Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Apr 27

There is nothing more worrying than finding an injured person – and you can’t help!

Would you know what to do if you came across an unconscious person? Or if one of your party suffered a serious injury? What if a colleague started having an asthma attack – what would you do?

If you see someone close by on the ground unconscious, is it best to go and call the emergency services straight away? Don’t know the answer or said ‘yes’ – then you could have just made the situation worse!

Being the outdoor type – and the adventurous person who likes meeting others and taking part in organised activities – why haven’t you taken a first aid course yet? Wouldn’t you like to know what to do?

photo credit: North West Air Ambulance

First Aid At Work:
Most people wait to be told to take one for work or as part of a new job or volunteering opportunity – but why wait until then?

Do you not want to be able to help your friends and family in an emergency? Do you only want to know how to save the lives of other members of staff or complete strangers who pop into your shop for 5 seconds?

Why don’t we take a first aid course because we know it will save lives rather than because someone else has offered to arrange it all or it is free!

Your Choice:
You can take a first aid course when you are still at school these days – so why are you now in your 20′s, 30′s, 40′s or 50′s and have no idea what to do?

And even if you did learn something at school – it might not apply anymore. Medical advances and the success of current techniques can change how we should react to emergency situations – so it is a great idea to take a refresher at least every 6 months to make sure your knowledge is best applied.

Anyone can join a first aid course – but make sure that it is run by an accreddited body like the Red Cross or St Johns Ambulance. They may cost more – but you know that you will be learning the correct techniques rather than someone just running their own course from personal experience.

I mean, tipping the head back for nosebleeds, laying on your back with feet raised for fainting and putting creams on burns are all out of date techniques and are not recommended anymore.

Things are always changing for the better – so make sure that you are up-to-date with your skills – as 1 thing will never change:

Emergency First Aid Saves Lives!

posted by Travel Cat on Apr 3

If you want to feel like the only 2 people walking around Venice – just go there!

Now this doesn’t mean that Venice is devoid of other people and that you won’t see another soul there – quite the opposite infact – but what I mean is that you will feel asthough only you two are there.

When I went there, I found that everyone else seemed to just be getting on with things in the background – almost like they were setting it up for my trip! I was so distracted by all great buildings, all the passageways, the canals and the shop-fronts packed with delightful masks and glassware.

Nothing else mattered as we whirled our way around the city – there were no queues for anything except the coffee, there was almost no unnatural noise – so our wanderings were not interrupted by anything!

Maybe it seemed like it was just us there becasue there was so much to see and do – and to admire – that we just didn’t have time to see everyone else who was there? I’ll never know.

I just remember Venice as the place where there was just the 2 of us!

photo credit: anja_johnson

The Season:
We went in October, which some said might have high tides (which would bring in the sewage!), but it didn’t and it was perfect. The high tides meant that the canals were always topped up and you didn’t have to climb down into any of the boats we used for transport.

And the weather held up for up too – it wasn’t cold enough for bulky coats and we didn’t have to worry about suncream either – just like being at home!

The Hotel:
We chose to stay on The Lido which is a large island just to the side of the main island. This meant that our room had views of the whole of Venice itself with the tower of St Marks and the entrance to the Grand Canal within sight – which at night was something special!

There are plenty of hotels within the City itself where you could step out of you door and be right in the action – but we found that the action of catching a boat to and from the island made it more fun – and we couldn’t hear the hustle and bustle of the morning rush hour from our room either!

The Streets:
All I think about when I look back at my time in Venice is how we managed to get lost!

Now I don’t just mean scratching our heads at a dead end – I mean we managed to keep walking down all these different paths and streets and then ending up back at the same place – like a bad sci fi movie!

Now this shouldn’t be possible we thought as we tried a different route rather hurriedly as dusk approached – past that old church again and down the side of that canal – but then after a few more turns and past a glass shop – we found ourselves back at the same place!

I still don’t know how even to this day how we managed it – as the second day there, we were fine and didn’t get lost once!

The Food:
I won’t spend to long on this obvious section – as we were in Italy after all!

However I will say that the hot chocolate in my hotel (Hotel Panarama) was the best I have ever tasted, and all the restaurants wherever we ate were perfect – without fault on service, location or taste!

I would re-visit Venice without hesitation.

photo credit: winkyintheuk

posted by Travel Cat on Jan 20

When in Rome – do exactly what YOU want to do!

You don’t have to stick to the tourist track when you visit the beautiful city of Rome, you can have the place to yourself and see the sites that interest you – rather than the masses.

Located in central Italy on the River Tiber and close to the country’s Mediterranean coast, Rome has more to offer than the routine tour of the Colosseum or the Pantheon.

Plan your own trip here – maybe staying in your own Rome apartments on the River – and you could find yourself caught up in the swing of things and finding history and hidden architecture right on the very streets that you are your drinking coffee in!

The City Itself:
Rome has been inhabited for over 2 and a half thousand years, through the Roman Empire, the Renaissance and the ruling Papacy – and so it’s great buildings and even common houses reflect styles from all eras.

Used as the setting for many conspiracy theories and the site of many hidden catacombs, underground waterways and even temples, you don’t always see everything in the guide book.

