Which Barcelona Big Events You Shouldn’t Miss

In present times, Barcelona is definitely a cultural metropolis – ‘a cultural crossroad’ – with excellent, carefully organized events and festivals reflecting this diversity. Some of these include the Sonar Festival, the International Jazz Festival, Asian film festivals, Fashion Week, the “Grec Festival”, The Catalonian Moto GP, Formula One: Spanish Grand Prix and many others. Let’s talk more about these events.

The fifteenth edition of Barcelona’s Advanced Music and Multimedia Art SONAR festival takes place in June 2008. Barcelona is home to S?NAR, the International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia, which brings together contemporary art, technology and music, providing a packed program of live acts and top DJs.

Taking place largely at the CCCB, Asian film festival in Barcelona will be the tenth edition of one of Europe’s top Asian film festivals. Why an Asian film festival in Barcelona? Well, for one thing Barcelona is now home to a large number of Asian immigrants. Languages: English and Spanish.

The “Teaching and Continuous Training” trade fair, formerly aka the “Sal? de l’Ensenyament” and now known as “Estudia”, is one of Barcelona’s big local trade fairs.

Barcelona likes to think itself as always at the height of fashion and its Fashion Week, the Pasarela Gaud? is its big annual event. “Moda Barcelona’s” next big event is June’s “BCN Bridal Week”.

Barcelona is one of the cultural capitals of Europe and there are always a number of exciting shows, pop, rock and classical concerts and exhibitions on each month. Summer is serious party time and busy time for Barcelona hotels, with week-long fiesta fun. But year-round the city sizzles – it’s always on the biting edge of architecture, food, fashion, style, music and good times. Tourists can find all types of holiday requirement – from economical Barcelona hotels to grand luxury and the very best in services and facilities.

Popularly known as the “Grec Festival”, Barcelona’s summer arts extravaganza is the most important cultural event of the season. Events take place at venues across the city including the Teatre Grec, Fundaci? Joan Mir? and Pla?a del Rei.

The Barcelona International Jazz Festival is one of Europe’s longest-running and most well-respected events. It takes place in the autumn, a perfect time to visit the city as the summer heat has subsided and there are less tourists and more hotels in Barcelona are available. The music comes in a wide variety of styles, from big bands and bebop to gospel and Latin jazz, consistently attracting a great line-up of international performers.

The Catalonian Moto GP is one of the most popular rounds of the World Championship. Taking place at the Circuit de Catalunya close to Barcelona, it attracts holidaymakers and race fans alike. The modern circuit has a capacity of 100,000, so the atmosphere is always electric.

Formula One is the king of motor sports. Since its inauguration in 1950, it has attracted the very best talents in the world of motor racing, hungry for the fabulous riches and unrivalled prestige it offers. The Circuit de Catalunya, just outside Barcelona, hosts the Gran Premio De Espana Telefonica 2008, otherwise known as the Spanish Grand Prix, the fourth race of the 2008 Formula One season.

And of course Christmas is a big event in Barcelona. If you are visiting Barcelona and going to be decorating the house for Christmas – particularly if you have a crib (Nativity scene), don’t miss the Feria de Santa Lucia, in the square in front of the Cathedral.

Ваш отзыв , 05 Nov 2011

Top 5 Ways to Relieve Holiday Boredom

Even if you’ve been looking forward to your relaxing two week luxury holiday for months, you may still find yourself bored when you get there.  It sounds amazing, but two weeks can feel like a long time if your holiday consists mainly of relaxing by the beach with very little else going on.  This is especially so if your normal life is fast paced and full of work.  A break sounds like a good idea, but you may find yourself restless with nothing to do.  Here are five ways to entertain yourself and your family while getting into that holiday groove.

