Curious News About Tourists

Reading news abut tourism I found some of them very curious.

UK. A 29 years old woman took sun on the beach in Brighton. She was with her baby and left him all the day under the rays of the sun. Other persons told her to cover the boy but she did not understand them. Her neighbours called police when they saw vesicles on the skin of the baby. They say, it's probably the baby will not survive.

Ibiza. A group of young British tourists came in their hotel after they drunk somewhere. One of them decided to jump in the pool of the hotel situating under the windows of their room directly from the window. He missed the pool landing on the grass 3 meters far from it. The meditians try to save his life.



India. The government of India declared that many tourists do not want to turn home when thier visa expire. India does not extend visas. But they do not have the "black list" of the transgressors, they say. Probably, India has irresistible attractions to prefer it to other countries. -Mmmm... Do you believe in it?

Swiss. Tourists from Germany (specially) like to walk through the valleys of the Swiss (canton Appelzell Innerrhoden) wearing only backpacks and shoes. The residents that are very religious and conservative do not understand this behaviour. But the court of law acquited one of the tourists.

Italy. The "tourist tax" of euro 41 for those Italians who wants to visit non European countries was not enough to save the economy. So, the government seems to introduce a new touristic tax for those who decide to visit Rome. They will pay about euro 10 for every night in the capital.

Have The Main Tourist Destinations To Be Closed?

This article attracted my attention because I think about it often when I watch documentaries about the nature:

Some of the world's most famous tourist attractions, such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef and Italy's Amalfi coast, could be closed to visitors within a few years because of worries about environmental damage and climate change, a report warns today.

Some destinations could be permanently closed to tourists by 2020 or face restrictions on numbers and a sharp increase in admission prices, the study, carried out for the insurance company Churchill, predicts.

It warns that in 20-40 years' time the Great Barrier Reef could be "severely damaged", forcing its closure, while other parts of Australia would be off-limits because of a rise in bushfires and insect-borne diseases. Other affected destinations include the Taj coral reef in the Maldives, Goa in India, Florida's Everglades and Croatia's Dalmatian coastline.
Source

I don't think it's real for the Amalfitan coast -I wrote here about it. The villages are really difficult to reach. The only road is eng and dangerous. THIS is their problem. From other side, if they would close the coast for tourists, the population will die from starvation. As for me, they could solve it if there were more and easy possibilities to make this trip by sea. There are ships from Salerno and Naples but most visitors prefer cars.


(Amalfi)
For very fragile destinations like Great Barrier Reef etc they need more controls, as for me. So many times we not only ruin such places but we "teach" wild animals they have to see humans as friends. And it's not good, I think. Not all humans are good. And animals surely will learn it paying high price for their faith. And it's possible, this price will be their lives.

I would create "aquariums" for people in such places. Do you want to see whales or underwater life? Simple! Do not disturb it diving there but pass an hour or two in that "aquarium" watching that life as you do in the most modern zoos.

Is it not the right way to avoid human impact and to allow to the visitors to see what they want?

Good Video of the Eruption

Here is a video of the eruption of the volcanoe. I liked it because it's very "real". The other videos I've seen before were interesting, yes, but they were not so impressive. Watching this one seemed to me to stay near it.

Sun City, South Africa

Situated in the most affluent area of all South Africa, Sun City is a fantastic place to go for a long weekend break or full vacation, Sun City is a purpose built casino resort, offering the very best in the world of gambling and live entertainment. Located in the heart of the North West Province of South Africa, it is a short drive of a couple of hours from Johannesburg, the worlds largest city which is not on a coastline, lake or river, and its international airport. Pretoria is also within comfortable travelling distance.

Sun City was originally built during the apartheid years in the early nineteen seventies and opened in 1979. At that time (borders have since changed) it was outside of the South African formal area of control, and during that period gambling and topless dancing were not allowed within South Africa. So it quickly became a popular place to visit, and has remained so ever since.

Sun City offers a good choice of quality hotels, and the resort also provides regular transfer transport to and from Jo’burg airport. There are four hotels, each offering its own style and ambience. They are the Palace of the Lost City hotel, Cascades hotel, the Cabanas hotel, and (not surprisingly) the Sun City hotel. They range from the sheer luxury and opulence of the Palace of the Lost City to the laid-back family style of the Cabanas. Something to suit everyone’s taste and budget.

In addition to its inbuilt attractions, Sun City is also on the doorstep of one of South Africa’s best known National Parks, the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.

