by macewan on February 13, 2008
Hey there I'm Robert MacEwan the author of Ideal Absolutes. If you're new to macewan.org, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed.
Corissia Group Hotels in Crete Greece presents their offering in the village of Georgioupolis, in the unspoiled western part of the island of Crete in Greece. Now is just as good a time as any to disclose that I am not stranger to travel on the islands and I’m sure Greece hasn’t changed much in the last 15 years. However, my recall or lack there of does not include the level of comfort offered by these hotels.
With age comes expectation in travel. For me? No more youth hostels, sandals, a loaf of bread for breakfast and lunch while walking around in a heat not felt since another memory searing surface of the sun heat on a day in Chichen Itza. No can of Coke has ever matched that life-saving magical mixture of sugar water handed to me when I over-heated in Crete.
Needless to say, I cherish my previous life of travel. I loved it. Jump into life 2.0 and join the world in travel. My next trip to Greece — I’m bringing my wife of 10 years. She may have me beat romping around northeast Europe, exclaiming “Oh! look another castle” while sitting comfortably in a tour bus, but I know another mode of transportation and when the gate on that ferry drops in Greece — you run not walk. My goodness, I just now remembered the Greek salad I ate on the waterfront of one of the islands. These are powerful true memories. Looking into travel to Crete brings them all back.
So — looking forward to this summer — I’m weighing my vacation options and Greece is on the list! Of course this time we take the resort route. The road less traveled winding up the hill hoping for a room is a memory and nothing more. Besides, I’m nearly 40. Leave the rough travel for the kids and young adults. Let them acquire the memories to share with daughters and grandkids. Our time will be that of comfort and prepared meals. An umbrella waiting to ease the job of the sun protection cream and a laptop book.
When I started looking into this trip I was directed to the owner of the Corissia Group Hotels in Crete Greece I.Tsiledakis S.A. Exactly the level of comfort one would expect. What struck me right away while visiting their site was the attention to detail in my realm. XHTML, CSS, WAI-A WCAG 1.0, a blog and an RSS feed none the less. Definately not an after thought in bring this online. Mostly surely this carries over into all they provide. I look forward to this visit and thank you.
by macewan on November 6, 2007
A family member lives far away. You’re visiting them over the holidays. You don’t want to spend the entire week stuck in their living room with a giant-screen TV and seventeen toddlers watching Nick Jr. while their parents argue over which great-aunt had the largest mole on her face. You need a travel guide, a quick overview of what the city has to offer in the way of entertainment, culture, or sporting activities… asylums…
Most of us here in North Carolina won’t need anyEurope Hotel Guides this holiday. (shouldn’t that be European Hotel Guides?)
For us, it’s a trip to Pittsburgh, PA to visit my great-aunt Fanny who used to dance in a burlesque show. Her stories are quite amusing, and the photograph albums are fascinating — the first twelve times she shows them to us.
We found a handy online resource. Comprhensive city guides are available easily through the hotelsbycity.net user-friendly interface. The Pittsburgh page gave us some great ideas — some swell entertainment possibilities. A walking tour offers incredible opportunities, this we quickly find out by perusing the short history of the city. The Cathedral of Learning, Andy Warhol, Mr. Rogers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Fort Pitt Museum… Lots of fun, less of great-aunt Fanny. Now I’m looking forward to the trip! The website even reviews Primanti Brothers Sandwiches – oh my goshgrace what a remarkable sandwich. This city guide really does have some great info!
by macewan on September 28, 2007
If I had been told 4 months ago that in October I’d be scoping out listings of vacation home rentals by owner — you would have been called crazy as a bed bug. Then again, at the time with all hustle and what-not going on in the family I really did not see us taking a vacation in the near future.
One of the website’s finest attributes is the high-resolution photography. The images truly give the prospective “renter” a true, accurate idea of just what it is they are looking at — meaning - no fuzzy wavy lines in photo images that look like someone used a cell phone to capture them.
