Unusual Halloween Destinations

Try something new this Halloween with a trip to one of these unique haunted destinations!

Seattle’s Underground City

Below the streets of Seattle lies the haunted subterranean story of a town that once burned to the ground. Fire fighters fought the blaze and lost. A guided walking tour will share with you the mystery and lore of this underground tragedy. While you roam the subterranean passages that once were the main roadways and first-floor storefronts of old downtown Seattle, Tour Guides regale you with humorous and often risqué stories that you won’t hear anywhere else. It’s history with a twist!

Deadwood, South Dakota

In 1876, the gold camp of Deadwood in Dakota Territory was a rough and tumble gambling town where Wild West legends were made. Today, the entire Black Hills’ town is a National Historic Landmark and is still known for its wild ways. From our gold rush history to our 80 historic gaming halls, Deadwood is the ideal place to release your inner outlaw.

New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans has long been known for its close ties to the paranormal and spiritual. Not only does the French Quarter have a haunted feel, but its history of voodoo curses and paranormal activity are well documented throughout the years.

Neverland Ranch, California

Auckland: Water Everywhere

Welcome guest blogger, Lyn Harris from Traveling New Zealand

Surrounded by water, Auckland, New Zealand has much to offer if you like boats, maritime history, or just plain sea life. When you visit this City of Sails, you’ll find water everywhere.

Near the Ferry Berth on Quay and Hobson Streets, the New Zealand Maritime Museum covers Kiwi maritime history from the Maori migration to modern day cup sailing. You can check out the boats, life-sized exhibits, or collection of models and artifacts on a guided tour or poke around on your own with an Audio Guide. If you’d like to get out on the water, the museum’s Ted Ashby sails Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. The SS Puke and Breeze sail most weekends.

The waterfront itself is a good place to spend an afternoon. Ferries come and go as well as other interesting boats. My first trip to New Zealand in 1985, I wandered the docks and visited with one of the crew of the damaged Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior, which was lashed to the dock. The Rainbow Warrior had been ripped by two bombs killing one crew member, Fernando Pereira. The French government had ordered the bombing. The Rainbow Warrior crew have since scattered around the world. Today, the Rainbow Warrior is a living reef off the Cavalli Islands in Northland.

Probably the only place you’ll find snow and ice in Auckland is Kelly Tarlton’s Under Water World. South of Central Auckland on Tamaki Drive, you can time travel back to visit a life-size replica hut of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the South Pole explorer. Then, visit a penguin colony in an antarctic snow cat. In Underwater World, you can view the sea life while traveling through a clear tunnel on a moving walkway. If you want a closer view of the sharks, you can get nose to nose with one. A professional dive instructor will help you meet the sharks. You’ll get a lot wetter than you would on a ride through the tunnel, so bring a towel.

Maybe you don’t want to rub noses with a fish, but you’d still like to get a little sand in your shorts and meet new friends. November to March each year, Auckland’s Stroke & Stride Series invites locals and visitors to enter one or all of eight swim/run events. Swim in Waitemata Harbour Bay then run along Auckland’s waterfront dripping salt water– and maybe win a prize.

You’re never far from water in Auckland, so dig into New Zealand maritime history, take a boat trip, or at least take off your shoes and get your feet wet.

Rugby

Rugby is a world wide known sport. It’s not the most famous international sport but it is well known in many countries. Rugby was developed in different areas of the United Kingdom and is divided into 2 categories. One is Rugby League and the other is Rugby Union. The Rugby Union is divided into 3 unions of different countries, made up of both professionals and armature players. The 1^st union is made up of Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The 2^nd and 3^rd are made up of Canada, Chile, Georgia, Japan, Namibia, Portugal, Romania, Samoa, Spain, Tonga, United States and Uruguay. The Rugby League is also made up of players who are professionals and armatures but the difference is that Rugby League is administrated on a Global stage. The countries include the same as the Rugby union but also consist of, Russia and Lebanon and across Europe and Australasia. There are two major professional competitions worldwide within the Rugby League; there is the Australasian National Rugby League and then the European Super League.