  1. Learn a new beach sport.  If you’re spending your holiday on the shore, why not improve your skills at beach volleyball or go surfing for the first time?  Not only will it help you tone your newly exposed swimsuit body, it’s also fun to play in groups and can help facilitate bonds and friendly rivalry between you and the people you’ve taken on holiday with you.
  2. Seek out interesting experiences you can’t get elsewhere.  For example, if you’re travelling to Europe for the first time, you might choose to visit a medieval castle like you’d never find in your own country, or perhaps visit a museum tailored to the specific area you’re visiting with artifacts found on the spot.  Find national landmarks and quirky statues, and take pictures of yourself by them to document your journey.
  3. If it rains and you’re stuck inside, take the leisure time to read a book or a magazine that you might not be able to fit into your normal life.  If you’ve been longing to read War and Peace your entire life, but you normally struggle with the idea of making time for a 1400 page epic, bring it out on a rainy day.  You might be surprised with how much you get read on an interruption-free holiday.
  4. Head out for an extended dinner session at that exclusive restaurant you’ve always wanted to visit.  Enjoy a starter, a main, and extend the night out with coffee and dessert.  If you’re heading out on the town and can’t afford to eat everywhere, have drinks in several different places, staying just long enough to absorb the atmosphere before heading to the next must-see restaurant.
  5. Start to make a photo album before you even leave.  If you’ve taken a number of fantastic snapshots, why not spend an evening setting them out in scrapbook pages?  It can be a fun way to document your trip while it’s happening, while you’re still passionate about it and have the leisure time to place the most important parts of your trip in prominent places.  If you have a laptop, it’s fun to do this on the way to different places, for example if you have a second flight to another destination or on the way home.

These tips should help you to have the most fun on your holiday and truly enjoy your escape from your busy life.

Ваш отзыв , 05 Nov 2011

Рубрика: Travel

Great Travel Tips

Great Travel Tips

Great Travel Tips

Wish a travel and make it happen. Traveling is fun and expensive. Follow these tips and you will make your trip remain in memory forever. Just make a wish and plan your dreams. Dream about a place, dream about amazing places, beautiful places and follow the following tips; you will be amazed to see your wishes come true. Have a nice trip.

1. Safety and Security

  • Use your business address (or business card) in your luggage tags to avoid revealing your home address and phone number.
  • Tape a card with your name and address inside every piece of luggage in case the bag is lost and the outside tags get lost.
  • Make two photocopies of every important document you’ll be carrying — tickets, driver’s license, proof of auto insurance, passport, vaccination certificates, and so on. Carry one copy with you (not with the originals) and give one copy to a friend at home. These copies may be lifesavers if you lose the originals.
  • Carry a list of toll-free phone numbers for all of your credit and bank cards in case you have to cancel them (if they’re lost or stolen) or if you need to find an ATM to use them at.
  • Remove old airline destination tags; they’re the main reason bags get lost.
  • As soon as you get to your hotel room, look for a map of fire escape routes. Be sure to check that the routes are marked correctly and are accessible.
  • During hot weather, never leave an animal or a child in a parked car — even with the windows open.
  • If you can find someone to reliably pick up your mail and newspapers while you are traveling, there is less chance that strangers will know no one is home. Another option is to have delivery temporarily stopped; the Post Office can hold mail, and the price of undelivered newspapers is often credited toward future deliveries.
  • When driving in unfamiliar locales, always park in well-lighted areas.
  • Never open your hotel door to a stranger without first calling the front desk to see if hotel management has sent someone to your room.

