) and stay at a Fairmont Hotel (we have free nights and upgrades from their loyalty program). We were going to check out Sun City at one point, but the casino is small now as they have since allowed casinos in other parts of South Africa. So it isn't a casino destination anymore. We would rather spend our time on Safari or in Capetown than in Sun City.

So when planning a big trip like this, we start with working with what we know for sure that we want to do. Since we know that we will be staying in a Fairmont for at least 5 nights, the next step is to look into which one. There are 2 in South Africa, The Fairmont Zimbali Resort on the East Coast near Durban, or the Fairmont Zimbali Lodge on the Dolphin Coast.

We decided that we would spend this weekend looking at the Fairmonts, doing some research on TripAdvisor and starting to sketch out our itinerary. So next week look out for that!

If there is somewhere that you think we shouldn't miss in South Africa, or something you highly recommend; or on the other side, think we should completely avoid, please comment below, we would love to hear from you!

Our First Snag in Planning our Trip to South Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:30:00 +0000

Welcome to my weekly summary of how our trip planning is going for our upcoming family trip to South Africa in December of 2012. Please look for it every Tuesday morning. I started it last week as I realized that while I preach that people should "think outside of the box" when choosing a great family vacation, many people may not know what goes into planning one.

So we are going to share our experiences of planning this trip with you, and to be honest it will keep me on track for planning and booking our trip.

As I said last week, this is a graduation trip for Montana. She will be graduating from High School in June of 2013 (we can't believe it!) It will be our last big family trip for a while we guess, so we want it to be great.

We booked our flights in February as we used more than half of our airline loyalty points with Air Canada. Warren flies a lot for our regular bricks and motor business and has racked up quite a few. Usually when people from our side of North America (we are in Toronto, Canada) fly to South Africa, they fly East to Europe and then south to South Africa (to Johannesburg or Capetown).

Because we are flying over the Christmas holidays, and South Africa is a popular destination for Europeans, the only flights that would work out for us using our points was for us to fly south first to Sao Paulo Brazil and then east to Johannesburg. This will give us a 15 hour layover in Sao Paulo.

Here is the Snag:
After reading a post from a friend of mine that is going to Brazil next week, I realized that we will need visas if we leave the international transit area of the Sao Paulo airport! Our plan was to rent a hotel room, have a nap and a shower and then go back to the airport for our next flight that night. My initial research shows that a tourist visa will be about $100 each! That just increased our "hotel" bill by $300! We can't apply for our visas until 90 days before we plan on leaving, so we will have until then to decide if a shower and nap is just worth $300. Otherwise it will be a long day in the airport!

I guess one of my "things to do" will be to research the Sao Paulo airport and see what there is to do there if you have a long layover! Maybe there is a loyalty lounge!

Montana at the Air Canada Lounge in Toronto

So our lesson learned: Do you research on visas for stopover countries as well as the country you are visiting!

Look out for our next update next week - we are looking at our itinerary next...

What would you do? Please comment below and share with us what you would do if you have a 15 hour layover and it will cost $300 for visas, just to stay in a hotel?

Planning our Trip to South Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Wed, 30 May 2012 13:51:00 +0000

Our big family trip this year is to South Africa! We are taking 3 weeks over Christmas to visit this awesome country as a family and to celebrate the holidays and Montana's graduation from High School in June of 2013.

As this is a huge trip, we thought we would document our planning process and share the resources I find to help other families plan a large trip like this. Expect to see a blog post once a week at a minimum for the next few months. Not only will we share our excitement, videos we find and planning, this will also keep us on track to plan and book each part of our trip. We will also share our fears and worries about a trip like this.

So look for our updates every Tuesday morning. We would love it if you could share your ideas or resources with us too!

If you would like to follow us, then please please click on the subscribe to button near the top of the right column. We would love to share this adventure with you!

Here is a video that I found that got me excited about this trip!

Do you have any suggestions for us? Please comment below:

Cheap Flights?

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:58:00 +0000

This is a great video about flying Low Cost airlines! Its all in good fun! My good friend Cath Andrews from Explore Italian Culture sent it to me! Thanx Cath!

If you fly low cost airlines, (especially Ryanair in the UK) then you will really relate to this video.
If you are not from the UK, these ladies are hilarious from Fascinating Aida.

