Taking off Travel blog

The Caribbean Sea in Cancun, Mexico, is more of a lion than a pussycat, at least at the edge of the hotel where I stayed. This can be something of a shock to those used to the placid waters where the same sea laps against the shores of Caribbean islands. In contrast, this water releases a constant roar and pounds against the large, flat rocks at the shoreline. During my four day visit, there was no possibility of swimming, though I did dip my toes in the water just because it was there before returning to the safety of the spacious pool at the Cancun Hilton.

Cancun Hilton View

Tourism Experts

Cancun impressed me from the moment I landed. Many travel experiences feature bleary eyed voyagers whose faces fall at the prospect of another long queue (can anyone say Miami International?) but this was different. I’d filled out my forms on the plane and as I entered the bright, well-signposted airport, I was directed to a bank of security desks where the people on duty quickly scanned the form and let me pass. The whole process took less than 10 minutes from la nding to luggage collection, and passing through customs was equally smooth.

Once into the main airport, there were people everywhere directing travelers to the best mode of transport. It took only another five minutes to buy my shuttle ticket and get a seat on a bus for the hotel zone. I’ve never seen an operation quite as slick, and unlike many airports where you can look for officials in vain, there were help desks all around. Read more »

Yay!, A couple of my rowdy girlfriends and I are off to Atlantic City for Memorial Day Weekend! Spending a weekend at an Atlantic City Hotel is an awesome treat because there is SO much more to do in the east coast version of “SinCity” than just sit at a table throwing your money away in hopes of just breaking even. Read more »

Imagine a country in which the denizens are experts at il dolce far niente (sweet doing nothing). Italy is a country in which a great day is one spent sipping espresso (the national breakfast) and people- watching in a piazza. Elizabeth Gilbert in her book Eat Pray Love says she learned from her time in Italy that “the more exquisitely and delightfully you can do nothing, the higher your life’s achievement.”As a recovering Silicon-Valley workaholic, the idea of living this sort of existence both titillates and terrifies me. But I wanted to know more about it…This is the first in a series of blogs that will introduce you to cool people blogging about their lives in venerable Italy.Most Italian blogs I found carry the same observations from the authors: no matter how long they lived there they would always be outsiders, they miss clothes dryers, that the continual juxtaposition of the pope and naked bottoms in the media is amusing.zoomata: Nicole Martinelli, based in Milan, writes in a smart and sometimes snarky style on politics and current events in Italy. Her “daily life” articles are a hoot – read about the recently found Mafia 10 Commandments and official love parking lots. Nicole also writes for Spot-on. Read more »