Paradise Bay, Antarctica • The very bottom of the planet is now a destination open to everyone. Small expedition boats cruise out of Ushuaia, Argentina putting passengers ashore in Antarctica for up close encounters with penguins and seals. Luxury cruise ships glide through Antarctic waters surrounded by whales and seabirds.
Itineraries often include sailing into Paradise Bay on the Antarctic peninsula, cruising around Elephant Island and a port call in the Falkland Islands located over a thousand miles east of Argentina in the Atlantic. A great place to visit penguins and sea lions.
Blogging & Are We Being Played? There’s a lot in the news lately about the social media companies manipulating our children online to keep them engaged and how much harm it may be doing. It is obvious that these entities know a great deal about human psychology and how to take advantage of people online.…
People, places and captured moments selected from The Intentional Travelers photo collection. Marksburg Castle on the Rhine River Marksburg Castle, a majestic fortress located above the town of Braubach in Rhineland, Germany. This castle holds the unique distinction of being the only hilltop fortress on the Rhine that has never been captured or destroyed. Originally…
Not far from downtown Sydney, Australia is an almost mile long sweep of sandy beach, tucked inside quarter-moon shaped bay with a gently sloping bottom that creates a year long season of good surfing conditions. This is Bondi Beach. While the waves provide surfing for long distances they average only between 2 and 3 feet high. People describe the conditions to be remarkably similar to Hawaii’s Waikiki. Across the street from the beach and behind the beachfront strip known as Campbell Parade, lies an active community of cafés, restaurants and designer shops.
The Coastal Walk
There are plenty of reasons to love Australia’s most famous beach but beyond surfing, swimming and sunbathing there is also the best walking trail in Australia. The coastal walking trail begins at the south end of Australia’s famous Bondi Beach. Bondi is synonymous with surf the world over and its odd name originated with the Aboriginal word “Boondi” which has the same meaning as “the sound of surf” in English.
Bondi to Bronte Coastal Walk offers incredible ocean views from its easy 3.7 mile walking trail along the cliffs between Australia’s well-known beaches making this an incredible experience. The trail officially begins above the sand of Bondi Beach at the Bondi Icebergs ocean pool* and travels along a clifftop course between Tamarama and Coogee beaches. Its gradual paved ascents and descents are perfect for a casual walk or an invigorating hike. The walk will take just over an hour each way.
Along the trail are plenty of opportunities to swim at the other beaches and coves. Just past Clovelly is Gordons Bay, a well-known scuba diving and snorkeling location. If you begin the walk at Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, you’ll find the highly rated seaside eatery Coogee Pavilion at the other end with more breathtaking views from its rooftop terrace.
Sculpture by the Sea
From October to December each year** the seaside walk takes on a whole new character with the worlds largest outdoor sculpture exhibit. The annual free-to-the-public outdoor sculpture exhibition, named “Sculpture by the Sea” draws artists from around Australia and the world and is very popular with Australians from Sydney and beyond. If you have plans that will take you to Sydney in November make sure you plan a trip out to Bondi Beach.
Getting There – Only about five miles from central Sydney it’s easy to reach. Express buses run to Bondi Beach from the centre of Sydney, and take about 30 minutes to reach the beach. The Metro trains operate from the city centre to Bondi Junction every twenty minutes, which is a 10-minute bus or taxi ride on to the beach. Bondi Beach is also one of many stops on a Big Bus Sydney tour, which allows you to hop on and off.
*Icebergs Dining Room and Bar – Bondi Beach, sits on the rocks above the iconic pool and isfamous for the views of Bondi Beach, by day or night, it makes an unforgettable backdrop while dining to inspired cuisine by Maurice Terzini’s Italian heritage.
**Because of the pandemic the Sculpture by the Sea exhibit is postponed in 2020, date TBD.
Photographic impressions collected from near and far…
The Sultan’s PalaceBandar Seri Begawan Mall entrance
The independent Islamic Sultanate of Brunei is located on the northern coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It is bounded to the north by the South China Sea and on all other sides by Malaysia, which also divides Brunei into two parts.