I would love to see them live! They remind me of my friend Rick Green's comedy troop from Canada - The Frantics!

Enjoy!

A New Efficient Way to Board an Aircraft?

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:06:00 +0000

Could it be true? Is there a way to board an aircraft without the usual bumping, grinding and fighting for space in the overhead bins and the aisles?

According the the new TV show "This vs That" there is. It is called the "Steffen Method" and makes sense to me! Steffen is a scientist who was tired of the chore of boarding an airplane created a computer model that looks like it would work. "This vs That" tried it out!

Essentially it follows a diagram of boarding as follows:

Start with families and people with special needs boarding first
Fill every other row, starting from the back, with window passengers entering first, then middle seaters, then the aisle seaters.

Check out this video to see how the test went!

As you can see it was quite successful! It took half the time the normal boarding takes! Now how can we get the airlines to adopt this method....and to be honest the passengers too. I don't think that people travelling together will want to board separately, but hey stranger things have happened!

The Flight Experience in Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:01:00 +0000

On our recent trip to Singapore, Warren wanted to try the Number one rated experience on Tripadvisor for Singapore - the Flight Experience Singapore. So we booked it before we arrived in Singapore to make sure that we could do it.

Essentially this experience is a training simulator for a Boeing 737. Warren LOVED to fly, so this was a no brainer for us. It is expensive, but worth it. Warren actually did the "flying" and I observed from the jump seat.

The Flight Experience is located at the Singapore Flyer complex. We arrived a few minutes early to settle in.
We chose the 45 minute experience which gave Warren 2 take off and landings. He chose to take off and land from Toronto (our hometown) and from Las Vegas (go figure!).

The co pilot takes you through everything you need to know. I have to say that this was such a blast even from the jump seat. You really feel like you are in the cockpit of a real plane and Warren felt like he was flying a real plane!

As you can see in this video, we got to give the copilot a tour of Toronto, well the downtown core anyway.

We totally recommend this experience. We purchased the video that went along with it as a memento, it wasn't too expensive either. It includes the audio of what Warren and the Copilot said to each other.

Here is the website for the Flight Experience Singapore and see the reviews on TripAdvisor

Hong Kong, Victoria Harbour and the Star Ferries

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:47:00 +0000

On a recent trip to Hong Kong, Warren and I decided to play tourist (ok fine we actually are tourists) and took the Star Ferry to Honk Kong Island from Kowloon and then boarded the Hop on Hop Off bus. On our last visit to Hong Kong we didn't see the sun once, this time however we didn't see many clouds or a drop of rain!

I took this photo as we were walking to the Star Ferry. You can see the Star Ferries and Hon Kong Island. The tall building is IFC - which used to be the tallest building in Hong Kong, until the ICC in Kowloon opened this year.

Click here for more information and travel facts about Hong Kong

Thai Airlines new A380-800

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:46:00 +0000

Thai Airlines is the next airline to purchase the new Airbus 380 aircraft. This video shows beautiful this aircraft will be.

Royal First Class and Royal Silk Class will be located on the top level.

Royal First Class ares of the plane will include lie flat seats with 23 inch screens, a larger bathroom with a dressing area, a multi purposes area and a First Class Bar area. The in flight connectivity will include: mobile phones, SMS messaging and WiFi/Internet.

The Royal Silk Class Cabin (aka business class) will include smaller seats than first class, noise cancelling headphones, lie flat seating, a 15 inch screen and the same in flight connectivity. It will also have a bar area, and larger bathroom.

Economy Class Cabin will have 4 zones and 435 seats and take up the bottom level. It will have larger washrooms and a newly design Recaro economy class seat with 18 inch with 32 inch pitch.

Check it out for yourself here:

Applying for a Chinese Visa as a Canadian

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:03:00 +0000

Warren and I decided that we are going to take a day trip from Hong Kong to Shenzhen China during our next visit to Asia...Warren wants to check out the electronics and I love an adventure so we thought "hey why not".. Especially since our friend Eric lives in Hong Kong and said he would show us around.

Eventually we want to tour China properly, but right now our schedules just won't allow for it.

