A round-up of Heather on her Travels around the web

I try to do a regular round-up of places my articles have been published around the web, but I must confess that my concentration has lapsed a bit recently - I guess I’ve been so busy doing the writing that I just didn’t quite get round to telling you about them all. Shame on me! So here’s a rather longer than usual round-up of where else you can find Heather on her Travels in November through to February.

Hotel Reviews

If you got the feeling that I was staying in some fabulous hotels recently - the type of places that I’d normally only aspire to before booking something more budget friendly for the family, then you’d be right.

I was invited to do a hotel review of the luxury boutique hotel Heritage Av Liberdade in Lisbon, a mixture of Modern-luxe design and Heritage - read my review of Heritage Av Liberdade for Mr and Mrs Smith Hotels here and my guest post on Platefuls of Portugal: Lisbon’s tasty treats here.

I also took my teenage daughter for a night at the gorgeous Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park in London where we were treated like princesses and enjoyed every minute of living in luxury - read my review for Kiwi Collection of the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park here.

Blog Mentions

I was thrilled in January to find that Lastminute.com mentioned me as one of their top 50 blogs about good stuff - in fact I was number 4 on their list - and what great company I’m keeping!

And that came on top of my nomination around the same time as best European blog in the 2010 Bloggies which brought me loads of extra readers and I hope some of you have stayed to hear more of my travel tales.

Thanks to Louise Brown who featured me as Site of the day at Travelblogsites.com, the blog about the best travel blogs around.  I also appeared in the Top 100 list which is published regularly on the site and am in the top 40 worldwide on the latest count. Although rankings aren’t everything, the list is a useful way to find some other great travel blogs out there to enjoy.

Although it’s a while ago now, thanks to Liz at Travelogged for including my Cedars of Lebanon post and video in her Blog Carnival along with some other great stuff worth reading.

And also to Mary Jo for her mention of my review of Fawsley hall among her travel favourites in this post.

And to Mindaugas at Abroadening who featured my travel photo from Lebanon in his post about photos that encapsulate enspiring moments in travel - mine was the free cakes I was offered outside the mosque in the souk at Sidon in Lebanon.

Europe a la Carte

As usual I’ve been posting weekly on a Thursday over at Europe a la Carte where you’ll find heaps of great Europe travel tips and ideas on things to do and see around Europe.

A boat trip to the Islands off Brittany in France - exploring some the islands that you can visit close the Vannes and the gulf of Morhiban where I visited a friend in July last year.

Visiting the sights of Belem in Lisbon, Portugal - A neighbourhood of Lisbon that has more than it’s fair share of great things to see and is worth a day on it’s own.

London attractions: Things to do in Hyde Park - When I visited London for a weekend recently I stayed at the wonderful Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park and realised that there were some great things to do in Hyde Park nearby - can’t wait to explore more as the weather warms up.

Explore the history of Zakynthos in Greece - Some interesting sights that will give you a taste for the historic past of Zakynthos, and an antedote to the package holiday image of the island.

Climbing St Peter’s church tower in Munich - It was certainly chilly as we climbed this tower to peer down at the Christmas markets below, but there are towers like this in many European cities to give you a different perspective on a city.

Stay in a bunkhouse in Wales and enjoy the great outdoors - A way of travelling that’s half way between B & B and camping, and great for those who enjoy the great outdoors but like to sleep with a roof over their head.

Visit the Pergamon Museum in Berlin - One of the must-see museums of Berlin with practically entire ancient buildings transported into the museum and a good audio-tour.

The Christmas lights of Lisbon and a Happy New Year - in which I advocate trying some Southern European destinations for a Christmas or New Year break - you can see the Christmas lights and still catch a bit of sun if you’re lucky!

Will Easyjet fly to Zakynthos in 2010? - And I was right, as soon after this article was published, Easyjet did announce they would start flights to Zakynthos.

Visit the Christmas Markets in Munich - Taking you through the different Christmas markets we visited in Munich just before Christmas including some that aren’t the obvious choice for the tourist.

The Painted Hall and Chapel at Greenwich, London - One of the beautifully painted historic buildings in Greenwich and it’s free.

A winter break at the Christmas Market in Bath - trying out the Christmas markets closer to home in anticipation of our visit to see the German version in Munich, as well as some other things to see in Bath that you may enjoy on a winter break.

Chill out at Kunsthaus Tacheles in Berlin - It’s grungy, it’s street-art, it’s hip and it’s the authentic side of Berlin, but not the place to take your granny for tea.

The murals of Orgosolo in Sardinia - The wonderful murals that you’ll find in the village of Orgosolo in the heart of mountainous Sardinia, formerly better known for it’s bandits.

Free things to see on London’s South Bank - a walk along the South Bank where you’ll find many great things to see and most of them free.

Battlefield Tours for Remembrance Sunday - Battlefield Tours you might like to make if you’re interested in military history or have an old soldier in the family.

Silent nights for Christmas at the Dennis Severs House in London - One of my most favourite atmospheric places in London to step back in time and see how a prosporous weaving family lived in the 17th century - best seen by candle-light.

A treat for the family at l’Oceanographic sea world in Valencia - A treat for the families, as my kids loved seeing the dolphin show at the Oceanarium in Valencia.

Well - what a relief to get all that off my chest! I hope it won’t be quite so long before the next round up of what I’ve been up to elsewhere on the web.

Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

Don’t miss out - subscribe to Heather on her travels

Olympic Fever - tips for the Vancouver Olympics

If you’re feeling the excitement of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, you’ll enjoy my guest post today from Blake Abel, with tips on how to get maximum enjoyment from your visit, based on his experiences at the Beijing Olympics.

With the Vancouver Olympics fast approaching, it is time to get Olympic fever. As travelers we can relate to the thousands of people booking flights, finding room and board and carefully planning their vacation to beautiful Vancouver in Canada. I have been all over the world, to many countries, and very few match up to the city and people you see at the Olympic Games. I went with my family to the Olympics in Beijing in the summer in 2008 to support my sister who was competing in the synchronized swimming event. Although she didn’t win a medal, we had a wonderful time and I have some Olympic size tips for those visiting Vancouver for the Olympic games.

Plan before you go

Obviously right? One thing we learned when visiting Beijing is that there was not enough time in a day to see all the sites and scenes. Any Europe traveler knows that in order to visit all the hot tourist spots, you have to plan, plan, plan. Couple that with the Olympic games, the events, the nightlife, and the spontaneous redirects and you end up in chaos.

Find a balance between visiting on a whim and seeing the things you actually want to see. We barely made it to the Great Wall and we could have seen way more countryside - disappointing!

Find a translator

This doesn’t apply to the Vancouver games unless you struggle with your English, but I found myself ruffling though my Mandarin book just to find where the bathroom was. It is important to take books like mine, but more important to have someone you know, hire, or kidnap to help you in your travels to a foreign country. If we had a translator we could have cut our time in half, from bantering with waiters, cab drivers, and policemen. Yes, policemen.

Get travel insurance

Low cost travel insurance can help you immensely. Lost baggage or getting sick can be the worst thing in a foreign country. This is something my family and I regret immensely. We incurred costs that could have been reimbursed if we had purchased trip travel insurance. My brother got appendicitis in Beijing, was rushed to a hospital and thankfully we paid Yen instead of dollars. Unfortunately, it was in the thousands of dollars. Getting out of a cab, I hit a nice Chinese man, sending him off his bike. We paid again for the accident and were almost thrown in prison. It is really important when you are traveling (yes, even to Canada) that you stay protected, and be insured.

Explore

The Olympic Games causes a lot of excitement, it catches you eye, you stay in the village you watch the events you can get into, and you miss the rest of the city/country. One of the biggest advice I can give to visitors to Vancouver is “don’t stop at Vancouver and Whistler”. I have been to these cities and though they are great, they don’t grab the full culture you can get from Canada. Visit the outskirts, go to the woods, play in the snow, and embrace the country you traveled, one hundred, a thousand miles to visit. If you don’t, you will regret it.

Many thanks for this guest post to Blake who writes about travelling insurance and loves to travel in Europe and Asia. He is currently planning his next trip to Sri Lanka with a team of Americans, there to help set up a new orphanage. His passion is to help people with travel tips, staying on budget, and find low cost travel insurance.

Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

Don’t miss out - subscribe to Heather on her travels

Wine tasting stop at Chateau Ksara - in Lebanon

You may be surprised to learn that Lebanon is a source of world class wines - of course grapes have been grown and made into wine here for centuries, but it was mainly for local consumption. It was probably the influence of the French, who had a protectorate over Lebanon between two World Wars, that really took Lebanese wine-making into different league.

The Lebanese vineyards and wineries are concentrated in the Bekaa valley there the grapes are grown, and one of the most commercial wineries in this area is the Chateau Ksara. After our stay in Baalbek, we drove south through the Bekaa valley and stopped there for a spot of wine tasting. The Ksara winery is close to a busy road intersection and it was not quite setting of rolling vineyards that I’d had in mind, so close to all the traffic. But as you entered the drive, the elegant reception area and winery came into view, ideal for a quick stop off the highway and I suspect on the itinerary of many a coach tour.

The whole operation was very slick with a 45 minute free tour. A pleasant lady on reception took us with a few others who arrived at the same time, and we sat and watched a video about the vineyard and winemaking here. Then she took us down into the cellars that were discovered in Roman times, where we could see some of the oldest bottles of the property being stored as well as the wine maturing in oak barrels. After that we went to a bar area and sat down to taste a few of the Ksara wines, which was very pleasant, but as it was a free tour, they were mainly everyday table wines and not of special quality. Lastly we were ushered into the shop where there was a wide selection of the different bottles to buy from the property. I bought a couple of half bottles, not being able to transport too much back to the UK.

It was a very enjoyable tour, but if you want to spend a lazy lunchtime surrounded by the vineyards in the countryside, there are probably other vineyards you could try, such as Kefraya or Massaya, that are a bit more off the beaten track. Or for a more personal style tour for wine enthusiasts make an appointment at Chateau Musar, in the hills close to Jeita near Beirut - you can read us about meeting the winemakers there.

Have you drunk any Lebanese wines? They’re often in the same style as a French claret and are usually a lot cheaper than a Bordeaux of similar quality. Seek them out in your local specialist wine shop and tell me what you think.

This article was posted as part of Wanderfood Wednesday hosted at Wanderlust and Lipstick - head over for some Indian Veggie burgers and other foodie delights.

Lebanon Wine Resources

Chateau Ksara website
Chateau Kefraya website
Chateau Massaya website
Chateau Musar website

Other Lebanon articles to enjoy

Meet the winemakers at Chateau Musar in Lebanon
Wine tasting in the Bekaa valley in Lebanon
Mezze memories in Lebanon

Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

Don’t miss out - subscribe to Heather on her travels

Next Page »