Restaurant - Italy - Gelati

One summer we traveled through Italy for a month of a three month vacation.  We were traveling on a budget that was so tight that our lunches were often gelati.  We could have a restaurant lunch or dinner, but rarely both.  We discovered that they were adequately nutritious and very inexpensive.  If you have been to Italy, I don't need to tell you how wonderful Italian ice creams and sorbets are.  That smooth melt in you mouth intense flavor is hard to forget.  Gelati doesn't contain as much air as American ice cream.  It is more dense and more smooth tasting.  In Italy it is common to have as many as three flavors in a single small cup.  

Museum Food

Discovering museum food was unintentional.  The discovery was the result of being married to an art historian for more than 30 years.  During that time we visited nearly every major museum in the world--a  couple of times.  Although I enjoy art and make it a point to fully explore museums I visit, my attention span is much shorter than my wife, Tina.  It took dozens of museum visits over several years in several countries for me to learn how to adapt to being stranded in a museum for hours at a time.  Sitting on the uncomfortable benches found in museums is only good for about a quarter hour before back muscles crave a backrest.  During my bench sitting days, I tried to occupy myself by watching people.  How much time one can watch people varies from person to person.  My tolerance is now about half an hour.  It's about the same for museum guards who watch the people watchers.  After a while they notice my looking at every attractive women passing through the gallery and assume that, just perhaps, I am not seriously interested in the art.  Walking from gallery to gallery like a retiree doing laps at malls also attracts the attention of guards after several laps.  The museum shops are fun and can burn some time, but not enough time to compensate for having a scholar as a spouse.
Over time, I found myself hanging out in museum cafeterias, cafes, and restaurants to pass the time.  Art types are allowed to take hours to consume a beverage if they are deep in thought reading or writing.  At last, I found a place to wile away the hours.  The next question was what would I do while I sat at the table.  I tried bringing books and magazines, but even they became boring after a while.  It wasn't until I was able to bring along a personal digital assistant (PDA) and a keyboard that I finally found the answer I was looking for.  Museum cafes are great places to write.  At first, I used the time to keep my travel journal up to date.  Then it occurred to me that I was sitting in a great topic, the museum cafes.
Museum food varies greatly from museum to museum.  The quality can range from completely pre-packaged mystery meat sandwiches to some of the most elegant gourmet food.  The ambience can vary from basement employee break room decor to grandly elegant.

Introduction to Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles doesn't really exist as city.  It is a decentralized accumulation of communities that seems to never stop growing.  Standing somewhere in the downtown of Los Angeles you could be more than 50 miles away from its loosely defined edges.  It is smoggy, often dirty, and its infrastructure appears to be in a state of moldering decay.  Its freeways are impossibly crowded making travel time a significant for tourists and residents.  It can be dangerous and ugly.  Most of Los Angeles is a stucco facade, not unlike a temporary movie set.  Yet, it is a wonderful mosaic of cultures, climates, and topographies unlike I have seen anywhere else in the world.
Many people in L.A. are not who they appear to be.  Everyone seems to be an undiscovered scriptwriter, actor, director, or producer who is only working as a lawyer, dentist, waiter, cop, or programmer until they break into the film industry.  
Like all large cities, L.A. is layered.  There is the layer that is myth.  All over the world, people believe that they know L.A. from what they have seen in movies, read in books, or heard about from relatives.  There is the layer that the tourist sees and there are the other many layers that residents see.  My introduction is from the perspective of an expatriate resident.
Many of L.A.'s major tourist attractions are listed on the Los Angeles Attractions page which is a subset of the Los Angeles Information page.  If you are a short-term visitor you may want to skip directly to the attractions page and see the major tourist sites.  Most of what people want to see in L.A. is widely dispersed and requires a great deal of travel time. 

Favorite L.A. Area Places

Architecture

• The Brand Library.  When I lived in Los Angeles, the Brand library had one of the best collections of photography books in the region.  Not only did I enjoy using the library, I enjoyed visiting the library.  Its Moorish/Indian architecture makes it one of the most architecturally interesting libraries I've ever visited. 
• The Gamble House. The Gamble house was built by Green & Green Architects.  It is the archetypal California Bungalow and it is one of my favorite houses.  Don't just look at the exterior of the house, take the tour.  Seeing stained glass entrance from the inside an experience you are unlikely to forget.  You may also wonder why so many modern tract houses look so awful when they could be using 90 year old designs that are superior in every way.    

Botanical Gardens

• The Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA.  I had the privilege of working with Dr. Mathias on several projects and I am particularly pleased that UCLA named their botanical garden after her.  During the many years that I worked at UCLA in various departments including zoology, sub-atomic particle physics, and parasitology my labs were often below ground or windowless.  During lunch hours and breaks, I walked through the UCLA botanical garden and admired the plants and wildlife that live there.  My favorite plant is the Dawn Redwood near the bottom of the ponds.  It is said to be the tallest Dawn Redwood in North America.   

Nature

• The San Gabriel Mountains.  I lived in Azusa, CA during my high school years and every moment that I wasn't in school I was hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains.  I would walk from my home in Azusa up Highway 39.  The amount of time I had available determined where I would leave the highway and hike up a canyon.  Hitch hiking enabled me to go further into the mountains to explore the east and west forks of the San Gabriel River.  The farther into the mountain canyons I hiked, I was amazed by their beauty.
  
