So, for my first night in New York City, my friend took me to dinner for some spag bol and then we got a glass of wine afterwards. It’s so true what they say about New York, it never sleeps! It seemed like I could get anything at any time of the day, or at night for that matter. My friend made sure I made it back to one of the New York luxury hotels where he so kindly booked for me since I had no idea which hotel would suit my needs. He picked a perfect hotel. When he walked me to the lobby he told me to get a good nights sleep, because tomorrow he has tickets for us to see Kylie and then after that, he’ll take me top see a few more bands. But, before we go, he wants to take me the the Bronx zoo.

I thought when I came out here to visit him, he’d take me on the usual touristy tours, like the Statue of Liberty and some other hot spots, but that wasn’t the case. He made me feel very relaxed and ready for anything he might surprise me with.

Oh, I have to say I got to see Miranda (Helena Christensen) from ‘Sex and the City’ at a pub we entered, she was leaving and she offered us the table she just was sitting at! I couldn’t believe that she really is that skinny and pale. We just happened to ‘bump’ into her. What a thrill!

We had somewhat of a difficult time negotiating the streets, because there was this massive parade down 5th Avenue, it was Columbus Day. I had no idea New York loves to celebrate Columbus, but they do. But, what I really had no idea about was that I got to participate in the parade! My friend arranged for us to ride on the cars that had some official of the city in it. I’ve never been in a parade before, and let me tell you, it was so much fun. All I did was wave and all these people lining the streets wave back as if you’re someone important. It was so thrilling! What a unique surprise my friend had for me when I thought we were going to the Bronx zoo.

I think I’m going to have to come visit New York more often, and see what other surprises my friend will have for me.

Salt Lake City, Utah has a great number of impressive cultural attractions, landmarks and beautiful features. It is comfortably situated against the backdrop of fabulous mountain scenery. Audiences from all over the world were able to enjoy shots of the gorgeous geography in 2002 when Salt Lake hosted the Winter Olympics. That was an amazing year for this city and all of the hotels Salt Lake were filled to capacity during these historic competitions. The motto for these games was Light The Fire Within, which continues to serve as an appropriate saying for the city and residents of Salt Lake.

At the time of the 2002 Olympics, Salt Lake was the largest and most heavily populated area to host them. This record, however, was surpassed in 2006 when they took place in Turin. It will again be beat in 2010 when Vancouver will host these honored games. The winter Olympics are much different from those that occur in the summer and most of the observers have their favorite sport and competition for both. They also support and adore favorite athletes and Olympic champions frequently become national sports starts and heroes. Some of the most popular games associated with the Winter Olympics are figure skating, cross-country and Alpine skiing and bob sledding.

Figure skating has been part of the Olympic games since 1908 and has been an official part of the winter games since 1924. The number of entries for this event are fixed by a quota, which is set by the International Olympic Committee. The singles events for both male and female include 30 performers each and the doubles 24 couples and 20 in pairs. Bob sledding made its official debut in the 1924 Olympics with the four-man event. The two-main even was added eight years later and women’s bob sledding was not added until 2002. Each game series every participating country is allowed to enter two sleds in each race category. There are strict Olympic standards and guidelines regarding the size and weight of these sleds.

The Christmas decorations are stored away, and everyone has just about recovered from two months of holiday celebrations which lead up to the grand-daddy of parties, New Years Eve.  Now cities throughout the country can go back to their traditional, their smaller celebrations, festivals and events.  Baltimore luxury hotels throughout the city are gearing up for the arrival of tourists for such smaller but well known occasions that occur in their city during the month of January.

So if you happen to be traveling through Baltimore on business, or taking a post holiday vacation, these are some of the events that are taking place that you may find interesting. The tenth annual parade and celebration in honor of Martin Luther King takes place at noon on January 18.  Then the next evening beginning at 6pm the doors of the Charles Theatre will open and allow the first six hundred people in for free.  This is an annual free movie night presented by the City Paper.

