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(photos courtesy of harryalverson)

Ever heard of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival?  Well, it's a remarkable event that takes place each January in northeastern China. 

The highlight each year are the ice sculptures, with many marvelous creations every year. 

The festival begins each year on January 5th, and lasts for one month. The original festival was held in 1963. Harbin is the host city, located in the Northeast of China. It's average winter temperature is a very chilly -16.8 degrees Celsius. (brrrrr!)

The Harbin festival is one of the world's largest ice and snow festivals - others include Canada's Quebec City Winter Carnival, Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival, and Norway's Ski Festival. 

In 2007, a 250 metre long snow sculpture was produced at Harbin. 

Almost 2000 passengers were left stranded in the Channel Tunnel on Friday while traveling on Eurostar trains. The passengers waited for hours in the tunnel before being evacuated.

Passengers who booked tickets for the weekend and 21 December (or until the service re-opens) can get refunds from Eurostar.

Engineers traced the problems back to severe weather conditions. Apparently the trains were sucking in snow and minor modifications would be needed to prevent this from happening in future.

Visit Eurostar's website for more information on when services will resume.

 The largest cruise ship in the world just recently embarked on its maiden voyage - The Royal Caribbean International's MS Oasis of the Seas. 

The ship was built in Finland, and now resides in the U.S. It took two weeks for the ship to travel from Finland to the U.S., at one point having to navigate Great Belt Fixed Linka (a bridge), where less than 1 metre of clearance existed. 

The maiden voyage was December 5th 2009 - it is captained by two Norwegians. 

To give you some perspective on it's size, it has seven neighborhoods, 2,700 cabins, and is more than five times bigger than the Titanic.  Roughly 8,400 passengers can fit onboard, 2,100 of whom are crew members. The ship is so vast it even has a small golf course, 750-seat outdoor amphitheater, and an ice rink. 

The MS Oasis of the Seas will run in a route from the U.S. to the Caribbean.

(photos courtesy of Nick Nobgood)

Copenhagen is the place to be this week for the UN Climate Conference December 7-18. 

This past Saturday, this Travelstart blogger visited Copenhagen for the day to check out the festivities. (I live just 45 minutes away in Malmö) 

Despite frigid temperatures in the Danish capital, the city was packed full of people, who were out exploring the city and various events organized around the conference.  The atmosphere and vibe in the city this week is really electric. 

Saturday a climate march took place, and was attended by upwards of 100,000 people. The weather was really really cold during the march, and it was a very civilized, peaceful demonstration, despite some arrests that occurred later in the day and in a different area of the city. There were so many interesting costumes and displays of creativity amongst the crowd, not to mention lots of laughs and camaraderie.    
While the Climate Conference is held each day in the Bella Center, countless other activities are scattered throughout the city, and are open to the public.  

December is probably not the best time of year to visit Copenhagen, but it really is a lovely city, every day of the year.  

2 weeks of total craziness... First it was a short 16km walk at the Sisters with Blisters event in the scorching sun - and then, I got free tickets to see Cinderella on Ice at Montecasino.

Sisters with Blisters

I learnt that bloggers can walk and not have the energy to blog or twitter about it after the first 4km.

The early starters on the 16km did not expect the heat to be quite so much, but by 8 am it was unbearable. By 10 it was just ridiculously hot.

The route was just 4km x 4 but a real steep hill claimed many victims that barely made it up at a snail's pace.

After our walk we trawled the after event exhibitions and activities - including a 20 minute bootcamp!

Cinderella on Ice

I don't know if I was more in awe of the fact that these skaters could do so much on such a small slab of ice or that ice on a stage in Africa is possible...

The performers played their roles so convincingly - while skating - with no mistakes. Memorable characters included the wicked step mom and sisters, the tailor in red, the prince and of course Cinderella herself.

Cross the street and use the other entrance for downtown.

There are always a few things that makes it easy to separate the locals from the tourists in a city. When it comes to New York, the behaviour on the public transport is one of those things. It's always a bit fun to watch people walking in the wrong direction, not finding the stop button on the bus or not understanding how to open the back door - wait for the green light and then touch the yellow strip on the door.