It’s best known for the opulent Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, one of the worlds grandest mosques. It is adorned with immense chandeliers, magnificent stained glass, clad in imported Italian marble, and surrounded by a beautiful lagoon.
Brunei is a prosperous, modern place which owes oil for its good fortune and a Sultan who is best described as a beneficent ruler.
The History Behind The Celebration Of Easter Without question the holiest site in all of Christendom is located in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem. It represents the location where Jesus was crucified and where his body was laid to rest. Today there is a high level of certainty that the location has been actually identified.…
Like everything else, the American hotel industry has evolved over time in their size and approach to marketing. They’ve grown from a handful of major names, each with a reputation based on the market segment they were try to serve to mega-corporations comprising large collections of brands ranging from economical to deluxe accommodations. Many of these brands are now multi-national with major ones being global and because they all offer a range of types and price points that are very similar their marketing changed to find a competitive edge.
Today every major hotel chain has a loyalty reward program with the goal to have you be a returning guest. Most everyone is free to join, but they are all not the same as there are different rules, earning point rates and comparative point values. In addition there are a variety of other benefits from free wifi, freebies on arrival and special discounts. How much you can save depends on your level of travel and how much you’re comfortable spending per night and how often you stay in hotels.
Following are the top five hotel reward programs that also offer the ability to earn and use the points when traveling internationally. They are based on WalletHub.com scores calculated for equivalent dollar values.
Wyndham Rewards
WalletHub Score 72.40 Equivalent Earned Per $100 Spent $13.46
For every qualified stay at a Wyndham Rewards hotel or vacation club resort, you’ll earn 10 points per dollar or 1,000 points—whichever is more. Choose how you want to redeem your points with three simple free night tiers—7,500, 15,000, or 30,000 points per night. Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Wyndham Grand, Dolce Hotels and Resorts, TRYP by Wyndham, Dazzler Hotels in Latin America, La Quinta hotels, Wingate by Wyndham, AmericInn, Ramada, Baymont, Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham, Days Inn, Super 8, Howard Johnson, Travelodge and Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham.
Radisson Rewards
WalletHub Score 65.95 Equivalent Earned Per $100 Spent $12.50
Free Award Nights starting at 9,000 points with no blackout dates on Standard Rooms. Members Only Rate – save up to 10% on the best available rate when you book directly on our Radisson’s website. Earn 20 points per US dollar spent on eligible stays. Redeem points for Free Award Nights, airline miles, gift cards, prepaid cards, and more. Radisson RED, Park Plaza, art’otel, Park Inn and Country Inn and Suites.
Best Western Rewards
WalletHub Score 63.71 Equivalent Earned Per $100 Spent $9.75
The Best Western Rewards program is divided into five levels: Blue, Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Diamond Select. •Worldwide Free Night Redemption • Points Never Expire • BWR® Exclusive Member Rates • Rich Rewards & Incentives – Earn points for redemptions including gift cards, free nights and one-of-a-kind adventures. Incorporates the Best Western branded properties, Glō®, Vīb® and Aiden® by Best Western.
Choice Privileges
WalletHub Score 61.99 Equivalent Earned Per $100 Spent $11.63
Enjoy rewards beginning with your very first stay. Stay weekdays for extra perks like coffee cards and online shopping credits. Use your points your way, with reward options like free nights and gift cards. Save with member-only rates and exclusive offers. Elite members also receive bonus points or welcome gifts with every stay. Sleep Inn, Quality Inn, Rodeway Inn, and Comfort, Ascend Hotel Collection and Clarion.
Marriott Bonvoy
WalletHub Score 61.01 Equivalent Earned Per $100 Spent $10.89
Participating properties include The Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis on the luxury side, JW Marriott and Westin in the middle of the range, and MOXY and Element toward the budget end of the spectrum. Cost – Elite Gold no fee, Silver Elite and base level members must pay a flat fee of $10. Marriott Bonvoy Points can be used for free nights, airfare, car rentals, gift cards, and even online shopping.
