Sneak Peek: Harry Potter Park in Orlando

June 12th, 2010

Until now, Harry Potter fans could merely imagine the sensation of quaffing a butterbeer, finding a magic wand at Ollivander’s or escaping the steam from a snarling dragon’s snout.

But finally, 13 years after the first of seven books began chronicling the boy wizard’s adventures, imagination has become reality at Universal Orlando.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a mini-park inside Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park, opens for general admission June 18, but The Associated Press got a sneak peek at what has become the most highly anticipated theme-park attraction in years.

Past a stone archway and the steam-belching Hogwarts Express, the fictitious city of Hogsmeade unfolds amid snowcapped, dingy rooftops and storefronts packed like row houses with shops straight from the books and movies. Zonko’s joke shop offers Sneakoscopes and extendable ears. The confectionary Honeydukes has chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans (literally ranging from pear to fish). At the Owl Post, guests can stamp mail with a genuine Hogsmeade postmark.

Towering over it all is Hogwarts, a perfect reproduction of the imposing, many-spired castle where Harry and his magician friends are students.

“Once we locked in and knew what we were doing

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Why Are Americans Moving to Mexico?

June 14th, 2010

Mexico Drug War Doesn’t Stop Americans From Moving South of the Border.

Bill Engle is outside, sweating in work clothes while he oversees renovations to his colonial house in Mérida, Mexico. It sits on a street dubbed “Gringo Gulch,” a pretty row of baby blue, violet, and mustard facades where expatriates outnumber Mexicans.

“It is not the climate,” says Mr. Engle, explaining why he moved to the Yucatán Peninsula. “It is the people. It is the most welcoming place.”

Americans scared off by violence in Mexico? Not here.

In towns far from the US border such as Mérida, Mexico’s drug wars seem like another world. In fact, according to a recent survey by the International Community Foundation, violence reduced the frequency or duration of trips to Mexico for only 7 percent of American retirees who live or travel frequently to Mexico.

No one knows how many foreign retirees, entrepreneurs, and families relocated to Mérida in recent years, but judging from real estate deals, new members to the English-language library, and observations by locals, it is not a few

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World’s most scenic walks

that’s just how my feet, in strappy sandals, like it. At least when on the island of Capri, off Italy’s Amalfi Coast, where I was dressed more for Prosecco sipping than a heart-pounding trek.

The Via Tragara, an enchanted pathway that snakes from bustling Capri Town to the vista point at Belvedere Tragara, provided the perfect mid-morning stroll for a traveler with a digital camera and a twitchy index finger.

Within three minutes, I’d left the crowds behind and stumbled upon a cinematic paradise: tangerine and magenta bougainvillea, whitewashed villas with glimmering pools, and every now and then, tantalizing glimpses of the azure vista.

That’s the beauty of the scenic amble: It frees the mind and awakens the spirit. Writers from Wordsworth to Whitman waxed poetic about the joys of trekking.

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Finding Mirages in Lençóis Maranhenses and Oxen in São Luís

June 16th, 2010

Imagine you’re the hero in one of those old movies, desperately lost in a windswept desert, undulating dunes stretching to the horizon. Out of water, tongue parched and skin blistered, you drop to your knees. Vultures circle overhead. (O.K., maybe you’re in a comic strip, not a movie.) Yet there, in the distance, is a crystal blue pool

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An Italian Beauty Without Foreign Suitors

June 17th, 2010

HOW is it that Lerici, an undeniably beautiful seaside town just minutes from the Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera, has largely evaded the radar of foreign tourists?

On a recent sunny spring afternoon, Riccardo Morlini, owner of Gelateria Arcobaleno, a tiny gelato shop on Lerici’s main piazza, offered his explanation: marketing.

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Within 60 Miles of Beirut, 3 Millennia of History

June 18th, 2010

Lebanon: Tiny country offers layers of history and remnants of many civilizations

Lebanon has been conquered and colonized many times over in the last three millennia. Among the famous invaders: Alexander the Great, Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar and the Muslim warrior Saladin.

Others include Persians, Romans, Egyptians, Christian Crusaders, Ottoman Turks, the French and English in World War I and, more recently, Israelis. Lebanon’s rival Christians and Muslims also upset the peace, most notably in the 1975-90 civil war.

Many invaders left monuments and other remnants of their civilizations that can be visited in day trips from Lebanon’s urbane capital, Beirut. You can go east to the Roman ruins at Baalbek, north to the Crusader-era Citadel of Raymond de Saint-Gilles that looms over the city of Tripoli, south to the much fought-over Beaufort fortress, or northeast to the towering Cedars of Lebanon, and be back in Beirut in time for dinner. Lebanon is a tiny country

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America’s best swimming holes

June 19th, 2010

Local watering holes, from New York to California.

Standing in the sunshine on the rocky bank, with rivulets of cool water dripping from your hair and swimsuit, you wait your turn at the base of the old oak. You’re up. You grip the fraying rope, get a running start, swing out over the pool of clear water, and release. Cannonball!

In summertime, when the mercury taunts the tip of the thermometer like an angry red fist, the best place to cool down is an old-fashioned swimming hole.

These often-secluded natural pools are the perfect antidote to crowded pools with zinc-covered teenage lifeguards or water parks with $8 hot dogs. And they offer a dose of not-yet-forgotten Americana, where sunny days are measured by best friends and belly flops.

Swimming holes are where we shrug off responsibilities and play with the enthusiastic zeal of a child. They’re also places where we come of age. In

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Bihar Tourism has planned to develop Nalanda based on Bodh Gaya as a Tourist Hub.

ArchivesMay 2010April 2010March 2010February 2010January 2010November 2009September 2009August 2009July 2009June 2009May 2009Sites I found useful You are here: Home > Destination, Tourist Information > Posted in Destination, Tourist Information

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Nepal Tourism Year-2011 focuses in Indian tourists.

Bihar Tourism has planned to develop Nalanda based on Bodh Gaya as a Tourist Hub. ArchivesMay 2010April 2010March 2010February 2010January 2010November 2009September 2009August 2009July 2009June 2009May 2009Sites I found useful You are here: Home > Destination, Tourist Information > Bihar Tourism has planned to develop Nalanda based on Bodh Gaya as a Tourist Hub. Posted in Destination, Tourist Information

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The National Parks and Forest Reserves of Costa Rica

Nepal Tourism Year-2011 focuses in Indian tourists. Bihar Tourism has planned to develop Nalanda based on Bodh Gaya as a Tourist Hub. ArchivesMay 2010April 2010March 2010February 2010January 2010November 2009September 2009August 2009July 2009June 2009May 2009Sites I found useful You are here: Home > Destination, Tourist Information > Bihar Tourism has planned to develop Nalanda based on Bodh Gaya as a Tourist Hub. Posted in Destination, South America, Tourist Information, Tourist Spots, Uncategorized

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