Archive for category Travel Info & Tips
Want To Go Where The Locals Do?
Posted by whaleadmin in Travel Info & Tips on June 6th, 2009
Of course you do! The locals always know the best wineries and restaurants in Napa because we live, eat, and drink here every day! If you are somewhere else in the world and want to figure out which places the locals frequent, your best bet is currently Yelp. You can see where the person is from that left the review. Search some of the most common wineries and restaurants and sort the results by the reviewers location to speed things up. Plan all of this into your itinerary for the best Napa wine tour. Many of the tour companies have deals with the restaurants and wineries in the area to get a bonus for bringing them customers, this results in hordes of people everywhere you go. Plan your own and see much more of the valley than you would have otherwise.
Touring the Languedoc Roussillon
Posted by whaleadmin in Travel Info & Tips on June 3rd, 2009
My favorite way to spend a vacation in France is to hire a car and tour. I don’t “do” camping and I’m actually not a fan of swanky hotels, in my opinion they’re more often overpriced for what you get and too stuffy and formal. I’m more of a boutique hotel or classy bed & breakfast accommodation man.
This has always been my accommodation of choice during my many visits to the Languedoc region in the South of France. Chambre d’hotes, guesthouses or B&B’s, call them what you like but there are a veritable plethora of them in this part of France. The standard can vary enormously but there is no shortage of the type that I prefer, that’s to say a small establishment with around six rooms all done up in a sophisticated style. They are invariable run by a couple who are friendly and quite often share their dinner table with you in the evenings. Perfect.
Auto matkailu – Onko se halpaa
Posted by whaleadmin in Travel Info & Tips on May 26th, 2009
Autolla matkustaminen voi olla mielenkiintoinen vaihtoehto sellaiselle joka on aina vain lentänyt lomakohteeseen. Lentäessä ja myös junalla tai bussilla sekä laivalla matkustettaesa ei välttämättä näe niitä kaikkia kauniita maisemia jotka itse ajaen tulee nähtyä. Lentokoneessa istuessa ja monien maiden vilistäessä alapuolla ei välttämättä edes tajua miten paljon nähtävää jääkään niiden tuntien ja kilometrien aikana näkemättä jonka lentokoneesa istuu. Autolla voi helposit lähteä kiertämään Euroopan maita läpi ja matkan pituudesta riippuen ja varsinkin loman aikataulusta autolla voi päästä pitkällekin matkaamaan. Lautoilla voi helposti kuljettaa autoa mukana ja niillä pääsee hyvin taittamaan pitkiäkin matkoja jos pelkkä ajaminen ei maistu koko aikaa. Autolla voi myös hyvin pysähdellä välillä pikku kyliin joita matkalla tulee vastaan. Polttoaine ei yleensä maksa muualla niin paljon kuin täällä, joten matkakustannukset eivät välttämättä ole yhtä paljon kuin lentäessä. Autolla voi myös helpommin valita halvempia yöpymispaikkoja kuin valmismatkassa, jossa hotelli on aina sama ja yleensä etukäteen varattu. Automatkalla voi siis päästä matkustamaan halvalla, vaikka se voi tuntua kalliimmalta ratkaisulta kuin kaikki äkkilähdöt joita netistä saa varattua. Ainakin se avartaa omaa näkemystä mihin asti tulee matkustettua.
Seaside Surfing
Posted by whaleadmin in Travel Info & Tips on May 23rd, 2009
Surfers on the beach at Seaside Heights NJ
I woke up early on my first day of vacation. I just can’t break that habit in one day! It is not the nicest day here at the beach, as it is kind of cool and cloudy, but that is Ok. I went down to the boardwalk and was just walking around. Everything is closed early in the morning but it seems a lot of people use the boardwalk as a place to get their morning-exercise walk in. I did a bit of that but then settled in on one of the benches that look out over the beach and the ocean.
I quickly noticed something that surprised me. There were quite a few people surfing. Now I know next to nothing about this sport, other than I associated it with Hawaii or someplace exotic. So finding people surfing at the beach in Seaside Heights seemed pretty wacky. As I am a naturally curious person and do like to talk to people, I waited until one of the surfers was leaving and when they come off the beach, I went and talked to them. It turns out that surfing around one of the piers that sticks out in to the ocean is a really decent surfing spot. Most serious surfers apparently know that Seaside is a decent east coast location. The surfer dude told me “of course it is no Hawaii” but if you live in NJ it is a pretty good place to catch some waves.