Ok so what do we need to do to go to China for a day? First we need a plan, check that (Thanx Eric!) then we news to make sure we has the right paperwork. Since the China Olympics, you can no longer apply for a visa at the border from Hong Kong (especially if you are American). And a visa can take as long as a week if you apply in Hong Kong.

So where did that leave us? Applying at the Chinese Consulate at home in Toronto. Ok not a big deal I guess... The consulate is open from 9:00 am to 11:30 am and 1:30 to 3:00 pm from Monday to Friday... We needed to have a valid passport, a filled out application form and passport photos. Check, check, check.

So off to the city I went. I got there before 9 am and there was a line up that seemed to go on forever. I found a parking place and off I went... The line took about an hour.

As entrepreneurial as the Chinese are, they even had a photo service if you came without your photos.

The process is pretty straight forward. I dropped it off and then had to pick it up in 5 days. Okie dokie.

Well today is the day I am supposed to pick it up. It's hot and the line seems longer!

It is interesting looking around though. There are lots of different people. Chinese nationals renewing their passports. Retired people getting ready for the trip they have been looking forward to for years. Chinese Canadians planning a trip home to see family. Some business men. Company representatives of companies who will do the whole process for you for a fee. Students.

So that brings me to where I am right now. Waiting to pick up our passports. Been here almost an hour... It's REALLY hot and I think my parking is about to run out!

I made it out in an hour again, with one minute to spare on the parking. We are now the proud owners of a Chinese Single Entry Visa, valid until September. Overall it wasn't a big deal, just a lot of lines and waiting. I hope that visiting Shenzhen is worth it! We will report back!

Tip: when picking up bring a money order. The line is much smaller... That's where the businessmen were!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Chinese consulate toronto

Some great Aprils Fools Jokes in the Travel World today!

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:16:00 +0000

Today I have been having a great laugh watching all the April Fools jokes the Travel folks have been pulling.
Here are a few of my favs

Westjet:

Deb and Dave's was good too - Flight to Space for them! Giant News

Then there is Gadlings Ugly Truth - The Ugly Truth

Some Non Travel gags:

Google translation for Animals:

Translation for Animals

and their new Google Motion feature:

Google Motion

Mileage Run for Frequent Flyer Points

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:57:00 +0000

@Globetrooper posted this on their facebook page this morning and I couldn't stop laughing. It sounds like a conversation in our house. Warren LOVES status miles. He does what he can to get them. He hit SuperElite status with Air Canada and the Star Alliance network last year and again for this year. Some people think he is crazy, but it really does make travel easier and more fun. I can't remember the last time we sat in coach as he has a ton of upgrade coupons etc with his status (and mine as I have Elite status).

Are you obsessed with frequent flyer miles and status points? Share with us in the comments!

Photo of the Week - Monks at the Wat Pho Temple in Bangkok

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:00:00 +0000

While in Bangkok, we toured the Grand Palace with a private guide. It was an amazing experience for us, as she is a Buddhist and really wanted to share her beliefs with us. We made offerings and enjoyed the temples, the Reclining Buddha and watching the school kids enjoy their day trip to their Grand Palace.

We enjoyed taking photos, and admiring the beauty of the palace and the temples. There are over one thousand Buddha images, including the famous Reclining Buddha.

While resting and enjoying the temple, we were privileged to experience the Monks come into the temple and start their meditations. It was peaceful and a highlight of our trip to Bangkok.

Photo of the Week - Las Vegas on New Years Eve.

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:00:00 +0000

OK, so this week's photo of the week isn't anything beautiful or spectacular, unless of course you love crowds and New Years Eve! This past holiday season, we chose to rent a house in San Diego, spend a few days in LA (Montana had never been to LA) and spend New Year's in Las Vegas.

Find the best deal, compare prices, and read what other travelers have to say about Las Vegas at TripAdvisor

We had ALWAYS sworn we wouldn't go to Las Vegas for New Years, but this year we thought "Why Not?" We had a blast!

We started with dinner at Craftsteak at the MGM (that is where we were staying), which was amazing and way better than any other time we had eaten there. We then took our hats, blowers and champagne out to the strip.

The Las Vegas strip closes on New Years Eve to traffic from 5 pm until 5 am. (This makes traffic a nightmare) There were DJ's blasting great music and music videos and people everywhere. We were told there were over 325,000 people on the strip! It didn't feel overly crowded though.

