Holiday Travel - The Legend Athens

VISITORS to the olympic games in Athens find that it is not so simple to find their way around the city: the capital is a large place, with 4 million life in the urban propagation. One of the best opinions of the old city is of a 277-metre-high rock, the Lykavittos, which is crowned by the white chapel by STR George.

According to legend the goddess Athene wanted to shift their handle on the Akropolise more naeeher in skies. During nighttime a Thunderstorm broke it off a gigantic block of the rock of the Pentili mountain, which it wanted to set on the Akropolishuegel. But, when them returned with the stone, two blackbirds with bad messages approached it. Athenia let the very large lumps of the chalk in the anger fall and caused the Lykavittos, and since at that time the city has an attraction more.

Today a modern wire rope course takes visitors to the summit in some minutes. But can be also climbed the Lykavittos with a Footpath, which leads by a Kiefer and a Zypressewald. The visitor with an opinion of the endless sea of the houses is greeted by the top side. The city will surround gulf by a mountain distance, which opens only to the southwest, to the Saronic.

Famous boundary stone the Akropolis (pix), the most famous boundary stone of the city, is an architectural masterpiece. It symbolises Athenian democracy with the distance of the buildings inclusively the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the handle of the Athene Nike and the Propylaea.

The Parthenon was established between 447 and 438 B.C. and its sculptural decoration in 432 B.C was accomplished. In the coming centuries the mountain went through some changes. During center the age the churches and the chapels and under Turkish guideline were established found a mosque with minaretts a place in the Parthenon. The Erechtheion became a Harem.

Greek classical authors to 18. Century gave it renewed interest in the Greek classical authors and some historical buildings in the different parts of the world, like Brandenburg of the gate in Berlin, by the Propylaea was spurred.

After Greek independence 1830, deleting work began over the Akropolis. Before independence lord Elgin, the British Ambassador in Konstantinopolise removed, some important works of art including the "Elgin marbles".

The Parthenon Fries, which can do metopes and pediments into the British museum in London is today seen. Since extensive work of the renewal was 1975 on the hill in motion. That whole scaffold was for the olympic plays. But the work is accomplished earliest only in the year 2006.

The Panathenaic stage was established on the place of assembly old stage, which was designed BC in 330 and later by novel into more musical and converted was the Gladiators competitions of an arena, in which the Athenians celebrated every four years sporting.

When Athens was selected as the scene of the first olympic plays of the modern times, the wealthy helped benefactors re-establish the stage. Baron Pierre de Coubertin opened the again developed stage, established in the white marble, 1896. More repeats itself than 2,700 years after first play history.

The airport is one of the most modern in the world. The place of assembly of the old airport was made one canoeing scene. After the plays the place of assembly becomes a gigantic water-free time center for Athenians. In January 2000, the underground course net was extended by two lines by 16 stations. Some the station announcement archaeological discoveries discovers during the structure work. Since pedestrians of this yearly from the handle of the olympic Zeus under the Akropolis to the Agora and to the Keramikos cemetary without concern to go can.

And a popular routistic place of destination, the Plaka range, a labyrinth of the narrow roads, Taverns, coffee and restaurants was cleaned above. Visitors cannot keep lost real, because the Akropolis is always in the proximity one point of the determining position. Under the Syntagma square is and leads to the Ermou buying route. In the middle in the road an old Byzantine church is dated and of the 11. Century. It is a Oasis of the isolation under the busy relocating.

Syntagma square is the political center of the city. It becomes by the parliamentary buildings, which controls former royal palace. The Obenmarkt Kolonaki suburb, house to many messages, is convenient also close. Kolonaki square characteristics many top side of the distance kind and way fashion shops with the international and Greek creations. Clothes, shoes, handbags and designer furniture can be bought... at a price. The slogan in the many restaurants and into the coffee of the range is not to be seen and seen and this is during the plays different.

Read More world holiday travel...

Summary only...

Holiday Travel - To return visit to the people of the water

The REMAINDERS of the furnaces to red bricks therearones, village of pottery can still be seen on the island of Kret, just as can of the remainders of the ancient civilization of my and of the migrants of my who started to mould hundreds of ground of flasks here of years ago.

