Travel

Saturday May 25 1005pmSurrounded by wavesIt was a really rough night last night waves were probably in the 25 foot range fortunately I am lucky as all it does to me is put me to sleep. I did make a little mistake last night and set my clock an hour forward a night early so I was an hour early for work oh well.The golfers just kept coming this morning the group just kept getting bigger and b

I write this blog almost 18 months after arriving home from Hong Kong so am relying on my memory along with our photographic record of events. We took little to no diary notes during our 10 day stay. Something I now wished we were more diligent with at the time. I remember arriving into Hong Kong on the airplane and gazing out the windows at the lit skyline it was late in the night on New Year

For the May Holiday we ended up going to Guilin Yangshou for 7 days.Day 1 To GuilinWe caught our flight to Shanghai and the connecting flight to Guilin Airport arriving in the evening. We caught a shuttle bus into the city and taxi39ed to our hotel. The taxi39s were all asking extravagant pricies upwards of 10x normal rates. And we ended up giving up and settling on 30 RMB as no taxi w

I39ve listed this under Victoria as we sort of travelled around rather than stayed in any one place. We initially went to visit family but through in some great history and nature along teh way.We flew into Tullamarine airport hired a car and drove out to Daylesford 1.5hr north to visit my hubby39s father. Daylesford is a lovely little town known as the 39spa capital of australia39

Words of the day PHENOMENAL. EMOTIONAL.We paid one more visit to Terry Fox this morning prior to leaving St. John39s. We stayed longer than our first visit here yesterday. When you stop to think about what he accomplished and how we have no right to complain about anything in life. We started our ride today with that in mind sombre thoughts of family and friends we have lost much to early i

24 MayIt39s Carmen birthday.....I woke her up with a video from our dear friends birthday present and cup cake...not just a cupcake but one from Harrods...yesterday .I told her that I was going to buy a Harrods bag and be right back . 10 minutes later....there was a long queue for cakes I then hid it in my shopping and sneaked it in the fridge when we got back...she was none the wiser....So

You may remember the 7.5 hour documentary released in 2009 which allowed you to travel the journey between Bergen to Oslo from the comfort of your home. If your wanderlust was fired up watching that video, then you may enjoy some of the other trips you can take. Switzerland: Zermatt to Gornergrat in Summer (50m) Zermatt to Gornergrat in Winter Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (30m) Le Train de Vignes (11m) France: Brussels to Paris (1h24m) Villefranche - Latour-de-Carol (narrow gauge) (2h20m) UK: Glasgow - Fort William (4h30m) King's Cross to Royston (39m) Italy: San Remo - Genoa (2h8m) San Remo - Cuneo (2h) Austria: Salzburg - Villach (2h6m) Myanmar: Thazi - Kalaw (4h50m) Japan: Yosan Line (1h16m) USA: Canton Junction - Providence (9m) Shaw Air Force Base Railroad (32m) Chicago to Saint Louis Part 1 Part 2 (40m) Australia: Karratha - Tom Price (5h) New Zealand: Christchurch - Springfield (3h20m) Greece: Thessaloniki to Serres (2h) Russia: Lake Baikal (20m) Romania: Timisoara Nord - Resita Nord (1h22m) The Netherlands: Amsterdam Centraal - Brussel Zuid (1h49m) Portugal: Guarda to Nelas (1h8m) Norway: And last but not least you can enjoy the entire 9h50m trip from Trondheim to Bodo Spring Summer Autumn Winter Happy Travels!

