Archive for November 20, 2008
Orlando Vacation Rentals – Close To The Action
November 20, 2008, 8:25 pmChoosing to rent an Orlando vacation home means you will be right in the heart of all the action Orlando has to offer.
>From the point you arrive a short 20-30 minute drive from the airport will take you to your home from home for the duration of your stay. Hundreds of vacation rental villas are well within a 30-minute drive to all the main Walt Disney World attractions. Furthermore many of these can actually be found situated a mere 15-20 minute drive away. On the days you wish to explore other Orlando attractions e.g. Universal Studios or Sea World again your vacation villa will have you centrally and conveniently based to access these locations easily.
So close to shopping…
No one can visit Orlando and be able to resist the temptation of visiting some fabulous shopping malls. Again, less than half an hour’s drive away you can find yourself at Belz or the Premium Outlets or the Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlets or the Florida Mall. Let us not forget the more recently built Mall at Millenia for slightly more discerning tastes.
Sometimes you will want to take in the true value of your vacation rental villa and have a leisurely day at your holiday home relaxing by the pool, sunbathing, catching up with other members of your party who may have been indulging in different activities to you. Wouldn’t it be lovely at the end of such a relaxing day to go out with your party to a dinner show?
Evening entertainment is only minutes away…
In Orlando you are truly spoilt for choice and the variety of themes for the dinner show is endless to cater for everyone’s needs and tastes. To sample the Wild West there is Dixie Stampede or for those who enjoy cowboy movies then a trip to the Kissimmee Rodeo is for you. Step back in time to Medieval Times or a Pirate’s Adventure. Watch breathtaking horses at Arabian nights Adventure Dinner Show.
With everything SO close at hand an Orlando vacation villa will allow you to “mix and match “your holiday to everyone’s delight – often combining several varied activities in the same day. Where else could you have breakfast by your own poolside, tour a shopping mall in the afternoon then eat dinner with Mickey and Friends at one of the wonderful themed character restaurants in the Walt Disney World theme parks before stepping out to watch one of the magical night time laser/firework displays only to return to the comfort and privacy of your holiday home to plan more activities for the following day?
Surely it cannot get any better than this?
—admin | Comments Off
(posted in the Hall Of Travel category)
Business Trip Or Vacation- Bed And Breakfasts Are A Hidden Treasure
November 20, 2008, 7:34 pmWithin the same city, across the country, or on the next continent to the East, you wont ever find two bed and breakfasts alike. They aren’t chain enterprises where cookie-cutter-like consistency is a company rule. Rather, they often share the culture of their surrounding area, and reflect the taste and personality of the owner.
For the vacationer, they provide a refreshing, home-like setting to unwind from a day of site seeing and pounding the pavement shopping. For the business traveler, with many offering wireless internet and computer services, they provide a much more relaxing and productive environment than a tiny hotel room.
No matter the reason for your travels, you’ll sleep better knowing you can go down to the kitchen in the middle of the night and have a glass of milk and cookies or take off your shoes, grab the newspaper and put your feet up on the couch!
The Host Advantage
Since your hosts usually own the home they are friendly and helpful people. You’re invited in, not just a number to a minimum wage, behind the counter employee. Because you’re not waiting in a stalled check-in line in a crowded lobby, your arrival is a welcome experience. Your hosts will take the extra time to guide you to where you want to go and introduce you to a new city.
That personal touch is much more helpful than having a map left in a hotel room for you to figure out on your own. B & B hosts know their cities well; they’ll give you first hand tips on great restaurants, shopping, and local information about the city tourists and new visitors wouldn’t otherwise know. Rely on them for safety tips while you’re out in the strange and unfamiliar, and to help you understand the customs of the locals, like tipping or hailing a cab for example.
Find Your Perfect B & B Online
Most B & Bs are advertised on the Internet. You can find many choices by going to any search engine, like Google or MSN, and type in “Bed and Breakfast Toronto” for example. Their websites will have pictures of the home, the bedrooms, prices and information on amenities. Don’t assume that every accommodation will have wireless Internet and parking available. Be sure to do your research.
Bed and Breakfasts, like hotels, will range from opulent 5 star mansions to quaint, little simple places for the budget conscious. Fine tune your search to a specific search like “Bed and Breakfast Downtown Toronto”. Some good websites that list and compare many B & Bs are:
www.lanierbb.com www.tripadvisor.com www.bedandbreakfasts.ca www.bbcanada.com www.globalbedand breakfastlinks.com
Different Places, Different Policies
Hosts have different policies for their establishments, and it’s always best to ask questions about things important to you before you book. Do you need parking? Does it cost extra? Is there a curfew? Some other things that vary are cancellation policies, if they have internet use for you, laundry facilities, air conditioning – neither you or the host wants a surprise if there is something that you need that they don’t have it to offer.
Remember, these are people’s homes and a good host wants to provide all the services you would expect at a hotel, except for the hotel atmosphere. They’re relying on their charm and the warmth of their home to make your stay an exciting, fun, welcoming and comfortable experience for you.
