One unique and outstanding feature of Australia is the Great Barrier Reef. Extending 2,200 kilometers along the Queensland coast in the Coral Sea, it’s the largest reef system in the world, and the largest living structure on the planet. The incredible variety of life on the reef, over 10,000 species including 400 coral and 2,000 fish species, is unsurpassed anywhere in the world. It is a must see for everyone who visits the country.
Everyone thinks California is hip, right? Well some folks just think all the nuts roll down hill to California. But there is a lot that’s hip about Southern California, once you escape the urban sprawl of Los Angeles. One way or another this is a fascinating place, and San Diego is becoming more hip as we travel through the 21st century, located as it is at one of the four corners of the continental USA.
What’s really hip is the weather, with a climate that is envied by the rest of the states, more than 70 miles of beaches, and some first-class family attractions that make this a favorite vacation spot for Americans and foreign tourists alike. Everyone is welcome here!
Once the secret of backpackers, Cairns is now a well known destination for all kinds of international travelers who yearn for a tropical experience. Whether you like fishing, diving, snorkeling, hiking, golfing, shopping, bird watching or beachcombing, you can find it all around Cairns. Located on Queensland’s north coast, Cairns provides an excellent base for exploration to such wonderful sights as the Great Barrier Reef, Cape Tribulation, Daintree National Forest, incredibly beautiful beaches, Kuranda and the Atherton Tablelands.
Gandia Winery makes my favorite Spanish wines, from the Utiel-Requenna area northwest of Valencia. Smooth, deep, and delicious, they produce reds, whites and rosés.
Founded in 1885 by Vicente Gandia Pla, the more than 100 years of experience as a family-run winery shows in the beautiful wines they make.
According to their publicity, “the passion, effort and care that we put into making high-quality wines are the result of knowledge passed down from father to son for four generations.”
Thanks to this spirit of constant growth and renewal, Bodegas Gandía is one of the leading Spanish producers of bottled wine, doing business in more than 75 countries on four continents.
With more than 200 hectares at the Hoya de Cadenas estate and other facilities in Valencia, the firm employs more than 100 professional winemakers. All of their wines are aged in American oak casks for that special flavor.
The grapes they produce and make into wines are Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Tempranillo and Bobal. I can attest to the fineness of the Tempranillo from drinking many, many bottles of this wine during the winter of 1994-1995 while staying on the Costa Blanca. The wines produced during the year 2003 are exceptionally fine, and two years later are quite drinkable, and enjoyable, indeed. Good thing it was a majorly prolific year for the grape harvest in Spain, in 2003. They say global warming is only making the European wines better and better. Small consolation I suppose.
So when in Spain, be sure to visit Valencia for the Feria, some Paella, and then venture into the mountains to the cool heights of Utiel-Requenna, and visit the Hoya de Cadenas estate of the Gandia family winery. You won’t forget it. And I guarantee you’ll enjoy the wine.
This home-made Paella is actually made with chicken and vegetables, as there are many variations of Paella.
Paella comes in many flavors, and always is made with that fat-grained rice from Valencia. Valencia is where Paella is from anyway, so with a few examples of the local Paella under my belt so to speak, I ventured forth to make Paella myself, while living on the Costa Blanca.
So here is my most recently favorite variation, Paella con Pollo y Verduras.
The city of Prague is blessed with classical music, at every corner and turn there is a poster announcing this or that concert. Usually with the likes of Mozart, Dvořák or Smetana on the bill, a concert is a great thing to experience in this lovely city.
In terms of venues, besides the impromptu concerts organized in every church, cathedral, concert hall and open square, the city of Prague offers two large established opera houses, with four major orchestras.
During Prague’s annual Spring Festival there is even more to offer than at other times of the year. The Prague Spring International Music Festival is a permanent showcase for outstanding performing artists, symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles of the world. Since 1952 the festival has opened with Bedřich Smetana´s cycle of symphonic poems Má vlast (My Country), and it closes with the ninth symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Located 45 kilometers northeast of Alicante, it’s a convenient and inexpensive place to fly into from just about anywhere in Europe. Benidorm is known for it’s white sand beaches and nightlife, albeit Las Vegas-style.
If you’d like to visit Spain, but don’t want to stay in hotels or apartments, you should consider renting a villa. If you’re going to stay in one place for a week or more, we highly recommend Spanish villas because they provide a more unique experience and can usually save you a lot of money, especially in the off-season. It’s also a good idea if you’re looking to buy property in Spain to rent a villa in the area you’re considering first, to see what it would be like living there.
Most rental villas are located along the beautiful Spanish coast, and usually have stunning seaviews, a swimming pool, lots more room than apartments, and normally can accommodate six or more persons. While there are some older style villas available, more and more villas are relatively new or have been recently remodeled. This means a modern kitchen with a big refrigerator, and sometimes a dishwasher. All villas have a washing machine, but few have dryers as drying your clothes outdoors is one Spanish tradition that’s hard to change.