Hotels Carolina Beach NC | "Island-Hopping In The Galápagos"

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Later we stand dazed on the dock in Puerto Ayora, having been ferried to Santa Cruz Island and driven here, to its town. Conversation in the group is muted: we do not know quite what to make of things. We have been to see Lonesome George, a famously ancient giant tortoise, the last of his line. Lonesome? He has five females for company (albeit of a separate subspecies) and as many human visitors as he could want. He appeared sunk in a hundred years of apathy, but then that would be hard to tell, on a tortoise, from an expression of sublime content. Puerto Ayora itself is a surprise. Although there are many uninhabited islands, the Galápagos has a human population of about 25,000. We were not expecting bars, restaurants and souvenirs. What were we expecting? Nature as we have never seen it? Contact with the extraordinary, some sort of transcendence? Patience: it is all to come…

The excitement begins on our yacht, the M/Y Galapagos Grand Odyssey (or Domenica, as the crew call her), anchored in rocking swells. The most recent luxury boat licensed for the Galápagos, she is definitely the deluxe option, granting a great deal of space to her 16 clients. We are welcomed by Xavi Cabrera: barman, steward and quite the kindest man who ever mixed a cocktail.

'We begin our navigation at midnight,' announces the guide, Fabricio Carbo. 'When you hear the engines take one pill…' Sleeping pills are a permanent offering, beside the chocolates in the saloon.

'Never!' I resolve. The Galápagos were a pirate hideout (a cache of their gold was discovered under the port's main street): would they have slept through their first navigation? Would the whalers? (Hundreds came here. Herman Melville had The Pequod pass the islands on its hunt for Moby-Dick.) And so I wake to the midnight clanks of the anchor chain. We set sail for Isabela Island. There is a huge penumbra around the full moon, as if its silver disc is the light at the end of a celestial microscope, focusing down on this distant world. Dawn comes with the anchor's rattle.

AAA/CAA Membership Hotels In Carolina Beach | "Last minute booking surge as millions of Brits flee bad weather over Easter"

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The grim weather at home is sending millions of Britons abroad in search of guaranteed sunshine over the Easter break, according to travel agents and holiday firms who have reported a surge in last-minute bookings and the strongest demand for seasonal beach holidays in a decade.

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Despite the prospect of travel chaos on roads and at airports as a result of the freezing weather and icy conditions – in what is predicted to be the coldest Easter since 1910 – airports are bracing themselves for the start of the busiest holiday weekend so far this year.

A threatened strike on Thursday by French workers at Calais, Dunkirk, Dieppe and Cherbourg could also delay ferries.

The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) predicts that more than 1.7 million British holidaymakers will head overseas for the Easter weekend, compared with 1.5 million last year.

Spain is the UK’s favourite foreign holiday destination, with the Canaries and the Balearics the most popular areas, and Egypt and Tunisia also top choices. Favourite city break destinations are Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, Rome and New York, while France and Austria – where great snow conditions have allowed many resorts to extend their seasons – are the most popular for skiers.

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Abta, said: “After two wet summers and no end in sight to the winter many Britons are desperate for some sunshine. We’ve seen a surge in last-minute bookings to warm destinations.”

The holiday company TUI Travel, which owns Thomson and First Choice, said online bookings to resorts such as Fuerteventura in the Canaries, Greece and Tunisia were up 73%, 45% and 37% respectively compared with last year.

Garry Wilson, managing director of purchasing for Thomson and First Choice, said: “With predicted highs of 24C in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, and 20C in Hammamet, Tunisia, on Easter Sunday versus just six degrees in London and four degrees in Manchester it’s easy to see why people are heading south for the long weekend.”

Thomas Cook said almost half its 28,000 bookings for Easter were to the Canary Islands, with Mexico the top long-haul destination.

The knock-on effect is brisk business at the airports – Heathrow is preparing for its busiest seven days of the year so far, expecting to handle up to 1.2 million passengers passing through its five terminals between Thursdayand next Tuesday. Thursday will be the busiest single day, with over 116,000 people heading abroad for last-minute skiing or guaranteed sunshine.

Regional airports, ferry terminals and the Channel Tunnel are expected to be busy. But a stoppage involving members of Force Ouvriere – who help marshal traffic – could lead to delays for ferry passengers.

More than 60,000 pasengers will be taking continental Eurostar services from the UK to France and Belgium over the Easter break, the company said – with many travelling to Euro Disneyfor the ongoing 20th anniversary celebrations.The tourism agency VisitBritain said 2.7 million Britons planned to take an overnight trip during the Easter weekend. Blockbuster new London exhibitions such as Pompeii at the British Museum and David Bowie at the V&A are expected to be big draws.

The RAC expects more than seven million motorists to be heading for a getaway in the UK or Europe, preparing for a “roads rush” by scheduling an extra 10% patrol hours for the four days from Good Friday. There could be gridlock in some areas with outstanding roadworks still in place, including a section of the M1 near Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire as well as part of the M4 near Reading in Berkshire.

The busiest “getaway” periods will be Thursday and Good Friday morning, extending through until Saturday. According to Trafficmaster the most congested stretches of motorway are likely to include all sections of the M25 – especially both ways around junctions 14-17 (Heathrow airport and M4, M40 interchanges) and parts of the M1. Network Rail said rail passengers were unlikely to suffer any disruption, although passengers travelling via Reading station will face diversions as a result of an ongoing £900m refurbishment.

This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk

Hotels Carolina Beach NC | "Google picks winners of contest to buy 'Glass' smart eyewear"

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If you applied for a chance to purchase Google Glass, you may soon be getting contacted by the tech company.

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The Silicon Valley giant said Tuesday it picked the winners of its "#IfIHadGlass" contest and will begin messaging them over the next few days to determine if they still want to purchase an early version of the smartglasses for $1,500.

Glass is a device Google unveiled last year that users wear on their heads like eyeglasses but the device has a video camera and a viewer. Users can live stream what they are viewing and have a video chat with other Glass wearers.

In February, Google launched the contest in which users had to write essays of 50 words or less on Google+ or Twitter explaining what they would do with Glass if they had the device. The company said at the time it would review each application and pick about 8,000 winners. Google did not say how many had won the right to buy the device.

QUIZ: How much do you know about Google?