  A nice drive up San Gabriel Canyon might include driving to Crystal Lake, if the road is open.  On your return go east on the East Fork Road and then south on Glendora Mountain Road to Glendora California.  (MSN Maps)
  
  Today, you can't drive all the way up highway 39 to the Angeles Crest Highway at the crest of the mountains, but the drive up San Gabriel Canyon is still beautiful.  If you decided to park and walk up the west fork of the San Gabriel River, you will notice that the population density rapidly falls off as you walk farther away from the parking lots.  Be careful to look where you walk.  Rattlesnakes are abundant in southern California mountains.
  
  If you want to hike the San Gabriel Mountains I suggest visiting the Hikes in the San Gabriel Mountains and the Angeles National Forest for current hiking condition information.  My favorite hike in the San Gabriel Mountains is starts at the end of the east fork road and continues up the north fork to Iron Mountain.  The terrain is rugged, not well traveled, and can be dangerous, but its remoteness makes up for the effort of the hike. Another way to enjoy the San Gabriel Mountains is drive the Angeles Crest Highway Route 2 from La Canada to Wrightwood. (MSN Maps)  Allow half a day for the drive and plan to drive back via San Bernardino to Los Angeles on Interstates 15 and 10.  You may want to stop at the Mt. Wilson Observatory along the way.  The Angeles Crest Highway offers spectacular views of the high desert and the Los Angeles basin (when the air is clear).  Pack a picnic lunch and have your picnic from one of the hundreds of overlooks.  If you don't take a picnic take a snack and plan on having a late lunch or dinner in Wrightwood.  The Wrightwood site lists numerous restaurants.  
  
  Links to more information about the San Gabriel Mountains
  
  • American Southwest Guide to the San Gabriel Mountains. 
  • Hikes in the San Gabriel Mountains and the Angeles National Forest
  • The Natural History of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Santa Monica

• Introduction to Santa Monica, CA by Max Lent. 
• Santa Monica city page.        

Travel Tips For Mexico

Driving

Do not drive at night on Mexican highways.  Your greatest dangers driving at night are livestock, broke down vehicles, the roads, and not knowing Mexican driving customs.  You might not notice it on an air conditioned bus, but Mexican roadsides are littered with the carcasses of dead cows.  If you were in a car, especially one without air conditioning, you would smell the carcasses before you saw them, especially during the summer.  When you are next in Mexico, look closely at the bumpers on Mexican trucks.  Many of them look more like military vehicles designed to breach road blocks than commercial vehicles.  The truck bumpers are designed to impact with cows at 60+ miles per hour without damaging the trucks.  Imagine meeting two of these trucks coming at you side by side on a mountain road at night.  For some unknown reason Mexican truck drivers are always passing each other at the worst possible times and they seem to prefer to pass at night.

Health

When traveling to Mexico the most important issue is maintaining your health.  Getting traveler's diarrhea can ruin your whole trip.  Be careful of what you eat and drink. 

Insurance

If you are driving in Mexico, obtain Mexican Insurance.  If you are involved in an accident, which is more likely to happen to you in a foreign country than in the U.S., you will discover that legal systems work differently in other countries.  Sometimes the differences can become catastrophic if you aren't fully insured.  When I have traveled by car in Mexico I have used San-born Insurance and they were there when I needed them. 

Toronto, An Introduction

A biased introduction I cannot write an unbiased description of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  I admit it, I love Toronto.  Toronto and I have been lovers for decades.  Toronto is an exciting fashionable international city.  It has all of the positive attributes of New York City without the negatives.  The people of Toronto are polite, courteous, and extremely well dressed.  A visitor might have trouble discerning Toronto fashion because it is mostly black.  Black clothing, black coats, black shoes, and black accessories.  Of course, this is an exaggeration, but there is enough black around to appear exaggerated. My wife and I think of Toronto as our eas-to-get-to international vacation city.  Even in mid-winter when the outside temperatures are in the minus numbers and snow is on the ground, we still find Toronto enjoyable.  One of our favorite Christmas holiday visits includes a stay at the Westin Harbour Castle hotel.  We spend the days shopping and visiting museums.  In the late afternoon or early evening we return to the hotel for a rest before dinner.  The Westin Harbor Castle  has an outdoor/indoor heated pool that is covered by an glass roof and walls and kept warm in the winter.  On the coldest winter day it is wonderfully enjoyable to soak the hotel's hot tub and watch snow swirling outside the the glass walls.  The pool is also used by members of a health club, so planning your soak before or after the after work rush is a good idea.  Warmed from our soak and swim we return to our room to make dinner plans.

A summer visit to Toronto would be incomplete without ferry ride to the Toronto Islands and a walk around the islands.  This ride and walk becomes a memorable romantic experience on warm summer evenings in moonlight.  Swans can be seen illuminated by the moonlight as they drift around the numerous inlets.  Even more spectacular is the view of Toronto from the islands or the ferry on the return trip.  Take a jacket, the ferry ride is often chilly even on warm summer evenings.    

Toronto an international city, which means that it is multicultural, multi ethnic, multiracial and proud of it.  The result of Toronto being multi everything is that visitors can experience foods, shopping, and art from around the world.

India in Toronto

If your interest is India, visit Gerard & Hiwatha Streets and then East along Gerard St.  Here on a warm summer day you will smell the spices of India being cooked in the numerous Indian restaurants.  As you walk along Gerard St. you will pass by Indian shops that some of the best traditional Indian clothing, such as saris, in North American.  A friend of mine's wife purchased her wedding party's saris on Gerard St.  The aroma on incense is everywhere.  If you have been to India, close your eyes for a moment and you will imagine that you are shopping in New Delhi.

