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During the 33rd session of The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) this past June in London, England, it was announced that eleven cultural sites and two natural sites have been added to the World Heritage list.
The new additions include:

• The Wadden Sea, Germany/Netherlands
• The Dolomites, Italy
• Stoclet House, Belgium
• The Ruins of Loropeni, Burkina Faso
• Mount Wutai, China
• Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System, Iran
• Sulamain-Too Scared Mountain, Kyrgyzstan
• The Sacred City of Caral-Supe, Peru
• The Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, Republic of Korea
• The Tower of Hercules, Spain
• La Chaux-de-Fonds/Le Locle, Switzerland
• Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal, United Kingdom
• The Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains, France

For only the second time in the history of UNESCO, a site on the World Heritage list has been removed.  The Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany was unable to retain its status due to the construction of a four-lane bridge in the middle of the site.

Three world sites are threatened by various factors and were added to the danger list.  They include the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, Los Katios National Park in Colombia, and the Historical Monuments of Mtskheta in Georgia.

Based in Paris and established in 1945, UNESCO encourages awareness of the natural and cultural heritage worldwide.  For more information, visit UNESCO .

flydubai, Dubai’s first economy airline, took its first flight on Monday, June 2, 2009, to the Lebanese capital of Beirut bringing a fresh new approach to air travel in the region.

The concept behind flydubai is simple as customers only pay for the services they desire.  The flydubai ticket prices includes all taxes and one carry-on per passenger weighing up to 10kg.  There are no paper tickets, only boarding passes.  There is no extra charge to book your own airline ticket online.

CEO of flydubai, Ghaith Al Ghaith, stated that “flydubai will fly to airport that are currently underserved by the traditional carriers…we are looking forward to providing the reality of accessible, low cost, uncomplicated travel.”

For more information, visit: flydubai

Princess Cruises is offering an amazing 107-day world cruise that will take you to the north, south, east, and west with the experience and knowledge that only Princess can offer with over 40 years of sailing the ocean blue.

Sailing from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, to Rome, this 107-day luxurious cruise will stop at an amazing 40 ports including overnight stays in Sydney, Australia, and Xingang, China. 

If you don’t want to wait until 2010 for this cruise, a 104-day cruise is still available on the Dawn Princess sailing roundtrip from Sydney on July 5, 2009.  Ports include Cork, Ireland; Paris, France; Goa, India, plus an overnight stay in Bermuda.

Remember, cruising is the best vacation value for your money.  For more information, visit: Princess Cruises

Today is Earth Day, April 22, 2009.  What better way to celebrate than to take action?

Earth Day events are happening around the world and it’s still not too late to participate!  Attend an educational workshop, a parade, wine tasting, or a concert – find a complete list of events here!

If you can’t attend an event, you can donate, join, or volunteer through the Earth Day Network (EDN).  Even easier - plant a tree or simply switch out an incandescent light bulb!  Everyone can do their part.

Today is also the official kick off for the Green Generation campaign started by EDN whose mission is to provide a healthy, sustainable environment for all people of the world today and for our future.

Happy Earth Day!

Couchsurfing is a simple travel concept – it’s a network of people from around the world that have one thing in common besides the desire to travel.  That’s the desire to travel for free.

Located in Berkeley, CA, this non-profit organization has been helping people connect worldwide through the CouchSurfing website.  It’s free to use – simply join by creating a user profile, decide when and where you’d like to travel, do a search for other members in that area, and “request to CouchSurf” with those members of interest. 

How you choose to CouchSurf is up to you.  You can request accommodation or simply meet for a drink or coffee at the destination of your choice, plus you can host a similar encounter in your neck of the woods to others.  There is no pressure to accept or decline a hosting experience.

With over 1 million members in 232 countries worldwide, the majority of CouchSurfers are in Europe which provides a wealth of opportunities for those members in North America to go abroad.  According to CouchSurfing.com, the top 5 CouchSurfing cities are Paris, London, Berlin, Montreal and Vienna with 27 being the average age of travelers.

Turkey is a land of mystery, ancient civilizations, and a fantastic place to practice yoga.  And why not combine a vacation with something you love?  Take a yoga holiday in Turkey!