The place is also very attractive to golfers, as it boasts not one, but two international standard golf courses. Both were designed by Gary Player, one of which (the Gary Player Country Club) hosts the annual ‘Million Dollar’ golf challenge which attracts many of the world’s top players.

Although a long way from the ocean, Sun City offers a beach to relax on and top up your tan, along with a myriad of water sports and activities. Package holiday deals are available which also take in some of South Africa’s other tourist destinations such as Victoria Falls, Capetown, and stunning Swaziland.

There is also a six thousand seater auditorium called the Sun City Super Bowl, at which world famous acts perform. Over the years since the resort was first built, the Super Bowl has played host to concerts from music legends such as Elton John, Queen, ray Charles, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, and Dionne Warwick, along with many more contemporary bands and solo artists.

The resort offers a very wide range of activities for holiday-makers, including ballooning, flying in a Tiger Moth bi-plane, archery, clay shooting, elephant rides, adventure quad biking, and of course the water sports. Of special interest to many are the malaria free safaris to the superb Pilanseberg Game Reserve.

Sun City is also a significant venue for conferences, and many claim it to be the very best conference centre in the whole of South Africa. And then of course, there are the casinos …

Wow! This is quite a place.

Heraldry Helps Me to Date the Restoration in Salerno

There are news in volunteer's activity in Salerno. The municipality opened the "throne room" of our site for some days. I took my photo-camera to snapped photos but the girls wanted to play with it and changed the settings. I noticed the bad quality of the photos when I came home but that room was closed the same day and I can't take better photos, unfortunatelly. So, with my excuses I offer you what I have with the hope, they will open that room once.



This is the S.Anna's chapel in the open part of the site. There are 2 frescos made by Filippo Pennino. We said, the chapel was build about 1720.

The next photo is of the picture in the actually closed upper room. There are arms in the corners of this picture. They belong to the Pignatelli family. They managed this room together with an other noble family of Salerno.



This is the photo of the arms that are picted on the canvas over here and carved on the marble altars. It tells, the "owner" was a cardinal/ archbishop devoted to the cause of the church and he was from Pignatelli family. The only archbishop of Salerno from Pignatelli served the church from 1783 till 1794 there.



From other side, Filippo Pennino worked in other places in 1720 and 1750. So, as for me, we can attribute precise date to both picture and frescos.

What do you think I'm interested in now? I snap photos of every arms I found in Salerno and everywhere I happen. :0))) Maybe I'll have enough dates to write an interesting report about it one day.

Forget or Not Forget?

I've watched the Victory parad on the Red Square. I had very special feeling. But only a day before I could not agree with some persons that said we have not to forget that war. Today I found these photos and, sincerely, think, I was not right yesterday.

I've seen incredibly quantity of the photos of happy German soldiers near their hanged victims. (the last one -exist different photos of smiling soldiers near that girl, she was a partisan)
More photos here: http://zakkusufair.livejournal.com/847510.html?view=4118166#t4118166

Hotel Booking in Thailand

Every vacation beginns with the thoughts about how to reach and where to sleep. I told about How To Find Good Flight And Hotel Solutions in different posts in my new travel blog The Marvelous World Of Travel where I described my odeal because I was very worried this booking willnot be valid when we arrive or the hotel will be so bad that it will be not possible to stay there.

The hotel was excellent at the end, nobody drove us out, everything was in the best conditions. The full reports in the mentioned blog.

Now I read an other intersting opinion of a family that dreamed to pass the vacation in Thailand. To book their hotel they decided to contact the hotel directly. Because they do not understand English (and the other side was not better probably) they decided first to call the hotel but it was unpossible. Than, they wrote e-mail and received very fast answer. As a result, they had a special price (12 nights for 9), than 10% discount because the hotel decided they bargain the price. There are some countries, where persons that bargain the price are more respected, you know. Maybe it's valid for Thailand too?

At the end, when this family came in the hotel they received a room of the higher category than they paid.

This story learns -and I just understood it before-, it's necessary to try all the possible ways when you plan your vacation. To see what they offer to you. There are sites that offer very good prices -as it happend to us in Milan, sometimes you have to write to the owners -as in this last case, sometimes it's useful to speak in the hotel -it works here, in our zone, for example. I went personally to speak with the owners of the hotel for my friends and they offered me a special prise.

So, be patient when you want to book your hotel -and you will have what is good for YOU.