Not all of the best Indian restaurants in Toronto are located on Gerard St.  You will have to do some work to find the best ones.

China in Toronto

The Chinese population of Toronto is second only to San Francisco.  Toronto's main Chinatown is located in the Dundas-Spadina area.  Dundas and Spidina you can walk East along Dundas to near Bay.  You can also walk north and south on Spadina.  If, as you walk through Toronto's main Chinatown, you notice little quarter size pieces of brown or reddish brown fruit shell scattered on the ground everywhere, you are in for a treat.  What this indicates is that Lychee nuts are in season. Nearly every street side grocer will be selling them.  They come in a couple of quality grades.  Buy the most expensive, it is worth the slight additional cost.  If you are coming from the U.S., you will not be able to take your Lychees across the boarder.  Just buy enough to last you on your walk through Chinatown.

There is more than one Chinatown in Toronto.

Parking

Parking in Toronto is expensive.  It is so expensive that the City of Toronto parking meters take credit cards.  I'm not joking.  The system works like this: You find a parking spot, which is easier than you might expect, park, go to the nearby parking kiosk, insert your credit card, select how long you want to park up to the limit allowed, press the add time button until the dollar amount is reached, press the get ticket button, take your ticket, place it on your dashboard, and you are ready to roam.  The system works well, but it is very expensive.  We typically spent $25 per day Canadian on parking meters.  What happens is that you will over compensate by adding more time to the meter than you need and then come back to your car early and leave for the next destination.  Doing this several times in a day quickly adds up.

Hotel parking routinely costs $15 per day and up.  Some hotels include parking in their packages.  However, even if you get free hotel parking the mass transportation system is also very pricy.  For a short stay, it is best to maximize your time at destinations by parking on the street near where you are going.

B&B-Britain's Star Attraction

For some the highlight is a chance to enjoy the renowned British cooked breakfast with all the trimmings and lashings of tea or coffee. To others it is the opportunity to stay in a comfortable private home, one of a select few guests and with a friendly host to greet them. There is no doubt that the British "bed and breakfast" (B&B for short) is a style of accommodation that is often imitated around the world but rarely bettered. Wherever your travels take you, from deepest Cornwall to the north of Scotland, you will find B&Bs everywhere and spoken of affectionately by visitors.

The quality of the best B&Bs has risen markedly in recent years, and national tourism agency VisitBritain has raised the game further by announcing that it now only promotes accommodation that has been inspected, checked and graded by an intrepid band of Quality Assessors. Also, the accommodation is being assessed and rated by all the main inspection bodies using a common set of criteria. This means that a B&B in say, York, will be awarded the same number of stars no matter who it is checked by, giving peace of mind to the traveller who finds it easier to compare places to stay.

VisitBritain has a team of 55 trained accommodation assessors working throughout England - and checking out B&B's is a very important part of their job. Like a secret agent of sorts, they book incognito, study all aspects of a property, including cleanliness and customer service, stay overnight and eat all meals offered, including that special cooked breakfast. Only when they have paid the bill do the assessors reveal their true identity, when they spend time pointing out to the host anything not up to scratch.

Key to their role is being able to preserve their anonymity until check-out time. They have to look like a "normal" guest and will vary their dress according to the type of accommodation visited " for example a business suit in a remote property used mainly by walkers or tourists would be a complete give-away. Only rarely are the host's suspicions aroused!

So how does a B&B vary from a hotel in an assessor's eyes? "At a B&B we put more emphasis on hospitality than attentive service " the people who run it are key to the whole thing. Taking an interest in their guests and making them feel welcome is so important. But cleanliness is paramount, just as in a hotel," says Alison Barham, Quality Manager at VisitBritain and formerly an assessor for 10 years.

Informality is part of the appeal: the owner's children taking breakfast orders would be "cute" in a B&B but not necessarily in a hotel.

The reactions from owners when assessors disclose their "true identity" range from "I thought you were an assessor but I didn"t let on," to one woman who passed out in the hallway on hearing the news. "My colleague was 6ft 7in tall, so maybe his mere presence was overpowering," says Alison.

At the end of the process the B&B will be awarded one to five Stars or Diamonds (this is a period of transition; Stars will replace Diamonds fully from 2007 and are already used exclusively in Scotland and Wales). This in turn provides visitors with the information to make an informed choice when booking their accommodation. Choose from one star/diamond for a simple, practical place with no frills; or five star/diamond for something rather special, with a degree of luxury. The more stars, the better the level of quality you can expect to find. Accommodation that has something extra special to offer gets the bonus of a Gold or Silver Award. With these, you can be sure your experience will be of the highest quality.

As with most areas of life, you get what you pay for with B&B and it is not necessarily a low-cost option. Though you will find pleasant, clean and comfortable B&Bs for as little as $22 per person per night, at some the cost heads skywards, such as at St. Ervan Manor in Cornwall, which charges from $70 to $215 per person per night. However, this is an exceptional place, the winner of a prestigious Gold Award in the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence 2006 and boasting five stylish guest rooms and a recently added garden suite. Its fine Michelin-starred restaurant serves seasonal produce in an intimate setting. In the words of VisitBritain's chief executive Tom Wright, St. Ervan "redefines the nature of the B&B."

