Two massages in one week! Now that’s the way to travel
There isn’t anything like a massage, I think, to help you de-stress, especially when traveling and I’ve had some really memorable ones
Travel ideas and experiences on cruises or at all-inclusive resorts, including dude ranches
 
			There isn’t anything like a massage, I think, to help you de-stress, especially when traveling and I’ve had some really memorable ones
 
			Everyone is busy getting ready for the black-tie New Year’s Eve bash. Here in Antarctica, it’s a giant penguin party, of course. Whales are invited too
 
			There are ships to suit every budget and travel style, from adventure-minded families chartering a small ship from a company like AdventureSmith Explorations that accommodates as few as a dozen guests, to a river cruise in Europe to a megaship in the Caribbean
 
			In Budapest, The Hungarian Flodni layer cake with plum jam, apple, poppy seed and walnuts lives up to its reputation. Yum! So do the “Baselon,” (translated as a “friend’s ear”) — dumplings fashioned from potato dough with plum jam and sprinkled with brown sugar.
 
			The all-inclusive nature of these cruises also seems to de-stress the experience — just choose which shore excursion you like, borrow a bike, enjoy complimentary wine and beer and more on some ships.
 
			Welcome to a Backroads Breakaway trip. Besides the biking, there are special walking tours in various cities and lunches in out-of-the-way local spots.
 
			Hard or really hard—that was our choice for our final day of cycling with Backroads and AMAWaterways—today in Bavaria. Either way, it was worth the effort
 
			Wolfe chose a river cruise because friends at home in Salt Lake City raved about their experiences with their kids and all were having a fun week
 
			It is pouring, raining so hard that we’re getting soaked despite good rain gear. Did I mention we are on bikes riding alongside the Danube River in Austria?
 
			Sacher torte is a chocolate cake invented by Austrian Franz Sacher in 1832 for Prince Wenzel von Metternich in Vienna. It is one of Austria’s most famous pastries
 
			The “Iron Curtain” bike ride was to take us about 18 miles through the country side into Austria from Slovakia — the border made famous by Winston Churchill and the Cold War.
 
			I’m biking past fields of sunflowers, bucolic fields with rolls of hay, ponies and pretty farm houses. Did I mention it’s 90 degrees? We try to convince ourselves that is part of the adventure.
 
			We’re zipping along on bikes along the Danube in Budapest and the request, though a joke, wouldn’t have been a bad idea given the heat.
 
			Today, aboard the Queen Mary 2, there is a mural depicting the Cunard history of entertaining kids dating back to the mid-19th century
 
			It would be impossible to go hungry at the Grand Palladium Bávaro Suites Resort & Spa in Punta Cana. Besides free room service, the property offers plenty of menu options,
 
			The all-inclusive, family-friendly Grand Palladium Bávaro Suites Resort & Spa is very large, but we’re New Yorkers, so we’re not intimidated by big.
 
			Cunard—and the flagship Queen Mary 2 —is famous for its guest lecturers on board and its planetarium. Some days, the tickets are gone before 9 a.m. for the afternoon shows
 
			A Canyon Ranch meal on Queen Mary 2: red velvet cupcakes, macadamia chocolate tarts, chocolate fondant, three-chocolate mousse, chocolate cake pops and a chocolate fountain to dip cookies on a stick.
 
			The first Queen Mary had a kids club that entertained a young Princess Elizabeth. Today’s Queen Mary 2 has a Kids Zone plus plenty of board games and other activities for families
 
			Fifteen thousand meals a day, not counting snacks and High Tea! Twenty-five hundred guests and 1,250 crew have to be fed every day on Cunard Line’s flagship Queen Mary 2.