One crazy winter day, my wife and I decided that we wanted to experiment with cold weather camping. It was January, we had cabin fever, and the sun had been out briefly, so we thought we would go. We packed all of our gear, put our two dogs in the SUV, and drove an hour to Shenandoah National Park. On the way, however, the skies filled with clouds and a slight rain started to fall. The temperature was right at 32 and we started to worry about our adventure. When we got to the gates of the park, the ranger informed us that the road was only open for about a half mile because as the elevation increased, the temperature dropped. This meant that the rain on the road had turned to ice. He showed us one trail that we could still access from the part of the road that was open and said there was parking. But he also looked at us a little funny and said “you know that it’s January and raining, right? You aren’t going to freeze on me up there are you?” We assured him that we had four season camping gear and that we would be fine. We also had two large dogs. Off we went.

The first part of the hike was simply amazing. Sure enough, about 100 years up the trail and the rain had turned to big snow flakes. It was quiet and beautiful. We walked and enjoyed the surroundings. The dogs played in the forest, which was all ours of course. Nobody else was crazy enough to be on the mountain in these conditions. When we approached the first suitable camping site, I suggested we take it. We unpacked and started the familiar rituals for setting up our camp. However, there was one notable difference, it was starting to get dark already! It was merely 4:30 and the light was starting to change. This we had not counted on. We hurried our activities and by the time we sat down with our camp stove for dinner, it was really dark. Worse than that, it was also getting colder quickly.

This is the real lesson about winter camping. You tend to forget that the light is on a completely different schedule. By about 7:30pm, we were cold and ready to be in our tent. But we weren’t tired. We talked for a while in the darkness and eventually went to sleep. We got a ton of sleep that night, but not good sleep. Our four-season gear did not prove to be as strong as advertised. The cold seemed to leak into my sleeping bag from every tiny seam. My suggestion for those who are seeking the winter camping adventure is DO IT. However, bring three of just about everything. If it’s your first time, perhaps consider car camping so that you don’t have to agonize about the weight of all the extra stuff. It was truly exhilaratingly to wake and find an igloo of ice on the tent fly. That first cup of coffee was perhaps the best tasting morning drink of my life. As the morning sun started to melt the ice on the trees, it made for a surreal winter scene that I will not soon forget. However, be smart and bring tons of gear. Start small and make sure you don’t get into real trouble by stretching your camping equipment farther than it can really go.

Camping gear at camping.miserlymonkey.com camping.miserlymonkey.com

Al blogs at bigblogmonkey.com/blog bigblogmonkey.com/blog

Yesterday was our last day in New York City and our flight left at 7:57 pm, so we figured we’d store our luggage at the B&B for a few hours and head out one more time for one more round of urban exploration.

Well, one area we hadn’t seen much yet was Brooklyn (other than Coney Island which we explored on Friday). We really liked Brooklyn, formerly a sleepy suburban area, which has has nicely matured into one of the most desirable neighbourhoods in New York City, no wonder, thanks to its stately architecture, multicultural shopping areas and green mature trees in many areas.

Our beloved Q train got us to Prospect Park, another masterpiece by landscape designer Frederick Law Olmstead, although this exhibit is a lot wilder and more natural than its Central Park counterpart. Although the day was a bit on the cool side, there were tons of people jogging, biking, walking and Prospect Park, just like its big cousin in Manhattan, has big fields with multiple baseball diamonds and soccer fields. The action was in full swing and we caught a live performance by a Mexican mariachi band, fronted by a young girl who was literally singing her heart out.

At the north end of Prospect Park is Grand Army Plaza, which is dominated by a massive Civil War memorial arch. Across from the arch is the Brooklyn Public Library, opened in 1941 in a late Art Deco style, and now blocked off for some renovations. Just around the corner is the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and the monumental Brooklyn Museum of Art.

But we had no time to explore these areas further, we only had a less than a couple of hours left before we had to pick up our luggage to head to the airport. Off we went and hopped onto another subway to head towards Washington Square Park, one area that I had definitely wanted to see.

It was a little quiet there on this cloudy and cool day and the Washington Arch, compared to other monuments, seemed a little diminuitive. We had a quick pizza in one of the cheap student eateries around New York University and got back to the subway. However, we realized we were on the wrong platform (for northbound trains), so we headed back out the subway to reenter on the correct side.

Guess what – our metro transit card didn’t let us back in! The display said “Just used” and there was no way we could get back in at a different entrance at the same subway station. I guess that’s a built-in mechanism to safeguard against 2 people using the same transit card. So we had to trekk about 20 minutes south to Prince Street and use our metro card there. Our $24 transit pass got major use over the last 4.5 days and when we go to NYC again, we’ll definitely pick up another transit pass. Well, at least we won’t make the same mistake again to swipe the card and then exit the subway station…

Just after 2:30 pm we picked up our luggage at the B&B and spent the next 2 hours discovering a new subway line (the N line) which we caught all the way to Astoria Boulevard, where we picked up the M60 bus to get to LaGuardia airport. It took us a couple of hours, but it was great to get one last ride through the New York City neighbourhoods.

After being thoroughly searched, patted down, having my shoes x-rayed and otherwise being inspected, we finally got on our American Airlines ride back home to Toronto and saw one last vista at dusk of the City that never sleeps.

We will return…

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions( travelandtransitions.com travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest( travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

“Life is a Journey ­ Explore New Horizons”.

The interview with photos is published at travelandtransitions.com/travel_tips/green_travel.htm Travel and Transitions – Interviews

When it comes time to celebrate an unforgettable moment in your life with your special someone, there is no more romantic way to do it than sharing that time together aboard a cruise.