The island is a short and scenic voyage of boat of the north of Bangkok, offering a pleasant day-voyage, of no-car of the congestion and the traffic of the Thai capital as well as an outline in one of the oldest cultures of the area. My were known as people of water, an empire of riverine which dominated much of what is now Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), before the rise in Thais and the Burmese.

Migrants of my who balanced the account on what is now island of Kret or KOH Kret because one knows it in Thai was refugees of the Burmese invaders who later captured and sacked the old capital of Thailand, Ayutthaya. Kret became an island in the 1720s with digging of a channel, of a short cut to accelerate the traffic of boat along the river with the new Thai capital, of Thonburi, and its successor of cross-river, Bangkok.

To arrive at the island of Kret is at least half of the recreation. Take modern Skytrain of Bangkok at the station of bridge of Taksin, the end of the line, which is only the jet of a stone of the pillar of Chao Phraya. Then take in Chao Phraya the upriver with Nonthaburi, also the end of the line, a voyage which will slow down you the baht 10 (probe 95). Hour-length travels of boat provides some great sights of old man and new Bangkok: smooth new hotels and condominiums dominating of slum out of wooden dilapidated; wats Buddhist coloured and century-old man, or temples, including splendid Wat Arun temple of the paddle (higher and left) better seen in the light of the morning or of the twilight early.

Pillar of Nonthaburi, the taxis are available for the baht approximately 90 (RM8.50) to Your Kret, house of the temple of Buddhist of Wat Sanam Nuea. And from there, it is a turn court of vat through the river in the island of Kret, which costs the baht 2 (probe 20) for the return ticket, gathered on the return voyage. Chao Phraya recently began a service of boat of excursion in the island of Kret for the baht 300 (RM28.50), leaving to 9am starting from the pillar Nonthaburi and turning over to 3pm. Culture of my on the KOH Kret the products of the island of Kret are famous. Ceramics particularly is very popular. Is thus food. Fish crepes are different anywhere elsewhere inside from Thailand, and the pink shrimps of river are famous just as obsolete candies.

To the bottom the side one to take the new service is that Sunday is the day by far most occupied on the island, with mainly the Thai swarming tourists to buy manual food and work inside. During a recent visit of Sunday, almost all the restaurants on the island were out of food per semi-after-midday. In more of the eating and buying memories, much of Thais, in particular those of descent of my, come to pay their regards at Wat Paramaiyikawat, the principal Buddhist temple of the island built by immigrants of my there is more than 200 years.

Support then, it was known by its name of my, Wat Pak ao, which means the "temple at the end of the course" due to its geographical position on the river. It was renovated by King Chulalongkorn after it visited the island in 1874 and retitré Wat Paramaiyikawat, which means the "temple of Grandmother of the King". Today, the driving pedestrian path starting from the temple around the island is furnished with the stands of remembering selling the basins My-model, the pots and ceramics the flasks of water.

Some of the furnaces with red bricks where the products of ground pottery are made remains, while resembling the giant red tortoises or the formless red elephants. Others are émiettent after decades of disuse, forming the walls of some of the houses close to the temple. Although the majority of the residents of the island are descendants of my, it is rare to hear the spoken ancient language. "the children today do not want to learn my, and the schools do not teach it that in any event," a supplier selling food along the pedestrian path said. "we had obtained tourists more and more coming here in 10 last years. Much development.

Now we have the concrete gratings." Continue to go, north or south, along the concrete walk which surrounds the island and the stands of remembering carry out thereafter to the countryside, where the grating is furnished with the houses of farm, of the orchards of fruit and some fields of padi. The island of Kret, as the remainder of the province of Nonthaburi, was known like field of fruit culture, covered in the orchards of mango, the lychee, grapefruit, the plum marian, the mangoustan (right) and the durian. But in the last two decades, the urban abandoned position of Bangkok of the developments of housing pushed the fruit orchards to the margins.

The walk around the island takes about a hour-and-a-half and better is appreciated in the fresh season, as from November at February. Although there is no car, be prepared to dodge some motor bikes, which whiz close less frequently on the remote side of the island. Over there, surrounded by relative peace of the surrounding jungle and the fruit trees, one can almost smell oneself transported again at a simpler and quieter time.