My first opportunity to make a mistake was because I didn't read the sign at the subway entrance properly. On many stops you have to choose the right entrance in order to get to the train going in the direction you want. Once you've passed with your ticket and realize your mistake you can't pass on the same ticket at the other entrance. Either you have to buy a new one or wait 18 minutes, the reason for this is of course to avoid people cheating and riding several people on the same subway pass.

Other possibilities for confusion are the express trains.In some ways you can read signs that says that the Q is an express while the N and R are not, but exactly what stops they are making is harder to know and sometimes it varies between weekdays and weekends. It's also possible that a train the is express in Manhattan becomes local in Brooklyn.

Travelstart is expanding its social media team and we are now looking for one camera guy/gal and one production assistant/anchor!

Come work for us, read full job ad here!

(photo courtesy of Jon Mountjoy)

A friend of mine just returned from a vacation to France. He spent most of his time in the port town of Nice along the French Riviera. 

As you might expect, he told me that Nice was very nice. (I think he was trying to be a bit clever and unique, as most people just say "Nice is nice.")

This time of year seems an odd time to go there, but the weather is extremely comfortable at the moment - usually between 10-15 celcius each day. Not too hot, not too cold, for this time of the year in Europe. It's also a time of year when France, Europe's busiest tourist destination, is not so busy, so good deals can be found on airfares and accommodations. 

Nice's most famous sight is the Promenade des Anglais (photo), or actually the Promenade as the locals call it. It's a promenade where locals and tourist alike can take a seaside stroll along the beach of the meditaranean. 

The Promenade has a unique history - it was built in the 18th century during a year when the city had relatively high unemployment - and someone suggested all the unemployed should become a labor force and create something useful for the town. More than 250 years later, the idea has proven to be a great one. The Promenade has been enjoyed by many generations. 

The old town (called Vieux Nice) is also great part of the city to take your curiosity and perhaps a camera. Other popular activities and attractions in Nice include visiting the beaches and beautiful blue waters. There are also several free museums to enjoy in the city. If you enjoy views and landscapes, the Colline du Chateau is a great place to enjoy a remarkable view overlooking the city and the harbour. 

Nice is very nice, anytime a year. 

Home for this Travelstart blogger is just outside of Vancouver, on the west coast of Canada. I currently live in Sweden, but I was born and raised in Canada. 

I wasn't planning to go home to Canada for Christmas this year, as it's expensive to fly from Europe, especially if I visit more than once a year. 

But a month ago, I decided to check online, just in case there happened to be any great deals. If I could find a super price, then I might just go home for Christmas. My search began at Travelstart..... 

Within minutes, I had found a flight that would take me home for 3 weeks over Christmas, and it was really really cheap. In fact, it was so cheap I didn't believe the price I was being quoted. I thought, maybe Travelstart hadn't included the taxes in the quoted price, or maybe they are showing me the one-way, and not round-trip price. But having used Travelstart for many previous bookings, I knew they have an up-front pricing policy that always includes the taxes, so I quickly realized the price was in fact correct. Yippee!  

To make a long story short, I'm going home for Christmas, thanks to an amazing deal I found through Travelstart. The price was about 35% less than I usually pay, for this same flight. 

I'll be sure to file a blog or two during my travels home. One of the first things I plan to do, besides visiting family, is visit my favorite ski hill in Vancouver, Cypress Mountain. The photo above was taken the last time I snowboarded there. The clouds were covering the ocean, and it was a crisp, beautiful morning.  

Are you going home for the holidays?  Check Travelstart's home page today, and maybe you will be surprised by a super deal, like I was! 

  

During last week the New Year's Eve invitations have started to arrive. There are parties organised all over New York but it is far from cheap to celebrate here. The party I got an invitation to via Facebook is held on the restaurant Tavern on The Green in Central Park and only general admission is 800 USD/person. Some drinks are included in that price but no food and not even a place to sit.

That almost makes the Lady Gaga party at Fontainebleau in Miami seem "cheap" with only 375 USD/ticket.

