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Last summer we took the kids into Indianapolis to the Children’s Museum. They are getting old enough and I wanted them to have some museum experiences early so that when they get older they won’t look at visiting a museum as a foreign experience.

The trip went off really well we got reservations at Indianapolis luxury hotels for two nights and spent three days in Indianapolis. Our visit was all about getting the children exposed to new experiences and broadening their horizons. So we stared our first day there at the Children’s Museum. The kids were fascinated with the exhibits thought out the museum but especially in the science section. There was so much for the kids to do and see there we ended up spending the entire day in the Museum. With a food court on the first floor it was really easy to do. We didn’t leave the museum until just about closing time. By then it was time for some dinner and getting the kids to bed. They were sure worn out from their day at the museum.

On the second day after breakfast we set out for a morning walk in a nearby park and located a playground so the kids could burn off some steam and we could sit and relax for a little while. That afternoon we were going to be going to a play at the Children’s Theater Institute where the kids would be getting their first live play experience. Another winner, they both were very interested in the play and the theatrics involved with it. It was a lot of fun seeing their faces and experiencing their excitement with them.

It was a fun and memorable weekend. We still here chattier chat from the kids about the science exhibits at the Children’s Museum, especially the rockets. The play they saw made it’s impression as well, now they are writing their own plays and acting them out for each other and us.

The Día de los Muertos festival will be celebrated throughout the city of Phoenix, beginning on October 31 and ending on November 1.  This is a traditional Mexican festival that celebrates and gives honor to family and loved ones who have passed away.  This is a colorful and celebratory event and the Phoenix Botanical Garden is taking part in the celebrations.  All of the events at the festival are covered in the price of admission and many of the best Phoenix hotels can provide transportation to the garden.

These events will include story telling, music and song, art, and dance performances by some of the most well known Arizona artists and performers.  In the Mercado, the cafe on the grounds of the garden, traditional Mexican food will be served all day.  While death is the theme of the performances, they are also filled with social and political commentary, humor, sarcasm and life.  One group performing from 7 to 9 pm is the well known collection of artists that make up La Calaca Caberat.

This is a combination of theatre, dance, music and story-telling, educational as well as entertaining and is appropriate for the entire family.  The “calaca” is the image often depicted in Mexican art as the smiling, black and white faced skull.  The image is intended to allow people to accept death, and acknowledge rebirth and regeneration.  There is a richness to the culture and to the art of the traditions of the Mexican and Chicano artists and this is illustrated wonderfully in the skill and craftsmanship of  Zarco Guerrero and the choreography of Michelle Ceballos.

The traditional interpretations are set against the urban background of today.  Dancing Earth dance company will also be performing on the previous Friday, and the procession which signifies the end of the three day festival will happen on the 1st of November at 4:30 in the afternoon.  This promises to be a fun couple of days for all who attend, filled with food, fun, dance, music, and a few scary faces here and there.

This year Thanksgiving will be spent with the folks in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They have just moved down there from New York having retired a year ago and are just now getting settled in. Mom’s goal is to have the place ready for everyone to come see the new place for this Thanksgiving. It will be a tough turn around time for her, but she really likes to put the pressure on herself and give her something to complain about while doing it. She is such a trip, I don’t know how dad deals with it. She won’t let any one in the house till it is perfect, perfect to her standards. And of course she has given herself just about a month to get it together before Thanksgiving. She will complain all the way to the last second and my dad will graciously put up with it. It would drive me nuts I really don’t understand how he has put up with it all these years.

I have our rooms booked at luxury hotels Fort Lauderdale, I’m not going to be staying with the folks, that would drive me crazy. Mom always worrying and concerned about everything is this right, is that too much or too little is the color right etc, etc. It is enough to drive a saint to drink. I will just have to come up with a good excuse why we are not going to be staying with them so I don’t have to hear it for ever from my mother. I know I make this sound bad, and on some level it is or at least could be if not managed to properly.

making sure we have our own space to escape to after spending the day with the folks will be a key part to this plan. Also planning a couple of days site seeing on our own using the excuse we don’t want to be too much in the way will another tactic for time away.

It’s one of those worthy journeys that everyone should see at least once, and it’s worth repeated viewings for visitors who come to Amsterdam on a regular basis.  The Van Gogh Museum is devoted to the works of one of the greatest artists of all time, and it’s a splendid way to get to know more about his life and work.  Amsterdam on its own is a fantastic city, continuing to serve as one of the Netherlands’ largest cultural and financial centers.  With its history as a port town, Amsterdam has a long tradition of trading with other nations, making it a truly cosmopolitan place, and that sensibility still permeates the city today.  It is a wonderful place to stay while looking at art, and for accommodations, there are magnificent five star Amsterdam hotels.