2. Planning and Preparation

  • If you are combining business and leisure travel, take a diary to keep careful records of all business expenses for tax purposes. You may also want to take an envelope to hold all receipts.
  • Consider trip insurance to protect against losses if you must cancel your trip for any reason.
  • Write down confirmation numbers whenever you make reservations. If one isn’t offered, ask.
  • Leave a detailed itinerary of your trip with someone at home in case you need to be contacted.
  • Pack a duffel or ultra light knapsack inside your check-in bag. You may need the extra space later to carry home gifts and souvenirs.
  • Use accessories such as scarves and belts to enhance the limited number of outfits you pack.
  • Check the weather forecast for your destination before you leave to ensure that you are packing appropriate clothes. Also, don’t forget that nearby mountain areas may be much cooler than the valley where your hotel is.
  • When making reservations, always ask, “Is this the lowest price you have?” You’ll be surprised how often you may qualify for a discount.
  • You may have a better chance of getting a seat on a sold-out flight if you call just after midnight when many “reservation holds” expire. The same holds true for train travel.
  • No matter how short your trip, pack enough socks and underwear for at least four days.
  • Tape a contents list for each suitcase inside the lid. This saves pawing through every bag when you’re looking for those argyle golf socks, and makes it easier to repack for your trip home.
  • Hope to return “someday” to that ultra-popular hotel? Make a reservation for next year at checkout. You may be able to get a special price. (Just be sure to ask about the amount of cancellation notice required.)
  • Call or visit the Web site of the convention and visitors bureau in your destination city three months in advance and inquire about discount coupons and special attractions packages.
  • Plan well in advance if you want to bring your pet on vacation. Inquire about pet rules and regulations for every form of lodging and transportation you plan to use. You should also bring proof of vaccinations.
  • Pare your packing list by creating mix-and-match outfits using one or two colors.
  • If anyone in your party will be using a wheelchair, let the reservations agent know when you are booking travel.
  • Find space for a folding travel umbrella.

3. Making Travel More Pleasant

  • Making Travel More Pleasant
  • If there is any way to manage it, bring your own pillows.
  • Always have a travel alarm as a backup for the wake-up call service.
  • Premeasured packets of laundry detergent (available at camping supply stores) make it convenient to wash T-shirts and underwear in a hotel sink.
  • Don’t focus solely on getting to your destination. Be willing to investigate intriguing possibilities that arise en route.
  • Attach bright tape to your bags so they’re easy to spot when grouped with strangers’ bags.
  • When you arrive at your hotel, unpack immediately. Hang wrinkled items in a steamy bath to freshen. (Always pack several plastic hangers for contingencies like this.)
  • Carry a couple of energy bars to snack on during layovers or long drives.
  • Pack a nightlight or leave the hotel bathroom light on. This will avoid bumped shins if you need to get up in the middle of the night.
  • To minimize ear-popping discomfort on plane trips, chew gum during descents. If you have a young child who experiences severe ear pain, ask your pediatrician about a decongestant. Feeding a baby, by breast or bottle, can help reduce their ear pain.
  • Carry a few spring-type clothespins to secure bulky shower curtains or to pin together drapes that don’t close completely.
  • Never go anywhere without a small notebook and a pencil. You never know when you’ll want or need to write something done — directions, a phone number, a special store you want to return to.

4. Auto Travel Tips

  • Have your car thoroughly checked and serviced before leaving on a long car trip. If you are will be driving in an area with few service centers, inquire ahead about the locations of service facilities along the route. This is especially important if you are driving a rental vehicle.
  • Use a highlighter to mark your route on a map. Circle interchanges where you’ll be changing roads or directions.
  • For long driving trips, call state transportation agencies along your route and request information about highway construction. Plan for detours or delays.
  • Allow for rest stops on long drives. Plan on at least a 10-minute break every two hours. You’ll drive safer and arrive much more refreshed.
  • Remember, when driving a rental car, that you must carry your proof of auto insurance.