Among its winners, Google said it chose Max Wood, a firefighter from Georgia, who said he would improve fire safety by using Glass to make pre-fire planning maps, and Shannon Rooney, who said she would wear Glass as she toured Japan so her grandmother in the U.S. could see what she was seeing.

Other winners include Sarah Hill of Missouri, who said she would use Glass to show war memorials to veterans in hospitals; Hershel Taghap of Seattle, who said he would use Glass to show others what it's like to be a line cook at a restaurant; and David Moriarty, who said he'd use Glass to improve doctor-patient interaction for clinical trials.

"It’s been inspiring for the team to see such an enthusiastic response to Glass," Google said in a statement. "When you’re taking a moonshot this big, the encouragement and feedback along the way really helps a lot."

Google hasn't said when the winners will be able to purchase the device and receive it, but the company previously announced that winners will have to attend an event in San Francisco, Los Angeles or New York to receive the device. Google won't pay for transportation costs.

The company has said it hopes to release Glass to the general public before the end of 2013, but for now, Google is focused on testing out the device among a limited number of users.

Carolina Beach Hotel Suites | "10 ways to improve the travel industry right now"

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Not simply because we like to travel or because we must travel, but because we accept that the world is an imperfect place and the travel industry an imperfect business that likes, when possible, to get by on the bare minimum.

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Nevertheless, there are some fixes that could be implemented quickly and cheaply that would make travel much more pleasant for everyone.

We seek neither the impractical (first-class leather seats in coach), the implausible (teleportation), nor the unrealistic (airport concourses that demand less walking than a breast cancer fund-raiser).

Even better, none of the brainstorms below are protected by patents, licenses or other legal restrictions, so Big Travel can feel free to scoop them up and begin making our lives better right away.

1. Update hotel check-in times


The 4 p.m. check in has become the norm. Could someone please inform hotels about flights that land before noon?

In 1946, the Tote’m convenience-store chain extended its hours from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., announcing its groundbreaking move by changing its name to 7-Eleven.

In 1974, the company now known as ACCEL/Exchange booted up the world’s first 24-hour ATM network.

In 2005, England and Wales ushered in the era of never-ending beer drinking by granting licenses allowing pubs to serve liquor round-the-clock.

Yet as nonstop commerce has created a sleepless planet, hotels remain mired in conventions of the 1800s, when the steam train rolled in and out of town once each afternoon and again the following morning.

With airlines cleaving away from the hub-and-spoke system -- which once rigidly controlled arrival and departure times -- in favor of more or less continuous schedules and red-eye flights, the hotel industry needs to restructure its own arrival and departure policies to reflect modern traffic flow.

Few miseries compare to landing in a city at 6 a.m. only to while away the morning in traveler’s purgatory awaiting an “early” 1 p.m. check-in that you had to grovel to get.

The major hotel chain that figures out a way to implement “anytime check-in” on a mass scale will become the new Hilton.

Unless, of course, Hilton gets to it first.

2. Invent a universal plug socket

A few years ago, tech-connected people lived in an era of many too gadgets and not enough laptop sockets, wondering why the hell devices couldn’t just share the same plug-ins.

Then someone invented the USB.

The travel industry is suffering from a similar connection problem.

Two thin pins in the United States; two round pins in Europe; three chunky pins in the United Kingdom; three even chunkier pins in India, with some smaller three-pins occasionally used for really old lamps.

There are attempts to paper over this dilemma. But what if you’re not lucky enough to be in a business hotel with a full 3x2 foot panel dedicated to a dozen types of plug shapes?

What if you don’t want to carry around three different personal plug adaptors that might work, if you’re lucky?

China has started to try to solve this problem, with some hotels employing single, all-purpose wall sockets able to accept various shapes and numbers of pins.

Isn’t it time everyone started doing the same?

3. Bring us the check

Introducing the future of good service -- the coffeecheck.

Nothing spoils a meal like being held hostage to an uppity or lackadaisical waiter’s notion of when you’ll be allowed to leave the restaurant.

Checks should be delivered with the final course, at least for businesses lunches.

4. Abolish institutionalized taxi extortion

One of the enduring mysteries of travel is the shocking percentage of municipalities that allow the first impression of their cities to be an extortionate US$65 cab ride from the airport to downtown.

Does the Mafia run every taxi company in the world?

Is it too much to ask that visitors to major cities be spared from getting fleeced as if they’ve concluded a losing transaction with a neighborhood bookie as soon as they get to town?

Affordable rides into the city would eliminate a significant amount of the stress and hassle endured by visitors coming to a place for the first time.

If private enterprise can’t responsibly accommodate tourists, local legislation should be employed to force them into it.

5. Offer upgrades whenever possible


Worth it, just for the smiles.

Airline upgrades are the Bigfoot of the travel world.

People talk of them in hushed tones, with shrugged shoulders, their faces darkened in some corner of a rural tavern as they exchange secrets on how and where you might be able to score one.

Surely this is ridiculous.

We understand the consumer psychology behind premium-level status -- you start giving away your exclusive product and suddenly it’s no longer exclusive.

But while most consumer-facing industries like to improve customer experiences whenever possible, the airline industry seems to go out of its way to keep its passengers grumpy and miserable.

The hotel industry is a little better. Taj Hotels has a policy of upgrading to the next level of room or suite if available when you check in.

But for the most part hotels avoid upgrading, too, and we suggest at some cost.

Wouldn’t the word-of-mouth and social media praise be worth it from customers grateful for surprise upgrades if they occurred more often?

6. Retire the beverage cart on short flights

Responsible for more mashed toes and dislocated elbows than the UFC, these 300-pound chariots of doom present passengers in aisle seats with a constant danger, cost airlines millions and keep us from hitting the head at precisely the moment we most need to.

To shave expenses, airlines have already done away with most food. The next logical step is ending the tiresome drink service that creates more trouble than it’s worth.

For flights of two hours or less, hand out bottles of water and sell beer, wine and drinks in the departure lounge. This will save the airlines money and labor and, for customers, eliminate the risk of being sideswiped every five minutes by the polyestered haunch of an exhausted flight attendant horsing a Sisyphun weight up and down the aisle taking drink requests and barking orders -- “Keep your feet in!” “Watch your knees!” -- with all the élan of the guy who sits in the booth and weighs you in at the dump.

