Paros Specific www.annaplatanou.gr Anna Platanou offers rooms and apartments with full facilities by the beach in Paros Parikia old town family atmosphere, low prices www.paros-online.com provides you with all the practical information you need to travel around Greece and Paros www.paros.gr/en official Paros tourism guide www.parosparadise.com stay with Michael and Karin Shepherd at their apartments www.parosweb.com by … [Read more...]
Chamonix, France – Calling
SIM Cards Prior to sim cards, phone cards were what locals and travelers purchased to make phone calls both in and outside of the country. These days sim cards can be purchased at any "tabacs" store, or most supermarches (super markets). The "tabac" is a store that sells a variety of things such as newspapers, cigarettes, books, gum, and phone cards. They are a very common store in towns. Old French phone cards are now collectibles. Many … [Read more...]
Chamonix, France – Other Attractions
The town of Chamonix offers plenty of shopping, relaxing or people watching. Chamonix reminds me of Whistler, British Columbia. It has the feel of being a high mountain village when in actuality it sits only approximately 3400 feet above sea level. Many local tourist shops sell stunning photographs of the surrounding mountains. These photographs are often only a few euros and are good presents for friends and family. However purchasing frames … [Read more...]
Europe – Phones
SIM Cards Roaming charges on cell phones abroad can be exorbitant if using a home network. One may find a very high cell phone bill after a trip - even just for sending and receiving SMS text messages. Even if you visit a website for just a brief period your provider often charges you the maximum megabyte usage which can be very pricey. Be sure to disable "data roaming" on your phone. The way to avoid these roaming charges is to unlock your … [Read more...]
Europe – Transportation
Finding one's way around a foreign city in the time of pre-Internet was a challenging situation at best taking significant time to avoid getting lost (which invariably happened anyway). One had printed maps that one had to determine their location on before being able to route a course to a desired destination. Not always easy without a digital blue dot to guide you. And road signs were often missing further causing complications. Later some … [Read more...]
Europe – The Locals
I think that whatever country you are traveling in you will meet the bad apples as well as the good oranges. On my first journey through Europe I met some very helpful people who went out of their way to give me advice, show me certain areas, or give me help. Then I met some overly stressed people who all they had to say was "stick it between your teeth". I could definitely tell a general difference in personality between different cultures … [Read more...]
Monterey, CA – Carmel Restaurants
Carmel has a great selection of restaurants, many known for their excellent European influenced cuisine. The one type of restaurant you will not find in town are fast food chain restaurants. Note that Carmel does not use street numbers for addresses - so when giving someone directions to a restaurant you have to include the nearest cross streets and or any other signifying landmarks. Some restaurants offer sunset specials - the meals are … [Read more...]
Mt. Whitney, CA – Big Pine
Big Pine is a fairly small town located directly on Highway 395 (population approximately 1,750). Does not feature much in the way of lodging or food (the one exception to this and worth a stop unless you are vegetarian or vegan, is Copper Top BBQ). Big Pine however is a good launching spot for several attractions within the area including the Bristlecone Pine Forest. The closest tree to the namesake of the town is the tall Sequoia planted … [Read more...]
Spokane, WA – Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park is located in the northern part of Montana. Parts of Glacier border British Columbia and Alberta. The weather in Glacier Park can change drastically at any time of the year. For example, in 1992 over a foot of snow fell on parts of Glacier in August. Summer rainfall averages about 2 to 3 inches per month. An umbrella or a good waterproof raincoat is highly recommended. Temperatures listed below are in both Celsius and … [Read more...]
San Francisco, CA – Museums
Aquarium of the Bay is one of San Francisco's newer museums. This aquatic museum is located next to Pier 39. The primary feature housed inside is the long cylindrical glass tunnel. Visitors can walk through this tunnel and watch fish swim all around you. There are also other aquatic tanks. Allow at least one hour to absorb everything. They are open daily from 10am until 8:30pm. General admission is $19.95 with discounts given for those over the … [Read more...]