Other B&Bs are notable for their locations or unusual architecture. At the end of a sweeping drive in St. Osyth, Essex is Park Hall Country House, a 14th century former monastery furnished with oak beams, open log fires and lounges with a grand piano and chandelier. The property was Silver winner in the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence 2006. In Central England, the five-diamond Old Lock Up near Matlock, Derbyshire is another award-winning residence, originally a small jail and a chapel. Once visited by writer D.H. Lawrence, it now boasts a double spa bath and the cell which once held convicted felons is a bar. The county of Kent " the "garden of England" -- has conical oast houses (once used for the drying of hops) converted into quirky B&Bs; while the five-diamond, silver award Beach Court on the Northumbrian coast provides superb views over a sweeping bay, and the master suite doubles as an observatory called the Crow's Nest.

At the Old Railway Station in Petworth, West Sussex, guests can re-live the golden age of rail travel " including accommodation in Pullman carriages as used on the Orient Express " albeit without going anywhere. The midweek rates are particularly attractive.

Scotland is also a good hunting ground for B&B fans: you can choose from farmhouses, cottages, city mansions and country estates, all serving a hearty Scottish breakfast (often complete with oat-cakes and porridge). At Edgertson in the Scottish Borders guests can even "go back to school". The five-star School House (built in the Victorian era, it last saw pupils in 1945) has been tastefully modified, with each room given a unique theme and set with period furnishings; breakfasts are served in a farmhouse style kitchen, plus there's a minstrel gallery dining room. All from just $26 per night.

Farmhouses are another fine source of B&B accommodation: these are often buildings full of character and it takes a lot to beat a farmhouse breakfast. Wales is a country with plenty to choose from, such as 17th century Dove Cottage (five star) at Buckley, Flintshire, which is set in over an acre of lovingly tended gardens.

For many guests, it is the B&B hosts who really make their stay. These are people who are proud of their homes and neighbourhoods, know the best local pubs and restaurants, can point you towards the most historic attractions and the prettiest beauty-spots. In short, they are walking, talking mines of information and they are determined you will have a good time.

As someone once said, B&B is a little like staying with friends but you pay for the pleasure. Equally reassuring is the fact that someone like Alison (motto: "we check it out before you check in") has been there first.

Family Fun In Britain

Author Roald Dahl (1916-1990) once told his young daughter: "Adults will try to fool you into thinking they have important things on their minds when, in fact, they are thinking about what to have for supper or when they are going to wash the car."  He might have added: "or where to go on their next holiday."
Families who choose Britain for their holiday have two wonderful new attractions to visit, adding to the long list of theme parks, steam railways, museums and so on. This is the land that brought you some of the great children's novelists, who created a host of timeless characters, from Winnie-the-Pooh and Thomas the Tank Engine to Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and the residents of C.S. Lewis's Narnia.
Born of Norwegian parents, Dahl - author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and many other well-loved books - spent most of his adult life in the quiet Chiltern village of Great Missenden, 32 miles north-west of London. Here, not far from his home, The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre opened in June 2005. It's not exactly Charlie's Chocolate Factory, though it does have "chocolatey" doors and is crammed with manuscripts, letters, photographs, his Ideas Books and other treasured possessions. From the figure of the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) on the wall outside, to the bench that turns out to be a crocodile, the building is themed to his characters and stories.
Galleries tell the story of Dahl's life and work using audio-visual and touch-screen aids.  Perhaps of most interest to younger visitors are a collection of his favourite jokes and limericks - and there is a full-size replica of his writing hut and its contents, standing in an "orchard" made of giant versions of Quentin Blake's illustrations.
Dahl's fans are likely to grow in number with the new (summer 2005) movie version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", starring Johnny Depp. Knowing his outspoken nature, what Dahl would have made of another new family attraction is anyone's guess. What is clear, though, is that Seven Stories, the Centre for Children's Books, is full of surprises: from unconventional exhibitions to entertaining activities.
The first centre of its kind in Britain, the attraction, opened in August in Newcastle upon Tyne, is the culmination of seven years of pioneering work to develop a national home for children's literature. The motivation was to treasure the original work of British authors and illustrators within the UK and preserve an important part of national heritage. As well as seeing manuscripts and original artwork, visitors can climb into the "artist's attic" (the attraction is situated in a tall building close to a Victorian mill) to meet "real" writers and illustrators and discover the art of story making.
Also here is a complete collection of Ladybird Books, which were sold at pocket-money prices for 60 years from 1940-1999; and the personal archive of the late Kaye Webb, editor of Puffin Books until the late 70s, containing many children's classics, such as, Stig of the Dump, and The Hobbit. The cafe boasts a menu inspired by children's books - so don't be surprised to find green eggs and ham as dish of the day!

While these new attractions are admirable, sometimes it is even more fun to visit the actual places linked to favourite books. The village of Hartfield in Sussex is the focal point of Winnie-the-Pooh country. The bear who has a fondness for honey and condensed milk was invented by A.A. Milne and Hartfield, on the edge of Ashdown Forest, has the Shop at Pooh Corner. It sells a map of Pooh Country, enabling you to explore the nearby footpaths to find the Five Hundred Acre Wood, the Enchanted Place and, most importantly, the Poohsticks Bridge. Playing the game of tossing sticks into the stream and seeing which one gets to the other side first is rewarding at any age.