7. Just stop talking, please

How many "last and final calls for boarding" do we need?

The first port of call for most vacations -- the airport -- is invariably an unending and un-ignorable procession of barely decipherable Tannoy announcements, most of which are entirely superfluous.

Noise equals stress, so airports should be minimizing it wherever possible, not adding to it.

We know by now to keep our luggage with us at all times, that airports are non-smoking areas and if you have had to call Mrs. Bawdwallah nine times to “proceed immediately to gate number 12,” it’s safe to say she doesn’t care or she isn’t able.

8. Eliminate the paper trail

Why do we need a tissue-thin napkin every time someone on an airplane hands us four ounces of water in a urine-sample cup?

Former American Airlines chairman Robert Crandall once famously saved his company US$40,000 a year by eliminating the olive from salads the airline once served onboard.

A small redwood forest could be recycled from the napkins airlines plow through each year.

9. Booking should be more transparent

Good value, if you can find it.

You think you’ve found the deal of a lifetime, till you click “checkout” and the price suddenly doubles due to the airport tax.

Or you spot an airline ad for “US$10 deals” to the other side of the world, but you have to book on exactly the right day and on the right flight to take advantage and they don’t mention when that is.

A little transparency from the start would go a long way to making the booking process far better.

10. Give us our phones back

If you can get a 300-ton hunk of iron and aluminum into the sky, surely you can figure out a way for us to use our iPads without it causing a disaster?

Carolina Beach Hotel | "Apple Sells 2m iPhone 5s In China"

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Apple has confounded Wall Street's expectations by announcing it sold more than 2m iPhone 5s in China, a record for the company, after a launch on Friday that observers had thought low-key.

Chief executive Tim Cook said the sales – which were allotted by online lottery to defeat gangs who buy and resell the handsets – had been "the best first weekend sales ever in China" in a statement.

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Sources including Shanghai Daily said that even if Apple's stores were comparatively quiet, its carrier partners selling the iPhone 5 had a busy weekend, with people signing up to buy the handsets with contracts through China Unicom and China Telecom. Before the launch, China Unicom had had 300,000 preorders for the device, compared with the 200,000 it had for the iPhone 4S in January.

Even so, Apple's stock was downgraded by at least one analyst, as Citi Research cut its recommendation from "buy" to "neutral", suggesting people shouldn't buy or sell it. Citi Research also lowered its target for the stock to $575 (£355) from $675, saying there was growing competition in smartphones and lower excitement around the iPhone 5.

The announcement by Apple seemed calculated to respond to reports on Friday suggesting the lack of queues at its stores meant a lack of interest. In fact the online lottery – instituted by the company after near-riots around the launch in January of the iPhone 4S – meant customers could come into stores at any time to pick up a handset if they were allocated one in the scheme.

China is the world's largest smartphone market, and growing fast, dominated by cheap devices built on Google's Android software. Apple's key problem is seen as the lack of a contract with China Mobile, the country's largest mobile operator, which has more than 700 million customers.

The iPhone 5 was launched in the US and 30 other countries in September, and will be on sale in more than 100 countries worldwide by the end of December – the company's fastest rollout ever.

That makes direct sales comparisons with previous years hard, but also means greater volumes for Apple overall in the increasingly competitive smartphone market, where smartphones using Android have a dominant – and growing – share, and new competitors using Microsoft's Windows Phone software have begun rolling out.

Carolina Beach Hotel Deals | "How drones teach kids science & math"

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The orange high-flying craft spotted on an elementary school playground may look like just a toy to parents, but the drone is a new tool that teaches youngsters some pretty sophisticated science and math concepts.
The NSF drone is part of EnLiST, a school outreach program at the University of Illinois funded by the National Science Foundation. TechNewsDaily had the opportunity to learn about the program from Matthew Schroyer, the project's drones for schools developer, at the recent South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin.

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He said EnLiST, which stands for Entrepreneurial Leadership in STEM Teaching, is intended for kindergarteners through high schoolers. The idea is to improve learning in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines.
[See Also: Watch video of a drone in action] "As soon as we get these unmanned systems into the classroom, engagement soars," Schroyer said.
High schoolers make their own aerial robots and program them. Younger students get to touch the drone, operate it and learn about its history, he said. But it's not limited to the classroom — the program includes using these unmanned fliers in the real world.
Older students in Illinois are working on ways to help local farmers use drones for monitoring crops. Elementary school students run an obstacle course with the drone to experience how and why drones can get to places that people can't. Schroyer shows children how a drone could help find a lost dog

Hotel Reservation in North Carolina | "The art of travelling light"

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Whether you are jetting off to a far-flung destination or looking forward to a luxury weekend getaway closer to home, the stress of packing can really take the edge off your sense of anticipation. Packing for a holiday really doesn’t have to be a stress-inducing experience though, particularly not for those planning to stay in luxury accommodation. Stick to the following tips for travelling light and you will be well on your way to minimising packing stress (even if you are not ready to limit your luggage to the bare essentials just yet).

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It is worth remembering that the more upmarket your hotel, the more little extras you can expect to be provided and the less you will need to pack. You definitely won’t need to pack a towel or any toiletries and may well be provided with fluffy slippers, a dressing gown, or even an umbrella.

Following these steps should help alleviate a lot of your packing stress, leaving you free to concentrate on looking forward to your holiday.

Look for a suitcase or luggage bag that is lightweight when it is empty. You will be able to carry far more than you would be able to in a heavy suitcase.
Roll your clothes. This makes maximum use of the space in your bag and helps garments to stay wrinkle free.
Wherever possible, buy travel-sized toiletries. Shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste and even sun cream are all available in mini bottles and take up far less space than their full-sized counterparts.
Find out ahead of time whether bulky items like towels and a hairdryer will be provided at your destination. If so, leave them behind! Try to be strict with yourself about what you really need.
Bookworms beware: books are heavy and their weight will add up very quickly. Consider an e-book instead.
It is a good idea to take clothes that are from the same colour family. Packing an assortment of coordinating items allows you to save on space, leaving clothes that don’t match at home.
Take a good look at the contents of your suitcase next time you are unpacking after a holiday. Make a note of everything as you unpack it and decide honestly if you really need to take it with you next time. If you realise you forgot to take something important, make a note of that too. Leave this list inside your luggage bag so that you will find it straight away when the time comes to pack for your next luxury getaway.