Breakfast Has Many Definitions
The breakfasts themselves differ as much as the decors, locations and house types. The owners normally prepare them so you’ll have a home-made, personal touch to your first meal of the day. I’ve stayed in B & B’s that have a self-serve style, continental breakfast. These can be a tasty variety of homemade breads and jellies and treats, or they could be fruit, cereals, yogurts etc, a common standard for the continental breakfast. Don’t be afraid to ask for details on the phone. I’ve expected a delightful morning meal and sadly had to force down commercially bought, frozen, fattening and salty unfulfilling snack.
Others make a wonderful morning event, providing a menu of hot breakfast standards including pancakes, French toast, home fries and eggs. These are my personal favorites because you can bet the owner has their unique flair or a family recipe that you’re not going to find anywhere else. In fact, I visited one B & B where they grew their omelet vegetables right outside in the garden, and the jams and jellies were homemade right on site.
What to Expect
I have found that if a B & B has five or more rooms, they usually have staff to help out the owners. Just like a hotel, you’ll get your beds made and plenty of fresh towels. Personally I like the larger establishments because the house is usually more mansion-like and bursting with character, and normally they can then afford to provide a few more amenities. If you like interacting with people from all over the globe, this would be definitely for you.
I’ve met people from North and South America, Europe, Asia – basically the world. Bed and Breakfast travelers tend to be friendlier, happier and easy-going types that seem more extroverted and genuinely glad to meet each other and enjoy good company and conversation – it’s always a pleasure to compare stories and learn new things about people’s homelands.
After my first stay in a Bed & Breakfast, I was hooked. If you’ve never stayed in one, give it a try. You might be pleasantly surprised… I loved being a guest so much I decided to become an owner!
—admin | Comments Off
(posted in the Hall Of Travel category)
Russian Thanksgiving Dinner – Mystery Ingredients
November 20, 2008, 5:14 pmLiving for a year in Siberia was bound to results in a few laughs. There was no funnier time than my effort to celebrate Thanksgiving.
The Set Up
As an American male, my idea of cooking was dropping by the local Chinese restaurant on my way home from work. We are talking about a person who considers cooking rice a culinary challenge of the highest order. This lack of skill came to the forefront while spending a year teaching at a university in the Siberian city of Chita.
Thanksgiving
Experiencing the Russian culture was one of my primary reasons for moving to Siberia. Experiencing the American culture was apparently one of the prime reasons the University hired me. These conflicting view points resulted in every Russian and American holiday being celebrated, even if it wouldn’t have been otherwise.
As the end of November approached, I started getting questions about Thanksgiving. My Russian peers and students were particularly interested in the concept of Thanksgiving dinner. In turn, I started asking seemingly innocent food related questions and was pleased to learn most of the necessary food items were not available in the local market. This included turkeys, cranberries and so on. Then I made my mistake.
Since the ingredients weren’t available, I began to mouth off about the injustice of missing Thanksgiving dinner. Oh, how I could cook a turkey. To bad everyone would miss out on it. The moral trifecta of justice, fate and karma rose up to put me in my place.
The uncle of someone’s brother was flying in from Moscow. If I created a list, he would buy everything and bring it on the flight.
I was in deep, deep trouble.
Reverting to the times of my youthful indiscretions, I immediately did what anyone in my situation would. I emailed my mother for help. The first response was, “Very funny. You’re going to cook?” After explaining the situation, I received a very long list of instructions written at a third grade level. “This is a knife” and so on…
Well, the magic day came and everything went shockingly well. The turkey tasted like turkey. The stuffing tasted like stuffing. Heck, the cranberries even came out red. Then it was time for the gravy.
In Siberia, you do not buy ingredients in pre-packaged bags. Instead, you buy everything in a clear plastic bag with no label. In theory, you should arrange everything at home so you know what it is when it comes time to cook. Thus did the flour adventures again.
Cooking instructions were read. Turkey juices went into the pan. Instructions were read. Flour went into the pan. Instructions were read. Constant stirring was undertaken. Instructions were read. Water was added.
Feeling cocky, I then did a tasting sample and nearly choked. The gravy was incredibly salty and exceedingly chunky. I added more water, but there was no change. For the next 20 minutes, I kept adding water and stirring. The gravy just kept getting chunkier, tasted horrible and actually began to smoke!
After awhile, one of my female students came into the kitchen to find out what was going on. She blanched as she tasted the gravy. We went through the instructions and I made a passing reference to my suspicion the flour might be bad.
She took one look at the flour and started laughing. Hysterically. She was laughing so hard she couldn’t tell me the reason in English and my Russian was pretty bad. She recovered after a few minutes and gave me the English translation.
I had grabbed the stuff used to paste over holes in the wall, not the flour. Put another way, I was making turkey drywall.
No wonder it was so chunky!
After the crowd left, I repaired a door knob hole in my bathroom.
—admin | Comments Off
(posted in the Hall Of Travel category)
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