But there are options of course. I have also been invited to a big warehouse party in Brooklyn and I can even get in for free there if I help out a bit before. The ticket price is not announced yet but it will definitely be cheper than many other places.

Otherwise you can always head to classical Times Square for free, but to get a good spot you need to be there in the afternoon and the hours you have to wait after that you have to manage without toilets - or alcohol since there is no public drinking allowed in New York.

 (photo courtesy of Dimitri B)

February 8-10, 2010, 1500 people under the age of 25, from all 192 countries on earth, will meet in London for the inaugural One Young World Summit. 

The general concept is that bright, inspiring minds of the next generation will gather to discuss the issues that affect our world.

Each country will have two guaranteed representatives, and the remaining people selected will be chosen based on their country's proportion of the world's population.

Therefore, China will have the most delegates with 259, India next with 223, and South Africa will have either 10 or 11. (I can't find a confirmation for this number) Anyone who will be 25 years old between January 2009 and January 2011 may apply.   

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu is one of the supporting counsellors of the event, along with Kofi Annan and Bob Geldof.

There are six issues in particular that will be discussed at this first annual event:

- Developing Political Leadership for a positive future
- Global Business and its role in shaping society through the economy
- Inter-faith dialogue
- The Environment and its protection
- The Media, its changing identity and its power
- Global Health, its polarities and impact   

Do you have what it takes to be one of the leading thinkers of the next generation?  Do you know someone who does?

To get involved, please visit their official web-site, or Facebook group, where you can learn more about this inspiring event.  

Article from The Times below

The Times – 29 Nov – Peter Karaszi
World Cup local organising committee chief executive Danny Jordaan has expressed disappointment at the slow sales of Bafana follow-your-team tickets for 2010 ("80% World Cup tickets unsold", November 26). He should know why local sales are so slow, but let me spell it out for him. Since teams play their group matches in three different cities, following your team will involve travelling. Now, the vultures in charge of South Africa's airlines - even the so-called low-cost companies - have decided to raise their prices by 300%-400% during the World Cup. An example: any flight with 1time airline between Cape Town and Johannesburg in June 2010 will cost R2299 - one way - and they have the audacity to call it "low fare". Kulula.com is not much better at R1999 one way. For a South African fan travelling by plane to three group matches, the bill would be a shocking R13800. Who can afford that? Jordaan should summon the executives of all South African airlines and tell them in no uncertain terms not to obstruct local travel during the tournament. What's wrong with keeping prices at their normal level and hiring extra aircraft from abroad for one month?

Travelstarts comment is: The ridiculously high air fares from EU to ZA, that are the norm throughout all seasons not only World Cup, hampers tourism growth to South Africa.

Government should and must stimulate more competition on long haul routes.
Unfortunately, as always, South African airways leads the way in inflating fares discriminating visitors coming to our country.
Stephan Ekbergh

 (photo courtesy of warrenski)

In case you missed it, an estimated 200 million people from around the globe tuned into the FIFA World Cup Draw Ceremony and celebration, taking place December 4th at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. 

What a show Cape Town, and South Africa, put on for the television audience! Kicking off with a speech from the now 91-year old Nelson Mandela, who urged the country to "strive for excellence in our hosting of the World Cup, while at the same time ensuring the event leaves a lasting benefit to all our people." Several outstanding musical performances ensued, and the official mascot, Zakumi, even made a guest appearance!

The draw was hosted and performed by South African actress Charlize Theron (wearing a stunning red dress), along with the FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke. As they drew team/country names, people around the world sat on the edge of their seats, in anticipation for who their favorite team will be grouped with. Theron also introduced the official match ball that will be used in in 2010.  

For those not lucky enough to attend in person, there was tons of action nearby, with a free street party and festival taking place on Long Street, featuring tons of music and performing artists.  

In case you missed it, below are the groupings for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. 

2010 FIFA World Cup Draw

Group A: France, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay

Group B: Argentina, Greece, Nigeria, South Korea

Group C: Algeria, England, Slovenia, United States

Group D: Australia, Germany, Ghana, Serbia

Group E: Cameroon, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands

Group F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia

Group G: Brazil, Ivory Coast, North Korea, Portugal

Group H: Chile, Honduras, Spain, Switzerland

World Cup fever has officially begun. Every football fan on the planet is talking about the 2010 World Cup today.  