AAA/CAA Membership Hotels In Carolina Beach | "The 46 Places to Go in 2013"

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Fifty-three years after Brazil’s federal government decamped to Brasília, and decades after São Paulo took over as the country’s business capital, Rio is staging a comeback. With the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics (plus an oil boom) providing the impetus, the tropical city perhaps most famous for its Carnival hedonism is on its way to becoming a more sophisticated cultural hub.

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In January, the Cidade das Artes, or City of the Arts, was inaugurated as the new home of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. On March 23, Casa Daros — an outpost of the Zurich-based Daros Latinamerica Collection — will open in a renovated 19th-century building with an exhibition of Colombian artists. March will also mark the opening of the Rio Museum of Art in Praça Mauá, a once decrepit port area now being revived. (The Santiago Calatrava-designed Museum of Tomorrow, also in the port area, is scheduled to follow in 2014.) Shopping, a Rio obsession, got a boost in December when the luxe VillageMall opened; it will soon house the city’s first Gucci outlet and South America’s first Apple Store. Special events also dot the coming year’s calendar, including the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day in July, the biennial Rio Book Fair starting in late August, and September’s Rock in Rio. And, of course, there’s soccer: the finals of the Confederations Cup, considered a dress rehearsal for the World Cup, will be held in a completely overhauled Maracanã Stadium on June 30. —  Seth Kugel

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The European Capital of Culture designation (two cities get the title annually) often spotlights a destination that has become an up-and-comer on its own merits in the last few years, which is certainly the case with this ancient port town on the Mediterranean. A vibrant ethnic melting pot,

 Marseille is also home to an increasing number of contemporary art and avant-garde performances. Exhibition spaces include the 2,000-seat Le Silo, a landmark granary that’s been transformed into a theater; the Panorama, an ex-tobacco factory now home to modern installations; and J1, a hangar on the old port that will host a number of events. While in town, book into a stylish hotel like the four-bedroom Casa Honoré or the new cheap chic Mama Shelter Marseille.

Oceanfront Hotels In Carolina Beach | "Sherlock Holmes, Jim Bowen and The Guardian's botched hatchet job on Pope Francis"

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Filming of the third series of the BBC’s Sherlock begins on Monday, and it’s been confirmed that there will be a fourth. This news will either delight or horrify Sherlock Holmes obsessives, one of whom, it was reported on Thursday, has been caught cyber-stalking the actor playing the detective, Benedict Cumberbatch.
I say delight or horrify because Sherlockians, as they’re known, never agree on anything. I’ve been immersed in the Conan Doyle stories since I was 10 years old, and my bookshelves groan with volumes in which experts pore over “the canon” like biblical scholars dissecting Holy Writ.

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A Sherlock Holmes Commentary by D Martin Dakin devotes a chapter to analysing every story. The Beryl Coronet, for example, is the tale of a young man wrongly accused of shameful theft. Dakin begins by asking: when precisely did this happen? Hang on, you might say, it’s fiction – but that would be to break the rules of the intricate Sherlockian game, in which Holmes and Watson are real people and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle merely Watson’s “literary agent”.
“I think Dr Zeisler has made a cast-iron case for Friday 23 February 1886,” says Dakin. “The client left the coronet with Holder the banker for four days and said he would reclaim it on Monday: therefore he called on Holder on a Thursday and Holder visited Holmes on Friday.”
Further evidence includes “a combination of meteorological records from Whitaker, including snow in London, sunshine in the morning and moonlight at 2am”. A rival date of 1883 put forward by another scholar is dismissed on the grounds that there was no snow in London in February 1883 “and snow plays too essential a part in the story to be discarded”.
Dakins’s nitpicking is witty and he has a sharp eye. Holmes “had remarkably bad luck with colonels”, he observes: Col Sebastian Moran, a deadly assassin; Col Moriarty, who tried to protect his evil brother; Col Walter, who stole the Bruce-Partington Plans; Col Upcott “of atrocious conduct”; Col Ross, “who was unpardonably rude to Holmes”, etc.
The origins of this odd game are intriguing. The Catholic scholar Mgr Ronald Knox invented Sherlockian “higher criticism” in order to tease liberal biblical scholars who used inconsistencies in the Gospels to dismiss Christian teaching. Knox wrote a mock-scholarly article exposing the hundreds of baffling inconsistencies in Conan Doyle’s stories. The game was then taken up by Dorothy L Sayers, who clashed with Knox over the identity of the unnamed university attended by Holmes.
“Oxford!” said Knox, pointing to clues in The Musgrave Ritual indicating Christ Church. “Cambridge!” said Sayers. In The “Gloria Scott” we learn that as a second-year undergraduate, Holmes was bitten by a bull terrier as he went down to chapel, and only in Cambridge was a second-year student likely to be living in college. A century on, the debate continues.
The Sherlockian movement, also big in America, verges on a cult – one to which I once felt myself drawn. Years ago I joined The Sherlock Holmes Society, but never attended their meetings because I was afraid I might get sucked in.
Also, Sherlockians hold events at which they dress up as characters from the canon – the fat blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton, or the fusspot housekeeper Mrs Hudson. There I draw the line (at least in public). But what a glorious example of Anglo-Saxon eccentricity – as puzzling, in its way, as any of the mysteries solved by the Great Detective.
It’s tough at the top of the BBC
Are BBC executives receiving enough professional help to enable them to cope with the dangerous levels of stress at Broadcasting House? The answer, thank the Lord, is yes. The Beeb (that is, you and me) has just forked out £130,000 on “counselling” services. Quite what counts as stress in the upper echelons of the BBC isn’t clear. Not being able to secure a table at the Wolseley for that all-important breakfast with “Baroness Helena Kennedy” (as she incorrectly styles herself), perhaps. Or needing a Conservative voice for a discussion about Europe, finding that Michael Heseltine and Ken Clarke are booked up, and – gasp! – having to invite on a proper Tory instead.
A papal bull for our times
No sooner had Pope Francis appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s than Twitter wags were saying: “So that’s what happened to Jim Bowen.” I wasn’t sure that the former Bullseye host was still with us, as they say, but I’m glad to learn that he is, aged 75, having recovered from two serious strokes last year.
He has a nice line in self-deprecating humour, does Jim, who in an earlier incarnation was deputy head of a primary school in Lancashire. Of his famous darts quiz, he says: “People watched it because they couldn’t believe it was so bad. I reckon they went to the pub on Sunday nights and said, 'It’s got to get better, surely?’ And it didn’t!”
His best line? “I still can’t believe we had speedboats as prizes. The only contestants who ever won them lived in top-floor flats in Coventry.”
Waffle that just doesn’t add up
Talking of the new Pope, the Guardian didn’t wait long before sticking the knife in.
No sooner was his identity known than editor Alan Rusbridger immediately tweeted a link to a 2011 article by Hugh O’Shaughnessy, hard-Left megabore, that accused Cardinal Bergoglio of conniving with the Argentine navy to hide political prisoners during a visit by human rights inspectors.
O’Shaughnessy’s source? An Argentine journalist, Horacio Verbitsky. One snag: as the Guardian later admitted, Verbitsky “does not make this claim”. So the story was false and a gross libel.
Meanwhile, the Independent was in full here’s-one-I-prepared-earlier waffle mode: “If Rome’s new head rules for as long as John Paul II, the chances are he will either be remembered for halting the decline of Catholicism in the secular world – or failing to stop it altogether.”
Indeedy-doody. Plus, of course, he’d still be Pope at the age of 102.
Very sweet, but could it be a syrup?
Is Michael Fabricant MP a secret brony? That’s the name for a male fan of the My Little Pony franchise; unmarried gentlemen, on the whole, who indignantly reject the claim that there is anything effeminate about their hobby. Quite right. I know of at least one senior Anglican bishop who is an influential brony. I only ask because Mr Fabricant this week briefly adopted a My Little Pony toy as his Twitter avatar. Very sweet it was, too, speckled blue with a golden mane resembling the politician’s own tresses. I haven’t identified which model it was, but in the interests of accuracy I hope the 62-year-old Conservative member for Lichfield chose a pony whose tonsorial arrangement is, like his own, fully detachable.