In the elegant North Wales seaside town of Llandudno, families can dive into the "rabbit hole" to discover the magical world of Ali Life size, animated displays of the Mad Hatter, March Hare and other cameos from Lewis Carroll's classic story are enhanced by sound effects and narration in one of five languages.
Why Llandudno? This is where young Alice Liddell (the author's inspiration for the original tale, told one summer's day on the river near Oxford) came with her family in 1861 for the first of many holidays. A statue of the White Rabbit is a feature of the town.
There are relatively few authors' homes open to visitors, though one exception is the Scottish birthplace of Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie. His modest house At 9 Brechin Road, Kirriemuir near Dundee, now looked after by the National Trust for Scotland, includes the little wash house which became his first theatre. Could it have inspired the Wendy House in Peter Pan?
It is not just tales of adventure and tomfoolery that excite children: candies and chocolate do the job equally well. Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate, a recipe perfected by George Cadbury, is 100 years old in 2005 and visitors to Birmingham in the Heart of England can find out all about it at the Cadbury World attraction (advance booking is advised). Set in the model village the company established at Bournville, it allows visitors to discover the story of chocolate making in a fun way. New this year is an "Aztec jungle" with boardwalks and waterfalls, an interactive "happiness dance room" and a three-dimensional cinema show.
No roundup of family attractions would be complete without mentioning the capital. There is lots for families to do, from a ride on one of the River Thames cruise boats, to a trip to a theme park. The latest new attraction is a walk-through monkey forest at the London Zoo in Regent's Park. Billed as an "urban eco-safari", visitors can stroll among a breeding group of black-capped squirrel monkeys -- in a habitat resembling the Bolivian rainforest.
At the Science Museum in South Kensington, try out technology in the interactive galleries, conduct experiments in the Launch Pad, or visit the IMAX cinema. In the East End is the Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green: one of the largest collections of toys, games, nursery objects, dolls houses, puppets and teddy-bears - dating from the 17^th century.
South-west of London, near the orbital M25 motorway, are two of the country's favourite theme parks, Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures. With white-knuckle rides and entertainment, there's enough for a full day of fun at each. Younger children will enjoy Legoland, with rides and miniature land fashioned out of thousands of Lego bricks, at Windsor (better known for its royal castle), 25 miles west of the city.

Travel Tips for Europe

Walking 

If you are a typical American, your are a couch potato by any European standard.  Europeans walk a lot.  They also climb a lot of stairs.  On one trip to Europe, I had to endure the symptoms of a torn meniscus in a knee.  Stairs, uneven cobble stone streets, and long distances between trains and stations caused me a great deal of pain.  What I discovered was that Europe is designed to accommodate very healthy sturdy walkers who look upon stairs as a hardy way to get exercise.  Cripples, wheel chairs, and the weak are not invited. Get fit or pay the price.
Even modern, especially large, airports have multiple flights of stairs designed as if to say "we told you to pack light."
How good a shape must an American be in to travel in Europe?  If you can walk about 5 miles a day over rough terrain with brief bursts of speed and climb ten flights of stairs, you meet the minimum requirements.  To really train for your trip, carry a ten pound bag of sugar or flour in a market bag or brief case.  An even more realistic training regimen would include about thirty pounds of extra weight.  This last method takes into account all of the books, souvenirs, maps, cameras, clothes, and other goodies that you will find yourself carrying by the end of each day.

If you belong to a health club, work out using a treadmill with it set to hill climbs that are variable and at a fairly steep angle.  If you don't belong to a health club, do mall walks.  Mall walks are easier than anything you will do in in Europe, so do a couple a laps a couple of times a day. Learn how to stretch.  Any book on running should provide you with information on stretching.  You will need to stretch at least once a day. You will need very supportive 's (ugly) hiking or walking shoes.  These shoes must have good arches and be ruggedly constructed.  Cheap shoes sold by discount clothing stores will not be satisfactory.  They will fall apart after a few days, they won't have adequate arch supports, and they will be made of mostly synthetic materials that will result in hot sweaty feet.

Have walking shoes professionally fitted to your feet.  Buy your socks before you buy your shoes and fit your shoes with while wearing your new socks.
You will need good socks to wear with your shoes.  They should be thick, padded, and not cost less than $6 a pair.  $12/pair is not too much to pay.  Clean socks are a daily requirement.  Buy enough for the whole trip.  Alternatively, buy as many as you can wear between washings.
Some of you may be thinking that sandals are preferable.  Forget about it.  I've tried wearing many types of sandals.  None of them, regardless of price, provides the support of walking shoes or hiking boots.  On hot sunny trips my feet have become so sunburned from wearing sandals that I could not change over to socks and shoes for several days.  On cooler trips, my feet got so dirty that I wouldn't consider going into a restaurant.
Whatever shoes or hiking boots you decide to wear break them in at least a month before the start of your trip.  Why so far in advance.  You may have to return or replace the shoes or boots that you bought with another pair that will also need breaking in.

Hygiene 

Bring a wash cloth and a re-closable freezer bag or two to store it in while you are between hotels.  Apparently, Europeans don't fully bathe or they don't think that foreigners need to.  You will rarely find a wash cloth in a European hotel.  Some luxury hotels and some rare tourist friendly hotels may have wash cloths.  If you see one, you are most likely mistaking a hand towel for a wash cloth. 
European and many American hotels mistakenly believe that guests can adequately dry themselves with a piece of cloth about twice the size of notebook paper and about twice as thick.
If there is an evaluation card in your hotel room fill it out.  Request giant bath sheets, huge fluffy bath towels, large absorbent hand towels, and bath mats that cover the floor.  It won't help you this time, but it may help you the next time you visit Europe.
Toilets may have any number of flushing handles, plungers, panels, or even chains.  They will most likely be located at the top of the water container, but may also be located on the floor.
Ever showered with a telephone receiver?  If you haven't, you will in Europe.  Shower heads are usually portable in that they can be taken off of the wall and used to rinse hair or delicate parts of the body.  Consider that water that feels comfortably warm on the head can feel uncomfortably hot when sprayed elsewhere.  Spraying elsewhere is also a problem.  European and many American hotels don't have adequate shower curtains.  It is very easy to flood the bathroom if you aren't careful.  Remember that you will only have a couple of tiny little towels for mopping up the mess.