Read More world holiday travel...

Summary only...

Holiday Travel - The Beauty New Zealand's

AKAROA, or Riviera of the Zealand News on the island Of the south, while it is called affectionately, carries a charming mixture of British and French architecture. The left hills mark the beginning of the peninsula of banks, house with the port of Lyttelton, picturesque bay and the French pocket anglo small-striped colonial of Akaroa on the port.

Maoris of the tribe of Ngai Tahu discovered the charm of the peninsula well before the cook of James saw the port of Akaroa in the 1770s. In 1840, the French colonists arrived in Akaroa, which had been just claimed under the Treaty of Waitangi by English. The peninsula of banks is the result of the violent eruptions of three volcanos.

A crater nourishes the port of Akaroa and the compartments surrounding, notching the littoral. The remaining legacy of the fury of the ground. The kilometers of Eighty-five de Christchurch, the city is one hour and a half far on the road rising jusqu with the top of the volcano. The French influence is obvious, with Akaroa maintaining its line of history to the bottom with the names of road. Many streets have the French names like the street Villiard and the street Lavaud, and the line of bus that races of Akaroa with Christchurch is called French connection!

The descendants of the first French families live always here, and some of the original buildings out of wooden going up to 1820 remain, well maintained and always in service. The volcanic crater provides a rich environment for birds and the marine life. The indigenous reservations with the majestic trees of Totara are a recall of the forest of podocarp which cover the sheltered slopes. The breeding of the sheep dominated the local economy until the turning of the century. Now dairy industry and the cattle populations are added to the rural mixture. If you think that exploring a place which shouts the history is a yawn, then will swim with the dolphins of the fanfaron , the smaller world becoming a maximum length of 1.4m and less weighing than 50kg.

The population of the species is estimated only at 3.000. There are also trekking, horsemanship of horse and mountain-to make bicycle in the country, visiting the colony of joint, surfer, snorkelling and water-ski. You could like to go bird observing for gloves of oyster baseball, the stilts black and white, fantails, gulls, carpet with long hairs, pigeons out of wooden and penguins white-flippered, on fast yachts or boats.

Be informed, however, a turn of boat is not for the weak stomachs, which, discovered the hard manner, although you could want to face it while preparing with labels or wrist-bands of movement-disease. Seafood fresh and abundant Is being surrounded by the seafood of NZ of means of fresh and abundant ocean. The succulent fish, crayfish and the crawfish are recommended on the majority of the menus of restaurant and coffee. But much because I appreciated the food delicately seasoned with butter and grasses, I wished ardently for pepper a generous amount of my dish before we arrived in Akaroa our last stop on the island Of the south and could not help to think of the fresh hook in curry of fish of the mom or hot pink shrimp sambal, a feeling divided by a journalist of comrade who had with fish cooked with the vapor paresprit heavy on the ginger.

A visit with Akaroa is not complete without lunching of fish and the pieces with the store to carry famous fish and of piece on the road of beach, on out of wood puts except play under the nuance of the trees striping the port, sharing your food with a band of puffins, looking at outside the yachts in the distance. Oh... and remember that you should dig inside with your fingers to appreciate fish, as became obvious wrinklings of the eyebrows which I drew when I asked a fork and for a knife out of plastic. And if you need always a reason to visit NZ, then for some, this could do it. There is more course of golf of NZ per capita than any other country in the world more than 400 per 3.98 million people!

Read More world holiday travel...

Summary only...

Holiday Travel - Eating and sleeping-Manchester and London

HERE’S a brief introduction to some of the lovely hotels and restaurants we experienced during the Manchester and London tours. Where to stay

Lowry Hotel, Manchester: Walk into one of the chic rooms in this five-star hotel and you’ll be greeted by classical music lending elegant ambiance to a well-lit, inviting space that offers nice little personalised touches. The River Restaurant dining room, where an excellent breakfast is served, offers a view of the River Irwell.

The Cumberland Hotel, London: A member of the Guoman chain of luxury hotels, The Cumberland is filled with original sculpture, paintings, and artwork, making the lobby (pic right) a great place to sit and chill – though the over 1,000 designer bedrooms are great to be in, too. Walk out through its doors, make a quick left turn and you’ll find yourself spoilt for choice of high street stores as well as designer boutiques.