Just before midnight a girl in the crowd let her champagne cork loose, and the bottle was pointed at my butt :-). Before I knew it I was covered in Champagne, oh well, when you are with 325,000 people celebrating the new year, then you can't expect not to get a little wet!

For the countdown to midnight, the large screens on the hotels starting counting down, midnight came and there was an uproar from the crowd. $500,000 of fireworks were launched off the roofs of the major hotels and everyone was excited and happy!

We are really glad we did this for New Years Eve. I don't think we need to do it again though. We like Las Vegas when it is nice and quiet.

How did you spend your New Year's Eve? Comment Below:

Ever Have One of those Travel Days?

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 17:59:00 +0000

I wouldn't say that it was a horrible travel day, just long. Yesterday we started out by leaving the house at 7 am. to catch a 9:20 am flight. Thankfully it was Saturday and the traffic was light. The airport was pretty busy but not like we thought it would be on the start of the Christmas vacation week.

We were catching a flight to LA, then renting a car to drive to San Diego. We rented a house there to bake out and spend time together as a family. We have been to Florida so many times over the holidays, that we wanted a change of pace.

Here is the tough part. Warren woke up with a bad cold. As the day went on it progressed to a fever. The flight was ok, however, it seemed really long. Probably because it was an extra 45 min or so due to weather (they had to circle over LA as the rain was pretty bad). We also hit alot of turbulents when we hit Colorado and the mountains. The seatbelt sign was on for at least a hour (and of course I had to pee). I was surprised at Montana as she slept right through it!

We landed in LA in the rain, and had to rent our car and drive to San Diego. It rained for about 1/2 of the 2 1/2 hour drive, with a stop at Inn and Out Burger (yum!).

Warren was a trooper. He carried on and tried not to complain too much until we arrived at the house. I reminded him that if he made it through the Pyramids in Egypt with a cold, and a stomach issue in Thailand driving to San Diego would be a cinch! It is hard watching him feel horrible when we are finally on our much needed family vacation. All we could do was make it easier for him. So Montana and I went out to get some groceries and let him sleep for awhile. That is the advantage of renting a house for family vacations. You don't have to worry about hotel rooms, and eating out. It gives you a chance to just relax. Unless of course you are stuck with all the cooking and cleaning up! hmmmmm...

So we hope Warren feels better soon. He needs this rest more than anyone as he works so hard during the year.

Have you been ill while on a family vacation? Have any members of your family? What are your stories of travelling while ill and how do you deal with the stress of that?

Photo of the Week - The Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica California

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:00:00 +0000

The Third Street Promenade is a great place to spend an afternoon while in Santa Monica, California.

You can wander through the shops, have lunch with a friend, have a coffee, watch the people go by, or enjoy the street performers. There are many volunteer ambassadors for the Third Street Promenade, who are volunteers and are there to help you find what you're looking for.

We really enjoyed our afternoon at third street promenade and had an amazing lunch at La Sandia which is on the third level of Santa Monica Pl.

So the next time you're in Santa Monica don't forget to spend an afternoon at the Third Street Promenade.

Find the best deal, compare prices, and read what other travelers have to say about hotels and things to do in Santa Monica

Photo of the Week - Santa Monica Pier and the Arlington West Memorial

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Last weekend Warren and I went to Los Angeles to see the LA Lakers play at the Staples Center. Few know it but I am a big Lakers fan! I also love to watch the celebrities at the game (hey what can I say). We stayed at the beautiful Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows in Santa Monica and stayed just a couple of nights.

This photo is from the Santa Monica Pier on a sunny Sunday morning in November.

It is the Arlington West Memorial, Santa Monica and is a project of Veterans for Peace. Each Sunday from sunrise to sunset, this organization displays the memorial known as "the Arlington West Memorial". It really is a site to see and this photo doesn't do it justice.

The crosses represent each fallen soldier and the red ones actually represent 10 military personnel. The draped coffins represent the fallen soldiers in the last week.

We didn't realize that it was temporary and only displayed on Sundays. We must have visited the Santa Monica Pier on a Sunday last year as we thought this was a permanent display. We were sad to see how many more crosses there were from last year.

Have you seen this memorial? We would love to hear your experiences in the comments below.