Hotels In Carolina Beach | "Knocking on doors in search of a good story"

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I’m sure many writers will identify with this. Your story gets published and while you might be pleased with the finished article there’s something that the readers will never know: that what you’ve shared with the reader is only half of the story. Indeed the untold back story to an article is often more illuminating than the article itself.

So it was with my recently published article on the BBC Travel site about Jewish Krakow (pdf here for UK folks). I thought I’d use this blog to share my experiences researching this story in Krakow as the experience taught me a lot about the work that can be involved in securing a commissioned story.

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First of all, a bit of background. I had a commission to write a feature on Krakow for the National Geographic Traveller magazine (in the current March 2013 issue). As freelancers will appreciate an overseas journey for one story alone is not the most efficient use of time, so I pitched two other ideas. One was immediately accepted (Microbrewing in Poland – pdf) while my rather vague pitch for an article about Jewish Krakow was pushed back to me; I needed to come up with a more focussed angle and I knew I’d have to find it while I was out in Poland.

I flew out to Krakow for two days. On the first afternoon I rushed around collecting the information I needed for my city guide (thankfully I am already familiar with Krakow so I had an advantage here) and the evening was taken up with the arduous task of touring the city’s ale houses.

I had the entire second day to search for an angle for my Jewish Krakow story. My first port of call was the Oscar Schindler factory – an excellent museum telling the tragic story of Krakow during the war years. I was here for 90 minutes and could have easily spent half a day watching the videos and absorbing the testimonies of those who lived through the city’s darkest period. But I didn’t find a real hook on which to build my story.

I then wandered around the streets of Podgorze, the area of the city the Nazis set aside as the Jewish ghetto – it’s a down-at-heel district of Krakow, with a few haunting memorials to the atrocities that took place here; but still nothing stood out for me in terms of a story.

By lunchtime I was back in Kazimierz, known as the Jewish quarter but on the surface resembling an open-air museum of Jewish heritage.  I had heard of some recent immigrants from Israel who had come here to re-establish a Jewish community in the city; I was keen to meet them and was now convinced that this was my hook.

Finding them proved to be easier said than done. I visited the Jewish Cultural Centre and while the staff were cheery and welcoming they couldn’t shed much light on any recent arrivals. They did point me towards a newly opened restaurant and when I arrived there the waiter did indeed confirm that the owner had recently arrived from Israel. Sadly however he was out of town. Could I return tomorrow? I walked away and tended to my hunger with a plate of pierogi, slowly accepting that my quest might draw a blank.

Re-energised by my hearty lunch I set off and soon cast off my inhibitions about walking into any business that appeared to have a Jewish connection. My task was made harder by the fact that it’s apparently cool to look Jewish in Kazimierz and places with no Jewish links are prone to use a bit of Hebrew writing.

After drawing a few more blanks I finally stumbled into the Galeria Szalom, where the owner’s warm welcome suggested she was happy to have someone relieve the boredom of a quiet Thursday afternoon. I explained my mission and she smiled and immediately called up her friend, a lady Rabbi who came to Krakow from Israel to lead the city’s progressive Jewish community. Rabbi Tanya had only just returned home from a trip away and after a quick chat she kindly offered to put off her unpacking to come to the gallery and speak with me. And so after several hours plodding the streets and many doors pushed with no success, I knew I finally had my story.

The experience taught me several lessons that I have tried to take on board in my efforts at staying afloat as a freelance writer. I learned the value of targeting a pitch so that an editor can see clearly that there’s a good story to be told; I saw the importance of stacking up the commissions for a trip to provide the best return on the time spent away from home; but most importantly I saw that if you keep trying, sheer persistence in hunting for a good story will usually bring its rewards.

