Travel Guides

People travel for many reasons: to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World, to visit friends and loved ones across the globe, and even to taste the most delicious morsels a French chef can offer. So, it is not a surprise that a select group of people can afford the luxury to travel in order to shop at the most exclusive shopping malls in the world. If you are most fortunate enough to indulge in shopping excursions across the globe, then this list featuring the best shopping malls to visit will definitely benefit you!

Looking for a little adventure when during your holidays? Getting jaded over the boring hotels you’ll be confined to when you go on your annual vacation? Well, here’s a suggestion for you: Why not take a tour or stay at one of these 5 haunted hotels featured below? One word of caution: it’s not for the faint of heart and you should also be prepared to bring your own ouija board ghost hunting equipment!

1. Castle Leslie, Ireland
This ornate castle was build more than 3 centuries ago and belonged to the Leslie family ever since. Perfect for celebrities and those who are rich and famous, this 5-star retreat offers ideal solitude with the absence of the Internet, telephones and televisions. And if you have a craving for the supernatural, do ask to stay in the Norman Room, so called based on the name of the ghostly apparition that manifests from time to time. Don’t worry, he’s harmless, only known to haunt that particular room and appear to guests as a smiling entity.

Times may be tough in the United Kingdom at the minute, but as the economy slowly recovers there is a perfect opportunity awaiting those who are keen golfers and also looking to escape to Europe for a quick weekend or even an extended holiday.

According to a popular newspaper, the Sunday Times, Italy has been voted the most popular country to visit in the world, thanks to its colorful culture, cuisine and most importantly, fashion.

For many it would seem, Italy is the place to ‘be’ following the economic crisis, and Italy is one of the few countries which has seen economic growth recently.  The tourism industry in Italy has thus been kept afloat because as people are forced to travel nearer to home, a trip to Italy is affordable, convenient and great fun.

Some of the most interesting and truly exotic foods to come out of Eastern Europe are from Hungary. The typical Hungarian cuisine is defiantly not something you’ll find in very many European cities. Hungarian food has historically been known to include a very heavy hand with spices and herbs. Paprika is one of the most prevalent ingredients in a lot of Hungarian dishes. Some of the most typical Hungarian ingredients include:  sour cream, eggs, and beef. Hungary has some of the largest natural cattle herding grounds in all of Eastern Europe. Hungary has no coastline in its borders so fresh seafood is typically not on most menus. However, smoked and cured fish imported from European neighbors are a treasured and expensive delicacy.  

I have visited Paris last month and I can say one thing: Paris is more charming than ever.

What makes this wonderful city so special? Hard to answer. It is a similar question to: why is Marylin Monroe so attractive? Is a special air in the city, specially in Montmartre where, between the World War I and World War II, you could meet many Russian refugees (among them the brilliant composer Stravinsky), the spanish genial painters Dali and Picasso, the American writer Hemingway. La Boheme parisienne.

Paris is a very old city, but you will not notice that. It is very dynamic and businesslike, much nearer to New York than to London. In the big metropolitan area it counts 12 000 000 inhabitants (20 % of the France population) and produces 40 % of the land BIP. If Paris were a country, it were the fourteenth on the list of the most productive countries.

Istanbul, former Constantinopole, Tsarigrad has a lot of attractions and attractive corners for his visitors.

This city is a holly city of Islam, and I noticed for you the following most attractive spots:

1. Topkapi Palace, where you can find the personal belonging of Mohammed and the first caliphs. A huge museum with many craft and art masterpieces and a special wing for the harem! In his peak years, Topkapi was a city in the city indeed, hosting 5000 people.

2. Hagia Sofia, or Aya Sofia for the Istanbulites, was first a church, than a mosque and now is a very interesting museum. It is huge, but nevertheless harmonic, and has been for a millennium world’s biggest cathedral.

3.Blue Mosque, also named the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, has wonderful blue tiles

Istanbul is a megacity like no other, an unique megacity: it lies on two continents.

It is Europe’s most poulous city, and is ranked worldwide on the 3rd place, with its 12 000 000 inhabitants. The european side is named Thrace, and the asian Anatolia. 30 % of the population lives on the asian side, which is newer and has a better infrastructure.

Istanbul has a long, glorious, turbulent history. It was founded by the roman emperor Constantin, with the intention to become the capital of the Roman Empire. That is why it was long time called Constantinopole, and was really the capital of the Roman Eastern Empire. In 1432 it was conquered by the osman turks, becoming the capital of the Othoman Empire. When proclaming Republic of Turkey in 1922, Mustafa kemal Ataturk moved the capital to Ankara, but Istanbul continued to florish up today! In the last 50 years it tripled its population.