Find the best deal, compare prices, and read what other travelers have to say about hotels and things to do in Santa Monica

Photo of the Week - Sea Lions at the Pier 39

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 15:00:00 +0000

The Sea Lions at Pier 39 were a highlight of our trip to San Francisco in August. At first I was unsure where they were. I knew they were down by Fisherman's Wharf, but where was still a mystery to me. After a quick look on our IPhone we knew they were at Pier 39. We were going to try to avoid Pier 39 as we aren't fans of the touristy places. Some we are good with but Pier 39 looked over the top to us.

It was really busy and cold (August can be really cold in San Francisco, around 60 F). We had just finished an awesome segway tour with City Segway Tours.

We were going to skip it but I insisted (I have a way of doing that). I really wanted to see the famous sea lions. So we braved the cold wind and walked to the pier. Pier 39 is a typical tourist attraction, packed with people, shops and restaurants like Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and the Hard Rock Cafe.

Once there we figured out we had to go to K Dock. We started out upstairs by the restaurant. There weren't many people there, but it was really cold with the wind.

So I went downstairs where most of the people were. There was a great guide there that was telling people about the Sea Lions and their hypothesis on why the Sea Lions liked to hang out here. They have only been doing this for about 20 years. They think that the big earthquake may have changed where they used to beach, and San Francisco Bay is free of predators for them, but had a great food source.

No one really knows why they started coming to Pier 39, but I can tell you the tourists are ecstatic, as I am sure the businesses on Pier 39!

When you are next in San Francisco, make sure you check them out. They are a lot of fun to watch!

Find the best deal, compare prices, and read what other travelers have to say about hotels in San Francisco

Photo of the Week - San Francisco Fairmont Lobby

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:00:00 +0000

This past summer, Warren and I were looking for a place to visit that was cooler than everywhere else. We chose to spend a few days in San Fransisco as part of our 2 week adventure to Las Vegas and the Central Coast of California. We got our wish as it was quite cool but we didn't care as we loved the city!

Since Warren travels to Calgary a lot on business and stays at the Fairmont, he is a presidents club member so it only made sense that we stayed at one of the two Fairmont's in the city. The Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghirardelli Square was sold out, so we chose the Fairmont San Fransisco. We were very happy with this choice.

The Lobby of the San Francisco Fairmont

Located in Nob Hill (at the top of a Hill) it was central to most everything we wanted to see. The Cable cars (which we loved to ride on) stopped just outside of the hotel and made it easy to get around (although they can get quite busy). There were many restaurants within walking distance and the lobby (as you can see in the photo) is beautiful. The staff were accommodating and friendly, and we were upgraded to an amazing main building suite .

The best part for me was when I discovered that this was the very first Fairmont. The history on this property is quite incredible and dates back to the beginnings of San Francisco. Tony Bennett first sang "I left my heart in San Fransisco" in the Venetian room.

Find the best deal, compare prices, and read what other travelers have to say about the Fairmont San Fransisco at TripAdvisor

Photo of the Week - Observatories on the Big Island Hawaii

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:00:00 +0000

One of our absolute favorite trips was our tour up to the top of Mauna Kea on the Big Island in Hawaii. We were staying for a few days at the Mauna Kea Resort area and knew that we wanted to do the trip up to see the Observatories. We did a tour with Hawaii Forest and Trail Tours, primarily because they were voted in the top five on Things to do on Kona on TripAdvisor.

It was hard to believe the weather changes. We started in the afternoon, swimming in the pool at 90 F, and by the end of the day we had climbed up to below 30 F. Thankfully they included parkas and gloves!

It was a spectacular tour and we will do it again! This photo is of the observatories at sunset. We stayed at the top (about 14000 feet) until the sunset then went down to a lower level (to the information center) and pulled out the telescope to see the stars.

The Observatories at the Top of Mauna Kea at Sunset

Photo of the Week - Port Douglas, Queensland

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Recently I was going through photos of our trip to Australia. I am in the middle of transitioning the website's look and feel (we would love to know what you think) and was working on some pages in Australia. I came across this photo. We had just arrived in Port Douglas, Queensland, after flying in to Carins from Melbourne and driving for the first time on the other side of the road for 2 hours.