Also on the night of January 19th, one of the rituals of winter in Baltimore is in honor of their favorite son, writer Edgar Allen Poe.  This is the night when just previous to sunrise, a cloaked person visits the graveyard at Westminster Hall where Poe is buried, and drinks a toast.  This person is in fact known as the “Poe Toaster” The figure has been seen, walking using a cane with a silver tip, and leaving three roses on Poe’s grave, along with the Cognac bottle missing the contents of just that single toast.  This has been going on since 1949.  While spectators do show up, no one has ever seen the face of toaster, however it is believed that the original poster died in 1999, and passed on this ritualistic responsibility to another disciple before they passed away.  Along with the roses and the Cognac, sometimes the toaster leaves a note as well.

For a less spooky celebration, the days of January 21 through 24, the Annual Baltimore Boat show takes place.  More than five hundred different motor boats, yachts and fishing boats will be on display.  This happens every year at the Baltimore Convention Center.  And then at the end of the month and flowing into a bit of February, the city celebrates the Baltimore Winter Restaurant Week. This is a great time to be in the city as most of the restaurants will offer package deals, allowing the opportunity to experience the culinary delights of the finest chefs at a price that is extremely affordable.  As you see, even though the holidays are over for the year, there is still much fun and celebration to be found throughout the month of January in the delightful city of Baltimore.

I grew up on the East Coast and was lucky to go on several field trips to the Statue of Liberty when I was a little girl. But, now that I’m married and have two children, I haven’t made it a priority to take them to see the statue when we go back to visit family. It just didn’t seem like an interesting draw at the time and there was too much else to do. Then, when it was closed to the public after 9/11, the statue completely dropped off our radar.

Then, in July, it was announced that the Statue of Liberty was re-opening to the public, I decided that it was time to take my family to New York and let them experience the importance of the statue. It took some planning on my part, making reservations at a New York boutique hotel, and booking tickets. The only way to get to the statue is by ferry and that costs $12.00 for adults and $5.00 for children. The tickets will also let us visit Ellis Island and Liberty Island. It cost me an additional $3.00 to venture up the crown. This tickets are for specific dates and time; the children need to be 4 feet tall and must be able to walk up all the 354 steps and walk back down; there’s no elevator. They limit groups to 10 people at a time, which makes for 3 trips per hour and 240 people allowed each day, so booking this trip was the tricky part, but I managed it quite well.

We were one of the first people on the ferry the day of our outing. We had to wait about an hour before we got our turn to climb the stairs inside the statue. We took full advantage of using the free ranger guided tour, which we were glad we did, because this way we didn’t have to read all the panels with information, all we had to do was listen and climb. Before we started our climb, we had to check in and they provide lockers for us to stash all our belongings. Basically, we could only take a camera and a cell phone. No food or drinks, so I made sure my children were well hydrated before the climb.

My children, two girls, were so thrilled with the tour!  Before we started the climb to the crown we visited the museum, another perk of the Crown tickets, which hosts full scale replicas of the Statue’s face and foot! Amazing site, the toe was bigger than my seven year old daughter! My entire family made it up to the crown without any problems and no complaints. The view from the crown is stunning.

When we got back to our hotel, my two girls told me that when they have children, they will arrange to take them to see the Statue of Liberty. I almost cried.

Spaetzle and beer are some of the treats that Bavaria has given to the world to enjoy. One of the best places to enjoy these treats is from an old village cafe, below the window, of one of the quaint hotels Augsburg Germany has available. This is a wonderful city to get a good dose of Bavarian style hospitality, food and ambiance. Augsburg is the third largest city in the Bavaria area of Germany. It is the second oldest city in all of Germany and it still has much of the charm that it had through its many years.

The restaurants in this city are still serving up the Bavarian Cuisine. Germans as a whole have a lot of pride in their communities and families and so they still love to cook up the foods that where created in this area. There are many different ways to make Schnitzel, Spaetzle and of course the wonderful sausages. Schnitzel is a dish made of fried meats like veal, pork or beef. Spaetzle is thick homemade noodles that are often topped with cheese and onions. Then of course there is the snack foods like soft pretzels.

