Sea Kayaking around Amorgos

This larger island is part of the Cyclades Islands and has a line of rocky peaks down its spine and long stretches of bright blue water along it's coastlines under 300 to 400 metre high cliffs (the film 'The Big Blue' was filmed here so the coastline may be familiar to you.). If you're looking to base yourself on one island or in a smaller region, Amorgos and the tiny un-inhabited islands off its Southern coast (The small Cyclades) which are only a few miles away from each other make a good choice. Though rocky these islands still have some green life on them and small secluded beaches waiting to be arrived at by kayak.
The paddling in this part of the Cyclades is relatively calm and there is a lot of sheltered terrain. It also helps that the peaks are so high because if it's blowy on one side of the island you can pop around to the other side to suit conditions.
Amorgos has two major towns, both with pretty white washed buildings and spectacular views. It also has a very famous monastery which has been built dramatically into the side of the cliffs. Only two monks live there now (they don't really get along that well either.) but they will give you a guided tour inside the narrow rooms built over 300 m on the cliff.

St Anton am Arlberg

For many, St Anton-am-Arlberg is both the cradle and Holy Grail of the skiing and snowboarding world. Ringed by majestic peaks, it has slopes of the highest calibre and a charming old railway town in which to celebrate the conquest – or attempted conquest – of those slopes. It is also close to other illustrious neighbouring ski areas – not just Lech and Oberlech, but Zürs, Stuben and St Christoph which are all available on the same lift ticket, giving the region a true embarrassment of riches. There are sweeping, beautifully groomed cruising runs, long, thigh-burning bump runs (particularly from the top of the somewhat hair-raising Schindlergrat lift at Schindler Spitze), daunting but exhilarating couloirs, and magnificent off-piste opportunities including (for brave hearts only) an exciting but quite severe descent from the very top of St Anton’s highest peak, the Valluga (9223 feet) down to Zürs). This is only permitted when you are accompanied by a qualified guide. Steep but much less daunting are the shortish, sharp descents through snowfields which filter into the Steissbachtal (Happy Valley) gully, the great homeward-bound route taken by so many skiers and boarders at the end of a day’s adventures. The Valluga slopes are the focal point for huge areas of off-piste and the starting point for the exhilarating run down to the picturesque village of Stuben. The delightful hamlet of St Christoph, high on the infamous Arlberg Pass, was an important and historic trade and military artery across the Alps. The five-star Hospiz Hotel, built on the site of an ancient hospiz where monks regularly rescued travellers overwhelmed by fierce storms, is one of the finest hotels in the Alps, and has a 14th century wine cellar right beneath the church.

A Danube Cruise is a relaxing way to see some of Europe's most beautiful and historic cities. You're tied to this ancient trade route but you'll never be short a view of a castle, a medieval town to explore or a vineyard to stroll though, and you're passing though some of Europe's most famous capitals as well.
The river runs though Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Romania so there are hundred of potential itineraries. This one cruises the most scenic section.
These great rivers have so many ports to visit that even a journey of a single day gives a sense of the history of such a great and important trade route. And that is what this river represents, a great slinking, dragging, proud trade route though Europe, all her important cities, or those with the greatest wealth at least, line the banks in their historic glory, all pointed spires and crowded, yet beautiful architecture.

Cruise the Danube

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A Danube Cruise is a relaxing way to see some of Europe's most beautiful and historic cities. You're tied to this ancient trade route but you'll never be short a view of a castle, a medieval town to explore or a vineyard to stroll though, and you're passing though some of Europe's most famous capitals as well.

The river runs though Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Romania so there are hundred of potential itineraries. This one cruises the most scenic section.

