Archive for Recommendations
Vancouver Street Food – Japa Dog Takes Gold
Posted by: | CommentsThe world will soon descend on Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games. As the games approach, I find myself catching the Olympic spirit – and craving a hot dog.
Sports fans who travel to British Columbia should take the opportunity to check out a unique and tasty bite of Vancouver that would surely grab the gold in any street food culinary competition.
If you’re too good to eat at a hot dog stand, stop reading now. But if an outstanding hot dog with a Japanese flair turns you on, then Japa Dog is your place.
More than a hot dog, Japa Dog offers turkey, beef, pork and veggie sausages covered with creative and crazy combinations of Oriental garnishes like seaweed, Teriyaki and soy sauces, grated raddish, bonito flakes, fried cabbage, plum sauce, edamame and Japanese mayo.
It may seem strange to be in Canada standing in line for a Japanese take on an American icon, but it’s worth the wait. You can find the Japa Dog stand on the corner of Burrand and Smithe Streets in downtown Vancouver.
Travel to Nerja: Stay at the Hostal Don Peque
Posted by: | CommentsIf you find yourself needing a place to sleep when you travel to Nerja, along Spain’s Costa del Sol, call on the friendly folks at the Hostal Don Peque.
Very near the old city and just a short walk to the water, the little accommodation is clean and convenient. There’s a handy, but expensive, parking garage nearby and the tourist information office is only a few blocks away. The owner, (I think her name is Clara,) was on hand every day during our visit. The hostal also rents beach towels and chairs.
We ate breakfast on the rooftop terrace one morning during our stay, but found the fare to be a bit simple for the price. I thought 6 € was a tad much for bread, jam, orange juice and tea, but the views of the sea and the rooftops of Nerja were nice.
A great place to soak up some sun, Nerja has plenty of sand, restaurants and clubs to keep any beachcomber happy, and the Don Peque sits right in the middle of it all.
Gifts and Gadgets: Holiday Travel Gifts – Part 4
Posted by: | CommentsNow that Christmas 2009 is in the books, it’s time to buy what Santa forgot to bring. In our final installment of this year’s holiday gift guide, we cover handy travel accessories for your new Christmas gadgets.
If you unwrapped an iPhone, iPod, e-reader or laptop computer, take a look at these useful extras.
The list printed in today’s Edmond Sun.
Gifts and Gadgets: Holiday Travel Gifts – Part 3
Posted by: | CommentsWhat are you putting in your traveler’s stocking this Christmas?
TravelBlur.com and The Edmond Sun are teaming up to bring you ”Gifts and Gadgets,” a four-part series highlighting travel toys and tools. In today’s article we cover travel journals, maps, binoculars and multi-tools.
Read the entire article in The Edmond Sun.
Gifts and Gadgets: Holiday Travel Gifts – Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsTo help you pick that perfect present for the traveler on your Christmas list, TravelBlur.com and The Edmond Sun have teamed up to bring you “Gifts and Gadgets,” a four-part series highlighting travel toys and tools.
This week, we help your traveler pack light and pack right with luggage suggestions and packing aid ideas.
Read the full article at The Edmond Sun and check back next week for part three.
Gifts and Gadgets: Holiday Travel Gifts – Part 1
Posted by: | CommentsTo help you pick that perfect present for the traveler on your Christmas list, TravelBlur.com and The Edmond Sun have teamed up to bring you “Gifts and Gadgets,” a four-part series suggesting travel toys and tools.
In today’s installment, we cover camera accessories like Case Logic bags, Joby Gorillapod tripods and power sources from Digipower and Lenmar. We also suggest a camera class to help your travel buddy take better photos.
Find the full article at The Edmond Sun and check back next Saturday for our second installment.
Galway Gab: House Hotel Highly Heralded
Posted by: | CommentsFriends and fellow travelers Jeff and Lee Lavender recently returned from a travel trip to the Emerald Isle. They raved about a little accommodation, The House Hotel, in Galway, Ireland, and have kindly agreed to share the details of their find. Jeff’s review is below:
The House Hotel in Galway was a breath of fresh air. As soon as we walked through the front door, we were greeted by the concierge who called us by name and made us comfortable as she checked us in. As the concierge visited with Lee about Galway’s tourist highlights, I noticed a whimsical decor and an interesting cat motif. A sign pointing to the room was decorated with a picture of a sleeping cat. The restaurant’s sign had an eating cat and you can only imagine what the cat on the bathroom sign was doing.