The lodgings are sumptuous and gorgeous, adding to the rich textures of the city itself.  High style and design reign here, but there is an extremely diverse population who come here, along with the diversity of the local population, that gives it a certain populist sensibility that is very charming.  And it’s also very practical.  It always feels like everything is running well here in Amsterdam, and it’s a great place to spend afternoons looking at art, and the evenings at the pub or a great restaurant.  It’s also a great city for artists, of course, and it’s an interesting correspondence to Van Gogh to consider another artist walking through this city, Marina Abramovic.

Born in Belgrade, she now lives in New York City, and is one of the pre-eminent performance artists in the world.  Her work, especially some of the earlier pieces, is extremely physical, and even involves the artist suffering during the work.  Some of her most known work came about when she met and started living with Ulay, another performance artist, in Amsterdam.  They were together for many years, and were based here.  Their joined efforts was like an explosion of their individual ideas, collaborating on pieces such as Breathing In, Breathing Out, where the couple are locked in a kiss, their noses blocked so the only breath available is from each other, sharing breath, until they both collapse.  It’s an interesting look at love, among other things, and interesting too for its willingness to test the limits of the body.  For Van Gogh, his own mental states were absolutely crucial to his life and art, and it is still a theme that runs behind some of the most important work today.

It was Fanny’s idea to spend her and her husband Tim’s 10th anniversary in Cape Town South Africa. She had considered planning the entire trip and surprising Tim with the tickets while taking him to a mock office party. Ultimately, however, she decided that this might not be the best idea because she and Tim both were highly prone to this type of romantic behaviors and it would be quite possible that Tim was also putting a lot of thought and effort into their celebration. So, one evening Fanny casually brought up the idea of taking a trip for their anniversary and mentioned that she had an idea for a possible location.

Tim spoke up at that point and said told her that he was glad and almost relieved that she mentioned it to him as he had actually already been planning a surprise trip. Although the story sounds rather fairy tale-ish, this was actually a typical occurrence between them. The point where it actually breaches the believability surface is when Tim added that he had just made reservations at a quaint Cape Town hotel. Instead of fainting, Fanny just laughed and said that was exactly where she had considered taking them as well.

This actually makes more sense when it is known that they had talked about South Africa a year ago and each of them and had mentioned a specific interest in it. Fanny was attracted to a theatre production she had read about at the Baxter Theatre and Tim as interested in an article he had read about the District Six Museum. This prompted them to look into other aspects of South African culture though they did not at that time discuss visiting the country. With that in mind, the story looses a bit of its fantastic elements and starts to make sense. As with most things, however, Tim and Fanny enjoyed their anniversary trip immensely and completely romanticized the trip and how it came about.

Outdoor kitchens are both sensible and exciting all at the same time.  They offer new possibilities for the way you cook as well as the way you eat.  There have been recent studies that suggest a direct relationship between happiness and the amount of time preparing meals.  There may be some truth to all this, for many different reasons, but an obvious one is the social.  Preparing food for your family and friends means more time with them, engaged in meaningful activity.  We can’t say if our built in barbecue grills are a direct route to personal happiness, but they will make some of the most pleasurable aspects of life even more enjoyable.

And easy, too.  Our grills are very precise, with engineering that’s designed to make them very accurate in the heat they put out.  This means that you’ll be able to control your culinary experiments to a very high degree.  You’ll see how sensational meat and vegetables turn out when you’ve got the right equipment, and this will lead to more experiments that will surely make your guests happy indeed.  There are many ways to cook fantastic meats quickly and with great precision, but there are also slow methods to cooking foods that add very different flavors, and at the right social events, can be a perfect way to make an evening stretch on.

Slow roasted tomatoes are an outrageously good taste sensation.  It’s been compared to sun-drying, in that it brings out a sharpness to the tomato flavor, but real aficionados say that’s just a fraction of the taste that slow-roasting will bring out.  With a little garlic and olive oil, and cooked at low to medium temperatures for at least half an hour, but these can be cooked at the right heat for up to three hours to bring out their maximum potential.  It’s hard not to eat all the roasted tomatoes at once, so be prepared for an unusually impeccable temptation, that’s well worth the wait.

What is there to say about Farmer’s Markets in Portland, Oregon…a lot.  The city is not only green in nature, but green in spirit as well.  There is a bike share system set up throughout the city, one of the few in the entire country, many of the best Portland hotels,  restaurants and cafes serve menus of produce that is locally grown, and organic as well.  It is no wonder that there are quite a few option through the week to find a farmers market.

The Portland Farmer’s Markets are always in the top of the list of markets in the country, and the Saturday market at Portland State University is one of the largest local events, drawing many tourists as well.  The feeling in the market is one of diversity and creative, with artists setting up their work right next to the local farmers’ baskets of fruits and vegetables.  There are four other markets that are put up through the week as well, each with its own unique style and appeal.