Discount Hotels In Carolina Beach | "Paralympics 2012 dates and data"

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“The practice of sport is a human right”
“Any form of discrimination [...] is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement”
“To enable Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and inspire and excite the world”

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These quotes show clearly that International Paralympic Committee and movement were born with the spirit of highlighting athlete’s achievements and not their disabilities.
Paralympics history started when a Jewish doctor flied from Hitler to the English shores in 1939. The prominent neurologist Dr. Gutmman obtained from the UK government a grant to continue his research in spinal injury, concluding that sports were the best way to recover patients’ strengh and self-esteem.
At the hospital of Stoke Mandeville he began a competition among British soldiers with injured spine cords from the WWII the day the year 1948 was opening a stronger Olympic London to an after-war world. Four years later, IWE -International Wheelchair Games- obtained the I with the participation of Dutch veterans and the recognition from the International Olympic Committee.
Rome 60 open the Paralympic Games to everybody -not just for veterans of war- but still only for those in wheelchairs. From Toronto 76 on, every disability became admissible booming the number of games and contestants.
One of the greatest milestones was Seoul 88, when the South-Koreans decided to host the Paralympics right after the Olympics and in the same venues, granting a spirit of equality and awareness that lead the International Paralympic Committee to formalize it in 2001.

Queen Street, Glasgow, July 2012. Olympic and Paralympic logo
Starting this 29th of August and celebrating human ability till September 9th Paralympic Games 2012 London will amaze the world even more than Olympics did. This Wednesday 29th at 20:30 pm GTM, like every Olympiad, the best sports people from all over the world gather to tell human body to run its fastest, jump its highest and resist its longest, reaching heights that seem to have no ceiling at all.
Everyday, millions of disabled people remind their bodies to forget what their missing and improve the performance of what they have, succeeding in life and inspiring everybody to dream higher and do better.
Paralympics 2012 will see 1,100 athletes trying to beat both Herculean goals at the same time. Not only do they push their body’s limits harder than anyone but they understand there are no limits at all: several disabled athletes have competed and coped in the Olympics.
Sports are divided according to the category of the athletes’ disabilities -ranging from amputee to cerebral palsy- since not every sport is suitable for any kind . Once categorized, the level of impairment groups the final teams and contestants.
The level of media coverage and audience interested in Paralympics has been rising since the massive broadcast and webcast from Sydney 2000. Paralympic swimming and wheelchair basketball are the most wanted ones -Thursday 30th are yours- but why not find about boccia or 5-a-side football in Paralympics 2012?

Carolina Beach Hotel | "Losing Norms and Values"

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Weekend always come as a relief from hectic routine of 5 working days. I always make sure to make these 2 days ideal for me and for my family. Thus this time we planned to watch a movie and went to posh movie area in Bahria Town. The place is beautifully decorated with full emphasis given on the comfort of audience. Mainly young lot is the target audience who are more tuned to visit and watch movies mostly with friends. In a nutshell the place is well maintained and organized.

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Finally the curtain rose (just a phrase as there are no such curtains their), and as per normal custom, it directed to stand for the National Anthem. National Anthem started, as a norm me and my husband stood up in the respect and honor of national anthem. To my surprise, only 4 to 5 youngsters manage to stood up, while remaining remained busy texting, gossiping, eating pop corns etc. I looked around and said to my husband, it was just US Standing, weren’t we all supposed
to stand? He replied, these are today’s kids (as if we were decade older ones) I can still recall this practice back to our school days some 7 8 years back, when at the end of morning session, National Anthem would play and we all would sing it along and pay homage and tribute to our Country.

I am not here to give sermon to our youngsters or complaint as it is not their fault. It is the fault of our system, maybe our media. When we have started celebrating “valentine’s day” with more vigor, enthusiasm and charm as compared to Independence Day or Pakistan day, then such things are bound to happen. It has become normal practice that people spend Eid holidays sleeping all day (mostly think it is the Holiday they get disguised in the form of Eid) and rather enjoying and spending time with family, they sleep/ rest all day.

Oceanfront Hotels In Carolina Beach | "25 Unusual & Fun Things to Do in Scotland"

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I love Scotland but then I would say that as I’m Scottish. However, I’m sure you can appreciate why, once you’ve read about some unusual and fun things to do in Scotland,  selected from posts about Scotland written by the Europe a la Carte blogging team. If you want to explore beyond the major Scottish cities, you’ll need to hire a car, as there’s isn’t much public transport in rural areas.
North of Scotland
Admire the Beauty of St Ninian’s Beach, Shetland Islands
I visited the Shetland Islands for the first time in May 2010 and they are absolutely beautiful.  My favourite spot was St Ninian’s Beach, which was recommended to me by the taxi driver who picked me up at the airport. Which just goes to show it’s always worth asking locals for tips. If you stay in the Shetland capital Lerwick, you can explore the main island from there and/or take day trips to some of the smaller islands.

St Ninians Beach, Shetland Islands
Go North at Dunnet Head
Andy visited Dunnet Head, which is the most northerly point of the UK mainland and not John O’Groats as popularly believed.

Dunnet Head by ifry
Get in Touch with Your Mystical Side at Callanish Stones, Hebrides

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Andy also wrote about his visit to the Callanish Stones, a stone circle on the Island of Lewis in the Hebrides. I’ve been to the stones on a misty morning when no-one else was there and it was a really mystical experience.

Callanish Stones by luxpim
Marvel at the Cliffs on Staffa, Hebrides
Andy thought that the hexagonal basalt cliffs on the island of Staffa look like they’ve been sculptured but it’s all natural.

Staffa by wjmarnoch
Go Underground at Smoo Cave, Durness, Highlands
Durness is the most north westerly village on the UK mainland. Taking a boat trip into Smoo Cave is the best way to see the interior.

Smoo  Cave
Be Amazed You’re so Far North at Inverewe Gardens, Highlands
Inverewe Gardens, located on the west coast close to Poolewe in Wester Ross, lies in a sheltered bay warmed by the Gulf Stream. I’ve been there twice and it’s hard to believe that you’re in the north of Scotland.

Inverewe Gardens
Be Wowed by Colour at the Biblical Garden, Elgin
The very colourful Biblical Garden in Elgin contains all 110 plants mentioned in the Bible.  The sculptures around the garden are based on characters in various parables including the Good Shepherd and the Prodigal Son. You can see all my Biblical Garden photos on Flickr.

Biblical Garden, Elgin

Imagine Watching Horse Racing from Pitfour Observatory, Aberdeenshire
Pitfour Observatory was constructed by a rich Lord to get a good view of the race track he had specially made, so he could indulge in his hobby of horse racing while still on the grounds of his estate.