These great rivers have so many ports to visit that even a journey of a single day gives a sense of the history of such a great and important trade route. And that is what this river represents, a great slinking, dragging, proud trade route though Europe, all her important cities, or those with the greatest wealth at least, line the banks in their historic glory, all pointed spires and crowded, yet beautiful architecturRegensburg’s 11th- to 13th-century architecture – including the market, city hall and cathedral – still defines the character of the town marked by tall buildings, dark and narrow lanes, and strong fortifications.
Kelheim is the Danube's first main port yet more journeys start at Regensburg, the river's oldest city, with the river's oldest and most ancient stone bridge. Built in the 12th Century the bridge splits the river, now just wide enough for proper river traffic, into 16 stone arcs, a fitting start to the journey.
The Danube gathers another two rivers into itself at Passu, which is also the first large town along the river's route. Passau is built around the bottom of a hill, on which sits the Veste Oberhaus – the fortress of the Bishop, and is surrounded by the rivers on most sides. The Bishop didn't just have a great Bavarian fortress though, he also had the Gothic gloriousness, St. Stephen's Cathedral, which, until 1994 had the world's largest organ. Organ concerts are held daily between May and September.
Between Passau and Linz, Austria's third largest city - one that sprawls over both sides of the Danube - the river is lined with pretty villages. Until you reach a sudden bend: the surprising Schlögener Schlinge loop, where it feels like you have turned so far you're going back the other way. This hair-pin river turn is comes along just after Neuhaus.
The river then rushes through Linz, where Hitler spent his youth, but then slows down again so that it can irrigate the wine region of Wachau, where the hills are so steep that the white grapes are grown in terraces. Stop off to taste the local sweet Rieslings and peppery Gruner Veltliners sold in boutique wineries along the river's gorge.
On its meander between Melk and Krems, the river carves through a broad, hill lined valley famous for orchards as well as vineyards. Melk Abbey is a beautiful Baroque sight and has towers and architecture worth disembarking for, as well as an ancient library and walls hung with paintings of Austrian heritage and nobility, and if you do stop here, you must also venture down the medieval lanes and alleys of Krems and drink the Riesling the local people are so proud to produce. If you have only time for one day on the river this is the Danube at its most scenic and there is easy access from Vienna, which should probably be your next significant stop on your journey down river - but not before you pass a portion almost as lovely as this one, where castles perched on the rivers bend, including the lovely Schonbuhel Castle, follow every corner turned.
Vienna is where, if you are cruising with a line rather than at your own leisure, you will want to spend more time than their itinerary allows for. You'll spot a Baroque church to the right, an Art Nouveau masterpiece to your left and be tempted by the strings of Strauss calling you from a concert hall, or the smell of coffee and fresh baking from a cafe. So do as much as you can, not missing the Hofburg, but remember that this as a journey rather than a city hop and return to experience more than just the graceful buildings that line the river and the at once delicate and historically permanent bridges that you pass under.
Slovakia's capital Bratislava follows Vienna; a city changed from capital, to suburb of Vienna, and back again, and the architecture of the city's centre is accordingly beautiful and historic as are its stories. Strolling round the old town, with its medieval gate, cobbled streets and Baroque and 18th-century rococo buildings and street cafés, is like strolling round in a fairy tale.
The most historic and scenic section of the Danube ends in Budapest, a city too many people neglect when travelling the Grand Tour, yet with as much heavy history as any other. Entering the twin cities all lit up in the evening, lights reflecting off the river, is a pleasure of the old fashioned variety. Budapest is older than it's European look projects – its Turkish thermal baths are a testament to that – but it's also modernising, so expect familiar foods as well as traditional flavours. Buda is the older section, where you can find the taverns and castles, where are Pest has the modern monuments and museums.
On the outskirts of Budapest the land changes shape from rolling hills of Buda to flat openness or Pest and the river again broadens...

Archipiélago (Ponce, Puerto Rico)

 

Tired of the banking industry, native Ponceño Alejandro Vélez Blasini set off for the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont. After a successful run with a tapas bar, in mid-2009 he opened Archipeilago, a restaurant on the sixth and seventh floors of a building overlooking Ponce’s Parque de Bombas and Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe on Ponce’s Spanish style plaza. The rooftop view is stunning, one of the best of any restaurants I’ve ever seen. The town square below glows at night.

Inside, there’s a high fashion crowd that rivals any scene in San Juan – even the hostesses and waiters could be on Top Model. It’s as chic and modern as anything I have seen in San Juan, or Miami for that matter. Everyone is beautifully dressed and the scene of everyone dining on plates like Fried Cheese stuffed with guava and wrapped in prosciutto and Sancochado de Viandas gives the feel of some sort of Nuevo Latino photo shoot or telenovela.

Brasil a Gosto (São Paulo)