We were never aware of love locks before about fifteen years ago but recently as we travel we often come across collections of padlocks attached to bridges and other public structures. It wasn’t difficult to figure out what was going on by all the couples names engraved on the locks. But in the last five years or so it is becoming difficult to not notice these collections, they’re popping up everywhere.
The practice isn’t new but was virtually unheard of outside of a few cities, mostly in Eastern Europe. Early in the twenty-first century the practice has exploded worldwide. A love lock is a padlock which lovers lock to a bridge, fence, gate or monument to symbolize their eternal love. In recent years the lovers’ names or initials, and the date, are engraved on the padlock, and its key is thrown away usually into the river under the bridge to symbolize unbreakable love.
This simple and romantic practice seems innocent but more and more being treated by authorities as litter or vandalism, and there is becoming serious cost associated with damage and their removal. We’ve been told that there are places where authorities are embracing them as a tourist attractions.
Paris
A little research will show that love padlocks date back at least 100 years to a Serbian tale of World War I, about the bridge Most Ljubavi or the Bridge of Love in the town of Vrnjačka Banja. A local schoolmistress named Nada, who was from Vrnjačka Banja, fell in love with a Serbian officer named Relja. He went off to war in Greece, where he fell in love with a woman from Corfu. Heart broken Nada broke off their engagement and after some time died from heartbreak. As the tragic love story circulated young women from Vrnjačka Banja wanted to protect their love and started writing down their names, with the names of their loves, on padlocks and attached them to the bridge where Nada and Relja used to meet.
Savannah, Georgia
Ha’penny Bridge, Dublin
In Dublin there is a famous pedestrian bridge called the Ha’penny Bridge. It is one of the more famous symbols of Dublin. Nearly 200 years old (1816) it is a protected structure, but in recent years Dublin City Council have had to remove thousands of padlocks from the bridge on a regular basis. They are considered unsightly and are causing damage by chipping paint and adding considerable weight to the historic bridge. Engineers have estimated that at some point, if not removed, they could cause the bridge to collapse.
While the key to many a heart now lies at the bottom of the River Liffey where couples in love have thrown them after securing their love locks to Dublin’s historic Ha’penny Bridge, a group is dedicated to breaking that bond. Almost as soon as the lovers have left, an expert lock-picking group arrives to tear these bonds of love apart and stop the locks from making the bridge structurally unsafe.
River walk Wurzburg, Germany
“It’s a fairly constant churn,” said Seán Nicholls, who set up the group when he was on his way to a professional lock-picking meeting. “I was heading to the meeting one day and I walked over the Ha’penny Bridge and noticed all the locks. In my mind it was defacing a city treasure. That’s kind of where the idea came from,” he said.
Dublin City Council embraced the group in the aftermath of a love-lock situation in Paris where the locks caused a section of the Pont des Arts bridge to collapse.
Just recently the practice has come to America and is growing in Savannah, Boston and a number of other cities. Since a number of locksmiths are now offering professional engraving on their padlocks the practice is likely to grow even more.
Photographic impressions collected from near and far…
About 125 miles north of the city of Avignon along the Rhône River in southern France is Doux Gorges, located in Saint-Jean-de-Muzols, a commune (community) in the Ardèche department. The area features some of the most beautiful and remote wilderness in France and attracts hikers and bikers from all over.
A network of railway lines was constructed around Vivarais between 1898 and 1903 to provide access to markets for farms and vineyards in remote areas of the region. In 1970 service was restored and the new Tournon – Lamastre line, 21 miles long, was officially opened for full service in April. Pulled by restored steam engines over one hundred years old, today’s train cars carry passengers into the most beautiful and inaccessible part of the Doux Gorges.
with From Cartagena, Columbia to Ushuaia, Argentina the South American continent is an amazing land of natural wonders and human accomplishments. Explore the islands of the Galapagos or hike around Iguazu Falls, climb up to Machu Picchu or cruise through the Panama Canal. You can even cast off for a trip to Antarctica or walk…
It seems so other worldly, like Mars or the Moon but it’s right here on Earth. It’s so alien that the NASA space program uses it to test rovers and other equipment. Find the answer HERE. Here Are A Few Of Our More Recent Postings You might Find Interesting…
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