Sleep 

Pillows will range from sacks of unknown content that feel like clay to fluffy feather pillows that collapse to thickness that barely exceeds the back and front layers of the pillow covering.  You may have request a fiber or foam pillow, but you may not get one unless you are staying at a better hotel.  I have often had to use my soft suitcase as a pillow even in expensive hotels.
European hotels seem to replace their mattresses about every quarter century whether they need it or not.  Unlike American hotels they buy better mattresses.  That assumes that better mattresses are so hard that they cannot be worn down to the deep valleys often found in American hotel beds.  If you like hard mattresses, you are in luck.  If not, try the floor if the carpet is padded, it may be softer.
While staying in a hotel in Europe (and some places in the U.S.) if you find yourself feeling hot and half awake in bed in the middle of the night, do not be disturbed about your health.   It is unlikely that you are experiencing malarial symptoms.  This assumes that you have not just come from a lengthy stay in some tropical country.  The tossing and turning, and feeling hot then cold is part of the hot mattress syndrome..
European hotels seem to universally use rubber mattress pads.  These pads are made of the same material as hospital bed coverings and serve the same function, the prevention of body fluids soaking the mattress.  If you want a good night's sleep, peel back the cloth sheets and remove the rubber mattress pad.  Be cautious about looking at the mattress.  It may be stained to the point where you might decide to put the pad back on or sleep on the floor.

Food 

Many European hotels and now some American hotels provide continental breakfasts.  The word breakfast is a misnomer.  What they really mean is pre-breakfast snacks.  Hotel breakfasts in Europe are interesting little treats if you are into bread, coffee or tea, maybe some meats and cheese.  A few hotels will make available a tasteless cereal or an all too flavorful muesli.  Depending where you are, cold cereal may come with hot boiled milk.  Still other places will provide a runny tart yogurt for your cereal.  Fruit for your cereal may be hard to come by.  Depending where you are, you might not want fruit for health reasons.
If you are used to an American breakfast of something like bacon, eggs, and fried potatoes, you are out of luck.  It is possible to adapt after a few days, but not easily.  If you drink coffee or tea, remember that you may be consuming more than the usual amount of caffeine on a nearly empty stomach.  This could make you jittery and irritable during meetings later in the morning.  Suggestion:  Eat as much of the bread or whatever is available that you can force down.  Lunch will be a long time off and you may not be any more impressed with it.
Lunches may consist of a smallish roll with a thin slice of meat, a thin slice of tomato, a tiny piece of lettuce and maybe a thin slice of cheese.  For many Americans, this would represent one tenth of a good deli sandwich.  If you find good ones, you might consider eating them by the dozen.  If you are lucky, your hosts will take you to a restaurant for a formal lunch.  This seems like great news until you gobble everything in sight and drink half a litter of wine.  Remember that light breakfast you had.  Your body will immediately interpret your feast as the ending of fasting and send most of your blood to your stomach and intestine to digest what you just ate and drank. Nap time.  Some Espresso or chocolate is your only hope for staying awake under these conditions.
The best way to eat your way through the day is to start the day is with a hardy breakfast, have a moderate lunch and an early light dinner.  Europeans do the exact opposite.  They eat nearly nothing for breakfast, have light lunch with alcohol, and a late large dinner.  This pace takes some getting used to.  Try cheating as much as you can while still being polite to your hosts.
Powerbars or some other energy bar may be just what you need to get you through the day.  Bring at least one for every day you are traveling, including time on planes.  Airline foods my not be edible if you have good taste in food.

Suitcases

You will be tempted to take a large checked suitcase and a smaller carry on suitcase along with a briefcase with you on your trip to Europe.  The more you take, the more pain you will feel.  You will also learn that stacking two or more wheeled suitcases creates instability.  Visit Venice, Italy and watch tourists attempt to pull multiple suitcases over the steep bridges that cross canals. When the bottom suitcase runs over an uneven surface, the top suitcase will start to sway from side to side and eventually fall off pulling the tourist to the ground.  Add a camera bag and the discomfort quickly escalates.  When you fall down, you will also take the camera with you to the pavement.
Even first class passengers have to transport their carry on luggage through airports which means they have to climb stairs with the luggage.  First class Venice visitors will have their luggage transported to their hotel for them.  All others will have to carry everything over bridges and along canals for distances that seem to increase with heat, rain, or just being tired.

Consider walking through an airport between flights.  Perhaps, you will become hungry and decide to get a bite at one of the airport restaurants.  Sounds simple enough.  Now consider going to the restaurant pulling a carry on bag and having a camera bag and/or a large purse hanging from your shoulder.  If you are traveling cheap, you will have to go through a food line to a counter where you will order your food, find your money, pay for it, and then transport a tray with your food and a drink to a table, if any are available.  You will have one hand busy pulling your carry on bag, which means that you will have to carry your tray with the other.  Meanwhile your camera bag or purse will be slipping off your shoulder.  This explains why the floors in food areas are often sticky from spilled food and drink.

Perhaps you are a higher class traveler who prefers to be served food by servers.  This seems like an ideal solution, but don't think you are free from inconvenience. Restaurants in major hub airports are not designed for travelers towing checkable and carry on luggage.  These restaurants are often crowded with other passengers who also have at least two pieces of luggage, coats, purses, and briefcases.  The servers hate heavily laden travelers because they occupy tables for four or more for two or fewer tipping patrons.
If you are traveling through Italy, stop at gelati parlors for a quick ice cream-like snack.