Brasil a Gosto, on a quiet tree lined street in São Paulo’s Jardins neighborhood, is one of those restaurants that teaches you as much as it feeds you. The restaurant was in fact founded after the chef Ana Luiza Trajano searched 47 different Brazilian cities across the country to complete an inventory of regional ingredients and recipes and then wrote a book, the same name as the restaurant, about it. Trajano takes many of those recipes, many of them usually found in dirt rooms shacks and market stalls, and presents modern interpretations in a contemporary dining room with high quality ingredients.
When I first sat down I was surprised that the chef came out to greet me even the restaurant was rather busy. Each day Trajano offers a different three-course executive lunch specials, as well as a local hot dish that originates in a particular region such as Minas Gerias or Espíritu Santo. I went with the executive menu of the day.
First came out a basket of mixed tuber chips (various bananas, yams, yucca) and fresh breads out of the oven that I’ll just assume are all traditional Brazilian recipes. Little dishes of Baru nut spread and a creamy cheese sauce flavored with parsley were sent out too. Next came skewers of grilled cheese curd (queijo coalho na chapa) drizzled in sugarcane syrup and a small dish of parsley pesto for dipping. So simple but it comes out looking so elegant. The main course consisted of slices of pork tenderloin with a deep red, smoky jaboticaba cherry sauce sided with a grilled banana and yam puree. Dessert was called a cocada, though it was unlike any cocada I have ever had. The baked, shredded coconut was served in a small bowl and a creamy custard like texture and and crunchy top like a crème brûlée. A more traditional crunchy cocada topped with lemon sorbet was served on the side. Every aspect of the meal was brilliant and tasted great.
I’m sad I didn’t have to dine here again on my latest trip to São Paulo. Trajano does amazing things with Brazilian ingredients. She makes a crust out of Baru nuts for Tilapia, the river fish Pirarucu is accented with lemongrass and ginger, and even goat appears with a creamy manioc sauce. The dégustation menu will have to wait. For now.
Brasil a Gosto feels like the rainforest with lots of natural light finding its way through the many plants that sit within (there’s several inner gardens including a vertical one) and surrounding the restaurant. Blown up images from the book of farmers, fishermen, and plants and woodcarvings add to this effect. It’s very much the tropical bistro I’ve always wanted to know.

Nile River Journeys

The River Nile is long, with many ways to traverse her wide flat waters. Boats have been sailing the Nile on the puffs of breezes for centuries, carrying trade and people. The traditional dahabiya, felucca and sandal boats, the ones with the tall graceful sails and bows lying low in the water, and variations of, suit the waters and lack of wind perfectly and create a particularly romantic white-sailed scene, but newer yachts are now mixing in among the paddle steamers that ran her waters in the 19th Century. If you have your own boat to sail be aware that the waters are wide but that the riverbed is scooped and shallow.
The thing about cruising the Nile is that it’s a relatively simple trip, not at all challenging sailing wise, but it’s really the only way to carve through the desert and see the sights of ancient Egypt – this is, after all the way the Pharaohs traveled.
The main sailing route passes between Aswan and Luxor, while some people insist on going upstream towards the dam, the sailors route would always be downstream leaving Aswan and arriving in Luxor. Advice would be to see Abu Simbel before you take to your boat. The temples here, carved magnificently out if the rosy orange cliffs are a fantastic taster for what’s coming. If you have a guide they’ll tell you the temple had to be moved when the dam was built so it didn’t flood. Camel caravan would be nice, but if you don’t quite have time to really play Pharoh, you can fly. Aswan as a city is so much cleaner that Cairo. It’s a fusion of African and Egyptian design and culture.
Dock at Kom Ombo for the Temple of Sobek and Horus, which has beautifully tactile carved stone columns, and the Chapel of Hathor containing, to my children’s delight, the mummified remains of hundreds of crocodiles. At Edfu for a more famous Temple of Horus and at Esna the silt covered (or sunken as it’s often called) Temple of Khnum. But these are just leading up to the glory of Luxor, from where you visit the temples of Luxor and Karnak. On the other side of the Nile is the Valley of the Kings. When you’re walking amongst the temple pillars and see the Nile beyond, lined with farmers, this just feels like one the most amazing journeys imaginable.
Life on board isn’t as leisured and luxurious as an Agatha Christie novel. The desert is pretty impossible during the middle of the day, especially for people not used to it, so you have to time your temple visits for the mornings or afternoons. If you can manage it, mornings were less crowded in my experience.
A dahabiya is my recommendation if you’re renting a boat. Most often you’re renting them with a crew and other guests, but some companies will allow you to rent without, or else get something smaller if you want to sail it yourself. A dahabiya is a great for the wide, flat open deck, a perfect additional space for meals and picnics under the desert stars. The relaxed lifestyle of alfresco dining and living above deck really topped off the experience, which was always going to be amazing for the history and the desert, the crazy markets and the desert scenery.
October through February are the best months. The sand storms start up in late march.

Discover Egypt, wonderful place

Welcome to civilization! It may not look like it as you walk through Khan el-Khalili, Egypt's most famous market, but Egypt has over five thousand years of recorded history, and the society created by the successive pharaohs has been a blueprint for many peoples since.




When the name Egypt is mentioned, many first thoughts flit to the iconic Pyramids of Giza. The pyramids more than live up to their four thousand years of hype upon viewing, and although the sole survivor of the Seven Wonders of the World is swarmed by visitors, their majesty hasn't been diminished.


Also worth a visit are the museums that showcase this rich history, especially the Royal Mummy Room in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. There's much more to do in Egypt however than just marvel at one of the cornerstone's of civilization. You can spend a day wandering round the colourful maze of markets, haggling with the local shop-keepers, try to find yourself a spot on the beaches of southern Sinai, or take a…