There’s something about a cruise that just says romance. It may be the thought of taking off on a journey to new worlds and sailing the horizon to adventure together. Or possibly it’s the concept that all your needs and wants are taken care of by the staff and crew while you get the luxury of spending all your moments concentrating on each other. You can spend a night, dressed up to the nines, having a formal dinner with a slow dance afterwards, and the next day be dressed in khakis exploring a hidden waterfall in a rainforest.

The possibilities to create your own perfect trip are nearly endless. Imagine standing on the deck together at night, at sea, miles from civilization, a complete canvas of celestial lights in the night sky and the cool wind making you snuggle a little closer to one another as you watch for a falling star to wish upon together. That’s romance you can only find on a cruise ship.

If you are debating your destination options when it comes to honeymoon vacations, why stick with just one? If you book a honeymoon cruise you can be in a new destination every day and see a number of parts of the world without having to ever pack your bags to go to each new location. At the end of a day of exploring, you can return to your room and enjoy talking about the experiences you just shared. You will also get to see the sights of places like alicante-spain.com/calpe.html Benidorm and Calpe when the cruise liner sails closer to the shore.

Many cruise lines also offer special perks for those who choose to spend their honeymoon with them. Quite often, if you book a honeymoon trip you will be able to take advantage of special rates, romantic extras like a private table for two for dinner, you may even be able to get special couples experiences, like your own mini wedding cake to share onboard, or romantic breakfasts in bed. If you want event more options, you can also order things such as a room bustling with bouquets of flowers to take the new bride into, or book couples spa treatments.

Carnival Cruises is very popular with couples looking for a romantic trip because they offer perks to for special couples who chose to sail with them, like bring a wedding cake to your first dinner onboard. In addition, for minimal fees, you can have a room decorated with balloons and flags, or with chilled champagne waiting.

Princess Cruises offers free decorations and cake for celebrating couples, and they have honeymoon packages with include roses, chocolate dipped strawberries, champagne, and even engraved glasses. If you want to spend a little more, you can also partake in couples spa treatments, matching fluffy robes, and special romantic snacks delivered to your suite.

The scriptwriter Kurt Schefken is specifically passionate about subjects similar to Alicante. You might find out more about his abstracts on alicante-spain.com/calpe.html Benidorm and Calpe over at alicante-spain.com alicante-spain.com

Spaniards seem rarely to need much of a reason for a fiesta or festival of some sort and you can pretty much guarantee that wherever you are in Spain there will be some merrymaking going on somewhere in honour of a patron saint – I’ve decided to look at some of Spain’s quirkier, slightly less known festivals and enlighten readers as to some of the stranger practices which take place at various times around the country.

Our journey begins in the east of the country in the town of Bunol in the Valencia region where a week long festival in honour of the town’s patron saint, San Luis Bertran, ends in the famous “Tomatina”, a two hour tomato fight where lorries bring in 120,000 kg of tomatoes for the locals to pelt each other with. It’s all a bit of a free-for-all and it’s usually girls pitted against boys for two hours of madness from 11am to 1pm. Participants can expect to get extremely messy and it’s advisable to wear something old, and preferably red, if you don’t want the stains to show up. Despite the “Tomatina” clearly being the highlight, there are many other facets of the festival to be enjoyed throughout the week with fireworks, parades and a paella cook-off amongst the most notable.

Not so far away in the city of Valencia, townsfolk revel for a week in the festivities of “Las Fallas”, another one of Spain’s more unique festivals. The raucous week of celebration takes place in March and is most notable for “Las Fallas” which are huge papier-mâché figures up to 60 feet in height. Built in the streets, the figures often have a satirical edge; Tony Blair and George Bush’s effigies graced last year’s festival. The culmination of the merry-making comes on the “Night of Fire” when all 700 of “Las fallas” are burnt to a cinder turning many of the city’s streets into huge bonfires. Undoubtedly the local fire services busiest evening of the year and certainly one not to be missed by visitors to the region.

Next stop is Catalonia and the town of Valls located about 100km south west of Barcelona, where every year townsfolk gather for the legendary “Calcotada”. A celebration of food and in particular the “calcot” (similar to a spring onion) with road side bbq’s char grilling piles of them for locals to eat. There’s even a hug pot of dipping sauce on hand to spice things up a bit. The main event is the eating competition as burly local champions from all over the region line up to see how many onions they can put away in 45 minutes, apparently it’s not uncommon for the victor to eat in excess of 300! After a winner has been decided the town decamps to huge local cafeterias where for a small fee the “calcots” are served in plentiful numbers alongside grilled meats and washed down with as much red wine as you can drink. It’s certainly off the beaten track a little bit and for that reason you won’t see many tourists but expect a warm welcome from the locals who will, undoubtedly, be in high spirits.

29th June, the day of San Pedro and we’re deep in Spain’s wine producing heartland, La Rioja, where for one day every year the medieval town of Haro is host to the famous “Batalla de Vino” (literally “Wine Battle”). Apparently the battle’s origins lie in an ancient dispute with between Haro and its neighbours. These days the fight is pretty good natured with thousands of gallons of wine being hurled around the battleground (a hillside overlooking Haro). Like the Tomatina, this is going to be a messy one and I’d suggest coming prepared with some ammunition of your own, the locals have been doing this for years so expect to take a few shots early on.

For the last five years Mike McDougall has been working as a travel writer and marketeer. He’s currently working for a Spanish language School ( babylon-idiomas.com/ babylon-idiomas.com/) to provide additional cultural and travel related material on Spain and latin America.
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