Greatest historical journeys

Charles Darwin: Voyage of the Beagle

British naturalist Charles Darwin set sail in 1831 on a five-year odyssey aboard the HMS Beagle to observe and document the natural environment. His Journal and Remarks was published in 1839 and is popularly known as ‘the Voyage of the Beagle’. He travelled to South America, the Galápagos Islands, Tahiti and Australia before heading home again via the Keeling Islands. His notes on biology, geology and anthropology were, in hindsight, the precursors to his world-changing ideas on evolution.
Get involved with the Beagle Project, which aims to build a replica of HMS Beagle and repeat Darwin’s epic journey.

Alexander the Great

Deemed ‘Great’ by some and ‘Grotesque’ by others, Alexander III was probably the most successful military commander of the ancient world (and modern times to boot). His conquests took him and his armies across 16 countries from Greece to India. Alexander’s period of conquests spanned almost a decade and included the defeat of the Persian Empire and the invasion of India. And he did so on a magic horse, between untangling mythical puzzles, losing friends and lovers, and variously being declared a god and a destroyer.
Start at Pella, where Alexander was born; mosaics from the palace are still intact. The Pella museum has artefacts from local archaeological sites.

Marco Polo

Travel was in the blood for Marco Polo (1254-1324), whose father was also a well-known explorer. Born in Venice, Marco sailed along the west coast of Greece to Turkey, and followed the Silk Road through the Middle East and Central Asia to China. There is some speculation as to the extent of Marco’s travels (which he put at over 39,000km), with sceptics accusing him of being something of a fibber. Were they just jealous?

Moving with the wildlife at the Silent Valley in Kerala

The dense rainforests of the Silent Valley is one of the few preserves that have been left practically untouched by man and modernization. Surrounded by hills, the inaccessible nature of the Silent valley has proved to be its blessing.

The brooding forests of the Silent Valley are located in the Nilgiri Hills in Kerala and are said to date back to 50 million years. The 236.74 square kilometer national park is a part of the Palakkad district in Kerala. The diverse ecosystem of the Silent Valley includes montane grasslands, deciduous, semi evergreen as well as evergreen forests. The Valley is an important part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and lies adjacent to the Mukkurthi national park and the Attappady forests.

Legends of the Silent Valley

The Silent Valley has an interesting role to play vis-à-vis Hindu mythology. The locals call the Valley Sairandhrivanam. Sairandhri refers to Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandavas. According to local legend, the Pandavas along with Draupadi stumbled upon the beautiful, isolated valley in the course of their travels during a period of exile. So enamored were they by the green, rolling forests bursting with life that they stayed here for some time.

Exploring the wildlife at Silent Valley

The Silent Valley is home to an amazing number of mammals, birds and reptiles. Isolated due to the ring of hills around it, the forest has been able to retain the Indo-Malaysian nature of the flora and fauna that has characterized the area over the ages. 

A trip to Silent Valley will give you some stunning glimpses of wildcats like tiger, panther, jungle cats, civets and fishing cat. The graceful sambar and spotted deer, the large gaur and smaller animals like mongooses, otters, flying squirrel and the scaly anteater are other wildlife that makes the Silent Valley an absolute delight for wildlife enthusiasts.

Among the more significant inhabitants of the forests are the lion tailed macaque and the Nilgiri langur; both of these are on list of endangered animals and the Silent Valley is one of their habitats on earth. The forests also have a large number of endangered birds. These include the Wayanad Laughing Thrush, Broad tailed Grassbird, the Malabar parakeet and the Great Indian Hornbill.

A survey conducted in 2006 reported that there were 138 species of birds in the Silent Valley. The forests also have 35 species of reptiles and 19 species of amphibians. In fact, there are two species of frogs that have been discovered in the Silent Valley. There are also several rare plants and herbs in the valley.

Reaching the Silent Valley

Given the heavy rainfall the area experiences, traveling here during the monsoon months might not be practical. The summers are warm while winters are pleasant. There are plenty of buses running from Palakkad to Mukkali. Palakkad is at a distance of 80 km, while Mukkali is 23 kilometers away. 

The distance between Mukkali and Silent Valley will have to be covered either by hiring a jeep or van. You could also trek part of the distance. As far as accommodation is concerned, there are a few guest houses within the national park. You could also stay at one of the many hotels in Palakkad town.

The Silent Valley is quite simply an unforgettable experience. It takes us back to an age when nature reigned supreme. The preserve with its pristine and untouched character is truly a unique spot in a world where else where man has left his rather heavy imprint.

 

Rafting in Arunachal 

White water rafting adventure along the majestic Brahmaputra in Arunachal Pradesh is truly vitalizing and an exhilarating experience. There are a number of lodging options along the river, mostly in the form of spacious tents creating a wonderful setting.

 

Arunachal Pradesh is located in the northeastern part of India and is an ideal rafting destination due to its remote and serene location. This transcendent land is filled with magical jungles and tribal villages which create a scenic view for rafters due to the varied topography. 

The river is lined with both sub-tropical and alpine forests. Ninnguin and Marmong are two picturesque valleys surrounded by greenery, which you must visit while rafting. The Kameng River is also an excellent rafting stretch. There are two major reasons as to why Arunachal Pradesh is a preferred rafting destination for adventure lovers: 

• The river’s perennial high water content. This is maintained because five rivers join with the Brahmaputra.
• The unpredictable rapids and rocks which make it a challenge for trained rafters.