We visited Australia in August of 2008, and it had been quite cold and windy in Melbourne and Sydney. We were happy to have found some warm weather so Montana and I went to check out the town. We found this park down the way from where we were staying. People were hanging around enjoying the sunset...so we joined in.

Have you been to Port Douglas in Queensland?

Please comment below on your experience in Port Douglas, or on our website's new look and feel...We would love your feedback!

Photo of the Week - Chicago Hot Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:38:00 +0000

While in Chicago recently on a conference, I took and extra day to tour the city. A fellow conference attendee and I decided to go on a segway tour (as you probably know Warren and I are fans of the segway!). Part way through the tour we got to have a break and try a Chicago hot dog.

I didn't know that there was such a thing but hey...when in Chicago try their hot dogs! The stand we went to was down near the John G. Shedd Aquarium. I was told that the only way to have a hot dog is "Chicago Style": Beef Hot dog topped with mustard, onion, relish, tomato, hot pepper, celery salt and a pickle. Kethcup was only on request and expect to get kidded about it.

Unfortunately I don't like most of the toppings so I opted for just mustard (I didn't dare ask for Ketchup!) Cath, my segway buddy) went for the whole thing:

She enjoyed it! So hey, you never know!

If you are going to Chicago check out the Chicago CityPass for a great price on passes into the citys biggest attractions.

What is the coolest "local specialty" that you have ever tried while on vacation? We would love to hear in the comments below:

Photo of the Week - Chinese Garden in Darling Harbour, Sydney Australia

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 14:00:00 +0000

We were amazed at the beauty of the Chinese Garden in Darling Harbor, Sydney Australia. While touring around on a hop on hop off bus in Sydney, the tour guide (a recording) said that the next stop includes Darling Harbour and the Chinese Gardens. Warren piped up and said he wanted to check them out. We are so glad we did!

The Chinese Gardens were created by the Chinese community in Sydney to celebrate Australia's 1988 Bicententary. We had a lot of fun in the gardens. Not only did we enjoy the incredible foliage, they also had a place where we could rent Emperor and princess costumes to take photos in all around the gardens. We had so much fun with this!
Check out our pages on Australia for planning your Australia Vacation.

Find and book Sydney tours and activities on Viator.com. Book ahead to save time and money!

Thinking of Christmas in Rome? Here are the Top Ten Things to do in Rome at Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:52:00 +0000

Just before Christmas we spent a day in Rome while on a cruise. It rained the whole day but the city was busy with people Christmas shopping and enjoying the holidays. We really enjoyed it! We picked up a couple of Christmas tree ornaments that we look forward to displaying this year.

A friend of mine, Cath Andrews, just recently posted this article on things to do in Rome at Christmas time. She writes a great website about Italian Culture, http://www.explore-italian-culture.com.

Our awesome lunch in the Piazza Navona at Christmas

Here is her article,

Christmas in Rome

By Cath Andrews

If you're spending Christmas in Rome for the first time and wondering about things to do, here's our top ten activities which combine the magic of Rome with real Christmas traditions in Italy.

Top priority - Christmas in Rome just wouldn't be complete without the amazing experience of the Christmas market in the Piazza Navona. There are stalls selling all shapes and sizes of 'presepi' - the nativity figures you'll see everywhere in Italy at Christmas, stalls selling Christmas ornaments, models of the Italian 'befana'' who brings the children's gifts on January 6th, stalls selling nothing to do with Christmas at all, and some old-fashioned 'knock the cans off the shelf' type stalls. Not to mention a carousel, street performers and balloon sellers. Wonderful!

(Where: Piazza Navona, from 6 December until 6 January each year).
Admire the beautiful - and huge - Christmas trees tastefully decorated which are at all the main sites. Against the beautiful blue of a Roman sky in December they are majestic and in the dark of the evening sky they're magical.

(Various places - the best are St Peter's Square, the Colosseum and the Piazza Venezia).
Watch 'presepi' being built: nativity scenes are one of the major Christmas traditions in Italy, but Rome's are works of art and aren't finished before Christmas week. However, if you have to leave the city before that, one of the most interesting activities in Rome is to watch the huge nativity scene inside St Peter's basilica being built. The outside nativity, which is the biggest in Rome, is screened off until it's completed. It's wonderful to watch the craftsmen at work building not just a stable scene but a complete village.