Bodrum, Turkey, has it all.  Beautiful beaches, water sports including first class scuba diving, sightseeing, shopping, delicious restaurants and more.  Overlooking Paradise Bay is the Atami Hotel which caters to providing a luxury boutique experience for its guests.

A variety of yoga techniques are presented through themed one-week yoga vacations.  Choose your date, choose your yoga style, and you’ll be on your way to Turkey to experience one of the most relaxing vacations around. 

One-week yoga vacations start at $411 USD which includes accommodation, daily breakfast, afternoon tea, and dinner daily.  For more information, check out: Atami Boutique Hotel.

On Wednesday morning, on a flight enroute from Istanbul, Turkey, to Amsterdam, Holland, a Turkish Airlines (TK) flight crashed shortly before landing killing only 9 of the 134 passengers and crew members onboard.

Only moments before landing, the Boeing 737-800 aircraft hit the ground about 2 miles short of Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.  The aircraft split into 3 pieces and there was no fire; this is being labeled as the key factor in the miraculous escape to safety by almost all passengers onboard.

Officials are investigating but preliminary reports have suggested the misty weather conditions surrounding the airport, the plane ran out of fuel, or that perhaps, there was a problem with the landing gear.

TripAdvisor has just announced its 2009 Travelers Choice Awards which lists 100 top hotel bargains, 60 most romantic hotels, 80 family favorites and more.  For now, we’re going to take a look at the Top 10 Hotel Best Bargains.

And they are:

1. Hotel Vecchio Asilo, San Gimignano, Italy
2. Arcadia Residence, Prague, Czech Republic
3. SeaCoast Inn, Hyannis, Massachusetts, USA
4. Riad Zolah, Marrakech, Morocco
5. Derwent House Boutique Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa
6. Can-Y-Bae, Llandudno, Wales
7. Garni Hotel Berc, Bled, Slovenia
8. Pension Bellas Artes, San Sebastian-Donostia, Spain
9. Old Ranch Inn, Palm Springs, California, USA
10. Hotel Al Ponte Mocenigo, Venice, Italy

Once again I am very disappointed to say that I have not had the privilege of staying in any of these hotels – yet.  I still have hope.  Have you been lucky enough to do so?  I’d love to hear from you!

Take care,

Connie

Happy New Year to you all!  I appreciate you reading my blog and hope that you’ll continue to do so in the New Year to come.

Around the world, people are celebrating New Year’s Day.  But not all people celebrate and not all have the same traditions.  Let’s take a look.

In Egypt, for example, the new crescent moon has to be seen by viewers at the Muhammad Ali Mosque atop it’s hilltop in Cairo before the New Year can officially begin.  New Years Day is an official Egyptian Public Holiday and is full of festive celebrations.

The Chinese New Year takes place between January 21 to February 20 and the annual date changes according to the lunar calendar.  This is a time for friends, family and looking forward to a year of good fortune.  The tradition of giving lucky money to single relatives and children is still popular today.

In Sweden, as with much of the world, people celebrate as we do in North America with food, drink and general celebrations. 

In Ireland, the New Year’s festival known as Samhain takes place on Halloween, October 31^st.  This is when political trends are predicted by the blowing winds and traditionally where breads were banged against the outside doors and windows of a house in order to drive away any misfortunes and to attract general happiness in the home.

If you’d like to read more about New Years Day traditions around the world, check out the FatherTimes website.

Did you know that Lonely Planet now has its own YouTube channel since this past April?  It’s true and well worth a look. 

ith over 500 staff and 300 writers world-wide, Lonely Planet has developed from a book about a couple’s travel adventure to Europe & Asia to a name in travel that can be trusted to provide accurate and up-to-date travel reviews for anyone who travels.

Now they’ve branched out into YouTube with the launch of the Lonely Planet YouTube Channel.  The site features the best travel videos as submitted to the Lonely Planet website along with information on upcoming Lonely Planet television specials.

The Head of Lonely Planet Television, Ms. Laurence Billiet, stated that the new YouTube channel “is an exciting way for us to showcase these inspiring videos to the YouTube community.”

To check out the new Lonely Planet YouTube channel, click here.