5. Traveling with Kids

  • Designate a large, soft bag as the toy tote. Fill it with simple games, toys, puzzles, books, and similar items.
  • Take along a cleanup kit that includes plastic trash bags, paper towels, and a travel pack of disposable wet wipes.
  • Take along easy-to-eat snack foods such as cereal, fruit slices, and juice boxes.
  • If you are traveling by air with a child under age 2, take a child restraint seat. Board early, giving yourself time to get situated.
  • When taking long car trips with young children, go to bed early the night before and start out long before dawn. This pretty much ensures that the kids will sleep through a major portion of the day’s drive.
  • To keep bickering betw
    een siblings to a minimum, give the children three strikes at the outset of the trip. If any child bickers with another, all of the children are penalized a strike. When you arrive at your destination, if the children have not used all three strikes, they are allowed to do something special.
  • For trips where you’ll stay at the same hotel or resort for multiple days, choose one with separate educational and recreational programs for children as well as child-sitting services.
  • Pack children’s shoes inside adult shoes to save space.

6. Foreign Travel

  • On trips out of the country, keep medicines in their original, labeled containers and bring a copy of your prescriptions and the generic names for the drugs. If any of your medicines contains a narcotic, get a letter from your doctor indicating your need to take the drug.
  • If you are taking your passport, carry an extra photo in case your passport is stolen; already having the phone will make replacement easier.
  • If you will be driving, ask your insurer about a special proof of insurance card to take along.

All said, make your trip a nice trip. If you are not traveling soon, dream about places, amazing places and make your wish travel come true. Wish a travel today and you will be amazed to see your wish come true one day. To watch high definition videos about amazing cities around the world, making a wish to travel, learning ideas and tips and making your wish a travel; please visit http://www.wishatravel.com

Ваш отзыв , 05 Nov 2011

Top 3 Family Maine Tourism Ideas

Has your family chosen where you want to go on your summer vacation? You are not alone, most families have not yet decided where they want to go. It can be a very time consuming activity to discover that perfect vacation escape, so explore the options for your Maine tourism. You will find lots of options and it may not be an easy decision!

However, if you are thoughtful and appreciate the commitment to do some planning, it should make your summer vacation easy and one of those “family events” that you will treasure forever. The most simple mistake people make is first choosing a “destination.” The best vacations occur when you first select “what you want to do”! Do you want to go camping, surfing on a beach, playing and relaxing at a park, or touring cultural or historical attractions? By choosing “what you want to do” to start with, you are off to the best start of choosing that perfect family vacation destination!

Once you know “what you want to do” – you can sort through the various tourism destination areas and discover those exciting attractions that you hope to go see or do. By taking a little time planning, you can also discover those destinations that have a variety of attractions that are of interest to both you and your entire family. Online travel guides are invaluable that can help you choose comprehensive information about activities that are more comprehensive than a vauge attraction name and address. Since you know “what” you want to do and “where” you want to go, a legitimate high quality online free state travel guides will provide you a substantial article describing each attraction to help you make an informed decision about what you want to do and where you want to go.

Here are three Maine vacation alternatives that you might want to consider:

Idea #1: Experience the Thrill of Professional Racing at Maine Indoor Karting. Maine Indoor Karting just off Route 1 in Scarborough is the perfect place to experience the thrill of professional kart racing. This indoor kart racing facility has been specially designed to provide adult drivers with an authentic racing experience. Whether you’re a kart racing fanatic or a first-time kart driver, all the excitement of high-speed kart racing can be yours at Maine Indoor Karting.

Idea #2: Step Back in Time with a Maine Windjammer Association Cruise. Are you itching to get away for a vacation? Would you love to take a cruise but just don’t think you would enjoy three weeks on a ship? There’s a better alternative when it comes to cruises, and it’s one that you may not expect.

Idea #3: Explore New England History at the Ogunquit Heritage Museum in Maine. The Ogunquit Heritage Museum is an excellent place to explore the history, culture and early architecture of Ogunquit, Maine and its surrounding areas. The Museum opened in 2001 following the donation of the 1780 Captain James Winn House. The Ogunquit Heritage Museum at the Captain Winn House is located at 86 Obeds Lane in the Dorothea Jacobs Grant Common, Ogunquit, Maine.

