| COSTA RICA | HAWAII | VACATION HOME RENTALS | RESORTS | PACKAGES | TIMESHARES |
posted by Charles H. Russo on Nov 22
About 180 stands will show at the Montjuic trade fair area in Barcelona the latest on photo brands and applications during Sonimagfoto. The fair will go until October 7 and you will be able to check on professional and consumer innovations, besides a great amount of photographer works at the exhibition spaces.
posted by Charles H. Russo on Jul 31
Computer experts on Monday unveiled a digital reproduction of ancient Rome as it appeared at the peak of its power in A.D. 320
posted by Charles H. Russo on Jul 31
Editor’s Note: August 16th marks the 30th anniversary of Elvis’ death.
I was a week shy of my 8th birthday when Elvis Presley died, and I still remember being in the playground at school with my friends when I heard the news. Even at that young age, I was shocked that such a prolific singer was gone.
Once I had grown up, I was reintroduced to Elvis by a friend and discovered his music all over again. I became addicted to his voice
posted by Charles H. Russo on Jul 29
Here’s a news flash: reality TV shows are really fake. Even when they’re travel shows.
A post at HotelChatter discusses the revelation that the Discovery Channel show “Man Vs. Wild” is a bunch of hooey. “In the end kids, remember–never trust reality TV.”
The story originally came from the New York Post, with the kind of headline we’d expect from them: Grylls’ Thrills Bogus. A producer from the show says that while host Bear Grylls was supposedly braving the elements and dehydration in the wilderness, he was really holed up in a nice hotel with comfy mattresses and cable TV. And it gets better:
posted by Charles H. Russo on Jul 29
Editor’s Note: The 52nd Venice Biennale runs June 10 - November 21, 2007
Venice hosts the 52nd Biennale in 2007
Venice brings to mind a glorious past of glamorous parties in Palazzo lining the Grand Canal: champagne flowing, voices chattering, rich fabrics rustling.
This year, I was lucky enough to be in Venice during the opening of the 52nd Venice Biennale. There were parties, there was champagne (fabrics, sadly, do not rustle much these days). I was privy to the glamour of it all from a lumbering vaparetto on the Grand Canal. But even getting a glimpse of people mingling on the rooftop of the Peggy Guggenheim Gallery, gossiping in the party-dressed Rialto Market and networking at the Palazzo Giustinian Lolin made me feel I was in Venice at a special time.
posted by Charles H. Russo on Jul 29
As I was walking past the newsstands today I noticed all the gossip magazines with Angelina Jolie on the front cover and it reminded me of my trip to Santorini.
A few years ago, my sister and I headed over to Santorini on a ferry from Athens as we had heard it was the most spectacular of the Greece’s islands. We had seen all the pictures of the white washed churches with the blue dome roofs and breathtaking views of the caldera and we wanted to experience it for ourselves.
posted by Charles H. Russo on Jul 29
On a recent long weekend break to Airlie Beach in Queensland’s stunning Whitsunday Islands, I was forced to consider the notion that there may be a place on earth better than Tropical North Queensland! What a thought! Having lived in Port Douglas for possibly the best 6 months of my life, this area of the world has a special place in my heart. Could The Whitsundays, being so similar, ever live up to the expectations created by Tropical North Queensland?
Ding Ding…let’s get reaaaaa-ddd-yyy to ruuuuuu-mmmm-ble!
posted by Charles H. Russo on Jul 29
I’ve been working on book called Traveler’s Tool Kit: Mexico and Central America with Rob Sangster, author of the original Traveler’s Tool Kit covering the whole kaboodle.
One daunting task for each chapter was to separate the spammy websites out there on each country from the ones that are truly useful. Below you’ll find a few of the latter. Since I mentioned Panama twice last week, let’s start with that one. Some of these are more useful that others, but surf around and you’ll likely find what you need.
Official Panama Tourism Site
Panama Ride
Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Charles H. Russo on Jul 29
A report out of the United Kingdom states that by the year 2020, approximately 45% of all household electricity will be consumed by gadgets. While this may not be news to some of us, who may have seen this trend occurring over the years, it may be a shock to learn some of the statistics of what is actually consuming the most energy.
Flat-screen TV’s were listed as one of the worst offenders, consuming energy at a rate that is nearly three times that of a standard TV, or a projection TV. For example, a 50 inch flat-screen, like a plasma or LCD would cost you roughly 90 pounds (about $140) extra per year on energy consumption bills, while a 50 inch projection TV would cost about 40 pounds (closer to $60).
posted by Charles H. Russo on Jul 28
Koh Phi Phi is one of the nicest places I came across traveling, I arrived a few weeks after the tsunami and to be honest the people of Koh Phi Phi had done a fantastic job of clearing up the debris. It was quite heart breaking as people were still diving around the shores looking for bodies and cleaning up the debris which was scattered out to sea.
Even though the island was now clean and safe there was very few tourists here, I would have said that there was about 50 of us. Which for an island which has around 2000 rooms was of great concerns for the locals. It was heartbreaking to be watching CNN and BBC news on the island which was reasonably immaculate considering what had recently happened, yet rather than the news channels broadcast how well the locals and tourists had cleaned up and got pretty much all of the coastal towns, villages and islands up and running again. The news channels were still telling people to stay away and were showing video clips from weeks previous. No wonder people didn