Pitfour Observatory

Central Scotland
Visit the Queen Mother’s Birthplace at Glamis Castle, Angus
Andy asked if Glamis Castle is Scotland’s prettiest castle.  I’m not sure about that as it’s got some stiff opposition and it didn’t make my three favourite Scottish Castles. It was the birthplace of the mother of the current UK monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.

Glamis Castle by Andy Hayes
Imagine Yourself in Antarctica at Discovery Point, Dundee
Board the Antarctic explorer Captain Scott’s ship at Discovery Point in my city of birth Dundee, where the ship was built. You can buy a joint admission ticket for the Verdant Works which tells of the history of Dundee’s jute industry. Here are my recommendations for hotels in Dundee.

Discovery Point, Dundee

Meet Robert Burns at the Birks of Aberfeldy, Perthshire
The Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote the Birks of Aberfeldy after taking a walk up to the Mo’ness Falls. The sculpture was unveiled in 2009, in honour of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Scottish poet.

Robert Burns Sculpture at the Birks of Aberfeldy

Explore Two Follies at the Hermitage, Dunkeld, Perthshire
The Hermitage was created as a landscape garden for the local Duke, complete with two follies, Ossian’s Hall overlooking the Falls of Braan and Ossian’s Cave.

Falls of Braan and Ossian’s Hall at the Hermitage, Dunkeld

Walk for Miles along West Sands Beach in St Andrews, Fife
Although St Andrews is synonymous with golf and the University where Princess Diana’s elder son William studied, there’s a lot more to this lovely historic town.  There are two beaches, West Sands (pictured below) and the smaller East Sands and a very tempting ice cream shop.

West Sands, St Andrews

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Go Back in Time at Culross, Fife
Step back to into the 17th century in Culross, with its palace and abbey.

View from Culross Palace Garden
See Pictish Cave Art at Wemyss Caves, Fife
In the Wemyss Caves you can see several drawings believed to date from over 2000 years ago.

Trident in Jonathan’s Cave
Explore the 14th Century Alloa Tower, Clackmannanshire
Alloa Tower, renovated in the 1990s, is the largest surviving medieval tower house in Scotland.

Alloa Tower

Discover History at the Old Town Cemeteries, Stirling
On the way up to Stirling Castle it’s worth spending some time in the cemeteries. The Old Kirkyard has headstones from as early as the 16th century.

The Valley Cemetery, Stirling

Be Spoiled for choice by Glasgow Restaurants
I reckon that Glasgow has the best selection of restaurants you’ll find in Scotland. Two of my favourites are the Kama Sutra and Rogano.

Rogano Restaurant Glasgow

Stroll along the Water of Leith Walkway, Edinburgh
The Water of Leith Walkway stretches for 12 miles from Balerno through the city centre, with an Aids and HIV memorial between the exits for the Gallery of Modern Art and Dean Gallery. The river flows into the Forth Estuary at Leith. The Holiday Inn Express Edinburgh Waterfront is located a few minutes walk from the Water of Leith.

Water of Leith Walkway Edinburgh

Follow the Prestonpans Murals Trail, East Lothian
I love the Prestonpans Murals Trail which celebrates the industrial heritage of the village. The cow below is at the site of a former dairy. You can get to Prestonpans by bus from Edinburgh city centre.

The cow mural at Prestonpans
Fly 1st Class at the National Museum of Flight, East Fortune, East Lothian
The big attraction at the National Museum of Flight is a Concorde. I was fascinated to learn that the first return crossing of the Atlantic by air was undertaken by the airship R34 which took off from East Fortune in 1919.

The Concorde Experience at the National Museum of Flight
South of Scotland
Learn About One of the Fathers of Conservation in Dunbar, East Lothian.
Discover the life story of the conservationist John Muir at his birthplace in Dunbar. You could then walk along the beautiful red cliffs. It’s easy to get to Dunbar by rail from Edinburgh.

Display at John Muir’s Birthplace, Dunbar

Contemplate the Power of the Sea at St Abbs, Scottish Borders
St Abbs is a pretty little fishing village which is now a marine reserve and popular with divers. The Eyemouth Fishing Disaster Memorial in St Abbs portrays some of the anguish caused by the death of 189 fishermen on October 14 1881.

Eyemouth Fishing Disaster Memorial, St Abbs
Find Out About 1930s Motorcycling at Hawick Museum, Scottish Borders
Hawick Museum, located in Wilton Park, has a display about the 1930s motorcycling champion, Jimmy Guthrie, who was born in Hawick. There’s a lovely walk along the River Teviot through Wilton Park. If you walk along the river toward the town centre, you’ll find the James Thomson Bridge, opened in 2006 to honour the 19th century local poet.

Hawick Museum in Wilton Park

Take the Waters at St Ronan’s Well, Innerleithen, Scottish Borders
Drink from the Spa in the village of Innerleithen, featured in Walter Scott’s novel, St Ronan’s Well.

View from St Ronan’s Well, Innerleithen
Enjoy Threave Gardens, near Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway
Threave Gardens consists of several themed areas; a secret garden, a rock garden, a rose garden and a peat garden. If you’re lucky with the weather, the cafe has an outdoor seating area.

Threave Castle Garden

Where to stay in Scotland
Find the best deals at hotels all over Scotland with the HotelsCombined price comparison site, which quickly searches through more than 30 of the best travel sites to find the lowest prices for you.

Affortable Hotels In Carolina Beach | "Chasing familiarity in far-flung places"

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I’ve been involved in a project looking at recent immigrants’ first impressions of the UK and have been very surprised at what people notice about our country. The sight of double-decker buses, rows of identical red brick houses and the experience of driving on the left side of the road all make a strong impression with many people who come to the UK for the first time.  Yet for those of us who live here these are such an unremarkable part of our daily lives that we find it strange that others find them in any way curious.

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But perhaps it makes sense in the context of our travel experiences. When we arrive in another part of the world, the unfamiliarity of our surroundings provides a buzz of excitement that is an essential part of the magic of travel. We eagerly absorb everything and use our senses to see, hear, smell and taste the new world around us.

Yet as we do this it is normal for us to process whatever we experience in the context of our more familiar world. We’ll admire  a tall building in Asia and wonder how it compares to the Empire State Building or London’s Shard; we’ll taste the meat of an animal for the first time and immediately compare it to chicken or beef; even hearing a strange language for the first time, we’re inclined to observe its similarities to other languages closer to home.