You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction. —Alvin Toffler With one manager headed out the door and another one coming in, Chelsea and owner Roman Abramovich are again gambling that change is a better thing right now for the West London club than stasis.Besides interim manager Rafael Benítez's departure, several players currently on the Blues squad will likely be leaving Stamford Bridge as likely incoming manager José Mourinho may embark in a major personnel overhaul.But will that necessarily be a good thing in the future for Chelsea?Well, when a guy dubbed "The Special One" is presiding as puppetmaster, one would definitely think so, but when you realize Mourinho gave himself that nickname, it provides context to a bigger picture and reveals much about the 50-year-old Portuguese's massive ego.But hey, he worked miracles with the Blues once, and it all worked out swimmingly, so he has to be able to work his Mourinho Magic again, right brother?Only time will tell.Obviously, Chelsea will rid itself of much deadwood in the coming months, but would a major face-lift be the right thing to do for a club which finally seemed to gel in the last couple months of the season?On Saturday, Gerard Brand of the Daily Mail reported that Mourinho hopes to lure Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modrić away from Santiago Bernabéu with him when he eventually comes to Chelsea with a club insider saying "Mourinho's very keen to clinch a deal for Modrić."Rob Beasley of The Sun reported that a move for the 27-year-old Croat could cost the Blues around £30 million, but don't the Blues already have enough quality midfielders now with which to work? And wouldn't trying to sign Málaga's Isco probably be a wiser move and money better spent for the Europa League champions?Another rumored move, according to O Jogo (via Sky Sports), for the Blues involving another Real Madrid player concerns left-back Fábio Coentrão who, if acquired, would eventually be a replacement for Ashley Cole when the Chelsea legend finally ends his time at Stamford Bridge.So where would that leave Ryan Bertrand, who has been deemed Cole's "understudy" at the position for so long? And would so many new faces change the chemistry too much and possibly create some dissention in the club?With so many players being the subject of Chelsea transfer rumors, it can become quite overwhelming for fans and journalists alike, but a constant reshuffling has to be even harder for the players who get used to each other not only on the pitch, but in the clubhouse, during travel and in social settings.One player in the center of this overhaul debate is striker Fernando Torres, who was a complete Jekyll and Hyde this past season, shining in international play, but leaving a lot to be desired in the English Premier League.The 29-year-old Spaniard, like last season, seemed to show much improvement toward the end of the season and had to be exhausted as the marathon trek finally came to an end on Saturday when the Blues played their second of two season-ending friendlies against Manchester City in New York City.Torres served as the club's primary striker in its familiar 4-2-3-1 formation, and with Didier Drogba released, Daniel Sturridge sold to Liverpool and Demba Ba cup-tied in Europa League play, he was leaned on heavily by manager Benítez, and the club actually led the Blues in scoring in all competitions with 23 goals.Should Mourinho and management send Torres on his merry way and land another big-name scorer like Radamel Falcao or Edinson Cavani, would they be able to provide the same offensive output as El Niño? And would they mesh into a team with potentially a number of new moving parts?Another big-name Blues legend who could eventually be let go is captain John Terry, seen by many as the heart and soul of the team.Gary Cahill could very well f

Michael Clarke Duncan’s grave was recently vandalized, and a local artist has taken responsibility. A relative of the late actor discovered the offensive graffiti during a recent visit to the Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills. The family member believes the cartoon face drawn on Duncan’s grave is of a racist character named Sambo. According to TMZ, the Los Angeles Police Department was treating the incident as a hate crime. An investigation was launch to find the person responsible for defacing Michael Clarke Duncan’s grave. Authorities may not have to look too hard. A local artist named Lisa Albanese has claimed responsibility for the graffiti. The woman said she draws the faces on celebrity graves as a sign of respect. To clarify her intent, Albanese reached out to travel writer Jason Cochran. Although many believe her work was racially charged, she claims the art wasn’t designed to offend anyone. Several of her smiley faces have been shared on Facebook. She explained: “It’s been brought to my attention that you have been curious to who has been leaving the rock smileys on the celebrity graves. That would be me! I also leave them on other graves that catch my attention, next to street art, and anything else that catches my attention in the Los Angeles Area. It all started with my friend Tamra finding a little rock with a face on it, and how it made her smile. Then a few of us thought we’d leave some rock smileys around for others to find, sort of like a pay it forward type of thing.” Albanese also defended her artwork to the folks at The LAist. The artist stressed once again that the last thing she wanted to do was upset anyone with her grafffit. According to Albanese, the graffiti was meant to honor Michael Clarke Duncan. “I am more in shock and saddened that some people have been misinterpreting my colorful smiley face painted on a little rock. And again, the last thing I want to do is offend anyone, and I am truly sorry to those who I have offended,” she told the website. What do you think about the artist who vandalized Michael Clarke Duncan’s grave? Do you think she meant any harm with the graffiti? [Image via Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com] Michael Clarke Duncan’s Grave Vandalized, Local Artist Claims Responsibility is a post from: The Inquisitr

Forty-five Indian fishermen released by Pakistan crossed over to India via the Wagah border using the `emergency travel certificate`.