As you can see, you have a significant variety of alternatives available to you when it is time to select that ideal family vacation getaway. Enjoy your chance to plan carefully what you want to do and where you want to go. Select a quality travel guide to help you discover those perfect free travel guides videos. And you will know that you will experience a wonderful vacation with a lifetime of stories.

Ваш отзыв , 03 Nov 2011

Рубрика: Travel

Face Your Tefl Fears

Face Your Tefl Fears

On paper, teaching English abroad is a pretty sweet option – exploring new cultures, getting paid to travel, notching up awesome stories to tell your mates back home.

But thinking you’re going to do it, and actually, properly getting on that plane are two very different things. So what holds people back? Fear that’s what! Teaching abroad may be great, but leaving everything you’ve ever known (including gravy, Radio 4 and Jaffa Cakes) behind can be a tad daunting. So, to help you turn feeling scared into feeling excited about the opportunities offered by TEFL, here are people’s most common TEFL fears and how to face them:

Fear 1: My students will eat me alive

Kids. A lot of the time they’re cute and well-behaved, but sometimes it feels like the spawn of Satan is sat at the desk in front of you. Lovely Astrid for instance recently had one kid sitting in class systematically breaking pencils in half. Not nice. Adults aren’t an easy option either – while they probably won’t smash up your stationery they can undermine your authority and start taking over your show.

Solution: Be assertive and take a stand, as students (of all ages) can smell fear, seriously. You’ll also feel much more confident about situations, and know how to cope with them better, if you do a TEFL course before you head out.

Fear 2: My school will treat me like dirt

The optimistic part of you is hoping for golden sands, friendly locals and lots of spare time to explore. The less optimistic part of you is imagining a dungeon-esque classroom which you’re locked into 7-days a week and forced to run English corners for the rest of eternity.

Solution: Research! Make sure you chat to people on forums and do a few Google searches of your school before you sign your name of the dotted line. You also need to negotiate with your employer to make sure that your expectations are going to be delivered. Ultimately though, take things you read online with a pinch of salt, as if everyone took everything the read on the internet seriously we’d never leave our houses. Also, if your school isn’t what you hoped it would be, there will be other options while you’re in-country. And if you do feel you need that extra support, a supported internship program like these might be the thing for you

Fear 3: I’ll be alone

All together now… ‘All by myself, don’t wanna be…’

What use is experiencing all these amazing new things if you don’t have anyone to share them with? You could be in the most incredible place in the world, but if you’re sat in a crummy apartment eating instant noodles and watching TV shows you can’t understand you won’t be having the best time in the world.

Solution: Get out there! There are loads of ways to make friends whenever you’re in a new country – start with the people directly around you (other teachers at your school, students) and branch out from there. Emma Foers has some great advice for making friends when you’re new in town. Alternatively, sign up to a supported programme, like the Teach in China internship, where you’ll get a chance to meet lots of other people who are in the same boat as you.

Fear 4: I won’t like the food

Tasty Chinese food

It’s a fact of life – some people just aren’t that adventurous when it comes to food. In fact I had one ex-boyfriend whose entire diet consisted of beige food: cheese, bread, chicken, more cheese. I think he made an exception for bacon. Buut – it has a happy ending folks – he went out to Japan to teach English after uni and is having such a great time that he’s still out there. So I figure if he can get over his irrational fear of tomatoes to fulfil his travel dreams, anyone can.

Fear 5: I’ll be unemployable when I get home

You’re clued up, you’ve got a five year plan, but how does TEFL fit into it? Won’t employers see your swanning off around the world to teach English as rather indulgent? I mean, shouldn’t you have been back at home chained to a desk like they were at your age?!

Got more TEFL fears? Click here to request a free consultation with an i-to-i TEFL expert to chat through them.

*For the uninitiated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHDMZEw5f7Q”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHDMZEw5f7Q

What are your TEFL fears? And how did you get over them?

Ваш отзыв , 03 Nov 2011

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