Category: Travel

It’s 5000 miles from Singapore, and over 9000 from New York. Yes, New Zealand’s South Island is a long way away from the rest of the world, but it’s a distance that helps make the city of Dunedin so special.

Distance and the promise of new beginnings are what drew two shiploads of Scottish settlers to the South Island’s Otago region in 1848. These wild shores, fern-filled valleys, and ever-changing skies spoke to the hardy Scots, just as they had to the Maori who settled the Otago Peninsula centuries before.

The industrious Scots made their mark all over New Zealand, but nowhere is the Caledonian spirit more alive than in Dunedin. Continue reading “Catch Our Breath and Experience a Little Magic With Your Journey in Dunedin”

Taranaki is a region on the west coast of New Zealand’s north island, about a five- hour drive south of Auckland. It is named after the dramatic volcanic mountain that dominates its skyline, and known for its spectacular landscapes,

Set against a canvas of endless hiking tracks, pristine surf breaks, and world-class skiing, Taranaki is a region where nature and creativity are intimately entwined. Art is everywhere here. It’s in the jaw-dropping landscapes. It’s in the art trails and festivals peppered throughout the region. It’s even in the bridges and on the wind. Continue reading “Savor the spectacular scenery, powerful artistic legacy and epic outdoor adventures on Taranaki”

Filled with over 39 trillion gallons of pure Sierra snowmelt and pushed a mile into the Californian and Nevada skies, Lake Tahoe is the USA’s largest alpine lake, and one of the country’s oldest, year-round vacation playgrounds.

Lake Tahoe has forever drawn travelers to its shores, from the Native Americans who call this place Big Water, to the trappers, timber cutters and pioneers who followed.

In the 1870s, an awestruck Mark Twain wrote, “to breathe the same air like angels, you must go to Tahoe”. By the time the 20th century rolled ‘round, lodges, taverns, and casinos had sprung up all around Tahoe’s shoreline catering to legions of weary city folk, keen to experience that heavenly air for themselves. Continue reading “14 Beautiful Tourist Attraction of a Kind of Water Heaven, Lake Tahoe”

Fabulously wealthy and gilded by history, the Principality of Monaco lies on the French Riviera in Western Europe. Smaller than New York’s Central Park, this graceful destination is bordered by France and the sparkling Mediterranean sea.

With ancient streets full of exotic cars, a natural harbor filled with super yachts and a glittering royal legacy, Monaco is a tiny relic of medieval Europe that has made itself at home in the 21st century.

It draws the rich, the famous and those seeking the kind of lifestyle usually only found on the silver screen.

Continue reading “Visit the City That is the Forefront of the World’s Imagination: Monaco”

Floating like an emerald tear-drop between the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea is the island nation of St Lucia. At 27-miles long and 14-miles wide, it’s one of the second largest of the Windward Islands.

Named in honor of St Lucy of Syracuse by early French colonists, you may be surprised to learn that this is the only country on the planet named after a woman. But then again, it will all make perfect sense once you feel the warm embrace of St Lucia’s beaches, forests, and mountains.

St. Lucia has long been a place of shelter: her surrounding maze of hidden coves and bays providing safe harbors throughout the ages. For centuries the original Arawaks and Caribs made their homes around the island’s northern bays,

In the 1550s, the notorious buccaneer, Peg Leg Le Clerc, became the first European to settle here. From his hilltop hideaway on Pigeon Island, he and his fellow swashbucklers would swoop on passing Spanish galleons.

After the pirates came the plantations, and the bittersweet years of sugar and slavery. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, St Lucia was pulled back and forth fourteen times between the French and British, before finally gaining her independence in 1979. While the British brought their rule of law, the French blessed the island with a sense of style that mixed perfectly with the Carib and African cultures. For, just like a woman, St Lucia has always been a place of creation.

Continue reading “Feel the Embrace the World’s Greatest Islands: St Lucia”

Just 3 hours from Miami and 8 from London, is Antigua, the largest island in the nation of Antigua and Barbuda. Whatever time zone you’re coming from, the moment you set foot here, you’re walking in island time.

Christopher Columbus claimed this island for Spain when he sailed past in 1493, but he was in too much of a hurry to stop. Don’t go making the same mistake he did, or you’ll miss out on some of the best beaches and mellowest vibes the Caribbean has to offer.

Antigua’s capital is St John’s, built by British traders 150 years after Columbus first rushed by. High on the hill, The Big Church looks down upon a town of plantation shutters, iron roofs, and colors as bright as our spirit. Mix up a little history and shopping, down by the city’s quays, where old shop-houses have been given new life as cafes, bars, and duty-free boutiques.

Continue reading “Move Slowly and Feel the Island of Antigua”

Bathed by the reflections of the shimmering Adriatic, and with an old town surrounded by walls that have withstood centuries of turmoil, the Croatian city of Dubrovnik remains one of Europe’s most enduring treasures.

Just as an oyster shell protects the life within, Dubrovnik’s walls nurtured a flourishing maritime republic that once rivaled Venice.

For centuries this city of stone and light has dazzled visitors, none more so than the romantic poet Lord Byron, who named the city, The Pearl of The Adriatic.

Continue reading “Welcome to the Pearl of the Adriatic That’s Still Shining, Dubrovnik”

It’s only 93 miles from Florida, and just 13 from the Bahamas, but like the smoke that coils from its legendary cigars, The Republic of Cuba exists in a time and space all it’s own.

Blending the traditions of Spain, Africa, and its native peoples, and lit by the fires of independence and revolution, the aromas, textures, and flavors of this Caribbean nation are like no other. Despite its size, Cuba has punched well above its weight. For centuries its vast plantations satisfied a global appetite for sugar and thirst for the smoothest rums.

In 1962 it played center stage in a nuclear standoff, which made the planet hold its breath for 13 days. And through it all, its infectious rhythms taught the world how to move its hips. Few cities can stir the imagination like Cuba’s capital, Havana, a city preserved by forts and citadels, …a five-mile seawall, …and an imposed embargo which held back the excesses of the 20th century for over 50 years.

Continue reading “Admire This Island Nation That Has Proudly Gone Its Own Way, Cuba”

The Hungarian capital, Budapest, is situated on the banks of the Danube in Central Europe. It’s the political, economic and cultural heart of the nation, and one of the most beautiful and livable cities on the continent.

For centuries this has been a tale of two cities, the city of Buda rising from the steep western hills, and Pest, stretching away into the flat plains of the East. The Danube kept these two cities apart until 1873 when the first of Budapest’s seven bridges began stitching the two halves into one.

This tale of two cities has been one of destruction and renewal too. Just as the Danube’s waters have coursed through Budapest, so too have the great tides of European history, often gracefully, but sometimes with ferocious force.

Continue reading “Rejuvenate Yourself With the Reflection, Inspiration, and Sublime Beauty of Budapest”

The Austrian city of Salzburg is situated on the northern edge of the Alps, close to the border of Germany. Surrounded by lakes and mountains, and straddling the banks of the Salzach River, few cities can match Salzburg’s fairytale setting.

Few places can match its musical heritage either. Salzburg is the hometown of one of the giants of classical music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Its stately homes, churches, and hillsides provided the settings for one of cinema’s most-adored musicals, The Sound Of Music. And today, its exquisite architecture provides a dramatic backdrop for operatic and classical performances all year round.

Just as a glissando provides the transition between two musical notes, the Salzach River glides between Salzburg’s two parts, the old medieval and Baroque city on the left bank, and the new 19th-century city on the right.

Continue reading “City That Plays Out Like a Living Opera, Salzburg”