Rugby is sport that was known back in the day to be played by only thugs and hooligans. You would find people from the upper class in private schools and people from the middle class to play in the Rugby Union. In the Rugby League on the other hand, is pursued by working and the middle class. Rugby is played worldwide but you can mainly find it being played all the time in Europe, especially France. You can watch Rugby being played in Australia, South America, New Zealand and many other countries. Countless people travel to watch the playoffs of rugby. Just like Fifa Soccer, the public travel nationwide just to watch rugby matches.

Rugby is played at a fast pace with hardly any time stoppages at all and nonstop possession of the ball. The Field on which Rugby is played on is quiet similar to the soccer field in length but instead of goals they have huge H shaped crossbar on each side. The Ball used, is made out of leather and comes in different sizes (3, 4 & 5) depending on youths and adults. 15 players per team are allowed to play on the field. As general rules, the players have to run with the ball constantly just like soccer but this is with ball in hand. Unlike football there are no yards that need to be covered. You just have to make it to the opponents end and score in either 1 of the following 4 ways.

Try: Touching the ball on the opponents ground of the goal area wins 5 points.

Conversion: Following the try, the players have to kick it between the H shaped crossbars, if succeeded they win 2 points.

Penalty Kick: Kick the ball for 3 points or just resume the game following a foul.

Drop Goal: Kicking the ball while the game is in plat through the H Crossbars can win you 3 points.

The rules to Rugby are a bit puzzling but if you pay close attention to it you might just become interested. Rugby is considered to be a gender fairness sport as roughly 25% of all players in the United States are female.

Greenbrier Bunker

The Greenbrier Bunker

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

What Lies Beneath: A top-secret, government-maintained underground bunker built as a fallout shelter for the House of Representatives and the Senate during the Cold War, hidden below the high-end Greenbrier Hotel for more than 30 years. Two football-field-size levels held 1,100 bunk beds, a fully stocked cafeteria and medical clinic, and a TV studio.

How Did It Get There: In 1956, a letter stamped “Secret” was sent to the owner of The Greenbrier by members of the government introducing their personal architect, and informing him of their plans to build. In 1992, the “Government Relocation Facility” was exposed on the cover of The Washington Post magazine, and three years later, when the lease expired, it opened to the public.

Cool Bonus: Government-sponsored construction also began on the Greenbrier Valley Airport and Interstate 64 shortly after the bunker was built. Today they benefit locals and visitors.

Help Save the Peruvian Rainforest

Visiting the Peruvian Rain Forest

Brought to you by guest blogger http://streetsofperu.blogspot.com/

When planning their travels, people usually aim for points on a map rather than entire geographic regions. Places like the Eiffel Tower, or Machu Picchu are easy to identify as “worthy” tourist destinations, and, as a result, they generate a huge amount of international interest. It is much less frequent, however, for a traveler to simply state “the rain forest” as the object of their journey for several reasons: rain forests are huge, rain forests can be found all over the world, and last, but not least, just how do you go about seeing the rain forest anyway?

The question of how you go about seeing the rain forest is interesting since it flies in the face of modern, hectic travel. Instead of grabbing a tour book and going from point to point like a ridiculous reality show treasure hunt, why don’t you just throw the book out the window, grab a backpack, and let your own senses and impulses guide you?

The fact is, seeing the rain forest is easy. My recommendation is to come to Peru and then take a flight out to Iquitos (it should be about 100$ one way). Iquitos is the world’s largest city which cannot be reached by road (only boats and planes). It sits on the shores of the Amazon, and just the sight of that magnificent river lets you know that you’re not only in a whole different geographical region than you’ve ever been before; you’re in a whole different world!