Learning the Tricks

A number of agencies conduct rafting camps and expeditions for novices. It is necessary to be in a good health and discard your fear for water. Here are a few important tips to remember while embarking on a rafting holiday:

• Ensure that you keep all your electronic equipment or another set of clothes in a dry box in the raft.
• Carry all the prescribed medication. Insect repellent and sunscreen is a must.
• Cotton clothing must be avoided as it does not keep you warm during the winters, which is the ideal rafting season and also takes a longer time to dry.
• Most rafting organizations allow you to hire wetsuits which serve as ideal attire for rafting.

When to visit

The best time to visit Arunachal Pradesh for rafting is between the months of November and March, right after the end of Monsoon. During this time, you can experience the best rapids and a pleasant climate. It might be unsafe to embark on a rafting expedition during the monsoon season because of the unpredictable currents.

Getting There

Although Arunachal Pradesh is considered inaccessible, it is becoming more connected as time progresses. The white water rafting adventure usually begins at Tuting. Arunachal Pradesh does not have its own airport. 

However, you can access this region by disembarking at the nearest airport which is the Lilabari Airport, located in Assam; it is located at a distance of 64 kilometers from Itanagar. Apart from this, helicopter services are also offered from Guwahati (in Assam) to Tawang.

The nearest railway station is Harmuty which is situated at a distance of around 33 kilometers from the capital. However, when it comes to convenience, the North Lakhimpur railway station in Assam is a preferred choice.

Tourist Ban in the MP Tiger Reserve

Many Indian states draw a large number of tourists to their tiger reserves to achieve a huge impetus in the tourism sector. But alarming reports of a steady decline in the number of tigers has raised a question, should tourism in this sector be banned? 

 

News has surfaced that tourists might be banned from visiting the tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh and other parts of the country, as efforts are being made to preserve the last few of this once dominant species.

Madhya Pradesh has some of the largest and most visited tiger reserves in the country. The state witnesses numerous tourists who visit its tiger reserves in the winter season. Apart from providing a huge impetus to tourism in the state, this has become a major issue of concern for the tigers residing in its wilderness.

The Key Issue

Prayatna, a Bhopal based NGO, has filed a “Special Leave Petition” to ban tourism in tiger reserves, raising concerns over the travel operators trespassing through the core areas that are prohibited for the public. This has triggered panic in the State Tourism Department and the travel operators association, as it could be a huge blow to them.

A move from the Supreme Court can also affect thousands of livelihoods that solely depend on tourism in and around the jungles. Analysts predict that, if this law comes into effect; it could encourage other activists to carry out similar approaches in other portions of the country.

However, this could come as a huge relief to the black striped wild yellow cats as their population is shrinking day by day since the last 100 years. The numbers of tigers were 40,000 in the early years of the last century compared to a meager 1706 now.

Reactions From Different Communities

The alarming decrease in the number of tigers recently has raised a huge concern among activists, ecologists and the government. However, TOTF (Tigers India Wildlife Association) and hoteliers who provide tourism packages have come out in major protest against this ban and have labeled it as “frivolous without any sound scientific evidence and highly irrational”. They say that nearly 20,000 to 30,000 people who earn their livelihoods due to this project will be jobless and would cut down the revenue earned by the hotels and the state tourism department.

The Other Side of the Argument

It is also a proven fact that tourism in these areas brings about vigil and helps in maintaining tight security in the area, preventing poachers and other miscreants from disrupting the wildlife. The hoteliers and travel package owners are usually the first ones to know about any such activities going on and inform the authorities. 

The Madhya Pradesh High Court’s principal bench had earlier rejected this PIL after which the NGO took it to the Supreme Court. Many officials also say that the consequences of implementing this law might be grave, as it would alienate the local community from the government.

The “Save the Tiger” project has kicked off in other states such as Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh as well.

Monsoon Travel India

This quote beautifully sums up what it can be like to Monsoon Travel India.'The sheer sight of cascading streams, tumbling waterfalls and ferocious torrents carving their way through jagged cliffs and rocky gorges is simply breathtaking.'

What exactly is the monsoon?

For most of the year India is a fairly dry place to be but for one short season during the summer months - Mainly between June and September. In this season, rain clouds are carried in from the Indian Ocean by a seasonal wind called ‘monsoon’. The wind is in turn dependent on oceanic currents and more scientific aspects of climatology.

The prevalent winds in India general travel Northwards through India from the South-West direction, thus the wet season is known by the locals as the 'Southwest Rains'.

Best places to Monsoon Travel India

The cool monsoon air redolent with the smell of wet earth, murmur of squeaking frogs and chirping of insects is something that just needs to be experienced firsthand. Eagerly awaited each year, the Southwest monsoon lashes most parts of north, west and eastern India from June to September offering the much needed respite from the scorching summer heat of the plains. The Retreating Monsoon season, on the other hand, brings rainfall to the southern regions from October to December.

Even beautiful Goa is an awesome place to be during the monsoon, despite the fact that everything is closed and most of everything else has blown away, the monsoon here is pretty exciting.

How much does it actually rain during the monsoon in India?

Well the answer to this question is almost impossible to answer due to the spontaneous nature of the Indian rainy season. The coast always gets a lot more rain, for example Karnataka (in the south) gets a huge amount of rain but as soon as you start travel inland you may find that it won't rain at all!
Flooding is nearly always expected in places such as these:
Kerala, coastal Karnataka, Goa mountain ranges, Maharashtra. The rains in states are highly unpredictable – Some years there are floods and other years huge droughts.