Tag: top-feature

Fatima

Post author By sean
Post date March 27, 2008

Fatima is a place of pilgrimage for many Catholics in commemoration of the appearance of Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Fatima) to three young shepherds in Cova da Iria.

Location

The town of Fatima is located in the municipality of Ourém, at 187 km / 116miles south of Porto and 123 km / 76miles north of Lisbon.

Our Lady of Fatima

In 1917, three young shepherds –Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco- claimed to have seen the Virgin of the Rosary (Our Lady of Fatima), on the spot where now the Basilica stands. The Virgin of the Rosary appeared on the 13th day of six consecutive months, starting on 13 May.

Tags top-feature, travel guide

Port – flagship wine of Portugal

Post author By sean
Post date March 27, 2008

Port wine (Vinho do Porto) is a sweet, fortified Portuguese wine from the Douro Valley. Often it’s served as a dessert wine, along with cheese. Port wine is protected by the European Union guidelines, hence only the wine originating in Douro Valley may be called “Porto”, although similar wines are produced in several countries.

Douro Valley

The region located in Northern Portugal has a perfect microclimate for growing grapes, olives and almonds. This region is also known for its picturesque farms, “hanging” on the almost vertical slopes dropping down into the river.

Tags Featured Articles, Port, top-feature, vineyard, vintage, wine

Turkish Delight (Lokum)

Pretty much anything that’s satisfying is either sinful or makes you fat. I don’t know about sinful, but Turkish Delight surely can make you fat. Reason enough to walk around and visit the sites when in Turkey, right?

What is Turkish Delight?

Turks call it Lokum, the rest of us call it Turkish Delight. It’s made of gelatin, water, cornstarch and sugar. The most common flavors are rosewater and lemon, which give it the pink and yellow colors. Turkish Delight can also be flavored with mint. Small nuts might also be added to the Lokum (generally walnuts, pistachio or hazelnuts). You’ll find it cut into small cubs and dusted with sugar and cornstartch.

Tags Featured Articles, top-feature

Turkish coffee

For any coffee lover, the Turkish coffee is probably one of the most interesting experiences in life. The aroma, the foam, the ritual…blended together they add something magical to the Turkish coffee.

What’s so special about Turkish coffee?

This magnificent coffee is made from Arabica blend, really finely grinded. To add a bit of spice to it, while the coffee is being ground, cardamom is added to the coffee beans.

There are six levels of sweetness, ranging from black to very sweet. Sade is the plain Turkish coffee, with no sugar but it’s fairly bitter. If you choose to drink a sweet Turkish coffee, sugar is added to the coffee while it’s prepared. As the coffee is being prepared in an ibrik -narrow-topped small boiling pot-, it begins to foam.

Turkish coffee is served hot in a fincan. After the guest drinks it, the custom is to turn the cup upside down, allow it to cool and then the hostess will tell the guest’s fortune reading from the remaining grounds in the cup.

Tags Featured Articles, top-feature

Croatia

Croatia’s Hot Springs

When the Romans traveled around their Empire, infantry and officers alike would get road weary and battle worn. As a way of combating fatigue and the dreary months enforcing the borders of their territory, Roman soldiers would stop for baths at the natural hot springs that dot the countryside of Croatia.

Today, these hot springs have become health spas and resorts catering to a slightly different clientele than armored Roman soldiers coming off of the front lines. Now, travelers drop into the warm water pools as a respite from the stresses of traveling and as a way to improve their health.

Istarske Toplice

The most famous and popular Croatian hot-springs resort, Istarske Toplice provides travelers a place to stay while spending their days in Sveti Stjepan, the mineral spring that most travelers bathe in. The spring is touted for its therapeutic properties and half of the resort is given over to water and mud therapy, the other half devoted to beauty treatments. Istarske Toplice is one of the purest springs in Croatia as well, an examination of the water recently revealed that the water has the same level of purity as an examination completed in 1858.

Krapina

The hotel at Krapina-hotel Aquae Vivae, combines premium hospitality with available rejuvenatin hot springs baths. The entire hotel is not given over to a resort with spa treatments and instead you are left alone to appreciate the rest of the natural valley surrounding you.

Daruvar

The town of Daruvar was known as Aquae Balissae when the Romans were setting up their tents in the surrounding fields and while the name has changed, the reason for the town’s being has not. Daruvar still has some of the most inviting hot springs in the area and in addition to the hot springs, offers sites other than the spas to see. Several ancient monuments still stand and their is a rich and historic tradition of grape growing and wine cultivation stretching back over 2,000 years.