I’m reminded of Watership Down, a book I enjoyed reading when I was little. Despite the book being about a group of highly-intelligent talking rabbits, the author Richard Adams makes many references to the human world.  In one paragraph he contrasts the laughter and curiosity of people in a remote African village to their first sight of a horse and cart to their complete indifference to a plane streaking high overhead across the clear sky. While one is an unusual application of familiar animals and objects, the other is so far removed from their normal life that no references can be made and the sight of it cannot be placed into any sort of context. As a result it is simply ignored.

The above is simplistic and clearly written in a different time, yet if we pick through the racial stereotypes there is still a message worth taking out of it for the traveller. When we step on foreign soil we are drawn to the exotic, the unusual and the unexpected. Yet those things that make the biggest impression with us are often the one which allow us to compare and contrast them with more familiar equivalents that we’ve left behind.

What then, is our equivalent of the plane in the sky? What experiences do we encounter on our travels that are so alien to us that we have no idea how to make any sense of them, forcing us to look instead for the more familiar? Or has technology and the pioneering of others created a world where everything is now within the limits of our comprehension?

AAA/CAA Membership Hotels In Carolina Beach | "Family Journeys in Ireland"

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The Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland

 

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Hotels In Carolina Beach

The Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland is one of the most dramatic and spellbinding spots in the small country.  The Antrim Coast Road is a narrow single carriageway and can be a bit unnerving for those unused to rural Ireland driving.  But the prize for your bravery is incredible adventure and views that must be seen to be believed.

Visit the Giant’s Causeway before you make the decision on how they were formed.  Will you believe the scientists who say that the miles of octagonal pillars were the result of an underwater volcano or will you side with the Irish folk tale which tells of Finn McCool building a walkway to Scotland?

The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which connects the main land to the tiny island of Carrick-a-Rede.  Though a much more sturdy bridge than the fishermen originally used, the crossing is not for the faint of heart (or the very young), as the bridge sways with every footfall and bit of wind.

Also along this route are the beautiful Glens of Antrim, Glenarm Castle in the spectacular Glenarm Forest, the seaside resort town of Ballycastle and the medieval ruins of Dunluce Castle.

And, of course, the route begins –or ends, depending on which way your drive- in Belfast, where the Titanic was built.

Ballyhoura in Ireland’s “Sunny Southwest”

A relatively “unknown” region to many of Ireland’s tourists, Ballyhoura Country covers much of County Limerick and the northern part of County Cork.

Settle in at The Old Bank B&B in Bruff, where the rooms are spacious and you can get family rooms connected with inner doors.  From here it is only a few minutes to Lough Gur where incredible history and Irish legends await.

Lough Gur has produced so many archeological discoveries from Bronze Age offerings to megalithic tombs.  Ireland’s largest stone circle lies here, as well as smaller circles, standing stones, ring forts and even the entrance to faerie land.

Irish culture is strong here and Rambling Houses can be found throughout the area offering traditional music, dancing and storytelling.  Be sure to stop in the small villages as they are filled with history of their own.

The Ballyhoura region offers plenty of outdoor activities and is popular with hill walkers and mountain bikers.  You can rent bikes in Kilmallock for a few hours ride.  For more adventure visit the Outdoor Activity Center at the Blackwater Castle Estate for kayaking, archery, zorbing, zip line and laser clay pigeon shooting.

For a more relaxing- and adorable walk- visit the Donkey Sanctuary where hundreds of rescued donkeys spend their days.  Many of these sweet faced animals arrived sorely neglected and quite ill.  After being carefully nursed back to health they wander the fields enjoying the fresh grass and socializing with visitors.

Oceanfront Hotels In Carolina Beach | "8 Ways to Stay Warm Without Emptying Your Wallet"

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Step :1

The Florida tourism industry knows how to play off Northerners' frustration with winter. Ads always feature an image of a furious blizzard and say something like this: "When you've got it bad, we've got it good. Florida." But a trip to Florida or other warm locales in high season equals a heavy hit on the wallet. Making your home cozy turns it into a warm respite from winter, and though it has no ocean lapping at the beach footsteps away, you can do it without major outlays of cash.

Step 2

If you are lucky enough to have a fireplace, it can become your go-to spot on winter's chilly days -- especially during a snowstorm or a cold, daylong rain. Pull up some chairs and read, or play or work online. Have plenty of firewood on hand so you can keep the fire roaring all day long. A cord of wood is generally just a couple of hundred dollars, so this is a pretty cheap thrill.

Step 3

When it's not the middle of winter, you can still enjoy your deck or patio with an outdoor fireplace or fire pit. These are inexpensive and can be taken home in the trunk of your car from a home improvement store. Chilly nights by the fire breathing crisp air that smells of leaves bring out the poet in just about everyone. And it's a great place for wine and conversation, which have their own warming qualities.

Step 4

If your house doesn't have a fireplace, you can buy a fairly inexpensive freestanding stove that burns wood or is fueled by gas. And voila, you add warmth, both literally and figuratively, to your house. It might be small, but it's all you need to gather around when winter does its worst.

Step 5

Those living the upscale life find wintertime comfort in a hot tub outdoors. Even though this is more expensive than many other cold-weather accouterments, it still is cheap compared to traveling to escape the weather. Surrounded by cold air and swirling hot water makes for an entirely sensuous experience. So does getting out and feeling that sharp cold on the way back inside, where, if you're lucky, you will plunk down in front of the fire. Fire and water. What could be more elemental.

Step 6

Go ahead, light a bunch of candles when the sun goes down. Because that happens very early during the winter, you'll have them going and glowing all evening. Candles are the easiest and least expensive way to bring some palpable warmth into your home -- and you can have the pleasure they bring in every room if you so desire.

Step 7

Curling up in front of the TV or fire requires some serious bundling, especially if you have your heat turned down to save energy. The cost of throws covers a wide range, from handmade antiques to more common varieties found in department and big-box linen stores.

Step 8

When it's time for bed, the fire is embers and the candles are snuffed out, crawl under a down comforter, or duvet, and you'll stay cozy all night. Down is lightweight, so you can add another blanket or quilt if you need more covering up.