We’re just a hop skip and a jump from VA Beach. (locals say vaahh beach - a tip to remember when you visit) Clicking on the link to the area provided me with some great ideas for our next vacation. Some of the oceanfront condos are very familiar and I never knew they were for rent. I really envied those people when they sat on their balconies watching the Labor Day weekend festivities up there. Hmmmmmm…
What can I say? Things change so quickly it makes your head spin. Everyone we know tells us to rent a vacation home from the owner, get a fully furnished nice family style livable place — even some great condos are offered. It’s nice to know there’s a site with this much information — all the specs, photos, contact information — right there in one easy to access site. I can’t wait to hit the beach… or the mountains… or wherever. This site even lists area activities, golf courses… # of miles to shopping… makes trip-dreaming a great past time and makes trips more of a reality when I can see my destination.
Check out their great vacation ideas today! See you in Ocean Isle Beach, ya’ll.
by macewan on September 28, 2007
Sing along: “The Texas State Fair is the best state fair! Don’t miss it, don’t even be late! It’s dollars to donuts that their state fair is the best state fair in the state!” (apologies to “State Fair” the musical)
The Texas State Fair takes place September 28th through October 21st in 277 acre Fair Park which is located just outside of Dallas. Senior Citizen Day is every Thursday during the Fair. Seniors (age 60+) will be admitted free on October 4, 11 & 18. Parking is $10. Exhibit buildings are open from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. Museum hours vary. A couple of gates open as early as 7 a.m., but only the livestock are up and about at that time.
General admission is $14.00, and most of the shows and attractions are free once you get inside. Seniors (60 & over) and children ages 3 up to 48-inches-tall pay only $10.00. Admission tickets may be purchased online at bigtex.com beginning Aug. 1. If you are near a Kroger store during the months of September and October, just step up to a checkout and buy a discounted general admission ticket in advance for $12.50.
State Fair parking is $10 per car. All State Fair parking is well lighted and conveniently located to pedestrian gates. For those who are interested, valet parking will be offered again this year. Enter the Grand Avenue Gate from Cullum Blvd. or the Parry/Haskell (Sat. / Sun. & Columbus Day) entrance to use this service. The charge is $20.
by macewan on September 17, 2007
It’s always fun to plan a trip. Well, for Val and me it is. We keep our fantasy trip itineraries in a big drawer in the desk. Maps, travel brochures, Internet recommendations, note from friends who’ve been there — sometimes we even go so far as clipping photos from give-away out-dated magazines we get at the library. The Alaskan cruise dream vacation papers fill more than three shoeboxes. Val’s parents went on such a cruise about 25 years ago during the three-month long trip to Alaska they took pulling their Airstream from Arkansas to Nova Scotia, across Canada and then up to Alaska where they caught a cruise for a week and left the trailer behind. Our friend David returned from Alaska just a few weeks ago. Everyone who’s been raves about the trip. David got a bit claustrophobic, he admits, but that’s happened before on cruises, he says.
The “fantasy” aspect, the “dream” vacation, will be a reality in a few months. If blog revenue continues at this steady pace and if everyone’s health holds out — we’re booking a cruise in the spring of 2008. Reality will replace fantasy in the form of a healthy savings account. There is definitely an Alaskan cruise in our not-too distant future.
We’re going to sit down with Ruth while her memory is still so vivid (she’s 90, remember?) and get some ideas from her about how to go about such a journey. While we won’t be able to go from North Carolina to Nova Scotia to Alaska, we do hope to fly up to AK and have a week to tool around on our own before the cruise. How about it? Anyone else take an Alaskan cruise? Anybody got recommendations?
by macewan on September 2, 2007
So after seeing Zac’s new house, which by the way happens to be on the water, I decided we need to search for a Hawaii rental house for our Maui vacation. After some quick searching I noticed a snip that Tip Tail wrote about her Hawaiian trip back in the mid 1990’s. She provided the link that led me to a listing of the homes for rent.
Ecotourism, according to the Hawaii Ecotourism Association, is tourism based on nature and culture. I’ve learned alot about ecotourism from our local Estuarium and it’s important to us that we support folks that follow that ideal.