If anyone was there at the festivities, I'd love to hear your comments!

I always thought the end of Halloween was the beginning of Christmas decorations in the States, but it turns out that it's Thanksgiving instead. The celebration was done Thursday last week and already on Saturday I walked past Christmas tree vendors on the New York City sidewalks. And in East Village all of a sudden there were new colourful strings of light everywhere.

A couple of days ago it was also time for the annual lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. I guess this means christmas is really here, doesn't it? On the other hand, the weather gods certainly didn't agree as I woke up this morning to 19 degrees Celsius and the sun shining from a clear blue sky. Seems more like summer to me.

photo courtesy of flydime

At the end of a pretty incredible month in Vietnam, we’re feeling pretty savvy about the country, and thought we’d pass on our Top 10 To Do List. Enjoy!

1.        Walk across the street in Ho Chi Minh City.
It might feel like suicide at first, but being able to confidently cross the street while a mass of motorbikes, cars, taxis and buses are bearing down on you is the mark of a seasoned traveler.
2.        Take an overnight train
Because it’s so much more fun than flying or bussing it, and you get to see so much more of the country as you’re clacking along. You’re also guaranteed some interesting conversations with your cabin mates (there are no two person cabins).
3.        Eat local
Although there is Western food on pretty much every menu, don’t succumb to the lure of familiarity! Vietnamese food is simply delicious.
4.        Get some clothes tailored in Hoi An
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience – having a tailor measure you up and make clothes (and shoes!) that fit perfectly and cost less than they would at home. Unmissable.
5.        Ride on the back of a motorbike
You probably won’t have a choice in this, because some places only have motos as transport, but you need to cling to the back seat of a motorbike to understand the crazy logic of Vietnamese traffic.
6.        Go trekking in Sapa
Trekking is really just another word for hiking, but the hiking in Sapa (right in the North) is simply spectacular – mountains and rice paddies and local villages spread out as far as the eye can see.
7.        Spend a night on Halong Bay
Yes, that’s on, not in. Spend a night on a wooden junk in Halong Bay to get up close to the incredible limestone karsts that dot the aquamarine water. Wow.
8.        Visit a museum
There are so many to choose from! War museums, art museums, museums of ancient Cham pottery, folklore museums, the choice is yours. Make sure you take in a couple for a deeper understanding of Vietnamese culture.
9.          Roll your own springrolls
Because there’s nothing tastier than fresh spring rolls.
10.        Take your time

Many tourists zip through Vietnam in two weeks, but the distances are so great between the North and South that it’s much more pleasant to take your time and really soak up all the country has to offer. For our itinerary, and more travelling tips, visit Just the Planet .

Bridget McNulty

 (photo courtesy of Dana + Leroy)

The Tiger's Nest, or Paro Taktsang Monastery, is the name of Bhutan's most famous Buddhist monastery. It's located on a mountain perch, 700 metres above the Paro Valley below, and more than 3,000 metres above sea level. 

The only way to reach the monastery is hiking by foot. Or you can hire a mule, if your feet are tired. 

In April 1998, a large part of the monastery was destroyed by a fire. Over the next seven years, a restoration project took place, being completed in 2005. It was actually the second major fire the monastery has endured - another took place back in 1950. It was originally built in 1692. 

Bhutan is considered to be one of the most remote travel destinations in the world. Be advised that if you wish to visit the tiny mountainous nation, you need to pre-arrange the visit with a registered agent. The country is open to tourists year-round, yet visits to the country must be arranged in advance. 

If you wish to visit the Paro Taktsang Monastery, you will require a special permit from the Department of Culture, Ministry of Home & Cultural Affairs, located in Thimphu, Bhutan. 

  

The last Thursday of November is celebrated big time in the US. That is the day of Thanksgiving, one of few holidays that is not a religious one, but has to do with the Indians sharing their food with the Europeans arriving. Nowadays it's still mostly about eating!