Our “mack daddy” suite was large, nicely furnished and included internet access on a large flat screen TV. The suite’s bathroom was fully equipped and very nice.
Although the rooms and common areas were very nice, the true gem of this hotel was the attention to service. The staff were always willing to act as travel guide and help us plan our day, often taking it upon themselves to make our travel arrangements personally. To top it off, they absolutely refused my attempts to slip them some green for their special attention. They would not accept a thing.
Needless to say, we highly recommend the House Hotel and will stay here the next time we travel to Galway.
Frequent voyagers, Jeff and Lee travel to destinations both far and near. Expect to hear from them often.
Seattle Travel Food – Mac/Cheese at the Icon Grill
Posted by: | CommentsI have discovered what may be the world’s best mac and cheese at the Icon Grill in Seattle, Washington.
Made with four cheeses, the Icon Grill’s Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese is a gooey, crusty-topped bowl of tasty goodness. The culinary masterpiece arrived at our table steaming hot and topped with finely chopped tomatoes, but what happened next really sent me over the edge. Our waiter, who told us that the dish was the restaurant’s top-selling item for about a decade, poured a huge glob of melted cheese right on top.
This is what I call good-nasty. Grab a fork and call the paramedics.
A Travel Trip to Tangier with Travel Guide Aziz
Posted by: | CommentsThe wife and I typically shun the idea of hiring a tour guide when we travel to a new city, but we made an exception on a recent travel trip to Tangier, Morocco.
Recommended in our Rick Steves book, travel guide Aziz Begdouri was an excellent choice. We spent a fun day traveling Tangier with Aziz and highly recommend his services. Our tour included all the main tourist stops, including the Kasbah, Grand and Petit Soccos, Anglican Church, Medina and markets. Aziz seems to know everyone in town and made our visit enjoyable.
The only negative I can report was an unrequested stop at a carpet store where we sat through a sales pitch. We weren’t interested in buying a carpet, but it was a short stop and more of a nuisance than anything else.
At only 15 Euros per person for a five-hour tour, hiring Aziz was a cheap travel deal.
You can contact Aziz at aziztour@hotmail.com.
It’s easy to reach Tangier from the south of Spain, especially Tarifa. While there’s not really any other reason to go to Tarifa, it’s only about 30 minutes by ferry to Africa so the Spanish city makes a handy departure point. Watch for more on Tarifa restaurants and accommodations in an upcoming post.
Metallica Musical Memories -or- Ghostly Oslo
Posted by: | CommentsThe human mind fascinates me, especially how music can spark memories of seemingly unrelated events. Just the other day I was driving home from work when a Metallica song came on the radio and I immediately thought of Oslo, Norway, Norwegian friends and ghosts.
Strange combination I know. Well, here’s the story.
We were visiting Oslo as part of a travel trip I call our Nordic capitals tour. By this time, we had been in Scandinavia for about 10 days and we were way-past tired of pickled herring. Jonesing for a hamburger and fries, we dipped into the Hard Rock Cafe on Karl Johans Gate for an American fix. The rock group Metallica was playing a gig that night in Oslo, so the place was packed with long hair and black clothes, tattoos and piercings. It was good to be back among my people. The restaurant manager put the Metallica music on a loop so the whole place was rockin’ to the beat of pounding drums and screaming guitars.
So now when I hear Metallica, I think of Oslo. But there’s more
Cherri and Knut Dohlen are Norwegian friends of my grandma-in-law who generously volunteered to show us around their city during our visit. Turns out that Cherri is a writer who authored a fun little book about the haunted place of Norway called Gray Zone Wanderers.
So obviously, Metallica = Oslo = Cherri and Knut = ghosts.
Makes perfect sense, right?
Rock on.