The Wednesday market is held between Main and Salmon at the northern side of South Park.  Being that this is located in the heart of downtown, many business people find this convenient for their needs and wants.  There are two different markets to choose from each Thursday.  One is in East Bank located in the Southeastern area of Portland and one is in the Pearl District located in the Ecotrust Building.

East Bank is an area filled with families and the market is a place for those in the neighborhood to congregate and swap stories as much as it is a place to find delicious produce and merchandise.  The market in Ecotrust, is the hip, fast paced alternative for those wanting a bit more of a downtown feel and vibe.  And now on Sundays, folks can head over to the King neighborhood to the North of the city.  The Sunday market is still new and still developing its feel, but the neighborhood is in full support and it will most certainly become as successful as the other markets throughout the city.

Goooood Morning Singapore!  After breakfast at an ‘All you can eat seafood and drink vodka’ buffet, we headed over to one of the luxury Singapore hotels to check in. What a cool hotel we booked! It was pretty amazing. We took photos of the lobby and bar while we waited for our room to get ready, we didn’t have reservations, but that didn’t bother the hotel in the least. They served us drinks while we waited (like we need more after the Vodka buffet) and then they took us up to our room. The service here was superb.

They came and served us welcome drinks in our room! They offered to store our suitcases for us after we unpacked, we didn’t take them up on this offer, but a nice offer all the same. The bathroom had a nice spa like tub and our view overlooked the street and the skyline. The curtains were made of silk with those tassels hanging from them! We unpacked the best we could, we were definitely feeling the buzz from all those drinks we downed, but we wanted to get back to the Vodka buffet, we were meeting up with a couple we meet on our flight over here.

The bartender and the waitress were all happy to see us again, and we found our new friends waiting for us up at the bar. We quickly got started with the dessert and cheese station, then moved on to the sushi, seafood and salad stations. We complimented our dishes with a Bloody Mary, our friends went for the Blue Ginger infused Vodka. Later, I switched to the White Cosmopolitan. After four drinks each and tons of sushi and seafood, we figured we broke even.

It’s been a long time since we drank so much alcohol, and judging from our friends heavy breathing, we could tell that they too are not heavy drinkers. We were all tanked. We only had to walk back across the street to our hotel, so we invited our fiends, if they liked, to sleep it our in our hotel room. They said not to worry, they’d take a taxi back to their hotel room. But, then they asked us if we wanted to join them in checking out Chinatown. That sounded like a good way to sober up, so we shared a taxi with them an explored Chinatown. They were getting ready for an all day and night celebrations of the New Year.

We spent about 4 hours there, having a blast. We made arrangements to meet up with our new friends the next day at Little India, but first we’d eat at our favorite Vodka buffet again.

The Museum of Finance in New York is located appropriately so, on Wall Street. Continuing through the 16th of January, 2010 is an exhibit that focuses on the “Women of Wall Street”, which highlights some of the most influential New York business women throughout history through to these modern times. Admission to the exhibit is just $8, and it is well worth the price. It is quite a popular notion that the world of Wall Street is a man’s world, but exhibit illustrates that this is just not the case.

I recently went to the exhibit with a few of my female friends and when we booked rooms at one of the small hotels, New York became our oyster with a pearl. That pearl being the day we spent at the show. Now I’m not a business woman, a bit more on the artistic side of life I lean, but many of my friends are and I greatly respect and admire them. The show is in two parts, one that features the notable business women in history and the second bit focuses on the women of modern business.

Five historical women are featured. Muriel Siebert was the first woman who bought her seat at the New York Stock Exchange. Abagail Adams and Victoria Woodhull are featured. As well as the first woman financial tycoon on Wall Street, Hetty Green and Isabel Benham who began her bond analyst career in 1931. During these early years this was a world that was in fact dominated by men, but through tenacity and intelligence these women succeeded in this world quite well.

The second part which features modern women, focuses on just how influential women have become in the world of business today. Many of these women will be in attendance to talk about their perspectives of being in a women in the world of business and finance, and to speak of their varied experiences as the climbed the ladder of success. When my friends and I left the museum we walked through the streets of the city talking about just how far we have been able to come, because of the women who have walked before us. It was a great day out, with great friends, in one of the greatest cities in the world.

We arrived in Dubai at night, after about an hours flight on the Emirates airline. It helped having a relative on the flight crew and it made it interesting for us as we imagined what her daily life was like. Emirates is a very nice airline, I can see why it’s won so many industrial awards. When we de-boarded, we noticed just how new the terminal looked and we really appreciated the ‘state-of-the-art’ luggage carousel. It has sensors that will stop incoming luggage if other luggage was in the way, then it would start up again and there was a nice gap to the side with which to grab your luggage.