It's also a real family holiday. Most of my friends in New York have disappeared away to the towns where they grew up to celebrate with their parents. Everybody knows that almost no one living in the big city actually grew up there. Most people have their roots somewhere else.

I was invited to one of my friends who instead had his family coming over to him in New York. They made turkey, sweet potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie, while I was asked to prepare Swedish meatballs to add something new to the table. The evening was then spent eating and playing different games, and since I had brought the Swedish lawn game "kubb" I would say that this Thanksgiving was definitely a mix of the traditional American and the new Scandinavian style holidays.

It is that time of year again when traffic volumes decrease and you realise that you only have a few weeks left before Christmas. Then before you know it, there are only 3 days left before Christmas and you are one of a handful of mall patrons scurrying around for last minute presents.

December in Johannesburg is the best. Residents of this bustling city migrate to places where they can kick back and relax in the sun next to an ocean or in the bush. Then you get the die hard crowd that firmly believe that there is no use in migrating out of the city with everyone – the ones that stay in the ghost city.

Suddenly you don’t have to reserve seats at popular restaurants; you don’t have to swerve for mall trolleys and pedestrians; nor will you drive for an hour to work while only living 15km away. Johannesburg literally becomes an oyster that you can explore at your own pace – Africa time.

I can attest that many smaller inland towns also experience the ghost town syndrome over the holidays (I used to be a small town girl)... so, if you are planning to be in South Africa for the festive season you might consider spending some time where the pace has quietened down – and that means: inland towns.

The Tower of Pisa is definitely one of the world’s most recognizable tourist attractions - but it is not the only attraction that Pisa has to offer (definitely worth adding into any itinerary tho).

Other attractions in Pisa include:

• Ponte di Mezzo  - ancient bridge in Pisa
• Domus Galileiana / House of Galileo – contains manuscripts by Galileo
• Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) – Tower of Pisa, Duomo (cathedral) and the Baptistery
• Sinopias Museum – collection of fresco sketches
• St Matthew National Museum – objects and artworks from the 12th century including sculptures, tapestries and paintings
• Church of San Michele in Borgo – 13th century fresco of The Archangel, St Michael and marble crucifix by Nino Pisano
• Church of San Martino – Guardi’s fresco of the Madonna with Child

What to expect when you visit Campo dei Miracoli

Expect lots of tourists!

When you first enter the area around this square you will have to walk past many souvenir vendors and many tourists. If you have time, stop and ask prices for souvenirs you are interested in and then you can compare and buy on your way back from the sights.

The field or square offers more than just the 3 buildings (Tower, Duomo and Baptistery). The gate (Porta Nuova) you use to enter and the wall (where you can buy souvenirs from vendors) actually was built in 1155! It is part of the city’s old medieval wall.

The Baptistery has an amazing exterior (like the rest of the buildings in the square)… but go look behind it… at the Porta del Leone (Lion Gate), here the Roman gate to the city used to stand.

The Duomo (cathedral) is an impressive white building.  Even if you don’t have time to go in (and pay the admission fee) study the doors by Pisano.

The Tower – pre book your tickets as you will definitely not want to join the queue. Pre book your tickets for the Tower of Pisa here. You will have to climb 293 steps to the top! To get a picture of only yourself “holding up” the tower is impossible.

Sources:

• www.anitalyattraction.com
• www.behindthetower.com

(photo left courtesy of lens buddy, right courtesy of itsmethen) 

With winter approaching in many of the northern parts of the world, I thought it might be time to write about some winter destinations. I'll start by writing of a place with a spectacular view. 

One place that came to mind is the amazing DachsteinSky Walk, located in Austria. It's located near the summit of the Dachstein glacier, at approximately 2,700m above sea-level.  

The Sky Walk has been built high up on a vertical rock face, and offers a spectacular 360 degree panoramic views of the area.  You can in fact peer into both the Czech Republic, and Slovenia, from the Sky Walk.  

This is an area that has hosted world ski championships.  Year round alpine skiing and snowboarding can be enjoyed at the glacier.  

The Sky Walk is in fact open year round. I am sure the view doesn't disappoint, regardless of what time of year you might be there. If you do go in the winter, be sure to dress warmly.