(Where: St Peter's Basilica).
See finished presepi: the life-sized nativity scenes in every church and in key public places in Rome are a key part of Christmas traditions in Italy. Don't be surprised not to see the baby in the manger - he's always placed there at midnight mass on Christmas Eve.

(Where: St Peter's Square, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, and any church).
Talking of which, midnight mass at any Italian church is worth attending but in St Peter's Basilica is a particularly special event as it's celebrated by the Pope. Inside the Basilica it's strictly tickets only, but there are big screens on St Peter's Square where thousands of people gather.

(Where: St Peter's Square, from 11p.m., Christmas Eve each year).
See the presepi exhibition: this houses nativity scenes from all over the world as well as from the different regions of Italy. It's interesting to see how different cultures make the figures in their own image - and interesting to see the materials used which include pasta and rice as well as the more usual plaster and wood.

(Where: Sala del Bramante, Piazza del Popolo, from early December to 6 January each year. Admission charge - EUR5.50 in 2009 - 2010).
Escape turkey - eat Italian! Turkey is not part of Christmas traditions in Italy. Family meals on Christmas Eve are always fish-based and on Christmas Day will be lots of different types of meat - lamb, chicken, beef - but no turkey!
Pope's blessing: the Pope gives his traditional blessing from the balcony overlooking St Peter's Square at mid-day. It's one of the highlights of Christmas in Rome and televised all over the world.

(Where: St Peter's Square, mid-day, Christmas Day).
Wander round the city: you'll find shops and most bars and restaurants are closed on Christmas Day, but you can still find lots of things to do in Rome. It's a wonderful time to wander round the city in peace and see some of the usually crowded sites with very few people to bother you.

(Where: try the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, the Colosseum, St Peter's Basilica, and walk off all that food in the beautiful Borghese Park).
And finally, when Christmas in Rome is all over, hang around till New Year's Eve and spend it in the Piazza del Popolo. It's the place to be to celebrate New Year in Rome, the equivalent of London's Trafalgar Square, or Times Square in New York. There's plenty of singing, dancing and fireworks at midnight.

(Where: Piazza del Popolo, New Year's Eve from any time after dark!).

Cath Andrews lives in Italy, was married in Rome and visits the city regularly. A dedicated Italophile, she is currently writing a website about Italian culture. For more detailed information about Italy in general and Christmas in Rome in particular, have a look at Cath's website at:

http://www.explore-italian-culture.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cath_Andrews

Photo of the Week - Monte Carlo Harbor

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:00:00 +0000

Nothing says opulence like Monte Carlo, Monaco, especially it's Harbor. The yachts are absolutely incredibel and defines wealth.

On our trip to Nice, France, we splurged and took a helicopter to Monte Carlo for the evening. (It wasn't much more than a taxi really). This was a view of the harbor and a few of the yachts. These yachts make the speed boats behind them look tiny.

Find the best deal, compare prices, and read what other travelers have to say at TripAdvisor

Photo of the Week - The Plaza in Central Park

noreply@blogger.com (Melanie Fine) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:00:00 +0000

This week's photo is of the Plaza hotel peaking through the trees in Central Park. New York City is an amazing city. We love to go for the weekend, both as a couple and with Montana. Montana absolutely loves New York for the excitement and shopping of it all.

Warren and I have a soft spot for New York City as our very first trip away together over 13 years ago was to Manhattan. We stayed at the Plaza solely due to the movie Home Alone 2 (if you can remember that one!). We have done that a lot in our travels. We choose a hotel or destination because of a movie we liked. Hey inspiration can come from anywhere!

Through a series of mess ups (on the hotels part) we were upgraded to the actual "Home Alone Suite" It was HUGE and overlooked 5th Avenue. It was a perfect first trip away together.

Since then, the Plaza was bought, renovated and reopened in 2008. The Plaza now offers 282 hotel rooms and 152 private condo hotel units. It is operated by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.

One day we would like to stay in the Plaza again, but with the prices around $1000 a night, we will have to find a more "value for our money" type of rate.

The World Famous Plaza peaking Through the Trees in Central Park

Have you stayed in the Plaza in New York City? Comment below on your experience

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