Where to eat

Choice Bar & Restaurant, Castle Quay, Castlefield, Manchester: A family owned business established in 2001, it has won numerous awards, including Manchester Restaurant of the Year 2003-2004 and Manchester Tourism Awards Taste of Manchester 2007. Our memorable meal there included the signature dish, pan fried king scallops on a Cheshire cheese scone with saffron sauce and chive oil. The duck breast topped with cool chilli and honey ice cream was interestingly different. For dessert, the sticky toffee pudding wins hands down.

Olive Press, Lloyd Street, Manchester: Popular with the locals, especially for special occasions, the restaurant serves pizzas, seafood, pasta, goat’s cheese with figs, cured ham and olives and platters. The chicken liver pate with quince jelly served on flat bread was our favourite starter while the vanilla ice cream with butterscotch sauce and fruit coulis ended the meal perfectly. If you’re lucky enough to celebrate your birthday there, let sous chef Lee Walker make it one to remember with a specially designed “birthday plate” (pic left) as opposed to cake! He creates 15 to 20 of these a week.

Read More world holiday travel...

Summary only...

Holiday Travel - Paris Sleeps and Eatings

HERE are some suggestions on where to stay and eat while in Paris and Nice.Restaurant Aphrodite, 10 Boulevard Dubouchage, NiceChez Flottes Restaurant, 2 Rue Cambon, Paris

Ellington Hotel, Boulevard Dubouchage, Nice

A boutique hotel in an excellent location just minutes from Avenue Jean Medecin and great restaurants. It has 119 rooms (designed along three different themes) with room rates ranging from 90 Euros (RM400) during the low season to 130 Euros (RM650) at peak season. What we loved best about the hotel were the jazz notes (framed photos of jazz greats at the bar and lobby area), energy saving auto-sensor hallway lights and the charming pink breakfast room that serves a delicious international breakfast.

Hotel Lumen, Rue des Pyramides, Paris

A newly renovated boutique hotel situated just three minutes’ walk from the Louvre, and on the corner of the famous shopping street Rue Saint Honore.

We stayed in a lovely single-bed room that has a ceiling to floor crystal chandelier and wonderful shower amenities. The staff are friendly, helpful and the service excellent. No impersonal machine wake-up calls but a pleasant voice that greets you and ensures you are up with a repeat call.

Packed with diners, the restaurant is a typical Parisian brasserie with Art Deco and stained glass décor, serving traditional French cuisine. Reasonable prices for its set dinner menu.

A chic yet casual restaurant with romantic al fresco dining; the glass window-walls and foliage circumscribing the restaurant creates a hothouse ambience. It offers classic and nouvelle choices but is famed for its set “molecular” menu (RM300 per pax); those who opt for the latter are in for a gastronomic experience with a difference. It is a showy affair, eliciting lots of gasps from guests watching panna cotta and mango juice transform into an omelette using gaseous substances at way below freezing temperature. Culinary art incorporating scientific principles at its best!

Restaurant Le 26 at 26 Boulevard Victor Hugo, Nice

Warm and inviting, the restaurant is a popular choice for family and social gatherings. We had two starters: a soup in a little glass flute and foie gras, followed by green tea risotto with Oliver’s truffle and a sumptuous dessert of panna cotta and fresh tangerine fisaliz.

Oliviera, 8 Bis rue de Collet, Nice

Run by Nadim Beyrouti and his wife Regina, this cosy little restaurant serves only the best and freshest of olive oils purchased directly from farmers.

Apart from beautifully presented salads that come in a riot of colours and hearty mains, what sets this restaurant apart from the others is the charismatic proprietor who walks from table to table with a bottle of olive oil in hand and lots of tales to share. His motto: good olive oil, good table!

Restaurant Pinxo, adjoining Renaissance Vendome Hotel, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris

Our favourite restaurant this trip, with food that tastes even better than it looks. Everything we were served was superb, especially the best-selling starter of succulent and tender squid grilled to perfection.

The restaurant is well-known for its minimalist design and innovative cuisine. Its name is derived from “pincher” or touch your plate with your fingers.

Read More world holiday travel...

Summary only...