Category Archive: Travel
Revisiting New York means you can bypass all the usual tourist traps, such as the Empire State, Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty and spend the time soaking up the city’s culture. Staying at the Sheraton on Canal Street in Soho meant being within walking distance of most things and walking is a must in New York. The only disappointing experience was not being able to see the Garden of Remembrance at Ground Zero – you have to pre-book your place online, which didn’t fit in with our spontaneous trip at all and so was bypassed. Foodie highlights included Café Habana’s famous corn on the cob and a heavenly vegan lunch at Candle Café. No trip to New York is complete without some shopping and therefore, Macy’s, Century 21 and Soho were all hit. TKTS provided discounted tickets to Jersey Boys, which comes highly recommended and the atmosphere at Madison Square Gardens which hosted Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks was electric despite the poor performance by the home team. Although most of Manhattan looks like nothing happened a few months back, the damage from Hurricane Sandy was still to be seen in downtown Manhattan with Pier 17 a shadow of its former self and iconic shops such as Abercrombie and Fitch on Water Street still closed.
Kristin Luna writes the travel blog Camels and Chocolate. She has been a travel writer for the past 14 years. She tends to take 10 international assignments a year and spends around seven months out of every 12 on the road. So far in her career, she has visited 80 countries – that’s 1/3 of the world. The blog covers all her adventures as she travels the world and her posts always include amazing pictures she has captured along the way. From Africa to the Arctic, the Middle East to the Caribbean, Kristin has a story to tell, a photo to share and sound travel tips for the wanderlust.
by Marie McGrath
I recently visited Manchester to bring my Dad to see a Manchester United game for his 60th birthday. It was not my first visit to the city so I was aware that it hasn’t much to offer if you aren’t a soccer fan or shopping addict. We stayed at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate as the rates were surprisingly reasonable and I highly recommend this hotel thanks to its great location, facilities, food and drink offerings and excellent staff. The hotel also boasts Cloud 23, one of Manchester’s most popular nightspots where patrons can enjoy views across the city from the 23rd floor of the iconic Hilton building.
The main shopping area in Manchester is the Arndale, which is the UK’s largest inner-city shopping centre. The Wheel of Manchester is just outside the Arndale and has lovely views. For more information on Manchester, check out the Visit Manchester website.
The match proved disappointing, with no Rooney or Giggs we all felt that there was something missing. The game changed massively when Scholes came on in the second half, bringing an urgency and leadership that spurred the entire team on and eventually Park scored a winner in injury time, the match ending 2-1 to United.
For dinner, The Restaurant Bar and Grill proved a hit with a wide selection of delicious food. For weekends, advance booking is advised as it’s a popular spot. We also visited the Museum of Science and Industry, which showcases old planes, cars, steam engines and much more. We ran out of time as we had to catch our flight and I am actually looking forward to going back. I’ve found more to Manchester than just shopping and football!
Everything Everywhere
This blog comes from blogger and traveller Gary Arndt who embarked on a mammoth journey around the world in 2007. Gary has been travelling ever since and documenting his experiences along the way. As well as including his encounters with the world, Gary posts facts and photos about the country he is in and you can even follow him on the ‘network of your choice,’ be it Twitter, Facebook, RSS, Email, LinkedIn…
Karen, one of our Account Executives in Elevate, is volunteering in Tanzania for six weeks… here’s how she’s getting on:
I’m having such a great time, and am now half way through the project – I can’t believe how fast it’s going. We’ve just been so busy, it’s crazy! It feels like I’m here about three months not three weeks.
The school I’m teaching in is super nice, it’s called Top Stars and it’s really far away from the place that we’re staying in, but the principal comes and picks us up every morning in her pickup truck which is hilarious because we sit in the back with the bikes and chickens and food and stuff!! We all got bikes because we cycle everywhere! Seriously surprised I haven’t shed half my body weight because there have been daily bouts of sweat and tears on that bike.
In my school, there are only about 10 teachers but they’re all amazing people. It’s a nursery and a primary school so there are super small babies there, who are just adorable. The kids in the school are 3-10, years so they are quite young to be learning computers, but the teachers are really good with them. All our teachers started teaching the kids computers this week and they are really good, its great thinking that we taught them all of the stuff that that they know now…feeling very proud of myself!
Morogoro, the town we’re living in is a nice place up in the mountains. When we were on the way here from Dar Es Saleem, it was scary! You get such a culture shock when you arrive, as there are people everywhere, all living along the sides of the road. On our three hour journey to Morogoro, there wasn’t a second that we didn’t see people living in little houses on the side of the road. All of the African people just stare at us all of the time, they seem gob smacked that we are here. They constantly scream Muzungu at you (“white person”), which took a bit of getting used to, as they stare you right in the face and just roar the word at you! » continue reading
Miami was the destination for a significant birthday celebration last week. We felt blessed to get literally the last flight out of Dublin airport before it was shut down.
Miami is a great town and we were lucky enough to be staying at the Fontainebleau, a fantastic spot on Miami Beach. Obama had just checked out as we checked in and Clinton was there on the Saturday night being entertained by The Village People (who we managed to share a dinner table with, after their performance. Only three of the original line up are still in the band).
Highlights of the trip included a tour of the stars home on Star Island, Tropical Art Deco architecture on South Beach, shopping on Lincoln Road, excellent food and sunshine.
It is a great holiday destination and in the end the volcanic ash only delayed our return by 24 hours.
It is great to get a shot of American optimism and upbeat can do attitude. It makes all the doom and gloom in the Irish media more bearable!
by Marie McGrath
Forget backpacks, casual work and roughing it. My advice is to do Australia in style and cover as much ground as possible in a short amount of time. In four weeks, I managed to cram in Perth, Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road, Cape Tribulation, Port Douglas, Cairns, Brisbane, Fraser Island, Noosa Heads, Byron Bay, Coffs Harbour, Port Stephens, Hunter Valley, the Blue Mountains and Sydney. It wasn’t relaxing but it sure was amazing. » continue reading
I had the good fortune to spend Christmas with family and friends in California. Needless to say the weather was fantastic and a welcome break from the coldest winter in a generation in Ireland. To be able to wear fit flops and feel the sand in your toes every day of the year has to make for one of the sunniest lifestyles around. » continue reading