What you need is to wander the streets, go into and look around stores and museum buildings and get a sense of the people who lived and worked there – not just the elite.

photo credit: bensonkua

In Rome accommodation is never hard to find – and you can get a room in almost any part of the city you were hoping to explore! Whether you want to be close to the coast, the big sites, the river or just outside of the bustle – you will be sure to find it.

Vatican City:
Part of Rome that attracts as many vistors as the city itself is the Vatican – a city within a city! Home of the Papacy, the Sistine chapel, St Peter’s Basilica and a whole host of other sights worth seeing – you would be missing half of Rome if you didn’t visit here!

This self ruling walled section of Rome has a host of magnificent and imposing buildings – and book after book after book claim to know it’s secrets. However a few hours spent looking around yourself, you will soon see why it has created so much myth and mystery.

By booking yourself into some Vatican apartments overlooking the City, you can see the staff and visitors around the site throughout the day and late into the evening – maybe inspiring your very own conspiracy theory!

So however long you stay, make sure you choose the best accommodation for your trip. Don’t feel that you have to find 1 place and stay there for your entire vacation. Being able to step out of your apartment and be face to face with an amazing building is a totally different feeling from catching the bus there in the afternoon with 100 other people!

Plan your accommodation just as you would your transport – move around to suit your needs and get the most out of your city vacation.

“Abbia una grande festa” – as they say in Rome!

posted by Travel Cat on Jan 16

All animals depend on water for survival – so if you visit when there isn’t much, you can see more!

During the wet season, there is plenty of natural water to go around. Rain falls sometimes for weeks at a time; rivers fill up to their highest levels and neighboring land floods or becomes boggy. Even all the nooks and crannies in rocks and buildings, trees and other plants and even man-made litter like tires, buckets and plastic materials fill up with puddles that can sustain thousands of creatures.

As a result of the widely dispersed water – and the resultant abundance of plants and insect life to keep all these animals alive – they are spread out all over the place. They can eat and drink wherever they want to, so finding them can be a difficult task.

In Drier Times:
Needless to say then, if there is less water – then it will be easier to find the wildlife. They will all have to gather around the same water holes.

It works the same way as all the people you see at the cinema; they all have to go there for the same thing as it isn’t available anywhere else close by, but you don’t get crowds at your local food store – as you can buy bread and milk everywhere!

So, if you are hoping to see some lions, alligators, monkeys or elephants – your best chance is where the water holes are – and when there is less water elsewhere.

Obviously, the animals may not be quite as relaxed near the water in times of drought as when water is plentiful – but it will really add to your whole safari adventure if you actually get to see something!

photo credit: Rainbirder

More Crowds:
And in their quest for water, or food, many animals congregate in huge numbers either to trek to new lands or to breed – and this can make for some great viewing!

Large migrations of animals is one of the greatest natural spectacles on the planet!

Just think of the million wildebeests in June marching across the Masai Mara – with 500,000 gazelles and 200,000 zebras in tow! And the hundreds of crocodiles waiting in the rivers to eat them!

How about 120,000 elephants all wading in the Chombe in September – or the thousands or buffalo and lions that are thirsty too!

Not to mention the hundreds or different birds species migrating north to south, east to west or even over the Himalaya! All in search of better eating and drinking!

So before you head on your ultimate wildlife vacation – check the weather!

posted by Travel Cat on Dec 16

You don’t need to wander into town in the cold; dodging prams and charity collection cans!

Find your exciting New York City breaks online in the comfort of your own home – with a nice warm drink to hand!  They may have forecast snow for the next few weeks here - but you could avoid all that – and do some great festive shopping of your own!

Whether you go before the ‘big day’ or in the new year – you can’t beat New York for the city of shopping!  Imagine how jealous your friends will be when you tell them that you won’t be queueing up for your toys, music and games in the regular stores; you will be in shops they have never heard off!  So your gifts will be truely unique as they aren’t from Boots or M&S!

And imagine that dress you buy – or those amazing boots: no-one else you know will have anything like it – and when they ask where you got them; you can reply ‘New York’ and that will add to the ‘wow’ factor even more!

The Site:
So, what’s so easy about this site then?  Well for starters, it allows you to view the different hotels and review them as well as look at up-to-date information on NY itself – so you don’t miss some of the best attractions that you didn’t even know were there!

They also have a really clear mapping tool for NYC which allows you to zoom in on where your hotel is compared to the places you want to go visit – before you book.  It highlights all the hotels and streets so clearly – that you might want to extend your stay to get round them all!

This will be a great tool for you if you are planning plenty of shopping as you can make sure that you are within walking distance of all the great department stores – or on a great underground route to make things even easier for you.

Perhaps you want to be closer to the theatres instead for that late night cab home and don’t mind travelling that bit further to the shops during the daytime.  Whatever your preference – the options are there for you to investigate before you spend a penny. 

So planning your NYC breaks couldn’t be more enjoyable and simple to book!  Choose your hotel, choose your location, choose your airline – and choose for how long you go!  All with just a few clicks…..

Send us a postcard if you get time!