All of these dishes are a perfect compliment to the wonderful wheat beer that this area is famous for. Lederhosen is what they were when they are serving up the weiss beer, like Franziskaner, at the Oktoberfest in Munich every year. It really is a must experience if you can make your plans to visit anytime between mid September and the first of October. The city is turned into a big carnival filled with vats of beer ready to be gulped. It has been going on for over hundred and seventy five years now and it is good people having some good fun. So hopefully you have a chance to stay in this area for a week or so there is much to food and beer enjoy as well as many nice people to meet.

It is always a pleasure to find something new in Singapore, and this eclectic and lively city is always moving and changing, so there’s always something new.  It’s one of the most exciting parts of visiting Singapore.  It’s almost as if this unusual city state were a measure of contemporary life, because it seems to run a bit ahead of the pace of the rest of the world.  There are many fascinating things here, and one of the most fascinating things is that if you return a month later, there’s even more than before.  There is a very lively local cultural scene, and there are also plenty of international entertainments always coming through.  It’s also a wonderful place to explore restaurants.  Singapore won’t disappoint, and even the most world wise traveler will love the tastes here.

Outside the restaurants, there is a terrific scene, or series of scenes, and it’s pretty fascinating to try to find your way around.  If you’re looking for shiny attractions that will appeal to a broad cross-section of people, there’s plenty to see and do.  If you’re interested in local or international art, there’s also a very lively scene happening here.  If you’re looking for goths, or punks, or tattoo culture, there’s that, too.  There may not be as much punk as you’d expect from a thriving urban culture, and there’s reasons it’s hard to find here, but with folk celebrities as outspoken as Chris Ho, there are signs that point the way to something pretty interesting.

He works as a dj, and can often be seen spinning under his name, and he also has a very interesting following under his other moniker X’Ho.  He makes records, and he rants a lot, and his rants, like some of his heros such as Jello Biafra, are very clever.  This is classic punk sensibility, where there is a message, and there is an intelligence to the whole design.  For those who don’t usually like the products of the subculture, this won’t be your favorite personality in Singapore, but it’s hard not to be very glad that he has the courage to exist, and the sense of humor to pull it all off.

Bremerhaven hotels is were you want to begin your journey into the city. This important port of Germany is considered a new city in relationship to the country’s cities as a whole, but it has always been a trade port. To this day it plays a large roll in Germany’s trade business. Lehe was a tiny town in the 12th century that had the only early inhabitants near what is now Bremerhaven. In 1827, the city of Bremerhaven was founded and built up from there. The Swedish royalty were the ones to fortify this city. The name was changed around a bit for a number of years. Charles XI of Sweden was the one who reigned over this area. The Duke of Bremen-Verden tried to build the castle, Carlsburg, in the city but was unsuccessful.

The bombing in World War II took out many of the early historical sites so there are only a few left now. The German Emigration Center and the German Maritime Museum are two of the main places for visitors to see the history of the city and the country. The Emigration Center has absolutely amazing productions and displays showing the very real history of immigrants leaving the country for far away places. It has become a great place to trace lost relatives and genealogy. The German Maritime Museum which is located on the historical harbor with so many wonderful exhibits. They have displays of different kinds of ship from different periods of time. In the harbor they have the Type XXI U-boat Wilhelm Bauer named the Seute Deem and a 1380s vintage ship, hansekogge. The Hansekogge was found in the Weser river in the 60s, refurbished and then given to the people.

It is also worth a trip to Lloyd-Werft shipyard. It is known for renovating and building large cruise liners. The Norway was built here. They also have an aquarium at the fishing port and a zoo which features Arctic wildlife both land and sea animals. So all you maritime fanatics this could be a great stop for you.

Singapore has really stepped it up a notch when it comes to hospitality. When you find yourself in this big city you can find some really tranquil places. One can check into one of many Singapore spas and just relax for the day. They offer all the wonderful soul healing treatments like massage of many styles, facials and aroma therapy. Sit and soak in one of many Jacuzzis or swim in warm pools. Sip on some healthy concoction that the attendant can bring by for you. Don’t bring any news to read. Instead, pick something that will lift your tired spirit and bring you back to believing again. If you want to stay in a tranquil environment but maybe get out and see some thing other than your toes on a towel, then hit
the Jurong Bird Park.

