Travel and ideas for specific destinations such as cities, countries, parks, or areas of interest
Ready to learn the Coconut Walk? “Aunty,” who actually is well known Hawaiian entertainer Sonya Mendez, leads the children as they clap Coconut shell instruments together around the outdoor restaurant. In between songs, Goofy, Minnie and other Disney Pals—all decked out in Hawaiian gear—stop by for photos and hugs
What I like most is that this big resort—when it is fully open it will include 359 rooms and 481 two-bedroom condo units—is that it will up the ante for family resorts in Hawaii and elsewhere, improving the family experience in the process.
Welcome to an excellent exhibit at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway, where an amazing interactive exhibit for children about refugees– Nansen and I– has recently opened. At the same time, the Center is showcasing Transit, a terrific photo exhibit about Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen and refugees of today…. (more)
The hotel was first built in 1620 for the Fonseca family and it has been a hotel since the end of the 18th Century when many wealthy Americans embarking on the Grand Tour stayed here. In 1891, a winter garden was built in the hotel’s inner courtyard and today, it has a crystal ceiling reflecting sunlight along with a statue of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and war.
We’ve opted to tour Ancient Rome –the center of the Empire for some 500 years–with a guide both to maximize our time and to avoid the lines where we’d have to wait at least 45 minutes to get in. We start at the Pantheon with its giant hole in the middle (and drains in the floor for rain)..
Aldo Valerio greets us with kisses, like friends he hasn’t seen in a long while. In reality, we’ve never met except through email. Valerio runs a tour company called ww.secretitalia.com and also works with a Canadian based company ww.toursbylocals.com that puts together guides with travelers—especially those who are cruising and don’t want to be limited to ship excursions.
Right up until the 1960s, wealthy families had their own gondolas. The flamboyant Peggy Guggenheim used to tool around town on hers. She, of course, is revered here for her spectacular art collection housed in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, where she lived overlooking the Grand Canal and which now houses one of Europe’s premier museums dedicated to modern art….
The facility serves as the best marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation center in the Bahamas—the sea lions here were also rescued. Corbett shows us the lab which she proudly says is one of the most medically advanced in the Bahamas — for creatures or people, she jokes — complete with ultra sounds equipment, digital x-rays, anesthesia machines and more. Experts here have the ability via the internet to consult with experts around the world.
Everyone says Dubrovnik is the “jewel of the Adriatic” and it’s easy to see why–it’s Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site with its cathedral, monastery–including the oldest drug store in Europe, operating continuously since 1317 and the second oldest synagogue in Europe dating back to 1652. Today, there are few Jews left in the Old Town and no Rabbi, we learn.
I thought a friend who is a local guide was going to meet us—miscommunication that often happens when you are traveling. Instead, we joined a local walking tour learning that this tiny town—just 3,500 people live here—“You can walk around naked and no one will even notice or see you because everyone is home,” promises our guide Katija Tedeschi.
Travelocity and TakingtheKids collaborated on a new poll asking families just that — where they’d take their kids on their “dream trip,” if money was no object. According to the results from the 1,500 people polled, it’s clear that no matter how bad the economy, when it comes to our vacation wish list, we dream big.
You wouldn’t think Venice’s Doge’s Palace—arguably the top site in this city along with the Basilica San Marco—filled with centuries-old art would be a good place for a scavenger hunt but it is. We’re joined by guide Luisella Romeo who says with kids, it is important to “pick and choose what you see. “You can tell them all the dates and the history,” she adds, “But they won’t remember any of it without the stories.”
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the idea of city where there are no roads, where people keep their cars in large lots outside and get around either on foot or by public boats—kind of like subways on the water. “Everyone walks and you meet people you know everywhere you go,” Rodigheiro says. In the old days, wealthy families had their own gondolas.
Welcome to Lover’s Beach. No it isn’t so named because of affectionate couples. Apparently Jacques Cousteau so named this spot in Cabo San Lucas after watching the Pacific swells pound the calmer Medano Bay on the other side. He said the Pacific was making love to the Sea of Cortez.
Just hand the kids a simple point-and-shoot camera and then look at the way your kids see, suggests Mike Nolan, a National Geographic photo instructor and well-known wildlife photographer aboard the Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic Explorer. “When you have kids along, everything is interesting to them,” he explains. “Their minds are so much more open. We could all use that child-like wonder.”…
Climbing to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge clearly isn’t just for the rich and famous. On the contrary, For Australian kids, I’m told, it’s become a kind of rite of passage. (You have to be at least 10 to climb.) Hundreds of couples have gotten engaged on the climb. A group of New York City firefighters and police officers climbed the bridge after 9/11, flying an American flag at the top….
Over the past 50 years, the Baisch family has found more than 1,000 dinosaur bones and fossils on their sprawling cattle ranch in the small town of Glendive. They’ve donated some to museums, sold others and welcome visitors like us to hunt for their own ($75 a half-day for an adult, free for kids under 12). While paleontologists might not approve, the Baisches allow visitors to keep most of what they find….
I’m so tired of hotels and resorts touting kids-eat-free programs limited to traditional kids menus. Do we want to encourage children to eat a steady diet of mac and cheese, chicken fingers, hot dogs and fries? Do kids, once they are in kindergarten, even want that? Not the kids I know who love sushi and steak. Not their parents either. …
In the 50-plus years since, Baisch and her family have found more than a thousand dinosaur bones and fossils on their sprawling Eastern Montana ranch near the small town of Glendive. More dinosaur bones are found in Eastern Montana than anywhere else because of the rock formation, we learn….
I look out and try to imagine thousands of teepees and 30,000 ponies on a scorching June day in 1876, just before the nation’s centennial. Above all the tribal leaders from the different tribes was Sitting Bull, dedicated to the traditional Indian ways and opposed to relationships with the white people after being pushed out of the Black Hills when gold was discovered.