Daruvar is also something of a unique city in that it is near the Czech border and the cultures have combined over the centuries in a way that is not found in much of the rest of Croatia. Daruvar is a destination worthy of even the most discerning independent traveler.

Tags Articles, Resources, top-feature

Articles Croatia

Trakoscan Castle

The Trakoscan Castle, an easy day-trip from Zagreb, hearkens back to a simpler time, when people lived in castles instead of just admiring them on vacation and the dungeon wasn’t just for tourists. Trakoscan was an occupied dwelling until the middle of last century and only recently opened to become part of the set of attractions that Zagreb has to offer.

Trakoscan Castle was built in the middle of the 13th century as part of a network of fortifications throughout Croatia. The origin of the name of the castle remains disputed, but it is agreed that it is a Romanesque fortification.

The Draskovic family came into possession of the castle in return for services rendered to King Maximilian in the 16th century. For a few generations the family lived there, then abandoned the estate for a more exciting existence abroad. It wasn’t until the second half of the 18th century, when manor houses and estates became popular in the countryside, that a group of Draskovic’s returned to the castle and restored the interior and gardens to a point that surpassed the former level.

The castle was inhabited until the 1940’s when the remaining Draskovic family members emigrated from Croatia to Austria. The castle is now state owned and the facility is on display for the world to see and tour.

Trakoscan has four main levels, including the dungeon, and each one is a large area to tour and see. The castle has the feel of something that has stopped in time and living there must have required an intense respect for days gone by in order to not upgrade the facilities to include heating systems and other modern amenities. Almost immediately after the Draskovic’s left the Balkans, the government turned the castle into a museum.

The two most notable rooms in the castle are the Knights and the Hunting rooms, which are on display year round, although only from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the summer. The rest of the year, the museum is open and the castle is available for tours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Tags Articles, attractions, top-feature, tours

Croatia

Dubrovnik’s “Bourbon Street”

Post author By sean
Post date February 18, 2008
No Comments on Dubrovnik’s “Bourbon Street”

You might expect a destination that has blossomed into one of the world’s top tourism destinations so quickly to have a widespread competition for tourist dollars taking place throughout the city. Nightclubs should be popping up all over the place and the nightlife should diffuse and spread around to many neighborhoods.

That is not the case in Dubrovnik. Like it’s New Orleans cousin, Dubrovnik’s “Bourbon Street” has packed most of the city’s bars and clubs into that section of town and the nightlife runs wild late into hot, summer nights. Hotels and hostels advertise how close they are to Bourbon Street on fliers and other advertisements and the marketing does bring in guests looking for pub crawls and dance clubs to wander between all night.

Bourbon Street is unmarked and if you don’t know where to go, finding it can be an intimidating task, especially in a foreign country. The real name of the street is Bana Jelacica but, no one knows that, and if you follow the tide of youngish looking people at night in the summer you’ll probably find it. If you ask someone, they’ll most certainly know what and where it is.

Bars along Bourbon Street allow casual attire and few have a prohibitive dress code of any kind. There are places that you’ll feel out of place in flip flops, but generally you’ll not get thrown out or denied entrance. Cover charges average about 20 kuna, but many come with a free drink once you’re inside and drink specials are designed to keep you well lubed and enjoying yourself.

Tags Articles, bars, dubrovnik, nightlife, top-feature

Los Angeles

Newport Beach

Newport Beach is a city at the heart of Orange County with much more personality than the narrow focus of reality shows or teen soap operas have given it in the eyes of the rest of the world.

The main attraction in Newport Beach, as the name suggests, is the beach. The picturesque coast brings tourists in from around the city and the beach is one of the most popular with body boarders and surfers as well. The famous Wedge, a challenging set of waves that break right off the Balboa peninsula, attract surfers and athletes to play in the curling waves.

Tags Articles, beach, celebrities, entertainment, Orange County, sports, Surfing, top-feature

Articles Los Angeles

Cheap Laughs at the Downtown Comedy Club

Post author By sean
Post date December 17, 2007
1 Comment on Cheap Laughs at the Downtown Comedy Club

The Downtown Comedy Club is Los Angeles’ newest stand-up venue, a start up trying to get laughs from scratch in an area that is on its way back to life. Although it can’t match the big name talent of other comedy clubs in Los Angeles, the club offers a night of stand-up comedy for significantly less than the $40 the other places demand.

Tags Articles, attractions, celebrities, comedy, drinks, entertainment, food, nightlife, top-feature