We had an uneventful taxi ride to our five star hotel Dubai offers all its tourists. Our check-in was easy and fast, all in all, it only took us 45 minutes to leave the airport and get into bed of our hotel room. We were still tired from our last stop in Kuwait.

We found one interesting aspect about Dubai, which is the taxi drivers. Our first taxi ride, must have been a rare experience. But, every journey we took after that was an experience fraught with language barriers. Our hotel was located on a major road, but for some reason, we had a difficult time getting a taxi right away and where ever we wanted to go, we had to spend at least 15 minutes communicating our destination. Probably because we didn’t want to see the usual tourist sights, we were here to visit family. One member we want to visit lives in the suburb of Al Qusais, well apparently, there are four different suburbs with this name! Another issue we had was, at one of our stops located on the edge of an industrial area, the taxi drivers just didn’t think that’s where we wanted to go.

Later, we figured out that most of the taxi drivers are recent arrivals from India or Pakistan, so we would find someone who knew Farsi or Hindu to write out where we wanted to go that day. This turned out to work beautifully.

Dayton, OH is named after the American Revolutionary war captain Jonathan Dayton. Dayton was incorporated in 1805 however it has a history going back longer than that. As early as the 1790′s a trail was cut from Cincinnati to Dayton called the Mad River Road, this opened the area to early settlers and the beginning of growing populations in the area. In the 1830′s the completion of the Erie Canal and the Miami Canal opened the area to shipping commerce that could reach all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. By the 1840′s there were a series of nine turnpikes built connecting Dayton to the rest of the state. By this time Dayton was one of the wealthiest communities in Ohio. Dayton was home to National Cash Register and Orvil and Wilber Wright in the mid 1850 while Dayton continued to boom and grow.

Today Dayton is filled with charming Victorian neighborhoods and tree lines streets along with aerospace research and other modern technologies. Dayton is replete with arts and culture home to Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center and the world class performing arts center of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra , The Dayton Opera and the Dayton Ballet Company. The Schuster hosts traveling Broadway show series, professional dance troupes, traveling ballet, lectures and theater. For a charming evening in Victorian splendor there is the Victorian Theater located in downtown Dayton. Also downtown is the Loft Theater home to the Human Race Theater Company. For lovers of dance Dayton is home to one of the oldest dance companies in America the Dayton Ballet Company. Any hotels Dayton can assist you in finding performances and tickets to shows in the area.

Dayton, Ohio is situated in south Western Ohio near the Indiana border and down the interstate to the west of Columbus, Ohio. Dayton is green and beautiful in summer, but it is the winter and the cold that bring all the arts alive and the activity of the opera and ballet seasons get into full swing. Dayton is small and metropolitan with a long and rich history rooted in the arts.

Day 3 in the Down Under, Sydney, Australia. We spent the time at Darling Harbor. The journey to get to the Harbor was kind of interesting and a little bit dramatic. After we left the lobby of one of the luxury hotels Sydney has to offer, we headed for the bus. An older woman with a cane, a man in a wheelchair, another old man moving slow and a young lady with a newborn inside one of the most biggest baby strollers I’ve ever seen all were boarding the bus and fighting over the seats. This exchange of heated words continued for many stops and created a traffic jam in front of the bus. Punches were almost thrown, but luckily it only came to yelling, but made for some great entertainment. We laughed hysterically all the way to the Harbor.

It was so beautiful and it was spring, so the weather was a little cold, then it got warm, then it got chilly again. We laughed some more about how many times we had to put on and take off our jackets. Darling Harbor is absolutely breathtaking. We lounged the whole day in the sun, walking around window shopping, having a snack and coffee at a cafe and walking around the marina. There were yachts that looked like the homes along the strand in Manhattan beach.

At one friends request, well an ultimatum really, we checked out the local brewery and had a drink, we then went for some sushi in an underground station where there are a lot of business people in suits. We felt a little under-dressed, but then we figured we were tourist, and they should understand. After sushi, which was the best we’ve ever had, we headed out to Sydney’s Wildlife Park. This place has some fantastic collections of creepy insects and a huge spider collection. I took a photo of me with snakes to give my friends the willy-nilly’s. The best part of the Wildlife Park was the Kangaroos and the Koalas. They are so cute. The weirdest creature we saw was the Wombats, they aren’t cute or cuddly. We figured wombats were a mixture of bull dog, mouse, hippo and pig. Pretty ugly. We even got to see a wallaby, a much cuter version of a kangaroo. The one we saw was sitting on his butt with his tail in between his legs. He was looking down at the ground like he was in trouble, like he did something wrong.

Afterwards we strolled to the other side of the Harbor where we came across many cute and overpriced restaurants and cafes, but fortunately, it was happy hour, so we ordered some house drinks and sat outside on these wicker chairs and toasted to our good fortune.