The best part is, once you fly to Iquitos, you’re IN the rain forest. All you have to do is look at the trees next to the airport and you start getting the picture. The thing you instantly recognize upon going to Iquitos is that the rain forest permits the city to be there (it’s not the other way around).

It’s good to spend an afternoon or so familiarizing yourself with Iquitos, but obviously if you want even more of a sense of the rain forest, you have to get away from the town a little bit. This you can do one of two ways: by hiring one of the thousands of moto-taxis to take you to a nearby lagoon or some other such sight, or by hiring a boat to take you out on the river.

Either one of these endeavors is likely to be very inexpensive and will turn into a fascinating adventure. It’s a little easier to do this kind of travel if you can speak Spanish, but that’s by no means a requirement. The point is that to see the rain forest you have to let go. One of the things you’ll notice when you interact with people of the region is that very few of them wear watches. It’s refreshing to be around people who aren’t in a hurry, and when you start to adopt their sense of things, THAT’S when you’ll know that you have seen the rain forest.

So go ahead and book your ticket, and when people ask you where you’re traveling tell them nothing more than, “the Peruvian rainforest.”

Great Opera Houses

Metropolitan Opera, New York

Located in New York City, the Metropolitan Opera is America’s largest classical music organization and annually presents some 220 opera performances. The Metropolitan Opera House is considered by many to be one of the premier opera stages in the world and is among the largest in the world. The huge performing company consists of a large symphony-sized orchestra, a chorus, children’s choir, Ballet Company and many supporting and leading solo singers. The Met’s roster of singers is drawn from the ranks of the world’s most famous artists.

Palais Garnier, Paris

The Palais Garnier more commonly as the Paris Opera, is a 2,200-seat opera house on the Place de l’Opera in Paris, France.  A grand landmark designed by Charles Garnier in the Neo-Baroque style, it is regarded as one of the architectural masterpieces of its time. There could not be a more romantic setting than watching opera with your beloved while visiting the “city of love”. A vivid example of the architectural beauty, Palais Garnier, has served as the principal venue of the Parisian Opera and Ballet since its founding.

War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco

Part of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, the War Memorial Opera House is located on the western side of Van Ness Avenue across from the rear facade of City Hall. The house has 3,146 seats plus 200 standing room places. It has been the home of the San Francisco Opera since opening night in 1932. The San Francisco Symphony performed most of its concerts in the house.

Vienna State Opera, Vienna

Located in the centre of Vienna, the Vienna State Opera is an opera house and opera company with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. The Vienna State Opera is closely linked to the Vienna Philharmonic, which is an incorporated society of its own, but whose members are recruited from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera.
The Vienna State Opera is one of the busiest opera houses in the world producing 50 to 60 operas per year in approximately 200 performances.

Get Shanghai’d!

Have you ever considered visiting Shanghai? Here’s our top ten reasons why you should!

Shanghai skyline

1. The French Concession is a lovely part of “small-town” within Shanghai. The French imported plane trees in the early 1900s and these trees still line both sides of every street in the area. These days, old villas and lane houses are being renovated and turned into lovely shops and homes. Walk the quiet streets and enjoy some unique shopping experiences.

2. Jade Buddha Temple – Shanghai’s most famous temple is known for it’s white jade Buddhas carved from a single slab of Burmese jade. Brought to Shanghai in 1881, the statues are housed in separate houses amongst beautiful jewels and stones. In addition there are also ancient carvings, paintings and precious Buddhist cultural relics.

3. Xin Tian Di is Shanghai’s most popular restaurant, bar, and club district, and features Shanghai’s traditional shikumen architecture. Shikumen buildings are recognizable by the gray and red brick facades, numerous ornamental front gates and low two to three story heights. Originally built by the thousands in rows for middle-class Chinese, these classic Shanghainese houses are being  replaced by modern skyscrapers.  Xin Tian Di is divided into the North and South Blocks. The South Block is the more modern of the two and is home to one of China’s first major shopping centers as well as boutiques, restaurants and nightclubs.