The Jurong Bird Park is truly one of the most impressive bird parks in the world. On the grounds of about 50 acres visitors can find information on 8,000 different kinds of birds for 600 different species. The are all visible and contained in some huge enclosures. They also have a bird theatre at the Pools of Amphitheatre. There you can see flamingos, cockatoos, hornbills, and macaws in there amazing colors and fantastically funny personalities. Then you can get joy out of the Penguin Parade which is set in a replica of an Antarctic home for Penguins. There you will see over 200 different kinds of Penguins from 5 different species. There is also 50 other sea birds to see in the same setting. Visitors will also be able to see the largest hornbill collection on the planet along with 100 species of Southeast Asian Birds. The Southeast Asian Birds have a wonderful habitat with simulated tropical rain and thunder storms each day. Don’t for get to stop in and see the Owls and Kiwis at the nocturnal house and the almost cartoonish colors of the Parrot’s in Parrot Paradise. What a wonderful extension of tranquility, plants and birds.

Sometimes it can be difficult to decide where you want to eat. This can occur anywhere, including the great city of New York. This can become compounded when more than one person is dining and it becomes more complex with the greater the number of people. Even for those individuals, and many of us are among them who have an absolute favorite restaurant and an absolute favorite meal, there can be times when even that just doesn’t sound interesting and you’re left feeling extremely hungry with nowhere to go. Tom recently had this problem, which is rare for him. He has been a life long resident of New York and he knows the city’s dining establishments inside and out.

However, last Friday night he had just finished a hard week of work and also just got paid. It is common for him to want to hang out and enjoy a great meal with some friends on payday. This day was no different than the others, however he just could not think of one place that sounded good. He was beginning to get on the nerves of his friends when finally Tony announced that they would be going to Cola’s on 8th Avenue and that was all there was to it. If Tom couldn’t agree to go and find something to eat there, that was just too bad. He was too hungry to sit around talking about food any longer. Tom new he had tired the patience of his friends and agreed to go with them to get some pasta at Cola’s.

This actually turned out to be on of the greatest meals he had eaten all year. After much deliberation he finally decided to have the Lasagna Classica and when it arrived the aroma alone lit up his taste buds. Tom loved his lasagna, which he had never before ordered there and declared Cola’s to be one of the best restaurants Manhattan. He now knew exactly were to come the next time he was famished yet wasn’t interested in anything. His friends, who were enjoying the Chicken Breast Romana, the Jumbo Prawns Positano and the Eggplant Parmigiana Rolatini didn’t raise their gazes from their plates when they announced somewhat sarcastically that they were happy for their friend.

We all know Texas is a big state and Texas has some pretty big cities. Lubbock is one of them and they do things in a big way here. Take Texas Tech, they are one of Lubbock’s largest employers and a recent study revealed that with the staff and students, Texas Tech University alone generated over $1.5 billion dollars in revenue for Lubbock. Now that’s pretty impressive. Another little tidbit about Texas Tech, they are the only Texas University offering a medical school, a law school and an undergraduate institution all at the same location. Texas Tech has had students attending from all 50 states and over 100 foreign countries.

Tourism is another huge industry for Lubbock and the surrounding area. Lubbock is a happening city, fun to visit, lots to see and do. Rock and Roll legend, Buddy Holly was born here, as were several country musicians such as Mac Davis and Delbert McClinton. There is an annual National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration held in Lubbock. Here’s your chance to get in on a chuck wagon cook off and horse parade, there’s handmade art exhibits, cowboy poetry and lots of music. The Depot District is a fun place for tourists; music and nightlife is plentiful here, lots of action. You will find numerous theatres, upbeat and fancy restaurants with matching menus, quaint shops and boutiques, pubs and there is a brewery and even a winery. You won’t want to miss this part of Lubbock.

And of course your stay wouldn’t be complete if you didn’t pamper yourself by staying at one of the fine Lubbock hotels Take advantage of the many amenities offered for your comfort and pleasure. You will find the staff to be friendly and polite, ready to assist in anyway. Start and end your day here and let your imagination fill in the middle.