[Dave]

I’m partial to Paros – I have good memories of renting a motorbike and crusing up and down the hills, even off road. The island is small enough that you can easily check out most of it in a day or two on a bike, from the road that leads to the high point to a number of sparkling beaches. Any of the greek islands will be crowded this time of year and into end of August.

I listed Paros as part of my “life list” from yesterday which is posted here:

http://www.davestravelcorner.com/above-the-clouds/?p=318

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

I just got back from West Africa – here’s the article I posted about my volunteering at YCC Ghana:

http://www.davestravelcorner.com/journals/publish/article_565.shtml

and some of my Africa updates:
http://www.davestravelcorner.com/above-the-clouds/?cat=4&submit=View

Ghana is well worth a visit – especially to the Cape Coast. The Kakum rainforest walk is fantastic 🙂

~ Dave

[Dave]

I’ve extended the dates of submission for the travel contest until Sept 1 – the submission form wasn’t working for the first month until I was emailed. Several entries have come in over the past week or so now that the form has been fixed 🙂

Thanks

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

Thanks Cho – looks like a good contest this year 🙂

Thanks for posting the details.

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

Hi there – I asked one of our contributers to this site, Habeeb who lives in Toronto – and he had this to say in regards to your questions. Hope this helps 🙂

Regards,

Dave

**********
The hotel that they will be staying in is in the heart of the Entertainment
District in Toronto with many places to see and explore.
Please see this website: for one of my articles about this part of Toronto:
http://www.travellady.com/Issues/April04/678TorontosEntertainmentDistrict.htm
The article is out dated I think the 350 Fahrenheit Restaurant is now
closed. Everything else is still the same.

For restaurants see: http://www.toronto.com/teda or http://www.thedistrict.ca There are a
wide range of eating places from which to choose.

Next to the Entertainment Section, on the corner of Spadina and Dundas,
about a ten minute walk from the hotel is Chinatown, with dozens of
excellent Chinese restaurants, and edging it is the Kensington Market.

As to a beach, there are none within walking distance. Toronto is not noted for its beaches.
*********

[Dave]

You can enter by following this link:

http://www.davestravelcorner.com/journals/admin.pl?action=home

or go to our main journals page and in the lower left hand side click on Guest Account and submit your entry that way as well.

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

Yup – spammers and these auto bots are the *scourage* of the internet – they try to submit this short posts which I have to limit somehow so I do by limiting the number of characters. Most of the time it works wonderfully but every now and then it catches a legit post – I should have an answer for you in the next day or two.

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

I have a list of a bunch of International language schools on this page:

http://www.davestravelcorner.com/links/language-schools/

I took a quick glance and noticed a couple listed in Lima. I will also ask my friend “Mr Peru” who lives in Lima.

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

Thanks Ryan, I look forward to reading your entries – I wouldn’t imagine the Vatican has too many people interning?

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

Here are a couple of comments regarding my trip so far….

The Great Wall is definetely a must visit when one is in Beijing. Badaling is the closest spot to Beijing and is the most popular – Chinese tour groups and other International visitors descend upon this spot in droves. There are other areas nearby where one can access the wall and can hike for several hours and probably not see any other tourists.

The Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant (original branch) where a number of famous celebs and International politicians have eaten (just south of Tiananmen Square in a run-down neighborhood) is way overrated. Their specialty is “Peking Duck” – its quite expensive – a chef walks out a huge duck to your table for inspection and then a bit later 2 small plates make an appearance with the majority being fat, seemingly only part of the duck is served.

The Birdsnest Stadium is impressive when seen in person. It is surprisingly tall. The stadium and nearby Olympic infrastructure have become major tourist attractions – when I visited the huge plaza was filled with throngs of people.

The Don Hua Men night market is worth checking out – its very touristy, mainly with Chinese tourists but a variety of eclectic foods are served including scorpions, snake, seafoods and other interesting delectables. After 5pm, the main food vendor street is one of the most crowded you will ever experience – and throw in the fact that many people are carrying food on sticks…things get quite crazy!

The Forbidden City requires at least 1/2 to see all the main temples, courtyards and museums (to the untrained eye, all the temples may feel repetative). This is a huge complex with parts dating to 1406 – adjoining Tiananmen Square.

The Summer Palace is worth visiting as well (it is big so be prepared to do some walking) – it is situated next to a man made lake which freezes over in the winter. A large temple is on top of a hill – lots of ornate artwork decorate the temple walls.

Anyhow, those are some sites I’ve seen so far in this very historical city.

~ Dave

[Author]

Posts