4. Jim Mao Tower- The second tallest building in Shanghai, the Jin Mao stands at 88 floors. There is an observation deck on the 88th floor with views of the neighboring skyscrapers and the sprawling city. On a clear day, the tower can be seen from all across the city.

5. Shanghai Museum - Arguably he best museum in China, the Shanghai Museum has 11 galleries and over 120,000 historic artifacts. The Stone Sculpture Gallery and the Bronze gallery are the most popular with collections dating back to the 18th century B.C.

6. The Bund-The famous Shanghai waterfront mixes past and future along the 1 mile walk.Visit in the early morning to witness the locals doing tai-chi.

7. Yu Garden – The whole area around the gardens has been renovated in traditional style Chinese architecture with curving tile eaves that make you feel like you’ve finally found “Chinatown”. Explore around to find silk pajamas, chopsticks, and other Chinese souvenirs. Find the entrance to the Yu Yuan Garden where you can follow crowds through a classical Ming garden.

8. Yu Yuan Garden- In the center of Old Town, just southwest of the Bund, the Garden of Peace and Comfort offers an escape from the fast pace of the surrounding city. With 30 pavilions and over 5 acres, this 16th century garden can be explored for days. Of the many temples and halls, the Grand Rockery is the most popular. Two thousand tons of rare yellow stones are combined with rice glue to form a massive sculpture that stands 46 feet high.

9. Peace Hotel – Built in 1929 and was one of the finest hotels in the world through the 1930’s. Take a walk through the lobby, eighth-floor ballroom and up to the rooftop for a great view of the Bund and Nanjing Lu.

10. Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe – This world-famous acrobatic troupe performs nightly at the Shanghai Center Theatre. Balancing acts, contortionists, plate-spinning and complicated juggling are just a few of the many amazing acts in the two hour show.

Exclusive Flight Deals!

Check out these free things to do in San Jose!

San Jose Museum of Art- The San Jose Museum of Art charges no admission whatsoever, as in free all day, every day (except Monday when the museum is closed).

Santana Row- enjoy cinema classics outdoors at Santana Row and downtown by the museum (think drive-in without the cars, and bring your own popcorn), or inside at the venerable ciné16.  Check www.santanarow.com for complete schedule.

Lick Observatory- This 4,300 ft astronomical outpost is open to visitors 12:30-5pm weekdays and 10am-5pm weekends (closed for major holidays). Short guided tours of the main refracting telescope are available.

New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum- Housed inside an 1854 hotel known as La Casa Grande, the museum traces the rise and fall of quicksilver mining in the once-flourishing town of New Almaden. A museum visit can be combined with a walk around Almaden Quicksilver County Park, which covers 4,000 largely undeveloped acres, with 33 miles of trails for hikers.

While in San Jose check out the Winchester Mystery House!

If you are looking for a quick getaway and exclusive flight deal, check out this great one from OneTravel! Atlanta to San Jose for $347 roundtrip, all taxes included!

The Future of Bargain Airline Design?

Can the seating arrangement in an airplane lead to more affordable fares? Some say yes. A new aircraft seating design is being developed in the UK, that according to a September 22 report by the Telegraph, the new arrangement has been developed specifically for budget airlines offering short flights. The article states that the design “could lead to a 50 percent increase in the number of passengers on board with a saving of up to a third per seat,” according to the UK-based developer, Design Q. The design features flip-up benches and face-to-face seating that call to mind the inside of a train car.

Design Q said that the configuration is “loosely based on the way some soldiers travel to battle zones,” according to the Telegraph. In the article, the company also pointed out the design is aimed for short-term flights where passengers are not as concerned about comfort. The director of Design Q, told the Telegraph that one advantage of the design is that passengers will be able to exit quickly once the plane lands. Furthermore, the exclusion of bulky seats makes the plane lighter and as a result more fuel efficient.The article also notes that the planes would be able to carry up to 10 per cent more passengers, so long as safety approval is granted.